Day 63 - Parkes (Grand Final Day)

Another decent morning with a slight breeze blowing. Managed to get some sleep and even a sleep in but found myself looking like I’d gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson. My eyes were swollen and blood shot.

No reprieve from the airborne allergens.

Before I awoke Graham managed to get some shots of a bunch of tractors menacing the show grounds.

Gail was also suffering so the plan was to head into town for the day given the big GF was on.

It was only a couple of kms and given we’re going to be consuming alcohol we decided to walk. We could have been walking down streets in Subiaco or Shenton Park - the architecture, the roads, the landscape was very very similar.

As per our constitution, coffee and some form of sustainance was the first priority then a trundle down the Main Street. There was definitely stuff for everyone here.

The ladies found fashion and the gents found old stuff. Dad and Dave’s Mantique Store was something quite unusual. Collectables and just about anything old. Records, bottles, oil cans, military uniforms……just about anything you could think of. But Trent……it had nothing on your uncles collection as it was only about a quarter of the size The only difference was Dad and Dave’s stuff was for sale.

I’m not sure where this purchase occurred, I think the buy of the century was Graham’s pickled onion retriever. I’ll aim to get an image in a later post.

The reference to Dave did not stop with Dad and Dave’s, there was a Discount Dave’s store also. This held some very financially favourable items that will be acquired upon my return visit tomorrow. Too much to carry and retain for the remainder of the day, given these could easily be misplaced should the amount of alcohol being consumed later have an impact on our cognitive ability.

Graham and Karen’s reconnaissance yesterday identified the dog friendly Cambridge Hotel for lunch and location to observe the big game. Whilst the trees surrounding the outside courtyard were visually pleasing, they were definitely the cause of the deterioration of my current health status. A decision to move inside where there was less reflective interference on the TV also saw a noticeable change for the better in my suffering.

Another great country meal for myself, although those who chose the lamb cutlets advised they weren’t as culinarily satisfying as previous encounters.

A GF like that is what any independent follower wants to see. By independent I mean someone whose team of choice is not playing. Many lead changes and never more than 3 goals difference makes extremely tense personal situations for fans of those the teams involved.

In the end, there is only 1 victor. The heartbreaking fact for Dockers fans was that they were up by 17 points with 4 minutes to go.

After watching the formalities we set off on the return journey.

Still suffering upon arriving back…..I hit the sack, missing what was probably an interesting night of post game banter, which I may find out about tomorrow.Read more