After our very wet and nasty welcome to Perth, it was time to get on with the main purpose of our five night stay.....catching up with old and dear friends and getting wet on the inside! After the relative social isolation of Carnarvon, our schedule seemed a little daunting. We were somewhat out of practice.
The first of this rather dizzy round of engagements was in the leafy streets of Dalkeith, one of Perth's decidedly better suburbs on the Swan River, where the Finlay-Jones' residence stands proudly in Waratah Street. John is seriously skilled in the kitchen and a wine connoisseur of deservedly fine repute. He, his charming wife Prue, and their two delightful daughters Sarah and Alex, are consummate hosts.
This was a Sunday lunch to which we were really looking forward. A bonus, for me in particular, was the fact that another of the long term members of the redoubtable and invincible (notorious?) Brighton B2 mens' hockey team, which was part of my life for so many years in Adelaide, was also on the invitation list. John Cowden now lives in WA and it was a real bonus to catch up with him and to meet his partner Margo.
And therein lies another of the 'less than six points of separation' tales. Margo's son, who now flies Army Chinook helicopters, undertook his advanced flying training at RAAF Pearce at the same time as Stu was doing his. They were on different courses, but know each other well. I have long since stopped being amazed by these encounters.
What a day it was. JFJ had decided that the weather gods were continuing to frown down on any potential outdoor feasting, so our 'BBQ' lunch became an indoor affair. Whilst the girls chatted and nibbled on pre-lunch bubbles, the boys busied themselves in the kitchen.....well we kept JFJ well watered whilst he busied himself in the kitchen!
Yet another culinary triumph emerged as the result of his efforts. We feasted on an entree of seared scallops and pan tossed red and green peppers followed by oven roasted lamb racks and fillet, potatoes au gratin and salad with, some considerable time later, a desert of fruit tart. Some BBQ!
It will probably come as no surprise to learn that all this was more than adequately washed down with a very parochial selection of bubbles, reds and whites, all but one from various SA wine regions.
JFJ did interpose a more than acceptable Margaret River red, just to remind us where we were, and was understandably pleased with the end result of all his endeavours.
And of course, what's a reunion of any sort without the obligatory group shot? Days of past glories were recalled with verve (and a possible touch of exaggeration) as the old warriors posed with a photo of the team gathering held many years ago in Adelaide at JFJ'S farewell from Unley Park.
That had been a day to remember and so was this. Our schedule does not include a return to Perth in the foreseeable future, which gave this wonderful day a flavour of another farewell, one we shall never forget.
It was probably just as well that Monday was a 'lay day'. A long walk through the expansive and marvellously maintained Wanaroo sporting complex with its acres and acres of green turf, sporting club houses and playgrounds, began the healing process. And then the phone rang. To my real surprise it was our caravan insurance company....things were well and truly under way as promised and I was very keen to try to organize the replacement awning whilst we were in Busselton rather than have to return once we had established in Albany.
I subsequently rang the excellent folk at the Busselton 'Caravan Doctor', took a series of requested photos and sent those and other information off to them. Linda Bird, the most obliging and knowledgeable proprietress of this august establishment, assured me that she would take the matter from here and provide a quote to CIL. True enough. Within 24 hours the quote had been accepted, CIL had approved the replacement of the damaged awning, this had been sourced in Perth, and we had arranged to have it fitted in Busselton the following week. What a pleasure it is to deal with competent and sensible people. Again I happily sing the praises of The Busselton Caravan Doctor (they replaced our hot water service almost a year ago) and give a positive nod to CIL Insurance.
The socialising began again on Tuesday evening. The nearby northern beach suburb of Mullaloo was our destination on this occasion. After a fifteen minute drive, in the words of our trusty electronic navigator, "we had reached our destination", the beautiful home of Linda Bates, a close friend of the past 40 years. Linda, and her sadly departed husband Mike, were an integral part of the 'Sydney scene' of my younger days.
My very close friend Hens Bannink, whom I met when he came across to Adelaide in 1974 to maintain our first Surf Rescue helicopter (can you believe we patrolled and jumped out of a Bell 47g...exactly like this one minus the 'Police' signage....how things have changed) shared a house in Sydney with Linda and Mike and a couple of young Qantas pilots. I visited the house in Caringbah on many occasions and all its occupants have remained firm friends ever since.
Mike left Qantas (he had been an international steward) many years ago and he and Linda moved to Perth. Liz and I stayed with them a few years ago when we came west for Stu's flight training graduation and presentation of his wings. Catching up with Linda during our various sojourns in the capital of the west has been one of the highlights of our trip.
This latest was no exception when we had the additional pleasure of the company of Linda's elder daughter and her husband who now cohabit with the lady of the house. Christie cooked up a storm.
Richard, who is wickedly Irish, and I felt obliged to quaff a few preparatory ales as we nibbled on the cheese platter before we all sat down to a great meal, joined by one of the two canine guardians of the house.
It was a fun night indeed, as we have come to expect at Westview Boulevard, Mullaloo, a 'must do' whenever we are in Perth.
But there was no rest for the wicked. Wednesday evening saw us being picked up by Jan and Geoff Day. 'G'Day', as he is universally known, lives but a stone's throw from the Kingsway park. He and Jan had occupied a site at The Plantation some weeks earlier and left insisting that we make contact when in Perth, for a night out. We did so with gusto and enjoyed a most pleasant evening at the nearby Greenwood pub where we not only had a good 'catch up' but celebrated Geoff's recent birthday in style as well.
Before we had sortied out on this, the last of our pre-arranged Perth social engagements, I had a real surprise. A close colleague of mine from SAPOL days was in town. Pete Magerl and I were course mates through our three years of training, we have both served with the UN Forces in Cyprus, and have shared the pain and toil of the SAPOL Commissioned officers' course together.
Damn, we are leaving in the morning for Busselton....."mate, can you make it over for a morning coffee?" Fortunately Pete's daughter, whom he was visiting, lives quite close by. A morning coffee was do-able. So Liz and I hopped to early, packed up and hitched the van and pushed back on our site, which gave us an hour and a half of free time before we had to leave.
Pete is the President of our SA UN group which is in a state of some turmoil at the moment. Quite coincidentally I had sent him a lengthy e-mail about the matter only a day previously. Now we were able to chew the fat in person....and indeed we did over a couple of coffees in the nearby Kingsway shopping centre mall.
What a pleasant surprise this had been, and what a great way to spend our last few hours in Perth.
The two 'PM's' go back just over 50 years and we are very good mates indeed. And the last time we had caught up was also here in Perth, just over a year ago at our Fremantle UN Forces reunion.....don't you just love what life throws up from time to time?
But for now, and probably some time, farewell Perth. Busselton awaits our return visit. Looking at the forecasts I might at last be forced to finally don long trousers and warm tops....we shall see. I have vowed to resist till the last but the writing is on the wall.
Given that I blogged Busso to death just under twelve months ago, I'll desist from a repeat performance. We are both looking forward to a return visit to the Busso RSL and to wandering around some very familiar and pleasant old stamping grounds but I'll not bore you all with detail.
All is on track to have the awning replaced on Tuesday 28 October and then it will be off to the Great Southern, a reunion with the Cooks in Denmark, and the buzz of the Albany celebrations, the plans and publicity for which have gained some serious recent momentum. It is anticipated that we shall be part of a visiting throng some 60,000 strong. Stay tuned!
The first of this rather dizzy round of engagements was in the leafy streets of Dalkeith, one of Perth's decidedly better suburbs on the Swan River, where the Finlay-Jones' residence stands proudly in Waratah Street. John is seriously skilled in the kitchen and a wine connoisseur of deservedly fine repute. He, his charming wife Prue, and their two delightful daughters Sarah and Alex, are consummate hosts.
This was a Sunday lunch to which we were really looking forward. A bonus, for me in particular, was the fact that another of the long term members of the redoubtable and invincible (notorious?) Brighton B2 mens' hockey team, which was part of my life for so many years in Adelaide, was also on the invitation list. John Cowden now lives in WA and it was a real bonus to catch up with him and to meet his partner Margo.
And therein lies another of the 'less than six points of separation' tales. Margo's son, who now flies Army Chinook helicopters, undertook his advanced flying training at RAAF Pearce at the same time as Stu was doing his. They were on different courses, but know each other well. I have long since stopped being amazed by these encounters.
What a day it was. JFJ had decided that the weather gods were continuing to frown down on any potential outdoor feasting, so our 'BBQ' lunch became an indoor affair. Whilst the girls chatted and nibbled on pre-lunch bubbles, the boys busied themselves in the kitchen.....well we kept JFJ well watered whilst he busied himself in the kitchen!
Yet another culinary triumph emerged as the result of his efforts. We feasted on an entree of seared scallops and pan tossed red and green peppers followed by oven roasted lamb racks and fillet, potatoes au gratin and salad with, some considerable time later, a desert of fruit tart. Some BBQ!
It will probably come as no surprise to learn that all this was more than adequately washed down with a very parochial selection of bubbles, reds and whites, all but one from various SA wine regions.
JFJ did interpose a more than acceptable Margaret River red, just to remind us where we were, and was understandably pleased with the end result of all his endeavours.
And of course, what's a reunion of any sort without the obligatory group shot? Days of past glories were recalled with verve (and a possible touch of exaggeration) as the old warriors posed with a photo of the team gathering held many years ago in Adelaide at JFJ'S farewell from Unley Park.
That had been a day to remember and so was this. Our schedule does not include a return to Perth in the foreseeable future, which gave this wonderful day a flavour of another farewell, one we shall never forget.
It was probably just as well that Monday was a 'lay day'. A long walk through the expansive and marvellously maintained Wanaroo sporting complex with its acres and acres of green turf, sporting club houses and playgrounds, began the healing process. And then the phone rang. To my real surprise it was our caravan insurance company....things were well and truly under way as promised and I was very keen to try to organize the replacement awning whilst we were in Busselton rather than have to return once we had established in Albany.
I subsequently rang the excellent folk at the Busselton 'Caravan Doctor', took a series of requested photos and sent those and other information off to them. Linda Bird, the most obliging and knowledgeable proprietress of this august establishment, assured me that she would take the matter from here and provide a quote to CIL. True enough. Within 24 hours the quote had been accepted, CIL had approved the replacement of the damaged awning, this had been sourced in Perth, and we had arranged to have it fitted in Busselton the following week. What a pleasure it is to deal with competent and sensible people. Again I happily sing the praises of The Busselton Caravan Doctor (they replaced our hot water service almost a year ago) and give a positive nod to CIL Insurance.
The socialising began again on Tuesday evening. The nearby northern beach suburb of Mullaloo was our destination on this occasion. After a fifteen minute drive, in the words of our trusty electronic navigator, "we had reached our destination", the beautiful home of Linda Bates, a close friend of the past 40 years. Linda, and her sadly departed husband Mike, were an integral part of the 'Sydney scene' of my younger days.
My very close friend Hens Bannink, whom I met when he came across to Adelaide in 1974 to maintain our first Surf Rescue helicopter (can you believe we patrolled and jumped out of a Bell 47g...exactly like this one minus the 'Police' signage....how things have changed) shared a house in Sydney with Linda and Mike and a couple of young Qantas pilots. I visited the house in Caringbah on many occasions and all its occupants have remained firm friends ever since.Mike left Qantas (he had been an international steward) many years ago and he and Linda moved to Perth. Liz and I stayed with them a few years ago when we came west for Stu's flight training graduation and presentation of his wings. Catching up with Linda during our various sojourns in the capital of the west has been one of the highlights of our trip.
This latest was no exception when we had the additional pleasure of the company of Linda's elder daughter and her husband who now cohabit with the lady of the house. Christie cooked up a storm.
Richard, who is wickedly Irish, and I felt obliged to quaff a few preparatory ales as we nibbled on the cheese platter before we all sat down to a great meal, joined by one of the two canine guardians of the house.
It was a fun night indeed, as we have come to expect at Westview Boulevard, Mullaloo, a 'must do' whenever we are in Perth.
But there was no rest for the wicked. Wednesday evening saw us being picked up by Jan and Geoff Day. 'G'Day', as he is universally known, lives but a stone's throw from the Kingsway park. He and Jan had occupied a site at The Plantation some weeks earlier and left insisting that we make contact when in Perth, for a night out. We did so with gusto and enjoyed a most pleasant evening at the nearby Greenwood pub where we not only had a good 'catch up' but celebrated Geoff's recent birthday in style as well.
Before we had sortied out on this, the last of our pre-arranged Perth social engagements, I had a real surprise. A close colleague of mine from SAPOL days was in town. Pete Magerl and I were course mates through our three years of training, we have both served with the UN Forces in Cyprus, and have shared the pain and toil of the SAPOL Commissioned officers' course together.
Damn, we are leaving in the morning for Busselton....."mate, can you make it over for a morning coffee?" Fortunately Pete's daughter, whom he was visiting, lives quite close by. A morning coffee was do-able. So Liz and I hopped to early, packed up and hitched the van and pushed back on our site, which gave us an hour and a half of free time before we had to leave.
Pete is the President of our SA UN group which is in a state of some turmoil at the moment. Quite coincidentally I had sent him a lengthy e-mail about the matter only a day previously. Now we were able to chew the fat in person....and indeed we did over a couple of coffees in the nearby Kingsway shopping centre mall.
What a pleasant surprise this had been, and what a great way to spend our last few hours in Perth.
The two 'PM's' go back just over 50 years and we are very good mates indeed. And the last time we had caught up was also here in Perth, just over a year ago at our Fremantle UN Forces reunion.....don't you just love what life throws up from time to time?
But for now, and probably some time, farewell Perth. Busselton awaits our return visit. Looking at the forecasts I might at last be forced to finally don long trousers and warm tops....we shall see. I have vowed to resist till the last but the writing is on the wall.
Given that I blogged Busso to death just under twelve months ago, I'll desist from a repeat performance. We are both looking forward to a return visit to the Busso RSL and to wandering around some very familiar and pleasant old stamping grounds but I'll not bore you all with detail.
All is on track to have the awning replaced on Tuesday 28 October and then it will be off to the Great Southern, a reunion with the Cooks in Denmark, and the buzz of the Albany celebrations, the plans and publicity for which have gained some serious recent momentum. It is anticipated that we shall be part of a visiting throng some 60,000 strong. Stay tuned!
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