Tropfest

On Sunday, I accompanied our group of students to the airport for their 4-day fieldtrip to Melbourne. Peace at last! I enjoyed having the building all to myself, the peace and quiet, while all the staff & students were in Melbourne. Sunday morning I had brunch at sunny Cafe Giulia, where they make a mean soy flatwhite and even better waffles. I biked to Newtown to feed the kitty cats, and then met up with my new friends Kaye and Claire to go to Camp Cove in Vaucluse. What a GORGEOUS drive to get there-- you're up high, looking out on the entire harbour and Sydney. It's stunning. We lounged on this quiet beach all day, my first time at a harbour beach! Since there are no waves, the water is calm and warm, perfect for swimming and a cool-down. We had famous Doyle's fish n' chips on the pier, and then hitched it to TROPFEST! This is the world's largest short film festival, started here in Sydney 20 years. The founder wanted to screen a friend's short film in Tropicana Cafe in Darlinghurst, and every year the crowd grew a little more until it finally became the world's largest festival in short film. They screen them out in the Domain, attached to the Royal Botanic Gardens, with the palm trees and Opera House as a backdrop. We got great seats despite showing up so late, right in front of the 4-sided screen. Claire bought a few cases of beers, and it felt like the perfect summer moment. Cold beers after a sunny beach day, good friends and free short films in the park.
I loved the first one, with this old couple who play practical jokes on each other about the other one dying. For example, the husband fakes a heart attack to make his wife laugh, and in turn, she pretends to fall down the stairs to get him to chuckle. You'll have to find out how it ends.... Very sweet.

There were 16 in all, and the festival had quite the star-studded panel: Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Toni Colette and others. Sammy and Az even got VIP tickets to sit just behind the celebs!
About halfway through the screening, clouds rolled in and we got a drizzle, then rain and then a DOWNPOUR, absolute deluge of rain. The girls left fairly early, I stayed to watch as many films as I could but high-tailed it outta there when thunder and lightning started to crack overhead. But with the lightning as a backdrop to "Min Min", a suspense film set in the Blue Mts...it was unreal.
"Lemonade Stand" ended up winning 1st place, a sweet, heart-warming, quirky film about a grandfather/grandson relationship....and the neighborhood bully.
Check it out online!