stay tuned for more)
My visit to Sydney had a dual purpose: to attend the ANZ Bank Retired Officers' Christmas Party in the ANZ Centre at 242 Pitt Street, and to take a look-through-the-door into my tiny rental unit at McMahons Point.
The first was not tax-deductible and predictable; the second was and also a lovely surprise as the new tenant, a friendly lady-musicologist who teaches at a nearby school and plays the pipe organ at the local church, not only looks after the place but also loves where she is.
She even has her own upright piano in the sitting-room. I wanted to know what the neighbours thought of her playing it. She said, "They ask me to play if they haven't heard me for a while." Three cheers to living in a small body corporate with just seven friendly neighbours!
So why shouldn't she love it there? Blues Point Road is like a little piece of Paris with is numerous outdoor cafés, bars, and pubs and yet within easy walking-distance to the 'Big Bad City' at North Sydney and the trains and ferries across the Bridge.
Not that I could ever live there again - or, for that matter, anywhere else in Sydney - but, as they say, "One man's hole-in-the-wall is another woman's home".
