Chapter 76

I arrived home to learn that we'd not be going to Melbourne and Canberra soon: Al and Eddie were to be visiting both the Eyres and her mother for a fortnight in July. A few minutes on the Web got us on flights to to Canberra on Sunday the 10^th; to Melbourne on the 17^th; and home to Sydney on the 24^th. I also booked us into the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne. I left booking a hotel in Canberra till I could get a suggestion, perhaps Rachel could get one from Winnie. (It turned out that we ended up at the Hyatt, as we were told the Brassey, a famed older hotel, needed "a thorough reno.")

I asked about "Al and Eddie," but it appeared that Rachel knew little. Well, we knew little more about Sarah's life. Winnie arranged for Rachel's permissions to view the photos, drawings and paintings we were interested in and Sean got me admission to the High Court for the Wednesday and Thursday. I planned to go to the Museum on Monday and Tuesday. I phoned Craig and told him we'd meet again at the beginning of September, when I could see the end of my degree; I then called my dad to tell him what I'd done. He told me to enjoy our trip.

Rachel's parents met us at Canberra International and drove us to the Hyatt. We registered, unloaded our baggage and then drove to Acton. They had met Eddie and had had dinner with Eddie and her mother during their visit. They didn't seem to think that there was a deep involvement. Rachel just shrugged. Chaz hated the paperwork, but they liked living in Canberra. Michiko said she had become active in the Canberra Japan Club, which had some sort of relationship with the Japanese Embassy.

On Monday I was off to the Museum and Rachel to the Gallery. We agreed to meet back at the Hyatt around 1700.

I spent nearly an hour looking at a display of Warlpiri men's drawings and then went for a fifteen-minute session at the open collections. I went back to the drawings, but returned for another 15 minutes at the shelves and displays of the collection. It was quite overwhelming.

Open Collections is a massed display of more than 2000 objects in a storage-like environment. It gives an insight into the richness and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material culture across Australia.

Open Collections is open for 15 minutes each hour to give a glimpse of artifacts rarely seen by the public. The space is also used to give members of Indigenous communities private access to their objects.

I was drawn to several items and made a mental note to return. I then went for some lunch in the cafe. Returning to the Warlpiri drawings, I bought an (expensive) book about the Warlpiri by Melinda Hinkson. I then looked at more of the Open Collections, where a guard asked "Haven't you been here before?" I admitted that I had, but that I'd most likely be back tomorrow. There was a lot to look at.

Though it was a bit chilly, I walked back to the Hyatt. Rachel wasn't there, so I read my new book and looked at the reproductions of the drawings. Some of them were quite interesting, but Hinkson's commentary was even moreso. I made a note to look for her other works.

Rachel returned only a few minutes after 1700, bursting with enthusiasm for the Max Dupain photos and how helpful and cooperative everyone had been. They had given her a cubicle of her own for the week.

She washed up and we talked about dinner. She'd heard of a place with "ginger in its name" so I agreed to go talk to someone in the lobby. Downstairs I learned it "had" to be Spicy Ginger and that it was "about five minutes by cab." (It was only a few blocks from the Museum, it turned out.) I returned to our room, informed Rachel and gave her a kiss.

"What's that for? Should I be suspicious?"

"No. I was just thinking that we've known each other most of our lives and we've been married for nearly two years and I still love you. And I still like kissing you."

"Thank you sir. Would you like me to show my – uh – appreciation now, or after dinner?" I got a small squeeze.

"'Age does not wither, nor custom stale.'"

"Yes, very pretty. But Enobarbus is insulting Cleopatra, if you finish his speech to Maecenas: 'she makes hungry / Where most she satisfies; for vilest things / Become themselves in her'."

"And later, then, you'll be 'riggish'?"

Rachel giggled. "I'm not really the lustful type like Cleo."

"No. But I know you can be wanton." I gave her another kiss.

Tuesday I returned to the Museum and Rachel to the photos. In the evening we to my in-laws to an excessively expensive Japanese restaurant, Iori Plus, in Deakin. Rachel and her mother were going to spend the day shopping on Wednesday. I was heading for the High Court. Chaz seemed to enjoy living in Canberra, far from the Indian Ocean.

It was a short walk to the Court, just past the National Gallery. I was very impressed by the High Court's decisions in two appeals. It seemed to me that the Court was both meticulous where the evidence and the law were concerned.