Thursday. What a wonderful day today. I love this place, it has a very special feel about it and I am feeling so relaxed and for the first time in years I am feeling at peace for longer periods of time. I am not sure if it is the sea air, the place or just time, whatever it is I am swallowing it up in bucketloads. This morning I did not wake up until nearly 8.30 and had slept all night which is unusual for me these days. Usually awake early or up and down through the night. Like I said the the air here is great. I decided to book the river cruise today and that was the beginning of a great day. The lady that took the call was friendly, and very informative. So off I went down town to be there in time for the cruise. This place is great because it is within walking distance of everything in town. I went in to purchase my tickets and the laughter and feel good atmosphere was apparent from the time I opened the door. The staff were either laughing or smiling, the place was clean and even though they also sold fresh seafood it did not smell like fish. They took my payment, remembering me from calling earlier and then asked me if I was a John Cleese fan??????? Said he was OK, but they thought I must have been because I had a photo of him in my wallet. Once again???????? Oh I said that is my husband, I had never thought of him looking like John Cleese, guess if you squinted the right way and looked upside down then maybe. We had a chat about Colin and then she said I bet he made everyone smile, well that nearly did me in, and I said yes he did and he always had a smile on his dial also. So onto the boat, great way to spend the next 4 hours. Leaving the wharf they head upstream towards the mouth of the river, and did not realise it but apparently just around the corner and out to sea a bit one meets the Tasman Sea, well I think that is what I heard, but of course I could have it wrong. There were 13 people on board. Mainly couples, well all couples really, made up of differing compositions. I love people watching so I sat and observed, listened, and then made up stories about them all. There was the lady and man sitting behind me. Interesting, I am guessing that they had met on a dating site and were on their first trip together. She was 67, so how do I know this because she was telling the gent about another guy she was emailing in Texas who was 6 years her junior, and a very nice man who wanted to meet her, the gent said that if that is what she wanted she should do that. They talked about art shows and different things, and then she said tomorrow she needed some space, so here is the kicker and why I made up this story, he said, that is fine you must be sick of me by now. They had had a nice dinner last night and I guess as the trip went on they must have come to some kind of deeper understanding as they were becoming very close and lets say touchy feely by the end of the trip. The Dad with his excited 10yo son, and the older son, I would hazard a guess at around 65 or so, taking his elderly Dad on a trip and really looking after him, 2 Asian couples having a good time, a group of three that were there for a trip, not a lot of interaction between them, one older couple who did not speak to each other all day, and then another older couple who were a hoot. I heard about their travels, and how at 80 and being married for nearly 54 years were still in love and so glad they met. That was a story in itself. She was from NZ, went to England in 1957 to nurse, met him a Polish man, at the Downunder Club and the rest is history as they say. The scenery was beautiful, the history rich, the weather great, and all with the added bonus of being on a boat that resulted in the bridge being lifted so we could go under it. What a sense of power it is to have a bridge raised and all that traffic stopped so we could have a wonderful day on the river. It is a trip that goes up the river past numerous Oyster farming plots, National Parks, huge homes and homestead all steeped in history, and stops at a little village called Nelligen. Stopped there for a walk around and of course just had to buy an icecream. There is plenty of fishing to be done in the river with so many different varieties of fish to be caught. That is if you are into fishing of course. I had the best day, and as I have said before this place is the best. Now back home it is overcast and there is rain around, and the CP is filling up. I am guessing the long weekend will see it very busy. So until the next time, keep smiling and having fun, might as well because anything else is just plain yuck.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 07:00:00 +0000