MacMasters is a small beach community about an hour and a
half north of Sydney and that is where we drove for morning coffee on
Wednesday. The beach is not easily reached by public transport because buses there
run very infrequently. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the area is rarely
crowded.
We had a lovely morning. We arrived on a Wednesday on
purpose because on that day each week a jazz band plays for a couple of hours
outside the surf club coffee shop. The
band members, all semi-retired or retired professional musicians, started
playing here a few years ago when they were looking for a place to rehearse. The outside patio was a great location and it
wasn`t long before Mary’s Boys began
their weekly jam sessions. (Mary was one
of the original members of the group.) The regular rehearsal time became known
to the locals and small crowds began to gather each week.
This past Wednesday was perfect - warm sunshine with just
the whiff of a cooler breeze. The band was in fine form. The music was excellent - moving the audience from
a finger snapping toe tapping beat to a gentle jazz rhythm in easy
transition. As I sipped my coffee and
listened to the music I could hear the sound of the rolling surf in the
background. It was indeed a mellow
morning.
When the music ended I spoke with some of the band members.
There was Jenny, the lead female vocalist, Brian, Vincent, Lorrie, and
Jack. Jack told me he was eighty-eight
and three quarter years old and had been coming to play with the band for many
years. The band members aren`t paid for
the morning concert. They come together because they love playing the music and
want others to enjoy it too. I have included a picture here. I am sitting at
the picnic table while Jenny and the seven band members play in the background.
The drummer was missing this particular Wednesday.
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| Sue with band in the background |
There are also two pictures of the beach area. After the
performance, we turned to face the ocean and Lyle aimed the camera over the
edge of the railing behind us. The first picture is of the waves breaking over
a small rock pool. It was high tide so the waves were pretty high too. The last
picture shows a couple of surfers who had come to spend their lunch hour at the
beach.
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| Waves breaking over rock pool at MacMasters beach |
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| Surfers at MacMasters beach |
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