Just enough time to put some laundry up on the line before hitting the pool for some laps.

And the pool’s kiosk for some post swim chips.  There’s only one place I ever seem to crave hot chips and that’s at the pool.  And they’re always the best chips I’ve ever eaten.

I managed to get to the Pyrmont Fish Market this morning and decided that seafood was going to be on the menu for the rest of the day.

Starting with these Sydney Rock Oysters for lunch.

Which we had with a choice of lemon, Testuya’s oyster dressing or tabasco and an obligatory glass of champagne.  It was a rolling lunch at SSG Manor today so we all brought various magazines and iPads to the table and alternated between eating, sipping and reading.

Sashimi has been missing from my diet for way too long so the oysters were followed by salmon, tuna and scampi.  Today was the first time I’d seen scampi offered as sashimi and my curiosity got the better of me.  The flesh is sweet and has a very silky texture.  The lady at the fish market did something tricky with the scampi shell so that all we had to do to eat the scampi flesh at home was to gently peel back each half of the shell.

www.crimsonedgeevents.com

We have progress with London accommodation!  Mr SSG and I were locked in discussion for most of the afternoon during which it was pointed out to me that I would probably cope better with ‘standard American’ hotels than the more ‘traditional European’ establishments.  The subtext here being that I would probably decompensate quickly in the absence of wifi and a 24 hour on site gym.  It was also decided that staying in a livelier part of town would only add to the adventure.  Which is why we settled on the W London Leicester Square.

I had my reservations at first, it does look rather … hip, doesn’t it?  I’m not hip at the best of times and at times when day time temperatures aren’t much over 2C, unhip would be putting it very kindly.  I am reassured though, that I have two safe houses nearby should I feel desperately out of place in the hotel – McDonalds and Pret A Manger are apparently very close by as is Starbucks.

Now that all the major parts of the trip are planned, I need to decide if my red North Face backpack will get me past the door or if hard core Mulberry is needed instead.  I may have no choice but to bring both.