Just a short 2o minute ride from the airport we arrived at Brad and Esther´s pad in Bondi Beach. Bondi Beach is an extremely happening area of Sydney with kilometers of stunning beaches and views. Their apartment was just a 10 minute walk from Tamarama Beach, and their terrace had a perfect view. Not only did their place have an ideal location, but the apartment itself was spacious and comfortable. It is a 2 bedroom, but Brad had converted the second bedroom into the ¨Man Room¨ - Brad is a musician and works in website design so this room is full of computer and music recording equipment, guitars, and a plethora of other testosterone pumping gadgets. After our tour of the place we settled down and started catching up on everything that had been going on since we had last seen them in Laos. Our flight landed in the morning so Esther had a delicious breakfast spread waiting for us, and then we´d pack up their rental car to head 2 hours south to Kangaroo Valley to ring in Esther´s birthday.
Esther and some friends had planned to properly celebrate her birthday and rented out a house, okay not really a house, more like a mansion, in Kangaroo Valley. There would be about 20 people staying at the house so Sarah and I were told to prepare ourselves for some hard-core partying. After a nice breakfast we packed up some small weekend bags and got ready to hit the road. Now there would be 5 people in a rental car (Brad, Esther, Sarah, Hari, and me) so our space was limited...rental cars are always quite compact so we had to squeeze a lot of stuff into a small trunk. We started laying out everything we were bringing, mostly backpacks of clothes and such, when Brad came out of the Man Room with armfuls of stuff - a croquet set, blow-up pool toys, laser tag. Laser tag? Brad, do you really think we are going to need to bring laser tag for a 2 day trip? The answer to our question was ¨ahhhh, yes¨. Brad and Hari did some strategic packing and we somehow managed to fit everything in the car. Soon enough, we were on our way.
The 5 of us were the first to arrive at the house and like kids in a candy store we ran around checking out our first-class lodging for the weekend - at least 5 massive bedrooms, a huge kitchen that opened up to the pool area, proper well-kept grass tennis courts, a huge yard area (good thing we brought the croquet set), a billiard room, and a bbq area. Quite a change from the dodgy hostels we were used to staying in, but we had no trouble adjusting. We quickly unpacked the car, claimed our beds, and were on the tennis courts to play some sets and absorb some sun. We spent the day living like socialites, sipping on some delicious rum, mint, and ginger beer concoctions, playing tennis and croquet, and dipping in and out of the pool. It was the perfect start to Esther´s birthday weekend. We welcomed Esther´s friends as they arrived with drinks in hand and were ready for the festivities to begin. For dinner Brad cooked up a spinach and cheese pie that was to die for, and we partied until all hours of the night.I could go into more detail, but in summary the rest of the weekend was spent living in luxury and partying - we spent our days sipping cocktails in the sun by the pool, on the tennis courts, or playing croquet. We had some interesting American Gladiator type games in the pool with the blow-up toys and water guns that Brad brought. Hari and I became addicted to laser tag and spent hours running around the house shooting at each other (I´m sorry we doubted you on that one, Brad, it was a good call to bring the laser tag!). We feasted on bbq for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as one of Esther´s friends manned the grill and was constantly cooking up something for everyone. Johanne even made an appearance! He was also in Sydney for the weekend and we insisted that he make the trip out to Kangaroo Valley so he borrowed a friend´s car and came for an evening. He was the hit of the party, as he is an artist and draws some funky, cool designs on plain white shoes...everyone wanted a pair, but only Sarah, Esther, and I were lucky enough to receive authentic Johanne Silva custom-made kicks. It was one of the best weekends I´ve had on the entire trip, aside from the awesome house, we got to bond and party with great friends.
We were all pretty beat after our weekend and headed back towards Sydney to recover. We stopped off at Brad´s mom´s beach house for an evening where we watched a few movies and ordered in pizza. Unfortunately the weather was not too nice so we didn´t get to spend time on the beach. The next morning we headed back to Bondi Beach and spent the afternoon walking along the bike/running trail that lines the shore. Brad and Esther showed us some local places to get some good eats and were beach bums for the afternoon. That evening we relaxed back at their pad and watched Slumdog Millionaire - if you have not seen it, go see it ASAP, it is excellent.
After Esther´s crazy birthday weekend and spending a few days relaxing, we made our way into the city to explore more of Sydney. Hari, Sarah, and I walked along the bridge that overlooks the Sydney Opera House and did all of the touristy things that you have to do while in Sydney. It is a beautiful city, one that I could definitely see myself living in at some point in the future. It has all of the big city sights that I love, but also has the ideal beach location and weather. I am a huge fan of Sydney. We just walked around and wandered for an entire afternoon. Hari and I indulged in a big sushi lunch, I LOVE sushi and had not had it in so long. After a few hours on our own Esther met us in a park and we headed back to Bondi Beach. Hari, Sarah, and I were heading north to Cairns and had to have a goodbye dinner with Brad and Esther before our journey continued. We had the greatest time with them in Sydney and Kangaroo Valley and were so happy to spend time with them. We were all a bit sad to split again, but we had a feeling we´d see them again somewhere along the way...
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