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An easy flight though, we had some storms as we left Bangkok, but we got flying and came into the airport on time. We are now going to spend a week in Sydney, staying with my Grandma, to keep things on “holiday mode”. No point in going back to work immediately, I also saw on the weather yesterday, it was -5 in Canberra. That would be a bit too much of a shock to the system.

It was very cold when we arrived back in Sydney. Cold and freezing, holding nothing. We got the train, which is the biggest rip off in the world. Why pay $15 for the same train, that takes you to Campbelltown or wherever else. By the time we got in it was peak hour, so there’s no space to sit down. What a deal.

It was nice to get back to Grandma’s and get a good rest. It was my birthday on Friday so we caught up with some friends and got a mean steak at the Landsdowne. The next day we went to “Bastardfest” at the Sando in Newtown. We saw Ignite The Ibex, they were on first up. I put a link to a story I did about them in BMA last year.

They were good, with a pretty strong response for the 1pm timeslot. We went for a bit of a walk and caught up with our friends Viv and Bret. We will stay with them a while once we get back to Canberra. Hopefully by that time, the weather will have warmed up a bit.

We got some mexican for lunch, and had a dessert in a bookshop/cafe. By the time we got back to the Sando, Bane of Isildur were playing. They sounded alright. They were your typical warpaint wearing metal gurus.

My friend Paddy told me later on he had been sitting in the back room while these guys were getting their faces on, and old Kelly, the sometimes 4th guitar player of I Exist, sometimes Blunt Magazine guy, was playing some Grinspoon songs on the acouy. I said the best part would have been if while the blokes were putting their paint on they started singing along….since since, since since you went away, I hope you had a better day. Tried to call round the other day, instead I had a go kart. Go Kart.

I Exist were next up, playing on the smaller stage where we had seen Ignite The Ibex earlier on. I linked to an article I did with them in BMA a while ago too. They had a good showing as it’s not so often they play at purely “metal” shows, even though they have a very metal sound. Although Extortion were also on the bill. This fest, Bastardfest was probably the closest thing in the last few years to the great Metal For The Brain events, which were always a real highlight of the year.

There was certainly a similar amount of sweaty long haired blokes, and I think the scent of all these packed like sardines into a room, was probably not good for my health. Remembering that I was in hospital just one week before, I was feeling not so great, so decided to give a miss to the rest of the evening. We had paid good money, but the main bands I wanted to see had already played, so why not just go home. Most of the other bands I had seen before anyhow.

So now we are here in Sydney. We have bought a weekly ticket, so we might as well stay around for a week. We had a nice walk today, through the gully behind Grandma’s house, down to the Gore Creek reserve which eventually flows into the harbour. This was a good test for my ankle, and I think a success, so we would be able to do some more walks throughout the week.