Had a "refo" mate at Belmore South Primary, His father was head waiter at the Caprice restaurant at Rose Bay in the 1950s. His uncle ran a restaurant at Watsons Bay, just near the jetty. It was closed on Sundays, and I'd go out with him and his family to visit his uncle.
Watson's Bay was a village back then. On Sundays it was dead. We'd take his uncle's rowing boat and row out into the harbour to go fishing. Plenty of fish back then. His uncle had a set of duelling swords, and we were allowed to run around the park playing Zorro - as long as we kept the rubber tips on the swords. They were a Czech family, and I was treated to traditional Czech food. Decades later, in Prague I found myself going back to Watsons Bay when I dined in some of the restaurants and got that taste from my childhood.
Trams still ran to Watsons Bay back then, and the wharf had a weighing station where big game catches could be hoisted up and put on show. Celebrity Bob Dyer used to bring in his Fishing cruiser "Tennesee Two" and haul up big sharks that he'd caught.
The pilot vessels were stationed there; and they'd go out to meet every large ship that entered trough the heads, in all weather.
Rose Bay was home to the big Sunderland flying boats - they were brilliant to watch taking off and landing in the harbour. No way they could find room these days.
Flying boats, trams, steam powered Manly Ferries, the neon lights along William St, Kings Cross. That's a Sydney that no longer exists.
. Then back into some kebab joint at Belmore on Canterbury Rd that was according to the boys, the best. They weren't wrong.
