20190128 – Monday – Brighton Beach, Swim Australia

20190128 – Monday – Brighton Beach, Swim Australia

The happenings of today were a surprise to me.

I had forgotten it was a holiday, and so I packed my breakfast as usual and drove to the Inc Cafe, which, naturally enough was closed.

Undeterred by this, I sat at one of the outside tables and happily ate my breakfast.

But after that I tried to write up my story for the day, but found the sun was too bright.

So I got in my car and drove south to look for a cafe that might be open.

I passed the Brighton Hotel, and that is ALWAYS open, so I turned up Jetty road and found a disabled park and parked my car and put up my disabled parking permit.

I walked to the hotel and ordered a coffee and sat down at a table by the window.

I then typed up my story for Saturday and Sunday, adding to it, a summary of Peter Whitehouse’s exhort for Sunday.

That completed I went back to my car and inspected my tyres checking for a white chalk mark that would warn me that the parking inspectors were on the job.

No marks??? And I had been there longer than 3 hours which was the permitted time for parking in that spot.

Then I realised that being a public holiday, there was no REASON for the parking inspectors to be there on the job.

So I turned my walker around and headed down to the Esplanade of Brighton Beach.

I was hungry by this time and so I walked to the fish and chip shop that is there just past Jetty Road.

I purchased some fish and some prawns and calamari.

I decided (sorry Darren) not to peel off the batter, but to eat it (as a special treat, after all it is a holiday).

It was simply delicious.

I went across the road and sat in the shade of one of the palm trees that are that are surrounded by a low wall that is just “sitting” height.

It was simply a delicious day!

A slight breeze was blowing which stirred my hair, and even the sun didn’t have a “bite” in it.

The day was just perfect.

There were crowds and crowds of people on the jetty and the foreshore because there was some sort of competition going on.

I asked a Japanese girl and her Australian friend what was happening and was told that it was a swimming competition being put on by Swim Australia.

There were loads of competitors who were swimming from Seacliff to Brighton.

After I had finished my fish, I decided to venture out onto the jetty.

I tried to remember when was the last time I had been on the Brighton Jetty, or any other Jetty for that matter, and I simply could not remember, it was so long ago.

It was an exhilarating feeling for me. 

I had felt it first when I had walked with my walker to buy my fish, when it had dawned on me that I had already walked quite a longe way.

 But now, with the whole length of the jetty stretching out before me, I said to myself  “I can do this! I really can.”

I pictured myself as being 16 years old and walking down the Brighton Jetty in my bathers, ready to jump off the end of the jetty and swim back to the ramp that used to be there. 

I really FELT that young.

I took squillions of photos of the boats, the jetty and the racing contestants.

It is so long since I have been this close to the ocean.

Since my stroke I have always been just on the walkways of the esplanades.

It was at that moment that I realised just how much my health had improved since the 12th October, 2018 when I had removed carbs from my diet.

Although I may still need to walk with my walker to help me to lift some of the weight of my body off my legs, but already, my walking is so much better than before the beginning of October.

I can see that I will be able to walk quite a distance now, and that quite comfortably.,

There is pain in my knees, but it is bearable.

So I have enjoyed a wonderful, beautiful day, at Brighton Beach, and I felt so happy, I would almost say “elated” would be a better word for mike to use.

Right now I am sitting in my old haunt, at Vili’s cafe.

I had a sleep in the late afternoon and so I hadn’t eat an evening meal, and ow I am hungry.

So in spite of it being almost 9 pm, I have ordered a T-bone steak without the chips and with extra salad.

I am sure it will be delicious and THEN I will be ready to go home to sleep.