New Friends and High Tea at The Observatory Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney.

There's only so many days of the weekend that I can spend at home before I get cabin fever.  That magic number is 1, actually.  So today I went Out.  To High Tea with some rather lovely ladies.

This is one of the many photos I took while I was Out.  I think it illustrates today's weather perfectly.  It was so humid today.  One of those lazy, hazy summer days we haven't had too many of this year.

Dress - Target, belt - Ferragamo,  heels - Christian Louboutin.

 Conveniently, I took this outfit photo while I was In, before I left the house.  It's basically as crisp as I got all day.  I sort of wilted the moment I got out the front door.  The wilting worked its way through my outfit before starting on my sense of direction.  I had to run up a $6 taxi fare because I got lost in The Rocks trying to find the Observatory Hotel.  Which is pretty embarrassing considering that I'd specifically worn flats for the journey into the city, fully intending to walk to the hotel and change into my heels there.

My inspiration was Rachel Zoe.  She is a bit of a genius with that doubly challenging kind of dress which is all drape and has a hemline that hits mid calf.  Her secrets seem to be heels, large black sunnies and hair with volume.  I did action all of these but ended up looking a little Von Trapp.  Still, the dress is very High Tea and it put me in the right frame of mind for an afternoon of animated conversation, scones and leaf tea.  It also matched the soft furnishings and had just enough flutter at the sleeves to not look out of place in a tea room with a marble fountain for a centre piece.

Bag - chanel, cuff - Hermes.

Accessories never wilt and I have photographic evidence.  This was me at my most presentable in the lobby of The Observatory.

High Tea is an institution at this hotel and I think it's probably Sydney's best.  The Globe, where tea is served, is spacious and inviting.  The staff are attentive and friendly.  Most importantly, The Globe is an advocate of back friendly chairs.  There's nothing more embarrassing than having your back give out as you try and stand from a low seat with too soft cushioning and topple a tea pot in the process.  That was a little tangential but important nonetheless.

The ladies assembled for tea today were some new friends from the lands of twitter and blog.  It's amazing isn't it, how real and genuine everyone is in their tweeting.  Conversation flowed easily and it felt like we were all old friends carrying on where we left off the last time we met.  I am proud to say that we addressed all sorts of issues over the course of the afternoon.  Though a mutual love of 'girly stuff' brought us together, we discussed our various professions, travel and QANTAS.  We didn't get to world peace but I think that's on the agenda for our next meeting.

I must get back on track and talk about the food.  Because it was delicious.  Sensible eaters that we all were, we began with the bottom tier of sandwiches and quiche.  There were vegetarian options for both.  It's a highly civilised business having crustless sandwiches served to you, isn't it?  The fillings were generous and fresh.  My favourites were smoked salmon and the traditional cucumber.  The mini quiches had a perfect short crust.

Oh the scones.  Obviously freshly baked with a good crumb and crunch to the crust.

They just had to be eaten with both cream and jam.  The strawberry jam wasn't too sweet and was dense with fruit.

The third and final tier boasted no less than six perfectly baked desserts.  In hind sight, perhaps we had our priorities wrong in beginning with the savouries.  I was beginning to feel very full after the sandwiches and my second scone.

Russian Caravan being poured at our table.

 Our teas arrived in time for our assault on the desserts.  Each kind of tea arrived in a different tea pot.

Readers, for the sake of this post, I tried every single dessert.  To prevent sugar overload, I skipped the sugar in my tea, though.

First up was a fruit tart.  The emphasis here was on the tart crust and fruit with just a smudge of custard.  It worked well.

The chocolate macaroni was the perfect shape and had some crunch to it.

My favourite was the creme brûlée whose caramelised sugar top gave a brittle snap when tapped with my spoon.  Don't let the gold sprinkles on the poppyseed cake distract you from how good the cake itself was.

My square of cheesecake didn't last long enough on my plate to be photographed.  I will however finish off with one last snap of the chocolate cones.  It was all I could do to squeeze in a generous teaspoon of the smooth dark chocolate mousse.

Okay.  I have to shuffle off now.  It's a big night in my free to air TV calendar.  I need to be settled for the evening before Homeland begins.

Cheerio!