Monday 26 April 2010

Anzac Day at 'Palmo'

The morning of Anzac Day in Sydney was cool, cloudy and drizzly. At Palm Beach on the northern peninsula locals (and we interlopers) gathered outside the Palm Beach RSL (Returned Services League) for their traditional march and ceremony.
The march of returned servicemen and women approached just ahead of 11am accompanied by a band from the Avalon Primary School.
The parade terminated in front of the of the RSL Club and it's memorial.
A few hours later, the clouds have cleared and the beautiful young things have packed the club's Beer Garden for an afternoon of drinking and who knows what later. The crowds around the bar trying to place their drinks orders are eight deep.
A space has been cleared adjacent to the Beer Garden where the menfolk are engaged in a traditional game of Two Up. Had I bothered to read this Wikipedia entry beforehand I might have saved the $2 I lost on my one game. Others were betting real amounts of money (ie banknotes).
We five old farts returned to Hn's place nearby for a relaxing afternoon of scrabble, gossip, leisurely drinking and eating. Hours later into the night we could hear the raucous sounds of those 'beautiful young things' as they departed (were thrown out?) from the Club.

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