Sun 26th Nov – Tennis for the sake of tennis

A putridly humid day greeted us as we left the house for the first time that day around 10am. Late Spring in Coffs Harbour tends to grant you two options: wretchedly boring drizzle, or the claustrophobic humidity prior to that drizzle. Mum and Dad assure me that prior to my arrival, the weather had been perfect.

Our destination was the the ever-chic Plaza. Sadly, the Jamaica Blue where I spent my post high-school Summer didn’t age as well as I have, and it is now being transformed into a melted chocolate dessert bar. It does make me think of the irony of the Jamaica Blue franchise. The dim, low ceilinged confines of the Plaza is likely the greatest contrast to how I imagine the lush Caribbean paradise. Although, for many teenagers in the height of Summer, the weak puff of the plaza Aircon is as close to paradise as we can hope for. Driving through the mall, it turns out my other old work haunt – Dollars and Sense – is now a bland construction site, soon to transmute into a bland block of apartments.

Happily having lunch at home allowed for more of my favourite holiday activity: day time TV. We finished Long Way Down. It is hard to say, given the time that has passed since I last re-watched Long Way Around, but I do believe Long Way Down is my favourite. There’s such a tension between Charlie and Ewan. Charlie aches for adventure and the new, whereas Ewan wants to spend his holiday with the familiar (his family, hotels).

By the time 4pm rolls around, there is the natural compulsion to try and do some exercise. Drive to the courts at the jetty, which are pretty with the mountains behind them but often smell lightly (and not often, strongly) of sewage. With storm clouds just past, and rain clouds approaching, it was a difficult thirty or so minutes, wading through humidity and stale balls. While it was fun, it would have been nice to have a few more days to have a better go of it.