This morning, after I had gotten up and showered, I witnessed an historic event – the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd stepped down (after his party kind of revolted against him) and Australia got its first female PM! It was really fascinating so Robyn and I spent all morning watching the breaking news on the tv.
We watched live as Kevin Rudd gave a very emotional and quite heart-warming speech, where he spoke all about the things he had done in his two years as PM; all the things he was proud of (every sentence started with “I am proud of the fact that...”). He was so cut up, he found it very hard to get through the speech. I actually felt sorry for him. Then we watched as Julia Gillard gave a kind of victory speech, with her new Deputy, Wayne Swan. She seemed quite confident and was obviously very pleased and proud to be the first female with such power. We watched as she was sworn in and then, just like that, we had a new Prime Minister. I felt quite honoured to be watching it all happen live, it was rather exciting!
I clicked about online for a bit, then Robyn and I went to Gerringong to go to the supie and pick up a few bits for lunch and dinner. We saw Heather at work and I chatted to her whilst Robyn did her food shop. To go home, we went along the scenic route and Robyn showed me some pretty views over the sea. I was impressed by one specific view which those people buried in a particular cemetery would have – it was so beautiful, I suggested they put benches in the cemetery so people can go and appreciate it! Once back, Jim, Robyn and I had a spot of lunch, played with the pets for a bit and then I decided to go for a bit of a walk.
I went to the beach, the same place I rode the bike to yesterday, but I felt much more secure on two feet, even if it did take a bit longer to get there. This time the weather was much clearer, no rain or dark clouds; instead it was rather sunny. I walked along the beach and enjoyed watching the sky start to change colour as the sun began to go down; it went a lovely pink colour. After a nice meander, I went back home and just about had time to get ready for tonight’s big event – Rotary!
When we arrived at Berry Bowling Club (the venue of the Rotary Club of Berry-Gerringong’s meetings) I saw lots more friendly faces I recognised from my visits of 2005 and 2008. The most exciting one was Larissa, my friend who was on the GSE team that came to the UK. It was so lovely to see her, looking so well having been very ill. We had a good chat, when we could get a word in edgeways between the Rotarians who wanted to talk to us! I was swiftly presented with a schooner of Tooheys Old – excellent stuff and soon after that we were whisked into the meeting room, where the proceedings began.
After the Rotary song and grace, we sat down and listened as some of the ‘business’ was dealt with. Jim had to introduce me formally to the Club, then he introduced Larissa and Robyn. The dinner tonight was great – Chinese food! It was a plate with a few different foods on it, and all of it was delicious. Afterwards we had banana fritter and ice cream. I was then put on the spot and asked to tell everyone a snapshot of what I am up to, which was a bit scary as I hadn’t really thought about it, but Rotarians being Rotarians, whatever I said was well received! They did the same thing to Larissa; she also was a bit tongue tied for a second, but then was fine and of course the Rotarians loved to hear about that too.
The speaker tonight was actually a couple who were members of the club, telling us all about their six week holiday to America. It was diabolical; their photo slide show failed and she droned on and on, with no real information of any interest, whilst her partner continued to try and find the photographs which was frustrating; we were looking at the projection on the wall, watching him click randomly about – I had to restrain myself from jumping up and taking over. I could see the whole room was bored and lots of the more ‘senior’ members seemed to be falling asleep. Eventually we were shown a few photos but they didn’t match what she was talking about and half of them were upside down. At last, someone gave her a tap on the shoulder to say she’d been speaking for 50 minutes and had already gone past the finish time (a few people had left when it hit 8.30pm), so she tried to wrap up, which took another fifteen minutes. When at long last she finished, the meeting was hurriedly ended and lots of people scooted straight off. I stayed and chatted with a few of the Rotarians for a bit, then we made a move home. Robyn and Jim told me that the woman speaking tonight is always that boring and likes the sound of her own voice way too much! I could tell!
By the time we got back, Heather was home from work, so we spent the rest of the night chatting in front of the tv with a couple of beers, clicking about online, into the wee hours before heading to bed.
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