11th April - Sydney - Manly ferry - Clontarf - Archibald Prize

Thursday 11^th April

I am halfway to 2XS…

Pete rang yesterday.  James and Rachel have flown the coop, and he is an orphan on his boat, at the marina on Hamilton Island.  And…it is cold, wet, windy… The rain is pouring down and he is surrounded by very disgruntled would-be holiday makers.

Meanwhile it has been lovely in Hobart, and it is even more glorious here in beautiful Sydney.  I caught a train from the airport and was son on the manly ferry.  It is not the first time I have sobbed a bit, on the Manly ferry… The first time I cried because it was just so overwhelmingly beautiful; the second time because of – well I won’t say why, but I was VERY sad.  And this time because I had said goodbye for the final time to my darling family…

But now I am with Karen, my wonderful sister-in-law.  We are having a cup of tea and then we will have a walk along the beach, where I can see dogs frolicking, pelicans sailing about in a majestic way, boats bobbing, the whole glory of Sandy Bay Road, Clontarf.  We spent a few hours this afternoon looking at the Archibald Prize exhibition, which I enjoyed very much – it was my first time.  Pete and I tried to go when we were on our way back to Hobart last year but…strangely, the gallery closes at 5.00 and we got there at 4.55… (I say strangely because Pete was astonished; he thought it would be open till at least 7.00; I was a bit less optimistic.)

Just so you can see why I shed a few bitter tears…here are my four granddaughters, with me, on the waterfront last week…