of paul kelly, jindabyne and brunswick heads

Last weekend Charles & I went down to Simon's for 3 days, and, as has happened every time I've been there, it rained for most of the weekend. This, I'm pleased to report, did not stop Charles and Simon from fishing, with both magnificent results (as far as a feed or three went), but also an unexpected and disturbing one. Those of you who are familiar with the film Jindabyne, and the Paul Kelly song based on the Raymond Carver short story, may have aready guessed. On Saturday morning they set off at 6am and had been fishing for close to 2 hours from the south wall at Brunswick Heads, when they identified what they first thought was a dog, then a turtle in the sea, as a human body being blown towards them across the water. I will spare you the details, but, unlike the Carver story, it put an abrupt stop to their fishing and they reported it immediately. It turned out to be that of an Irish backpacker who had been missing for a week from Byron lighthouse. His poor parents had flown out, and were about to go home, so it was good timing for them, although no doubt also heartbreaking. Needless to say it consumed our thoughts and discussion for quite a bit of the weekend, one that will not be forgotten.

friends, food and wine

Have just had Kate & Lance up for the long weekend, which saw us trial taste a number of restaurants, all within walking distance of our place. First night was Indonesian, and developed in to an hilarious celebration, with Lance taking over from Mono Man on his casio, and entertaining all patrons with Bridge Over Troubled Water. Everyone got in to the swing of it, waving their arms above their heads and singing full throttle. I got it all on video. Lance & Kate made sure they were on side with Mrs Makanan before Lance took the stage.

Next night was the Mecca Bah, which Kate was very excited to find, being a regular at the one at Docklands. Delicious food but no singing. The last night was Indian - again top food. In between we introduced them to West End, including Avid Reader where we sat and read the paper and drank coffee while Lance found books to buy.

We did also do some exercise. We live very close to the river, and enjoyed a not-so-brisk walk along its banks to offset the oral intake, managing to resist the exercise stations along the way - well, almost. Lance did give us a demo of the challenges of chin lifts. You can see from the photo how close we are to the city. All in all we had a great weekend.