Wrapping of the gifts

The viewing of the moon, the wrapping of the gifts

The viewing of the moon

As I got off the plane I sent a message to Dave to let him know that I had landed. I had said that I would be fine getting a train from the airport but they had insisted on picking me up. I found Dave in the terminal after collecting my case and we headed out, waiting for Brian to complete an entire lap of the airport before he pulled up next to us in the car park. We were soon at theirs and after settling myself in we had a little Christmas drink out on their balcony overlooking the harbour. It was warm enough to sit outside despite it being quite late and it was easy to see why they were loving the move over from London.

The following morning I woke early. Dave and Brian were both up and heading out to the gym and they said that I was more than welcome to join them. I laughed politely and declined the offer. Instead I went for a walk, calling in at a nearby bottle shop to pick up some wine (and gin) for Christmas Day and some wrapping paper as I had yet to wrap the presents for the secret Santa. I opted for a roll of Disney princess paper knowing Dave would appreciate it. Once Dave and Brian were back from the gym a post-workout breakfast of bacon and eggs on toast was rustled up. I had the post-workout breakfast too, despite not having done the workout.

There was a plan to head over to Manly Beach to meet up with some of Brian’s friends for a drink with the option of going to see a nativity, complete with donkey for Mary and camels for the wise men. We set off, walking through Pott’s Point, where the local gays seemed to be out in force. I said to Dave and Brian I could understand why they had chosen this area to live in. They asked me where I thought the fittest men had been on my travels so far. I replied that it all depends on what you find physically attractive. For me, I still have a soft (well…) spot for that American look – clean cut, nice teeth, nice physique – which meant that places like Atlanta, New York and San Francisco would all feature heavily in my favourite places so far for eye candy.

Sydney Opera Horse

Our walk took us through the Botanical Gardens where I got my first proper view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Brian explained that we would get a great view of the Opera House on the ferry from Circular Quay over to Manly and that he would make sure we were sat on the right side of the ferry to get the photos. I wanted to get a photo of Horse on his own with the Opera House in the background so that I could use the pun “Sydney Opera Horse” as the caption. I had a mental list of puns for various places on my travels. We found some seats near a window we could slide open, the windowsill providing a perfect spot to balance Horse without the risk of losing him overboard. I got the photos I wanted and took a few without Horse too. It was a great trip over to Manly and worth doing for the views of the Harbour.

Once in Manly we headed though the town and down to the beach. It didn’t take me long to realise that I would find living in Sydney very difficult, possibly fatal. The quantity of fit, tanned men in just shorts or swimwear was extremely distracting. I feared I would get knocked down by a car or walk into a lamppost while I was looking elsewhere. It was a feast for the eyes but there is still something fundamentally wrong, at least for a northern hemisphere native, about seeing a guy wearing just a Speedo and a Santa hat even on Christmas Eve. Maybe it would have worked if he had had the big white bushy beard? After a nice walk along the beach we made our way to Manly Wine (which I still think sounds like an oxymoron). We sorted a table with extra seats in anticipation of Brian’s friends arriving, all of us sitting on one side so that we could look out at the beach (and by beach I mean men on the beach). Brian’s friends arrived and he did the introductions. Over a couple of bottles of wine and a bite to eat we all chatted. There was much talk of what other people they had been at university with had been up to.

  

It got me thinking about my university days. I was only in touch with a handful of people from university and I wondered why? It might be because when I left university it was the very early days of email and mobile phones and keeping in touch wasn’t quite so easy as it is nowadays. I got my first mobile phone (the size of a brick type) just after I left university. It might be because I felt guilty that for the first year and a half of university I had felt like I was lying to them. I had come out halfway through my second year, telling my family, friends, housemates, course mates and work colleagues that I was gay in the space of about a week. Coming out was not the one-off event I had expected. I was fortunate that everyone I told took it in their stride. The memories of those conversations are still vivid and coming out is something that I think most straight people can never truly comprehend. One of the most common questions I would get after coming out to someone would be “When did you know you were gay?”. The best response I found was to ask them “When did you know you were straight?”. That usually flummoxes them for a while and helps them to really think about the question they have just asked.

The wrapping of the gifts

How to wrap a present

From Manly Wines we headed back toward the ferry. The queue of people waiting outside the church for the live nativity was massive so we decided to give that a miss. We did get to see the three wise men on their camels though. One was on his iPhone. I suppose these days there would be an app to help you find the Baby Jesus rather than you having to rely on following a star. We got the ferry back, me managing to end up sitting next to some random guy who turned out to be a complete nutter who wouldn’t stop talking. I was pleased when we got back to Circular Quay and I could get away from him. Dave headed home as he had to make gravy for Christmas Day (clearly it wasn’t going to be Bisto that would be being poured over our dinner the following day). The rest of us went for a bit of a bimble round Sydney before having a quick drink and returning home to see how the gravy was coming along. After a bite to eat we walked over to The Beresford so that I could meet Dan, who had agreed to be my next host. I had not met him before, but he had messaged me after Brian had posted that I needed some more hosts in Sydney. We chatted for a while and he told me what he thought we could go and see while I was staying at his. He would be off work and suggested a number of things out of the city that were worth a trip. It sounded like we would get on well and be very busy during my stay at his. Once back at Dave and Brian’s there was a little bit of slightly tipsy present wrapping before bed.

“The viewing of the moon, the wrapping of the gifts” 
Lyrics from Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea from the musical Pacific Overtures