The idea is to go to North Ryde to collect a toaster which my daughter found in an online marketplace. This is her third such collection – the first being two lamps, followed by a heater which may come in handy since it’s dropping to 12C now and winter just round the corner. Today, I volunteered to help her collect a toaster. It’s a good way to explore other suburbs which I may not venture to. On that, I find that Australian have a nice culture of letting others benefit from preloved that they no longer need. At home, I tend to just keep things for just in case, which often leads to them being discarded ultimately, after years in the store room.
It’s a 1- hour walk according to Google, perhaps a little more for me with the number of uphills and downhills here. And it sure will be good training too, while enjoying the quiet walk on a rare no-rain morning. Within half hour of walking, I came upon a row of shops. Did not notice these when looking at the route earlier. Several cafes when folks are having their brekkie and coffee, a fish and chips outlet and even a library! Across the road, I spotted a bakery! Sure looks good with their rustic bread display! I made a mental note to perhaps return another day for their mouth-watering pastry!
Along the way, a path leads to a park which cuts into the University, another place to explore next round. Before long, I was caught by a mum with two young children, with huge bags, entering a shop. Turns out to be a church run thrift shop! Yup, definitely need to have a look for hidden gems! It’s got a huge collection of preloved from clothes, to bags, kitchenware, books, right up to furniture! I think it will be a good place for her to leave her preloved to the next person when she leaves …
I found the house, though had some difficulty locating the toaster “outside” the house. Outside is so huge, is it outside the main door, the gate, the garage, …? Anyhow we connected … “Enjoy your toasties!” Thank you! Toaster in hand, I decided to hop onto bus 545, which goes direct to Paramatta, 1.5hr ride. And nope, I find it impossible to nap in the bus, as rides here have been bumpy and far too many sharp turns as the routes go into the smaller lanes. So if you want a nap, take the train, not the bus.
Paramatta is a huge suburb, huge malls, almost feel like Central. I only ventured into the Town Hall and marketplace. Headed into Westfield, another huge mall which got me lost in a maze of shops. It was busy lunch crowd, so I had a quick lunch at Macs before making my way home. Huge malls drive me crazy nowadays. And it started raining again …. can’t leave home without your rain gear
