High Brow and Low Brow in W. A?

Friday August 29^th.

Woke up to discover a heavy dew outside, which seemed like a frost at first. Frosts are almost unheard of out here. They have pretty decent weather most of the time. Even that dreadful storm that was scheduled to roll in on Monday night / Tuesday morning amounted to nothing more than a bit of a squall on the land. Out in a boat it may have been worse. The grass was so wet when I got back in after feeding the roo, when I had my shower, my toes had gone red as the dye from my shoes had run! Even rubbing my little piggies with the washing up scoured didn’t fully remove it. So Laura spent a while this morning painting my toenails red. I returned the favour for her, too.

Today was the last day of our journey round the southern tip of the continent and it brought back so many memories of what I have done out here before. I had a little weep last night, thinking about how I had wanted to show Richard this wonderful country but couldn’t and now I was doing it with a lover of the same sex instead. Life does play a strange hand at times. You think you have won the contract with your partner and are playing for a mini-slam yet a stray, random card  puts you off completely and the contract is lost.  I sometimes feel really confused about my life and what I am doing with it. How has a girl who would fuck complete strangers when drunk ended up in a lesbian relationship with a live in, younger lover? Why do I feel 100% content with the whole situation? Was I always a lesbian really and this catalogue of sexual indiscretions was just a method of trying to prove I wasn’t?

Love making with Laura is more intense and far more satisfying than it was with any guy I have slept with; I am saddened to say that even Richard and I didn’t make me achieve the same level of satisfaction I get with Laura. Maybe I am over thinking things again. I need to just accept what is and get on with living my life not analysing it!

We bid a fond farewell to our railway carriage and set off for the drive back up to Warnbro. We had a short drive through Bunbury, so I could show Laura “Fawlty Towers”. Unlike the girls when I showed them, Laura understood my amusement / amazement straight away. We stopped and had a quick look at the Dolphin Discovery Centre and then continued north, by passing Mandurah for another day. We hit the streets of my sister’s home town at just after twelve.

Two huge wash loads later and a plate of left-over sandwiches (using the contents of the camper’s fridge) we ended up pushing the zeds on the sofa in the family room. We were still lying there cuddled up, fast asleep when Pete got in from work mid-afternoon. He woke us up after he’d made a pot of tea which was so thoughtful. We had a chat about what we’d been doing and he asked if I wouldn’t mind going to fetch the kids then he could start tonight’s meal (risotto) early. We needed to have an early meal as we were getting the six o’clock train on the Mandurah Line to get into Perth centre for about a quarter to seven  for the Beethoven at the Perth Concert Hall.

Laura stayed to help Pete and I drove off in his bus (Hyundai i800) to pick up les enfants. I was greeted like a long lost relative outside the school on Read Street and after the hugging and squealing subsided I was asked, “Where’s Dad?” I explained about the tea cooking and how we needed to set off pronto to get to the Concert Hall. Any time saved now would be useful later. The sister had arrived back by the time we got home and tea was served as soon as we had washed our hands. By about 5.15 we had all showered and got our glad rags on. I had my lace bodice black dress with its nude lining. Jeff did ask me if I was wearing anything underneath my dress at which Suze yelled, “Jeffrey!”

I explained one of the reasons I loved it was the nude lining, which made people look twice. It had even fooled Jeff. He was a bit embarrassed by that. Shoes were the problem, I had courts but fancied heels. I solved the problem by stealing a pair of Suze’s heels, which are button-up ankle boots with quite high heels. I tottered a bit until I got used to them and declared them prefect. (I was going to pack heels and at the last minute changed my mind.)

Laura had her blue version of the red tulip dress, this has a pattern across one shoulder and then diagonally down to the other side of the dress, which is quite short. Jill wore jeans shorts with black tights and DMs with my Mondrian sweater on top. I think I may lose that sweater if I am not careful. Annabelle had a similar dress to the one I bought in Albany; a sort of baggy tunic dress with a shaped waist but which hides either a massive cleavage (mine) or a molehill cleavage (Annabelle’s), It was in a shade of blue which was really dark and in some lights looks black.

Dad (Pete) drove us to Warnbro railway station to catch the Mandurah Line train into Perth. He just dropped us and left. There were a few others on the platform heading north but none looking as glammed up as we did. Laura had done her amazing eye shading for me again. (I will have to learn how to do it, when I try it takes hours and just looks a mess!) Sitting on the train the girls were excited but nervous too. They were both Classical Concert virgins and were apprehensive about how they should behave. I told them not to worry, it would be fairly formal but friendly. Nobody is going to know they haven’t been to a concert like this before but they could be among the youngest people there. I explained that there would be an interval between the two symphonies and we would order interval drinks when we got there so they’d be ready at the interval.

“Won’t someone pinch them?” asked Jill. I told her you don’t get that sort of person at a classical concert! She asked what kind of person did I mean and Laura said, “People like us!” They were really worried about the fact we should be seated apart from each other; we could only get two pairs of paired seats, not four in a row. They had umm-ed and ahh-ed about this for ages before we set off. We eventually hit on the idea that Annabelle and I would sit together for the first half and swap partners for the second. Our seats were in the stalls; U7 & U8 and V8 & V9, so although we were apart the four seats were in a sort of connecting block.

The worrying began once more when we hit the Perth Underground Station at Murray Street and had to look for the Concert Hall in the dark. I have wandered around the city in the dark before but I had to think seriously about how to find St George’s Terrace. I followed my instincts and the first major road we hit after Hay Street was SGT. The concert hall was a few hundred yards along on our right. It is a dreadful looking building, all East European Cultural Concrete and glass and inside it’s just a huge oblong box but it has great acoustics despite it unprepossessing appearance. You can’t miss it at night; it is lit up like a Christmas tree!

We wound our way in and found the section of the bar to order interval drinks. We had a glass of wine each and the girls had something non-alcoholic, despite their protests! We ordered the same things for the interval and had a wander round the terrace bar area. Inside we found our seats quite easily and although we seemed a long way back when people started walking about on the stage you could tell we were going to get a good view. Jill sat with Laura on the row in front of Annabelle and me. As we sat down my niece grabbed my hand and commandeered it for the first two movements of the sixth symphony, she only let go when I told her to listen out for the birdsong towards the end of the 2nd movement.

They have listened to the two symphonies a bit since I found out about the concert and booked tickets for us. They have heard the Toscanini, Barenboim and Von Karajan versions of both. I prefer the Toscanini myself. The Western Australian Symphony Orchestra acquitted themselves very well, especially for the storm which can be an over-egged pudding if the conductor isn’t careful. This version was handled very well indeed and as it flowed into the final movement Annabelle started gently rocking in her chair in time to the music, which I thought was really cute.

Being a full house, the applause was really quite loud and cheerfully enjoined by my two nieces who clapped until their hands hurt (Jill’s words). I didn’t blame them. Listening to something on a CD or the radio doesn’t give you anywhere then immediacy and intimacy of a live performance. My first ever live classical concert was courtesy of my Mum, who took me to hear the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra coupled with Peter and the Wolf when I was a little girl in Norwich. Hearing those was a profound influence on my musical tastes which followed. I may have left it a little late for Jill but maybe Annabelle will catch the bug. When I was here in 2005 / 6 I played lots of my Classical CDs around the house and when I was doing my baby-sitting stints with them. I did the same again in 2009 / 10. You only need exposure to good pieces to get someone hooked. I would never attempt Opera with children, it could put them off for life, just as some stupid teachers (and Education Secretaries) put children off Shakespeare for life by thinking it will be “good for them”.

During the interval after retrieving our drinks, Jill went “OMG!” and dashed off into the throng. A moment or two later she appeared dragging Uncle Alex and Aunt Chris with her. We had a jolly reunion and introduction to my other half, I had to apologise for not having got in touch with them when I arrived. They were magnanimous and said they quite understood; with a girlfriend as gorgeous as Laura it was obvious why I had forgotten. Alex went off quite suddenly, too, and came back also dragging a handful of people with him. He introduced me as his niece and I introduced everyone else in my party, explaining I was indoctrinating my nieces in to Classical Music.

Laura piped up with, “She is getting to be an expert at this, she introduced me to it two years ago!”

Alex did the honours with his party; I was expecting him to be friends with other industrialists (he owns a haulage business) but the people were two from the State Government, a couple from Curtin University and two from the Museums Department plus a guy who was described as a penniless artist (which made them laugh but I have no idea why).

The girls were asked what they thought of the Pastoral Symphony and Jill declared it was OK once it going but she was really waiting for the fireworks of the seventh. Annabelle thought the opening two movements were really beautiful and peaceful but the storm was really scary! I am afraid I name dropped and said I thought the playing held its own against the likes of The Halle Orchestra of whom we had seen a lot in the last two years. Although the best ever playing of Beethoven I’d ever seen was the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra’s Fifth Symphony, which I had seen with my Dad in Carlisle.

The penniless artist asked me why and I explained that the conductor had altered the tempo so that the four note opening (which is a motif stolen from Vivaldi BTW) was much quicker than usual (as was the whole symphony). The wrinklies in the audience all drew in their breath in a collective intake which could have dislodged wigs on the front row. They all laughed and Alex said, “You are your father’s daughter aren’t you?” I know exactly what he meant, Dad says outrageous things too, it’s obviously where I get from.

It was great not to be asked the question what do you think of Australia? But Laura was asked it. She replied that she thought what she had seen was beautiful and the people seemed very friendly but she really missed the green of home. She outlined what we’d been doing for the past fortnight and the girls kept butting in saying “We did that with Vic last year!” We were still having a good old chinwag when the bell went for the second half. Chris invited all four of us across to Baldivis in the week for a bite (bring Suze and Pete too, obviously, if they are free), so we accepted.

Annabelle swapped places with Jill for the Seventh Symphony and I sat back expecting to have an unmolested second half. Jill grabbed my hand and clung on just like Annabelle had done. I began to suspect a conspiracy.

The seventh is a delight of a symphony. I love it. It starts quite strikingly and apart from a sumptuous slow movement is a fast tune lover’s delight. The last two movements can leave you (and the orchestra) breathless. They are quick, joyous and full of wit and invention. At one point in the final movement Annabelle turned round and half yelled, “It’s brilliant!” She is right. It is brilliant.

We looked out for Alex and Chris afterwards but didn’t see them, so we walked back to Murray Street to catch the train back to Warnbro. Jill called her Mum when we were three stops away from Warnbro and she was waiting for us in the bus when we got back to our stop. I had started to fall asleep on the train on our way back and Laura and Annabelle had. At one point I had Laura’s head resting on my shoulder and Jill had Annabelle’s resting on hers. We looked at each other and raised our eyes to the ceiling!

It is not long from Warnbro station to Suze & Pete’s but only the driver and I were awake when she pulled on to the drive. The girls were full of excitement about the concert and meeting Uncle Alex and Aunt Chris; then disappointed that S & P were on lates all week; they cheered when they were told they could go with me and Laura if we didn’t mind. We didn’t.

I hope Callie doesn’t find out, but for once I was quite relieved not to have a dog to walk before hitting the charp. It had been a really busy day.

Saturday 30^th August

Despite feeling knackered last night we all managed to troop along to Aqua Jetty and out routine swim. Having being out of practice for almost two weeks I was prepared to do less than my usual 100 lengths but I found it easier than I anticipated. We sat in the Jacuzzi section for quite a while afterwards which is always relaxing.

Today’s plan was to drive to Freo and catch the train into Subiaco for the footy match which kicks off at 1pm. We have travelled this way before and were used to the system. The train was pretty busy but not over full. I learned later that 38,000 went to the game. That’s over 19x more than went to see the Beethoven, sort of tells you something about society, that statistic, doesn’t it?

The game was really exciting and nerve-wracking as the Dockers were down at half time to Port Adelaide but, as Jeff reminded us, it was only by one point and that was easily caught up with a girly kick! (Thanks for that reassuringly sexist commentary, Jeff.)

He was right; we had a much better second half and eventually came out winners by eight points. Pretty close still, though. However, it does mean Fremantle will finish in fourth and this is good for the play offs in a way I didn’t quite understand. Last year they made it to the grand final despite finishing further down the ladder for the play offs. Mum took the family across the country to see it (with her lotto winnings) but they lost. Boo Hoo. This year, once again, the final will be long after I am back in the UK.

We walked toward Perth to the next station up the line from Subi, so that when the train arrived we could get on without having to be involved in a scrum and we also got a seat each. Jeff was pretty excited about the match and he and Pete tried to decide who they thought was the man of the match. Laura confessed that, although the excitement of the crowd and the closeness of the game were exciting, she found the whole thing very confusing. Jeff launched into a beginners guide to AFL and I have to say that at the end even I understood what had been happening on the field much better.

After a long two days so far we spent a relaxing evening in after our meal, sampling some of our cases of wine. Even the kids were allowed small glasses of them, too. The general consensus so far, seems to be that the White Fuchsia is a clear favourite. Annabelle asked Pete, “If wine can taste as nice as this why does the stuff you buy taste so horrid?” This made us all laugh and we tried to explain that her 13 year old tastes would change as she grew older and she too might like Houghton White Burgundy when she was grown up. She didn’t believe it.

Lollster sprang to Pete’s defence, citing the example of her and curry. She had foresworn the cuisine as a youngster as ‘that horrible foreign muck’ but as she had got older and had become my GF she had been inclined to sample it again and now found it delicious. In fact we often went and had a special lunch at the Indian restaurant near our University during term time.

Annabelle made Suze nearly choke on her wine when she asked Laura, “Is that why you are Vic’s girlfriend when she used to only date boys, then?” When we had all finished either laughing or being shocked or both, I explained that I had fallen in love with Annabelle and that you couldn’t choose who you fell in love with. That seemed to satisfy her; probably only for the time being, though. I can foresee there will be more interrogation of her Aunt Vic by my favourite niece in the near future.

We hit the charp at about 10.30 feeling that we probably needed another holiday to get over the holiday.

Sunday 31^st August.

We spent a lazy-ish day today. In the late morning (after Aqua Jetty and breakfast and a read of the Sunday Papers) we cycled round the coast road to Rocky front and had a fish and chips lunch from the chippy down there. On the way back we detoured to Point Peron and had a mess about in the rocks and paddled in the water. The ‘we’ in question were the five girls of the family, Jeff and Pete had gone fishing – they did ask us if we fancied it too but I can’t see the attraction.

When we got back home after our leisurely cycle ride we found that the boys had been successful in their endeavours and we had fresh (unknown) fish for our meal. That did mean two lots of fish in one day for the female contingent of the family but it was cooked in a different way and was absolutely delicious. They’d been out with Barry and one of the boys into Safety Bay and caught the fish there, apparently they were biting today.

I have decided on a short entry today, mainly because we didn’t do a lot and also because Friday’s entry seems gargantuan. I need to think about quality control, perhaps.