1 February 2019 42,251 steps no running weight 78.9kg
I didn’t sleep well, for two reasons. The first was the new troubles at work. As previously mentioned, there is both good and bad news on the work front, and it was, of course, the bad news that kept me awake far later than is good for me. The other reason was the rain. It was raining steadily from late evening. Normally the sound of rain on the roof would lull me into a peaceful slumber, but not on this occasion. I was to rise early and head into Circular Quay for a celebratory walk around the harbour with some of the lads from work. It’s very close to five years since we first started these semi-regular walks, and they have become something of an institution, both immensely enjoyable of themselves, but also a fantastic debrief and sanity saver from the turmoil of work.
But as I lay there listening to the rain, it seemed to me this fifth anniversary celebration would have to be postponed.
Eventually I was able to drift off to sleep. I then awoke about a half hour earlier than I needed, and it was still raining steadily. I made some breakfast and checked the weather radar. It didn’t look promising, but I texted the others to gauge their thoughts. They were still keen and thought the rain was easing, so I caught the train into town. It rained all the way in, then amazingly stopped the moment I left Wynyard Station to walk down to our meeting point at Circular Quay.
In what can be best described as either a major blessing or an astonishing coincidence, we did our 30km walk around Sydney Harbour without any hint of rain. On our return to our starting point (it’s a circular route), and settling down to our first beer of the day and some lunch, it again started to rain and continued until well into the evening.
We always see something unusual on these walks. Today it was a Lamborghini photo shoot: 16 of them arranged with the Sydney Opera House as the backdrop and two very happy photographers. We chatted to one of them for a while before we were distracted again, this time by the sight of the P&O cruise ship Pacific Explorer steaming at a great rate of knots toward the Sydney Harbour Bridge. A crowd of onlookers was growing as it seemed certain to collide with it, but of course it sped underneath with plenty of room to spare, but it was still quite a sight.
Six hours later, with the walk complete, we settled in to celebrate not just our fifth anniversary, but the fact that today was the last official day at work for our despised General Manager. So hated is he that the farewell card that was bought for him had to be shredded due to the ‘inappropriate’ farewell comments made in it. And the collection envelope which was to be used for a parting gift had collected the grand sum of just 5c, with an attached note to say that this was ‘4c too much’. I exaggerate not one iota.
We celebrated well, and apart from a blister on my left heel caused by me wearing an older pair of shoes (as I had supposed they would get ruined on the wetter, muddier parts of the walk), it was grand and memorable day out.
Fun-filled funky Feb
