Unusual Sydney...

After the casting, we decided to walk back across the city to replace some of the exercise we were missing by not going on the coastal walk. Eventually we made it to Chinatown and visited Market City, a giant Asian shopping center.

While the upper floors housed a very upscale mall, the ground floor was a mishmash of kiosks, just like you’d expect to find in Asia We bought some souvenirs, including a hat for me and a boomerang for Ashlynn. While we didn’t buy anything at this one, it was my favorite. Check out this insane variety of masks...

...and sequined bras and panties.

This alley was particularly cute with flowers on the walls and neon wingless cherubs above.

Eventually we ended up at World Square, a mall in the Central Business District, to go to Australian burger chain Grill’d...

...to try Beyond Meat patties, which had been recently added to their menu.

After picking one of the burgers under the vegetarian section of the menu, which would be replaced with this new vegan patty, we discovered that the entire menu could be made vegan thus giving us over 20 different burger combos to choose from. The burgers were huge!

While we’re both glad to see new meat alternatives introduced to tempt meat eaters, as non-meat eaters, we both agreed that we’d rather eat a patty made of veggies. So we’re glad we tried it, but wouldn’t necessarily order it again. 

Walking for Lee Mathews...

Ten days after that unexpected casting, Ashlynn walked in Lee Mathews’ show in Australia Fashion Week. She was especially excited that Soso was also walking in the show.

While most of the collection was flowing dresses, Ashlynn wore an oversized suit.

Unexpected Change in Plans....

Like in the other cities where Ashlynn was on-stay as a model, her schedule was not her own and was highly unpredictable. After breakfast at Riahn’s that Sunday morning, we headed back to the hotel with the plan of doing a nice coastal walk. Just as we were boarding a train, she got a call about a last minute casting for a fashion show. So we ditched our plans, went back to the hotel to grab her heels, took a bus across town for an hour and then walked 20 minutes to the casting.

Since there was only one other model at the casting, instead of the usual dozens, she suggested that I come inside to wait. It was a bit awkward when the casting agent first caught sight of me, but he was actually really friendly and we had a nice chat. Thankfully Ashlynn got that job, so it wasn’t all for nothing.

From Flea Market to House Party...

Although public transport was incredibly cheap, we opted to walk a lot. While walking near the University of Sydney, we spotted this cool building covered in plants...

 ...some unusual street art...

 ...and a funny sign above a pub.

We enjoyed the Glebe Flea Market, which featured mostly locals selling their crafts or junk at bargain prices. I bought Ashlynn a ring and myself a necklace made out of old Australian coins. I also bought her a bunch of second-hand clothes.

While I’m not usually a big fan of little yapper dogs, these ones looked pretty adorable.

I’m also not a fan of coffee, but thought this coffee cup sculpture was pretty funny.

Like we saw in parts of Melbourne, we came across several historic neighborhoods with rod iron balconies.

I enjoyed getting to meet Ashlynn’s friends. The boys were Ashlynn’s roommates for four weeks: 18-year-old Josh and 20-year-old Rex, both from the UK. The girls were both models who made Ashlynn look short: 17-year-old Riahn from Sydney and 19-year-old Soso from Berlin. It was so sweet of Riahn to invite me along for a house party for her brother’s 20th birthday.

It was quite an experience to journey to the suburbs and party with a bunch of strangers. Not only did Riahn’s parents roll out the red carpet for us then, but they later invited Ashlynn to live with them for her final two weeks in Sydney. She and Riahn had a great time together.

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia...

One afternoon while Ashlynn was working, I went to see some contemporary art. With more than 4,000 works by Australian artists, you can see that I was drawn to those featuring animals, such as these bunnies...

 ...snakes...

 ...miscellaneous critters...

 ...and manta rays.

This photo definitely doesn’t do this piece justice as it was in a large room with black walls and the strings ending in crystals really gave the impression of swimming underwater.

Sydney Half Marathon...

I joined the Sydney Thirsty H3 hash Facebook page so I could stalk Ashlynn after I left. Unfortunately, she only ran with them one time on her own, but she was happy to connect with the group at the Sydney Half Marathon. 

Personally, I was surprised when she registered for the race as other than hashing those few times, she hadn’t been running at all. However, she averaged walking about ten miles per day, so was still able to break two hours on the hilly route on a warm day.

We were too cheap to purchase the photos, but here’s a few of her flying along.

She was very happy to have a nice group of hashers to hang out with after the race.

Sydney Thirsty Hash House Harriers...

I was very happy that Ashlynn agreed to hash with me that Thursday night. She thoroughly enjoyed that there was a fast group at the front of the pack and that she could easily keep up with them. Needless to say, I was with the slowpokes at the back. 

Wish I could remember what story Ashlynn was sharing in the circle. Afterwards she went out dancing with her friends and I went to a pub with a bunch of hashers. 

I was even happier when Ashlynn suggested that we hash again that Saturday for their monthly Saturday hash. Ironically we hashed right past our hotel. We also hashed past this impressive cathedral, St. Mary’s, built in 1928.

While Ashlynn was successfully running true trail with the front runners, I got lost with a few of the slowpokes. We ran through Hyde Park where we saw this cool fountain...

 ...a cute little Common Bushtail Possum, which is native to Australia...

 ...and some cool street art.

It’s hard to tell, but this harriette was wearing a super cute flamingo costume.

After the group was taped singing for a couple’s wedding, the circle got quite carried away for this wanker’s birthday. Luckily their antics didn’t scare Ashlynn away from hashing again with them once I left.