Dinner and Drinks at the Lady Daly

My wife and I attended her work’s belated-Christmas-2011 dinner last night (28 January 2012), held at the Lady Daly Hotel. I’ve not been there in over 12 years, back when the family of an old friend owned the place.

So it was interesting to see how much the hotel has changed since. And it has, quite considerably! What once was dark and trapped in time is now a brightly-lit up bar along one side of the saloon, open to diners and possibly dancing.

Whilst we waited for our dinners to arrive, a dusty storm (which had moments of rain) pummeled down the Port Road, pushing open the doors bringing in dust. I’m so glad I took my camera along.

With a quick departure out the main doors (which are hinged like a salloon door though solid from head to foot), I had missed the bulk of the wind, yet watched a mini tornado of dirt meander down the middle of the road, collecting dirt and leaves from around trees. I had thought to photograph it, but it soon caught up with me so I crouched for a second to protect my camera and lense.

By the time I’d stood up, it had dissipated. All that remained were a dozen leaves bouncing along. Oh well… here is the result…

When I returned, a schooner of beer was needed to clean the dust from my lungs. Then dinner arrived, we ate, then went through to the Beer Garden at the rear of the premises. Like a giant farm shed with a large beer-bar (every man’s dream, no doubt), I slowly sipped my third beer for the evening.

Around 9.30pm the lovely wife exclaimed her belly was pummelling from the inside out. I took this as a sign that our upcoming baby (due at the end of May) wanted to go home. On the way out, I shot these few shots.