Moving the Goalposts
31/12/2022 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaToday's plans were not particularly ambitious. Since I planned to go to the beach to watch the last sunset of the year, there was no point in getting out and about too early lest I crash well before the Witching Hour.
I originally intended to lurk around the southern part of Fremantle going to assorted cafes and bakeries before catching the CAT bus to the beach.
But after the experience of last New Year's Eve, I figured that a lot of places would be closing even earlier than the usual nanny state hours of 3pm. So I figured that instead I would go to a cafe that roasts its own beans which closes at 2.30pm, always has the newspapers but most importantly of all, it is just around the corner from the old lunatic asylum. The asylum - now an arts centre closes at 5pm so it was the perfect spot to squiggle in the spiral notebook and plan things for 2023. It was also the perfect opportunity to check the opening hours on Monday since it is a public holiday and sometimes they close on 2nd January since there is usually a pretty big concert on the night before.
So I got to Gesha coffee roasters just before 13.30 only to see it look like a ghost town. But I could see the odd person pottering around inside.
It was definitely closed. Apparently they closed early on Christmas Eve as well. 1pm instead of 2.30 so I had just missed them. But at least I knew that they would not be open tomorrow nor Monday.
I learnt a while ago that you cannot go to the website to find out such things because that is exactly what I did last New Year's Eve and a lot of places claiming to have normal hours on that day were closing at least 2 hours earlier.
So no coffee or newspapers. That meant I would either go to the shops to buy a paper or catch up tomorrow at a local cafe.
Next stop was the arts centre. It turned out that they were closed too. Not just an hour before I turned up but since Christmas Day. I was a bit miffed since I had my bright shiny new 2023 Goal Digger planner and a gorgeous witchy deck of Tarot cards. It was the perfect place to drool over both of them. I have often waited a week or so after getting a new deck of cards because I like to open them at certain serpent sacred sites and that old lunatic asylum is top of the python pecking order.
It is the place I always went when the last 3 Potter books were released. I'd be at the queue outside the book shop at 7am and then spend the rest of the day at the arts centre pigging out on the latest Potter.
But since shops, restaurants and cafes all over the place are dropping like flies, it was no longer a surprise. Ever since I started frequenting the place in 2001 there has been a cafe there but about 2 months ago it closed. A sign of the times, I guess.
But the most important thing - the sign said that the arts centre was closed from Christmas Day and reopens on Wednesday 4th January. So now I knew for certain that I needed to make other plans for my serpent 'birthday' party on Monday 2nd January.
So I left with both my deck of cards and 2023 planner still in their wrapping and meandered down the very spooky Quarry Street.
I did manage to find a cafe open until 4pm so I did get to read the paper after all but some sneak had nicked the Sudoku and Code Breaker crossword puzzles.
Next stop was the west end of town on the way to the beach to watch the last sunset of 2022 around 7.20pm.
I got there at 7pm. For the height of summer, it was surprisingly windy and chilly.
I didn't do the usual toast to the last sunset of the year. Even only 100ml of wine makes me tipsy these days and it was a 20 minute walk to the train station.
Hopefully I will still be awake at midnight so can do it then by the light of the half moon.
I originally intended to lurk around the southern part of Fremantle going to assorted cafes and bakeries before catching the CAT bus to the beach.
But after the experience of last New Year's Eve, I figured that a lot of places would be closing even earlier than the usual nanny state hours of 3pm. So I figured that instead I would go to a cafe that roasts its own beans which closes at 2.30pm, always has the newspapers but most importantly of all, it is just around the corner from the old lunatic asylum. The asylum - now an arts centre closes at 5pm so it was the perfect spot to squiggle in the spiral notebook and plan things for 2023. It was also the perfect opportunity to check the opening hours on Monday since it is a public holiday and sometimes they close on 2nd January since there is usually a pretty big concert on the night before.
So I got to Gesha coffee roasters just before 13.30 only to see it look like a ghost town. But I could see the odd person pottering around inside.
It was definitely closed. Apparently they closed early on Christmas Eve as well. 1pm instead of 2.30 so I had just missed them. But at least I knew that they would not be open tomorrow nor Monday.
I learnt a while ago that you cannot go to the website to find out such things because that is exactly what I did last New Year's Eve and a lot of places claiming to have normal hours on that day were closing at least 2 hours earlier.
So no coffee or newspapers. That meant I would either go to the shops to buy a paper or catch up tomorrow at a local cafe.
Next stop was the arts centre. It turned out that they were closed too. Not just an hour before I turned up but since Christmas Day. I was a bit miffed since I had my bright shiny new 2023 Goal Digger planner and a gorgeous witchy deck of Tarot cards. It was the perfect place to drool over both of them. I have often waited a week or so after getting a new deck of cards because I like to open them at certain serpent sacred sites and that old lunatic asylum is top of the python pecking order.
It is the place I always went when the last 3 Potter books were released. I'd be at the queue outside the book shop at 7am and then spend the rest of the day at the arts centre pigging out on the latest Potter.
But since shops, restaurants and cafes all over the place are dropping like flies, it was no longer a surprise. Ever since I started frequenting the place in 2001 there has been a cafe there but about 2 months ago it closed. A sign of the times, I guess.
But the most important thing - the sign said that the arts centre was closed from Christmas Day and reopens on Wednesday 4th January. So now I knew for certain that I needed to make other plans for my serpent 'birthday' party on Monday 2nd January.
So I left with both my deck of cards and 2023 planner still in their wrapping and meandered down the very spooky Quarry Street.
I did manage to find a cafe open until 4pm so I did get to read the paper after all but some sneak had nicked the Sudoku and Code Breaker crossword puzzles.
Next stop was the west end of town on the way to the beach to watch the last sunset of 2022 around 7.20pm.
I got there at 7pm. For the height of summer, it was surprisingly windy and chilly.
I didn't do the usual toast to the last sunset of the year. Even only 100ml of wine makes me tipsy these days and it was a 20 minute walk to the train station.
Hopefully I will still be awake at midnight so can do it then by the light of the half moon.
