FRIDAY 17 TO SUNDAY 19 JULY     TOWNSVILLE

Friday I had a quiet morning, after my several laps of the park. Read, sewed.

John had booked for us to play bowls in the afternoon – without consulting me. I’d have preferred a long walk along the Strand.

We got there for a 1pm start. but found it was actually 1.30. So there was some rather boring waiting around.

We both played somewhat mediocre games. Every time I see John bowl, now, my idea that these “straight” bowls do not suit him, is reinforced. Quite often ,when the bowl leaves his hand, I can’t tell which way it will go, which way it was meant to go – and I was certain it was mostly not where he intended. All over the shop!

John wanted home “done” fish and fries for tea.

Saturday I walked up to the local shops before breakfast and got the weekend papers.

Spent the morning reading those.

After lunch, we drove to the Strand and went walking. John took his camera and spent some time taking photos – and then, subsequently, deleted most of them before I had a chance to look at them.

On the way back, called in at Castletown – to the small area of shops, not the big complex – and went to the butcher there, for the first time. They had an excellent range. I bought chicken schnitzels, a couple of lots of speciality sausages, some very nice looking bacon. John picked up a jar of chilli pickled onions and added it to my lot. When it was all tallied up, I thought the total price was quite high, then it was established that the jar of onions cost $11…..John was not best pleased. I told him to really savour eating them….

Tea was chicken parma.

Sunday: Just the usual pottering about in the morning.

John had booked us in for afternoon bowls, which he said started at 1.30. He’d got the times wrong on Friday, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that he got this wrong too. It was a 1pm start, so we cut it very fine! Friend A phoned while we were driving there, to find out where we were. I didn’t know why they couldn’t be consistent with their start times, though.

Today’s game was a regular event on the Jubilee bowls calendar. Mexicans Vs Cane Toads. To an Australian, that is probably pretty self explanatory, but for those who are mystified, Mexicans is how Queenslanders often refer to Victorians, who come from the south, and Cane Toads are only found in the tropics, so refer to Queenslanders. There were a lot of Victorians who winter in Townsville and play bowls.

It was a teams of four game and I played as a second. They stopped at 4pm and put on a BBQ tea straight away – salad, sausages, thin pieces of steak. I did not enjoy the time spent sitting with the team we’d played against as my opponent was a real oaf. Contrary to the etiquette of these things, he did not offer to buy me a drink, so I was the only drink-less one at the table, whilst he happily quaffed the beer I’d bought him. He talked constantly, even while eating, so sprayed part-chewed food all over the table. His talk wasn’t even interesting. The time passed slowly.

In the team he was drawn in, John had played skip, didn’t play well and was beaten by a woman skip – that really hurt! So, he was receptive when friend S told him he had to change his bowls. Hooray – finally! He mulled it over then announced, later, that he wanted new bowls as soon as possible, so he could get used to them before getting home.

So, it looked like bowls shopping would be added to the Townsville agenda.

After the bowls BBQ, tea was not needed.

Along with 3.6 million others, at night we watched the final of MasterChef on TV.