One Friday night in 1983 I’d had a long session at the Drummoyne Rowing Club. Then one of my mates asked me if I wanted to go with them to Vaucluse. I figured they were going to a party so I said yes.
There were four of us in the car, but one bailed at Double Bay because the driver was a maniac.
When we got to Vaucluse my mate (no names) in the front of the car got out and I figured he was just checking out how the party was. After a while I asked the driver why he was taking so long and his answer led me to believe that the guy was doing a break and enter.
Now, I wasn’t so keen to hang around, but in my condition I wasn’t able to go too far. It was a very windy night and with all the beer I’d drunk I soon needed to go for a piss. The only place I could see that would give me shelter was a house under construction down the street at a T intersection.
After I’d had a leak I stepped up from the clay in the front of the yard and saw searchlights in the sky and straight away thought that the police helicopter had been called in to search for my mate.
I couldn’t hear the helicopter because there was a gale blowing, but it was hanging around so I went back to the house and waited. I kept checking, but the helicopter was still there and I was too scared to go back to the car in case I was seen.
Next thing I knew I woke up with floorboards inches from my face … I’d fallen asleep under the house. It’s amazing where you can sleep after a few beers. Anyway, I climbed out from under the house, covered in clay and trying to remember what had happened the previous night.
As I stepped up onto the footpath and lit a cigarette it all started to come back. Then I looked up to where I’d seen the helicopter, feeling relieved I hadn’t been caught up in the mess, only to find I was looking at the South Head lighthouse!