HAPPY NEW YEAR

FRIDAY 31st DECEMBER

  It was a leisurely start to the day and I sat out in the garden reading and finishing Olivia Newton-John's biography.  Alan took the dog for a walk to the newsagents, and I then perused the sports pages.  Ponting is out of the last Test and Uzman Khawaja replaces him and Dougie Bollinger is back to replace the injured Harris.  Will the Aussies be drinking beer or champagne at the end of the match?  The new captain Michael Clarke seems to have the support of about 15% of the Australian public.  The temperature in the morning started off around 29 degrees.

  Maureen went off to buy oysters but the shop was sold out.  However she reserved a portion for when the afternoon delivery arrives.  Also her local branch of her bank was closed until the 4th January, so she's going to have to go to another branch to pay her mortgage.  I bought a couple of postcards and Maureen took them with her on her second journey to post (one to Nick and one to Shauna & James).  Alan went to the Flight Centre and booked a flight to Sydney for Monday evening and will take advantage of the the spare tickets I have for the next few days. When she went out again the path to the Post Office led Maureen past a clothes shop where she was tempted into a purchase!  By now the temperature was in the mid 30s. Upon her return she took us back to the shopping centre as I had forgotten earlier to buy her some chocolates, an item that Alan doesn't eat, so they would be exclusively hers.  As she called into a garage to top up I was able to pay for the petrol (she will have made three trips to the airport for us by tomorrow and it is about 20km away).

  More reading in the afternoon and I watched the half hour Polish news on Maureen's new TV, whilst she went for a nap.  In the late afternoon Maureen went to switch the airconditioning on and all the lights went off.  Investigation of the circuit breaker box revealed that the lighting circuit was off, however it refused to switch back on unless it was held in position.  I got Alan to check every light in the house whilst Maureen held the breaker in the mid-position which is where the lights seemed to work.  All the lights worked so it wasn't a blown bulb that had tripped the circuit breaker.  I think I worked out how switching on the a/c might have destroyed the lighting circuit breaker (I won't go into the technicalities here).   After some searching of the garage, with large amounts of roof insulation to contend with, I found some extending metal crutches with a rubber tip.  By turning them upside down and putting a number of books underneath I was able to hold the circuit breaker switch in a postion that enabled the lights to work.  The move was a success and on Tuesday Maureen will be able to get an electrician to fit a new breaker in place.

  With the a/c on and the lights working we watched a DVD of Paul McCartney in Concert in Moscow awaiting the arrival of the guests.  They were Maureen's friends Rhonda and Tina along with her new man.  We sat outside having some nibbles and drinks until Tina asked if we could go inside as it was too hot (I guess it was getting close to 40 degrees).  We went in and had the meal consisting of oysters (hot & cold) for starters, followed by smoked salmon, giant prawns  and assorted salads.  It was all delicious and I heeded Maureen's supplications to finish the last three prawns.  This was followed by a superb home made trifle with loads of Cointreau, whipped cream, fruit and sponge.  Absolutely scrumptious!  There was also apple strudel with custard or cream.  I had two portions of trifle and one of strudel and felt absolutely bloated!  The a/c reduced the temperature sufficiently for me to change into a long sleeved shirt!

  We retired to watch the fireworks from Sydney, which as usual were most impressive. The drinking continued with Alan doing the wine waiter's job.

 After the guests left about 2.00am Alan phoned Pat and we all spoke to her wishing her a Happy New Year.  I tried to phone Jim on Skype but got no answer.  I found wishes on my English mobile from Denise, and so as I didn't get to speak to anyone else I would like to wish everybody a very Happy & Prosperous New Year.

HOMEWARD BOUND (MARK THAT IS)

THURSDAY 30th DECEMBER

  No Test Match to get up for today, so we had a bit of a lay in.  I was last down about 9.10am.  Maureen cooked scrambled eggs, bacon and mushrooms which went down a treat.  Alan then continued unsuccessfully to try and book a flight to Sydney, to the accompaniment of considerable derision from Mark and Maureen and eventually gave up.  I tried ringing Virgin but the first time I got through I was cut off in mid conversation.  On the third attempt I was successful in more senses than one.  Not only were they able to give me my phone/account number and six digit pin number, they registered my voucher number and hey presto I was back on line.  Also my attempt to buy more storage space for my photos was a success so I am now putting in photos and will soon have all the missing ones back to Christmas Day in situ.  Good news that Spurs are now in 4th place ahead of Chelsea following their win over Newcastle.

  We set off about 12.30 to get Mark and his large Koala Bear (that he purchased yesterday allegedly at somebody's behest in London).  We got to the airport in plenty of time and duly dropped off the bronzed England supporter off to head for his new job at Imperial College.

  On the way back we called in at Debbie's (Maureen's daughter who has gone to Vietnam on holiday with her partner) home to feed the cat.  Their residence is in a large building that used to be a lunatic asylum and is now in self contained luxury grounds with a communal swimming pool.  On the way back we stopped at Dan Murphy's and I purchased some wines for the morrow and Alan topped up the beer supplies.  Maureen then went shopping whilst Alan called in at Flight Centre and booked tickets to Sydney.  He is arriving for the second day of the Sydney Test.  I purchased some postcards for the Bushey grandchildren and Nick and Maureen posted them later in the afternoon.

  Whilst she was gone, the local branch of her bank was closed, so she had to travel further afield, a neighbour, Peter called in and we quaffed a few beers, discussed the cricket and then came up with advise on places to visit when he comes to England with his wife Carol next June and stays with Alan.  After that it was back to work on the blog which I have been doing now for a few hours.  A glass of white wine and cheese, biscuits and pate have recently appeared to sustain me in my task.  Alan is back reading the paper having had a bit of a nap, whilst Maureen does the crossword.  We have been sitting in the back garden in very pleasant weather and only now at 7.00pm is it getting a bit cooler, but I'm still here in T-shirt and shorts without shivering!

ENGLAND RETAIN THE ASHES

WEDNESDAY 29th DECEMBER

  At last I have witnessed an England Ashes victory in Australia.  Just around midday England retained the Ashes!  The crowd was predominantly comprised of England supporters with the Barmy Army in full cry.

The Barmy Army had taken particular delight in taunting Mitchell Johnson with their latest song/dance routine:
                                   He bowls it to the left (hands above head and sway to the left)
                                   He bowls it to the right (hands above head and sway to the right)
                                   Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Johnson
                                   His bowling is a load of sh*te
This was repeated several times after the game was over, and when the England team did a lap of honour.

  We had got to the ground fairly early and paid tribute to Sir Donald Bradman - how the Aussies could have done with him now.

Then we queued at Gate 4 where the entry was still $31 - some like Mark (including the commentator on ABC Radio) considered it an Aussie rip off, but there again others had pre-purchased their tickets like Len and Patrick for $45 and it wouldn't have been fair to them if entry was free on the day. 

I managed to capture the England team's celebrations after the capture of the last wicket (Hilfenhaus), and the scoreboard showing England 2-1 up in the series.

After Johnson's wicket fell within a few overs the authorities relented and opened the gates letting all the remaining spectators in for free.  Too late for us but I did not begrudge paying to ensure I saw all of the final rites!  After it was all over and we had listened to all the speeches and presentations, we headed off towards the South Bank.  We eventually picked the Deck restaurant as Len was keen to try some fish.  They

offered a two course menu with a glass of wine for $29.50.  The smoked salmon starter was nice but not a lot of it.  Sadly the spahgetti with seafood was off so I joined the others in the Dory (fish) was likewise tasty but fairly miniscule served with a few leaves of lettuce.  (Mark had a lamb shank which was also lilliputian in size).  I don't think anybody left the restaurant feeling anything like remotely full!  We then parted company with Len and Patrick and I arranged to meet them at the Sydney Test next week.

  We returned by train to Mitcham and were picked up by Rhonda (Maureen's friend) as well as Maureen.  Maureen, under considerable pressure from her children and relatives, had gone out and purchased a 32" LG LCD television and a new DVD player. Mark with some help from me, replaced the old TV and DVD player and Mark tuned the whole system in. We then moved the old equipment up to Maureen's bedroom bringing the much smaller old TV down.  Rhonda had also passed her old mobile on to Maureen having acquired an iPhone, and Mark was able set everything up on it except the e-maling of photos which probably needs action by Virgin.

  In the meantime we were able to watch highlights of England's victory in HD (high definition), a very satisfactory way of viewing the event!  After Alan had unsuccessfully tried to book a flight on the computer to Sydney, and I had discovered that my access on the dongle to broadband had expired (I had a voucher number to renew it but the site wanted my phone number and I had no idea what it was.  I phoned Virgin but their office had closed at 5.00pm), we set of for the Mitcham Hotel.  After a couple of drinks Mark kindly offered to buy us all dinner.  I'm pleased to say that the portions were considerably larger than at the Deck!

THE MELBOURNE TEST 3rd DAY

TUESDAY 28th DECEMBER

  Mark was up and away at 6.00am for the Chelsea v Arsenal game courtesy of a lift to the station from Maureen. I arose about 8.00am and had a coffee and toast whilst Maureen made up some rolls for our lunches, and then gave us a lift to Mitcham Station.  It's about a half an hour train journey to Richmond which is a station just a few hundred yards away from the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground).  This time I got family enclosure tickets on level one for $31.  Mark came later and got a ticket for the same area I was in.  Chelsea had lost 3-1 to Arsenal, and the bar he had arranged to meet his pal, the Charles Dickens was closed.  Instead he went to the Casino to watch it and got befriended by an Arsenal supporter, whom he could not get rid of!  Not a good morning for the dear boy!  It was a much warmer day today, but I wasn't taking any chances and retained my long trousers and long sleeved shirt and also took a light jacket along in case!  England lost their last five wickets to be all out for 513.

  Our arrangemnts to meet up with Len and Patrick worked fine and we made further arrangements to go for a drink after the game.  Australia got off to a good start until Hughes was run out by a good throw from Trott, and thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals.  There seemed a prospect of an extra half hour being claimed by England to try and wrap a three day victory, with the injured Harris unlikely to bat with a stress fracture of the ankle.  In the event Haddin and Johnson held out and the match goes into a fourth day.

  We walked into town after the day's play and went to the Clocks bar for several rounds of libations.  We then walked over to a bar/restaurant that Mark had spotted earlier in the day, but the bouncer wouldn't let us in because one of us had shorts on.  We walked on a bit further up the road and found a pizza restaurant, where Mark negotiated free garlic bread all round if we came in.

 It turned out we were on the street where Len and Patrick had their hotel so it was a relatively short walk home for them, whilst we walked to Flinders Station to catch a train back to Mitcham.  Mark suggested going to the Mitcham Hotel for a drink on the way home with Maureen, but Alan was dead against it, coming out with such as excuses as, "it was too late, Maureen will be asleep, No! No! No!".  Mark phoned Maureen and asked her if she would like to go for a glass of wine and she readily concurred.  We were to ring her when the train got to Box Hill.  Unfortunately my phone had gone dead by then, Alan had forgotten his and Mark didn't have Maureen's number on his.  This left us in a bit of a quandry until I found I had my travel itinerary in my bag and thankfully it had Maureen's phone number on it, so we were able to contact base.  In the event the Mitcham looked closed so we went home and laid into a bottle of Alan's red wine (much to his disgust) which was very palatable.  We agreed we would go for a meal at the Mitcham tomorrow.

IN PERSON AT THE MELBOURNE TEST

MONDAY 27th DECEMBER

  Not only did I wake Mark up last night, I seemingly kept him awake all night with my snoring.  The fact that I heard him snore a couple of times during the night would seem to belie his claim, but he won't have it.  I did however hear him get up and knock on Maureen's door and confess that he had got it all wrong and the Chelsea v Arsenal game wasn't taking place until a day later!  I got up at 8.00am and joy of joys luxuriated in a bath.  After breakfast Maureen ran Alan, Mark and myself to Mitcham station, stopping only to buy the morning papers. The Herald Sun had but the one headline on its front page;
                                            We Were
                                             AWFUL  (crossed out)
                                          HOPELESS  (crossed out)
                                        A DISGRACE
Mark has retained a copy to take home with him. 

  It's about a half hour journey to Richmond, a trip that cost us $10.50 each and then it is but a short walk to the ground.  There were some folk selling tickets with whom Mark spoke but they asked $60 per ticket and weren't willing to accept Mark's offer of $60 for two tickets!  We bought tickets at the ground for $45 each which gave us seats in the Olympic Stand on level 4 which is up in the gods.  It's a great view from up there, the only problem being that an icy blast fairly whistled round reducing us to shivering indolence.  Frequent trips for hot coffee failed to alleviate the chill.  Mark clad in a short sleeve Lacoste shirt had to confess that he was feeling the cold.  I had a tee shirt, long sleeved shirt, and light jacket, long trousers and sandals with no socks, and I couldn't stop shivering!  In between this cold snap Australia dismissed the two openers for barely a run or two.  We had arranged to meet Alan at the Vodaphone promotion site with its "Dunk A Pom" sideshow outside Gate 3, and I also sent a text to Len telling him that this is where we would be.  We all duly met up and arranged to go for a drink after the game tomorrow with Len and his nephew.

  After returning to our seats after lunch, Mark remarked that there were lots of empty seats at low level diametrically opposite us bathed in sunshine.  We worked our way round and found two empty seats in the second row.  According to Jonathan Agnew on the cricket radio commentary it was about 12 degrees in the ground, but we reckoned it was nearer 8 up in the gods.  However at ground level, with the sun shining in the afternoon it was blissfully warm, and Mark had to apply AfterSun upon our return to Maureen's.  His face was distinctly red. 

And that indeed must have been the colour on the Australian cricketers' faces as England ended the day 444-5 with Trott and Prior still in.  Prior had a lucky escape after being caught, he was walking off when umpire Alim Dar stopped him and checked with the third umpire to see if Johnson had bowled a no ball.  He had so Prior was reprieved!  Trott was struck a painful blow on the knee and limped for some time afterwards.  A lucky trip to the bookies on the ground saw Mark put a $10 bet on a trotting horse named Princess Fiona.  The name caught his eye because Maureen has a new dog named Princess.  It won at 14-1!

  We had a 10 minute wait for a train and Maureen was there to pick us up at Mitcham.  There were beers in the fridge upon our arrival back, and Jazz On A Summer's Day to watch on DVD, whilsy Alan BBQed sausages and burgers.  A fitting end to the day.

MELBOURNE BOUND

SUNDAY 26th DECEMBER

  Felt better than I expected  when I arose at 9.30am and packed my bag for Melbourne before settling down to watch the Fourth Test Match.  England won the toss and put Australia in to bat and a couple of early missed catches did not prove to be costly.  Rob and Nick took us down to Sydney airport at about 12.30pm and by the time we were boarding our flight Australia were 70-5.  Mark said farewell to Nick and told him he must come to London next Christmas.  Nick was very concerned if there was a leggoland in London, but Mark re-assured him that there was.  He also told him that the present he had received from Nick - Gary The Gadget Guy - would go on his chest of drawers when he got home.

  Maureen duly met us at Melbourne Airport and we were amazed to learn that Australia were all out for 98.  On the way back to her place we listened to the radio commentary and then we were provided with beers and nibbles to watch the match on TV!  Close of play was at 6.50pm, and Alan returned from the game before 8.00pm.  Prawn starters with steaks cooked on the barbie by Alan , accompanied by more beer and wine followed by cake, coffee and Baileys completed a sumptuous meal.  We settled in to watch Jazz On A Summer's Day and I contacted Len who texted me back, so hopefully we will meet up tomorrow either during or after the game.

  Mark retired early in order to be up early to go into town to watch the Chelsea v Arsenal game, whilst I stayed up to try and catch up with the blog.  Maureen has very kindly offered to get up and run him to the station at 6.00am. I endeavoured to enter our bedroom quietly so as not to disturb Mark, but this went by the board when I crashed into his bed in the dark!  However I have other problems, apparently I have run out of storage space for photos on my blog, so for a few days it may well have to continue without pictures until I can sort the problem out, and then I will hopefully add the missing pictures in.

CHRISTMAS DAY

SATURDAY 25th DECEMBER

  Robert arranged to pick us up at 7.30am to take us round to see Nick, so we were up at 7.00am to be ready to go at half past.  However our driver didn't turn up until 8.30am so we didn't get to Carlingford until just before 9.00am.  Nick had got loads of presents including a guitar and a three wheeled scooter.  I completed the assembly of the scooter but managed to put on the steering column back to front, but the scooter still worked - I'll have to redo it when I get back from Melbourne. Indeed it seems to be suitable for all ages!  Nick was soon into composing songs and playing the guitar - who knows he may yet become a pop star!

  We then got dropped off back at the residence whilst Robert went with Nick and Jane to the in-laws.  Robin was back home for Christmas but the cancer is well advanced and her life expectancy can be measured in months.  Robert stayed for a while and then came back to take us round to Pav's where we had Christmas dinner with his parents, Leslie's mum and neighbours. 

The dog took exception to Mark this time and barked at him for some time before eventually deciding to befriend him. Dinner was in the parents' house and consisted of pork and ham with various delicious salads followed by pumpkin pie and ice cream.  Afterwards I chatted with Pav's mother who was a delightful lady, before returning to Pav's house which adjoins his parents' home.  Jeannette arrived in the afternoon and we all sat outside taking in the sun and drinking beer and wine.  At some point in the evening I decided to ring Andrew & Denise, Adam & Karen, Bridie and Jim on my mobile and got through to all of them to wish them a Happy Christmas.  I also spoke to James and Shauna who were very excited with their presents.

  My memory becomes a bit hazy after that but I recall that we were driven back to the pad where I crashed out fairly quickly, albeit I believe Mark watched a video before retiring.

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

FRIDAY 24th DECEMBER

  It's Christmas Eve, so I would like to wish everybody a very Happy Christmas, be it a White one or not.  Mark was not at his chirpiest this morning, blaming it on the cider he had drunk the previous night.  Upon his return from town he just happened to look into the Eastwood and there was Robert, what a coincidence! 

  Mark went off for a walk in the morning and I went off to Eastwood for brekkers and to purchase some drink for tomorrow.  I bumped into Mark at the supermarket, which was handy as I handed over the booze I had purchased to carry home and went off to read the paper and have breakfast.  The papers are suddenly very upbeat about the Aussie's chances in Melbourne, we shall see.

  I accompanied Rob to the Epping to meet Pav and Leslie, but Mark elected to stay at home and take it easy.  Robert purchased a case of Stella to take round to Pav's tomorrow.  We had a couple at the Epping and then returned.  Rob and I went to the Eastwood for dinner and Mark joined us a bit later.  His condition can be guaged by the fact that he had two lemonades and something to eat, but that was all.  We returned back to the pad, and Robert said he would drop round the beers to Pav's so they could chill overnight.  I accompanied him.  When I went with Rob a couple of years ago, the dog took exception to me and wouldn't stop barking, and this time continued where it had left off two years ago.  However after a while it seemed to accept me and we became friends, so much so that it insisted on having its photo taken with me.

  Rob dropped me back and after watching an episode of Phoenix Nights we had an early night in anticiption of an early start tomorrow.

JACKSONS ON GEORGE STREET

THURSDAY 23rd DECEMBER

  I didn't wake up until 9.30am with something of a head!  I was due over at Carlingford to look after Nick, so I gathered myself together and headed for the station.  I arrived in Epping to see the bus for Carlingford leave as I was crossing the bridge over the road and had a 20 minute wait for the next one!  Sods Law!  I arrived to discover that Nick had tonsilitis as well as the wart on his foot.  Jingles was having a quiet rest so the household was relatively peaceful.  I managed to lose three games of football on the Wii by only 1-0 on each occasion but fared rather better in the real thing winning 10-3 and 10-4.  After Jane returned she gave me a lift back to the gaff where I met up with Mark.  I booked my tickets to Ballina for the 12th January and I am now flying up there for 5 days to stay with Roddy and his wife.

  Mark had arranged to meet up with John Ryan in town at 6.00pm, so we set out for the train at 5.00pm and caught the 5.25pm slow train.  We alighted at Wynyard and as we were coming out of the station I decided to get a bite to eat before starting drinking.  Mark blithley told me that Jacksons on George Street was just across from the station to the left, and carried on, leaving me to investigate the possibilities of replenishment.  Having consumed a cheeseburger I came out of the station and looked to the left but couldn't see any signs of the establishment in question.  I tried to the right - no luck.  I returned to the left and went further - still no joy.  As luck would have it I had put my mobile on charge and forgot to pick it up when leaving, so there was no way of contacting Mark to find out where the hell he and Jacksons were.  I was debating going back home when I spotted a bouncer outside the St George bar and asked him if he knew where Jacksons on George Street was.  He confirmed that it was on the same side of the road but about 3/4 blocks away.  It was a good 10 minutes walk away, and when I eventually got there I spotted Mark and John inside.

  John had been to his company's Christmas do all day yesterday and was trying to refresh himself with a pint of Toohey's New whilst Mark was on cider.  I opted for a schooner of Hahn's Dry.  I hadn't seen John since his farewell do in London some three years earlier, and prior to that there was Mark's infamous stag do in Riga (Latvia) where amongst many other events Jim was unable to get out of the bar because every time he tried to leave through the revolving doors he completed a 360 degree circle and landed back inside!  John is now the proud father of one year old Lewis, and seems to be enjoying his job in marketing, something of a change from the old days when he worked in a vegetable shop.

  An interesting array of clientele was to be found in the bar, including an Indian who in an extremely loud voice was declaiming that he had been in Australia for two years and was discriminated against because he was English, but in England had been discriminated because he was black!  A couple next to us were ejected by the management.  Round followed round and John quite obviously recovered his taste for the beer.  Mark and I both indulged in a $10 pizza which was the special priced dish on a Thursday. About 9.30pm Mark suggested we go on else where and we found a bar down the road opposite Wynyard Station.  It was my round and I had difficulty in understanding the figure the barmaid was telling me for the round.  I turned to John and said to him that I had problems understanding some of the Aussie accents.  He turned to the barmaid and asked her if she was Scottish, to which she replied in the affirmative!  No wonder I couldn't understand her!  At about 10.00pm I decided to call it a night and bade the chaps good night and went to the station.  There was a half hour wait for the train, and by the time I got indoors it was about 12.30am.  I heard Mark come in with strangely enough, Robert at 4.30am and they proceeded to have something to eat before adjourning.  I have yet to learn how they met.

NEW IN NEWTOWN

WEDNESDAY 22nd DECEMBER

  Mark went off in the morning to Canterbury to go to the races.  He noticed a well dressed man at Canterbury looking lost who asked him which way were the races.  Mark pointed him in the right direction and walked with him to the course.  It turned out that the chap had a part share in a horse that was running, and got Mark a members' pass into the enclosure.  Carefully observing the punters, Mark spotted one well dressed gentleman who placed $2000 on a horse to win.  Mark shot off to another bookie and placed a bet on the same horse.  It duly won which got the lad off to a good start and he came away from the meeting some $200 to the good.

  I in the meantime checked out flights to Ballina and answered my e-mails before sauntering forth into the big wide world.  I decided to go to Newtown and check out if the Egg Records Shop was still there.  It was.

It had quite an interesting selection of 50/60s LP's including an Aussie release of Duane Eddy's Roarin' Twangies on Summit (SRA 250-573) with a cover I have never seen before.  (Of any intereset Jim?). However the prospect of lugging LP's half way round the world deterred me from purchasing any of the albums.  However a Turtles CD did catch my eye.

  Newton is akin to Camden Town in London.  Lesbians and gays stroll hand in hand, there are plenty of restaurants, and I stopped at one to take a pot of Earl Grey and a pancake with strawberrys, cream and ice cream.  There are also second hand bookshops and record stores, which I entered and browsed.  There

were quite a few interesting books around, but I only bought one, plus I found another item on my presents list.  Wandering down the road I was accosted by a young lady who wanted to tell me all about WWF and was astounded when I confessed that I had never heard of WWF.  I explained that I don't read the papers and watch little TV apart from sport, and WWF had not crossed my horizon.  She found this hard to believe and asked me on three separate occasions if I really hadn't heard of WWF.  As I recall, she told me it stands for World Wildlife Fund.  Anyway having elicted that she came from Surrey and explained that I already contribute what I can afford to charities of my choice my direct debit, I wished her a Happy Christmas and we parted on good terms.

  I spent the best part of the afternoon before returning home around 6.00pm.  Mark wanted to go and eat at the Epping, so I accompanied him although I did not require sustenance as the pancake had certainly filled a void.  Rob said he would come and pick us up.  He duly came but quickly settled in (arriving just as I was at the bar), and we didn't leave until gone midnight having quaffed severial pints.

MEMORIES OF CHATSWOOD

 TUESDAY 21st DECEMBER

  Mark went off to Chatswood in the morning whilst I dealt with my e-mail and an invite from Roddy Jordan to visit him in Ballina in the north west corner of NSW in January.  I also completed all the tasks for Charly.  By then it was into the afternoon, and the sun was out in a blue sky, so donning my shorts and just in case a long sleeved shirt I walked down to Eastwood Station and caught a train one stop to Epping where I swopped for the new line connecting Epping with Chatswood.  It is some way down from the land level platforms, and the tunnel continues for several stations.

  I wandered down to the the Westfield shopping centre which is pretty massive.  I failed to find the two shops I was looking for, but in the end spotted some signs for toilets.  Having made use of the facilities I saw an exit sign and followed it.  Upon coming out I thought to myself "this looks familiar".

It was the Bebel Centre where I met Alan two years ago.  He was standing outside it just about where the lady is in front of the van.  The only problem was he gave me wrong directions out of the station as a result of which I walked all round Chatswood before bumping into somebody who was going there and I was able to follow them.  I had searched for SpecSavers and a Post Office for ages without finding the two in close proximity! 

But of course if I had come out of the station in the right direction, there they were.  I phoned up Mark and we rendezvoused for lunch at the Orchard.  This bar has been done up and is now quite smart compared to the state it was in on Mark's last visit.  We had chicken schnitzels, chips and salad for $10 each.  Afterwards we went in search of the Optus store and walked straight past one without realising it - I only noticed it on the way back.  However we found a stall where they sold Optus vouchers for my mobile phone.  I got a text message that I had won a prize from Optus but have yet to claim it on line.

  Victoria Street which leads from the station to the shopping centres had a bit of a Christmas Fair going.

Mark and I parted company and I carried on shopping with some success and then caught a train back to Eastwood via Epping.  I decided to catch the 545 bus back but managed to get onto one going to Chatswood instead of Parramata, and as a result I missed the one I wanted and got off at the next stop which was on the opposite side of the station.  I walked back through the subway under the railway tracks and waited for the next 545!  I still got home a bit before Mark who managed to get on the wrong train in Chatswood and had to double back!

  Robert took me to Woolworths in the evening and I stocked up on our food supplies, watched a couple of episodes of Family Guy and a program or two on TV and decided to call it a night.  Mark went off to the Eastwood to get a drink and came back by cab.  The driver had no change on him, so I got woken up to see if I had any, which I did.  I don't think it took me too long to get back to the land of nod.