So the deal was, we play tennis at 9 this morning. That’s me, the Woolf Man, Me Mate Dave and Bulawayo Boy (aka: the father of the bride). We got back from the wedding at about 1 o’clock last night, Bulawayo Boy, much later, but them’s the breaks.

So from Bondi to the Woolara Tennis Club; how far can it be? Phah, 3k, I’ll take a hotel bike. They’re a bit ‘Mary Poppins’ but I can take the flak from Aussie van drivers who still live in fucking caves, never mind any kind of ‘non-binary’, anti-presumption social environment. And thus I pedalled up the road, gorgeous morning, even wearing a helmet (its a law here so they give you one), whistling with the joys of loveliness. Then I hit Old South Head Road and turned left. Up a fucking mountain.

Google maps doesn’t do topography. Doesn’t do ‘relief’ maps. And up this hill there was no relief. Just a sheer rockface paved for cars. And bikes. Yes, I had to get off and push at one (several really) point but after getting just a bit lost, I arrived.

Unfortunately, after the tennis which was fun (I never usually play doubles; more people to abuse) and coffee, I got back on the bike only to realise that someone must have turned the mountains around whilst we were playing. Because it seemed to be uphill all the way home as well.

Note to self: NEVER bike in Bondi. It is quite literally uphill all the way.

But who cares. As I stirred to awkedness first thing, my phone kept pinging. I checked. 63 messages. Holy shit. Because Spurs had played Everton whilst I slept. And from. 1-0 down (all doom and gloom on the chat) it went to 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4… all the way to 2-6. A truly massive win for my absolute heroes. Totally emphatic. Putting us within 2 points of flagging Man City and just a bit further from Liverpool. Filling me with that belief which, I’ll admit, normally brings immense disappointment and shattered dreams, but this year; I BELIEVE!

Eriksen’s goal; a modern day wonder. Son’s second; his first touch so breathtakingly exquisite that apparently when Lionel Messi saw it he said “I wish I could do that”, but in Spanish.

Happy days

A xxx