DOWN ON THE ROCKS

FRIDAY 1st APRIL

No April Fool here today - only me! I woke up with a sore back this morning, had a quick bath to see if it would do any good (it didn't), and drove off for Eastwood.  Somehow I missed the turning off the motorway and found myself passing the Olympic Stadium.  I had to revert to the GPS to find my way to Ward Street.

I picked up the ladies and left the car in close proximity to Eastwood Station and purchased three day tickets.  We went to Wynyard and walked down George Street to the Rocks and viewed the sights.

We viewd the various market stalls and the Fortune Of War pub that claims to be the oldest in Sydney dating back to 1828.  We stopped at a pub with a view of the harbour and had excellent steak sandwiches, and I rested by back which was really starting to give me gyp.

We then walked back to Circular Quays and caught the ferry to Mossman Bay, stopping at Cremorne and South Mossman enroute.  We had some great sights sitting on the top deck in the front row.  Mind you the warmth of the sun made some individuals a bit dozy!

 We didn't get off the boat but just stayed there for the return journey, and we got back in time to just beat the rush hour traffic.  On arriving at Eastwood we went to the Provence cafe and ordered tea and scones.  It turned out they had sold out of scones (I'm amazed with all the bakeries in the vicinity - but there you go!). So instead Bridie and Angela opted cheese on toast and I went for the tirramasu cake.  We arrived in Carlingford just around 7.00pm, but nobody was there.  I rang Rob and he told me he was just picking up Nick from 'Pa in Epping and would be there in a few minutes.  True to his word he arrived soon afterwards with Nick in his Tiger's Rugby League gear carrying a ball autographed by the star player Benji Marshall.

We had a go at passing the ball for a while, and Nick had us playing a game of thinking of words that sound the same but have different meanings. Then he settled down to start writing a play in which he cast us all into various roles.  Bridie was the narrator, I was the Big Toast, Nick was the Chicken and I cannot remember the remaining characters.  Afterwards we had some group photos taken for posterity.  Jingles was dashing around the place with complete abandon, and popping out from behind cover to take a swipe with his paw at anybody in his vicinity.  He eventually settled down near Bridie and allowed himself to be stroked.

In the meantime, Robert had gone off to Carlingford Court to get suppers all round. Rob and Nick played Wii Michael Jackson dancing and then football.  Nick played as Spurs and Rob as Chelsea.  Spurs won 2-1!  About 9.30pm Robert and Nick ran the ladies home to Eastwood, and not long after they returned Nick fell fast asleep and Robert put him to bed.  Jane arrived just after midnight, and soon afterwards we left for Oakhurst.