LOOKING AFTER NICK

FRIDAY 21st JANUARY

  I got up after all the inhabitants had left and had a bath.  I took my Iphone with me and scoured the sports news.  I discovered that Pienaar had signed for Spurs, that Darren Bent had gone to Villa and Prior was back in the England one day team.  I let Reilly back into the outhouse area - we have become great friends and he constantly wants me to tickle his belly when he isn't licking my toes, arms and face.  I had him racing round the

garden like a good 'un, but in terms of retreiving the sticks I threw for him he was a bit of a disappointment.  After a coffee and a roll I read a book, tickled Reilly's tummy  until it was time to rendezvous with Rob who drove me to Mount Druitt where I caught a train to Clyde and thence to Carlingford.  I went to the Carlingford Court Shopping Cente, indulged in a Peach Shake, had a look around and wandered down to Coleman Avenue in the searing heat.  Nick was nursing a headache when I arrived but it disappeared pretty quickly after my arrival.  Jane was going off to a 40th birthday cooking party, and I was left in charge of the grandson.  We were soon playing football - I lost 10-8.  Rob then arrived and we went down the park for a game of cricket.  Nick won this as well.

he scored more runs than anybody.  We then had a game of football which Nick & I won.  Nick was not happy that I scored the winning goal!

  A couple of pizzas from Dominos washed down by a few beers saw us watch an England defeat that really pissed off Robert.  He had a $20 wager and a case of beer on an England win with his bosses at work.  Ce La vie!  We then played cards and all I'm sure is that Rob lost but I'm not sure who came 2nd between Nick and I - the rules seemed to change with each hand!

  Rob and I adjourned to the Eastwood - it is Friday after all - for a few refreshing tipples and then came back to the pad for eggs and bacon, washed down by an Okocim.  Night night! - said Rob

TERRY'S CREEK WALK

THURSDAY 20th JANUARY

  A relatively early start to the day for a change.  Whilst the forecast was for rain, the weather looked pretty good to me with a few clouds around but predominantly sunny.  After breakfast I downloaded a couple of things and read my book.  Around midday I decided to go for a walk, recalling that Mark had found a route somewhere down one of the adjoining roads.  I was lucky as I found it straight away, it was called Terry's Creek Walk.

   It ultimately led to the Blue Gum High Forest and the whole walk took me about an hour with a rest on a bench to watch a father and son racing a radio controlled car around at amazing speeds around on a large expanse of green.  I returned home and cooked a bite of lunch rounded off by a tiramasu, and jolly tasty it was too!  I finished my book and watched another episode of Spooks - I have one more episode of Series 6 to watch and the whole of series 7.  I believe series 8 is out on DVD but I haven't got it yet.

  Robert picked me up and took me along to Macquarie Park where I watched his team Epping/Eastwood Tigers record a thumping 5-2 victory.  Pav scored the opening goal, and the second opposition goal clearly came off the crossbar without going over the line.  I yelled abuse at the referee, demanding the introduction of TV technology!  Robert also scored a goal, bringing back the glory days of his youth!  He put in a few superb sliding tackles and was ruthlessly mown down by an opposition player when effectively clean through.  I scorned with derision the yellow card given by the ref, giving him every encouragement to show a red card.  Much to my amazement Robert made no attempt to thump the guilty party!

  I went with Rob to Oakhurst to see his new gaff.  I sat in the very pleasant summerhouse area but unfortunately the act of crossing my legs caused the chair on which I was sitting to collapse.  I cannot conceive that it was my weight that caused the two rear legs to disintegrate, but whatever I landed up on my back side!  I also made my first acquaintance with Reilly who is currently suffering with fleas.

Anyway the bottles of red wine purchased on the way went down a treat with the excellent meal Jeannette cooked for us.  I duly adjourned for an excellent night's sleep.

SWANNING AROUND

WEDNESDAY 19th JANUARY

  It was a full moon today and I had a long old sleep before venturing down to Eastwood.  I posted cards to all the grandchildren from my trip to northern NSW, and then went and purchased a voucher for my mobile. There was a brief shower but I dived into the arcade and by the time I came out it was over. A quick call into Woolworths saw me purchase some Swiss cheese and a couple of tiramisus. I had taken a book with me and called in at Bo Jo's for a pot of tea and scones with jam and cream, and had a read sitting outside.

  Thereafter I returned to the pad, watched some more episodes of Spooks and read a bit more.  I also sorted out all my photographs putting them in a file on my external 680 Gig drive, and deleted them from my computer drive.  I also decided to have a look at Uncle Gil's website that I hadn't seen since I was in London.  As a result I downloaded 18 albums that I also put on the external hard drive.  Rockabilly Ranch appears to have gone whilst I've been away but one or two sites are still around.

  I cooked another beef stroganoff with mushrooms for dinner and polished off the bottle of Bowlers Run Shiraz.  Spoke to Nick and Rob on the phone.  My son is going to pick me up tomorrow evening and take me to watch him play football.  I have finally got Adam's correct Skype address at work (third time lucky), but he tells me he is away in Berlin and the Hague until the weekend, so I'll try him on the home Skype address.  Mark tells me he will post my additional medication this weekend, which he is picking up to see me through the nine months of my trip (I only got a prescription for six this being the maximum the quack was allowed to give me).  A bit more reading, some TV and off to bed about 11.30pm.

DAY IN

TUESDAY 18th JANUARY

  Spent the day watching several episodes of Spooks and reading the magazines I bought from Roddy.  Eventually walked down to the shopping centre in Eastwood and bought some rolls as the bread I thought I had was mouldy, and the milk was dated the 18th.  Bought other foodstuffs to make a strogonoff which went down well.  I also bought what I thought was a carton of Tropical fruit juice but after swigging a mouthful realised it was fruit concentrate to be dissolved in water!  I was too late to get into the telecom shop to get an Optus voucher for my mobile, which expires on the 21st, so I'll have to go again tomorrow.

  I had an e-mail from the president's office regarding the foreword, asking me to phone, which I duly did.  I learnt that the foreword is awaiting the president's approval, and confirmed it was to be translated into English.  I was told I should get it next week.  I communicated this to the publishers and hopefully everything will be on course.

  I spoke with Robert who enquired how I was getting on, and I told him I had had a reply from Adam stating that he had been away over the weekend and suggesting I phone him on Skype. Sent an e-mail to Mark asking if my new credit card had turned up but apparently it hasn't.  After consuming my strogonoff with pasta and leeks I had some fruit salad and watched TV until 10.30 and then adjourned.  One of my more placid days I would say!

BACK TO SYDNEY

MONDAY 17th JANUARY

  My stay in Lennox Head is coming to an end.  I've had to book in luggage (for $10) as I have purchased Roddy's collection of Reminiscing and Rockin' 50s magazines.  Chatted to Roddy this morning.  He had to call his computer man out as he couldn't swich his machine on this morning.  It was dust in the machine that was causing the problem, but he decided to buy a 4 Gig laptop anyway and discovered that his current machine was only 0.512 Gig.  Amongst the myriad of photos Roddy showed me was one of Duane Eddy in action in Australia.  I wonder if Jim has that one? Roddy most kindly gave me copies of his Australian and New Zealand illustrated discographies of Buddy Holly as well as a CD of Australian Promos and Interviews of Buddy Holly, Paul Anka, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jodie Sands.  Additionally I received a set of 36 Eddie Cochran Collector Cards.  A generous man indeed!

  At 1.45pm Roddy took me to Ballina after I had bidden farewell to Christine and Wilma and thanked them for their hospitality.  Roddy told me I was always welcome back and that was on good authority as it came from Christine.  Apparently somebody who made his own bed was a welcome guest!  The flight was chocka, but departed on time.  I managed to get an aisle seat which was good.

And so it was time to say farewell to Ballina.

  I caught the train from the airport to Eastwood and got a cab to the pad as I was somewhat laden down.  I walked back into town to lay on some provisions and stopped off at the Indian Restaurant where I had a very pleasant meal before returning home to catch up with this blog.  It is young Adam's birthday and I have sent him an e-mail but I'm not sure if I had the right address, so just in case - Happy Birthday.  Robert tried to phone him over the weekend but failed to get through.

FORT MACADEMIA

SUNDAY 16th JANUARY

More discussions on record matters, and Roddy played me some Del Shannon and Waylon Jennings tracks.  We watched more Opry stars on DVD, and then Roddy took me for a drive around the surrounding countryside including a stop off at Fort Macademia where I purchased a croc cup for Nick.  We then drove to a town nearby for lunch, where I had garlic prawns and Roddy was able to get a glutton free dish of chicken.  The weather has turned really nice now.  We eventually returned home, where we watched the Gold Coast beat Newcastle 2-0 and then the first one dayer.  Sadly England lost a close game

BYRON BAY

SATURDAY 15th JANUARY

  After discussing matters musical first thing in the morning, and reviewing the "Eddie Cochran" - Alis Lesley - Little Richard picture (we are both of the opinion that it is Cochran), Rodddy drove me out to Byron Bay where we parked and walked down towards the beach. 

We stopped for a coffee/tea on the way back and wandered around the town getting lost in the process and being unable to find the car.  A goodly walk up and down the streets failed to locate the vehicle, and just as Roddy was starting to get worried he spotted his "Vietnam Veteran" sticker and we duly located his car.

  After returning home we watched several DVD's of the Time-Life Opry series. I then did some searching on my computer and read more of Roddy's Holly In Australia book.  Then it was time to go out to eat at the RSL Club in Ballana.

I had delicious garlic prawns on rice with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay, whilst the other three had roast lamb.  We returned home to watch Sydney draw with Melbourne Victory with a last minute equaliser.

  Roddy had planned to take me to Brisbane tomorrow as it is only two hours away, but the terrible floods in Queensland have spread as far as Brisbane so there is obviously no point in even trying to get there.

THE GOLD COAST

FRIDAY 14th JANUARY

  Up again about 8.00am and then managed to get broadband connection so checked out e-mails and replied to a couple, before setting out with Roddy for the Gold Coast to visit his mate and record collector extraordinaire Kenny Perkins. I guess it was getting on for a couple of hours drive, but I hardly noticed the time as we chatted all the way.  Kenny was sitting on the porch when we arrived and had got a couple of chairs for us on the porch as there was nowhere to sit inside the house other than on the toilet or on the bed.  Otherwise all walls and most of the floor space was completely taken up by records.  He has 78's, 45', EP's and LP's taking in rock'n'roll, rockabilly, blues, R&B and jazz.  I had a look at some and he showed me others, but it was almost too much to

                                                       (Kenny & Roddy)
to take in.  I found an Eddie Cochran LP with a photo in it that almost positively confirmed that the person on a photo from Australia Roddy had was Eddie, even though it does not much look like him.  Kenny totally spotaneously gave me a Johnny Scat Brown single on Leedon. 

I was horrified later to learn from Roddy that it was worth about $200.  It was an act of extreme generosity from a really nice guy.  Kenny also pulled out a copy of the current Australian Big Beat magazine which had a picture of New Kommotion in it and also gave me, along with Derek Glenister, Breatheless Dan Coffey, Ray Topping, Tony Martin and various others a mention.  Published in Melbourne, I'll have to see if I can get hold of a copy.

  As there is nowhere to cook and eat in the house, we adjourned to Kenny's regular haunt down the road for lunch, and afterwards After dropping Kenny off back home, headed back to Lennox Head.  I looked at a collection of Time-Life DVD's Roddy had and tomorrow will view some of them.  Just learnt from Robert who phoned that England won the first 20/20 and another game is on tonight.  Went to watch and oh dear England lost, failing to get a six of the last ball to win!