DH and I went up to Sydney with some friends on the weekend to see the Lion King.
We flew up on a weird Jetstar flight which left from the international terminal. We had to clear international security and passport control, which also meant we had to check in at least an hour before the flight instead of the usual 30 minutes. Luckily the international terminal was quiet that morning, and we made it through all that fairly quickly. We had time for some coffees and snacks before we boarded.
We landed at Sydney international airport, and had to clear passport control and customs there too. It was a bit of a fiasco and we all agreed we should have just paid the extra $20pp and got on a normal flight.
I had left it til the last minute to book accommodation, and all the well priced hotels were gone. It was down to expensive hotels, cheap hotels in nasty areas, or hostel style accommodation. We went with hostel style, and chose a place just opposite Central. It was a great location, and an easy walk to the theatre for that night. The rooms were everything we needed, including tiny ensuite.
We were all pretty hungry and set off to find some lunch. There were heaps of restaurants in the area, but as it was getting late, a lot of them were shutting down. The place we ended up at had a great atmosphere and the best grilled chicken burger I've ever had!
After lunch, we decided to take a walk towards the harbour. It was a fair hike, but it was a nice day and there was lots to see on the way.
We came across Hyde Park first, and checked out the Anzac memorial.
A bit further up we came to some nice formal gardens with a pretty impressive building in the background. I'm sure all the Sydneysiders (and possibly others) will be able to tell me what it is.
A bit further up was a massive fountain.
We kept walking towards the Botanic Gardens, and eventually made it there.
We'd just entered the gardens when we were approached by a guy doing some sort of research project and wanted us all to write down our three first impressions of him.
We followed the signs to the Opera House, and now and then we could see signs of where we were headed.
We hit the foreshore and walked along it to the Opera House.
They were doing some major works at the Opera House, and it was a bit of a mess.
We were all still keen to have a wander around, especially to get some good vantage points for the bridge.
DH challenged me to take a close up shot of something there and see if people could guess what it was. I haven't gotten anyone to guess yet, but I took the shot.
We stood there for a while taking in the view of the Harbour Bridge.
As time was moving on, we decided we'd better head back to the hotel. We decided to catch the train from Circular Quay as we'd all had enough of walking by then. At the train station we all had some guesses at how far we'd walked. I was feeling pretty exhausted and my tummy wasn't feeling great, not sick, just really full and a little bit crampy. I assumed it had been a bit too much walking straight after a big lunch.
Back at the hotel we gave ourselves about half an hour to get ready before meeting again for dinner. While I was getting ready I checked my Fitbit, and it said that we'd done over 17,000 steps and 11km! No wonder I was exhausted!
We found a Thai place for dinner just down the road. I ordered a mild yellow chicken curry with potatoes and pumpkin. It was very yummy, but my tummy was giving me grief and I couldn't eat very much of it. I tried a can of coke, as fizzy drinks often help me feel better if I've got tummy pains. It didn't work, and after the small amount I had eaten, my tummy was definitely feeling worse. It was almost like it was so full it might explode!
We walked down to the theatre and got some nibblies and water from a convenient 7/11 just across the road.
We bought choc-tops as we went into the theatre as 'dessert' and ate them as the theatre filled up. I actually enjoyed mine, but I felt like I probably shouldn't have eaten it.
Once the show started, I promptly forgot about my tummy troubles and just enjoyed it
I'd been eyeing off a very yummy looking champagne cocktail before the show, so at intermission I made it my mission to get one and was one of the first in line. It WAS yummy, but unfortunately I didn't enjoy it all that much because I was feeling my tummy pains again. For the second half of the show I was quite uncomfortable, but still enjoyed the show immensely! I'm pretty sure I could see that show once a week and never get sick of it.
We had been discussing going to a comedy club or something after the show, but the way I was feeling, I was pretty keen to just get back to the hotel, pop a couple of panadol, and go to bed. I was a whinging mess on the way back, my legs hurt, my feet hurt, my tummy hurt, I was getting a headache... I apologised to everyone and told them I was sure I would feel better in the morning after a good sleep.
Unfortunately the panadol didn't really help, and I had a restless night. I didn't get much sleep, and I certainly didn't feel any better in the morning. In fact, I felt pretty bad. We'd had plans to go out for dim sum with some friends for an early lunch, and I immediately told DH I would not be going. I asked him if he could get me some stronger pain relief and just come and get me after the lunch. He insisted on taking me to see a doctor.
The doctor was only about a 15 minute walk, but walking was uncomfortable and I was pleased to get there. The doctor asked lots of questions, and poked and prodded, and decided to send us to the hospital in the end. She gave us a letter to give to the triage nurse.
The hospital was another short walk away. I gave the letter to the triage nurse, and was pretty much seen straight away. I won't go into too much detail about my hospital stay. I was in there for two nights, and that time was a blur of tests, needles, meds, and nasty drinks. Long story short, I had an inflamed gall bladder, but there were no stones, so it required a bit more testing than usual to find.
DH went home on the Sunday as planned with all our luggage (we only had one bag between us). I had to stay in hospital
I was finally allowed to come home on Monday afternoon when the doctors thought I'd stabilised enough with the antibiotics and pain meds. After being discharged I walked up to the chemist to get all my prescriptions filled, then took a taxi to the airport. I was relieved to get to the Qantas lounge, have a shower and brush my teeth, and at least feel a little bit human again.
I hadn't been able to eat much at the hospital, and was getting hungry, so I wandered up to the buffet to see what sort of soup they had. Unfortunately it was a spiced carrot with coconut cream. It sounded delicious, but far too much for my gall bladder to handle. One of the staff asked me if I needed help and I asked if they had any other types of soup. He very kindly brought me broth from another lounge. I felt very ungrateful as I could only manage a few spoons of it, even though it was the nicest thing I'd eaten for days!
My flight was very uneventful, and I was THRILLED to get home to my own house and my own bed, and my own bathroom
And so ends the TR.
Yesterday I had a day of running around to doctors and surgeons, and more blood tests, and have been booked in to get my gall bladder removed on Friday. The surgeon said I'll be able to start training again after about a week. Here's hoping it will be smooth sailing from then!
Guess I'd better give them a call to be sure. Hope they don't hike up the price too much on us - we're already paying through the roof because of my legs 
In the scheme of things, Sydney wasn't too bad.
