Young Bloke on T4 Commute Recounts Vivid Trip Like It Was Antarctic Expedition, Mentions Frostbite and $280 Socks

Imogen Fairchild | Arts & Culture Editor | Sutherland Shire Gazette

10 June 2025

T4 LINE — A young bloke was overheard this morning on the Caringbah to Central train recounting his long weekend trip to Vivid like he’d returned from a solo expedition to Antarctica - or worse, out of the Shire.

The 26-year-old, visibly layered in technical hiking gear, described leaving the 2230 bubble as “a logistical and emotional undertaking.”

“It was minus, like, six?” said the man, 26, sporting an insulated Gore-Tex shell.

Witnesses say the monologue began near Jannali and gained altitude quickly. “It was basically Everest with fairy lights,” he said. Key moments included a 12-minute tangent about merino wool thermals and a dramatic re-enactment of nearly slipping on a wet cobblestone near The Rocks.

“I genuinely thought I was going to lose a toe,” he said solemnly, pulling up a pant leg to reveal $280 Swiss hiking socks he’d “panic bought” from a wilderness outfitter near Town Hall. “You don’t get this kind of chill in Thredbo, mate. It was urban tundra out there.”

He described the walk from Wynyard to Barangaroo as “a wind tunnel designed by Nietzsche,” and claimed he achieved “a full ego death” halfway through a light installation depicting endangered reef systems and sponsored by a luxury SUV brand.

“I’ve got mates who’ve summited Annapurna,” he said, lowering his voice. “But none of them have braved that Barangaroo wind tunnel without crampons.”

The man concluded his tale by claiming he now “understands the fragility of human life” and will be investing in crampons “just in case it gets cold again next weekend.”

Transport for NSW is rumoured to be considering adding a Sherpa service between Wynyard and Darling Harbour.