An outing
On the weekend I met some of my school friends group for breakfast. Breakfast wasn’t our first choice — the restaurant couldn’t fit us in for lunch — but even those who had to drive for two hours managed to get there.
It was a very chilly morning, and we knew our table was outside overlooking the Yarra River (Melbourne’s main river) so, since autumn has well and truly begun here, we arrived in warm coats, hats and scarves. Nadija, being of Ukrainian descent outdid us all in the hat department by wearing a dashing fur hat. (That’s me in the blue one.)
And it was cold, but the situation was lovely, overlooking the river, watching geese and ducks swimming, and other birds flitting around. And a few brave souls hired boats and rowed on the river. This part of the river is after the falls, so they were leisure boats, not the competitive rowing ones you often see practising and competing on the part of the Yarra that’s right in the city.
That part of the river (Studley Park) is also set in bushland, so it was beautiful as well as peaceful.
And yes, if you’ve read my book, The Rake’s Daughter and the ones following, you’ll probably recognise the name “Studley Park.” I pinched it for my heroines’ former home and horrid rakish father. I chose it for the “stud” in the name, but didn’t end up using a line about “stud by name, stud by nature” that was the nasty rake’s boast.
At least I don’t think I used it. So much of a book gets written and later taken out, then put in somewhere else, and taken out again that it’s easy to lose track. (And by the way all this taking out etc. is of my own volition, not at any editor’s suggestion. It’s just a normal part of my writing process.)
Anyway, it was lovely catching up with my friends in such a beautiful spot. Sadly the food wasn’t up to much, but the company and beautiful location made it all worth it.
After breakfast we went for a short walk, which was lovely, and did a bit of people-watching on the way. T-here were dog-walkers, families having a barbecue, joggers, kids playing, bike-riders and others just wandering happily like ourselves.
As you are starting to feel a bit chilly, we’re finally getting a tad warmer here in the US Northeast! It was a long, cold winter and people so obviously long for spring – I’ve seen print cotton dresses and sandals being worn under puffer coats! We took a picnic to a park on our local harbor last weekend, but ended up eating in the car – not quite picnic weather yet! Hope you have a lovely autumn, Anne!
Thanks, Constance — yes, I’ve seen people in the US posting photos of blossoms and bulbs in flower. Here people are posting autumn color, not as common, as it’s only the exotic plants that are deciduous. But early settlers missed their familiar trees and seasons, so older towns and gardens have lots of autumn color.
Forgot to say, there were a few lunatics where we were, walking around in t-shirts, but they tend to be universal. ;)