THE OAKS

A few weeks ago a dear English colleague left Australia to go back to the old continent.

Oliver has been in Australia for the last 9 years and definitely was a strong support for me in Oracle, and a funny chap to laugh with.

What a better occasion to meet up in one of the biggest and oldest pubs of Sydney to bid him farewell?

The Oaks is located in Neutral Bay, quite in a central zone of Sydney on the Northern side of the Bay.

It has several entrances and the main feature is a Oak tree planted in the middle of the outdoor area which is quite impressive.

We had a drink there with Oliver and other colleagues in this spacious patio with lights hanging from the Oak like it would be Christmas and in fact it was late autumn, it was May! Apologies for the exclamation mark, it is still bewildering to me that summer and winter are swapped here down under.

The majesty of this oak fills up the space and transmits a feeling of calm. We then moved somewhere close for a delicious Italian pizza.

After that we went back to the Oaks but it took me half an hour to realize it was the same huge pub because we entered another area! This room was a typical bar with cozy couches, commer

cial music, with people who mostly hung out chatting and a few were dancing.

Managing to escape an aggressive and horny cougar, we go upstairs where an incredibly vast area is made up of refined furnished pool rooms.

I am not even sure I saw every area of the Oaks, and probably I did not, but my feeling was to be in a gigantic playground.

I am very sorry that Oliver is not in my office every morning telling me about his adventures in Australia, but at least I added an additional flag on a cool pub thanks to him!

Oli, enjoy your holidays in Italy till you can and think about us! we miss you.