recent travels up north
Sometimes I have to pinch myself to think how close I am to beautiful parts of the coast and hills. A week ago I met R and A for the performance by Evan Dando. He didn't disappoint: He looked like he'd pulled random clothes from a messily packed suitcase, sang his beautiful melodies, started conversations he forgot to finish, and panicked when the security guard told him to wrap his set.
The water was amazingly warm to swim in and I took my body board out for a few lovely waves before returning salty and sandy to the flat. My weekend with those two was lovely, lots of reading, short walks to the local shops, discussions about sport and film and occasionally politics, and one very pleasurable conversation about the traffic merits of Findon Road versus Crittenden road (I love a good traffic conversation).
Then I returned, hung out until I collected the keys to my new house and welcomed the return of A and R. We had an amusing experience attempting to eat at the fishing club overlooking the beach. A very officious man refused to accept R's student ID as sufficient to have temporary membership; so we walked. I thought back to reading an expose of Sydney mafia types in the 70s and the slow attempts by whistleblowers to get the police to investigate the infiltration of clubs by organised crime... pointed out to R that she must have looked shifty. We found many other appealing restaurants and returned home for The Chaser.
Thursday was moving in day; my relief that the house looked much much better after cleaning meant I could show it off to friends, so we swam at the local beach, used the shower and R had me admiring the lovely green tiles in my bathroom. I have a mango tree and guava tree in my yard, which I shall certainly enjoy. The afternoon was spent at the inland groovy town which I totally adored and fantasised about moving to, especially when I shopped at Soul Memories (yes, bizarre name) and bought an absolutely superb box of miniature kitchen furniture, suitable for a dolls house. Everything in that town appealed: lamps and lanterns, rugs, organic cotton clothing, organic cotton baby clothing, second hand books, art supplies and candles.
That evening when we watched the sunset from the south headland, I had to again pinch myself: how did I end up here, in such a wonderful place? R and I sat on the grassy hill and looked down at surfers (who were even lazier paddlers than I) and a lone kayaker where the sea met the creek and it was so good.
Right now I'm in Andy's locale, enjoying a bit of wine and a bit of good food. We had morning tea with his boss & family, their almost 3 year old warmed up to me and had me help her do drawing. She even changed her favourite colour (pink) to mine (purple) because she liked me so much, and did a drawing of me (round blob, eyes, stick arms and legs, belly button and sticks for hair). She also had old habit of calling yellow "lellow" which I remember so well from young Gus. The twins showed us their pet rabbit (Mr Peter) and decorated Andy's fingers with smiley faces. Yesterday's country drive was a discovery too, there are so many cool little country towns around here and excellent architecture: lace iron balconies on pubs, art deco cinema and water council chambers, cute cottages and lovely parks. I could live here if I didn't love my new home so much.
The water was amazingly warm to swim in and I took my body board out for a few lovely waves before returning salty and sandy to the flat. My weekend with those two was lovely, lots of reading, short walks to the local shops, discussions about sport and film and occasionally politics, and one very pleasurable conversation about the traffic merits of Findon Road versus Crittenden road (I love a good traffic conversation).
Then I returned, hung out until I collected the keys to my new house and welcomed the return of A and R. We had an amusing experience attempting to eat at the fishing club overlooking the beach. A very officious man refused to accept R's student ID as sufficient to have temporary membership; so we walked. I thought back to reading an expose of Sydney mafia types in the 70s and the slow attempts by whistleblowers to get the police to investigate the infiltration of clubs by organised crime... pointed out to R that she must have looked shifty. We found many other appealing restaurants and returned home for The Chaser.
Thursday was moving in day; my relief that the house looked much much better after cleaning meant I could show it off to friends, so we swam at the local beach, used the shower and R had me admiring the lovely green tiles in my bathroom. I have a mango tree and guava tree in my yard, which I shall certainly enjoy. The afternoon was spent at the inland groovy town which I totally adored and fantasised about moving to, especially when I shopped at Soul Memories (yes, bizarre name) and bought an absolutely superb box of miniature kitchen furniture, suitable for a dolls house. Everything in that town appealed: lamps and lanterns, rugs, organic cotton clothing, organic cotton baby clothing, second hand books, art supplies and candles.
That evening when we watched the sunset from the south headland, I had to again pinch myself: how did I end up here, in such a wonderful place? R and I sat on the grassy hill and looked down at surfers (who were even lazier paddlers than I) and a lone kayaker where the sea met the creek and it was so good.
Right now I'm in Andy's locale, enjoying a bit of wine and a bit of good food. We had morning tea with his boss & family, their almost 3 year old warmed up to me and had me help her do drawing. She even changed her favourite colour (pink) to mine (purple) because she liked me so much, and did a drawing of me (round blob, eyes, stick arms and legs, belly button and sticks for hair). She also had old habit of calling yellow "lellow" which I remember so well from young Gus. The twins showed us their pet rabbit (Mr Peter) and decorated Andy's fingers with smiley faces. Yesterday's country drive was a discovery too, there are so many cool little country towns around here and excellent architecture: lace iron balconies on pubs, art deco cinema and water council chambers, cute cottages and lovely parks. I could live here if I didn't love my new home so much.
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