Monday 31st May (Lini’s Journal)
Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Sat 5 Jun 2010 10:47
Riding my beautiful blue Brompton bike is always lovely, but today
several people called out, “Hey! I love your bike!” I felt jolly and
with a beaming smile called back, “Thank you; so do I!” From smart
businesswomen in sharp suits and heels, to men sweeping the streets,
from young and old came compliments galore. Aren’t I lucky!
The newly opened HSBC bank is one of those huge, open, minimalistic
buildings and felt like I was entering a spacious airport terminal. It
needed to be big as the queue resembled that of a Disney attraction in
high season and was equally as cheerful. Everyone seemed to know each
other. Three days later (or so it felt) I exchanged notes for coins
for the laundry: What a great opportunity though for a lengthy session
of people watching and chatting to the locals. On to the post office
for stamps, then a ridiculously long hunt for postcards. Perhaps I’d
forgotten where to look after six months of neglecting my family!
The main reason for today’s outing was a lengthy scout around the
supermarkets so I know what fresh food to buy from where just before
we leave. I also needed to buy as many non-perishables as I could
carry. It was a lengthy process; unloading one bike load then off
along the harbour to the very nice Miles Market where one can purchase
one’s caviar, fine wines and beautifully marbled aged beef. All the
supermarkets have massive take-away sections with a huge variety of
deliciously looking and smelling food on offer. I squeezed past as
people browsed for ages before piling hot and cold meals into big foam
containers. With another bike load of provisions it took some time to
stow everything on board, especially as the cupboards were blocked by
airing mattresses and folding bikes.
Between trips to the laundry I continued with the cleaning and
found the lockers to be quite damp inside. I pulled all the clothes
from the wardrobe and hung them round the grab rails in the saloon to
air and left all the other lockers open. It is now impossible to walk
through the boat and looks like someone has broken in and turned the
place over. Later, when I couldn’t fit Si’s clean clothes in his
lockers I commenced a very lengthy session of sorting. He now won’t be
able to find anything when he returns! I was too tired to catch the
ferry to the dockyard for the monthly Beating of the Retreat but if I
had gone I would have missed a Skype with Dan.