Our son, Larry Jr, has a good friend from high school days in Costa Rica who is an Australian and lives back in Australia now. Larry Jr has kept in contact with Simon all these years and told him we would be coming to Sydney for a visit. We exchanged emails and phone numbers so we could meet him for lunch and catch up on what he’s been up to the past 25 years.
The most convenient place to meet him was Watson Bay. We caught a ferry ride from the area near the Opera House to take us to the meeting place. We hadn’t seen Simon since he left Costa Rica, however he hadn’t changed a bit. It helped that he had on a bright yellow shirt so I saw him about the same time as he saw me. Now, we have changed a lot, but he has a great memory.
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| Watsons Bay Wharf |
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| Simon & Gerry |
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| Larry & Simon at Doyles |
Doyles On The Wharf restaurant was the closest place where we could order fish & chips (Ron, better than Hotrods) plus a cold drink. Simon goes there often and thought we would be pleased with it. The meal was great and we enjoyed hearing what Simon has been up to these many years. He is a very industrious young man & is super busy. He owns a gardening business & also manages some apartment properties. We sat and talked for a couple hours & he then took us around the area in his car to show us the local sights.
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| Gap Cover Beach |
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| Gap Cover Beach |
He lives close to Bondi beach so we saw it again, but this time from a different view. We also saw The Gap, the “suicide cliffs” which seems to be the preferred site to commit the act. There are monitored cameras there to help stop people ending their lives that way. Also, the have spots where they can talk to someone to help them not commit suicide. Many years ago a retired man kept watch and is credited with talking more than 300 people out of the act by inviting them to his home for tea & conversation.
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| The Gap |
It is sad that the cliffs are used in that way. The view is spectacular and much better suited to being a spot for reflection and meditation.
Since he is a working man, we cut the visit short and he dropped us off at the Rose Bay ferry stop. It was great seeing him again and hearing about his son of whom he is very proud. Thanks a million Simon for the lunch and tour.
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| Larry & Simon at Bond beach |
While we were waiting for the ferry to arrive a Chinese couple asked us for directions to Manly. Luckily, we had been there on a previous day and had read the schedule, so, we’re able to help steer them to the correct ferry. I guess they mistook us for Aussies.
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| Catalina restaurant, Rose Bay |
It was getting late and we had planned on touring the Opera House, but we missed the final tour of the day. We were both very thirsty and stopped for some water & drinks at a restaurant near the ferry terminal. We finished off a liter bottle of water in no time. Our drinks took a little longer. By then we were ready to call it a day and caught a bus back to the apt.
Rachel went out to dinner & a concert with friends so we picked up dinner for ourselves at the Thai takeout restaurant near the apt. We ordered the same meal as last time since we both liked the selection. We then dragged our weary bones up to the apt and enjoyed the food.
We went to bed early to try and catch up on our sleep. It was another great day for us.
If you see him again tell him hello from Maryland.
ReplyDeleteMiss you guys!