After a night of ferocious winds and endless rains - with 90mm in the gauge which is something of a record for a night's rainfall - we've woken up bleary-eyed to a water-logged world. The usual Tuesday trip to the heated pool is cancelled; instead, it's hot porridge for breakfast and cleaning up after yesterday's party.
While I've been busy taking out the empties, Padma has already stored away the birthday candles, to be re-used on my 86th birthday in 2031.
Our neighbour Mavis was the first one to sample the Black Forest birthday cake. Then came Frank and Beatrice from across the river.
And Frank the Drummer, who has outsourced his own retirement to Cambodia where he has started a family with his new Cambodian wife and equally new three-month-old baby, was back in town on a flying visit. He regaled us with funny stories about grilled grasshoppers and other strange eating habits.
Then, totally unexpected, Colin Cowell, an acquaintance from my Bougainville days, and his French wife floated past the jetty in their Hobie Pedal Kayak and promptly joined in the fun.
And that's it for another year!
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