Weekend

We had a packed weekend, mostly spent in lovely surrounds.

Darren picked me up from work on Friday & we went & checked into The Swissotel on Market St. From the minute we walked in the door we felt like everyone was there just for us. The concierge took our bags & directed us up to level 8 for check-in. The staff at check-in were friendly & informative. We went up to our room on the 22nd floor, & as I put the key in the door I said to Darren "I'm expecting this room to be great" & it was. Lots of space, a king size bed & a gorgeous bathroom. Our bags arrived & the guy gave us a walk through of the room, telling us how everything worked - even the complimentary cappuccino machine!

We went & checked out the pool area so we could decide whether we would have a drink by the pool, in our room or at the bar. There were other people hanging around "our" pool. So we opted to have a drink in the Lobby Bar. It was there that I discovered my new favourite drink - a Toffee Apple. So, so good. I had 2 & was very close to drunk! We wandered back upstairs to get ready for dinner. I had a lovely bath, & got dolled up.

The Restaurant specialises in fondue - 3 types. We chose to not have the fondue as our main because Jess & Adam were coming to check in the next day & we thought it would be more fun to have it with them. So we both ordered steak & it was cooked to perfection. We then had a chocolate fondue for desert - very yummy. Then we headed upstairs to enjoy our room.

Next morning we had a great buffet breakfast, including made to order omelette's, waffles & rosti. We then walked to the QVB building to see if the Pandora shop was open, so Darren could get me some more Pandora charms for my birthday. It was open, I chose 2 new charms, one is a purple murano glass & the other is silver with amethysts in it. After the QVB we walked towards Darling Harbour, our booking at the hotel came with a double pass to the Aquarium or the Wildlife World. As Darren had never been to the Aquarium we chose that. It was ok, we saw the shark feeding - more sedate then I expected, & the dugongs were pretty cute also.

For lunch we headed to The James Squires Brewhouse on King St Wharf. This place is huge, way bigger then I expected. As the weather was really warming up & we knew we would be here for a while we chose to sit inside at a booth with comfy seats. I started with ice-water & Darren ordered a Highwayman brew. We just sat & relaxed, talking a bit about our course the next day & what might happen there. After about an hour Jess & Adam arrived & we ordered our lunch. Darren & I went small as we'd had that huge breakfast & knew we would be having an early dinner.

After lunch we headed back towards the hotel so Jess & Adam could check-in. Darren & I went into Myer for a bit. Then we all met up back at the hotel. Darren & Adam watched the V8's while Jess & I hung out in her room. We then got ready for dinner & went for a cocktail in the bar downstairs - I introduced Jess to the toffee apple & she like it too.

For dinner we all ordered the Fondue Chinoise, which consists of 2 different broths, one chicken based & one beef based, though not strongly tasting of these, being placed on the table in the traditional looking fondue set up. The idea was that you went to the buffet & selected from a range of raw meat & seafood that has been thinly sliced. There was also a large variety of dipping sauces, & a very large salad bar. You threaded your meat onto the skewers provided then used the broth to cook it. It was fun & something different & Darren ate his weight in prawns! Jess & Adam had the chocolate fondue for desert & Darren & I shared a banana cheesecake.

We all had tickets for Avenue Q - http://www.avenueqthemusical.com.au/ - so we headed to the Theatre Royal - at a fast walk - as we were running late! We made it in time & settled in to watch the funniest most inappropriate puppet show that I have ever seen. This is a great show, but definitely not for anyone who is easily offended & definitely not for kids!

When the show was over we went back to the hotel & stopped in the bar for another drink, we discussed if we were going to have breakfast together or not, as Darren & I would be leaving the hotel by 8am to get to the 8.50am start for our course & the others didn't have to leave until 11am. We decided if they were up they would join us but if not they wouldn't. They didn't - but a very groggy looking Jess wrapped in a towel knocked on our door at 7.15am & handed me an Eeyore pen for my birthday! Funny.

We got the car after breakfast & headed to Strawberry Hills for our course. We were both a bit nervous about what to expect. There are 26 people in the group - more than I expected, & it gets heavy straight away. I guess you know that these kids aren't in lovely homes & that is why they come into care, but I guess most people don't realise how bad the situation can be.

We had a full day, with a couple of breaks for the nice food that is supplied. We covered lots of stuff including confidentiality, which is a major thing. Darren did great - he stayed awake & participated well! I was a little worried I'd catch him napping - as he is doing long hours at work & when he's just sitting he usually goes to sleep! We have 2 more Sundays & then about 6 more assessments at our home. Our contact has told us that those assessments may not take place until next year.

We finished up at about 5.15pm & went straight to Loftus for my Birthday dinner. I did get the 2 pies as requested so that was yummy. I also got Dexter season 3 & some pj's. The night finished early as we had to get home & check the cats. They were happy to see us. But I was not happy to see their vomit.