Sunday at Thirroul

Well things certainly change quickly and it really takes one to the realm of living in the moment. Last night on arriving at the airport for my return flight to Wellington after seeing the excellent Spanish movie 'Truman' with Patsy, I checked in for my scheduled flight at 6.45 with Air NZ. Or I tried to, with no success, and on asking at the desk what was was wrong I was shown clearly that my ticket was not for Saturday 20th but Friday 19th. I had mistakenly missed my flight! In somewhat shock I sat down to consider what to do and on ringing Virgin Airlines I was told I could only buy a replacement ticket for $917 being First Class, the only one available. I immediately surrendered to the situation by singing HU quietly to myself. As I was returning anyway in October I decided to go online and search for a reasonable return flight. 

So quickly I went on wifi to Cheapflights and booked an Air NZ flight on Tuesday same time, 6.45pm, with a return on Thursday September 30 at 4.15pm from Wellington, including one piece of booked luggage. My departure from Wellington was now sealed with that flight and I felt quite good about it. Now to phone a few people to say I was delayed till Tuesday and there were no problems there.  Richard, who was booked to see my movie 'Theorem' at 4pm will just have to wait for a more suitable time, if there is one! 

So with my new booking, and just a few dollars lost as I got a really good deal, I phoned my brother to say I'd be home for the Bledisloe Cup party. He was qute OK about that as things like this had happened to him before too. Home in an hour with more provisions, I joined him and his three friends to watch a superb All Blacks team in great form demolish the Wallabies 42 to 8, a fitting end to a very happening day. Mike also cooked some delicious pizzas for everyone to scoff while barracking for the poor outclassed Aussie Rugby Team.

After a good long sleep I awoke on Sunday to decide to visit old friends John and Anne at Thirroul which is just an hour by train on the beautiful Illawarra coast. Also I discovered now I would be able to attend the funeral of Mike's good friend Sam which is scheduled to take place at the Jewish Synagogue at Bondi Junction on Tuesday. All is well when you accept the will of the Universe and I am grateful for all the changes that occur in my life, whether they are planned by me or not, as was this latest one.

On Elizabeth Street at the Bahista Café

...which is opposite the oxygenating Hyde Park

It is a popular spot for many, open 24/7.

This is the latest Aussie star, pentathlon gold-medallist Chloë Esposito

 

Below Malcolm Turnbull showing just how weak his pledge of government is!

At the State level, it's just another gravy train, with the Liberal government splashing out for a luxury weekend conference at this famous Blue Mountains resort.

Below is a view from the train of one of the tranquil beaches which come before you meet the one-time steel metropolis of Wollongong.

And relaxing in his  Thirroul home is old friend from school days John.

...and below is Anthony their youngest boy.

We had a simple lunch with Anne preparing a tasty quiche and salad, just right for a light meal on Sunday. We then had a couple of hours to catch up chatting about family and plans for Anthony's future which certainly needs thorough thinking as he is a very capable boy with Down's syndrome.

The train now takes me back for a bus pickup to return to Mike's to meet his friends Fritz and Judy who are up from the south coast to stay overnight with us in his Malabar home.