James O'Brien

Aside from the word “Jesus”, the skies of Sydney were remarkably clear today. Weather-wise, it was one of those really beautiful Sydney days.

And so late this afternoon I went for a bit of a walk through Surry Hills, down into the city, and then back to home.

It’s pretty quiet in Surry Hills today, with only a few convenience stores remaining open. Most of the restaurants have signs up indicating they’ll be closed from now until at least New Years Eve.

As I wandered into a convenience store on Bourke Street to buy an ice-cream, the bloke behind the counter greeted me with a smile. I suspect I may have been his only customer today.

As I headed up towards Taylor Square there were more signs of life. In addition, however, to the convenience stores, I noticed there was a sex shop open on Oxford Street which is incredibly sad whichever way you choose to look at it.

There were also a couple of homeless people sitting on the footpath with a handful of coins in front of them.

As I wandered into the city, I began to see lots of Asian people (who I presume don’t celebrate Christmas), and lots of Irish backpackers (who most definitely do celebrate Christmas) wandering around.

A restaurant here and there was open, and there were even people in a clothing store on George Street taking advantage of a cut-price sale.

Feeling a little lazy I caught the bus back home. “That’s enough energy exerted for the day”, I thought to myself.