The Quay

Every few weeks we get together with my brother for a feast of fish 'n chips.  It's something like an elongated pub crawl, without the fun of alcohol. However, the company makes up for that.  Today we decided to give Circular Quay the benefit of our esteemed presence.

If you were able to choose a perfect winter's day, today would be the one.  Clear skies were softened by the winter sun and the air was still.

We had completely forgotten it was the last week of school holidays, which was strange because my brother is a high school teacher.  The Manly Ferry appeared to be in popular demand and who could blame them?  We haven't been there in years, so it's now down on our list of places to eat fish 'n chips.

Speaking of which, today's version had to be the worst we have had since we began our quest.  As I sit here typing, I have to block out the upper part of the screen so that my stomach doesn't revolt at the sight.  I will go further to say that it's possibly the worst meal of fish 'n chips I have ever had, half cold and oozing grease from every pore.  I don't know the name of the take-away shop which is perhaps just as well.

I only hope these two little fellows don't succumb to Chip Belly overnight, because they seemed to rather enjoy my cast-offs.

A quick vote was taken and the decision made to walk off the meal.

 There was so much to distract us.  Street art ...

... didgeridoo player with his very modern music ...

... and of course the ferries.  The jaunty older ferries are named after the First Fleet.

The more modern ones are named after Australian female athletes.  I don't know how Olympic swimmer Nicole Livingstone feels about having a vessel with such a broad beam named after her!

What a stunning day and even better, tomorrow is Friday.

What news of Lapérouse?

More than 200 years ago two ships commanded by the explorer Lapérouse foundered on the reef off Vanikoro, a tiny island in the southern Solomon Islands. Amateur divers started exploring the site in 1981 and made several impressive finds. Then in 2003 the discovery of a skull gave impetus to the search for a solution to the mystery of the explorer's disappearance. Shortly before going to the scaffold in 1793 Louis XVI, who instigated the original expedition, reputedly asked: "What news of Lapérouse?"

Claudine Wéry

Guardian Weekly, Friday 8 April 2005

It's a good story, but if I was about to lose my head, I doubt I would be asking such a question. Methinks I would be too busy screaming for mercy. However, yesterday I recalled this question as The Spouse, my brother and I sat looking out over the waters of La Perouse on one of those perfect days you can only dream about.  We three get together on a fairly regular basis, meeting up for lunch at various locations around the city.

It was time for fish 'n chips and if it's fish 'n chips, it has to be at historic La Perouse.  

Where else could you sit on the balcony of a seafood café and take in beautiful harbour views?  I can only hope that Monsieur Lapérouse had such glorious days when his little fleet anchored here over two hundred years ago.

As we live on the other side of the Harbour, we drove across the Anzac Bridge, through the city and out to the Bay.  Did I mention that it was a perfect day?

Perhaps the sun distracted this sky writer or maybe he's dyslectic. Upside down AND back to front, all while piloting an aircraft.  That surely takes a special talent.  (Memo to self: clean the windscreen.)

I like to think that this seagull was pondering the question, "What news of Lapérouse?"  But in reality he was probably after our chips.