Thankfully, conditions cooled overnight! “Mum” rang after breakfast to say that she’d meet us at the foot of the stairs that lead to The Fair Restaurant. Tiki left at nine to walk to Miranda Fair and buy my anniversary/Christmas present, as well as Christmas presents for others. Meanwhile, I listened to 2KY’s “Turf Talk”, which is presented by Ian Craig and Max Presnell, on this near perfect summer’s morning.
I left at a quarter past ten for Miranda Fair via the T.A.B. “Mum” had already arrived at the foot of the stairs and was intently window-shopping at the jewellers, Angus and Coote, when I patted her on the back and cheekily enquired, “Excuse me ‘Gorgeous’! What are you doing tonight?”
Tiki arrived shortly afterwards to be light-heartedly informed by her mother: “Your husband just tried to pick me up! I’d watch him if I were you!”
The three of us adjourned to ‘The Fair’ for a cappuccino each. Tiki paid for the bill of one dollar and sixty-five cents with her inclusion of about fifty-cents worth of copper coins, which she had painstakingly removed from her purse and stacked on the table.
Downstairs in Myer, I bought a C-60 Hitachi blank tape for one dollar and eighty-nine cents whilst “Mum” spent twenty dollars on purchasing us an ironing board for Christmas. The board is covered with an orange, yellow and white floral material. Patiently, I stood and held it while the two women went off in search of presents to give to others.
When we did, finally, reach “Mum’s” Rover sedan in the car park, the traffic was so continuous that we decided to sit and chat. However, after fifteen minutes the traffic still hadn’t eased and so we joined the queue, anyway. It was half past twelve when she left us at the front of our house with arrangements to meet her later.
Briton, Peter Skellern, sang his sizeable hit of 1972, “You’re A Lady”, and The Drifters: “Under The Boardwalk” and “Save The Last Dance For Me”, from 1964 and 1961 respectively, on the British pop series, “International Pop Proms”. At one, there was a replay of a part of yesterday’s second rubber in the final of this year’s Davis Cup, which is being contested at the White City Stadium in Sydney. John Alexander of Australia defeated Corrado Barazutti of Italy in four sets: 6-2, 8-6, 4-6, 6-2. Tony Roche had won the opening rubber against Adriano Panatta in straight sets: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Upon Tiki’s suggestion and also at one o’clock, we opened our respective anniversary/Christmas present to each other. I was able to guess that mine was a clock radio: a National Panasonic FM-AM digital. She was to become a little disappointed that I wasn’t taking a little more interest in it. Nevertheless, she approved of her pendant necklace.
It was twenty past two when we left to walk, in our thongs and heat of thirty-three degrees Celsius, to her parents’ for a swim. Later, “Dad” shouted us to a takeaway from the Fountain Inn Restaurant. Tiki and I shared our combination chow mein and fish cutlets sweet and sour. The flies were unbearable on the patio and so we adjourned to the lounge.
Although Italy won today’s doubles rubber, it still trails Australia in this year’s final of the Davis Cup by two rubbers to one. The pairing of Paolo Bertolucci and Adriano Panatta defeated John Alexander and Phil Dent, in straight sets: 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
The four of us viewed the Australian documentary, “The Dolphins”, from half past six and sixty minutes later a programme of the series, “Barnaby Jones”, which has an elderly Buddy Ebsen cast in the title role and Lynda Day George as its guest star.
Tiki and I arrived home by ten o’clock. This meant that I could watch the highlights from Kerry Packer’s “World Series Cricket”. Screened on Mr Packer’s own network, which includes TCN Channel Nine in Sydney, the footage came from the ground at Mount Waverly, in Melbourne, where Australian Rules is normally played. The size of the crowd at the match was totally disproportionate to the calibre of the players involved and it remains to be seen if this form of ‘pyjama’ cricket, as it is quite often derisively referred to by its detractors, can survive.
At half past ten Tiki chose to watch the film, “Our Mother’s House”. Introduced by Channel Seven’s expert on all things cinematic, Bill Collins, it was made in 1967 and stars the celebrated British actor, Dirk Bogarde. A picture of a similar vintage, “A Guide For The Married Man”, with Robert Morse, Walter Matthau and the late Inger Stevens was screened simultaneously on Channel Ten.