We're back from our morning's walk around Nelligen. After crossing the bridge, we park the car by the Mechanic's [sic] Hall, greet Terry who's all masked up and busy getting his River Café ready for the day ...
... then walk along Wharf Street and the jetty where we may meet some early fishermen or campers who've spent the night in their mobile homes parked along the river, before turning up Maisies Lane ...
... then left into the grandly-named Clyde Boulevard. "Big Terry" is waving to us from his verandah, and Stewart and Noni are busy feeding the multitude of birds in their garden at the corner of Currowan Street.
It's a steep climb up Currowan Street, so we stop for a minor coronary at the house of a recent newcomer, the ex-South African Liam and his beautiful beagle, before pushing on to the next house to have a quick banter with George about his Victoria - Garden State number plates which he keeps on keeping on to save on the New South Wales rego.
Left into Runnyford Road, past little Ryan's For Sale display of lemons and oranges, to have a few words with Tim the Painter, before turning down Reid Street - if Tom "Tugboat", recently retired from his seafaring days, doesn't growl at us from behind the lattice work on his verandah. He "loves" ALDI and anything German, so I try not to mention the war.
Down Reid Street and up Runnyford Road where we feed a carrot to Maverick the horse, before exchanging an "ICU" with Neal who's up early as he's probably slept in the kitchen to have his breakfast in bed. He's been "working from home" long before this pandemic started.
If his wife Elaine is popping her head out the door, we talk some more about the birds and the bees of which they have cages and hives full, and maybe pick up a tub of their excellent honey or a dozen eggs.
Then we stop for a cappuccino at Terry's River Café where we meet "Big Terry" and George again who are also early patrons. Half an hour or even later, with froth on our noses and a smile on our faces, we head back to "Riverbend" for a whole lot of doing nothing for the rest of the day.
The painter d'Arcy Doyle passed away in 2001 but if he were here today, he'd have no trouble seeing something of his paintings in the streets of Nelligen. Okay, we have no horse-drawn carts and instead of the baker it's now the Woolworths online delivery truck, but as they say in THE CASTLE, "It's the vibe and ah, no that's it. It's the vibe." I rest my case.
