Winter 2001

June 14, 2001. Well, the winter is now upon us, unlike the majority of those who will be reading this. Winter in Australia, or at least Queensland, always seems much harsher than it really is, since our homes are built to lose heat rapidly in summer, and most don't hold heat well in winter, plus we just are so used to the warmth that we just can't tolerate the slight chill in the air which is what really passes for winter here, by the standards of your average Pom (whose standards are known to be low anyway :) ) It's so cold now, we've even taken to wearing long trousers for the winter!

Jenny & her mother spent most of the Easter break planting trees in the top field, in order to break up the view a little - we plan to put in several hundred more, because the farm fields that are presently our view will soon be built on, we fear - our little piece of heaven will be changed forever then, as you cannot see another house from 95% of our property at present. The winter brings flocks of parrots, who roam wild here of course; a couple of weeks ago we had a gang of sulphur-crested cockatoos visit us,they really are hilarious to watch, they were doing acrobatics in the palm trees around our pool for ages, then swooping down on the fields, then coming back again to eat more fronds from the palms. They really are the larrikins of the bush. However, that afternoon, we went up to the top field, to find that the cockatoos had pulled out some 30 - 40 of the plants that had only been in the ground a month or so - all of a sudden Jenny wanted to shoot the lot of them. We're also growing some English tomatoes in the veggie garden, and last week I discovered some varmints had been eating my green tomatoes, long before they even turned red. These are really nice tomatoes, so naturally, this means war - the rat trap has come out of retirement (Laura tried to eat a rat that was in it, severely hurting the rat trap. And she got the rat, too) and using home-baked bread for bait, it's doing it's duty, thinning out the rat population again. We would put poison down if we could, but it isn't selective enough.

At the beginning of June Jenny & I went down to Sydney, which is 1000 kms to the south of us. It's therefore quite a lot colder, we wore the heavy clothing that Poms wear in winter in order to keep the cold out. The main reason for going was so that I could attend a conference & exhibition on cabling & transmission equipment at Darling Harbour, but we also took the opportunity to see the sights. We went first to the historic Observatory, which is now just a museum, with many antique instruments on show, along with a brief explanation of how they work, such as astrolabes, octants, sextants and chronometers. The grounds also command a great view of the main harbour, being less than a kilometre from the Harbour Bridge itself.

We went to the street markets, and were sadly disappointed - only cheap (and expensive) junk was on offer, normal tourist stuff, none of the hand-crafted goodies we were hoping for - we came back without having done any successful shopping at all, which was most unexpected.

The first night, we went to see my cousin Rhett, and his wife Anna - we hadn't seen them since last we visited Sydney 2½ years ago; he works from home as an architect. Anna is a cook of world renown, it's unheard of to leave their home feeling hungry, or sober for that matter :)

The second night we met my long lost niece, Melanie; it shames me to say I haven't seen her in 20 years, last time we met she must have been around 10 years old. Before we met up (in a pub) Jenny & I were wondering how we would know Mel after all these years, we were peering intently at everyone of the female persuasion as they entered the pub. However, the moment we saw Mel outside there was no doubt, the image of her mother Ruth 25 years ago. Needless to say we got on famously, chattering for hours over an excellent meal. Sadly, Mel had to be up very early next day, and we were still suffering a bit from the previous night, so we parted earlier than we'd hoped, but Mel is coming up to Brisbane soon, so we have a promise to meet up then if possible - we still have a great deal of catching up to do..

At Darling Harbour there are a number of interesting things to do & see, such as the Maritime Museum, the monorail, casino, and many gardens & walkways, some of which have some interesting bits of artwork nearby. This one of sheep leaving the shearing shed is quite spectacular, especially when viewed close up; it's made of bronze but is surprisingly life-like.

There is also a beautifully restored old building, known as the QVB or correctly as the Queen Victoria Building. Must have cost an absolute fortune to restore, but it's truly a beautiful building inside, here's a monster of a clock that hangs down from the top of the roof, must be something like 15 - 20 feet in height, at a guess, with lots of moving characters around the top.

On the last afternoon we had down there, we decided to do a "long" harbour cruise, for 2½ hours we chugged up and down the nearer more picturesque inlets, going out as far as the Heads, and in just as far as Luna Park, just (100 metres) north of the Harbour Bridge. We had a commentary on board, like any good tourist trip, and learned lots of trivia concerning the early days round the shark infested waters of the harbour - I wonder how much of what we were told was actually fact, rather than just a good yarn.

Sydney is not a place I'd like to live in, it's too big - it does have advantages, like career opportunities, a good choice of restaurants, loads of taxis, good public transport system - but it's too much like London for my taste, big and impersonal, dirty air, much bustling about, and real estate prices out of this world. We were stunned to see the multi-millionaires' homes were on tiny blocks of land, less than a ¼ acre, and 'big blocks' like ours here (2½ acres) are unheard of to Sydneysiders. Give me Brisbane any day, especially with our winters.

A footnote from Jenny....Luckily Karen has written most of this newsletter so I will just add my humble contribution. We think the boys will not have anything to say this time. They are both studying hard for end of semester exams. At least that is what I am desparately hoping. Exams start next week.

Our trip to Sydney went well. we were impressed with Virgin. Flights left and arrived on time, nice new clean planes, friendly staff, no hassles. We also caught the train from the hotel to Sydney airport. That was ok but with any amount of luggage a taxi would be the way to go. We had cabin bags only so did not have much to carry. I bought a nice natty new bag especially for the occasion. It had all the characteristics of a good piece of luggage, lots of little compartments, a zip on every surface and on sale at nearly half price - we will have to do some more travelling so I can use it again.

I went to the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour while Karen was at her exhibition, I was impressed. I walked around once slowly reading all the descriptions, then went back in the opposite direction to get the reverse view. I did take some photos but they are on conventional film and need to be developed etc so I will not have them for some weeks (depending on when I get round to sending them off). Old technology is so time consuming. It is certainly my idea of a great back yard. I would like something similar in my back garden. There was lots of rocks and water and trees. I promise to post the photos next time.

We had a good hotel room with a view of Darling Harbour. Karen enjoyed the full Aussie breakfast of bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, sausages; I made do with yoghurt and fruit and toast. The Sheraton could not make a decent pot of tea though. It was nice to get back home to our own bed and a decent cup of tea and the pleasures of being woken up in the middle of the night by a pair of yapping dogs outside the bedroom. The non-doggy persons among you will be grateful for the lack of canine photos in this newsletter.

Back to the real world, work is still busy. Last weekend we took out a few more Queen palms. Our aim is to rid the property of these dreadful palms altogether. They are messy, ugly and a real nuisance but very heavy and quite a job to remove. Luckily Karen has all the right equipment needed. If there is a tool to do it she will have it. I will get some more jobs done in the garden when my mum comes down next. I have more plants currently in pots to plant out and garden edges to do. Now that the weather is cooler it is a good time to do the heavy work in the garden.

Must go now. Past my bedtime.

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