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.
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