A very Sydney blog
A very Sydney blog

A very Sydney blog

Sydney-harbour-bridgeWarning! Eastern Sydney wanker blog follows.

I’m packing to go away again. Yay!!!

I’m doing some preliminary work for a shoot coming up on the south coast of NSW, so I’ll be staying in cabins rather than camping.

That means I don’t have to take my bed or kitchen, so you’d think packing would be easier wouldn’t you. Think again.

Clothes are still easy. I’ll be gone for about 5 days, so a small sports bag is plenty. I always hated ironing, even when I worked in an office, so very few of my clothes, and certainly not the ones I’d take away with me unless I was going to a formal dinner, require ironing. I can roll them up, put them in a bag, and they’ll be ready to wear when they come out again. And when I’m camping I’m happy to wear the same clothes for days.

The difficulty arises in what I need to be comfortable – and this is where I prove the old adage that you can take the girl out of Sydney, but you can’t take the Sydney out of the girl!

My-friand-has-been-attacked-by-a-seagullWhenever I travel my first must-have is real coffee. “Instant” and “coffee” are two words that should never appear in the same sentence.

I forgot to take the coffee when we went to the farm once. We arrived late at night so left the food in the car fridge while the fridge inside got cold. It wasn’t until the next morning when I was making breakfast that I realised I didn’t have coffee. I was like one of those cartoon characters that wakes up grumpy, with red rimmed eyes and hair standing on end, then when they get their coffee they’re suddenly serene and happy. Only I was the reverse – I was fine when I got up, but as soon I realised I couldn’t make a coffee I turned grumpy. Tea just didn’t cut it. Doc decided it was much easier to make the 1 hour trip into town and the 1 hour trip back to get proper coffee.

Champagne-by-the-harbourThe wankiest thing is I don’t even drink coffee every day. It’s not a physical addiction – I can go for days without having a cup at all (unless I’m thinking about it – I’m on my second cup since starting this blog).  It’s the same with wine. I sometimes go days without having a glass (stop laughing, I do. Not often, I mean, why deprive myself unnecessarily), but if I don’t have any wine in the house then I have to make a trip to the bottle shop.

It’s probably the same mental deficiency that leads me to re-stock the freezer if I spot a vacant space, and to always have a pantry full of non-perishables. The similarity between me and Doomsday Preppers has been pointed out. Please, nobody ever give me a cellar!

When I go camping I take a stove top percolator and a milk frother, but somehow that doesn’t seem good enough when I’m going to be staying somewhere inside, with easy access to electricity. My espresso machine is too big to pack up and take away, so the only other option is to buy another coffee machine. But can I really justify the expense?

I’d save money in the long run by not buying coffees at a cafe. Really – it’s economically rational, it would be financially irresponsible of me not to get a new coffee machine.

But if I just stopped being such a wanker I could take the stove top.

But knowing that I’m a wanker doesn’t make it any easier. It won’t hurt to go out and have a look at machines. I don’t have to buy one ….