Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 04:36 PM

tradesman is working on my bathroom - by the end of the day the tiles & bath will be restored & as shiny as they were when the building was renovated in 1979! Then of course the peeling paint will look even worse than it does now ...

And the Mudcatter pic has been uploaded so you can see the offending headwear!

sandra

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 04:38 PM

link to Mudcat pic which I forgot to post

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 07:39 PM

Sandra-

Thanks for posting evidence that we were all aboard the Craig!

It was a wonderful evening. Those who were there early got to see John, Chris and I exercising the capstan on the foredeck, lustily singing Roll the Old Chariot. We were going to try a pumping shanty as well but some vandal had abused the pumping handle.

The weather was warm with a slight breeze up on deck by the main hatch where most of the singing took place. Across Darling Harbour were discordant sounds of several rock bands, wafting their way across the cove and bouncing off the warehouse adjacent to the Craig. But it was easy enough for me to sing my set of sea songs with banjo and concertina and still be heard by the twenty or so people assembled, and it was great to have folks pick up so well on some of the more challenging choruses. Barry Finn's version of "Roller Bowler" got a nice airing, as did his version of "Yangtse River Shanty." The Burt Franklin Jenness poem "Sea Dreams" got appreciative grins with its reference to hearing "the Roaring Forties day and night about your ears." And after my set there was light refreshments below and then more general singing on deck with songs led by some of the shipkeepers, John Dengate, members of the Roaring Forties (John, Margaret and Robin), JudyB, and a couple of other folks.

My special thanks to Mike for featuring me as main performer. He now has a full set of my CD's as well as one from Barry Finn and one from Roll & Go. We still have a few CD's left from our inventory of trade goods. We may leave a stash with John and Jenny.

I note with some bitterness that the Craig sails next Sunday, the day we are winging our way back home (while my banjo takes flight to Tanzania, no doubt).

I did find the pub crawl afterwards somewhat perplexing. There I was armed with banjo, a backpack loaded with a concertina and God knows what else, and it was my blue denim hat that drew the bouncer's attention. In retrospect I should have completely stripped in response to his demand for the removal of inappropriate apparel, but maybe not! Fortunately we did find a warmer welcome at the Quarrymen's Pub a block or so down the street in Prymont.

Today we are doing reconnaisance into Bob Bolton's neighborhood of Leichhardt, in search of a fabled Sicilian restaurant where we hope to dine this evening. We were there four years ago but C. Fox Smith's observation that "the ports I knew grown strange" may be an apt description of the urban neighborhoods of greater Sydney. But we have charts, cell phone numbers, and courage!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Nov 07 - 09:32 PM

Another member of the Roaring Forties, Don, was present but not singing as he had the best (worse?) case of speechlessness I've ever (not) heard! He's a teacher & managed 2 days at school, before giving up & going home.

But he made it to the session.

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: JennyO
Date: 16 Nov 07 - 01:31 AM

Well I caught up with Charlie and Judy yesterday for lunch at one of the ubiquitous Thai restaurants in Glebe Point Road, before I had to head off to put in my few hours of hard slog across the other side of town. fortified with one (only one) beer, I breezed through the afternoon, and was soon fighting the peak hour traffic to get back over to Glebe and the Dengates.

There were some nice munchies waiting there and a good glass of red, before Judy, Dale, John and I set off in the tram for the Craig. Charlie had left earlier. We could hear the strains of Charlie and the banjo as we approached the ship. The weather was perfect - a warm and balmy night, and the lights on the harbour were magic. We managed to ignore the sound of thousands of noisy merrymakers drifting across the water, and made our own merry.

Charlie has already mentioned the pub fiasco with the hats. When we couldn't get into the first pub, I decided to ring George, my son who lives just up the road from there in a top floor security apartment overlooking all of that part of Sydney. It was only about 10.45, and I thought I might be able to encourage him to join us. Unfortunately he was having an early night and I woke him up. He must have thought his mother was drunk (I wasn't), with me babbling on in high spirits, surrounded by a noisy crowd. At least he managed to tell us where to find another pub before he went back to sleep. They don't make young people like they used to, that's all I can say!

We finally got our round of drinks, sitting outside a pub across the road from George's place, with Sandra naughtily trying to get me to ring him again and wave to him. Fortunately for George, I didn't do that. A bunch of yahoos in a car called out to us as we were sitting there, and asked us if we were sailors (Charlie looked the part). I called out "No - we're PIRATES! ARRR!" the trams having all gone by the time we were finished, we shared a cab back to Glebe, I collected my car and went home. It was a great night!

We are meeting up again with Charlie and Judy on Saturday (tomorrow) after they have completed their packing, and we are hoping to take them to our favourite Greek restaurant - Scorpios in Annandale. The Greek Lamb there is to die for!

What a shame your trip is almost over! I hope you are already planning the next one!

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: GUEST,spindrift
Date: 16 Nov 07 - 05:13 PM

The Cuenins are going to Portsmouth tomorrow & were hoping that Charlie & Judy would be there. Barbara came to this thread to see what kind of doings they had missed down under. It was great to read all the posts from the Sydneyites & to remember Gael & Danny's lovely home as well.

Al & Barbara

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 16 Nov 07 - 07:39 PM

G'day Judy, Charlie and all,

I have back my camera pack. It was picked up with the other event's goods & chattels and moved into the Saloon. The chap who then took all that back home found an invoice along with the new Nikon lens and flash unit ... and rang me at home. I picked it up yesterday afternoon before our farewell dinner at a local Italian Restaurant ... a short walk from my home in Leichhardt - Sydney's "Little Italy".

It was a great session on the James Craig and some fine songs form Charley ... as well as a great 'sing around' on deck afterwards (... which did run a bit longer than the "capstan shanties ... with all hands to the capstan"!).

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: JennyO
Date: 16 Nov 07 - 09:50 PM

Well it's nearly over - commiserations at the Dengates later this afternoon, and dinner at Scorpios (I managed to secure the last 4 places - it's a popular place!) followed by more commiserations until we roll home.

So when's the next trip?

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Nov 07 - 12:53 AM

Yes, the dinner at Leichhardt's Little Italy with the Dengates and the Boltons was a great success. The Sicilian restaurant we remembered from a previous visit had disappeared but another one had surfaced nearby and proved more than adequate. We provided a couple of bottles of white and red wine to start with, Judy and John ordered a lovely dish that looked like a giant fried spider nestled on top of a mound of pasta. I was astonished that Judy would even consider such a thing but she made quick work of it. John kept us all amused with a continuous stream of sketches of our adventures, including our "terrorist assault" on the pub accross from the National Maritime Museum.

Today we paid a morning visit to the Queen Victoria Building for some last minute gifts. The young Queen Victoria was there as usual in all her slendour (evidently a permanent exibit), along with various crowns, bejeweled swords, septors, and other bric-a-brac, and a circle of and tourists.

Now we've finished up our initial packing, and are sharing a few more ditties with John Dengate while we await Jenny and John Warner's arrival for our evening din-din at their favourite Greek restaurant. Life is hard!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Nov 07 - 06:23 PM

Well, this will be our last morning in beautiful Sydney for a while. It's bright and sunny, and everything looked beautiful as we made our way up and down the flowery lanes to Glebe Point Road for breakfast. We've found a calico cooncat nearby who behaves much the same as our one back home. She looked well cared for but was happy to get more attention.

Last evening's din-din at the Greek restaurant in Annandale, where John and Jenny took us, was another great success. The lamb was delicious, the live band was full of energy, and the pack of young girls was amusing to watch as they danced in the aisles while taking digital pictures of one another. We then drove over to Margaret's neighborhood, picked her up, and went back to the Dengates for a final round of chat and singing. I'm afraid that we were poor hosts by that time. We just can't keep up with the energy of the Sydney folks.

Around noon today we catch a taxi to the international airport, check in our luggage carefully, and head back to Maine and winter!

Once more, our grateful thanks to everyone who made our revisit so wonderful!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble and JudyB

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Nov 07 - 05:48 PM

We arrived safely back in Maine this afternoon (Monday by our calendar), and with all our luggage (there may be a TimTam or two missing but the inspectors did leave us some).

You know, it's very strange driving home from the airport. There are all these massive icicles hanging from the road-cut ledges. And Judy almost froze solid waiting with the luggage while I retrieved the van from the parking lot.

Our two cats appear pleased to see us. One is lying in my lap right now and threatens to claw me if I try to get up. The other is awaiting quality time from Judy in the bedroom.

There are several hundred e-mails that appear urgent! But there are also 3 weeks of on-line comics that we've been neglecting. Whatever!

The house is slowly warming up now that we've reset the thermostat for its regular programing. I dare say that we got pretty spoiled with the wonderful weather we had in Sydney the last week, clear bright days in the 70's (F).

We'll post some pictures from our trip in a week or so on our website with a link to this thread, certainly not all of them but a nice sampling!

Thanks again to our gracious hosts, music friends, and other fine people we met on this revisit.

I wonder what time it really is?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: JennieG
Date: 20 Nov 07 - 04:58 AM

Right this minute Charley it is 8.55pm Sydney time! So sorry to have missed you this trip but I have been trying to sort out some health issues, that has taken some time and most of my emotional energy lately. However the light at the end of the tunnel is hopefully nigh.

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: Charley Noble Revisits Oz Fall 2007
From: Charley Noble
Date: 20 Nov 07 - 11:40 AM

JennieG-

We are sorry to have missed you as well.

Curiously enough we're seeing dandruff like flakes falling from the sky this morning. What can it mean? Could it be from the hair of the dog?

I seem to have picked up a nasty cold on the way back, one of the hazards of air travel. I'm just as happy that it didn't snag me on the way out so I could participate in the singing, and enjoy the lovely weather. Judy did get snagged by some kind of chest cold on the way out, and it took two weeks to shake. I think I'll go back to bed and do some more reading.

We may have flown back just in time. This morning the entire country is tied up with fog on the west coast, with rain and snow in the middle and in the northeast. With the extra pressure from the annual Thanksgiving travelers, it will take at least a week for the air lines to sort everyone out, and recover their missing luggage.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, back in Maine