The Shark Picnic

We are delighted that our member Anne Gleeson has joined as a co-editor and author of this blog. Anne, who has lived in the local region for many years, will be researching and sharing stories of  local people and places here on our blog.

In this, her first post on our blog, Anne recalls a family outing.

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The Shark Picnic

We picnicked or went for Sunday drives or visited family or friends just about each Sunday when I was a child. As an adult I have come to realise this was most likely because there was never much money to spare in the family and with five kids it was probably easier to take us out than to amuse us at home.

We often took my grandfather with us on these adventures. Mum and Dad and the five of us kids and Grandpop would load into Dad’s green Austin A40. This was of course in the days before rules about seat belts and passenger loading in a car.

On this particular Sunday we went to Pelican foreshore for the picnic. We swam and paddled about in the water before lunch and developed a healthy appetite ready for the picnic lunch which was generally sandwiches and homemade cake followed by a drink of juice or “make-up” cordial. Dad and Pop probably shared a beer and mum would have had a cup of tea from the thermos.

As we waited the obligatory hour before we were allowed to go back in the water after lunch (in case we got cramps and drowned) Pop called our attention to something floating along in the water. It was a very large shark swimming back and forth not far from where we had been swimming earlier in the day. Mum decided that even though the shark swam off there would be no more swimming for us that day. She did not get too much of an argument from me. The shark had come in pretty close to shore and Pop had picked up some pebbles and thrown them at the shark. He said he was trying to scare it away so we could go back in the water.

Image by alondav from Pixabay 

Fast forward about 40 years and we are now living close to shore of Lake Macquarie. My eldest granddaughter used to ask me with the regularity of a four year old. “Grandmother, do you think there are any sharks in that water? My Mum says there probably isn’t” I would ask her “do you think there are sharks in there?” and she would say “tell me the story about when you were little and you saw a shark?” And I would tell her the story about my Pop and what became known as the Shark Picnic. I told her that story probably about thirty times.

As the health of Lake Macquarie improves and shark sightings become more commonplace in the lake it is a positive thing that the sharks and dolphins have made their way back into this amazing natural wonder.