A Fun Weekend of Friendship

After the full on weekend with the Wedding and Baptism Display a week ago, this last weekend was a time to have some fun and head down to the big smoke.

On Friday, Mick very kindly drove Chooky and I down to Sydney to fellow Blogger and Zoomer Betty’s place, where we stayed for a couple of nights.  Mick headed back home after lunch. Us girls had a lovely afternoon of stitching with Betty and her friend Stephanie, who also comes to Scrub Stitchin’.

As if that wasn’t fun enough, on Saturday Betty, Stephanie, Chooky and I caught the train in to Circular Quay to have a little wander around and then catch up with Miss Jules (Scrub Stitchin’ and Chooky’s neighbour).

Then we all met up with Janet from Utah, who joins us on Zoom during most sessions.  What a blast! Obviously, this was the reason for the trip down to Sydney.

We started out by having lunch at City Extra with Janet, her hubby and their travelling companions.  Although we had never previously met in person, it was just like catching up with an old friend.  We were also joined by Leah, Chooky’s school friend.

After lunch, Janet was hijacked by all us girls while the other Americans went off to play the tourist.  We hopped on the Manly Ferry to cross the harbour.   

It was a glorious day to be on the  water.

Once at Manly, Betty and Stephanie remained at the Ferry Terminal while the rest of us wandered along the corso to the beach.  After a cloudy start to the day, you couldn’t have got a better day.  Janet got to dip her toes….and jeans up to her knees, thanks to a rogue wave…… in the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the world.

Once back in the city, we visited the Old Customs House to see the model of the city.  I was intrigued with this, as I didn’t even know it existed. 

Then it was a short ride on the light rail to the QVB.  

You have to visit the beautiful building and we treated ourselves to some Haigh’s chocolates.

From there it was a train and Uber back to Janet’s hotel for an early dinner.  It was rather sad saying goodbye, but they wanted an early night in readiness to leave on a cruise on Sunday.

What a fantastic day we had.

On Sunday morning, another of Betty’s friends also joined us for a morning of stitching in Betty’s excellent sewing space.

All too soon, it was time to say our farewells and head for the train.  I caught the Bathurst Bullet home, while Chooky stayed down for a couple of extra days.

I took my new knitting project to work on during the trip home.  

The start…

I knitted until we got to Lithgow, by which time my eyes were getting a bit tired.  I’m pleased with how much I achieved.

It really is amazing that we were able to have so many fellow Bloggers and Zoomers meet Janet in person.  We had a wonderful few hours together.

Thanks also to Betty for being a lovely hostess, inviting us into her home.

Janet left us with a small gift of items from Utah.  A coaster made by her, a Riley Blake charm pack, (they are an Utah company), some Utah chocolates and some soap made by Janet in a bee design, representing Utah.  Thank you so much.