Robot Claw

I’d been wanting Henny Penny for a while. It’s an old Newcastle-region chicken fast food chain that has mysteriously not yet gone out of business. Bernard wasn’t interested, but I knew Sue would be, and yesterday we drove up to Salamander Bay and had some.

That was my lunch: a chicken roll. I declined both gravy and mayo so it’s just chicken on a roll. Sue was apalled by how disgusting it looked and while it was so dry as to almost inedible I have to say I loved it!

Sue had chicken, chips and gravy and her review – as a professional Henny Penny consumer – was that it wasn’t as good as at other HP’s. So there you go!

Surprise, surprise it was very hot out yesterday, which limited what we were interested in doing up at the bay (even a few minutes walking was uncomfortable!), but on the way back to Newcastle we stopped at AW’s old stomping ground of Boat Harbour and climbed all over an outcropping near the beach.

The sea breeze was strong and the giant rock pool we found at was great, containing urchins, crabs, starfish, tiny fish and even jellies! Some of the other pools were even deep enough to jump into and others were doing exactly that. I bet in his youth AW did the very same.

I used to spend hours poking into rock pools as a kid, looking for and collecting all sorts of creatures. These days the ones on the ‘main’ beaches are usually empty of all but seaweed and sand so it was a treat to find one so full of life. 

Today there is a slight reprieve from the oppressive heat so I’m taking advantage of it for one of my long walks…

Apparently my ultra-refined dice rolling techniques are ‘irritating’ and ‘annoying’ and I was asked to desist 🙂

That’s The Obelisk, a monument up on a high hill overlooking Newcastle. It’s been there for aeons, obviously, and is an enduring memory of my childhood. Once damaged in a storm, it’s now repaired and repainted and will (I assume) remain standing for decades to come.

Not far away is the leading light tower, the only one remaining of a pair that used to provide a beacon for ships looking for the entrance to the harbour. It looks medieval but isn’t quite that old, though it is another memory of Newcastles history. Even though they are very close (you can see this tower from The Obelisk) I don’t remember this one from my youth.

That’s B playing a pokie in a darkened pub dungeon. The pubs are so comfy here, with their plush seats and frosty A/C. Not to mention the pervasive smell of beer, which I usually find unpleasant but in these situations are another nostalgic reminder of my youth.

The beverage of choice this trip is – as always – Maccas frozen Coke. On all but one day so far we’ve had them, and on many we’ve had two. Yesterday was our first triple-Coke day, but may not be the last. I’ve particularly enjoyed them this trip since they have helped numb my sore throat.

And that’s just a vision of terror!

It was super hot yesterday (>100F) so we fled to an air conditioned mall for most of the day. While this was fun (we all bought loads) it makes for tedious blogging, so instead here’s some faceswaps 🙂

These represent the cutting edge of technology in the 21st century, and are posted as-is from the Snapchat app on B’s telephone.

Me and Bernard (or is it vice versa?) with the bonus effect of deformed facial structures. Creepy!

Bernard and Mum in which B looks like a Chinese dictator and mum looks like a 1970s android with a false face. Terrifying!

Me and Dad. Lord knows what happened to our mouths; why my teeth are glowing and why we both have rictus grins. Nightmarish!

We went up Sugerloaf yesterday. It was hot and a bit creepy, but the views were good.

Then I won the jackpot at Timezone.

And later in the day I played some pinballs.

Paragon was good; I’ll play it again before I leave.