Saturday 10th - Fishing and Partying

I had a fairly disturbed sleep, being a bit excited about the fishing trip I suppose. Not sure if I was more excited for the surprise I would give Tatsuya or for myself in anticipation of some real fishing. He didn't suspect a thing and believed my claims that we were buying bait right up until we were on the marina. And then he was just confused about the lack of shops. So he got a real surprise when I said, "See this boat, we are going fishing in it."

I'm afraid there is no fairytale end to this fishing tale though; neither of us caught any fish despite some people on the boat doing pretty well (one very big kingfish--はまち --got pulled in on our side of the boat). But it was still tops being out there on the boat, and we did see some humpback whales that were breaching while we were still some distance away. In the end, even without fish and Tats getting a bit sea sick, it was a great experience and very much worthwhile.

After we got back home, the ladies had taken Mum out to the shops while the chair was moved into position with a ribbon attached to signify that it was a present. Before long they got home and Mum walked into the room, straight past the chair without even noticing it. Eventually we were able to draw her attention to it and the meaning dawned on her. She was grinning from ear to ear, but otherwise just about speechless. As the day wore on we all got to try the chair and pronounced it to be Good.

So we had Mum's 80th birthday party that evening at the local RSL Club. There was a pretty good turn up of family and friends. Brother Peter and family had come up from Newcastle, so five of Mum's six kids were there, plus four of her grandkids. The speeches did not drag on and the one from my sister was hilarious as my uncle, Dad's younger brother, stood up and delivered what he reckoned it was she wanted to say (she being too overcome with emotion to get anything out). We retired back to the house relatively early and then partied on a bit longer, knocking a hole or two in some bottles of port. Ultimately got to bed at a reasonable hour and was restrained enough to avoid any significant hangover the next day.