So this is Tuesday. We are taking a quick trip to Sydney because the girls have tickets for a concert. Just a few days ago I waxed lyrically on Instagram about my regrets over not taking enough family holidays while my husband was alive. Today I am reminded whenever we try to leave the house, even just overnight, it is an exercise in chaos.

I set our departure time as 9.00am and I was determined we were going to make this deadline. Surprisingly, we drove out of the driveway at 9.01am. One hundred kilometres later I realise I have forgotten to brush my hair or put on deodorant. Two hundred kilometres later I realise I have forgotten my makeup bag, so I spend the next 24 hours brushing my teeth with toothpaste on my finger (the sensible child had packed the toothpaste). But so help me God we left the house ON TIME!

Princess Child is still learning to drive. 90 kilometres per hour is slow on a highway with a 110 kilometre speed limit.

We can’t get the girls’ phones to work on the bluetooth system in the car (hehehe) so we listen to my playlist, the 80’s really rocked you know. Then I make them listen to a Problogger podcast on taking videos on your i-phone. I consider it payback for all those kilometres I used to do with the Wiggles blaring. Their cries of despair are drowned out by my snores as I full asleep midway through, I haven’t been sleeping well. Don’t panic the P plater was driving by this stage I don’t need to supervise her.

When we eventually reach Sydney we do a quick dash around the shops, Hippie Child has decided she needs a new top for the concert, because she left most of her clothes at uni in Newcastle. We think about going to the top of the Sydney Tower to get some sunset photos but after a 15 minute line up for tickets we are told it’s another 45 minute wait to get into the lift to go up to the observation deck, sunset occurs without us and we ditch the idea.

The girls get ready to go out.

We eat at the Italian restaurant at the hotel. Bruschetta, meatballs and zucchini flowers followed by creme brulee.

The bill comes with a request for a tip. This seems to be a thing now. The payment system makes you “opt out” of paying for a tip. I feel mean declining to tip, but I willingly spend up big on the food, I happily pay the surcharges on Sunday and public holidays to support penalty rates, do I really need to tip as well? Has it become necessary to tip in Australia? Am I just a cheapskate?

The girls head to the Opera House to the Lumineers concert. I go back to the room and fall asleep trying to watch NCIS. Seriously I’ve got to get more sleep, I keep missing the end of every show I try to watch. I wake to hear the review of the concert, apparently it was the “best concert ever”.