Manly

Was woken by Dad at 0839 after a good night's sleep. Eggs benedict in the lobby then down to Circular Quay for the Manly ferry. Seeing the bridge and opera house for the first time reminded me of being in New York - the scene is so familiar it is difficult to persuade yourself that you are actually there. Manly was a trip down memory lane for dad - he talked a lot about his childhood there, the beaches where he learned to swim, who he remembered etc. Saw 77 bower St, which is still very much there although in need of some repair by the looks of things, and which appears to be no. 59 now, plus the plot of land my grandfather and grandmother bought before he fell ill, with the intention of building on it. Lunch at a nice cafe on Shelly beach. Manly is lovely and I can understand my grandmother (or anyone else, really) wanting to locate there. The house must be worth a fortune now. Got the ferry back to Sydney, and had a wander around the Rocks. By this time I was really flagging so we went back to the flat and I had a short kip. At 6ish we got the Mosman ferry over the water to meet up with Uncle A's friend Ken Handley, and had dinner at his rather nice place overlooking the harbour. His wife Di, sons David (art dealer) and Duncan (policeman) and their wives Kirsten (architect) and Angela (editor for Allen & Unwin) were the other attendees. I talked to the wives most, who were interesting people. Ken is very like Uncle Andrew in some respects, especially in the way he contributes to conversations. I felt horribly rough at the beginning of the evening due to jet lag related general gut poorliness, but after a glass of two of very nice Cab Sauvignon I felt a lot better...