Alone and safe in Sydney

By Sharon Weatherall

Sitting on the docks at Sydney Cove at twilight watching arm-linked people strolling, there is an ambiance and feeling of great appreciation for the beauty our world has to offer.  I am caught up in the excitement of exploring this unique global hotspot, while feeling as safe as I would be in my own home town.

Arriving in ‘Sin City’ after a two week business venture in Melbourne, I’m a Canadian travelling alone and taking a few days to enjoy the sights before leaving the country.  As a freelance writer I am used to exploring on my own and looking forward to checking out what Sydney has to offer by way of tourism, culture and history. By the end of my stay I am not disappointed.

It is Friday evening and capturing an image of Harbour Bridge reflecting on the water is a priority on my agenda. As luck would have it there is an impressive cruise ship in dock - its lights glowing softly like a thousand candles. Across the water the famous Sydney Opera House is cloaked in a luminous aura - quiet before Saturday night’s busy outdoor performance. In the distance the haunting rhythm of a didgeridoo catches the breeze while some skilled indigenous player works magic on the long wooden instrument.    

From a bench I listen to a musician and smile as passer-by’s throw coins into his guitar case. Their gifts are well earned. He is a talented young singer with a voice that lulls people in after enjoying a delicious meal on the waterfront.  ‘The Rocks’ is a treasure chest of fine dining establishments featuring culinary delights from around the world and fresh seafood from local waters – plump prawns, tasty white fish and calamari. On weekends you have to book ahead or arrive early to ensure a seat – if not, you will have to take a chance on waiting.

As darkness descends I lean on the dock rails camera in hand, assessing the view before me and mentally comparing it to pictures I have seen before. I feel like I am standing in a postcard on the picturesque cove that drew me to Sydney. It is home to ‘Circular Quay’ – Ferry Wharves and marina housing transportation for travellers crossing over to Manly on the North Shore or farther out into the blue for whale watching and tours of one of the most magnificent water systems in Australia. I walk past the ferries to the far side of the quay to join others who are photographing the renowned scene reflected on dark waters. To the rest of the world ‘this’ is Sydney at night.

On the bus ride back to Park Street, I reflect on my busy first day including visits to the Australian Museum, St. Mary’s Cathedral and Hyde Park - all a short walk from Regis City Centre where I am staying. Earlier it had taken very little time to get my bearings using the helpful guide ‘This Week in Sydney’, brochures and maps provided by the hotel or just stopping to ask for directions. The city which is built on harbours, coves and bays that each feature unique attractions, scenic highlights and landmarks, is a shutterbug’s dream. There are not many roads that don’t lead to an impressive coastal view.

On day two of my visit I purchase a $35 ticket and board a ‘Hop On-Hop Off’ Citysightseeing bus to head for Bondi Beach – a renowned hotspot drawing surfboarders from all over the world. Its powdery sands and white crested waves are surrounded by cliffs and elevated urban development. Walking tours award spectacular panoramic views for photographers and thousands of others who brave the heat and climb ever higher to see what eye candy is hidden behind the next turn. The walk can be as short or long as you want while still featuring worthwhile rewards for the effort. I choose to climb down the rocks closer to the waves and bobbing bronzed bodies that are waiting for the perfect curl.  Some succeed in taming unpredictable waves while others disappear beneath the churning froth only to resurface and paddle back out again. Back at the beach there are endless shops and restaurants to escape from the sun and enjoy a bite to eat – popular fast foods, or fish and chips and a frosty cold beer.

Hopping back on the Bondi Explorer Bus I climb to the top level and continue basking in sunshine to enjoy the open scenery as we pass through North Bondi, Dover Heights, Rose Bay and Double Bay on our way back into the city.  Later in the evening I am lucky enough to attend Chinese New Year celebrations joining thousands of people gathered along George Street to launch ‘Year of the Dragon’ at a brilliant two hour parade. Before the crowd disperses I steal away to a sports pub where a table of friendly visitors from the US invite me to sit down with them. Neighbouring tables join our conversation and I feel welcome and at home ‘down under’. In Sydney even when you’re by yourself – you are never really alone.

Utilizing my 24 hour bus pass to the max I begin day three with the official CitySightseeing Tour and enjoy another top level view of Sydney and all it has to offer. That’s pretty good value for your money and a great visual scope on places like Kings Cross, Botanical Gardens, St. James Anglican Church, The Sydney Tower, Parliament House, the Sydney Fish Market and Paddington Markets, Campbell’s Cove, Chinatown and Central Station. Seeing these locations first hand really brings your map to life. I end my morning tour at Darling Harbour where there was more than enough to keep me busy for the rest of the day.

Purchasing a value voucher for the Sydney Aquarium/Wild Life Sydney I spend the next few hours studying Australia’s fascinating marine life – the aquarium is an awesome bang for my buck featuring everything from shark, crocodiles and platypus, to penguins, seahorses, glow-in-the-dark jelly fish and many other tropical surprises from the ocean reef and waters surrounding the continent. Next door I join other visitors goggling over kangaroos, sleepy koala bears and wallabies. Some of the most bizarre wildlife in the country is living inside here amongst natural flora and fauna which is unique to Australia. My voucher also includes admission fee to Manly Oceanworld which I plan to visit the next day.

Darling Harbour features a relaxing Chinese Gardens, the Maritime Museum, an IMAX Theatre, a massive Entertainment/Convention Centre and endless shopping, cafés and eateries along the popular Harbourside, King Street and Cockle Bay Wharves. Look for ‘The Star’ a five star hotel/casino/theatre as a break from the tourist routine – it’s a fun way to ‘gamble’ away a few hours. Afterwards dinner at the Hard Rock Café with its great menu is just what I need and chatty servers help me to decide on something tasty from the menu ensuring I won’t be disappointed. 

Darling Harbour after dark makes for an attractive walk along well lit boardwalks and streets. Just ten minutes from the city centre it’s a safe trek back to my hotel, but there are buses running well into the night for those who would rather ride. Either way, you will witness the nocturnal life of the city passing its many clubs, pubs, eateries and cafes. Seeing well-dressed ‘guys and dolls’ flaunt the latest styles, during this time I come to realize that fashion trends greatly lend to Sydney’s sophisticated and pulsing atmosphere. Named Sin City after a past history of the crime and gangsters, the tables turned and it is easy to see why playwright David Williamson coined the name ‘Emerald City’ for this thriving metropolis with its riches, colours and flamboyant demeanour.
Before retiring I stop at a pub and enjoy a quiet nightcap with others who prefer the solitude of wooden benches and quiet music to the flashing lights and dance beats of a happening night club. 

On day four I catch a city bus for Circular Quay then board a ferry for Manly – Sydney’s North Shore and a vibrant community on its own featuring endless shopping and restaurants, scenic walks and sunbathing beaches with surfboarders riding the waves. Manly Market Place is a shopping mecca with some of Australia’s best designers and artisans selling clothes and accessories, jewellery and hand-made crafts. For naturalists this is the place to experience top notch biking, kayaking, parasailing, rock climbing and more. The half hour trip to Manly by ferry is a highlight you will not want to miss.

After a day of bargain hunting in beach shops, a visit to Oceanworld and photographing surfers from the rock ledges, I am saddened to think that I will soon be leaving this bubbling city with still so much to see and do. Oh well, I believe that’s what makes Sydney so intriguing  - it’s a place you could revisit numerous times and still find new attractions and adventures to experience. For those touring or staying in Australia I would highly recommend a stop in this inspiring and very safe city - even if you are travelling alone.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

REAL Straight Hair!!

 By Sharon Weatherall

Right now I am paying homage to Nina a stylist at Michael Kluthe salon on Yonge Street in Toronto - she is my hair guru.

Ok - this is a story that only people with naturally curly hair will appreciate. Believe me having it is a nightmare! I have fought it my whole life and after trying everything possible to control it for the past forty years and I finally found something that made a difference - Keratin Complex by Coppola - it FREAKING WORKS!!!!

To be totally honest, I am still not so sure there aren’t some Black genes in our family but I know there are Irish and Scottish genes for sure. Nina looked at my hair and said I was 'mixed'. Although no relatives have ever been born with dark skin, the percentage of tight afro style hair (of every shade) in each family branch is very high. It started with my maternal grandmother who had curly fine hair that she always wore cut close to her scalp due to her inability to control it. Grandma (Wolf) Webster had eleven children - ten of them had the cursed 'Webster' hair and passed it on to two out of three of their own children. When it came to our generation the gene is still amazingly persistent. I have three boys - one of which has curly hair; my brother and sister both have three children with two out of three having curly hair. In great-great grandchildren the gene appears to be less aggressive - the kids are coming out with wavy hair but there are still lots of little ones that still have to grow up and have kids of their own yet.

That being said I would like to mention what it was like growing up with kinky, curly hair when you are fair skinned. When I was a kid I was teased non-stop and called names that were not too nice - 'fuzz head', 'burr head' and even sometimes 'pubic hair' to name a few. Many a night I used to the cry myself to sleep asking God why he had put this curse on me. From the time I was in grade two I slept with brush rollers in my hair so it would not be fuzzy when I work up and every night I prayed for sunshine and no rain, wet snow, fog or humidity that would cause my hair to frizz. I did not swim as a child because I could not get my hair wet and brave the mess afterwards, I bathed but did not shower so I could keep my hair dry until it was absolutely necessary to wash it. Then I curled it with rollers and sat under a helmet style hair dryer for an hour or more to dry it.

When I visited my paternal Gramma she doused my head with baby oil and took me to church where all the women oh'd and aw'd about how lovely it was. I sat there smelling like a baby and fuming, turning red with embarrassment as oil ran down my back.

When I was around eight my mother - who had curly hair too, began trying to straighten mine with all kinds of products that burned my scalp and my eyes and only lasted a few weeks. Then they washed out and my hair was curly again. The damage often took years to grow out and my hair became brittle, dry and frizzy.

Any experiences I had with hair dressers were always a nightmare. They all thought they knew how to deal with my curly hair but they didn't. Hair cuts sent me through the roof. I would have just grown it long enough to tie back and they would cut it off - it took months to grow just fraction of an inch again. They wet my hair to cut it even though I cried telling them not to because it shrinks. But they did not believe this and for months after I looked like my mother with a fresh short curly perm. That was the era of controlling curl with perm solutions - much nastier than straighteners. They did severe damage to dry hair.

One time my mom heard that dying our hair would straighten it and after she put on a 'Medium Brown Clairol' dye I went around with pitch black hair for several weeks and a kerchief that I refused to take off.

By the time I was a teen I was pretty much looking after my own hair, washing it, rolling it cutting it and trying things like mayonnaise treatments, new conditioning trends and tons of Dippity-Doo. I even ironed it with wax paper once and burned my head and my hair – to this day my male cousins tease, “...remember that time you ironed your hair on the ironing board?" That is one I will never live down.

I had my hair straightened usually about twice a year just so it would look nice for a special event and then suffer the consequences for months to follow. Then in my twenties I started cutting it short, curling it and sleeping with a very tight silk scarf around it to flatten it back out. I have slept with clips, hair combs, foam rollers, anything and everything that worked to control the frizz. My first husband grew to accept sleeping with a porcupine - poor guy I don't think he ever saw me with my hair loose on the pillow...of course that would never happen anyway, since my hair only stuck out.

By the time I was in my forties I had grown it long enough that I could semi-control it with conditioners and product gunk - 'Got to Be Glued' was a miracle for my sister and I - our hair did not move but it did not go frizzy either. In fact it even repelled rain and moisture unless it was a downpour. With the products I developed a sore scalp and dandruff but it was a small price to pay. I mostly wore my hair in a puffy little tuft on top of my head with a hunk of long curls hanging down one side of my face. On very good days I would be able to 'let it down' and if the weather was perfect or I had had a recent straightening, it stayed thick and wavy instead of fuzzy - and that was cool. 

Over the years some really bad things happened to my hair like the time a local hairdresser straightened it with a new 'gentle' relaxer that made it break and fall off about one inch from my head. I was mortified and had to wear extensions for two years until it grew back out. This was very expensive and a real pain in the butt. The hair stylist who helped me save face was a sweetheart. She felt so bad for me that she gave me many discounts even though it took her literally hours per visit to attach the extensions and maintain them about every two weeks. She used real human hair, dyed and permed it to match my own, then used hot glue to twist the strands on burning her fingers to bits each time. For a long time it was worth the bother because gave me the false sense of having long wavy hair - I loved it but it but then reality set in. The extensions would fall off constantly and then as my new 'virgin' hair grew it coiled itself around the extension causing dreds and matting. Finally almost two years later we took off the extensions and surprisingly my own hair was almost shoulder length again.

The best part of wearing extensions was that no one actually knew - most people thought it was all my hair except the dental hygienist - she asked me right out one day if I had them and could not believe it. She had never seen anyone with them before but I am sure our whole little community knew about it the next day.

By the time I was 50 I had given up. Crazy curly hair was in and if you had it people thought you were “lucky”! My new hubby loved it and begged me constantly to let it go wild. I was not so foot loose and fancy free as to do that but I did let it down a lot - my healthy new virgin hair had not had a drop of straightener or chemical since the extension ordeal. But it was just as dry and hard to manage in the summer time. When others thought it looked nice I thought it sucked. My step-daughter laid it in on the line one time and told me she thought it always looked 'dry and damaged' - thanks!

I just gave up sort of and gave in, "This is what you look like - deal with it," I told myself. I was known by my hair and working in the media people described me as "that reporter with the curly hair".

Then last summer I got a terrible shock when I had to have surgery. Afterwards when I was down and out recovering one of my best friends encouraged me to go to the city and have people who know what they are doing look at my hair. She told me "I want you to do something nice for yourself, to make you feel good about yourself - you deserve," she said.

Helen is a Toronto girl who has a flare for fashion and the good looks to go with it - she has a mane of long blond hair full of highlights and waves. She takes hair care very seriously and booked an appointment for me to have a consultation at 'Michael Kluthe' - a high end salon in Toronto. She promised there would be professionals there who deal with my kind of hair and would know what to do. We talked of getting more extensions, only the woven kind that would last for a long time.

Helen said "We'll get them attached to the bottom of your hair and it will pull it down so it’s long and beautiful...Sharon you have to do this - you will love it!"

I could picture myself and dreamed about it every day until I walked through the door of Michael Kluthe and met Nina. The bubbly hair professional started running her fingers through my hair and lit up like a light bulb.

"No," she said,"...not extensions that won't work - what you need is Keratin Complex...it is a non-chemical product that will work wonders for you. I promise you it will straighten your hair and take the fuzziness out. It will last for up to six months and you will love it."

She gave me information on the product and we chatted for a while longer. I filled her in on the perils of having curly hair and she was very understanding. I left promising to do the research on Keratin Complex. When I got home I searched the web site and read the reviews - most were good and a few were bad but all of them said Coppola was the best non-chemical Keratin straightener out there. I was really scared to try it after the last one made my hair break off but there was something about the way that Nina looked at my hair and her confidence impressed me. She knew what she was talking about - she had dealt with this hair before and she was trained in the product. I trusted her and I wanted to give it a shot. I didn't have anything to loose really and Helen was right there by my side for support.

On Saturday November 26, the staff at Michael Kluthe joined the very few to ever see me with my hair in its original state after being washed and blown dry. I was embarrassed to be sitting there is this high scale salon with two girls drying and paddle brushing my head. My hair was sticking out like Marj Simpson but no one laughed or made remarks about it. Nina's co-workers were curious and she was excited to get going on it - for Michael Kluthe professionals it is all about the challenge. They wanted to see that product tame my wild hair and it did.

During the long application and ironing process Nina remained consistent in her technique spending the same amount of time and attention on each tiny strand of hair. She ironed them seven or eight time over with a very hot temperature to ensure that the Keratin fused into the hair follicles. It must have been killing her arm but she did not complain even after four hours. During this time other stylists kept walking by to see how it was going. I could tell they were impressed by the expressions on their faces and when Michael Kluthe himself came by a couple of times to check it out I was impressed. "Where did you get that hair," he asked and I told him my whole family had it. "Bring them in here," he laughed.

As I watched Nina work around my head I began to see the kinky strands turn soft and straight and could not wipe the smile from my own face. It was the length of my hair that blew me away - it was halfway down my arm hanging so silky and smooth, I never imagined in a million years it could happen. I looked in the mirror and could not believe it... I thought I was dreaming.

The highlights bleached gold from last summer's sun, shimmered under the salon lights and one customer asked me if they had coloured it? "No...it's natural," Nina piped in before I could answer. "It's beautiful," said the lady. One thing about curly hair in my case, even at my age it is not turning grey quickly - I have a few silver strands but not enough to worry about.

Nina trimmed it up and held a mirror for me to see when it was finished. Shakily I got out of the chair and excused myself. In the washroom I stood holding onto the sink and viewing myself in the mirror. I was in shock and so happy cried. My hair was soft and beautiful and I knew it was worth the hard work and every penny of cost. It was something I had never had before and I loved it.

Nina took me around the salon to show the girls and men that had been walking by during the day and they all complimented my hair saying how well it had turned out. "Beautiful", "Gorgeous", Awesome" were words I kept hearing. Michael Kluthe passed by me giving his nod of approval - "Enjoy it," he said with a smile. 

 "I will," I said and I have.

Nearly four months later I am writing this blog to express my sincere appreciation to the salon. I can't believe I waited so long to get professional help for my hair. Since the treatment, looking after my hair has been a breeze and very low maintenance. I am washing it only once a week, buying no costly products and loving my new look. I am still using the same Keratin Complex shampoo and conditioner they gave me and also use a small bit of Paul Mitchell leave in conditioner on the ends when they seem dry.

I got a professional straightening iron for Christmas which I use once a week after washing to keep the hair smooth and soft. I have had to trim the dry ends once and have noticed a small amount of breakage mostly caused initially from the inexpensive iron I used before I got the new one. I go to bed with my hair spread out on the pillow and wake up with it looking a little ruffled but still straight - nothing a quick brush can't fix. It took me these months to make sure the product was as good as it is. Nina was true to her word- she knows her client's hair types - she is a professional.

As time goes by I am noticing that the roots are coming in curly as my hair grows but I can easily smooth it with my new iron. Life is good as a straight haired brunette and the compliments continue here at home from people who can't believe I am the same person.

Thank-you Helen, Michael Kluthe, Nina and Keratin Complex - I wish I had found you all 40 years ago!

Sharon Weatherall

PS - My sister is coming with me next time! 

Waiting for Cuba

I am looking outside at the rain and the snow - yes SNOW and thinking I'd like be in Cuba, laying in and white sandy beach.

Oh course this time last year I was just coming down from a trip to Australia and major jet lag that lasted for weeks. We actually went to Cuba in February 2010.

Don't worry this picture is after I got home and don't think I let the snow defeat me...

Here is some fine old architecture in Havanna..it was well worth the trip off resort to visit that place - both getting there and coming back.

Next time we will be taking the safari to get a better look at the culture and way of life.

I could take pictures of walls and windows forever and have... this one was on a church in Old Havanna.  

Cigar anyone?? Does this not remind you of the movies??? Really ..almost got my butt kicked out of Havanna for trying to grab a picture of an advertising crew doing a shoot (not this one) ...wander if you can end up in jail for that??

This one was taken on the day when we left and I think it combines Cuba and home very well..no matter where you go in the world when you look up the sky always looks the same.