AussieMatt travels home - a thread

Hey Matt’

Can we see some Vegemite toast art
Stylised Sydney opera house … the Bridge etc.
…like the coffee art 😃

Michael Keaton No GIF
 
This may be a boring one, but today I took Connor and the Minister to almost every place I've lived. I haven't been to some of these places for more than 30 years. There were a lot of memories flowing in this one and there seemed to be some dust or something in the air.

This is the first house I remember living in when I was about 3-8. This is in a suburb called Fairfield West. Mum reckons that the only thing that looks different if the paint colour, the fence and the gate on the right.

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This is the first school I went to. King Park Public School, which was about a mile away from the house above. We walked to and from that school every day.

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This is the second house and the one where I lived the most, had the most fun, made the most friends and had the most upset. My grandmother and grandfather bought the lower level of the house in 1953. We moved in in 1979 and Mum and Dad had the upper level added at that time. We moved out and sold when Mum and Dad got divorced in 1986. Apparently it's currently worth around $2.2 million Australian.

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This is the primary school where we went, which is a short 2 minute walk from the house above. Odd name too.

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Next was after the divorce we moved into an apartment on Empress St in Hurstville.

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We lived there for about 4 years and moved to another apartment in Balfour St in Allawah. Our place was the middle floor on the left.

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Next was the apartment I lived in after my divorce from my ex-wife. I was in the top floor in the back, above the one that looks like it has a sheet hanging on it, so it was a bit quieter than the front ones.

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Finally, the last place I lived in before I moved to the US and married the Minister. This place was great for me but boy it's been run down now...makes me sad to see it because it was a great little house. I always had the grass cut with the edges trimmed.

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We then headed over to another pretty big mall at Miranda where I had worked at one time, to show the family around, then we headed over to a pie shop at Caringbah to have a meat pie. I will be having a couple more of these beauties before I leave. I do make my own in Ohio, but these hit differently.

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Tomorrow Connor and I will be meeting one of my Uncles in the city and we'll be going all over with him playing tour guide.

As an aside, my Mum's husband is not doing well at all (he's 89) and was today diagnosed with critical heart failure. We knew this would probably be the last time we'd see him but we had no idea it was this bad. He's in pretty good spirits, all considering.
 
This may be a boring one, but today I took Connor and the Minister to almost every place I've lived. I haven't been to some of these places for more than 30 years. There were a lot of memories flowing in this one and there seemed to be some dust or something in the air.

This is the first house I remember living in when I was about 3-8. This is in a suburb called Fairfield West. Mum reckons that the only thing that looks different if the paint colour, the fence and the gate on the right.

View attachment 9250056

This is the first school I went to. King Park Public School, which was about a mile away from the house above. We walked to and from that school every day.

View attachment 9250057


View attachment 9250058

This is the second house and the one where I lived the most, had the most fun, made the most friends and had the most upset. My grandmother and grandfather bought the lower level of the house in 1953. We moved in in 1979 and Mum and Dad had the upper level added at that time. We moved out and sold when Mum and Dad got divorced in 1986. Apparently it's currently worth around $2.2 million Australian.

View attachment 9250059

This is the primary school where we went, which is a short 2 minute walk from the house above. Odd name too.

View attachment 9250060

Next was after the divorce we moved into an apartment on Empress St in Hurstville.

View attachment 9250061

We lived there for about 4 years and moved to another apartment in Balfour St in Allawah. Our place was the middle floor on the left.

View attachment 9250062

Next was the apartment I lived in after my divorce from my ex-wife. I was in the top floor in the back, above the one that looks like it has a sheet hanging on it, so it was a bit quieter than the front ones.

View attachment 9250064

Finally, the last place I lived in before I moved to the US and married the Minister. This place was great for me but boy it's been run down now...makes me sad to see it because it was a great little house. I always had the grass cut with the edges trimmed.

View attachment 9250066

We then headed over to another pretty big mall at Miranda where I had worked at one time, to show the family around, then we headed over to a pie shop at Caringbah to have a meat pie. I will be having a couple more of these beauties before I leave. I do make my own in Ohio, but these hit differently.

View attachment 9250067

View attachment 9250069

Tomorrow Connor and I will be meeting one of my Uncles in the city and we'll be going all over with him playing tour guide.

As an aside, my Mum's husband is not doing well at all (he's 89) and was today diagnosed with critical heart failure. We knew this would probably be the last time we'd see him but we had no idea it was this bad. He's in pretty good spirits, all considering.
Very frank , very raw , all that made and shaped you and some private …
Big ticks ✔️ from me , thanks for sharing mate 👏
 
It's a wild feeling to go back to old places you've lived like that. I can imagine even more so when you consider the distance and time in play here.
 
Today it was just Connor and I. We met my Uncle Geoff in at Circular Quay and we toured around the city to show Connor a bit of history.

We started at the old Maritime Services building which is now the Museum of Contemporary Art.
PXL_20240320_230042324.MP.jpg

We then headed to The Rocks, which was one of the first places that was settled when Australia was founded.
I worked as the head bouncer at this pub in the early 90's.

PXL_20240320_232625465.jpg

And then there's the oldest pub in Sydney.

PXL_20240320_232821621.MP.jpg

This the "The Obelisk". No matter where you are in Australia, if there's a distance to Sydney, it's to this spot, which is considered the middle of Sydney.

PXL_20240320_235903873.jpg

This is the anchor from the HMS Sirius, which led the First Fleet to Australia with the first load of convicts.

PXL_20240321_000052945.jpg

We headed over to the Public Library of NSW.

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Inside, on the floor, is a replica of the map that was done by Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, which shows the parts of Australia that he mapped in two voyages.

PXL_20240321_002013448.MP.jpg

Next we saw the NSW Parliment House, where the state politicians take great ideas and f**k them up. That's my uncle not being impressed.

PXL_20240321_002621935.jpg

This is Hyde Park Barracks, which was where the convicts were housed and later was used as a Women's Asylum. This building was constructed between 1817 and 1819.

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This is Centrepoint Tower, at one time, the highest building in Sydney. It has a revolving restaurant on the top and we'll be going there for the Ministers birthday dinner next week.

PXL_20240321_004108581.jpg

Almost next door to the Barracks is St Mary's Cathedral, the largest gothic cathedral in the southern hemisphere...and where I went to high school.

PXL_20240321_013238744.jpg

The high school was originally a boys and girls high school but is now just a boys high school. My Mum actually went here when it was both high schools and my brother and I went here up until 1986, when I graduated in year 10 and he went to another school. The original school was demolished in 1987 (had nothing to do with me) and rebuilt to what it is here.

PXL_20240321_013410803.jpg

We crossed the road to Hyde Park and went to the Archibald fountain, which was renovated about 15 years ago.

PXL_20240321_014301031.jpg

We then walked down to the ANZAC Memorial. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, which was the combined Australian and New Zealand army which fought under the British in WW1 and WW2.

PXL_20240321_015053731.jpg

We also saw a lot of these native ibis's around, which are locally known as bin chickens, because they're always trying to get food out of the garbage bins. No one actually calls them ibis's any more, it's bin chicken.

PXL_20240321_014533525.jpg

Last stop before heading home was George St, which runs from one end of the city to the other. You used to be able to drive down it but since I've been gone they've closed it to vehicle traffic and only the light rail (trams) run down there now. The building on the left is the Queen Victoria Building, which was originally a produce market and police court.

PXL_20240321_031545524.jpg

And because we're weird, we make some weird stuff. Like these kangaroo scrotums that have been turned into a bottle opener and coin holders. :ROFLMAO:

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You're a great tour guide @AuzzieMatt, really enjoying seeing all these things!
 
Really cool thread. Thanks for sharing man
 
Does anybody else want to see a picture of @AuzzieMatt as a bouncer in the 1990's, because I do.

Also, I only buy genuine kangaroo scrotums. Seeing the real deal on shelves makes me happy.
Absolutely we need to see that pic!
 
Today it was just Connor and I. We met my Uncle Geoff in at Circular Quay and we toured around the city to show Connor a bit of history.

We started at the old Maritime Services building which is now the Museum of Contemporary Art.
View attachment 9250393

We then headed to The Rocks, which was one of the first places that was settled when Australia was founded.
I worked as the head bouncer at this pub in the early 90's.

View attachment 9250394

And then there's the oldest pub in Sydney.

View attachment 9250395

This the "The Obelisk". No matter where you are in Australia, if there's a distance to Sydney, it's to this spot, which is considered the middle of Sydney.

View attachment 9250398

This is the anchor from the HMS Sirius, which led the First Fleet to Australia with the first load of convicts.

View attachment 9250400

We headed over to the Public Library of NSW.

View attachment 9250405

Inside, on the floor, is a replica of the map that was done by Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, which shows the parts of Australia that he mapped in two voyages.

View attachment 9250408

Next we saw the NSW Parliment House, where the state politicians take great ideas and f**k them up. That's my uncle not being impressed.

View attachment 9250409

This is Hyde Park Barracks, which was where the convicts were housed and later was used as a Women's Asylum. This building was constructed between 1817 and 1819.

View attachment 9250410

This is Centrepoint Tower, at one time, the highest building in Sydney. It has a revolving restaurant on the top and we'll be going there for the Ministers birthday dinner next week.

View attachment 9250417

Almost next door to the Barracks is St Mary's Cathedral, the largest gothic cathedral in the southern hemisphere...and where I went to high school.

View attachment 9250418

The high school was originally a boys and girls high school but is now just a boys high school. My Mum actually went here when it was both high schools and my brother and I went here up until 1986, when I graduated in year 10 and he went to another school. The original school was demolished in 1987 (had nothing to do with me) and rebuilt to what it is here.

View attachment 9250419

We crossed the road to Hyde Park and went to the Archibald fountain, which was renovated about 15 years ago.

View attachment 9250420

We then walked down to the ANZAC Memorial. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, which was the combined Australian and New Zealand army which fought under the British in WW1 and WW2.

View attachment 9250422

We also saw a lot of these native ibis's around, which are locally known as bin chickens, because they're always trying to get food out of the garbage bins. No one actually calls them ibis's any more, it's bin chicken.

View attachment 9250421

Last stop before heading home was George St, which runs from one end of the city to the other. You used to be able to drive down it but since I've been gone they've closed it to vehicle traffic and only the light rail (trams) run down there now. The building on the left is the Queen Victoria Building, which was originally a produce market and police court.

View attachment 9250425

And because we're weird, we make some weird stuff. Like these kangaroo scrotums that have been turned into a bottle opener and coin holders. :ROFLMAO:

View attachment 9250423

View attachment 9250424
Hahaha. Whats with the bottle opener and coin purse? 😂😂😂
 
Good stuff - enjoy the rest of the trip!

My wife will need to travel there 1-2x per year for work. I will be joining her on one of those trips one of these days.
 
I've enjoyed checking this thread every morning to see what @AuzzieMatt it doing today. The pics and overviews have been great and I appreciate you taking us along.

The kangaroo scrotum is something I never expected to read here on the forum, but it's made me chuckle nevertheless. Enjoy and thanks for this thread!
 
Fun thread! I have never been but it’s on our bucket list to do a trip to Australia and New Zealand.
 
Great thread and pictures.
 
Today it was just Connor and I. We met my Uncle Geoff in at Circular Quay and we toured around the city to show Connor a bit of history.

We started at the old Maritime Services building which is now the Museum of Contemporary Art.
View attachment 9250393

We then headed to The Rocks, which was one of the first places that was settled when Australia was founded.
I worked as the head bouncer at this pub in the early 90's.

View attachment 9250394

And then there's the oldest pub in Sydney.

View attachment 9250395

This the "The Obelisk". No matter where you are in Australia, if there's a distance to Sydney, it's to this spot, which is considered the middle of Sydney.

View attachment 9250398

This is the anchor from the HMS Sirius, which led the First Fleet to Australia with the first load of convicts.

View attachment 9250400

We headed over to the Public Library of NSW.

View attachment 9250405

Inside, on the floor, is a replica of the map that was done by Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, which shows the parts of Australia that he mapped in two voyages.

View attachment 9250408

Next we saw the NSW Parliment House, where the state politicians take great ideas and f**k them up. That's my uncle not being impressed.

View attachment 9250409

This is Hyde Park Barracks, which was where the convicts were housed and later was used as a Women's Asylum. This building was constructed between 1817 and 1819.

View attachment 9250410

This is Centrepoint Tower, at one time, the highest building in Sydney. It has a revolving restaurant on the top and we'll be going there for the Ministers birthday dinner next week.

View attachment 9250417

Almost next door to the Barracks is St Mary's Cathedral, the largest gothic cathedral in the southern hemisphere...and where I went to high school.

View attachment 9250418

The high school was originally a boys and girls high school but is now just a boys high school. My Mum actually went here when it was both high schools and my brother and I went here up until 1986, when I graduated in year 10 and he went to another school. The original school was demolished in 1987 (had nothing to do with me) and rebuilt to what it is here.

View attachment 9250419

We crossed the road to Hyde Park and went to the Archibald fountain, which was renovated about 15 years ago.

View attachment 9250420

We then walked down to the ANZAC Memorial. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, which was the combined Australian and New Zealand army which fought under the British in WW1 and WW2.

View attachment 9250422

We also saw a lot of these native ibis's around, which are locally known as bin chickens, because they're always trying to get food out of the garbage bins. No one actually calls them ibis's any more, it's bin chicken.

View attachment 9250421

Last stop before heading home was George St, which runs from one end of the city to the other. You used to be able to drive down it but since I've been gone they've closed it to vehicle traffic and only the light rail (trams) run down there now. The building on the left is the Queen Victoria Building, which was originally a produce market and police court.

View attachment 9250425

And because we're weird, we make some weird stuff. Like these kangaroo scrotums that have been turned into a bottle opener and coin holders. :ROFLMAO:

View attachment 9250423

View attachment 9250424
This is so cooll to be able to share that experience with the family. Definitely makes me want to go back and visit.
 
Does anybody else want to see a picture of @AuzzieMatt as a bouncer in the 1990's, because I do.

Also, I only buy genuine kangaroo scrotums. Seeing the real deal on shelves makes me happy.
Everyone will be needing genuine kangaroo scrotum golf ball holders and washing bags now, he'll be a mega-dollaraire!
 
Everyone will be needing genuine kangaroo scrotum golf ball holders and washing bags now, he'll be a mega-dollaraire!
Actually, I did think about getting them as gifts for the Skytrak Experience. But I looked at the price and the tourist dollar grab is real. AU$40 each and I'd need 7, so that's out.
 
Actually, I did think about getting them as gifts for the Skytrak Experience. But I looked at the price and the tourist dollar grab is real. AU$40 each and I'd need 7, so that's out.
I'm sure the other attendees are horribly disappointed! :ROFLMAO:
 
Actually, I did think about getting them as gifts for the Skytrak Experience. But I looked at the price and the tourist dollar grab is real. AU$40 each and I'd need 7, so that's out.
You're home now, go catch some real ones! You got this 👍




But seriously, that's nuts, tee hee.....
 
Does anybody else want to see a picture of @AuzzieMatt as a bouncer in the 1990's, because I do.

Also, I only buy genuine kangaroo scrotums. Seeing the real deal on shelves makes me happy.
Roos , country wide are suddenly very nervous ,, and there is concern amongst several Wallabies also …..😂
 
I’m here for the giant spider pics
 
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