I woke Tiki at 2.55 a.m. because I felt unwell. After I had consumed a glass of water, which contained an effervescent, we partially watched Channel Nine’s ‘Late Late Movie’: “In Search Of Gregory”. Made in 1970, it stars the English actress, Julie Christie. We returned to bed by four o’clock, but still suffered from a restless sleep in what were humid conditions.
At half past eight I departed for Rockdale. Turning to the right at the town hall, I parked the car on the hill near to where I had done so in September on the day that I collected Tiki’s birthday present. As then, I boarded a train to take me into the city only this time I alighted at St. James Station.
I entered Diamond Traders’ showroom on the lower floor where I looked for a locket or pendant, preferably in the shape of a heart and in possession of a small diamond. Not wanting to spend in excess of a hundred dollars, I failed to see what I had hoped and headed off down Pitt Street to Manzo Park Lane, thence still farther on, to Prouds. I had seen an eighteen carat pendant with a nine carat chain in Manzo’s, which was priced at one hundred and two dollars. Nevertheless, I decided to return to Diamond Traders and this time visit its showroom upstairs before making a final decision.
However, nothing that the middle-aged lady showed me really appealed. It was for this reason that she directed me to the cabinets that were placed along a wall. There, I saw two pendants which matched the description of what I had sought. The only problem being neither was priced to fit within the limit of my budget.
The one of eighteen-carat gold, which came with a chain made from that of nine, was priced at one hundred and fourteen dollars. While the combination that consisted entirely of gold of eighteen carats, bore a price tag of one hundred and eighty-five dollars. Wanting what I considered to be the better of what I really couldn’t afford for Tiki, I wrote out a cheque for the latter amount.
Upon my entrance in to George Street, I was eager to remain in advance of an anti-uranium demonstration, in which people displayed yellow balloons while others blew on recorders. I entered the sport store, Mick Simmons, to price a set of thirteen superseded Jack Nicklaus golf clubs only to learn that it would have cost me three hundred and ninety-six dollars for the clubs alone!
I didn’t have to wait to board a train at Central and shared a compartment with a middle-aged woman who was obviously prepared to ignore the perceived possibility of being fined ten dollars for smoking. I stopped at the T.A.B. in Miranda and outlaid one dollar in the hope of securing the trifecta on this afternoon’s meeting in Sydney; opting for “Gold Planet”, “Little Ben” and “Star Dragon” to finish in that order.
As I pulled into our drive, at a quarter to one, I could not help but notice that our new awning had been installed above the window to our bedroom. Tiki said that the man had called at half past eleven.
We watched Will Rogers Jr. play his father in the film, “The Will Rogers’ Story”. Produced in 1952, it also stars Jane Wyman. I turned to Channel Two, at two, to watch its live telecast from the Victoria Golf Club, in Melbourne, of the Colgate Champion of Champions tournament.
At the end of today’s third round Bob Shearer and Jack Newton are tied in the lead at seven under par, two strokes in advance of the Americans Ray Floyd and John Benda. The round was played in the hot conditions as the mercury reached thirty-five degrees Celsius in Melbourne.
Whilst Tiki was asleep on the floor in front of the television, I sneaked her present in from beneath the seat of the ‘Galant’ and placed it in a pocket of my sports coat, which I have owned since 1969.
I called Tiki inside at half past four and we watched two of our three runners, in the race on which the trifecta was held, finish second and third. The favourite, “Little Ben”, was unplaced and the winner, “Lucky Launching”, started at the odds of sixty-six to one. The trifecta paid two thousand eight hundred and seventeen dollars.
We left on foot for the shop near the railway station to return four lemonade bottles and receive the deposit of twenty cents that had been paid on each. We had asked the plump girl who was serving us for two full bottles and noted that she had to subtract eighty cents from one dollar and twenty cents on a piece of paper to determine how much we owed.
At half past six the programme in Bob Raymond’s series, “Australian National Parks”, concentrated upon those in Western Australia. These included the amazing Geikie Gorge, which I visited in 1972 and Tiki, a year later.
“Brutus” rang at half past seven, to say that he will be departing for Melbourne on Wednesday. He plans to visit Susan and Roger while he is there. The conversation just dragged on and on and he informed me that if we wanted to know what he was doing, we should ring the only one of his siblings to whom he will be writing during his absence.
By this time I was becoming pretty bored with the whole thing, so I lowered the receiver and farted into it. Tiki, who was seated next to me, couldn’t believe her eyes. Nor her ears, when I proceeded to hold her responsible!
At five past eight we left to walk and jog through Gymea and Miranda. We returned by nine o’clock and TikiĀ talked me into watching the picture, “Any Second Now”, on Channel Two. The English actor, Stewart Granger, plays the part of a baddie who is intent upon murdering his rich, amnestic wife. Lois Nettleton, Dana Wynter, who was born in Germany, Marion “Happy Days” Ross and Joseph Campanella are its other principal protagonists. We didn’t get to bed until half past eleven by which time I felt exhausted.