April 2023 (S.A. and Sydney)

Before I start on April, let’s recap the last few days of March. We rented a wonderful pet friendly house through AirBNB in Angaston (the Barossa Valley, South Australia) and we had two full days there. We also found a fantastic dog park in Nuriootpa (a few kilometres from where we were staying). We sought out a few dog parks on the S.A. trip but the Nuriootpa one took the cake as there were dog toys there for the dogs to enjoy!

Anyway, the Barossa is not famous for dog parks but for wine. Shiraz grapes in particular. We used MadPaws again for doggie day care and we spent a day wining and dining ourselves! We started at Penfolds then journeyed to Seppeltsfield.

We didn’t go to the Penfolds Winery (that’s in another part of S.A. and for next time) but we went to their Barossa shop. There, we had a pre-booked Luxury Wine Experience and we tasted wines which sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle including the famous ‘Grange.’ It was a great start to the day!

Next stop was a wonderful lunch at Fino at Seppeltsfield Winery and a taste of their famous port. We were lucky enough to taste port made in our birth years of 1967 and 1968.

During the day, our doggie carer who has an interest in pet photography was sending us photos and videos of Albus and Harry. Too cute!

Home again for a week or so we celebrated my second son’s Admission as an Australian lawyer, Easter and my 55th birthday. Surrounded by family, I have loved the love ❤️

The Admission was a particularly special day for me. My own Admission was in April 1992 so to return to the Supreme Court of Victoria and move the Admission of my son 31 years later was surreal. My older son and his fiancée were both Admitted but Covid lockdowns robbed them (and me) of the in person ceremony. 

Moving N’s Admission was a very proud moment for me. 

Mid April, we flew to Sydney for a few days. The main purpose of the trip was to see the Opera on the Harbour. This runs in Sydney every year for about a month. This year, it is “Madama Butterfly”. We loved the experience of the pop up restaurants and bars beneath the twinkling fairy lights and then the outdoor concert with the backdrop of the Harbour and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was an amazing experience and we’ll go back again next year.

Whilst we were in Sydney, we took the opportunity to see my sister who is currently living in Sydney, try out a couple of restaurants, catch a few ferries, go to a huge Caravan show in Parramatta and do a lot of walking.

We never grow tired of Sydney and, when the sun shines, there is no better view in the World than Sydney Harbour.

One thing I haven’t mentioned in my blog yet is my claustrophobia and general anxiety. Claustrophobia is something that I have wrestled with since I was 26 – I remember being pregnant with my first son and staying on a yacht for a week’s holiday in New South Wales (on the Pittwater just north of Sydney actually). I woke up one night disorientated and I suffered what I now know to be a panic attack. Over the years, this has bothered me on and off and I have learnt to manage it. Sort of manage it anyway.

Last year, however, my anxiety spiralled such that I was dreading certain situations like long haul flights. Claustrophobia/anxiety/panic – call it what you will - affected me when I least expected it. It hit me on trains, trams, in hotel rooms, in taxis, in lifts, in crowds, in car washes …Anywhere I thought that I was ‘trapped’ or that I might be trapped. I started avoiding situations where I thought I might suffer ‘panic.’ 

The fear of ‘the panic’ was affecting my life and was starting to limit my life so I sought help. I read books and I saw a psychologist for a few months. I now have some techniques to manage that ‘fight or flight’ reaction and to calm myself down and out of a panic attack.

After months of reflection, I think that my hand over period with the business I sold was very stressful and parts of it were very unpleasant. I think that this caused my anxiety to build. Until we received full payment for the business and until I had space away from the business and began to relax properly for the first time in 9 years, that anxiety was sitting on my shoulders waiting to pounce.  I was wound up like a tight ball of wool but, as the wool was unwound slowly, the tightness left me. I hope so anyway!!

I can’t recommend speaking to a professional highly enough. I think that I babbled most of the time but having an independent, supportive person listen to my babble and tell me that I was ‘OK’ and to be kind to myself was invaluable.

I mention this because I am not ashamed of it and, if reading this helps anyone, fantastic! Anxiety is a happiness thief and I will do my level best not to let it limit my life.

When we arrived in Sydney, our apartment was on the 52nd floor. Not too long ago, that would have freaked me out. I probably would have asked to be moved to a lower floor. Instead, I was able to relax and enjoy the amazing view. I was lucky that the lifts were super fast and I’m not saying that I wouldn’t have collapsed into a shrieking mess if I had been stuck in the lift but I’ll take any gains I can!!

Since March, I am a lot less restless and more settled although we have had a great few weeks of Palm Cove, South Australia, family occasions and Sydney so who knows if I am just in a holiday bubble?? We shall see…Meanwhile, I will enjoy the holiday bubble!! 

Japan beckons on 26 April.

A selfie at Manly beach (Sydney)

                                             Nuriootpa Dog Park

                                              

                                                Seppelstfield Port from 1968....a very good year!!

                                                        The Harbour Bridge at sunset taken from the Manly ferry.