After 26 months of trying to convince the Australian government that we should be able to visit our family, the government relented and started allowing parents of people who live in Australia visit them. Wheeeeww!!! ** A note: Oz is Australian for Australia. They shorten everything they say to one syllable, then they add an “ie” to the end of the abbreviated word. For example, Breakfast would be Brekie. So, Australia would be “Ausie” but it’s cooler to say “Oz”.
So it was that on the 25th of February we arrived in Brisbane after two fifteen hour legs from Miami to Doha, Qatar, to Brisbane. We arrived in the early evening to a heavy rain and nearly deserted terminal. We had all our paperwork in order so we were through immigration before our bags came out. We didn’t look suspicious so the Customs folks waived us through and we were on our way to the rental counter. There we found the counter was closed due to lack of business and that we were to proceed, by airport shuttle, to the domestic terminal where there was another rental car counter. We nearly drowned dragging our four bags through the heavy rain but did find the bus, did get to the domestic terminal, and did find the rental counter. No worries there, we got our car and drove from Brisbane to Coomera (about 40 miles) in a heavy rain … at night … on the wrong side of the road … with the steering wheel on the right side of the car … all while hanging upside down on the underside of the Earth.
When we left back in Jan 2020 Australia was on fire. There were, major fires all along the east coast killing thousands of animals, destroying hundreds of homes, and causing severe damage. Now, in Feb 2022, they had epic rains that were killing thousands of animals, destroying hundreds of homes, and causing severe damage. Even the roads where we stayed were closed in some places where the creeks and rivers overflowed over the road.
The rain eventually stopped and now only downpours on occasion. The creeks returned to their banks, the bridges opened, and the mud dried up. Best part of all is that we were back with Andy, Candice, Samantha, Cathy, and Christian (our Family) again. Samantha had graduated from St Stephan’s College last November and she was leaving for Uni in Perth in a week so we were pleased we got to spend some time with her. She was selected to attend Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. It is a well noted university that specializes in the performing arts. Hugh Jackman and Frances O’Conner are a couple of their alumni. **Note: Colleges, in Australia, are private schools that educate children (and young men and women) from Kindergarten through High School. Post High School education is at establishments called Universities … Unies.
So far we have settled in for our stay in Oz at the “Folly”. The famous bungalow in Willow Vale, Australia which is close to where our family lives. I have had pictures from previous trips in this blog but here are a few of and around the Folly.
We have also attended a very cute and well performed “Grandparents Day” at St Stephan’s College, the School where Christian is now in Kindergarten and Cathy is in year nine. Grandparents Day was put on by grades Pre-Kindy through year six. The Pre-Kindy and and Kindy students presented an Easter Hat parade and the year one, two, three, four, five, and six students performed songs in the auditorium in groups of two grades at a time.
One weekend we went to a big tent display of Dinosaurs. It was mostly for the kids but was interesting to see.
School years start in Late January and end in early December with their Summer vacation being over December and January. Christian and Cathy had their first quarter break in early April so we rented a Houseboat and spent five days sailing around the “Broadwater” area. Coomera is right on the east coast of Australia and is near the Pacific Ocean. Between Coomer and the Pacific are several long off shore islands that create a shelter from the ocean much like our “Outer Banks” in Virginia and North Carolina. Several major rivers flow into this area and create a shallow but peaceful body of water called “The Broadwater”. That is where we sailed.
Raining this week but more activities to come. Check back and see what’s happening in OZ.
Welcome back. It’s now the last day of April and we are preparing to leave Oz and return home. I’m sorry to report that we did not take any rel exciting tripd or do over the top exciting things. It has been a long time since we saw our family so we are just spending time and doing things with them. Following are several set of photos about things here in Oz that I have found interesting or at least different. Although Australia is a very modern western country, it has a heavy European flavor and is still inhibited by a number of British customs. Regardless, it is a very interesting place to visit. The people are very friendly and polite. Customer service in just about any store is exceptional with clerks, waiters, bar tenders, cooks, etc all being very helpful and friendly. For the most part, except perhaps when they are driving, Australians are very polite and will seldom call someone out or challenge someone. They are very tolerant for the most part.
Because of the heavy European influence much of the architecture is European and most mechanical things are heavily heavily over engineered. Frames on anything are normally twice as big and/or strong as they need to be, machinery is heavy to the point of being clumsy, and home additions like steps, patios, etc are all very heavy and over done with beams and struts. That all comes from Europe … same thing there. The difference is in Europe they keep these old things and use them for centuries, here, Australians like new stuff and much of the old, built to last forever, is left behind. I think that is due much to the high number of other nationalities that live here. Here’s a breakdown of their population. Ethnic Groups: English 25.9%, Australian 25.4%, Irish 7.5%, Scottish 6.4%, Italian 3.3%, German 3.2%, Chinese 3.1%, Indian 1.4%, Greek 1.4%, Dutch 1.2%, other 15.8% (includes Australian aboriginal) … I think the Chinese numbers are a he soccer player’s parents.little low as well as there are a significant number of people from the Philippines and New Zealand that live here. Actually, based on what we have observed the many times we have been here, there are many more Aisians here in Australia than these numbers reflect. That is one of the main reasons that the old European buildings and traditions are lousing ground fast. To illustrate my point, Nancy and I were recently invited to the home of some friends we have here. They are nearing retirement so they sold their big home and have moved to a Condo near the beach. They had a little, informal, house party for some of their friends. Here they are: I will not bother with their names but from the front left going around the table is; The lady is a Medical Doctor who came here from the Phillipines long ago. The guy behind her is from Portugal, the Doctor’s partner. Next to and behind him is a gentleman from Nigeria. He is a Catholic Priest who immigrated here to attend the Seminary. Behind him is a young lad who is the best soccer player in Queensland, he was born here but his parents are from Sri Lanka. Next are two Americans (do they look familiar?), they don’t do much of anything but loaf around. Next is our host, the guy standing in front of the mirror. He and his wife (the photographer and our hostess, not in the picture) immigrated from South Africa and they are of Indian decent. They are both educators at local high schools. The front right couple are both from Sri Lanka, they are the soccer player’s parents. The lady owns a beauty shop in Brisbane and he runs an automotive store in Brisbane. It is very common to find mixes of this type anywhere in Australia where regular people get together. Missing from this picture are is a Lady from England and her husband. He was an airline pilot and they moved to Spain recently. Also missing is a couple from New Zealand. They are not there because the husband is in advance stages of Altheimers. Pictured but not mentioned is all the awesome, authentic South African food with an Indian twist.
Anyhow, here are some of the areas we have found interesting so I’ll just post the pictures and fill in captions to explain. Enjoy! The first ones are more from around the place we stay at.
Nancy and I have some favorite things we do to pass the time. Time here is the same as at home in Florida. The hours of the day need to be filled with something. We spend as much time as we can with the family but they go to work, school, etc, have their own lives and activities so we too have ours. We usually get up between seven thirty and eight and have coffee, review the news, emails, send out jokes, do puzzles etc until around ten or so. Then we do what chores and other activities we need to do until noon or so. Some days we go out for lunch, some days we go to a local coffee shop for a Latte and and some sort of sweetie. The afternoons are spent walking, shopping, touring, or whatever. Sometimes we just stay home and read, or write, or nap. Not the most exciting life but then, we are retired and to me it sure beats working half days (Six Am to Six PM). Here are some random shots of some of our activities.
However, before the thrilling pictures, let me tell you about some of the way things are around here. Restaurants: There are not many, just plain restaurants. Those that are are fairly fancy and expensive. People go to them on special occasions. Where most people eat is at taverns. Most taverns have three parts. A bar where you can quench your thirst or eat snacky things, like we do in the US. They also have a dining area the is seperate from the bar. There you are usually seated by a host or hostess and provided menus or the digitl menu is available on a q-code thingy on the table. Once everyone decides what they one, one or more members of the table walk up to a counter and order what everyone would like, pay for it, collect the required number of utinsels, napkins, and seasonings and sauces and return to the table with a number on a stick. Some places have their tables numbered and instead of a number on a stick you give your table number. You then proceed to a bar (not the tavern bar) and get your drinks (both alcoholic and non). Then go back to the table and enjoy your drinks and table partners until your food comes out. The meals are brought to the table. If you use the q-code thingy it all happens right there at the table on your phone. (Menu, order, pay, drinks, pay, q-code knows what table you are at) and it all comes out by server. While this does seem a bit more hands on, it does eliminate waiting for a waiter to take your order or a waiter getting your order wrong. You then enjoy your meal and when your done, you leave (you already paid for your meal when you ordered it). No waiting for the waiter to bring the bill, come back and get your credit card, bring back your payment, etc. One last thing. There is no tipping in Australia. Wait staff are paid around twenty five dollars an hour. They do excellent work because they want to keep their jobs. Yes, the cost of a meal is higher but you no longer need to decide if and how much to tip, etc. No one can short a waiter because they are cheap or didn’t like their service etc. I kinda like it. I’m tired of service businesses expecting me to pay their employees and employees not reporting their income Anyhow, back to the third part of a tavern. The Pokies. The pokies area separate room where there are all kinds of slot machines and para-mutual betting. They call them “Pokies” because you poke money into them. How clever is that?
Anyhow, that’s taverns. In addition to taverns there are all kinds of take out places that sell just about any kind of food or meal you can imagine. They also have bakeries (big and little), butcher shops, and grocery stores where you can get food. The taverns all have basically the same food but some are a little better than the others. Chicken Parmies are the big thing. That’s a big ole chicken breast, breaded, fried, and covered with some kind of sauce. French fries of course (they call them chips here) and a dab of some salad (whatever they can pick along the road side). In my humble opinion, there is very little good food in Australia. I’m sure some place has good food but we have not found it yet. Some of the little coffee/pastry shops have interesting food, and the fancy restaurants have better than average food, but for the most part their food is just like what you get in England. Bland, mostly carbs, and covered with some kind of gravy or sauce to kill the taste. My favorite food here to date is a chocolate muffin from Zarraffa’s (a coffee shop). Pizza is pizza here .. a good work around as is some of the ethnic foods. Much Asian and Indian cuisine available. So here are the random shots:
That’s about it for now. We won’t be here much longer so I don’t know if I will post more or not. No big exciting plans.
Australia is a very interesting and unique place. I can’t imagine coming here for a week and trying to experience it all. I will say, experiencing any part of it is interesting so should not be missed. We wil continue coming here as long as we can. Have trips to Tasmania planned and other parts of the country. Enjoy.
