Day 304: Sydney Playground Hopping — Melbourne Cup — Double Bay with Greg Waldorf
Man, it was so nice waking up in this gorgeous apartment overlooking Sydney Harbor.
I walked down the street and paid $20 to go to Anytime Fitness. It felt like too much, but I was there so I paid it. Wasn’t worth it — small place, crammed with equipment and people during prime AM hours.
I’ve become spoiled by my solitary workouts this year. I’ve rarely gone to public gyms. Hotel gyms rarely have anyone else in them, maybe 1 or 2 people max. And often I’m jogging or swimming or doing my body weight exercises in total privacy.
We made our own breakfast (brekkie?) , a welcome break from starting every day in a hotel or lodge restaurant.
We did homeschool and then Margaret went to Barry’s Bootcamp! She’ll be feeling this one tomorrow.
I took the kids to the Lynn Park playground. What a pleasant spot — right on the water next to the Woolahra sailing club and fancy Catalina restaurant.
Catalina was blowing up. Today is the first Tuesday of November. In the US that means Election Day, but in Australia it’s the day of the Melbourne Cup Horse Race — one of the biggest sports and party days of the year. It’s like the Kentucky Derby but a way bigger deal. They say it’s “the race that stops a nation.”
Like the derby, you put on your Sunday best and drink heavily. We would see more of this action later in the day.
I had to drag them off the zipline at Lynn Park but we finally headed home, stopping at Parisi’s to top up our kitchen with fruits and veggies before Lobsy arrives.
We Ubered to Double Bay to meet Greg Waldorf. Greg’s wife Emily is one of Margaret’s old buddies from Paris. They live in the Bay Area and Greg is the CEO of a company that has offices in SF and Sydney, so he’s here about once a quarter. It was such a great coincidence that his 3-day visit overlapped with our time here.
We started at another playground, right by the ferry terminal in Double Bay.
Greg has taken 25+ trips to Sydney and his family spent a month in Double Bay not long ago so he knew the hood well enough to walk us through all of his favorite spots.
Highlights included the public library (reminded us of Blue School actually) and the gussied up Aussies coming in hot for Melbourne Cup. Double Bay is more 40-something (50?) than 20-something so there was lots of great people watching.
We narrowly escaped the cougar dens and decided on dinner at a sushi spot with a conveyer belt. Greg is a regular and has the “Sushi Lover” loyalty card to prove it.
Greg then generously treated the kids (and me!) to cones at French Riviera Ice Cream.
It was so great to catch up with Greg — such a smart, thoughtful guy. He gave me some good advice as I start to think about the next chapter of my careeer.
He jumped on the ferry back to this hotel and we Ubered home.
Lobsy has took off from Dallas a few hours ago and will be landing in Sydney at 6am. We’re all excited to see her for the SIXTH time this year.
The kids can. Not. Wait.
