Going to the Gong

I hardly see the youngest these days, due to me working five days a week and her working every weekend.

So I drove down from Sydney and she drove up after her shift to meet for an early dinner in Wollongong on Saturday night.

Being a proud Novocastrian, I am not a Wollongong fan.

As Wikipedia describes it: “The rivalry between Newcastle and Wollongong is a friendly but persistent regional tension, rooted in their similar identities as industrial, coastal cities outside Sydney, often competing for regional prominence in NSW. While Novocastrians and Wollongongers share a relaxed lifestyle and disdain for Sydney, they have historically vied over sporting success, economic development and lifestyle, with many noting their similar ‘blue-collar’ charm.”

Therefore, I think Wollongong is light on charm and lifestyle assets compared to Newie. But I had such a good night in the Gong that I may need to revise my opinion. Gulp!

I was pretty knackered by the time I got there because I’d forgotten I had a hair appointment in Avalon at 1pm. I trekked up, had a quick Vietnamese salad with DD, got my hair done, hurtled back to my place to walk the dogs around the block, then hit the road south.

We had a 5.45pm booking at Halfday Deli, which is a pizza joint by night and sandwich shop by day. It specialises in three-day ferment pizza and daily baked bread. And it’s the business!

We ordered two pizzas – Calabrese salami + fior di latte + green chilli + spiced honey – and – Potato + romesco + roast eschallot + fior di latte.

Both were delicious! Although I belatedly panicked when the pizzas arrived and I suddenly remembered romesco has nuts in it. Eeeeeek! Luckily Halfday Deli’s romesco is made with almonds, which the youngest is not anaphylactic to …

I’m not usually a dessert fan, but the youngest was keen to try the tiramisu – made with condensed milk and malt – and it was SENSATIONAL. Not diet food, but we shared one serve with two spoons and I tried not to guilt trip myself too much.

Because the world continues to be too small, the youngest knew our waitress, who was going to a party after her shift hosted by my first-ever boyfriend’s daughter Lucy. How we worked that out is a long story, which I will spare you. But wow, six degrees of separation and all.

After dinner, we headed to a hidden bar called the Black Cockatoo, which you find by going through the back of a coffee shop.

The youngest isn’t a drinker, as it messes with her athletic vibe, so the bartender (who she also knew somehow), made her a Beekeeper with non-alc gin, lime, honey and cucumber. She LOVED it. Since I was driving back to Sydney, I stuck with a glass of wine.

It was a brief but fab night and all too soon it was time for me to make the long trek back to Sydney.

As for Mother’s Day, it was a child-free affair, although both kids checked in by phone. I arrived on the Northern Beaches in the late afternoon and talked DD into a late afternoon beach walk that concluded with a $9 glass of chardy at Newport Surf Club.