My week at the Hilton!

I can hardly believe that it's been a full week since I checked out of the Hilton Sydney last Friday.

my room at the Hilton, Sydney

I was staying there for a work conference - a really big event that we had been working towards since November last year! From past year's experience, I knew that it was going to be the most stressful week of my year. The conference comprises early breakfast events, full days of conference sessions, then cocktails and dinners and goes over three days.

During the conference some of my colleagues stayed up hours past midnight getting things ready for the next day. I threw it in earlier than that but it's still an exhausting week.

PRAISE GOD that it all went well! Late on Monday night, after having a very indulgent KFC hot and spicy dinner with the girls, I posted a prayer request on my biblestudy FB page - asking prayer for levelheadedness during the next hectic days. God answered those prayers in spades. There was no yelling, or tears, just a pleasant level of adrenaline keeping me going. I felt I had a clear perspective during the rush and bustle of the conference and wasn't swept away emotionally.

As a major plus, I can't think of anything that went wrong! The conference days went smooth as a dream. There were lots of high fives and happy smiles when we packed down.

Another really bizarre plus is that at the Hilton, there are tv screens in the shower! I had lots of fun washing my hair while watching Masterchef at the same time.

There was a tv screen in the shower!

On one of the nights, I got to have dinner with the keynote speakers at Glass Brasserie (which is hatted!). They served a very memorable creme brulee - memorable because it was ENORMOUS! The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was almost comically large - the size of a dinner plate!

Creme Brulee at Glass

Another night, my beautiful niece came to visit with her mum and dad. It is so grounding to have your family come and see you while you're in the middle of an important work event. When you're seeing your colleagues from dawn to dusk every day, sharing rooms, and for hours and hours talking about work, work, work; having a very cute 2 year old walk into all that completely brings you back to earth.

We ordered hot chocolates and little one got a baby-chino. I loved showing her off to my colleagues. She can count to five in Indonesian! There has never been a child more clever! She is completely absorbing. Just what I needed to take my mind off work for a few hours.

And now I am looking forward to another very big distraction from work! Next week Dane and I are going to New Zealand!! I am going to learn how to ski and go on a Lord of the Rings tour! Dane is going to bungee jump! I can't wait - counting down the sleeps!

Day trip to Bowral!

Last Saturday, Dane and I went driving south to Bowral in New South Wales' Southern Highlands. I hadn't ever been before, but Dane promised me I would like it.

I said to him, "But what's at Bowral? What are we going to do?"
And he said, "Don't worry, you'll like it."

Bowral is only a forty-five minute drive from where we live, an ideal distance for a day trip. We left late in the morning, and pulled into the main drag of Bowral just before midday. It's a charming regional town, with really crispy air and tall, tall poplars along the highway.

We passed a few antique-y, gift shops on our way to grab coffees. Dane turned to me and said, "there are heaps of those stores here... Babe, we're going picking!"

Dane is addicted to those red-neck American shows about picking, pawning, taxidermy, auctions, all of that. He can watch hour after hour of discovering a rare piece of 'Americana' and then having it restored, valued, and auctioned. He loves that stuff.

I began to feel as though I had been brought to Bowral under false pretences.

But actually it was a really fun day. Our first stop was at the famous Gumnut Patisserie! It's a cosy shopfront crammed with pastries and cakes. The place was absolutely hopping as more and more people squished in front of the counter, and while I was there a line actually formed out the door.

Pastries everywhere!

There's no room to sit down  inside the cafe, but they have tables just outside in the mall. Dane and I got a table, but it was so busy that another couple - an older lady and man - asked if they could sit with us. We got to chatting. They had just been holidaying further south, and were on their way home up on the central coast. They said they always stopped in Bowral on the journey - bargains to be found at the charity shops, as some of the Bowral locals are well off and their hand-me-downs are usually very good!

One of the highlights of our day trip was the bookstores. There were bookstores that you just don't see around any more. At Macarthur Square (my local shopping centre) there is a bookstore where nearly one whole wall is dedicated to the 'Paranormal' genre. I mean, is that really a genre?? And WHY does it take up so much realestate in the store??

Anyway, in this Bowral bookstore there was only a tiny shelf with the heading 'Paranormal', and everything else was just regular normal. We spent quite a bit of time wandering the shelves. There was book with a painting of a different species of trout on every page. There was another one with pictures of the world's most famous golf courses. And before we left the store, I bought a copy of Robinson Crusoe - haven't started it yet.

There was also a delightful children's store, selling gorgeous little outfits and playthings. They had a section of gumboots and ballet flats and I came across a really cute pair of navy and fuchsia shoes. Sometimes I am lucky enough to fit into kids sized shoes, and this was one of those times!

Ballet flats by Walnut

After we had checked out a few other kooky places - an antique store, a bookstore selling rare and old books, one place selling hat boxes - we went into a modern homewares shop. Full of colour! Lots of interesting, really neat things. Walking past their Le Crusset section, our attention was caught by a very sweet looking pie bird - free when you buy a pie dish! The pie dishes looked beautiful and were on sale (30% off) so I took them both home.

And here is the chicken and veg pie I made in it:

Best dinner for a cold night! My chicken and veg pie.

Fitness class = pain

Last week, I went back to fitness training after about three months off. I do an outdoor bootcamp at Harmony Park, and have been pretty regular since I signed up with my work mates about three years ago. This training is more or less the only exercise I do, and so when I had to miss the last block because of travelling for work, my fitness went rreeaally downhill.

Most mornings, I was struggling to get up the stairs at the train station.

On this particular evening, my first week back at bootcamp, only one other gent showed up. This is bad, because it means our lovely trainer Pete Mamo can watch you like a hawk and make sure you’re doing it all properly = pain.

Two days later, I could not lift a cup of water to my mouth - my arms were THAT sore.

What really surprised me was trying to do bicep curls with a resistance band - an exercise that has never been difficult for me before. The idea is you stand in the middle of a stretchy rope and hold the ends. I got a few out before my arms started slowing down. The next round, Pete said “Just bend your knees a little” - this gave the rope a bit more slack theoretically making it easier. Nup. It still took me about ten minutes (yes, exaggerating) to get out those five reps or whatever it was.

On the next round, Pete said “just put one foot on the band this time.” HA! HA! HA! HA!

In this round, my arms refused to move at all. Particularly my left arm. I clearly remember looking at it, with my brain going “go! go! go!” and it just did not move.

That was the weirdest. I have never actually experienced not being in control of my limbs before. I also realised for the first time how literal the phrase 'stinging sweat' could be. Before last week, I just assumed it was a metaphorical kind of phrase.

Anyway, some great things are being planned for this long weekend, including a day trip to the Southern Highlands! Pray it doesn't rain!