More quickies for the drrons.

[tgh]

Must say I have been enjoying this trip down memory lane for a city that I once knew very well.

 

[OZDUCK]

Past Flinders street Station.
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I presume one of the earliest Customs houses was somewhere around here.
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The Yarra is just across the road.
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Then up Highlanders lane to the IC. I thought the Scots had something to do with the name but apparently named after a hotel - The Royal Highlander. Not all buildings in the best shape though.
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And business not so good now.
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And the last place on the Intersection with Flinders lane is Rutherglen House. Said to be one of the few standalone houses in the CBD.
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The Immigration Museum about a block from that lane was a former Customs House (1876 - 1965) and it was the third one in that area.

 

[craven morehead]

On thursday night the rain was quite heavy. We went down to Ronnies restaurant at 1730 but they said they were booked out. Got a reservation for the same time on Friday night. booked with our hotel room number.
Fortunately we had an umbrella so set off up Collins street. About 2 doors up there was a restaurant with empty tables who could fit us in so we ate there. Freyja -https://www.freyjarestaurant.com/

Fortunately it was very good. First the views inside and out. Strange art.
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For entrees I had the kingfish carpaccio with fennel and garlic aoli.It was very nice.
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Mrsdrron had the asparagus on onion jam with a mushroom broth. It was excellent.
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She then continued with the John Dory with spinach. again very nice and cooked perfectly.
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I had the duck with endive and fingerlime. this was excellent.
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We shared a rhubarb, apple and icecream dessert. mostly apple with very little rhubarb.
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We did enjoy and recommend this place.

That tucker looks sensational!

 

[drron]

Friday night we dined at Ronnies in the mistaken belief it was an IC restaurant. after all they took our reservation the night before by taking our room number not our name. Anyway as mentioned before it isn't. so on to the meal but first the menu.





We shared the slow cooked octopus which was very nice.


Then Mrsdrron had the salmon which was perfectly cooked.


While I decided to have the chicken parma.


Basically a whole chicken minus the wings. It was very nice but a little too big for me.

 

[drron]

Finally Saturday arrived. Originally it was planned to have lunch before going to the airport for our 1530 QF flight. We did go HCO. However QF changed those plans and put us on the 0840 flight being the only direct flight to MCY that day. It was meant to be a 717 but turned out to be a 737. Not full though with plenty of shadows up front of Y except rows 4 and 5.
So a quick taxi trip with a young African driver. Most of the way he was well over the speed limit. J lounge wasn't crowded so we got a pair of front row seats there.




Lots of young children who took it in turns to keep everyone awake. Otherwise uneventful until we were descending into MCY. The CSM welcomed us to Adelaide telling us about South Australia's quarantine laws and how we had to change terminals if we were connecting to JQ. A sheepish apology a little later.
And that's all for this quicky.

 

[drron]

Off on another quickie. Just 2 nights in Sydney. We will see our grandchildren again and have dinner with them but unfortunately there is a much sadder reason with Mrsdrron’s sister in hospital. So up at sparrow’s f*rt for the 0615 QF flight MCY to SYD.
Could see the sunrise even after going through security.


Our plane had spent the night at MCY. In fact two 717’s were there. This one turned out not to be our plane.


Boarding began at 0550 and in a first for me at MCY priority boarding was as it should be with all in the priority line processed before any of the general line were allowed to board.
Boarding by the cattle ramp and doors closed 10 minutes before advertised departure. Took off right on 0615.

 

[love_the_life]

Off on another quickie. Just 2 nights in Sydney. We will see our grandchildren again and have dinner with them but unfortunately there is a much sadder reason with Mrsdrron’s sister in hospital. So up at sparrow’s f*rt for the 0615 QF flight MCY to SYD.
Could see the sunrise even after going through security.
View attachment 315617

Our plane had spent the night at MCY. In fact two 717’s were there. This one turned out not to be our plane.
View attachment 315616

Boarding began at 0550 and in a first for me at MCY priority boarding was as it should be with all in the priority line processed before any of the general line were allowed to board.
Boarding by the cattle ramp and doors closed 10 minutes before advertised departure. Took off right on 0615.

Sorry to hear the reason for the quick trip. Hope things are OK but expect it is quite serious if you have chosen to fly down.

 

[drron]

An interesting spiel prior to departure. The FA thanked all the QFFs and OW elites as well as those on business awards. Now Mrsdrron had 4 emails inviting a bid for an upgrade and even I got one the night before the flight so obviously a few empty J seats but it was full on take off. Very few Y pax.

The economy food was a piece of dry banana bread. At least it was made locally on the Coast. An uneventful flight but a wait on arrival for the air bridge. Seems to be pretty common in SYD.

We then trekked to the JQ terminal to pick up the paperwork and catch the shuttle to pick up our Alamo rental. Got upgraded to a Skoda Fabian. I had booked the smallest car. SYD is now a zoo for getting a rental car as they are all off site.

When we got off the shuttle the driver took me straight to another employee who had our car ready- I had checked in online the night before.

Then off to the Concord Hospital and their Palliative Care unit. Almost certainly we have done the right thing coming this weekend.

 

[drron]

Time now to get to the IC Double Bay. Offered a glass of sparkling wine each which was gladly accepted. Status recognised and took breakfast as amenity. 4pm checkout granted. Upgraded from basic King to King with harbour view and balcony. The view.

 

[drron]

We weren’t feeling hungry so went to the bar and had 2 glasses of wine each plus a plate of calamari and some truffled fries. The calamari had a surprising appearance but it tasted as usual.



Back to the room for not such a good sleep.

 

[drron]

There is a fairly good buffet for breakfast plus you can order a hot dish. I had the eggs Benedict and Mrsdrron a mushroom omelette.


Then a lazy morning and in the afternoon back out to Concord Hospital with our son and oldest granddaughter.
We arrived just as the syringe driver was placed. Things were much more peaceful after that.

 

[drron]

Back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before back to the family for dinner. Growing outside their place on the nature strip is a cherry guava. One of our son’s pursuits is jam making. He is well known for his quince jelly with many prizes and the recipe appearing in the CWA cookbook.
So these guavas may end up as jam.


He also regards himself as a competent bartender so we enjoyed coughtails before a home cooked dinner. Our grandson did part of the cooking.
A really nice family time after the stress of the past 2 days.
A much better night for sleeping.

 

[drron]

Sunday and a light breakfast from the buffet. Then off to Centennial Park for coffee with the family. But first a walk around the lake. An absolutely gorgeous morning.




Lots of wildlife.





A cormorant trying to swallow a fish.



And I felt like taking this fellow home as he was pulling out the nut grass

We ended up at the Sprucegoose which does reasonable coffee and snacks. I had an iced coffee.


Then back to the hotel for lunch.

 

[Quickstatus]

harbour view

I suppose the 3rd picture satisfies the mandatory carpark view requirement (at least for this part of Sydney) .

 

[Black Duck]

Back to the hotel for a quick freshen up before back to the family for dinner. Growing outside their place on the nature strip is a cherry guava. One of our son’s pursuits is jam making. He is well known for his quince jelly with many prizes and the recipe appearing in the CWA cookbook.
So these guavas may end up as jam.

The cherry guava make lovely jelly rather than jam.

Sorry to hear about Mrsdrron's sister. Glad you can be there to see her.

 

[love_the_life]

There is a fairly good buffet for breakfast plus you can order a hot dish. I had the eggs Benedict and Mrsdrron a mushroom omelette.
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Then a lazy morning and in the afternoon back out to Concord Hospital with our son and oldest granddaughter.
We arrived just as the syringe driver was placed. Things were much more peaceful after that.

The partner of a very good friend in his last days in hospital needed a syringe driver - none to be had in Canberra! He finally got one two hours before he passed away. Lots of apologies and excuses but really not good enough for him.

 

[drron]

Knowing that it would be a stressful time for Mrsdrron I thought it would be best to have a nice lunch before heading to the airport. I had noticed Sake every time I drove into the IC. We really like Japanese food and it’s very convenient for the hotel.
Started with edamame which were really good. But that and our drinks were slow to arrive.
Mrsdrron had a Henschke Pinot Grigio and I a sale flight.



My preferred sake was number 3 then 2 and 1.
The next 2 dishes were absolutely delicious. Oysters and sashimi salmon which melted in my mouth.



The next dish was disappointing. Spider maki. A soft shell crab roll.


But then the best dish, roasted scallops.


Then 2 vegetarian dishes. King brown mushroom skewers and eggplant with miso. Both good but not brilliant.



As I said service was slow and it is expensive but we did enjoy it.

 

[drron]

We left the IC a little after 1400 and only had to get the car back by 1700. But they closed the surrounding roads to work on the duplication of the rail line. The place was an utter shambles and a poorly signed detour. The map sent by the airport was also wrong. So it was a fair bit after 1500 when we finally returned the car. Just as well we were HCO.
Went to the premium security and now everything can stay in the bag. Needed to take my belt off. Told them about my knee replacement so directed to a specific scanner. From the other premium line Tony Abbot was sent just before me. Followed him through and had a short chat on the other side.

Then to the J lounge where we both needed a wine. The food was of a dubious standard. No sign on the hot dish but looked like brown slop.

Went to the gate about 20 minutes before boarding and the incoming flight was just unloading. Very few people at the gate. Boarding called at advertised time. Premium line called first but about 10 In premium line and only 1 in the general line. Basically premium boarding happened by default.

Every one boarded and doors closed 10 minutes before scheduled departure but we had to wait 20 minutes for a tug. So left 10 minutes late but caught up and arrived on time.
A different snack.



Supposedly contained beef but no taste or texture whatsoever of meat. But we did get wine.


Lovely sunset.


And that’s it for now.

 

[drron]

So it is back down to Sydney for the day on Wednesday next week. A sad time.

 

[love_the_life]

So sorry to hear drron. Thinking of mrs.dr.ron and you. It was lucky mrs.dr.ron was able to see her sister last week.