Luke's, Arcadia, NSW

When we returned from our walk Candi and I took turns showering and getting dressed for the trip to Luke and Anita's home in Arcadia.  Robin and Melissa picked us up at the townhouse at the pre-arranged time and we made the 1 hour trip out to Luke's uneventfully.  It was a nice ride through the countryside, including a tour through the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.  Given the remoteness of the property I was questioning my own resolve to make that drive into the city every day as Anita does for her job in the fashion industry before I grew tired of the commute.  Luke has it somewhat easier in that he is an outside sales person and has the ability to do work from home as well as plan his ventures around the formidable Sydney traffic, nonetheless, the beauty and remoteness of their their home certainly comes with a price.  We were the first to arrive and we were closely followed by Maggie and Shirley. Jeanette and her boyfriend, Frank, appeared soon after.  Shirley Stanley's sister, Marie Sullivan arrived with her husband John about an hour after we had.  Of course, they made a point to express their sorrow and shock upon learning of Geoff's death to me in a most compassionate way while we were walking around the property and related stories about the last time they had seen Geoff.

Luke and Anita have 2 children:  Layla, their daughter, who is in her mid-teens and Luke-Jon, a son, just entering his teenage years.  Layla has a particular love of horses and Luke and Anita purchased this home with acreage in the country in order to keep Layla's beautiful horse along with a menagerie of other creatures, including a feisty Shetland Pony.  Luke-Jon's interest seemed to lie more in indoor activities such as video games and using the computer.  Along with Geoff and Melissa, Laila and Luke-Jon comprise all of Shirley Stanley's grandchildren.  Luke proudly took us on a tour of the property and introduced us to the animals before attending to the barbecue on the patio deck.  The weather was perfect for an outdoor gathering and the group snacked on delicious appetizers prepared by Anita and the bounty from Luke's Barbee.  There was plenty of beer and wine for those that wanted, which if my memory serves me correctly was everyone of age.

After spending a pleasant time at the home in Arcadia we said farewell to Luke's family and all the other attendees as Robin, Melissa, Candi and I headed out before dark for the return trip to Darlinghurst.  It was a quiet ride as we were all likely exhausted from the events of the past days as well as the afternoon in the sun.  We discussed some of the final details of the booklet for Geoff's service and recounted our schedule for the next day.  Robin told us that she had contacted her friend that worked in the office at Our Lady of Fatima and she had promised to arrange an alternative for a priest to conduct Geoff's service as well as put us in contact with Sister Mary, who Melissa knew from her days at the St. Ursula School in Kingsgrove.  Robin expected we would hear from them the following day, Monday.  We also were scheduled to visit with Dr. Phillip Choi at St. George Hospital Medical Center to discuss his perspective on Geoff's death in the late afternoon on Monday.  Dr. Choi was the associate of Dr. Michael Harvey and Dr. Choi had most recently seen Geoff on September 30.  Dr. Harvey was Geoff's primary doctor (hematologist) related to his treatment and follow up for Hodgkin Lymphoma.  Apparently Dr. Harvey was out of the country at a symposium and Dr. Choi had agreed to meet with us on his behalf.  Knowing we were going to have a busy time the next day we were happy to have an early night.

Map showing Bexley North, Kingsgrove, Darlinghurst, Paddington and Arcadia (top) relative to Sydney proper