AspiringNomad

And just like that, January has rolled around again! Usually a grey, drizzly time of year when Arron and I would be getting excited for our annual Ski trip. But this year Arron had decided to fly over to Australia to explore the land down under and stay with me in Sydney.

It was a sunny Wednesday morning. I had recklessly been out the night before and missed my alarm! As my phone buzzed and ‘Mum’ appeared across the front of it I was more than alarmed and quickly got ready to go and meet Arron at the airport. A gruling 24hrs of travel left him fairly dazed as he walked through the arrivals hall. I couldnt help but run to him, eyes full with happy tears as we embraced after not seeing each other for 10 months! It’s a feeling like no other and one I find difficult to articulate. It’s a feeling of pure joy and love. As I had been so excited for him to arrive, there was an element of relief that my big brother had finally arrived in Australia, the anticipation and planning of the trip had washed away and was now replaced with the excitement that we could enjoying being here together!

We soon got back to mine and freshened up before heading straight to the beach to get some sunshine! One train and one bus later and we had made it to Nielson Park in Vaucluse. A beach I had only discovered on Sunday and knew I had to take Arron when he arrived. We sun bathed, ate and swam until Arron had decided that he had had enough of the sun. This took all of about 3hrs! I guess the fact that just a few hours earlier he was leaving a cold, miserable London left his body in a bit of shock! I had warned him that the UV doesn’t mess around down here but he insisted the SPF25 was enough. If his pink chest was anything to go by, I can testify, SPF25 is not enough!

We began the long slog on public transport in a sweaty, salty, burnt mess and eventually got back to mine later that afternoon. Both exhausted, we collapsed at mine. Arron on the sofa and me on the balcony chair. As the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in, I woke up about 90mins later, as did Arron. We had some tortellini and spent the evening entertained by the storm that wrecked havoc across Sydney. It was as though someone was throwing buckets of water onto the balcony, with the wind strong enough to tear down trees. We had metaphorically entered nature’s nightclub, where the sky was the strobe light and the music was thunder!

We woke on Arron’s Birthday to a grey Sydney sky. It was disappointing but it gave Arron time to recuperate from a combination of jet lag and sun burn! While I was at work, he had visited the gym and apparently made friends with more people there than I have done in months!
I had a arranged a birthday dinner at Jordan’s Seafood restaurant in Barangaroo. As Arron had requested a seafood, I didn’t want to disappoint but finding a seafood restaurant that has vegetarian options was no easy find! We enjoyed our meal before going to Old Mates Place which was a another recent discovery of mine that I wanted to share with Arron. A quirky speakeasy that has a rooftop bar. We then walked across the road to Baxters Inn, another speakeasy that’s hidden down an alleyway and down some concrete stairs. After one more drink we called it a night, headed home and got straight to bed. This is how I wish this evening ended. But that would just be too easy, wouldn’t it? As we stepped foot in the lobby of my building, my heart sank as I pulled out the only keys in my bag to get inside, my work keys! This did not go down well, as I had rolled my eyes at Arron earlier that evening as he made me double check I had my keys with me! I remembered that I saw a key in my letterbox from the previous tenant that I assumed was a key to the apartment block. Using a rolled up piece of paper, I managed to hook the key and retrieve it from the letterbox, all this skill and resourcefulness to find that the key didn’t work in the door. We walked to the back of the building and discussed climbing up via the balconies. After much deliberation and Arron attemting an accent, we sensible thought better of it. Our phone batteries were quickly going down, so I reluctantly called a locksmith! Within 30mins Nat, the locksmith had come to our rescue. He assessed the situation and choose the door at the back of the building for break in. He unlocked the door impressively quick and we were in. He then followed us up to Apartment 25 to try the mysterious letterbox key. The key didn’t work and will now forever be a mystery as to what it’s actually for. Another impressive break in from Nat and we were into the apartment! We waved goodbye to our saviour and rememebred that Arron hadn’t blown out the candles on his birthday Biscoff Cheesecake. I sung a solo rendition of Happy Birthday and Arron finally got a chance to make a birthday wish (I am sure he was probably wishing for a different sister). Nevertheless, it was a Birthday Arron won’t be forgetting anytime soon!

Friday morning bought another cloudy, rainy day, fortunately for me, I was inside and at work all day. Arron occupied himself by visiting the art gallery and met me for lunch. I introduced him to my work colleagues and my favourite coffee shop in Sydney, Romolo’s.
After a late finish on Friday afternoon I was looking forward to a very chilled evening. Arron informed me that after only being in Sydney for 48hrs, he had secured himself a date with someone who lived fairly close. So later that evening, Arron went on his Australian date to the Kirribilli Hotel (which I had recommended). I finished my book with a glass of wine and a face mask. Content knowing that my brother was here with me and I only had one day left of work before we could really start exploring together!

Arron and I had been invited out on Saturday night to a pub in Darlinghurst. I invited my friends, Laura, Sarah and Nat to make a proper evening out of it. We arrived in Darlinghurst at about 8pm and I introduced Arron to Dean who then introduced us to all his friends. Every single person there was from England and if it wasn’t for the fact we were wearing shorts in January, we could have just been in a busy pub in London. Everyone was so friendly and Arron and I were soon chatting to everyone there. At about 9pm a DJ started setting up decks in the room we were occupying. No one had organised it, or so we thought. I later found out that we had gate crashed someone’s birthday but they rolled with it because we were bringing the atmosphere! Laura, Sarah and Nat eventually showed up and immediately clicked with Arron. Arron and I had spent so much time talking to everyone else that we lost each other until I was approached my someone telling me that my brother is apparently really good at pool. I then head downstairs to find him clearing the table against poor Sarah who was clearly regretting offering him a game! As people started to leave, Arron, Sarah, Laura, Nat, Dean and I decided that shots was a sensible course of action. We threw back some tequila, I had chance to finally get my Baileys fix and we all drunkedly said Merry Christmas to each other! I convinced everyone to head to Universal which guarantees all the cheesy music perfect for dancing to. Unfortunately they declined Dean entry into the club, so with a swift change of plan, we headed to the next gay club called Stonewall. More shots were had, Sarah and I ended up dancing in a cage, Arron was touched up more than he wanted and in hindsight, we all definitely should have gone home about an hour or two earlier. Drunk and tired, at about 2am, we called it a night!
I fortunately woke up hangover free, I cannot say the same for Arron who woke with a cracking headache. Having said that, since that was his first big night out in about a year, I think he did pretty well to not feel too bad! We debriefed the night before and agreed we definitely should have gone home early, but both having had such a good night, we were able to embrace our mistakes, freshen up and head out to The Flying Bear Cafe which is just round the corner from mine. We indulged in a healthy salad and Arron had his 6th coffee of the morning!

I’m now sat on a plane heading south to Melbourne. The first time I have travelled from Sydney since I arrived in June. Arron is in the seat behind me, thrilled that I am writing a blog about his visit, but it just seems too eventful not to share. It’s been a great start to having Arron visit and I haven’t even had to unblock the toilet! A combination of only a few disagreements, forgotten keys, storms, sun burn and a good night out has made for a chaotic and busy few days but we still have so much to look forward to in the next couple of weeks!