On Tuesday morning, we
had our breakfast at home: I'd overheard a staff member of Bobby's yesterday saying that
they'd be closed on Australia Day. I also made some sandwiches and wrapped them as carefully as I could. We'd bought
prepared salads, bread, lettuce, tomatoes, cold meats and cheese at Coles
yesterday. Matt had said on Sunday that
a picnic in the Botanic Gardens would be lovely on Australia Day. I had by chance
remembered as we shopped that Kathy and her partner (also) James are vegetarians,
and choices were made accordingly. I'd arranged before departing Taiwan that, should we be unable to
reach each other on Whatsapp, email or phone, we'd meet at noon at the opera
house. They'd arrived from Dubai last
night.
Our James was up and
off early again, this time to an interview at a restaurant in China Town. When all was packed and ready, Lourens and I headed back into the city.
As we made tracks for Bennelong Point, the excitement in the air was
palpable. Today the sun had come out,
and the city was humming. We ambled by a
man playing beer bottles. Later,
strolling beside Circular Quay, music belted out from hidden speakers. In the middle of the
harbour, a navy vessel was anchored.
From it, pledges of allegiance by cadets were broadcast. There was a canon salute and lots of cheering
from water's edge.
I wanted to get to the box office before meeting Kathy to change the
seats for tomorrow night's performance, as I did not wish to be once
again disappointed. (I'd booked seats in the same zone as last night's.) At first, the attendant must
have misunderstood that I wanted a refund for last night, and he was not receptive. I then asked that even
though I was wanting to spend more money on better seats, was he still not
prepared to help me? When he realised I was talking about tomorrow's performance, the exchange was made. As I was attending to that, air
force jets flew by, making a jolly racket.
I bet it was a superb spectacle, but I was trapped indoors at the
box office and missed it entirely.
