Gubby Under Pressure

Lord Gowrie. I shall go on to Sydney after staying a couple of nights at Moss Vale arriving there on Sunday night and probably motor back here via the coast road on the Wed or Thursday if I enjoy the first part of the trip. I took delivery of the car today and it is a beauty with a wireless in it. I am sorry to hear you have had a touch of ‘flu’. What a lot of it there has been about. I had a letter from Mum today written about Xmas day I gather but there was no date on it. She seems quite happy which is a good thing. Do you remember a man called Pfeiffer standing up at the M.C.C. annual meeting and saying some rude things about me? I had a letter of apology from him today. If you see Plum you might tell him as I think he was at the meeting. I can’t make up my mind whether to reply and if I do what to say. Will you please thank the Directors of the Mitcham Links for their telegram wishing me luck in Adelaide. I don’t know to whom to write and as it is I never stop writing. Best love to Mum Love Obbie Letter Twenty-Three Hotel Central Lakes Entrance Feb 18 1937 Darling Mum, I don’t suppose you have the faintest idea where this place is and I don’t know that I did until I arrived here tonight just in time for dinner. I have travelled many miles in the last 8 days in the 25 h.p. Morris which Lord Nuffield arranged for me to have and have in fact done little else. I think I last wrote from Canberra so won’t go into details of my journey up to there. I stayed with Lord Gowrie until Friday morning and then after planting a tree and presenting a stone to the Grammar School I left a complete wreck for Moss Vale. I stayed there in Sir Claude Reading’s house (he was only there one night) with Sue and Noel Heath (his daughter and son-in-law) for the weekend and just did nothing. I went on to Sydney on the Monday morning and was bullied from pillar to post by one person after another until I could stand it no longer. There is no doubt that I have been worked to death the whole tour and am now really worn out. I thought I was going to be able to get away with it by giving up all my own private engagements but I have failed and am now suffering for it. I discussed it at long length with Howard, Robbie and Bob and we all came to the conclusion that it was better for me to keep away for a few more days and miss the State match in Victoria. I shall not have played since the 4th Test match in Adelaide when I go into the field for the last ‘Test’ but judging by how I was feeling up in Sydney I don’t think any good could have been done by playing in the State match at Melbourne tomorrow. Having come to that conclusion Arthur Mailey and I decided to motor down the coast road at our leisure getting me to Sorrento by Friday afternoon in time to stay the weekend with the Bailleaus. I shall go back to Melbourne earlyish on Monday morning and have 1 or 2 nets a day until the ‘Test’ starts. Arthur and I have had a lovely drive and I have enjoyed it enormously. My only criticism of the drive is that the coast road does not stick sufficiently to the coast but wanders in-land and sometimes the road becomes dull. Some of the coast especially Marooma and Twofold Bay, where Eden is, is lovely and some of the big trees between Eden and here are magnificent. We saw some dingoes and a couple of big bushfires today. I was rather nervous of going past the bushfires in case we became surrounded but we decided to push on and all was well. This hotel is new and not bad but I have just killed the most enormous tarantula which has put me off a bit. Must stop and go to bed. My very best love to Dad Best love Obbie P.S. I saw the Uncles Herbert and Jack for a few minutes in Sydney just before I left. Herbo was in pretty good form but was complaining about his ear and Uncle Jack looked much better than he did in Melbourne. The letters 90