The Art Of Watching

Sunday morning. A family meeting has decided where the family will go for their family activity.

Glenbrook National Park, with a caveat. They will only stop at lookouts with railings.

They drive to Glenbrook National Park.

Daddy and Mummy in the front seats.

Fish and Butterfly in the mid-seats, watching DVDs.

David and Katherine in the back seat looking out at the usual trees.

The car stops at the first point of the family activity.

The Red Hands Cave Trail.

They follow the trail, en famille.

Rocks, trees, bushes with tiny bush flowers. A valley. A bend. Seat. A cave.

Through the grille, you can see red and white hands painted and stencilled on the walls of the cave.

You can't go inside though.

Fish soon gets bored. He wants  to keep walking.

He, Daddy and David disappear down the trail.

Mummy and Katherine and Butterfly sit down in front of the cave.

They drink water and share one and a half of the last three Iced Vo-Vo biscuits.

As aboriginal women used to do, long long ago.

..........

Next stop the Nepean Lookout.

It has a railing. And a gate, leading out to a projecting rock, high above the valley.

A gate for abseilers only.

Fish is not yet one of those.

A red boat moves slowly on the Nepean River. A bridge. Tall spindly trees.

A train on the far side enters a black hole in the mountain.

A rumbling. A silence. A breeze.

......

Last stop the Jelly Bean Pool.

Down a rocky track, almost vertical in places.

Sand, rocks, a pool, beyond the pool, more rocks, also almost vertical. The pool extends round a corner to yet more rocks, but not in the shape of a jelly bean.

Water, knee deep and dark brown as black tea.

Butterfly and Fish head for the water. It's already up to their pants.

I'm allowed to get my shorts wet, says Fish.

That's true. He is.

David has taken his shoes off and rolled up his trousers.

He likes this activity, but he's glad he'll be going home tomorrow.

We've seen a water-walker, says Butterfly.

Katherine wonders what that is. Then she remembers. It's some sort of insect. How nice.

David's thought process is more convoluted. He thinks: water-walker, walking-on-water, ha ha, irrational religion, no accounting, this place, community indeed, sausage sizzle, poor Ray and the girl fiend, Rosamunda, bad influence on a church man, perhaps Ray needs to get away, I wonder if Vello....

Chop-chop, David, says Katherine. Put your shoes on. They've all gone back up to the car.

......

Later that evening, the family watches I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, on the television.

It's so thrilling, Butterfly and Fish are allowed to stay up till it ends.

One of the celebrities, a large female personality, must lie passively tied to a stake in an enclosure while a blindfolded team member drops unpleasant items onto her face through a funnel.

Ants, cockroaches. Offal.

The offal looks like rhubarb, gelatine and currants. Wisely she keeps her mouth shut, earning six out of ten for her team.

Then it's bedtime for the children.

And now, for the grown-ups, the tennis. The Australian Open Finals.

Katherine does not mind. She has recently perfected the art of watching the tennis.