Thought yesterday’s post would be the last for this trip but following our dinner last night I feel I need to sneak in one more. However, before I get onto that, I’ll take the opportunity of adding a ps to that note.
Tony O'Donnell’s comment on my post about his ancestor prompted my memory. He noted that she was a convict who arrived in the First Fleet. He mentioned that she eventually took up a land grant in the Ebenezer/Pitt Town area and is buried in the Ebenezer church cemetery.
The towns of Richmond and Windsor are very close to Ebenezer and that area was one of the first to be settled after Sydney Cove/Paramatta. The flood plains of the Hawkesbury river and an abundance of fresh water from the river made it an ideal market garden for the struggling new settlement down by the coast. Market gardens still abound there today.
Anyway, though I’m sure Tony’s ancestor would have turned out to be one of the good guys, there were others whose social skills would have left a lot to be desired.
I am referring in particular to a couple of burglars - or should they have been described as bushrangers. In 1817 they invaded the home of local farmer John Suddis, killing him in the process.
I have used a fair bit of poetic licence in suggesting that the perpetrators may have been bushrangers. They may even have been aboriginal tribesmen involved in ongoing attempts to protect their lands.
At my peril I have assumed that they were, in fact, bushrangers, as they were a very real problem for the settlers. (Tony’s ancestor must have been one very strong woman).
It is interesting to note that Captain Thunderbolt, one of the country’s most famous (infamous) bushrangers who is buried at Uralla up the New England Highway, was born in Wilberforce, just 5kms from Windsor.
Of interest also is the fact that Thunderbolt’s partner, Mary Ann Bugg, a half aboriginal woman, was one of the only three known female bushrangers. The other two were an aboriginal woman, Mary Cockerill (Black Mary) and Elizabeth Jessie HICKMAN who ran her own gang and who only died in 1936.
This, and the animosity between the traditional owners and the white settlers were further examples of why some parents required that their children live in at the Ebenezer school.
After that long-winded ps, here is the reason for my post. I will attempt to keep it brief which, you may have noticed, is very difficult for me.
During our nine years as grey nomads, Rob and I insisted that the best of our adventure was the people we met. The folks we met at dinner last night were a great example.
We had dinner at Rob’s new club, the huge Richmond Community Club. She had to join to make us eligible to park and stay in their car park for the four nights we were in Richmond.
She was required to take out a one year membership but as that only cost her $2.00, it wasn’t all that hard to bear. The cheap accommodation offered by the club as well as the member discounts for food and drinks made it a very good spend.
The restaurant in the club was quite large and was fully booked. As we finished our dinner, one of the twin brother lessees stopped by our table on a working tour of the room. On finishing the tour he came back and sat himself down at our table for a bit of a chat. Why he chose us we couldn’t fathom.
It turned out that he and his twin brother emigrated to Oz with their family from Lebanon when they were 10 years old. He eventually became a motor mechanic which lead to him becoming Harry Kanaan. Others at the time had the same problem with the pronunciation and spelling of his first name so he became Harry (short for Dirty Harry).
Later the two brothers went into the hospitality business when they opened an Italian restaurant. They now own three and are in the process of opening a fourth.
The reason for their success was very obvious to us. We ordered salt and pepper calamari and a pizza and they were both fabulous. Harry told us that they had won awards for best pizza in the country three years in a row. Whether or not it was true, we were happy to believe it.
As well as telling us about his businesses we got a full rundown on his family, some of whom were working in the room. He is separated from his wife and they have four children, like us, three girls and a boy.
Harry took a great deal of pleasure in telling us about his youngest daughter, Jasmine (aka Jazzy) who was working the till. He told us she was a budding singer songwriter who is about to launch her first song on the net.
The two of them recently returned from the US where they were given every encouragement and a great deal of support by agents. Her song, which she wrote herself, is all about the problems brought about by bullying.
After giving us a full rundown, Harry beckoned Jazzy, a quite attractive young blonde, to join us. She did and confirmed everything her dad had told us.
When we said we would look forward to hearing the song when it was released, Harry asked her to sing a couple of verses for us - which she did - quietly so only we could hear - but beautifully. When she finished, she told us any money she made out of the song would be donated to the cause of overcoming bullying.
Harry eventually decided they had both better get back to work so they stood to take their leave. We shook hands with him and Jazzy came around and gave us both a kiss. When I said how fortunate I was to be kissed by such a wonderful person she shook her head, looked at Rob, and said, “No, you surely get one every day.” What a fabulous young girl and her father we just happened to meet on our journey.
Before going back to work, Jazzy made Rob and me followers of her professional (Jazzy K) and personal Facebook pages so that we might follow her new career.
We hope she makes it.
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