We’ve arrived back at the Deloraine Caravan Park today after being at Myrtle Park since we returned from Perth. Myrtle Park is beautiful but certainly cold so we’ve decided that Deloraine, although just as cold, at least gives us electricity to run a little column heater. The ducks seem pleased to see us and have been hanging around the door of the ‘van since we arrived.
Tonight is the AGM of Giant Steps. Like many independent school, Giant Steps is nominally owned by a company whose members are parents and community members interested in what the school is doing. Typically, it has been hard to recruit company members in the past; even parents don’t bother to join. It only becomes an issue at AGM-time when a certain number is required to attend to make the meeting valid. Every year, Karina spends hours on the phone, encouraging people to come or, at least, send in a proxy form. Marilyn and I decided we should join the company and will turn up tonight to swell the numbers. The only real business, apart from accepting reports, is to elect members of the Board so it shouldn’t be a late night.
It was nice to be back at Myrtle Park for the past week or so. We arrived after dark, having collected our ‘van from the fellow who was fixing the leak we had discovered. Steve, the caretaker of Myrtle Park, said, ‘Not you again! What the bloody hell are you doing, coming back to this bloody cold place? Park where you like, there’s plenty of room.’ A lovely, typical Tasmanian welcome!
He was right, of course. It was bloody cold. Monday was the coldest night and we were told it got down to -6 degrees C. It was -2 in Launceston and Myrtle Park is usually a couple of degrees colder than that, so -6 might have been accurate. Anyway, I was pottering around in the morning when a couple of people wandered over to ask for help. There were about a dozen vans in the park but they both came to me, the least handy man in Tasmania. One of them, a woman travelling alone, wanted to hook up to my battery to start her car. She had jumper leads and knew what she was doing so that wasn’t too difficult. If it had been left to me to hook up the leads, I might have repeated what I did in Strathgordon in about 1980 – connected them to the wrong terminals and blew up the battery.
The other request for help was from a man who was travelling with his wife. Again, their Toyota van wouldn’t start but it wasn’t as simple as using starter leads. He knew he had power but the engine just wouldn’t turn over. Did I have any water displacement spray? What? I’ve got RP7, will that do? Apparently, that’s exactly what he meant. Oh well, let’s open the engine cover and have a look. In the Toyota van, the engine is under the front passenger’s seat. Reg hadn’t been able to open it. Maybe I had a pair of snub-nose pliers which would do the trick. What, this is becoming too technical for me.
Anyway, we discovered that Reg had been pulling the lever towards him and it needed to be pushed to lift the seat. A quick spray around what Reg felt was the distributor cap and away it went. That scored a few brownie points and did the self esteem no end of good.
In the meantime, Marilyn had invited Reg and his wife, Anne for a cup of coffee so they arrived with a packet of Tim Tams and settled in for a chat. So we were a little late in getting away to catch up with Jamie for his birthday. He had expected us to ring him first thing in the morning but, with one thing and another, we had not done so. The funny thing was that, when we arrived at the shopping centre, to get a few things, we found a young woman stuck half-way in to the space and not able to go forward or back because her back wheel was on the concrete surround. Flushed with my recent successes, I leapt to her assistance, gave her a few reassuring remarks and guided her into the space. My third good deed of the day and it’s only lunch-time.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Friday, 13th May …..
Our flight home was delayed by two hours but Marilyn and I both slept on the plane so it was relatively painless. It was great to be home, even though the cruise was enjoyable and seeing Mungo and Jan again after 37 years was a delight. I've appended some photographs of our time in Perth here because there was no room for them in the previous post.
We arrived home to share in Jamie’s excitement about his new property at Dilston. Settlement date is May 27th and so he is starting to make plans about what he will need to do once he has taken over. Of course, Marilyn and I will move in to the existing unit for the first couple of years until Jamie is ready to build a new house. The land is 2 acres in area and has not been developed to any great extent. The current owner has the grass slashed occasionally but there are areas of scrub which need to be cleaned out and some dead trees which should be removed. We have been looking at chainsaws and whipper-snippers because we will certainly need the right tools if we are going to tackle such a big job. Marilyn’s also talking about new carpet, and a new fridge and washing machine. When we packed up our wordly goods last year, we decided to divest ourselves of our old fridge (bought in 1984) and washing machine (acquired second-hand in about 2003). They’ve both gone to good homes and we will appreciate new appliances anyway.
It’s an exciting time and, coupled with my decision to direct the Tasmanian Craft Fair in 2012 and 2013, will have an enormous impact on our future. It looks like Tasmania will be our home for longer than we might have thought.
Our plans for the next few weeks have been changed a bit and we have decided to make two trips to the mainland instead of one, and come back to Tasmania for a couple of weeks in the middle to move ourselves in to the new house.
We’ve also decided not to take the caravan to the mainland as we worked out we would stay in it for a maximum of ten nights; it’s a lot of effort and expense to take the caravan over and back on the Spirit, and tow it all the way to Mudgee and back to Melbourne, for the sake of ten nights. So, we will now take our car on the boat on June 1st, return to Tasmania on June 20th, back on the boat on July 5th and final trip back on August 13th. During that time, we will have two weeks at resorts at Lake Macquarie and Hallidays Point, three weeks in Mudgee and time in Wollongong as well.
We arrived home to share in Jamie’s excitement about his new property at Dilston. Settlement date is May 27th and so he is starting to make plans about what he will need to do once he has taken over. Of course, Marilyn and I will move in to the existing unit for the first couple of years until Jamie is ready to build a new house. The land is 2 acres in area and has not been developed to any great extent. The current owner has the grass slashed occasionally but there are areas of scrub which need to be cleaned out and some dead trees which should be removed. We have been looking at chainsaws and whipper-snippers because we will certainly need the right tools if we are going to tackle such a big job. Marilyn’s also talking about new carpet, and a new fridge and washing machine. When we packed up our wordly goods last year, we decided to divest ourselves of our old fridge (bought in 1984) and washing machine (acquired second-hand in about 2003). They’ve both gone to good homes and we will appreciate new appliances anyway.
It’s an exciting time and, coupled with my decision to direct the Tasmanian Craft Fair in 2012 and 2013, will have an enormous impact on our future. It looks like Tasmania will be our home for longer than we might have thought.
Our plans for the next few weeks have been changed a bit and we have decided to make two trips to the mainland instead of one, and come back to Tasmania for a couple of weeks in the middle to move ourselves in to the new house.
We’ve also decided not to take the caravan to the mainland as we worked out we would stay in it for a maximum of ten nights; it’s a lot of effort and expense to take the caravan over and back on the Spirit, and tow it all the way to Mudgee and back to Melbourne, for the sake of ten nights. So, we will now take our car on the boat on June 1st, return to Tasmania on June 20th, back on the boat on July 5th and final trip back on August 13th. During that time, we will have two weeks at resorts at Lake Macquarie and Hallidays Point, three weeks in Mudgee and time in Wollongong as well.
Sunday, 8th May …..
Well, our visit to Perth turned out to be all that we had expected. It is certainly a beautiful city and I think it would be a great place to live. Mungo and Jan live at Waikiki near Rockingham which is a forty-minute train ride from Perth. As we thought, we had not seen them since December 1974; in fact, we saw them last the day they were married. At that time, Jan lived in Goulburn, NSW and the wedding was held there. Marilyn was matron-of-honour and I drove the wedding car
. The wedding photos show how we looked then. I was only in one photo and looked like a spivvy used car salesman – nice suit, though. The reason, our paths didn’t cross again was that Marilyn and I left for Hobart in January 1975 while Mungo continued his studies at New England University. He tells us he commuted from Goulburn each week rather than stay in Armidale. In those days, it was a cheaper option.
We only had four days with our friends but we filled them well. Mungo took us to Mandurah which is fantastic. It’s a relatively new area with big houses on the estuary and on canal developments. Apartments for $1million are common and one penthouse we believe went for $10million. We can only dream. Jan had a stroke a couple of years ago but is still very mobile. Mungo, though, does all the cooking and he went to no end of trouble to feed us up. He must have thought we would be starving when we came off the ship because he had planned meals which would have served a team of truckies.
On Thursday, we caught the train into Perth to look at some of the sights. The Art Gallery was a little disappointing apart from its cafe but, at the museum, we stumbled across an AC-DC exhibition. You could hear it before you could see it. By coincidence, we heard an interview on the radio this week of a conversation between Richard Fidler and the founder of the Bon Scott Fan Club.
While we were staying with Mungo and Jan, we came across a little book entitled Poetry for Cats, published about 1995 and full of little gems, like this excerpt of a ‘Hamlet’s Cat’s Soliloquy:
To go outside, and there perchance to stay
Or to remain within: that is the question:
Whether ‘tis better for a cat to suffer
The cuffs and buffets of inclement weather
That Nature rains on those who roam abroad,
Or take a nap upon a scrap of carpet,
And so by dozing melt the solid hours
That clog the clock’s bright gears with sullen time
And stall the dinner bell. To sit, to stare
Outdoors, and by a stare to seem to state
A wish to venture forth without delay,
Then when the portal’s opened up, to stand
As if transfixed by doubt. To prowl; to sleep;
To choose not knowing when we may once more
Our readmittance gain; aye, there’s the hairball;…..
Jan has every book she has ever owned, in bookcases in every room in the house, and what a collection of treasures she has. If you want to read a Billy Bunter story from the 1950’s, she’s got it. If you’re looking for a book of poems from the 1930’s, you know where to look.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sunday 1st – Part 2 …..
I am adding this addendum to report that Marilyn’s team won a gold medal in this morning’s Goofy Golf championship. It was a team of 4 females and I man, chosen at random from the hordes of hopefuls who presented themselves to take part. There were 11 teams, I believe, and Marilyn’s little gang managed to outscore them all. One of the other team-members was so excited when they won she did the whole Olympic thing with squeals of excitement, a lap of honour and so on. Her ambition was to win a second medal in the Boule Championship, Men v Ladies, in the afternoon. She had a dream of hearing her two medals clinking together. However, it was not to be. She and Marilyn were both in the team which was defeated by the men who made a late surge to take the points.
While Marilyn involves herself in the sporting opportunities of the cruise, I have plenty of time to gaze over the rail at the endless ocean. It surprises me how little life we see on the long stretches between ports. There would only have been a handful of other ships, and very little bird-life. One man said he saw flying fish but all I have seen is one solitary brown booby which floated by one afternoon in the Torres Strait. As it was swept along by the wake of the ship, it looked back over its shoulder as if to say, ‘Oh, look, a big ship!’
Another passenger said he saw some sea snakes and a shark off the Kimberley Coast but I think he was dreaming. I’ve watched avidly hoping to see a pod of dolphins, or a blue marlin leaping into the air but have had no luck. Marilyn says she saw a big fish leaping in the distance and she wasn’t even looking for one. There was a black ball one afternoon, floating by miles from anywhere but that’s not at all interesting.
I mentioned that we had bought some shirts and sundresses in Bali. When we got them back to the ship and opened the bags, one of the sundresses was in the identical pattern and colour of one of the shirts, so Marilyn and I can go about in matching outfits. She is having so much success with her sporting exploits, I tell everyone they are our team colours.
Because we are passing fairly close to the site of the wreck of HMAS Sydney, we are having a Memorial Service this evening. It’s pretty windy so it might be little unpleasant on the deck but we’ll see what transpires. There’s a magician-illusionist on at 7 o’clock; it’s likely to be fairly ordinary but we’ll have a look anyway, then it’s dinner at 7.45 (smart casual tonight) and maybe an early bed, ready for our excursion to Geraldton tomorrow.
While Marilyn involves herself in the sporting opportunities of the cruise, I have plenty of time to gaze over the rail at the endless ocean. It surprises me how little life we see on the long stretches between ports. There would only have been a handful of other ships, and very little bird-life. One man said he saw flying fish but all I have seen is one solitary brown booby which floated by one afternoon in the Torres Strait. As it was swept along by the wake of the ship, it looked back over its shoulder as if to say, ‘Oh, look, a big ship!’
Another passenger said he saw some sea snakes and a shark off the Kimberley Coast but I think he was dreaming. I’ve watched avidly hoping to see a pod of dolphins, or a blue marlin leaping into the air but have had no luck. Marilyn says she saw a big fish leaping in the distance and she wasn’t even looking for one. There was a black ball one afternoon, floating by miles from anywhere but that’s not at all interesting.
I mentioned that we had bought some shirts and sundresses in Bali. When we got them back to the ship and opened the bags, one of the sundresses was in the identical pattern and colour of one of the shirts, so Marilyn and I can go about in matching outfits. She is having so much success with her sporting exploits, I tell everyone they are our team colours.
Because we are passing fairly close to the site of the wreck of HMAS Sydney, we are having a Memorial Service this evening. It’s pretty windy so it might be little unpleasant on the deck but we’ll see what transpires. There’s a magician-illusionist on at 7 o’clock; it’s likely to be fairly ordinary but we’ll have a look anyway, then it’s dinner at 7.45 (smart casual tonight) and maybe an early bed, ready for our excursion to Geraldton tomorrow.
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