Parents Day 18

Monday

By Monday, we had recovered our mojo. We headed into the City to see the Botanical Gardens. We walked among historic marble fountains and avenues of roses, under canopying trees. The Gardens, really just a big park to the east of Circular Quay, are lovely year-round. Businessmen come to eat their lunches, young lovers stroll arm-in-arm, and schoolgirls in blue skirts and black Oxfords and knee socks chatter on the lawns.

The sun was strong overhead, and we headed around the quay to Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, a big rock formation where Governor Macquarie’s wife allegedly used to sit and watch the boats on the harbour. It was very windy around the eastern side of the cliffs, and you can see the Navy base and, riding at the pier, the big gray warlike Navy ships which the Aussies choose to decorate with paintings of little red unwarlike kangaroos. Maybe that was Mrs. Macquarie’s idea, too.

Anyway, summer is obviously here, and the sun was still bright in the evening when we hopped a bus home, walked down to the beach, and dined at the Clovelly Hotel (Mom: lamb, me: chicken schnitzel, Dad: steak). This hotel, extremely popular with sports fans, is infamous for the ruggers’ fights that occur in the bar area. We didn’t see one, though, and we headed back up the hill to do our crosswords (Dad) and play on the DS (Mom) and mess around on Facebook (me) until bedtime.