The Mermaid Has Taken a Dive

...or rather, she is swimming back to Austria as I write. It was lovely to have her here and I really appreciate her undertaking a 24-hours-journey to be with me a mere 10 days. I wish the weather had been better, but at least she left in summer...ish weather and we got to spend a half day at the beach yesterday. We walked from Bronte to Bondi beach and it was near the Bondi Icebergs club that she spotted this banner which just begged for a photo (I should add a disclaimer, too: the "interesting" shorts with the Coca-Cola print on the bum are a donation of an ex-colleague of hers who bought them a size too small for herself and not something the Mermaid would buy for herself, nor wear back home where people know her):

The Mermaid, she loves flip-flops and when she arrived, she had her beloved pair of red Havaianas (purchased on a trip to Thailand) with her. Another 4 pairs of flip-flops in different materials and various degrees of elegance made it into her suitcase. The one she wears in the photo and the pair next to it are by Ipanema and were 25% off at Myer's:

I also gave her my own pair of glittery navy Ipanemas (from the Giselle Bündchen collection) which I had intended to dump here even though they are barely worn, just because I don't find the particularly comfortable. I wish I could just buy any old pair of flip-flops (or thongs, as they are called here), but unfortunately, most really hurt on my feet and it is basically only the actual Flip-Flop brand and Crocs flip-flops that I can comfortably wear.

This might be a blessing in disguise in order to prevent me from amassing a collection to rival the Mermaid's...