November started with nine members attending a ‘Bring a Plate’ Melbourne Cup lunch at the home of one of our members. The lunch was enjoyable and entertaining, with a brilliant range of food that included some great salads.
The guest speaker at our November meeting was Dale Rees-Bevan with ‘The Mastery of Memory’. Dale focused on the incredible things the mind is capable of including memorising lists of names to holding a full presentation in your head. Her talk was fun-filled, interactive and very entertaining, and shared some of Dale’s secrets on brain training, mastering the art of memory and exploring the powers of the mind.
Ten members assembled at the Archibald Fountain after our train trip to St James Station waiting to join our Sydney Sightseeing Bus Tour. Again it was perfect weather for our outing. We boarded the bus in College St for our tour. The first stop was at Mrs Macquaries Point for a magnificent view across the harbour to the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. We then proceeded through Woolloomooloo, Potts Point and Kings Cross, where we stopped to view the El Alamein Memorial Fountain. It was then on to New South Head Rd and through the suburbs of Rushcutters Bay, Edgecliff, Double Bay and Rose Bay, where we stopped for morning tea. After taking in the harbour views, we continued on to Watsons Bay and past The Gap and Macquarie Lighthouse, on through Dover Heights and then down into Bondi Beach for a 20 minute stop. We returned to the city through Bondi Junction.
Those who didn’t have other things to do in the city enjoyed a peaceful and tasty lunch at Da Capo Courtyard Cafe in the grounds of Sydney Eye Hospital. After lunch we went on an impressive ‘Member guided walk’ through the restaurants and ‘Birdcages’ of Angel Place on our way to Wynyard Station for our train home.
Five members and three friends were taken back to the 1960s and 70s when they attended The Vanda and Young Songbook at Hornsby RSL Club. John Paul Young (JPY) and the Allstar Band performed hits written by Harry Vanda and the late George Young, brother of ACDC’s Malcolm and Angus Young. JPY mixed informative and entertaining introductions to songs with personal and humorous anecdotes from his many years in the Australian music industry. Staying true to the versions performed by such artists as Ted Mulry, Flash and the Pan, Stevie Wright, the Easybeats and ACDC, one of the highlights was JPY’s heartfelt tribute to Stevie Wright with his performance of ‘Evie’ Parts 1, 2 and 3. It was a great evening of music memories which ended with JPY performing an encore of three of his biggest hits, ‘Love is in the Air’, ‘I Hate the Music’ and ‘Yesterday’s Hero’ and the audience giving them a standing ovation.
Later in the month, 12 members enjoyed an outing to May Gibbs’ Nutcote. It was again a perfect sunny day. We joined the train bound for Wynyard, where we changed trains for Circular Quay. There was time to grab a cup of coffee before catching the ferry to Neutral Bay. After arriving at Nutcote we looked around the gift shop which was formerly the double garage for the cottage. We were then provided with a detailed, and very informative and entertaining tour of Nutcote by John, our volunteer guide. His tour covered May Gibbs’ life and history of the cottage. It is a small cottage in an absolutely glorious location on the harbour. After the tour we enjoyed a very pleasant lunch of sandwiches, cake and tea or coffee on the verandah outside the tea rooms which overlook the cottage and the harbour. Some members took the opportunity to view a video about the home and May’s work. After taking a further look around Nutcote, we walked to the wharf where we enjoyed the harbour views while waiting for the ferry to Circular Quay. We then caught a train to Wynyard where we changed trains for the trip home. Even though some members were unable to attend on the day, they have been inspired to visit Nutcote at other times.