I'm not sure whether we walked down the beach or shivered down it, but we made it and at the very end we all all but ran back to the car leaving shards of ice behind us.
Needless to say, romance was the last thing on our mind.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Item number five - The Midnight Beach Walk
This task had the potential to be very sweet and romantic. The operative word here being potential! The task had to be completed under a full moon, now anybody who has ever been outside at midnight under a full moon in winter knows that the temperature is between solid ice and I can't feel my legs. Unfortunately for us this night didn't disappoint! It was horribly cold and the wind was blowing an icy gale.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Item Number Four - The Sydney Ferry Ride
This sounds like an easy task right? Simply take a trip to Sydney sleep overnight, jump on a ferry the next day, and we're done. At least that was the plan.
The trip to Sydney while ridiculously early was uneventful and I even managed to get a few minutes of sleep in the process. The problem started when the group of people I went with realized that the forecasted temperature for the special day was expected to be a record breaking 42.c. If there is nothing else standoutish about me the one thing that does stand out is my pathetically pale skin. Only made slightly worse by the fact that I'm a ranga. I bet you could guess what was going on in my mind, it went a little something like, 42.c? Are you kidding me? There isn't enough hours in a day for me to put sunscreen on for that sort of temperature. To say I was nervous would be absolute bullshit, I was terrified. The sort of terrified you get when you know you're going to be in a world of hurt but there's no way to avoid it.
The morning of the task was deceivingly hot, made so by the fact the air conditioner was on all night at the hotel. I was however, prepared for the morning burst of 32.c having spent 20 minutes applying two thick layers of sunscreen. By the time we walked up the road to the bus I had realized my first big mistake. I had gotten so entrenched in making myself sun proof I had neglected to consider wearing dark thick jeans was probably a bad option. Luckily there was a shopping center near by and within a few minutes I was sporting a way overpriced pair of shorts.
By the time we bused it to Circular Quay the temperature had sky rocketed to 39.c and I had downed two bottles of coke, along with the coffee a coffee for breakfast. After a few minutes of talking we had decided on taking a ferry to Watsons Bay for some fish and chips, then take another to Balmain.
To say the first ferry was memorable was an exaggeration, the only think I really remember from the trip was that two thirds of it I was applying sunscreen and the other third was spent worry about if I'd missed any spots with the sunscreen. Finally though the trip ended and we marched up to Doyles an open restaurant... Yeah that's right open as in didn't have a bloody air conditioner. We actually ate hot fish and chips in 43.c with no air conditioning. To this very day I don't know how I didn't pass out, perhaps it was coke 3 and 4 I drank while eating.
I would love to say the second ferry trip was much better, but honestly it was more of the same sunscreen worshiping rubbish. Well there was one one slight difference, I started to feel a little sick. Not heat stroke sick, more jittery, nauseous and hyper alert. I bet most of you already have an idea of the problem, well good for you, because I thought it was just the effects of the heat.
We departed the ferry at Balmain and walked close to 6 blocks to get to our destination which was no other than Zumbos. Now for those of you who haven't heard of Zumbos I'll just say this, Zumbos is as close to heaven a person can get from eating a cake. Safe to say I followed my heavenly cake with a nice big cold bottle of coke. Yes I agree with all of you, I was and still am an idiot. I don't remember too much after finishing that coke because by the time we all managed to get me back to the hotel I could barely stand, my heart felt like it was about to pound itself right through my rib cage and my brain had cut and run.
Suffice to say I had a lot of fun and highly recommend against substituting coke for water.
The trip to Sydney while ridiculously early was uneventful and I even managed to get a few minutes of sleep in the process. The problem started when the group of people I went with realized that the forecasted temperature for the special day was expected to be a record breaking 42.c. If there is nothing else standoutish about me the one thing that does stand out is my pathetically pale skin. Only made slightly worse by the fact that I'm a ranga. I bet you could guess what was going on in my mind, it went a little something like, 42.c? Are you kidding me? There isn't enough hours in a day for me to put sunscreen on for that sort of temperature. To say I was nervous would be absolute bullshit, I was terrified. The sort of terrified you get when you know you're going to be in a world of hurt but there's no way to avoid it.
The morning of the task was deceivingly hot, made so by the fact the air conditioner was on all night at the hotel. I was however, prepared for the morning burst of 32.c having spent 20 minutes applying two thick layers of sunscreen. By the time we walked up the road to the bus I had realized my first big mistake. I had gotten so entrenched in making myself sun proof I had neglected to consider wearing dark thick jeans was probably a bad option. Luckily there was a shopping center near by and within a few minutes I was sporting a way overpriced pair of shorts.
By the time we bused it to Circular Quay the temperature had sky rocketed to 39.c and I had downed two bottles of coke, along with the coffee a coffee for breakfast. After a few minutes of talking we had decided on taking a ferry to Watsons Bay for some fish and chips, then take another to Balmain.
To say the first ferry was memorable was an exaggeration, the only think I really remember from the trip was that two thirds of it I was applying sunscreen and the other third was spent worry about if I'd missed any spots with the sunscreen. Finally though the trip ended and we marched up to Doyles an open restaurant... Yeah that's right open as in didn't have a bloody air conditioner. We actually ate hot fish and chips in 43.c with no air conditioning. To this very day I don't know how I didn't pass out, perhaps it was coke 3 and 4 I drank while eating.
View from the inside of Doyles
I would love to say the second ferry trip was much better, but honestly it was more of the same sunscreen worshiping rubbish. Well there was one one slight difference, I started to feel a little sick. Not heat stroke sick, more jittery, nauseous and hyper alert. I bet most of you already have an idea of the problem, well good for you, because I thought it was just the effects of the heat.
We departed the ferry at Balmain and walked close to 6 blocks to get to our destination which was no other than Zumbos. Now for those of you who haven't heard of Zumbos I'll just say this, Zumbos is as close to heaven a person can get from eating a cake. Safe to say I followed my heavenly cake with a nice big cold bottle of coke. Yes I agree with all of you, I was and still am an idiot. I don't remember too much after finishing that coke because by the time we all managed to get me back to the hotel I could barely stand, my heart felt like it was about to pound itself right through my rib cage and my brain had cut and run.
Night at the Cross by Adriano Zumbo
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