Of The Indigenous and Igneous

November 4, 2001-Take Off
(photos:Uluru-Ayres Rock,
David and Aborigine guides)

We set the alarm for 4 A.M. so we could make a 6:15 A.M. flight from Cairns to Ayres Rock (Ulhuru) at the Red Center. Unfortunately, we were up at 2 A.M. & slept fitfully until the alarm. We arrived at the airport exhausted. Going through security perked us up. They found nail clippers on the x-ray. It was exciting because David had been looking for them since we left home in August. They removed the nail file attachment & we were on our way. I’ve never seen an airport laid out the way this one is. Departure area gates are arranged around a sitting area that looks like a hotel lobby. There are groupings of couches, chairs, & coffee tables in a large open room with a vaulted ceiling. Gates are interspersed with shops & a few cafes. It was delightful.

The flight to the Center was 3 ½ hours. Breakfast was served but I wouldn’t know anything about that. I fell asleep some time during take off & woke up just before landing. The last sight I remember was a flash of the azure Coral Sea giving way to the emerald rainforests. When I woke up, I was flying over the outback gazing down on a burnt ochre land strewn with great patches of gray-green scrub. I turned to David & said that it looked as if we were arriving in Georgia. I expected the heat to bowl us over, but at 9 AM, it was only in the high 70s.

Landing

The Ayres Rock Resort Airport was built by the same people who built all the hotels in town. There are six hotels & a campground arranged along a loop road. Everyone here works for the “company store” (Park Department). In 1985, a land agreement was made between the aborigines & the government. This area in the Northern Territory was leased by the Park Department from the aborigines for 99 years. It reverts to them after that. The hotel complex is outside the park. The aborigines are teaching the rangers about the culture, land, & laws (Tjukurpa). Some of this lore & law is too sacred to speak about out loud. The aborigines have devised a sign language that enables them to discuss these things in spite of the taboo. There’s evidence that something is getting lost in the translation. Aborigines posted numerous signs asking people not to climb the Rock since it’s a sacred place to the Anangu people (the tribe that lives here). This caveat is printed on the admission tickets to the park & tourists are told about this request when they visit on guided tours. But as you enter the park there’s a Park Department sign saying that the climbing path is open or closed depending on weather & heat conditions. Certificates are also available at gift shops declaring that you climbed the Rock. Alternately, we saw t-shirts that say, “I did not climb Ayres Rock.”

The Rock

We thought we’d be disappointed when we got here. We imagined ourselves driving out to the Rock, getting out of the car, looking up, & saying, “Yes, it’s a rock.” What actually happened was that we saw it from the plane as we landed. It’s about 12 miles from the airport & it was huge! We rented a car & headed for Ulhuru. The closer we got, the more amazing the sight. The color changed from brown to red & the definition of the caves became clearer. I was surprised at how much foliage covered the area. There were some tiny flowers in varied hues, but they were hard to see. There were stunted bushes, gum, & eucalyptus trees. We were told the land was originally barren. Ulhuru is really the top of an ancient mountain range as is Kata Tjuta (the Olgas). Wind & weather eroded the limestone & sandstone & filled in the land almost to the top of the mountain. There was once a sea where land is now & you can clearly see the rippled etching of the water on the stone. The water receded, there was an earthquake, & voila! you have a tourist attraction.

We walked a trail on a self-guided tour & met up with the legendary flies. We were glad that my cousins gave us netting to wear under our hats. I wonder if they have bats here? In Cairns, there are so many bats you hear them squealing in the trees as you walk at night and they swoop across streets hunting prey. Many of are flying foxes that are a pain to fruit farmers. Farmers have put netting over their trees & bushes to keep bats away.

In the middle of it all, we met a Jewish couple from New York & Boca Raton, Fla. She noticed the shirt David had on from Temple Israel & it was instant Jewish geography time. In the end, we knew no one that she knew. Her husband was with her and kept saying, “That’s enough. We have to go now.” They were on their way to see a predator show. As for me, I would rather not know what’s out there.

Dreamtime

In late afternoon we went on a walk guided by two aborigine women who spoke in their language & a white woman who translated. We heard this tribe’s story of creation & came to a better understanding of “dreamtime.” There are 250 aboriginal tribes in Australia each separated by its own language. These native women spoke six tribal languages & English. The Tjukurpa of this tribe is unique to it. We expanded our understanding of Tjukurpa to mean laws, dreamtime, & creation. Our use of the word “creation” is different than theirs. It doesn’t mean the creation of a place & the beings that inhabit it. It refers to the creation of the system that insures that the world & its inhabitants co-exist in harmony. There are laws for everything & stories to explain the laws. Everything that’s hunted, gathered, & eaten has its own law for how to kill it, cook it, & with what it may be eaten. As “shatnes” in Judaism prohibits the mixing of certain fibers, so their law prohibits the mixing of certain grains. Their laws provide a clear path for living life to its fullest while preserving the world for those to come. It is the Tao. It is the 613 commandments. It is Rashi & Midrash. It is halachah.

Aboriginal Life

This people are said to go back 40,000-60,000 years. Unlike us, they have only had 200 years to adjust to the new civilization that was thrust upon them. They have no numbering system & no concept of time or age. They traditionally divide their lives by gender with certain tasks & taboos for each. They’re taught the way life should be lived, but aren’t forced to follow Tjukurpa. They believe in total free will & won’t even tell a child not to touch fire. They see it as a learning experience. Instead of repeating the admonition it only takes a child one touch to learn. Merging into white society is almost impossible given this philosophy. The white guide explained that if the children don’t want to go to school, there’s no one there to compel them to. The same goes for a work ethic. They’re slowly learning to change & adapt for survival. Perhaps they’ll create new laws by which to live. The two native guides were happy to tell us it was easier to shop at the grocery store than dig for grubs with a stick. Their culture has been relegated to weekend events at which they revisit their history & teach it to their children.

It became clear why aborigines didn’t take a firmer stand regarding the climbing of Ulhuru. They won’t tell white men what to do, they’ll only advise them. Climbing the rock is very dangerous & there’s nothing sacred about the top. Each year at least one person dies from a fall on the Rock. Aborigines think of tourists as guests in their house & are saddened & distressed that some of their guests will die. But climbing is the decision of the guest.

It was also evident that native women didn’t think highly of the “white man bus driver tours.” They joked about how whites don’t know the story of the Rock & make up ridiculous names for the shapes that emerge from the massive block of stone. That’s exactly what Ulhuru is. It’s a story to be read from the Rock. The story was taught to the people over thousands of years using the walls of the cliffs & caves as blackboards. The story is that a really angry water python woman came to Ulhuru to help her nephew who was being attacked by poison-snake-man. Once she helps her nephew, she & poison-snake-man become one. In their union, they become the rainbow serpent. I asked the guide if she knew of any connection to the rainbow serpent of the Mayans & she did not.

We were shown drawings of boomerangs & learned that the boomerang, a tool used only by men, was also a musical instrument. You need two of them to make music & elders make them for the young men whom they will teach to play. As far as photography goes, there are sites that they ask you not to photograph. They don’t want the site & its meaning to be separated from the image. Our particular guides gave us permission to take their photos. They keep albums of those snapshots with tourists. They each had business cards with an address where we could send a copy of the pictures.

On our way to dinner tonight, we got an answer to our bat question. There are tons of them here too. I guess this is just a batty country. It’s full of contrasting behavior & contradictions. For example, the waitress brought my coke to me with her hand over the top of the glass. When I asked for a straw, she carried it to our table holding it with tongs.

Toby

Not Much Going On

November 3, 2001-Arts and Crafts
(photo:David blowing our didgeredoo)

We had no planned touring today slept until 11 AM. What a pleasure! Fortunately for you, even though we did laundry today, we did it at our motel so there’s no story to tell.

But we did buy a didgeridoo. We ended up at the Aboriginal Cultural Arts store recommended by Fodors. We have followed their advice before & have been pleased. David can actually get a good sound out of it. It must be from all the shofar blowing practice, although the technique is different. With a didgeridoo, you vibrate your lips & hum in your throat. I found out why traditionally women do not make them or play them. If a woman plays a didgeridoo she will either get pregnant, lose the baby if she is pregnant, or be infertile. As I see it, the men look upon it as akin to the male appendage & they just don’t want to share. Didgeridoo is the word that whites gave to what the aborigines call “yidaki.”

Since we’re now on the romantic Barbary Coast, we wanted to walk over to Wharf Street where the city began. There’s a building where you can book tours, piers where tour boats dock, & lots of Japanese operated stores with all Japanese signs in the windows. I was a bit confused by the sudden appearance of a Japanese neighborhood, but David figured it out. There’s a huge casino across the street.

We had time to stop in at the local art gallery where they had several interesting small exhibits. There was a collection of photos of locals that was right out of Norman Rockwell. One was of the mayor & “mayoress” of Cairns. There was a grouping of batiks made by the women of a tribe in Utopia, a tiny town Northeast of Alice Springs. A great video illustrated step by step how the project was started. There were interviews with aboriginal women as well. The project was introduced as a way to create a sense of economic & personal independence for the women while letting them stay on their land with their families. Although batik is not a native art form, the women easily learned it & created beautiful designs.

An exhibit of paintings was introduced with an explanation of aboriginal history. I thought there was a typo so I re-read it, but there was no inaccuracy. It said that in the early 1990’s, the concept of “terra nullius,” the land uninhabited, still existed here. It was “typical of the egoism” of the colonial mentality that gave them the rationale to clear the land & segregate aboriginal children from their families. In 1992 & 1996, the land rights & aboriginal rights laws were passed. Aborigines were given citizenship in 1967, not that it meant anything then.

On a lighter note, a fanny pack is called a bum bag. On the menu the other night was “white bait.” I didn’t know what it was & thought that it was fried grubs so I didn’t order it. When I found out what it was, I thought it might be tasty. It’s a tiny fish the size of a guppy that’s deep-fried. From the description, it sounded like popcorn shrimp.

Toby

Highs And Lows

November 2, 2001-Aborigine History

(photos:Kuranda Railway,
Toby with aborignes,
Toby throwing spear)

We found a great Internet place last night. There was a rainbow flag in the window, so we went in. It was gay owned & had really high-speed machines & A/C. It was a pleasure. We mentioned that we’d noticed the flag & were happy to patronize them even though they cost more.

We started out at the more civilized hour of 8:45 AM when a bus picked us up for a trip to Tjapukai, the Aboriginal Cultural Center. Tjapukai is the name of the tribe who lived in this part of the country. The facility is only five years old & is comprised of two indoor theaters, one amphitheater, & three shelters for demonstrations. There’s an area where you can try your hand at throwing a spear or boomerang, a snack bar, & a large indoor restaurant. Of course, there’s the over-priced gift shop. The indoor areas have A/C & most of the outdoor walkways are covered. This is all set at the foot of the mountains & around 2 small lakes.

The experience turned out to be somewhat emotional for me. We started out by watching a movie about the 40,000-year-old history of the indigenous people in Australia. Every seat had a set of headphones that let you choose the language for the narration. The movie was a compilation of live footage shot at the time it happened & showed the rape, murder, & pillage of the aborigines as well as tribes all around the world. It showed how the land they relied on for their life was appropriated. It was a familiar story & the words “Native American” could have been substituted. I don’t know if it was the origin of the word, snipes, but Australians used to call the Aborigines by many names. One of these was “snipes.” Yes, they went on snipe hunts. One fact I didn’t know was that missionaries stole adults & children from their tribes & enslaved them to build their churches, schools, & homes. In 1965, a dam was to be built by slaves where the missionary town was. Then the slaves were released into society with no support system. They became derelicts, alcoholics, & addicts. They still struggle to find a place in society today. The dam has never been built.

I don’t know how it came about that many indigenous peoples around the world don’t have a concept of ownership. Where did the idea come from? It was certainly there before the Judeo-Christian world developed. It’s common to most continents. It’s interesting these two economic systems evolved & are so at odds with each other. There’s no way they can co-exist.

Aborigine Lore

The next show was their story of creation. They believe in one creator & that life started from the egg of the cassowary bird. In the beginning there was one man. A baby boy sprung from the calf of his leg & he needed someone to feed it. A woman was sent down to feed the baby. After the boy grew into a man, he didn’t need to be fed by the woman, but he was lonely. The woman came back to earth & married the boy. I guess, technically, she wasn’t his mother, so it was kosher. The woman & boy had two sons who were polar opposites of each other. The brothers fought & one killed the other. How familiar is this? The show was presented with live actors & great special effects.

There were talks on natural foods, cooking, medicine, & a demonstration of didgeridoo music. My favorite medical remedy is for diarrhea. Grind up the mud from a termite nest & mix it with water. It’s full of magnesium & a lot cheaper than Phillips. One piece of advice from the didgeridoo player was that if you don’t want to buy one, you can get the same sound blowing on a piece of PVC or a vacuum cleaner hose. The didgeridoo may be the oldest instrument in the world, but to me it sounds like a cross between the vibration of an electrical hum & passing gas.
The dance exhibition was great fun. It ended on a humorous note. After performing old dances & singing in their native tongue, the dancers hauled microphones onto the stage. They then talked up their CD & sang one of the songs, “I Am Proud To Be An Aborigine.”

I have said this before, but I felt it again. I was happy that none of my own ancestors were ever a part of destroying Native Americans or owning slaves. I will add to that a sense of relief that none were in Australia hunting aborigines. I don’t know if they would have participated had they been in those lands at those times. But then, they were too busy being hunted, corralled, & killed where they were.

Going to Great Heights

The rest of the day was a bit more uplifting…literally. We took an hour sky ride up to the town of Kuranda. We passed over the top of the rainforest & gained a different perspective than the previous day. We were able to get off twice to walk on a treetop high path & see a waterfall. While looking out over the falls, I saw a streak of iridescent blue flash by. It was a Ulysses butterfly, a startling & lovely sight. They offered guided walks with a ranger, but we passed on that. After yesterday, we felt we could conduct them ourselves. I did realize one thing looking at all that green. I need autumn.

Kuranda is a town that closes at 3:00 PM when all the tourists leave. It’s one store after another. We took a pass on the butterfly farm ($A 12) & the bird exhibit ($A 11). There was nothing to do but browse until our train was due to leave. We did a good job. We managed to find a number of items we’d been looking for. We also found some things we wished we hadn’t seen. One stall had stuffed animals & purses made from kangaroo skin. They’re legal to hunt here. What really got to me were the kangaroo paw back scratchers. I can’t tell you what we did buy because most of them are Chanukah gifts for a special young lady in Akron. We did find a Purim hat for David to wear. It will start a whole new tradition here. He’ll be decked out in a cloth hat that looks as if his head is about to be swallowed by a crocodile.

There was a funny sign outside of a restaurant. It said, “We serve burgers the way they were before McDonalds stuffed them up.” We took a photo of it. Another sign said, “Don’t Panic. You are only 7 minutes from the train.” If you miss that last train back, you have to spend the night at the Kuranda Hotel.

We took the 1 hour 45 minute scenic train ride down to town. Again it was beautiful scenery. The trip seemed shorter because we were sitting next to people who had just arrived from Tampa, Fla. On the way down we passed a sign that warned, “Danger Smoking! No Naked Lights.” What’s a clothed light?

Toby

Filling A Day

November 1, 2001-Yum!
(Photo: Toby sleeping on boat-train)

The best part of today was dinner. We found a Greek restaurant called Fetta’s & indulged. We’d passed it the other day, read the menu, & moved on. When we stopped this time, a waiter remembered us & asked if we were ready to make a decision. It sounded good, so we took a seat on their porch. I asked the waiter where in Greece he was from. He laughed & said he was from Chile & that’s why he remembered us. David had on the same Trek Ecuador shirt that he’d worn the other day. How embarrassing! They served us anyway.

David had perhaps the best lamb souvlaki he ever tasted. I had dolmades (grape leaves) with Greek salad that was fantastic. The staff was very friendly & the guy from Chile & the owner were drinking with a table of women near us from time to time. Occasionally there would be a shout of. “Opah!” & one of the waiters would smash a plate. We spoke to the owner for a bit & complemented him on the food. He’s from a town 15 minutes from the canal at Corinth. He started out selling coffee at ten years old & worked his way up to having his own place. We talked about the tasteless Australian cuisine & he said that the chefs here learn from books & that’s no the way to cook. We noticed he had a thick Greek accent until he used a typically Aussie phrase like “straight away.” It came out in pure Australian as “strite awhy.”

There are a lot of Italian restaurants here & we have hesitated going. We find they just don’t put enough sauce on. Even the pizza is under-sauced. We realize that’s the way they cook in Italy. They emphasize the pasta, not the sauce. We’d better re-think going to Italy. We might need to bring our own Ragu.

Daintree

We did go on a tour today though it was disappointing & in some ways tedious. It was a lot of looking at green things. We looked at them on foot, from the bus, & from the water. Once again there was a lot of travel time involved. We spent a little less than half of the 11 hours of the tour in the bus. There is no avoiding it. Distances are so great. We passed what seemed to be endless fields of sugarcane. I asked the driver if the cane farms were privately owned & he said that they were. The farmers are told how much to grow by the refinery, so if you don’t have a contract with the mill, there’s no point in owning a farm. If you don’t make your quota there’s a chance the refinery will cancel the contract. I guess farmers own the sugar cane farms, but their lives depend on the kindness of the mills.

Our first stop was Daintree National Forest. It’s a lowland rain forest. It’s certainly dense, but the plants weren’t as large or dramatic as highland rain forests. I think there’s a better one to see near where we live. We walked on a concrete path to a suspension bridge, did an about-face, & returned to the bus. We did see a water python just off the path & there was an aborigine sunning himself on a rock. We’d just watched “The Secret Life of Plants” on TV & it was interesting to actually see the vines & ferns up close.

Our next stop was at a fruit farm where we had tea, banana bread, paw paw (papaya) scones, banana jam, & banana cream. We had a brief lecture on tropical fruit & got to taste them. If exotic meat (gator, frog’s legs, etc) tastes like chicken, these weird fruits tasted like bananas or citrus. They all looked like some variation of a deformed lumpy ball on steroids. One in particular was exceptionally odd. It was called black pudding. The inside looked like chocolate pudding & had the same texture, but the chocolate flavor was very mild.

An hour later we were at our lunch stop for pan-fried barramundi. We got to play with a Chihuahua puppy named Zack & then took off for our river ride. We rode on a river train that’s a series of boats hooked together to resemble a train. It came with a narrator/driver, our guide, another group’s guide, & the narrator’s husband. It was a good thing they were all there because the object of the cruise was to spot wildlife. It was amazing how they could see things that were so camouflaged, but since it was a hot day, there wasn’t much to see. They did spot a tree snake coiled on a branch & one swimming in the water. I never thought I’d say that a snake is cute, but when it was swimming it kept its little head out of the river & really was cute.

The Daintree River is a salt-water river & it is noted for its crocodiles. The crocs are huge getting up to 10 meters in length. The only one they spotted today was a baby lying under a branch in the water. The boat ride was 1-½ hours plus a stop for tea & a walk in a mangrove forest. We were really glad we had our little spray bottles of OFF 99% Deet with us. The mosquitoes were fierce. There was a lot of down time sailing around looking for something to look at. I took the opportunity to take a nap. If something notable turned up, I’d hear the commotion & wake up. I was right.

Our bus driver also served as a guide on all parts of the trip & was very knowledgeable. He turned out to be the most fun part of the day. He’s 60 years old & from New Zealand. He & his wife are planning a trip to Turkey & points beyond. He said guides usually keep them at the front of the line because they’re older. In case they drop dead, he’ll see them & not leave them behind.

He told us about his first experience with drunk parrots. Evidently some of those birds feed on umbrella trees. There’s a toxic/intoxicating effect. The parrots lay on the ground with their feet in the air or fly into cars. He passed around a comment book & asked us to write in it. He bragged about how one tourist wrote something in German thinking he wouldn’t be able to read it. He got it translated & could get any language translated. David wrote in Hebrew. It would be interesting to see what he does with that.

Toby

A Good Day

(photos: Quicksilver,
diving platform,
coral reefs)

October 31, 2001-Not More Than We Deserved

The entire experience on the Great Barrier Reef was phenomenal. We were picked up in Cairns by a bus & transported to a boat. It was about an hour’s boat ride to the larger vessel in Port Douglas that took us to the reef. It was another 1-½ hours on the large boat to the company's private diving platform at the reef. The platform was huge & had different areas for scuba divers, snorkelers, & the dock for their semi-submersible. There were ropes with floats to define swim areas, but lots of people, including us, ducked under them & swam on. It was not a problem & no one strayed too far. On the platform was a buffet for lunch & tables to seat several hundred. There were changing rooms & showers. Bathroom facilities were back on the boat that stayed moored to the platform the entire time. If you preferred to dine in air-conditioned comfort, you could eat on the boat. In typical Australian fashion, there was an abundance of shade. None of the eating area was in direct sunlight & the boat was 90% enclosed seating.

Act Is Together

From the on-time pickup at our motel door at & 7:15 AM to the drop off at 7 PM, it went like clockwork. The Quicksilver operation was so thorough they even provided swim fins large enough to fit David’s size 14’s & a shark watch hovering over us in a helicopter. You could pay to take rides over the reef in the copter, but its main purpose was an eye in the sky. Guards were posted at regular intervals on the dive platforms & in boats nearby. Scuba divers were lowered into the water on a hydraulic lift & snorkelers sat on a platform that was partially submerged. All they had to do was scoot into the water. They were scrupulous in counting & re-counting the guests before & after the boat docked at the platform on the reef.

A woman we met on the way to the reef was a non-swimmer. She’d planned to just look at the fish through the glass of the boat bottom or on the semi-submersible. She asked about a non-swimmer doing any snorkeling & was ready to hire an instructor. What they did was give her a life jacket, fins, mask, & snorkel, & tell her to hold onto the rope. They kept a close eye on her & she stayed near the boat. She was fine & felt very proud of herself to have done that.

The security measures were interesting. Although there were changing rooms & small lockers, there were no facilities to store larger items like backpacks. Most of our belongings were left on deck including wallets, cameras, & clothing. The rule was that if anyone claimed an item of theirs was missing, the boat didn’t leave the dive platform until it was found or turned in. That kept everyone honest.

This was the first time using our masks & one of the crew noticed. He gave us something like Soft Scrub to rub on them & then rinse off to avoid fogging. Of course there was no way to avoid having to spit in them. David had our optometrist put his prescription lenses into his mask & it was the first time he could really see what was going on underwater. It was like a religious experience for him. Before he had his prescription put in he’d only been able to see my bathing suit & follow it. For both of us, we had the luxury of goggles that really fit so we didn’t constantly have to empty water out of them.

Nerves

The Great Barrier Reef’s claim to fame is that it’s the length of California. It’s not the best or the most beautiful diving venue, but it is spectacular. There were plenty of colorful fish & bursts of color in the coral. At first, I kept seeing the flash of a bright blue fish out of the corner of my eye. When I turned my head to find it, it would be gone. It turned out that lots of the flippers borrowed from the ship were blue. Not a fish. I was also startled by something that brushed my arm repeatedly. It was my t-shirt. The crew suggested we wear them for sun protection & most people did. We all tried to follow the Aussie rules of “slip, slap, & slop.” Slip on a shirt, slap on a hat, & slop on sunscreen.”

Another moment of nervousness was when we realized we were swimming in a school of jellyfish. We quickly noticed they didn’t have tentacles & were harmless. It was fun watching them propel themselves along. I didn’t know that I could talk to myself underwater, but I distinctly remember hearing my voice give out with a muffled, ” Oh shit,” when a very large fish swam my way. For part of the time, the only part of me that didn’t have goose bumps was my tusch. It must have been the closest part of me to the top of the water & was toasty warm. The water was about 75 degrees & the air was 85, so it wasn’t really cold. It was just me, as usual.

One of the people sitting with us on the return trip bought a video about the reef for her 9-year-old grandson. She wanted to know how long it was & couldn’t read the small print. We found the running time but also noticed that it had run on the National Geographic TV Channel under the title, “Sex on the Reef.” David’s comment was that he didn’t know it was an option. Lots of jokes followed about underwater cameras & how sharp the coral was.

As we headed for the buses that would take us back to our motel, we passed an exhibit promoting a reptile farm. They had a snake that everyone was petting. I, who can hardly look at pictures of snakes, decided to get over it. I walked up to the handler, learned that it was a carpet python, & petted it. I think my comment was that it felt like a pair of shoes.

We boarded the bus & after our driver made us fasten our seat belts, we had a nice ride through Port Douglas on our way out of town. I thought it had more charm than Cairns. I didn’t know I would get to tour the town again so soon. There was a couple who’d missed the bus so we had to return to town to get them. It was a winding road to Cairns & we pretty much followed the shore. We did see wallaby hopping down the road & huge termite mounds.

We didn’t know it until yesterday, but didgeridoos are made from branches hollowed out by termites. We may get one that’s been decorated by an aboriginal artist. David is intrigued with them. If we get one, we’ll likely ship it home to Akron. That’s really too bad. When we left our apartment yesterday a duck had taken up residence in the pool. I’m sure it would like to be serenaded by a didgeridoo. It might even fall in love thinking it was a mate.

We were tired when we got back to the motel, so decided to eat in the restaurant there. It was surprisingly good.

Toby

Vacation From Our Vacation

October 30, 2001

We’re in Cairns, about 800 km north of Brisbane. Cairns is a little town situated on a bay bordered by ocean, beaches & mountains. That’s typical of Queensland coastal topography. I don’t know if we’ll be able to email you regularly from here, but I’m not going to make myself crazy over it. If you have a break from all the reading, I hope you enjoy it. Our day started at 5:30AM. We had an early flight to catch out of Brisbane. On the van to the airport we met Mr. & Mrs. Ishimoto. He’s been retired for 16 years. They have a home in Tokyo & on the Gold Coast. They have permanent visitors visas so they have to leave Australia every three months. She tends to go back to Tokyo to visit her mother who has to be well into her 90’s. He heads for any golf course in an interesting locale. This time it’s Hawaii. Last time it was Thailand. He’s heard of Akron, Ohio & the golf tournament at Firestone.

When we arrived at the airport, David & the driver unloaded the luggage. I saw a woman holding 2 Maltese/ Shi Tsu puppies & headed her way. David couldn’t believe I’d abandoned him until the woman put a puppy into his arms & it started licking his nose. He melted. There was a huge line to check in, but it wasn’t because of security. There was a sign listing all the items no longer allowed in carry-on bags. We’d packed my manicure scissors in the suitcase, but David had a travel corkscrew in his shaving bag. We quickly stowed that in our suitcase along with an eyeglass repair kit (it had a mini screw driver). When we got to the counter they didn’t ask for ID or the usual questions about having your bags in your possession all the time, etc. I was surprised. When we went through the metal detectors & the carry-ons went through the x-ray, they wanted to x-ray our hats. They said that now they check for wire in the big brims.

We were early for our flight & hadn’t eaten breakfast at home so we grabbed some food. David’s egg sandwich was tasteless so he added salt. He took a bite & said that even Australian salt doesn’t have flavor. On our 2-hour flight we were served morning tea. It consisted of dried fruit & nuts in a bag, OJ, biscuits (cookies), & tea. The scenery from the plane was typical Australian glorious. From the sky to the sea, it was a palette of blues & greens. We flew along the coast as tiny islands appeared giving way to endless stretches of beaches & mountains topped with the glimmering green of rainforests. The cloudless sky was soon covered with big fluffy white puffs hangng over those forests. As we landed, we could see the many farms & orchards that dot this tropical area.

Our motel, the Rainbow Inn, is serviceable & cheap. We miscalculated when we booked & thought it was $US 80/night, but it was $A 80/night. That’s $US 40. It’s clean but very old & a 20-minute walk to town. We walked in for lunch & will walk back again for dinner. It wasn’t bad. When we checked in we had to chuckle. There’s a fridge in the room with all the mini bar selections, but at the desk they handed us a half pint of milk for our tea. Every time we think we’re used to being here & that it’s so like America something like that happens. It’s all those unexpected quaint touches that make it such fun.

Thanks to friends from Akron who’d been here, we knew what tours to book & have them all lined up. We’re going out to the Great Barrier Reef on the Quick Silver tomorrow. It’s a huge catamaran that has glass bottom features, a mini-sub, diving platform, & serves morning & afternoon tea, & a buffet brunch. We go to the boat by boat from Cairns to Port Douglas & return by bus. The next day we’re going to Daintree to the rain forest, & on Friday we’ll ride the Karunda Railroad, Sky Rail, & see Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Center. We’re here a day longer than we realized & are looking forward to down time on Saturday.

Happy Halloween.

Toby

Mother Nature

October 29, 2001-You Can’t Fight It

I had my first confrontation with Australian wildlife & I came out victorious. As I stepped out of the shower this morning, I noticed a large object perched on the mirror. At first, I thought it might be a wayward bat, but on closer examination, I realized it was a very large moth. It wasn’t going anywhere, so I got dressed, took a photo of it, & got my trusty plastic container with lid. This wasn’t officially Tupperware, my container of choice, but it would do. It was translucent so I could see what I was capturing & not maim it by misjudging its size. There was a handy lid to keep it where I wanted it until release.

This monster moth, however, had a feisty Aussie disposition. It wouldn’t give up & flew madly around the tiny bathroom with me flailing at it with the plastic box. I couldn’t really chase it since there’s no room to take more than one step in any direction. I just kept twirling in hopes it would tire or commit suicide in my waiting plastic tub. I tired first & decided I would just shoo it out through the open balcony door. I herded it into the hallway & immediately saw I’d underestimated my quarry. It took refuge in the closet & all the clothes shaking I did wouldn’t dislodge it. After removing several items I saw it hunkered down on the hem of a pair of slacks. I easily scooped it up, slid the lid in place, carried it to the balcony, & set it free taking care to close the balcony door beforehand. I consider that we’ve really been lucky not to have had any ambassadors from Mother Nature before this. Oh, did I mention that we have no screens? In Australia, when you build a house or buy an apartment, screens are extra. I guess it’s a macho thing.

For those of you wondering why I got dressed first, I would like to say that a friend once took a picture of a dress hanging on a bedroom door. He put the dress up for sale on E-Bay without realizing that along with the dress was a reflection of him in his undies in the full-length mirror on the door. Let me just say he got a lot of hits.

We leave for Cairns early tomorrow morning. We’ll be there for five days & then head for the Center to see Ulhuru (Ayres Rock) & Alice Springs. We’ll try to keep in touch with you via cyber cafés.

Toby

Curiosities

October 26, 2001- God Provides
(photos: Surfer's Beach Police,
Surfer's Paradise,,
Surfer's Paradise Beach)

Tonight God sent me Arturo Holender so I would have something to write to you. He walked into services alone looking lost. He put a keppah on his head which meant he was either Jewish or had been in a synagogue before. As it turns out, Arturo is Jewish & from Sao Palo, Brazil. He is 23 years old & has a degree in civil engineering. He has come to Australia to improve his English & take an advanced degree in engineering or business. We had a good laugh about learning English here. He was going to the U.S., but Brazilian currency fell in value & Australia was more economical. He’d spent some time in the U.S. & has difficulty understanding the Aussie accent & slang.

We invited him out to dinner after services & had a hard time finding a parking spot since the Indy 300 (kilometers) is this weekend. We ended up at an Italian restaurant since Arturo doesn’t like spicy food. He’s staying at a home where the other student boarder is from Thailand. On his first night there, dinner was curried chicken. That was not his cup of tea. It would be great to have him join us for our Wed. night Thai dinners with the Bruces, but he’d have to order milder fare. He told us that the man where he’s staying is an Argentinean married to an Australian. The man hates the U.S. & is constantly making remarks about how the U.S. controls the world & keeps South America in poverty. It makes Arturo uncomfortable & he says he’s paid up for a month more & then will move. He’s made friends in his English class but they don’t know that he’s Jewish. One man is Jordanian & one is from Oman.

We have to introduce him to Daniel Bruce & others his age. David will call. They’ll want to meet Arturo & show him around. I’m sure they know some girls who’d be interested. Arturo said the Sao Palo Jewish community is about the same size as the one in the Gold Coast, but it’s an active & affiliated one. There’s a Jewish Club that sounded like our Jewish Center where young people meet. He said that inter-marriage is rare & Jewish youth groups & youth camping are strong. He’d been in the U.S. on a trip with other teens from Brazil several years ago. They went to Kutz Camp on Long Island & then went to their host cities. I remember that Akron had about a dozen kids.

October 27, 2001-Shlepping

We did ride a bus into Surfers for the Indy 300 Race. We were able to climb onto a low wall & see some of the cars go by in the qualifying trials. They didn’t seem to be going too fast, but after we left we saw on TV that there was a minor crash. The most exciting part of the race was the jet flyovers. It was cool the way they zoomed in a circle over the town. They were flying on their sides & low enough to count wheels. David looked up at the first one & said he hoped it was one of ours (Australia’s). We priced the general admission tickets & they were $A 60. Even in U.S.$ it was more than we wanted to pay. We stayed on our perch for a few laps then just wandered through the crowds. There were 3000,000 people expected.

We decided to walk home along the sidewalk that skirts the ocean. It seemed like a good idea when we started out, but by the time we realized it was a 3½ mile hike, we were too close to home to get a bus. David’s sitting on our balcony now recovering & watching the bikinis.

October 28, 2001-Questions & Answers

We went to the movies to see Lantana with Sue & Len Goldzweig last night. See it if it comes your way. It’s an Australian film about relationships, co-incidences, & the usual lack of connection between people who profess to love each other.

During the brown bag seminar today, a woman leaned over to ask me if David was a freemason. I was astonished, but just told her that he wasn’t. Afterwards, I asked her why she thought he was. She just said that she & her husband are & she thought he might be from some of the things he said. I know there’s some link with the Knights Templar & Christianity, but I don’t know a lot about it. I didn’t think Jews could be freemasons. She said that Catholics are allowed in now, but I’ll have to do some more research on this. Any help from you all? I feel like I’m on Millionaire & you’re one of my lifelines.

Speaking of Millionaire, I thought that Regis was annoying, but here they sometimes pause for a commercial before telling the contestant whether or not they answered correctly. I find that annoying and cruel.

The daylight savings time debate continues. In the paper today they said that hairdressers might band together to embrace DST. If they do, I have to call the guy who does my hair & ask if his shop is included in DST or not. I have an appointment in two weeks & don’t know when to show up.

Australian terms continue to plague me. Some refer to lipstick as “lippie.”

Learned today that in political elections voters choose preferences. This means they vote for who they want to win & also who they’d want as a second choice & on down for each office. If you vote a straight party ticket, & that party loses, the party gets to allocate their preferences. In other words, they pick who gets the votes that came to them. If you vote a split ticket & indicate your preferences & your 1st choice doesn’t win, your vote for that office would be applied to your second choice & on down. It sounds complicated but it might have eliminated the situation in Florida last election.

We ate lunch at the same café as last Sunday & were welcomed by a woman named Judy & her entourage. Evidently, they camp out on the upper deck of the restaurant every Sunday. From the looks of it, they just drink the afternoon away. They were three sheets to the wind when we arrived & we enjoyed teasing each other about our respective country’s idiosyncrasies. The flyovers before the race began & we all oohed & ahhed as the jets did their stunts. It was an awesome sight. As we finished our lunch, Judy wanted to pour us a glass of wine from one of the many bottles on their table. We told her that we appreciated that she wanted to “shout us” a glass of Shiraz, but we had to decline & get on our way. She was impressed with our usage of the lingo.

Toby

Civilization?

October 25, 2001-Travel Agents’ Worth

We have just reinforced our conviction that travel agents are invaluable. When we were at Qantas earlier in the week, they said that there were e-tickets available to Melbourne & Tasmania that were great prices. They could only be booked online. We logged on last night to have a look around. The bottom line is that we were up until 1:00 AM & didn’t book anything. The input format wouldn’t let us book a circle trip & if we booked two round trips (Brisbane/Melbourne & Melbourne/Hobart) we’d have to book one & lock it in then hope that the fares & seats were available on the other. It was too risky & the cheap seats were gone already. We could be stuck with a round trip ticket to one place with no hope of getting to the other. Today we went across the street to a travel agent at the shopping center. Unlike us, she was able to hold seats on some flights while she looked for other arrangements. She also knew all the ins & outs of the deals, coding, & combinations that would work for us. The seats were going fast, but we did finally book the flights along with a hotel in Melbourne & one in Hobart. We’ll go back to her later to handle the other hotels & car rentals. While sitting in the office, I saw several travel brochures on touring America. It’s funny to see tour companies like Globus advertising tours to the U.S. I’m used to the brochures for foreign venues, but I guess the U.S. is foreign from here. There was one company that caught my eye. I chuckled at the title of one book that advertised tours of America & Canada. Isn’t Canada in N. America? The next one on the rack promoted tours of Europe & Britain. When did Great Britain secede? And I thought Americans were ignorant of geography.

October 26, 2001-Making A Horse Race

The Melbourne Cup is a horse race that takes place next Wed. I hear that this country stops. The lady who does my nails said she used to go to the race when she lived in Melbourne. Everywhere else there are parties at homes & restaurants. It’s much like the Kentucky Derby, I would suspect, only with more attention nationwide. She told me it was really a shame how they shoot the horses that fall & break a leg during the race. We discussed different ways of treating them nowadays, but she surmised it wasn’t cost effective for most of the horses. I mentioned being at a rodeo when a calf was roped & broke its leg. They put it on a pallet & dragged it off to become veal chops. She told me that her daughter just returned from Spain where she had seen bullfights. We clucked our tongues & patted ourselves on the back for being more civilized & not torturing our animals for sport before killing them. “Yes,” she said, “That’s why they just shoot the injured race horses right there on the track.” I gasped out some exclamation as she told me she’d actually seen this on TV. A woman in the next chair assured me she’d been at a race & had seen it with her own eyes. They shot the horse on the track, covered it with a tarp, & hauled it off to the knackers. I teased them & said I didn’t know I was coming to such a barbaric place, but at least the people here are safer than in the U.S. I’ve mentioned to you that to get a handgun here you have to apply & have a very good reason. I just found out that no automatic weapons are permitted & hunting rifles may only be single shot. You have to reload every time it’s fired. That also gives the animal a fair chance.

Say Again?

There was a sign in a department store that said,” Does your credit card shout you up to 62 days?” I thought it had to do with ringing you up as in “give you a shout.” David said he sort of knew what it meant but didn’t know about the “shout “ part. We asked for a translation & the first person didn’t know. She asked another sales woman & we gathered around the poster in a tight little group trying to translate. One of them finally said that in a bar if you shout someone a drink, it means that you are buying it for them. It’s your treat. We’d say, “The drink is on me.” So, what the sign means is that there’s no interest on charges for 62 days.

Add this to your list of strange Aussie food combos. On the menu today we could have chosen the bacon, banana, cheese sandwich or the bacon, pineapple, cheese. Will creativity know no bounds? David had an open face chicken, avocado, cheese melt & I had a bowl of minestrone. The soup was good, but it wasn’t even a distant relative of the minestrone we’re used to. For one thing, it was white. It had no beans in it, but it did have potatoes, carrots, broccoli, corn, & cauliflower with cheese on top. It was quite good.

Toby

Running the Gamut

October 24, 2001-Good Eats

We finally found food with flavor It wasn’t fried! It wasn’t pickled! It was cooked by an Israeli. We went to Sue and Len Goldzweig’s home. She’s the woman who wrote the book about her experiences during WWII. If you recall, she’d been sent to England on her own at age nine and wrote about her adventures. The people who had gone to the PFLAG meeting in Brisbane with us and have a gay son in Sydney were there along with another couple. We’d met them before, but had never spent time with them. They're from New Zealand and are a hoot. It felt as if we'd all been friends for ages.

Len told of the suggestions he made five years ago when the congregation was trying to find a permanent rabbi. He thought that women rabbis might have trouble getting a job and would be more likely to take a pulpit off the beaten track. He was met by dead silence at the board meeting. He then got the bright idea that gay rabbis might be interested for similar reasons. This caused an uproar. He told us about this because he doesn’t think that either would be a problem anymore. He pointed out that David’s “Family Values” sermon was met with equanimity and no fuss. Times and people change. I did wonder how they would select for “gayness” in a rabbi.

On our way home we were in a traffic jam. Here roadwork tends to be done at night to avoid rush hours. While we waited, I was entertained by watching construction workers who wore uniform walking shorts, had cute legs, and were talking on mobile phones. Our road crews look as busy, aren’t dressed as cute, and don’t have phones.

Sense & Nonsense

‘Strine ( slang and accent) strikes again. There was a message waiting for us when we got home. We’re meeting our usual Wednesday night dinner group at an Indian restaurant. The directions were to 10 Dhuri Place. I’d never heard of that restaurant, but it sounded Indian to me. When I went to find it on the map, I mentioned the name to David. He looked at me quizzically and laughed. The name of the restaurant is Tandoori Place.

Anthony Mundine is a top Australian boxer who shot off his mouth in what has become quite a “cause celeb” here. He was asked what he thought of the terrorism and Afghan situation. He’s a Muslim and I could tell from the rest of the interview that he’s not the brightest star in the Southern Cross. His answer was that the U.S. brought the terrorist attack upon itself. He expanded by saying that Islam teaches to fight for God. The hijackers weren’t terrorists. They were fighting for God. When David heard that, he said that Mundine is the only Muslim who is telling the truth to the media. I figure that Mundine is too dumb to be diplomatic. Of course, now there’s a lot of back-pedaling and claims of quoting out of context. There was no context. His statement was an answer to a direct question. The head of the International Boxing Federation said he ‘d never fight in America. The head of the IBF has a son who worked in the Towers. His son was outside having a smoke when the first plane struck.

Minorities

Crime doesn’t seem to know racial boundaries here or in the U.S. Although there’s a fairly high crime rate here, there aren’t many minority criminals. Aborigines are represented in the prison population, but there aren’t many of them to begin with. In the U.S. most of those incarcerated are minorities. It’s nice to know that the white population here has found a need and filled it. Syd Bruce said that when he’s in the U.S. on business, he’s appalled by what people say about minorities. They sound like the KKK. Then we went into a discussion of the non-discrimination laws regarding real estate. He said they have those laws here, but they’re ignored. If someone pulls up to an apartment with a bunch of kids in the car, the manager tells them there’s nothing available and calls a bunch of other managers in the area to warn them about the family. Aborigines can’t afford to buy houses, but he said that if someone doesn’t like the way a buyer is dressed or how he presents himself, they don’t have to let him in.

We walked over go our favorite kebab stand for lunch today. We were sitting at a table outside when the owner came out to clean up. She was the woman I'd spoken to right after 9/11 who said she was a Kurd. She asked how we liked our food and after we stopped raving about it, we mentioned we noticed she sells cigarettes and that they’re very expensive in Australia. She confessed that she smokes although she should know better. She was an ICU nurse in a bone marrow transplant unit when she lived in Turkey and the Netherlands. She has seven-year-old twin boys and an 11-year-old girl. She loves working at the kebab stand because it’s relaxing, but plans to return to nursing when the children are older. I’m not sure what religion Kurds are, but they’ve been chased around their part of the world for a long time. If she’s Muslim, she’s a liberated one.

Toby

Moving It

October 22-23, 2001-Getting Around

I was a big girl on Sunday morning and took a public bus all by myself. I got all the information from Jennerette, the deportee from Israel who is studying for conversion. I was going to drive David to Sunday school so I could have the car to go to Temple at noon for the brown bag lunch lecture series. I decided to sleep late and take the bus instead. It worked out very well, but the fares are expensive. They charge by zones and I went from one zone to another. It cost $A 2.10 for a short ride. The public transportation system here is very good and it would be easy to manage without a car. There are bus passes that make fares more reasonable.

We ate lunch in a little café tucked away behind a strip shopping center overlooking a canal. I knew it had to be good since no one but locals could find it and it was very busy. We had the best sandwiches we’ve eaten here and learned that Bap is a chiabata roll. Need you know more? David almost ordered a hamburger on one, but the definition wasn’t made clear by the server. We later saw a burger come to a neighboring table and now we know.

Eating Companions

It was a sad day in Australia. The Aussies “farwelled” the troops going to Afghanistan. It was also a boring day for me. I volunteered at the National Council for Jewish Women’s “Op Shop.” It’s a resale shop. It’s in Surfer’s Paradise in a narrow corridor of a passageway that leads to the beach. It’s across from both a sandwich bar and a Korean restaurant. The smells were unimaginable. Add to that the odors from the yet to be washed donations of clothing and I thought my nose wouldn’t stop running. I was picked up at 10 AM and we worked until 3:30 pm. I was told to bring my lunch but to be careful about where I kept it until it was time to eat. They have a roach problem. Sure enough, one little trooper marched across the floor just to prove them right.

Dinner last night was at the home of one set of Marcus’s grandparents. He’s now 15 months old and his parents are still trying to get pregnant. He and his parents were there along with Hiroko, the chopped liver and challah eating Japanese exchange student. I don’t know how much English she understands, but she’s been here five weeks and has two more weeks before going home. The conversation couldn’t have been more uncomfortable. They talked disparagingly about an orthodox Jewish man and his Philipino wife. They made remarks about Chinese and Japanese and discussed a popular TV program called Changi. Changi was a Japanese POW camp where 22,000 Australian troops were detained and 14, 000 survived. Nothing they said was awful or anti-Asian, but I wondered what she was thinking as she heard, and most probably recognized, those words and names.

October 23, 2001-Planning Ahead

We spent the better part of today making air reservations to Perth and New Zealand. Ron & Karen Cimini are coming in February and we may use a motor home to get around New Zealand with them. If they’re not up to that much togetherness, we’ll rent one for after they leave when we go on to the South Island. When we were at Qantas getting everything in order, our travel agent, William, mentioned that he was going to New Zealand with his partner to visit family. David whipped out one of our PFLAG cards and William really liked what it said. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, it has PFLAG Akron information on one side and on the back it says, “Your business has just been supported by the relative or friend of a gay man or lesbian. We will continue to support businesses that do not discriminate against them.” He told us that it wasn’t until eight years ago that Qantas gave spousal equivalency benefits to gay and straight partners. We told him how far ahead of the U.S. that was. We asked him about the Mardi Gras in Sydney on March 25. He told us that about 1 million attend and 40,000 march. We want to go, but may have trouble getting a room.

When in Australia, one never knows when one will run into a Japanese wedding. I walked into a hotel in Surfers to use the rest room and there was the bride in all her finery at 2:00 pm on a Tuesday. It’s amazing the business they do here in the Las Vegas of the Southern Hemisphere.

Toby

Starving

October 20, 2001-Dinner

This is a sad tale of how I spent an entire day and night being entertained at dinner. lunch, and tea, and didn’t have enough to eat. We were invited to a home for Shabbat dinner. All of the hosts' friends who had emigrated from Manchester were there. It made for an interesting mix of accents. They told us that many of the “Aussieisms” were strange to their ears too.

Meals usually start with “befores” which are chopped liver, chopped herring, chopped egg…. You get the drift. Add to this poached and smoked salmon (they never call it lox) and pickled stuff. They served what looked like a beautifully prepared sliced roast and potted chicken with apricots. The roast turned out to be veal, which David later reported was delicious. Fortunately he warned me about this since I don’t eat veal. It’s probably the one vestige of political correctness regarding food that I’ve retained. The chicken was dark meat only. I prefer not to eat dark meat, and I won’t consider eating any chicken that still wears its skin and whose skin is puckered so you can see all the bumps where the feathers used to be. Fortunately, there were two platters of roast veggies that were placed on the table. I did my best to make a meal of them, but some of the offerings were so overdone my fork couldn’t pierce them. I tried to be inconspicuous as I sorted through in search of the tender few. I naively looked forward to dessert as my salvation. Fresh fruit is the rule here and I wasn’t disappointed. I gorged on kiwi, melon, and chocolate covered strawberries. I passed up the strudel. If it’s not chocolate, why bother.

Lunch & Tea

We were invited for lunch after Shabbat services today. We arrived at the house at 12:30pm. There were lots of salads and veggies on the buffet, so I thought I had it made, but there was little flavor to any of it. The only vegetable that looked like it had any taste was floating in mayonnaise. There was corned beef that they call pickled meat. There was meat loaf, chicken loaf, and nasty potted, bumpy skinned chicken. The meat loaf was actually good, but the chicken loaf was pure white. It was like eating partially set plaster of Paris. I ended up eating a piece of bread and butter just to quiet my stomach. Dessert was jello and fruit. The reason we weren’t served pastry was because we were going two doors down to another congregant for tea.

We strolled on down at 4 PM and were greeted with an array of tea sandwiches, beverages, and trifle made with jello. There was also a fruit tray. David has asked me to tell you that he ate well. We were presented with an Aussie mascot stuffed toy that plays Waltzing Matilda and a book called “Let Stalk Strine” (Let’s Talk Australian). I’m sure the book will be very handy in helping us translate from “Strine” to American.

Adding to my dining pleasure, at the start of the meal, one of the septuagenarians cried out in fright and disgust as he pulled a roach from the food that was heaped on his plate. He held it up between his thumb and forefinger waving it around so that the food particles clinging to it scattered on the tablecloth. I was speechless. The hostess seemed to take it with a great deal of composure. I would have been mortified. This being the tropics, roaches are not an unusual sight. As it turned out, this group had a history of playing practical jokes on each other. The rubber roach was retrieved and pocketed by the wife of the prankster.

Food Aside

The people we met today were great and I got to know the parents of a famous harpist. They even had his CDs to show me. His name is Kevin Lee. He’s very big in the UK. There was a requirement at his elementary school that every student learn to play an instrument. They tried him on violin and guitar, but he was awful. His father told the teacher that he played piano by ear and that was the ticket. He was so good he started giving concerts in Brisbane. The Conservatorium (his word) became interested in him, but he was so young, about 8 years old, that they suggested he take up an additional instrument until he was older. The boy didn’t know which instrument he’d like, but he had always liked Harpo of the Marx brothers. He chose the harp and the rest is history.

The conversation got around to politics as it always does. I was happy there was at least one realist in the group. He pointed out that Australia has to be in the forefront of combating the terrorists. Even though they’d like to bury their heads in the sand, Aussies have one of the largest Muslim populations at their doorstep. Indonesia is 75% Muslim and poses a real threat. It’s only two hours away by air. He said that during WWI, Britain was able to save Australia’s hide. In WWII it was the Yanks. Now they need to be ready to defend themselves.

We didn’t leave “tea” until 5:00 PM. As we got into the car to head for the movies, I asked David to stop so that I could eat. Subway did the trick. We saw an American film called “Limey” with Peter Fonda and Terrence Stamp. It was at the theater at the Cultural Center. I think we may join the Center. They have a really good sounding line-up for the year.

Why Worry?

The Temple secretary, must take the threat of anthrax seriously. He now wears a mask and long blue rubber gloves when he opens the mail. He’ll be reassured to know that the police patrol around the temple every hour on a daily basis. They noticed that an unfamiliar car was turning up in the lot regularly. They ran the plates on this dark gray 1989, Mitsubishi and discovered that it belonged to someone on Via Roma. They reported it to the president of the congregation who pointed out to them that the new rabbi drives the car and the address on the registration was the temple’s. I feel so much safer now.

All of Australia is about to go on Daylight Savings Time except for the state of Queensland. That would be us. There’s a lot of protest about this so individual shops and businesses have decided to declare themselves on DST. Some of them will adjust by a full hour and some have decided that an hour would be too much of a difference so they’re only adjusting by a half hour. I can’t wait to see how this pans out. It’s typical of good old Aussie individualism.

David’s sermon last night was the speech that he was going to give to the Mormons on Family Values before they cancelled him. It was a great piece of work and the lady next to me whispered in my ear, “You now, my niece is gay.” Today, a woman told us that her best friend since she was twelve years old is a gay man. They’ll be coming out of the woodwork here soon just as they did in Akron.

Toby

Hanging On

October 17, 2001-News Flashes

If Jews of the Northern Hemisphere read Hebrew right to left, is it reasonable to expect that Jews in the Southern Hemisphere read from left to right? So many other things are backwards here. That would also mean that those in the Southern Hemisphere read English right to left. Bad theory.

You’ll be happy to know it has rained all day. No one is complaining. There’s been a 6-month drought. The temperature is probably in the mid-60’s.

We finally figured out where to find the gay community in our town. The news said that homosexual men are meeting in a public bathroom and police will be installing cameras in those bathrooms. Now there’s a protest about infringement of civil rights and demands to know who will view the tapes.

Also on the news was the fact that many Australians have become dobbers. They never thought that Aussies would be that way, but it turns out that their sense of fair play has prevailed. They don’t hesitate to “dobb in” their neighbors when necessary. There has been a great deal of insurance fraud here and requests have gone out for people to turn in those whom they think are the culprits. They showed the usual shots of people on disability for back injuries lifting heavy objects. So dobbing is tattling.

I just gave David the rundown on the West Wing TV show that aired in the U.S. two weeks ago. It was the one about the lock down in the White House and the interrogation of the Arab employee. David was too sick last night to stay up to watch it, but his throat is better today. It was supposed to be on from 10:30-11:30, but was actually on from 10:34-11:27. I don’t know about those of you who saw it, but I was disappointed that it was so even handed.

I had lunch today with the woman who is studying for conversion and was deported from Israel for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you recall, she was staying at a house owned by a millennium cult and didn’t know it. It was a long lunch during which time she told me her life story. She’s 50 years old. I’m glad she isn’t older. It took 3 ½ hours. I don’t know what to think of her. She’s obviously very fond of David and feels “blessed” that he’s here to teach her for seven months. She speaks of studying the “Word,” and she tends to pray about everything. She attributes the good things that happen to her as an answer to her prayers, but ignores the source of the bad things that have happened. She’s an attorney with a specialty in astro-physics. She wanted to work for NASA at one point. She has a pilot’s license but hasn’t flown in a long time. She needs a lot of money to hire an Israeli attorney to help clear her name so she can return. Her goal is to become an Israeli citizen and she’s studying Hebrew with a private tutor. She doesn’t work. She’s very jittery and her hands visibly shake. She seems nice enough, but there’s something that doesn’t add up. I’m wary and suspicious by nature. I surely hope she doesn’t try to get any money from the Jewish community.

October 18, 2001-Mormons Calling

Thank you dear email reader for finding the Mormon view of homosexuality on line and sending it to us. David got a call this morning from Grant Pitman, the man who invited him to speak at the Mormon Family Values awards this Sunday. I guess he finally read David’s resume. They had a discussion of what David’s view was of traditional family values and they pretty well matched the Mormons. The difference was in the definition of family. Obviously, David includes GLBT families, singles, etc. While he explained that this wouldn’t be the thrust of his talk, it would certainly be mentioned as an integral part of his definition of family. He went on to explain how he sees the definition of family changing from Biblical times through the Mormon’s own re- definition. He sees this as evolving, not static. David also told him he couldn’t change his speech to accommodate the Mormon views. He told Mr. Pitman that he was looking at the printout from the Internet and mentioned the authority whose definition he was reading as they spoke. David said that if it would make it easier for them, he would withdraw his name as the speaker. Mr. Pitman was to call back after conferring with the others. I can’t wait to hear the Mormon decision. Whether David speaks or not, the issue will be widely discussed. That in itself is good. To be continued…….

Callback

Grant just told David that if he could leave out the part of including GLBT people as family, he would be welcome to give the speech. Their leadership isn’t comfortable bringing that up at a public forum. What he basically said was that they don’t want to open up a can of worms. David withdrew himself as the speaker and said he had to be true to himself and his rabbinic movement. He told Grant that his movement in America sanctions GLBT weddings and that he performs them.

We finally found out where they got his name. Grant Pitman heard David speak at the interfaith service in Brisbane right after the terrorist attacks and was impressed. He was right on one account. David is impressive. I guess we have Sunday night free and they have to find a speaker in a hurry. Part of me is sorry they asked for a resume. David said he was looking for a way to give them a heads up on the issue and that was it. He’s a nicer person than I am. Blind-siding them would have been awesome. The speech won’t go to waste. The experience and the speech will be his sermon on Friday night. Oh, as an aside, there’s a Church of the Latter Day Saints next door to the temple.

Toby

Yum!

October 16, 2001-On The Barbie

We went to a 71st birthday party today. It was billed as a real Aussie BBQ. The birthday girl, is a hoot. She’s always promoting something for some organization, selling raffle tickets, or soliciting for a luncheon. You know the type. You run the other way when you see her coming. She’s from Liverpool by way of Los Angeles, Melbourne, and three husbands. She’s quite intelligent and still works as an editor and records books on tape. Her English is of the Oxford school and I never have trouble understanding her.

The hosts were celebrating their 53rd anniversary. They're a stunning couple. Her younger sister was there and she's 71. She looks about 60. The sisters are from New Zealand and have nine siblings. The hosts live in a very large home (4000 sq. ft.) that prompted the discussion, once again, of how big our house is in Australian terms. We finally figured it out. They measure buildings here in square feet, but the lots are measured in square meters. The terminology, though, is different than ours. For example, a 2000 square foot house is referred to as being 20 squares. That was easy. No need to convert to square meters. I was also advised that Australian realtors are among the best liars in the industry. They will even grossly exaggerate the size of rooms. Everyone at the party knew I’m a realtor and delighted in telling me that Australia isn’t as litigious as the U.S. yet. Lawyers here are teaching the public the American system of suing for any reason. They’re now going after realtors.

The menu at the “real Aussie BBQ” was: crumbled fish (breaded), thin steak well-done, chicken, canned asparagus, rice salad, rocket salad (curly leaf lettuce), cucumbers (pickles), potato salad, coleslaw, olives, beef bangers (sausage), and buttered bread. There were about five different desserts followed by fresh fruit. It’s not too different from an American BBQ. Food Channeling A commercial on TV just informed us that Kraft makes a Vegemite snack pack. Gag! That reminds me. A woman at the party said that when she was twelve years old she decided to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She’d heard they were popular in America and wanted to try one. The only problem was that here Jell-O is called jelly. It was years until she realized her error and tried a real PB&J with jam.

I didn’t want to miss my afternoon ice-cream cone, so after we came home, we walked over to my favorite supplier. It’s a gelato store. We took the inland route and came home by the sea. There are tons of birds here and they all seemed to be flying about getting settled for the night. It was very noisy and we kept looking up into the trees. It was risky business considering the number of feathery creatures and the nature of their digestive systems. There were birds of all shades of brown, black, and white, but all of a sudden, a green body streaking past. Then there was a splash of yellow. There we were on an early evening stroll watching wild parrots. It was so exciting. I’m sure the joggers along the path thought the crazy Americans craning their necks to look into the trees were daft.

The Home Front

David has a sore throat. It’s really raw. He hasn’t been carrying Purell with him. The other day someone shook his hand and then said, “Don’t kiss me, I’ve got a cold.” I’m sure I’ll get it. We’ve been lucky to avoid getting sick up to now considering where we’ve been and all the hugging and kissing that went on here during the holidays.

We “talked” to Vikki and Alex today by Instant Messaging. Alex told us she scored the winning goal for the Lippman soccer team. Good on ya, Alex!

Toby

GLBT Issues

October 15, 2001-Heaven

I just got a call from Shelley. She’s the leader of the PFLAG chapter (Parents, Family, & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) where we spoke on Saturday. She wanted to know more about how we ran our meetings and our chapter in Akron. She’s a volunteer for the AIDS Council in Brisbane and PFLAG was a spin-off of her work there. She seems to be a one-woman show. In the course of our conversation, I learned many things that made me think the group we spoke to must have been left with a feeling of pity for the poor Americans who have it so hard. I realized just how far behind we are in GLBT equality. Shelley’s son is a police officer. He’s out and a member of the police GLBT organization at work. He works in Brisbane, which, if you recall, is in Queensland: not the most open and accepting part of the country. Gays are allowed to serve openly in the military. If they’re diagnosed with HIV they’re honorably discharged. There’s no way a person can be fired or thrown out of housing for being gay. I asked if there was special legislation for this protection. She said that it was just a basic right of every citizen.

Have I died and gone to GLBT heaven? What the hell is wrong with us in the States? Why should we need ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) and hate crimes legislation? I guess the answer is in the ranks of the Falwells, Robertsons, and Phelpps. They don’t have a strong fundamentalist political movement here yet. It’s still very small and without power or influence. It will grow as it has all over the world, but at least Australia will have the policies in place before the right wingers gain the same control over politics they have in the U.S. Then the Aussies will be fighting to retain the way their laws have been interpreted instead of fighting to establish new laws. Our Constitution does speak to the equality issue, but we ended up making a laundry list of exactly who is to be treated equal. It’s very hard to get on that list. I hope the Australians don’t have to start itemizing the classes for whom equality pertains as we did.

An article in the paper today reported that a court just ruled that a marriage is valid between a woman and a female to male transsexual. The man who had always perceived himself as being male had been living as a man since 1994 and started hormone treatment in 1995. His birth certificate was changed from female to male in 1998. He has not had surgery to construct male genitalia. He was married to a woman in 1996 and they have a baby through IVF. Family Court ruled that the definition of “man” should be “based on contemporary thinking and not on outdated ideologies.” Wow! Are all you GLBT’s ready to apply for residency?

Hell

David is speaking to the Mormon group on Sunday night and I just got a call from the man who is organizing it. They want a resume of our family to include in their program. That sounds appropriate since it’s an awards dinner for Traditional Family Values. They haven’t a clue as to what they’re getting into. Before the dinner we’re having tea with several people at one of their homes. At tea will be Dr. John Herron who is a medical doctor as well as a senator. He is the minister for aboriginal affairs and president of the Conservative Party. I don’t know if that really means conservative, as we know it. Here the liberal party is conservative and the labor party is liberal. Dr. Herron is a member of the Church of England. Mr. Young will be there too. He’s an advisor to John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia and a member of the Salvation Army. Mr. Glen, a lecturer in economics, is an advisor to John Huntsman, who, I am told, owns the chemical industry in America. He’s a Mormon. I was assured that all of the people are religious. Did I ask? They were gracious in inquiring about food restrictions. At least they have a clue about that. David called back to see if he could email the information instead of faxing it since the Temple doesn’t have a fax. They asked if we’d like one. David thinks that the offer of a fax and perhaps the invitation to speak might be withdrawn once they get the resume. We’ll see. I know this is in total opposition to GLBT policy I wrote about above. It will be interesting to see how it evolves.

Paradise

On our walk home from lunch, we saw some people looking up at a tree. There was a lot of bird commotion going on so we too looked up. There were three colorful birds just yammering away. David thinks they were lorakeets. We watched for a while before it struck me that it was kind of amazing. This really is paradise. As we continued on, I kept glancing to my left. There was really nothing to see beyond the apartment buildings. That’s the point. We are living at the end of the world. Beyond the buildings is the Pacific. What a wonder! We stopped at the bottle shop in our building to get some wine to bring to a birthday lunch tomorrow, went upstairs, and settled down on our balcony to gaze at the pool and read.

Toby

Options

October 14, 2001-Sleepless

Living here is like living in a fraternity house. At 2 AM we thought we heard a loud group carousing outside. When we looked out at the pool area, we realized it was raining. No one was out, so the noise must have been coming from an open balcony door. Syd Bruce said he could check to see if there were quieter locations in the complex, but David won’t give up our pool view. I can’t say that I want to either. I also don’t think this kind of noise can be eliminated by location. The tenants change each week. It was pretty warm and muggy so our bedroom window was open. We ended up closing it and finally got to sleep around 4 AM. We hardly got any sleep!
Moving Moments

I was going to drive David to Temple this morning for Sunday School, but decided to sleep in. The plan had been for me to go to the building at noon for his brown bag lunch class. I didn’t know who was planning to go so I didn’t call anyone to hitch a ride. The turnout for that and the Hebrew class he had earlier in the morning was much larger than he’d anticipated. They ran out of printed material for both. He said he felt like a one armed paperhanger with all the things he had scheduled. There was the regular Sunday class schedule, a meeting, counseling, Hebrew class, and the discussion group.

The people here still don’t get it. They’re so starved for programming they fantasize about how it would be if he stayed on. He’s looking forward to being retired again. He had a taste of it before coming here and really liked it. Even if we stayed, he’d have to avoid getting sucked into working at the temple. We’ve discussed it and although I have been giving it some thought, David said he hasn’t considered moving here. As much as I like it, I’m leery. For one thing, I don’t think Australia has a healthy Jewish community. The Hasidim along with the extremely orthodox are the majority and are dominant. They are fundamentalist and unhealthy for the growth of a well-balanced Jewish atmosphere. By nature they are exclusionary. Even though the number of Jews on Gold Coast is the same as in Akron, they don’t have a presence. They’re mostly unaffiliated with any Jewish institution whereas in Akron there is a high affiliation rate. Brisbane doesn’t even have a well-organized progressive/reform presence. David thinks it’s a lack of progressive rabbis in the country. The Hasidim send a bunch of rabbis over here so it’s inevitable they’ll be more influential.

Another issue is that I really don’t think our kids would move here. Being this far apart is hard enough for nine months, but it’s too far for forever. I know Daniel and Vikki would love it here on Gold Coast and Wendy would like either Sydney or Melbourne. But they have too many ties and I don’t think they’d want to leave. They‘d have to earn more than they do now in Australian dollars to have the same amenities here. We, on the other hand, could live quite well since we’d be spending U.S. dollars. What we need to do is find a place in the States that mirrors this where we can afford to live.

The other realization is that we don’t need a lot of living space. This apartment is too small for a permanent residence, but I realize how much simpler life can be in a smaller and more efficient space. We should say a “Shehechyanu.” That’s a prayer recited when something happens for the first time. David went swimming. It was 28-29 degrees today (Celsius), so he thought it was warm enough. I lounged on a chaise in the shade and read.

Toby

Lessons

October 12, 2001-Learning

Along with the supremely satisfying sounding town names of Barrumbuttock and Tittibong, I would like to add Blackbutt. It pays to read letters to the editor.

My culinary skills are being challenged. The utensils I’m using are inadequate for all but basic fare. I just made a kugel by using an undersized saucepan to cook the noodles. I had to do it in three shifts. I don’t have a strainer so I used a pasta fork. It was a messy but efficient way to drain the noodles without loosing them down the sink. Speaking of losing things, a pot lid handle came off as I was lifting it to see if the water was boiling. Pieces and parts of the handle went floating off in the boiling water. I fished them out and repaired the handle. Did you know that a fork tine is useful for tightening a Phillips screw? I used an oversized salad bowl to mix the ingredients. I’m going to bake it in an aluminum foil "grill drip-catcher" pan of some odd dimensions at 200 degrees Celsius and hope it comes out ok.

October 13, 2001-Terminology

The kugel was fine and everyone enjoyed it. It’s fun to experiment with foreign cooking measures. We’ll invite the Bruce’s over for dinner. They’ve agreed to bring their own utensils and dishes if necessary.

We went to the PFLAG (Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) meeting in Brisbane today with congregants formerly of Toronto and Florida. Their son and his partner live in Sydney. On the drive up we passed a car dealer that advertised “Roo Proof” cars. Hitting roos on the road is a major hazard. We also learned that if we wanted to find any bedding in a store we needed to ask for Manchesters. That’s what they call it. It’s an English term and probably derives from the area of England where they were manufactured. Another term they told us about is “bowser.” It has nothing to do with a dog. It’s what they call a fuel pump. No one seems to know the derivation of that one. Last night one of the Bruce children asked if we knew what poppers were. We defined them as we knew the word pertaining to the drugs used in gay bathhouses. Here they’re just juice boxes. The term I like is one that’s used right before David walks onto the pulpit. A leader of the congregation will stand on the pulpit and announce, “Will everyone please be upstanding.” At that point they all rise. It’s a stitch. I’ve never heard upstanding used in that way. David loves that he comes in to a silent, but standing ovation.

PFLAG

There were about 20 people at the PFLAG meeting. It was more than usual. We gave them a picture of GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Transgender) life in our country then asked them about Australia. There was agreement that Sydney was the Mecca of GLBT acceptance. They even have a contingent of Jewish parents who march in their Pride parade. Queensland, unlike New South Wales, is more redneck (their term) in their attitudes although Cairns to the north is more accepting and is opening some gay resorts. Aussies aren’t open about GLBT adoptions or artificial insemination, nor are they for any singles becoming parents by adoption or AI. There’s no guaranteed safety for students in the schools except for a few private high schools. It’s easier at the university level where there’s a policy of equal rights that’s enforced. The military was unclear. Everyone agreed that there were gays in the military, but they didn’t know if they were open and accepted. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they were. One of the most interesting pieces of information came from an aboriginal mother of a gay son. She said that aborigines were very accepting. Since they'd been so oppressed, they have a live and let live attitude. We mentioned that in the U.S. it was hard for some minorities to get past the image of the macho male and on to acceptance.

Cultural Exchanges

Had lunch at a Subway and didn’t know how to order the sandwich size. They’ve gotten some signs and banners from the U.S. and have had some made locally. There were 6 inch or 15-cm. Subs as well as foot long and 30 cm ones. Ah, the dilemma. David had the Aussie. It was basically an elongated hamburger with a choice of toppings. Yes, beetroot was among the choices.

We went to an art center in Gold Coast tonight to see the movie Liam. The center has other cultural events including dance and live theater. It’s a lovely modern building with a good selection of entertainment. The movie was about a young boy whose world falls apart. It takes place in Liverpool, England and is set in 1930. It shows the beginnings of fascism and anti-Semitism .It was well done and we only needed sub-titles for part of it.

Toby