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.