Bondi Beauties

Roselle(Nee Gowan) and Richard Wilson kindly put us up (put up with us) at their home of 10 days @ North Bondi Beach. Perkins and Brendan made new friends almost at once. They had been warned to expect a tacky beach strewn with broken bottles and condoms but in fact found the place to be clean and rubberfree. They quickly met Barrie, a former International Aussie Rugby player, piano player and all round good sport and his mate Aaron Mc Millan an Australian Concert Pianist of some renown. Aaron, 27, is the only Australian painist to have played a solo concert in the Sydney Opera House of all Australian compositions.

Barrie Crocker, as Roselle called him , chauffered us to a piano recital in a small suburban concert hall, situated at the back of a private residence. There was an air of a British colonial gathering in the fifties, complete with drinks on the verandah and 'supper' afterwards in the garden. The supper was predominately lemon meringue pie, cake, cake, biscuits and cake. Met with several wonderful people. John and Margaret (there were 5 Margarets), he a family lawyer and she a writer and therapist. She has just published a book based on the first three months of life, I guess we all need a copy although Mr Poodle claims to remember it well . Both in their sixties but like a couple in their thirties or thirteens; so positive about love, romance and destiny. John had a strong conviction about reincarnation bordering on the knowledge of it. He quizzed the Poodles about their first meeting and was delighted and excited (delira and excita).

The concert itself was performed on a Kawai boudoir grand and was a selection from his Opera House programme, consisting of contemporary classical music. Mr Poodle won 1st prize at the end of the concert for his reading of musical jokes picked from a hat. He had choice of a hamper, Roses choccies (horribly tempting) or a videotape of an ABC documentary TV programme on Aaron's battle with a brain tumor and the subsequent operation performed by a leading Australian surgeon. This was of course intermingled with his musical career. We have still to see it but it is a huge privelege to have it and to have met Aaron who is such a gifted and sensitive artist not to mention a humble one.

We also met an international lawyer who had a deep knowledge of contemporary Australian painting, Ant Abrams and his wife (Margaret of course). He has given Shri Poodle the phone number of Tim Storrier an outstanding painter of fires in the bush. On giving Margaret the Email address of Mr Poodle she asked if 'winterpoodle' had something to do with his hairstyle or colour, the cheeky monkey.

Also in attendance was a maker of soya chocolate who is beginning to export worldwide. His wife's name is Margaret.

The next day we met Santa a week early. He was boarding a bus in shorts, Santa suit and hat, and carried an ice cream. It transpired he was the driver and was quite happy to have his photo taken.

Also on Bondi beach we came upon an aged hippy in topknot and pink skirt (male) who explained that he was thinking of visiting Ireland to make love to Sinead O'Connor or Ian Paisley. 'Which would we recomend?". Mrs Poodle replied "neither".He stood by signs he had made of varying significance. One read "I LOVE politicians" another "We came here for ADVENTURE, DRAMA, from a place of boring PEACE. Today we live in a world where DEATH, REPULSION and TERROR could leap out and get us. AND WE LOVE IT!

Said our goodbyes to Roselle on Monday who was busy with a major putsch on the launch of the Corporate Butterfly brochure and PR presentation. Maybe Shotgun Studio will be involved at some point.

Horrible bag drama at Sydney airport due to the lateness of arrival and the shortness of Mr Poodle's memory. Unloading the taxi in superquick time he omitted two bags, one with the tickets. The taxi drove off. Mrs Poodle kept calm but said very little. Phone calls to taxi company. Short term mayhem all deflated by a smiling taxi driver bags in hand just as we were being called to the flight. All normal I suppose for seasoned travellers. Lots to learn especially for Mr P.

Now in melbourne and lots to report in the next installment.

A very Merry Yuletide to all our friends and family.

PS. Just adopted a new creature; "Dilly" is a snow white poodle with black nose and eyes. For every stuffed toy purchased 2 T-shirts must be sacrificed to charity.
PPS. Camille and Morgan have arrived safely and we will all christmas together tomorrow.

The Opera house, close-up.

On closer inspection the Opera house is much larger than commented on earlier, resembling no more than a 20th century concrete cathedral in three parts: a chapel, side chapel and sacristry. With enormous excitment we booked three tickets for Jan 6 for the world premiere of the Philip Glass ensemble playing to the film 'Naqoyqatsi', the first in the trilogy. Today we wandered the sleepy Rocks area visiting a Nelson Mandela exhibition of his coloured drawings related to his incarceration and the thriving photographic shop of Ken Duncan. Liam Blake could well do a similar operation for Ireland. Perks and brendan are packed away ready for a trip to Bondi beach this evening. Perks is travelling in a little plastic kiddies Toblerone bag and feels somewhat humiliated especially after making himself so useful this morning by dressing as a French waiter and serving his master tea in bed. Luckily we have pictures of him tucked up in the giant bed beside his Mrs. Still finding it hard to find a way of publishing here but we will find a way.

Thought for the day: "I compare everything only with itself".

Inner Sydney, The Rocks area

Day three in Sydney and still ensnared by the luxurious Shrangri-La hotel, downtown. It is monkey friendly here but Perks has remained in the hotel experiencing culture shock, jetlag and a slight allergic reaction to the bird bites that his Mrs has endured. He really missed a lot as the winterpoodles went to the Bridget Reilly exhibit in the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art. This comprised 35 paintings of hers from early 60s to present day. What a stunner. They should be promoting Optrex with the show. Here is an example of how colour is all to do with context; the pictures sizzled and rippled as you gawked. Her new work is less severly geometric with many more curves, it flows more and she is using slightly pastelled tropical colours. Matisse would be proud of her. It makes Mr Poodle want to go straight to his studio and throw out all those earth colours. Maybe burn the brushes. Just while contemplating such a thing the poodles spotted some books on aboriginal art and earth colours came back in again. Mr has fallen in love with a particular artists work and yet again he wants to visit the studio. Maybe Melbourne will present an opportunity.

The poodles crossed the harbour in the ferry to Manly, a tourist beach area, passing thÓpera House which appeared strangly small and ruined in their eyes by an unsightly brownish podium it sits on. The white sails/fronds though are hugely impressive and complicated. An icon and a genuine work of groundbreaking art.

more later.....

Sydney, Arrival.

The winterpoodles have finally arrived in Sydney, not without incident we might add. The most serious being the incarceration of Perkins in a birdcage outside our room, It was for visa irregularities that he did time. luckily our photographer was on hand to record the event and we sent a report to the relevent embassy plus an article to local rag complaining of maltreatment to innocent monkey. We have the pics but have not found a way yet of publishing them here. We also have the teeshirt.

This is day 2 in Sydney and the sun shines after torrents of rain yesterday. We aim to tour the famous harbour, visit Manly beach and the Opera House. The city seems to be free of those maddening birds (mosquitos) that so terrorised Mrs Poodle in particular. In Phuket they mounted a sustained attack on her and the scars are still to be seen. She is unable to make any comment herself as she is attending to more important business in the Spa section of our palatial hotel . I hasten to add that we stay in this Shangi La for but two days before returning normal service.

much more later...

THIGHLAND

The winterpoodle team are staying at the Bang Tao beach Bungalows, a wee haven of artistic chalets asymetrically spaced amongst palms, shrubs, waterways with large goldfish and fronted by a dining deck on the shore. Here we can sip our breakfasts, lunches and teas whilst watching the longtailed boats of many colours slip in and out. The sea is bathwater warm. By night the mosquitos feed on the lightcoloured ones, teddies seem to escape, and especially those that have consumed Toblerone.

Last night we returned from a three hour appointment at a tropical Spa. Mr Poodle found the defoliating scrub a bit scary, thinking at first that the masseur had very sandpaperish hands then realising it was some kind of exfoliate. He also found the facial a bit disconcerting but survived. Ms. Poodlem being a veteran of these things sailed thru with just a mild legache. Returning late night we ambled down the dark road to a settlement nearby wherewe fell in with some young Thais who had just closed their cafe. It was reopened and a meal appeared pronto. The owners younger brother played some guitar at our table for us and sang an Oasis song. We learned a leetle about our host country and the two of us were brought home on the back of a scooter.

More soon