Bondi Junction

This is really my first coffee venture on this trip, and it seems to be OK. 

I am meeting A for lunch somewhere nice, with views of the harbours she says, and later am off to Stonewall to have a big 78ers reunion and talk with old mate Garry W. So the the day is already shaping up. So have found a cafe in Westpac shopping centre and ordered a long black, see pic. It is OK, and the barista, Chinese, knows his trade.

Pattison's at Bondi Jn

Good barista..

Am anxiously waiting now to get back to Wellie. Two weeks has been too long, just as ten days in the West was too long. When will I ever learn? However making the most if it I am catching up with people I would otherwise have missed and today's meeting with Garry will be interesting. He is the author of the Gay History of Sydney, something which I suppose I have participated in, in my own way, like the meeting of tonight where those who took part in the very first Gay Pride March are coming together to meet and tell the younger generation what happened. It's something which I will take back to Wellington with me as the same things happened there too, and the young must be reminded of the travails of the past, and that it was not always beer and skittles.

My decision to stay in NZ is now firmly entrenched, whatever the outcome with Y. I still harbour hopes in that direction but all is not dependent on that. The lack of family on this visit has shown me just that they are not always there for me as I thought they were, and that my chosen 'whanau' is where I am going to put my energy. It is a radical change from former thinking, but I feel strong and secure that it is right, although it is a big challenge for me. However it is exciting to contemplate, whereas the return to Gosford is a return to old ways and a comfortable life and in a humid climate that I don't at all like. I will now gladly put up with the wind in Wellington, and take the effect of it as a cleansing ingredient to my life. After all, I have never been healthier since I arrived in these windy islands. My family will eventually no doubt visit me there one day when the climate is right for everyone.

Well back from the Stonewall and it was less than enthralling so G and didn't stay too long leaving the die-hard activists there to stroke each other's egos.