My last post about the blog going temporarily dark backfired on me. It was meant to be a quick note to let readers know that I was so under the pump that I had to take a break from blogging for a few days.
But people were really worried that I was teetering on the edge of the abyss and sent lots of messages to check that I was OK.
Being in a frenzied panic over looming deadlines didn’t allow for the time I spent sending all the reassuring replies.
I would have been better off just writing brief rainbows and unicorns blog posts each day and explaining the crisis later.
But thank you to everyone who contacted me, it was so lovely to know you care about me.
I am doing fine, but I have been pushing myself too hard and I need to slow down.
I also have a confession: one of the reasons I was so panicked last week was that I was going to Hobart for the long weekend. The trip had been organised long before I had a book deadline and was bad timing for swanning off.
But it turned out to be the perfect time to have a break – I think I would be a gibbering wreck if I hadn’t downed tools for a few days.
We headed to Hobart because DD was going to a conference, so we tacked on a few days of bleisure and invited one of his besties and his wife to join us.
The universe took care of me from the moment we checked into the Crowne Plaza and got upgraded to a suite. It was bigger than some apartments I’ve lived in and even had a freestanding bathtub.
It also gave us access to a private rooftop bar with views over the city and harbour, where complimentary drinks and canapes were served from 5-7pm every night, followed by a complimentary hot and cold breakfast every morning. Very nice! The hotel even gave me a voucher for $5 off my cab fare to the airport as I was leaving!
As for our escapades … on the Saturday morning we had our free brekkie then headed to Salamanca Markets for twirl, where DD bought me this tile as a present …
He thought it was the most HILARIOUS gift ever.
Then we caught a cab to lunch at the Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk.
The famed restaurant is located in the town’s old mental asylum. The vast space features large windows and high ceilings lined with the original pressed metal, while the old exercise yard has been converted to a kitchen garden.
The set menu featured lots of luscious morsels, including the most delicious brussel sprouts I’ve ever tasted.
I wasn’t so sure about the duck hearts …
Getting a cab back to Hobart proved to be an expensive exercise … but apart from that it was a gorgeous way to spend an afternoon.
As the sun was setting I headed to a local pub to have a drink with my friends Dom and Emma, who moved to Hobart about five years ago and love it there. Then we wandered to a bar that I’ve been dying to try called Rude Boy.
I felt like I knew the owner when I walked in because I’d seen him compete in a few cocktail competitions over the years. I would have loved to put his mixology skills to the test, but it had already been a boozy afternoon, so I held back and sampled the venue’s fried chicken instead, which was DELICIOUS.
The bar has gorgeous tropical decor and we sat in a curved velvet booth and had a great night together.
The next morning we caught the ferry to MONA and stumbled across the famed wall of vaginas pretty much immediately.
The artwork is fascinating, as is a little room beside it called the Ladies Lounge, which men aren’t allowed to enter and is filled with green velvet and priceless artworks and mysterious serpent-like soft furnishings.
You can take the girl out of Newcastle but you can’t take Newcastle out of the girl so I thought it would be hilarious to straddle the serpent for a selfie.
My amusement vanished when we entered the adults-only area (the vagina wall is located in the general exhibition area), which included giant close-up photos of gunshot wounds and bestiality, alongside a sculpture of a young girl drooling actual water in a rabbit hutch, while covered in dead mice.
That wing wasn’t really my thing. But I did like the water sculpture nearby that literally rained words.
And I was fascinated by the mummy that had a life-sized screen beside it, which gradually revealed what the skeleton looked like inside.
We had lunch at The Source restaurant at MONA afterwards, where I ate one of the most delicious things I’ve had in forever: fried buttermilk cauliflower, almond cream, tahini dressing, pomegranate burnt honey, puffed wild rice & garlic crisps.
Insanely good.
Then we rounded out the fun by sipping a glass of wine on outdoor beanbags overlooking the river in the gentle winter sun.
After catching the ferry back from MONA we headed to our hotel room so I could luxuriate in the freestanding tub, followed by a visit to the rooftop lounge of our hotel for free sunset drinks and canapes.
Then we wandered to The Still bar, which has Australian’s largest collection of Tasmanian whiskies on pour, where we had divine Old Fashioneds with our friends.
It was a BULK FUN weekend, filled with friends, good food and fabulous drinks.
DD headed off to his conference on Monday morning and I did some frantic typing on the computer before going to the airport feeling a little more rested than I have been in a long time.
But I am still bloody knacked. I look so puffy and tired and old from all the stress and poor lifestyle habits.
I’ve decided the health kick starts now. Actually, that’s a lie. It starts tomorrow. I have something on tonight.
I am shaking my head at myself so you don’t have to.
And then life will return to some semblance of normality next week when my deadline is over.
In the meantime, I am taking the rest of this week off blogging to ensure my sanity levels remain high.
Catch you next Monday and have a great week.
Song of the day: Bachman-Turner Overdrive ~ Takin’ Care of Business
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