Sydney, Australia 2019 Day 9

Jill and I decided on a picnic in Rushcutters Bay. After a little bit of shopping just minutes up the Cross, we made sandwiches on Turkish bread. Rushcutters is a short 5 minute walk down from our place. It is off leash at certain times and we got our dog fix as we settled down for our picnic. The views were so nice, seeing the moored boats, the water and the beautiful huge trees and even a magpie. So many memories of my childhood.

Today we were going to meet up with Catherine O’Brien at the Piccolo. She was introduced to me by Lynette Komidor, who administers a group I belong to, ‘Up the Cross and Down the Loo”. Catherine had busked many years ago at the Cross and had written a song about Juanita Nielsen, who disappeared after fighting redevelopment on Victoria St. where she lived. Its a long story of corruption. To this day, the mystery of her disappearance is still talked about, but not out loud.

At the Piccolo, we got acquainted, and met some of Catherine’s friends from days gone by, including Murray and his mother. Catherine played her song about Juanita and had us all enthralled. I also played some of my songs and got Murray’s Mom dancing in her seat. It was brilliant. Catherine then took us on a walk through the Cross while telling us about Juanita Nielson and how she came to her disappearance. We stopped for a drink at The Butler which has an awesome view of the city and has a bar named after Juanita Nielson. The Butler was right next to the Butler Stairs which goes down to Woolloomooloo.

We walked back to the Piccolo and agreed to stay in touch. I’m looking forward to getting home and playing the two CDs Catherine so kindly gave me.

Jill and I were looking forward to the dinner we’d been planning, steak with brandy cream, green peppercorn sauce. It was delicious. Looking forward to taking the ferry over to Manley tomorrow to meet up with Gay and Roy.