Bugger, where do I start? Ok, Saturday I left Canberra and the sounds of the V8 car race behind me at about 10:00 am, and enjoyed the long drive up to Sydney with Sharon and then the winding road out into the Blue Mountains. There was a bad traffic snarl about 30 kilometers out of Katoomba, so that slowed us down a great deal. But eventually we arrived. Peta B and Szusza had arrived a little bit earlier, and had gone for a walk but Rose (a Canberran CD) was able to give me my key.
The hotel was neat but otherwise unexciting, I had a nap and then a forage for food, and by then it was about 5:00 pm and I had to get ready for the disco that was the Saturday night entertainment. I basically opted for comfort over looking nice, and opted for a crop-top and jeans. It was Katoomba in the middle of winter (i.e. night time down to 0 degrees or so), but inside we all warmed up fast. Peta, Rose and I got there earlier because the others were running late (story of the weekend) and secured a table. The hall filled up very fast, and so it was luck we actually got somewhere proper to sit. Sharon, Szusza and her friend, and Linda finally made it there after a while. There was a drag show about 10:30 pm or so, and it was pretty good though I'm not a huge fan of it. Then, the "de rigeur" gay themes started getting pumped out and I stripped off my jumper and went dancing.
Now, it has to be explained here about the polarized ratios. That night it was about 85% gay guys, maybe 10% trannie's and 5% girls (either lesbian or otherwise). Now, what I hadn't really thought about, was that since I wasn't wearing drag, and since I looked somewhat female, I believe most of the gay guys thought I was a rather butchy dyke and hence stayed in their own little circles and only gave me a brief hello. I'm not saying that there weren't some extremely cute guys there, but suffice to say they weren't really interested in me (whether I am interested in them is something I've yet to determine). But anyway, after some ABBA started playing (I swear, ABBA music is a meme, I'll get back to this) that convinced Peta to come have a dance, so that was really nice and so we grooved it up on the very crowded dance floor before we called it a night at about 11:30 pm or so. I didn't bring any alcohol, so I was fine, just mildly glowing from the dance music, vibe of the place and the close company.
Sunday - Didn't sleep well in a foreign bed, but at least I got some sleep. Peta and I walked into town to have a look about, and we came to the conclusion that Katoomba has three main types of shops. Second-hand clothing and books and other junk of a wide variety, coffee shops and cafes, and antique stores. Oh, and maybe a fourth, old, old buildings with guided tours. Basically, the town has (or should have) "tourist trap" written in large letters on the "Welcome" sign. ;)
Anyway, we did a late breakfast in the moderately funky "Blues Café" listening to "Respect" and other classics of the genre. Then after more window shopping (Katoomba and other tourist places like it are like a fungus, they seem to crop up all over the place, and are virtually identical) we wandered back down to the hotel (Note: Katoomba is very hilly)and got ready to head out for lunch. Szusza knew a TS girl Jodie (~40's, FT), who I got to chat to with at the disco. So we all pilled into two cars and drove around there to her place and after a few people came back from shopping, we had Chinese for lunch (Note : Szusza has a thing against eating avians) and interesting chats. It was interesting to withdraw from the conversation to examine the social dynamics between a roughly equal group of TS's and CD's.
Anyway, Peta and I got a lift back after with Rose, and I unintentionally abandoned Peta (who was in the passengers seat) to her fate and settled into my headphones. We got back to the hotel, and although I wanted to crawl into bed, I figure I wouldn't be forgiven unless I went down and saw the main tourist attraction of Katoomba, the "Three Sisters" (a famous Australian rock formation) which I hadn't seen before. It was nice I suppose, rather touristy (as expected) I took the obligatory photos (none with me in them) and went for a brief walk along the nature trail which was nice, and then back the short walk to the hotel.
A snooze of sorts, then getting prepped for the main event, the Sunday night Ball. For those who are unaware, this particular weekend was a long weekend because it was the "Queen's Birthday" long weekend. Hence there was Monday ahead for recovery.
Peta and I were ready pretty quickly (an hour or so) and so we were just crashed out for about an hour watching television. I must have reapplied my lipstick 3 or 4 times out of boredom, whilst we waited around. There were a few mini-disasters from the room next door, and after the obligatory photos we were away. For those who care, I was wearing my short black dress with the mesh top and sleeves, with the long leather jacket as cold protection.
Anyway, we found the place eventually, we made it in. It was great, the costumes were fabulous, the people really friendly, the Champagne was free (bad move). It would have been nicer if there were more people I knew well, but nonetheless I had a good time.
Unfortunately, my alcohol tolerance was quite low from hormones and a long period of not drinking much alcohol. So, suffice to say I passed through the grinningly happy phase, to the sad depressed phase and then back out again. I don't believe I made too big a fool of myself, except when I slipped on a wet-patch on the floor and landed on my butt. Fortunately I had the sense still to switch over to water by the time I knew I was in too deep and not keep drinking (which at times seemed a handy, if somewhat short-term solution, to the worlds woes). Me and Peta escaped the loud music (she was probably worrying I'd go wandering and fall off an escarpment or something) to the little foyer where we chatted with various peoples. Shelly (who I'll talk more about later) came and chatted with us, working her wonderful charm and charisma as usual. *g* Then when I progressed from water to coffee I got hot again (with corset and every thing else on underneath) so I went outside into the cool air and chatted with the security guard which was nice. By about 12:30 am, Peta and Rose had (understandably) had enough and headed outside, so I rushed inside to grab my stuff and got a lift home. It was probably good Peta didn't drink as we probably both would have been messes. *lol*
So, with me quietly singing the lyrics to The Doors "Crystal Ship" in the back seat we made it back to the hotel. I can't specifically remember if I apologized profusely then to Peta for being rather drunk, but I'm sure I must have done something along those lines, that's just my usual apologetic style. Suffice to say, it must have been an "interesting" few days for her with me and my mess spread around the place.
So, the next morning I don't think either of us could get back to sleep from about 7 am onwards, so we were all chirpy (me for not having a hangover and Peta for having found some old ladies to mug for their nicotine *g*) and I decided to get a lift back with her since Szusza and Sharon weren't going to be packed up for a quite a while yet. So, I was happy to give Peta some car company and someone to "Tut, tut" at her smoking all the way back.
We stopped at Berrima for some coffee and made it back by about 2:00 pm or so. I crashed out for a while until I got a phone call from Soba, and so being in need of food I made it into Civic for shopping and coffee. Then back home and snooze-land.