We’ve just said farewell to my old Northampton Grammar School friend Martin Rowell and his wife Fiona who popped in to Sydney for a short stay with us. They were in Australia mainly to visit their daughter Catriona, husband Andy and their grandchildren who live in Perth.
They added in a trip to Brisbane to see other friends, came to see us and now they’re off back to the UK via Perth.
Viv and Chris hosted the six of us for dinner on Wednesday. We had a lovely evening, ate lots of good food, and caught up on lots of news.
The next day, at Martin’s request, we headed out for a fishing trip on Pittwater. I loaded up the fishing gear and we drove north through the lovely northern beaches to the quiet watery haven of Pittwater. Except it was blowing half a gale! We questioned the man renting out the tinnies about the best fishing spots. He cast some doubt on the possibility of catching any fish in the windy weather, but dutifully marked a couple of spots on a map and sold us some bait.
We boarded our tinny and headed off into the teeth of the gale. Splish-splash we were taking a bath as we smacked into the huge waves trying to reach our fishing spot.The crew wanted to press on regardless but the captain (me) decided that discretion was the better part of valour and, despite the prospect of a mutiny, we turned back and anchored. (I’ve had previous interesting experiences with boats in Pittwater). There were no fish biting at that spot. But at least the gale was abating, the sun was coming out and it was becoming a lovely Sydney summer day – and not too hot at 25 degrees.
We upped anchor and headed for The Basin. That was sheltered and pleasant, but not many bites there either. The bottom line – one small fish for Fiona, one tiny fish for me (sigh!). Still, it was a nice outing.
That evening it was the Minerva Book Club meeting, so Fiona joined Jan and the othe
r girls over the road at Dean and Paula’s place for some literary discussion, and wine. Martin and I walked down to the Concord pub and tried their Thursday night special – $18 chicken schnitzel with free topping. Our choice of topping was pulled pork. It came with a layer of cheese plus some sauce on top, plus a side of fries. I think there were a few calories in there. We had a couple of schooners to wash it down.
Next morning we brunched at the Armory Cafe near the old armoury on the Parramatta river. It was good to catch up with old friends.
The years roll bye, but the warmth of old friendships are unchanged. Thank you John, Jan, Chris and Viv for making us feel like family.
Perhaps on our next visit, we may catch that elusive flathead !
Nice post!