I’d forgotten how busy Cleveland Street can be in the early hours of the morning. Although I like to wake early, it’s been a few months since I’ve wandered down the road in the early hours. As with last time, I’d run out of milk. There’s a particular brand of milk at the nearby service station which I really like the taste of called Farmhouse Gold. It’s a little more expensive than supermarket milk, but it tastes good, and anyway, I’d run out. I’d also run out of yoghurt, so the walk down the road was worth it. I’d also forgotten how expensive the yoghurt was at the service station but, ah well, that’s life. But yeah, at 5.45am, Cleveland Street as quite busy.

It was much busier than a few months ago, which I guess reflects the COVID-related changes which have taken place. It’s not over yet, both Melbourne and Perth have gone through recent lockdowns, and we’ve yet to receive vaccinations in Australia, but the last few months have seen some changes.

Almost without exception, people are wearing masks on public transport. There was one bloke I saw the other day wearing his mask on backwards (which I assume was some kind of protest). There was also a bloke the other day not wearing a mask, but I assume from his behaviour, he had some mental health issues. But by and large, people appear to have settled into a groove, recognising the need for safety precautions, but not with the same level of paranoia we experienced a few months ago. Thank goodness I live in Australia, and not some other parts of the world.

On the trip to Manly the other day, there weren’t a lot of people on the ferry. I went there with some friends to visit some other friends. We caught up for lunch, for drinks, and a lot of great conversation.

And then on Sunday, a friend and I went to see the play “A Beautiful Thing” at “The New Theatre”. I don’t know which came first, the movie or the play, but I first saw the movie maybe twenty years ago. The plotline concerns two teenage boys who live in adjoining apartments who embark on a relationship. It’s a sweet story. I thought the play was very good, as it was very true to the movie. The only thing I’d do differently was drop the English accents. “She sounds like Catherine Tate as Nan”, I whispered into the ear of my friend, as we watched the play. Nonetheless, we both enjoy the production very much, and would highly recommend it.