2 posts tagged “cemetery”

I initially, well no, but yes, well just keep reading as I had a great day but…

I have had a great day today as I dragged Suez away from her husband and children and took her on an adventure and exploration of St. Kilda Cemetery.  I drive past this cemetery on average once a week and it was another thing on my to-do list and today was the day I was going to go and explore.  We parked Black Bertha, grabbed our cameras and off we went in search of history and adventure! 

Quick lesson on The St. Kilda Cemetery.  The Cemetery was established in 1855.  It was one of the principal burial places south of the Yarra River.  The cemetery contains many famous and notable Australians such as:

*Alfred Deakin (politician & once Prime Minister)

*Alfred Fenton (businessman, philanthropist & Arts Benefactor)

*Matron Mary Finlay (World War 1 nurse in charge of army hospitals in France & Germany)

*Captain Albert Jacka (World War 1 Victoria Cross Winner)

*Christina MacPherson (Provided music for Banjo Patterson’s Waltzing Matilda) 

*Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller (Botanist & Director of Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens) and a whole stack of fever victims from the 1840 emigrant ship The Glen Huntly.

We spent quite a few hours “playing” and reading all the tombstones.  My day was great until I literally stumbled across a gravesite, I looked down and for a second I lost my breath.  There literally at my feet was my friend Angry’s husband!   I did a double take and raised my voice and pointed and exclaimed to Suez that I knew Pete.  I knew him well. 

Let me backtrack.  I went to high school with a girl named A. Our nicknames at school were Angry & Head.  I was called Head as I was a quick-witted foul-mouthed smart arse (ahem – nothings changed I guess) and A. was Angry as all she did was scream, yell and slam her hand down hard on her desk. 

Angry and I were great mates who hung out together and were the only two freaks in high school who were not squares, were not nerdy and not bright, who were not so far up the teachers arse, we were the ones that were always in the photo lab developing photos, in art class painting what we believed to be amazing pieces of art, in music class banging on instruments, in drama class being the amazing thespians we thought we were.    In our heads we were just amazing but in reality we were just artistic bohemian chicks who were eager to get out of school and get out fast. 

We were in a sense the outcasts we were the two freaks who were into the darker side of life and all the bitches were scared of us.  Angry would read the girls tarot cards and make up utter bullshit to frighten the moles whilst I would be in the background killing myself from laughter. 

Angry was the heavy metal chick whilst I was more alterno-punk-metal chick.  Angry and I used to drive all the bitches (I went to an all girls high school and it was fucking awful) insane.  I remember I did an essay on the band The Damned and the entire 5-page essay was all about…hmmm..how do I say this?  Well fuck it I will just say it, I wrote an essay on wanting to fuck Dave Vanian from The Damned in a coffin.  My English teacher Mrs Prentergast was outraged that I volunteered to share my essay to the entire class and I remember her face to this day!  She had turned a whiter shade of pale and said: “ that was a vile interpretation of romance”.

I digress, I read my essay and Angry stood up after I was finished and started woohoo-ing and cheering and clapping and swinging her jumper around her head whilst I stood on the platform bowing and curtseying and then doing an Irish jig then doing the heavy metal salute.  And we both got sent to the principal’s office for insubordination and given a letter to give to our parents. (Yeah like I was going to give that letter to my parents!)

We were the troublemakers who wagged school, met up with boys during lunchtime and stole half the books from the library and half the art department.  During gym class or PE as it was called back then, we used to play hard and literally bulldoze the bitches.  I remember throwing a ball so hard at this stuck up racist cunt that it whopped her on the head and I remember just looking at Angry’s face to see that she was crying from laughter. Classic moments and such fun times (I am not a bully just don’t ever call me a WOG as I will bite and I will bite back very hard) 

I remember Angry would “tape” me heavy metal cassettes filled with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Manowar, Dio, Judas Priest & Kiss, and I would make her mix tapes of bands like The Jam, The Damned, Husker Du, Violent Femmes, Sonic Youth, The Sex Pistols, Suicidal Tendencies, The Clash and on and on and on.  We were obsessed with music (I guess nothing has changed from my end).

We would swap tapes every Friday and come Monday we would critique what we heard.  The shit we did together was amazing.  I remember when Angry first met Pete and she asked me as I was the more “creative” one shall I say to write a bullshit letter to her parents stating that Angry had to attend a compulsory Year 12 camp for 2 weeks, then she made me compose a bullshit letter to the school stating that Angry would be away for 2 weeks as her parents were taking her away on holidays.  Yeah we got away with it.  Well Angry sure did, she spent two weeks in Sovereign Hill whilst I had to fucking stay in school!

Angry and I maintained a friendship for a few years after we finished high school, I even went to Angry and Pete’s wedding but as the years went by we sort of lost touch.  I had never forgotten about Angry and I have tried to track her down on many occasions but I just couldn’t find her anywhere and in the process basically just gave up.

Man we went to some amazing concerts together.  We went and saw Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, Guns and Roses and I think they came to Bon Jovi with my friends, bro and I (yeah I know big hair arena rock but when a band came to town we would hit it) 

Every Wednesday night we used to go to a club called Chasers, that had a night dedicated to metal and punk rock music, the night was called “Hard and Fast” and each and every week I would request Blister in The Sun by the Violent Femmes and Angry would request Run to the hills by Iron Maiden.  We would drink beer and think we were just way too cool. 

Pete was a great guy (and yeah I know every time someone passes away we all tend to say that) but he was a lovely man.  So to literally stumble onto his plot today freaked me out.  I am gutted!  Truly I am gutted and cannot believe it.  

I have been sitting here for the past few hours just thinking of Pete and Angry and all the good times we had.

I need to find her, I need to say HI and I need to pay my condolences.

Anyways, if anyone is interested, may I suggest you take a few hours out of your busy lives and go and check out St. Kilda Cemetery.  It’s full of history and exploring is fun!

Reney