Sydney, Balmain: a visit to Bar Contessa

Who knew that they actually filmed Independence Day in Sydney?

Digs and Raz at Manly.

While they did that (above) we visited this place.

Manly.

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Doyles, Watson's Bay.

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Fish and Chips at Doyles.

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Watson's Bay, Sydney.

Harbour bridge from Circular Quay.

We took a visit to Balmain, where I worked at an Italian coffee shop called Bar Contessa, 18 years ago. Con and Sarina who owned it when I worked there, sold it to a chap called Marco 8 years ago. He recommended the meat balls and linguine - really, really good - and made the boys some cute wide-eyed baby chinos. Many things about the decor had changed but the tiled floor in the kitchen I used to run around on, mainly to the tunes of Van Morrison it has to be said, and the gigantor jars of antipasti above the fridges remain.

Bar Contessa.

I has an epic grilled chicken Cesar Salad.

Meat-balls and linguine.

My old kitchen at Bar Contesa.

Sydney: Bondi Icebergs; surely the most beautiful pool in the world?

No other pool quite measures up once you have swum in the Bondi Icebergs. 18 years ago, when we used to live across the road from it, I used to jump over the turnstile when I got home from work in the evening, and do some lengths in my mask, snorkel and flippers. 

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The best front desk in the world?

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Bondi used to consist of one house, which was given a wide berth, as it belonged to the local hangman.

Bear checking out the tats.

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View from our old flat on Campbell Parade.

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Front of 58 Campbell Parade where we lived 18 years ago.

Copacabana: "...her name was Lola...." "shut up mum!"

We were woken up on our second morning at Copacabana ("...she was a showgirl...") to the sound of helicopters overhead from 6am. It turned out that last night on the next beach of Avoca, a man was bitten by a bronze whaler shark and 4 great whites were spotted right up close to our beach here in Copacabana ("...with yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there..."). Once you that song in your head, it goes on for days, interprupting normal sentences, with strange lyrics like, "music and passion were always in fashion at the..." out of the blue.

The Copacabana Classroom.

Bear's Pavlova.

Cockrane Lagoon.

Diggory's fish pie.

Avoca Theatre by the Sea where we saw War Horse..