We set off early hoping to avoid any rangers. As it happened, As we were driving off the site, a rangers truck drove by and the rangers gave us a greeting wave. Clearly the rangers don't apply the "No Camping" rule.
We took the Bells Line of Road which was a bit of a mistake because this is a "Curate's Egg" road, "Good in parts". I thought Jean would have a bad trip but she enjoyed the scenery and we got to Bilpin in time for morning tea. We set off towards Narrabeen but when we got to Hornsby, I got caught in the wrong lane and had to join all the trucks heading up the expressway. We took the first turn off and visited Mt Colah, where we had resided when we were first in Sydney in 1968, and Hornsby where Jean had done her driving lessons and her driving test. We drove on down to Pymble, up to St Ives, through Terry Hills, down the hill to Mona Vale and on to Narrabeen.
We had booked our usual site at the back of the caravan park, down by the lake. We noticed that all the other vehicles were parked to the north because there was a big noisy earthmoving activity going on in the lake. The council are trying to move 50,000 cubic metres (50,000 tons) of sand which had been shifted into the lake from the beach over the last three years by severe weather. I was fascinated to see a very big digger and a very big tipper in the middle of the lake.
We went to the zoo which we last visited when the Deweys were here to see the new Wollemi aviary which includes the Platypus Pools where the zoo has bred platypus three times. These are the first real captive bred platypus, Michael Flea claimed to have bred platypus in captivity but it seems that he simply enclosed a stretch of a creek which was a natural breeding area.
We were impressed with some of the changes in the zoo since I worked there ten years ago, the Wollemi aviary being the most impressive.
We had lunch at the Treetops Restaurant before returning to Warriewood to shop for supplies and then to the caravan park.
Jean had a dentist appointment in Dee Why in the morning.
I rang around to see if we could catch up with family and old friends. Several of them were out of town but we arranged to catch up with some others.
In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth". It was a most moving experience and was very ,very persuasive in showing that anthropogenic global warming is really happening and that climate change is inevitable. The only outstanding question is how much can we do to minimise the effects. As In left the cinema I reflected on the critics of this film who claim that it is inaccurate and just scaremongering. I believe that even a sceptical person could not but be impressed by the evidence presented in the film and came to the conclusion that the critics are just axe-grinders who have a vested interest in rejecting the message of the film. On reflection, I made myself a promise that I would do those things I can to reduce our ecological footprint.
We had lunch with Iain at a new cafe on the shores of Pittwarer in Bayview. It was good to catch up with him and to see him very fit , well and a good deal slimmer. We also caught up with his move from Redfern to Newtown.
We had dinner with the Crowleys at Rampais Thai Kitchen in Belrose. It was good to catch up with them and hear some gossip about the new vicar of St David's who hasn't made too many friends in the congregation. Among other things, he closed down the annual Church Fete which was a long time and very popular feature of the community in Forestville.
Another laundry day.
We had a very pleasant lunch with John Ziegler at the Bronzed Onion in Harbord Village talking well into the afternoon.
We spent a bit of time at Warriewood Square doing the shopping.
In the afternoon, we visited an old mate of mine from AWA days who lives in Eastwood. We sat in the garden and chatted about life, the universe and everything. We had noticed a large number of Chinese businesses in Eastwood and Col went on at some length about the takeover of the suburb. The library now has more stock in Chinese than in English and the photocopier is set up with Chinese rather than English instructions. Helen came home from a CWA meeting and we chatted some more. It was very nice to catch up with them again. We were very late leaving and didn't get back to Narrabeen until after seven so we had a quick meal.
Jean arranged for a couple of her friends from Avon to come over. Jeanette came for morning tea and Hazel came for afternoon tea, We took Hazel to dinner at a Thai Restaurant in Collaroy which we all enjoyed and she invited us for dinner at her place on Tuesday.
I had an appointment with the Dermatologist in the morning so we had a quiet day. Went to Vinnies in Brookvale to see if my old LPs were still there. There weren't any LPs. We bought some clothes for Jean, some books for me and a picture for Currawinya.
I felt a bit second hand after the treatment so I veged out in the afternoon.
Jean had a long dental appointment in the afternoon to have her teeth whitened. The treatment was pretty effective but she has to avoid all staining food and drink for a couple of days.
In the evening, we went to Hazel's for dinner. Bianca cooked a very nice meal of barramundi and roast veges.