A trip to Crows Nest

An appointment at lunchtime got me out of the house late this morning, and I headed into the city down Harris Street. "It was like another main road," said a man in fluoro clothes to his companion as they walked down the street. I went across the bridge and onto George Street, heading for Wynyard Station. "Everything 70 percent off," said a woman standing outside a basement discount store, as I walked past.

I saw a woman with two teenagers trying to get into the health insurers. They couldn't find an open door as the street door was locked, and they started to walk back toward the QVB. As I went past them I saw that the company had relocated its store a few doors further down so I turned and called out to the woman, "Hey! It's here!" She heard me and turned back, understanding after a moment what I was saying. "Thanks very much," she said to me. I turned back up the street and continued along to the train station. The entrance leading down to where the turnstiles are had been changed radically, I saw. The pavement had been split into two sections: a ramp, and next to it a series of steps leading down. I got to the platform and while I waited for the train I talked to a friend online.

At North Sydney I got off the train and walked through the turnstiles into the shopping centre. I found a shop serving chicken and salad and paid for a plateful of food, then sat down to eat. When I had finished eating I returned the plate to the person standing at counter of the shop and headed up toward the shopping centre's topmost entrance. Exiting the building, I walked past the post office and up the Pacific Highway. I walked past two men in fluoro gear on the footpath and as they went by me I heard they were speaking Japanese. "So that's the bus," said a teenage boy to his sister and mother as they sat in a bus shelter on the main road. I went into an office building when I had arrived at Crows Nest and had my meeting.

When the meeting was over I left the building and headed back down the highway toward North Sydney. "Discover a new taste experience," said an advertisement on a bus shelter. When I arrived back at the shopping centre I took the escalators down to the lower level. A young woman walked past me wearing a shirt that had "Everlast" printed on the front. There was also a young man with a shirt with "Gap" printed on the front. I went to the station platform and got on the train heading into the city. A woman seated in the carriage had a small child with her and an enormous stroller in front of her on the floor. She wore a pink baseball cap with "John Deere" embroidered on a green badge. "So I've taken these things into consideration," said a large man on the train wearing a dark grey coat as I got out at Wynyard Station.

On George Street a woman said to her companion, "When I was younger ... ." Further up near Martin Place two girls walking hand-in-hand started calling out to two other girls walking in front of them. "Guys we have to stop," said the older girl. "Guys stop!" cried the younger girl. The two girls in front stopped walking and turned around to face the others.

At the western end of Pyrmont Bridge a woman was standing facing a young man. "I heard about that story," she said to him. "I heard about that." On Union Street I heard a woman behind me say "Why would she?" "She's been through so much shit in her life," said another woman. They overtook me and as they did I saw that they both wore pants. One of the women held a small child by the hand.