History Lessons

April 11, 2002-Great Stuff

We were able to go on the tour of the Great Synagogue at noon today. The Byzantine cum Gothic, cum Victorian structure is as imposing as its name. Officially called Beth Israel, it wears the title of “great” with dignity. The interior of the sanctuary is painted a pale creamy yellow with ornate ecru details. The vaulted ceiling & dome are a rich blue & golden stars simulate the night sky. Established 125 years ago, it follows the Anglo-English orthodox traditions. Men & women sit separately & the choir, although mixed from the time of its establishment until 1972, is now all male. Rabbi Apple who is still the rabbi there, made that change in the choir a condition of his employment. It was interesting to note that the Torah (Five books of Moses) portion posted on the pulpit & to be read this week was our daughter Wendys when she became a bat mitzvah (daughter of the commandments) at age thirteen. I:s Leviticus 12, & deals with menstrual cycles & leprosy. Nice stuff.

The ark where the Torah is kept usually faces Jerusalem. We in the West are accustomed to it facing East. Here it faces west since that’s a closer route from this part of the world. A wonderful movie & light show gave us a history of Jews in Australia & a brief explanation of some of the symbols & customs. There were a few Jews in the first transport of prisoners in 1788 & by 1820 there were enough Jewish free settlers to establish a congregation. The government refused to grant them land as they did the churches, so it was a few more years until pressure could be brought & land made available. Now there are twenty-six synagogues in Sydney & the Great Synagogue has 900 family units as members. There have been two Jewish Governors General appointed by the monarchs at the recommendation of the Prime Minister, & the Jewish population of Australia has stayed at ½ of 1% of the total since the first white settlement. That’s the same proportion of the Jewish population worldwide.

Rocky

We hustled our way through lunch crowds to get down to the Rocks area, an historic section of first settlement that’s been preserved and now incorporates shops, restaurants, hotels, and living quarters. As I looked at the press of young workers I felt very grateful they were toiling so hard to keep the world running so we could enjoy it.

Our afternoon was spent on a walking tour of the Rocks. When Governor Macquarie arrived in the settlement in the early 1800’s, he set about cleaning up gambling, prostitution, & excessive intoxication. David said he was happy to see it was all under control now. Prostitution is legalized in official brothels, gambling casinos are flourishing, & there’s a pub on every corner. Threatened with destruction so that high rises could be built, the construction guilds fought to save this historic area. It was more a class issue than a move to preserve tradition. The area was a lower & middle class neighborhood & the guilds didn’t want to see their class of people displaced in favor of the affluent.

We caught a taxi out to the Holiday Inn at the airport. Our flight for India by way of Hong Kong leaves at 7:45 AM tomorrow so we’ll have to get to the airport at 5:30 AM. We’ll be early to bed tonight for sure. We started taking Malarone, an anti-malarial drug, this morning in preparation. We have to take it for a week after we leave areas with a malaria problem. That would be after Africa.

Toby

Sydney Wins

April 10, 2002-Zoo Day
(photo:Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb)

I still like Sydney way better than Melbourne. It’s so much more vibrant, visually appealing, & frenetic. They now even have those crazy painted cows like the ones that were in Chicago a few years back. Life-sized cow statues were decorated by artists, displayed around town, & auctioned for scads of money that went to charity.

Last night we walked to the Rocks to look for a place for dinner. The Rocks are an historic section of first settlement that has been preserved & now incorporates shops, restaurants, hotels, & living quarters. We chose to eat at a café on Circular Quay where the ferries dock. A couple was finishing their meal next to us, paid their bill, & hurried off. We took no notice until our server seated two people at that same neighboring table & asked them if they hadn’t just been there. It was the same couple. They missed their ferry & returned to the restaurant for dessert. They lived in Manly, a suburb, & had ferried in for the evening to enjoy their daughter’s quite successful art show.

We started today with breakfast at our hotel. Our table overlooked the street where we saw an incredible number of dark suited people entering office buildings. It was a rather depressing sight & we took pity on them. At the same time, we felt grateful that we would never have to do that again.

We walked back to Circular Quay & caught the ferry for the Taronga Zoo. It was only a 12-minute ride across the harbor, but the ticket included a sky rail ride up to the top of the zoo. I’ve been to many zoos around the world & always hold my breath. I find they can be daunting if the animals aren’t well cared for. That wasn’t a problem here. I can now say I will not leave Australia without having seen a platypus. It was a baby & adorable. From its little beaver tail to its tiny duck feet & bill, it won my heart.

I must say I’ve been to more exciting zoos. I can also say I’ve never been to a zoo in a more fantastic location. It would have been worth the ride if there were no animals to see. Starting at the top of the hill, we walked through the zoo & back down to the ferry landing. Breathtaking views were the rule. Around every bend was another view of the harbor, the opera house, the sailboats, & the ever-looming bridge.

Playing The Bridge

This afternoon I tackled the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was a spectacular climb & the timing was perfect. My group of ten started gearing up at 3:25 PM for our three-hour experience. Because of the timing, we got to see the view in daylight, sunset, & dark. There were three singles in our group. I was alone because David doesn’t do heights well. The man in front of me had a wife who couldn’t come because she had sudden & urgent needs to use the toilet. The man behind me had a wife who had a hip replacement a year ago & didn’t want to test it. He was 75 years old. We introduced ourselves, said where we were from, & why we wanted to climb the bridge. I was the only one who said I wanted to climb so I could take the breathalyzer test. I’d never done that.

The first forty-five minutes is spent getting outfitted in a grayish lavender jumpsuit, climbing belt with a rolling clamp that secures to a cable, a radio with earphone so that you can hear the guide, a handkerchief with elastic band around your wrist, a fanny pack with rain gear, eyeglass tethers, a black knit cap, & miner’s head lamp. All of this is hooked, snapped, looped, & clamped to your belt, or jumpsuit so that we all appeared to be ready for either a space walk or to become part of a Disney film about a young damsel & tiny men. In fact, we started singing “Hi Ho, Hi Ho,” as we stepped off onto our first catwalk.

There were curtained areas where we could remove excess clothing & don our jumpsuits. There were secure lockers (the key was worn around the neck under the jumpsuit) where we had to store anything that wasn’t permitted on the climb. That included watches, hanging earrings (clip-on or pierced), hair ornaments, photographic equipment, binoculars, & basically anything that might fall or be dropped on the traffic on the bridge. We practiced on a mock-up of ladders & a catwalk until we were able to move along & handle our safety belt & ourselves with ease.
There were cautions from the guide that we should be quiet as we walked near apartments that overlooked the climb area. There had been issues in getting permits for the climb that involved excess noise from climbers. We walked through a short tunnel & there it was. We were on the bridge. We negotiated a long two-plank wide catwalk, ducked around some girders, & started our climb up a series of four long ladders. We had to wait until the person in front of us cleared the top of a ladder before we could start up. To insure there were no over-eager climbers, guards were stationed there.

There were open grillwork catwalks through which you could see the water & traffic below. There was a double set of steel railings on each side of the walkways. I’m happy to report that at several points duct tape was in use on those railings. The climb up the arch to the top was at a leisurely pace. Although the arch of the bridge was steep, they had built steel steps into it to ease the angle. Those of us who had climbed the Great Wall of China agreed that the Harbour Bridge was a piece of cake compared to that. There were several stops along the way when the guide pointed out the sights, gave an historic background, or took photos. I think there were five photo ops. The group photo was included in the price, but individual shots were available at an additional charge.

One of the questions they asked on the “disclaimer” form was whether you suffered from depression. It would be really hard to jump from the bridge even if you were determined. What I didn’t realize was that a covered electric rail ran along the side & up the arch. It was clearly marked &, although it might have been a challenge, it could have been tempting.

The entire experience was gloriously & spectacularly beautiful, but so structured & sterile that it was a bit disappointing. They even had a circular sink & wash area at the end of the climb so we could get the grime off our hands before we changed into our own clothing. The bridge didn’t sway as I thought it would. It vibrated when we were on the lower level & a train went by, but I must say it’s a very sturdy bridge. The ladder climb to the top of the rainforest at O’Reilly’s Plateau was scarier. There you got a sense of the movement of the ladder, the tree, & the platforms. I guess what I’m saying is that once the climb began there was no thrill & no sense of adventure. The awesomeness of the height was more compelling from ground level. Once I was on top of the arch, it didn’t seem so high. The pacing was so slow that by the time we were on our way down & some of the aromas of the restaurants below were wafting up, I was thinking more of food than the view.

David’s Adventure

David had his own adventure while I was climbing. In fact, I think he got more exercise walking up & down the hills of Sydney than I got climbing the bridge. His mission was to get our open airline tickets changed to the dates that were now booked. He went from the bridge to our hotel & then to the KLM office. He was able to get all but one flight taken care of. It’s a good thing he’s compulsive about things like this & that we didn’t just rely on the fact that the changes were in the database of the airlines. As it turned out, KLM didn’t have one leg of our flight in their computer so he had to go to the South African Airlines office as well. He then went back to the hotel so he could try to look at the bridge climbers & see me. What he saw looked like small ants without the binoculars & large ants with them. He then hiked back down to the bridge where he met a very hungry me. I wasn’t so hungry that I resisted buying a solo photo of myself & a t-shirt.

Toby

Nothing

April 9, 2002

The ride from Canberra to Sydney was BORING! As we crossed back over the Great Dividing Range, we passed innumerable eucalyptus trees. Somehow, no matter what variety of the several hundred gums that exist, they never look intact. The bark is shedding, the leaves look dry, they’ve lost or are in the process of losing limbs, they’re scorched by recent or past fires, or they are bare skeletons awaiting a drenching rain & rebirth. Much like their burgeoning native land, they seem to be works in progress. In a nutshell, I think I’m over being a tourist here.

Just as I was getting sullen from the tedium, we passed a farm that advertised “free range eggs” for sale. I’m admittedly ignorant about chickens. I pictured the free-range chooks laying eggs hither & yon, wherever their little chicken feet took them. I wondered aloud how that worked. Was it a daily Easter egg hunt for the farmers & their kids? Perhaps the chicken feed was spiked with dye so the eggs would be more visible & contrast with the green of the grass & the brown of the soil. Brown eggs are the rule in Australia, so that could be a problem right off. After brainstorming for a while, we decided there must be a roost area set up in an revolving door chicken coop. Nesting material could be provided to entice the chickens in so they’d lay their eggs in a central location.

Since the ride was long, I had plenty of time to think & you lucky people get to know my thoughts. I’m anticipating that being in India will give me a sense of being closer to home. I’ll be physically closer than I’ve been in seven months. South Africa will take me farther away again, but when we get to Amsterdam it will seem as if I’m practically within spitting distance. It will feel like I’m back in the known world.

Driving into Sydney went more smoothly than it should have. Returning the car took longer. The Budget Car Rental paperwork had the wrong address on it. It wasn’t very far off, but it meant going around several blocks until we could line ourselves up on the correct side of one-way streets. We found ourselves in King’s Cross, which is an artsy/gay neighborhood. We grabbed a pizza at a place that was full of Italian speakers & walked back to our hotel.

We’re staying at the York Aparatment Hotel on York St. in the city center. We booked it on wotif.com.au. It’s a completely refurbished building & our apartment is even bigger than the one we’d been living in for seven months. There’s a washer/dryer in the apartment that will make my last minute laundering a breeze. Our balcony overlooks St. Phillips Anglican Church, but the best of it is that if we stand in the far corner, we can see the top of the Harbor Bridge. David will be able to stand there tomorrow &, using our binoculars, watch me climb.

There, I did it. I just wrote a page about a day during which nothing happened.

Toby

Secret

April 8, 2002-Friends and Enemies
(photo-Aboriginal Embassy)

We are living in the midst of an aviary. Our hotel room is almost at the top of the building & scads of birds have taken up housekeeping on the roof. They started their cawing & mewling at 5 AM, but we just turned up the sound on our white noise machine & went back to sleep.

We were able to speak to all the kids today. They sounded happy & well. Wendy is busy knocking out walls & finishing up projects around their house. Daniel, Vikki, & Alex are busy with growing a baby, soccer, & thoughts of house hunting.

I’m ashamed to tell you that I still suffer occasional bouts of steering wheel anxiety. One of the captured vehicles on display was from Germany. David & I stared at it & tried to figure out what was wrong with it. Yes, the steering wheel was on the left. I still have minor moments of map disorientation too. To use a map properly in a left side drive country, you have to be aware that the map markings for exits are consistent with that orientation. There have been several times when we make a turn & I cannot find where we are on the map because I’m looking at the wrong cross streets on the opposite corner.

We’re really taken with Canberra. I think it’s a secret kept from tourists & Australians alike. It’s a real treasure & warrants at least two to three days of attention. As we learned today, the plan was to keep the natural integrity of the area as the city grew. They’ve achieved that by building all the houses lower than the hilltops thus keeping the green areas pristine & available for hiking, biking, & playgrounds. Even the new Parliament building was built mostly below grade. They removed the top of Capital Hill, erected the building, & covered the structure with the soil & grass that had originally been there. We actually walked up a slope of lawn & onto the top of the building. The one negative to the Parliament building is a towering spire of a flagpole that sits on four legs spread across its center.

The old Parliament building was built for fifty years of use. They managed to eek sixty-one years out of it before building the new. We took a look at the old building that now houses a portrait gallery. It was interesting in its own right, but the aboriginal tent city across the street caught our attention. There was a rickety shack called the Aboriginal Embassy & the demand seemed to be for aboriginal sovereignty. There were no flyers so we don’t know the details, but it was reminiscent of so many of the tent cities we’d seen in Washington, D.C. This was a much smaller but equally colorful display of only a dozen tents.

Our first stop was the War Memorial. It resembles a Byzantine church & evokes all the solemnity of its architectural style. The Australians were involved in all of “our wars.” They were with us in WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Somalia, & the Persian Gulf. They are with us now in Afghanistan. I cannot hope to capture the breadth & depth of the exhibits, but the museum is enormous & extremely well done. It’s full of detail & massive war machines. It displays the minutiae of good luck charms the soldiers carried as well as planes & tanks that carried them into battle.

One exhibit let the visitor experience a bombing mission with all the vibration, jolting, noise, & a birds eye view through the bomb bay doors. Mention was made of the contributions of the aborigine laborers & trackers who helped with the war efforts in WWII. It was interesting to see that during WWII there was no concept of political correctness. In a letter to the widow of a fallen soldier, the commanding officer refers to those “Japanese beasts.” And over it all, there was the mud.

The photos & dioramas showed the wounded slithering to safety through the mire. The dead were half submerged in it. The living slogged through it, slept in it, & tried to keep it from oozing into their supplies. The omnipresent shine of the slippery stuff lay like a sinister membrane over every scene.

Now, I would like to apologize to the Aussie recipients of this email. In my ignorance, I minimized the toll that Australia suffered on her soil during WWII. I learned that from 1942-1943, the Japanese frequently bombed the northern part of the country. Sydney was shelled, & two out of three Japanese mini-subs were captured in Sydney Harbor. Australians were so alarmed by the incursion of the subs at the time that one man was moved to say that there is, “No safe place in the world these days.”

We left the museum with a feeling that we hadn’t seen it all. There were so many wars & so little time. Our last stop was at the Australian-American Memorial. As I’ve noted, Australia has been there for us because we were there for them. This towering obelisk topped by an eagle is a testament to our mutual respect. It was a fitting end to the day.

Toby

Historic Cities

April 7, 2002-Cowra
(photo:Canberra)

The only remnant of the POW camp in Cowra is at the tourist information center. There is a nine minute long holograph narrated by a teeny tiny holographic young woman. She told the story of the Italian, Indonesian, & Japanese POWs who were interned there during WWII. Since it was wartime, there was a shortage of men in the area. The Aussies really liked the Italians & permitted them to work the farms. There were even rumors that some of the women had “flings” & some of the Italians wanted to stay after the war. The Japanese soldiers were humiliated by their capture. In August of 1944, they chose death over shame & organized an escape. Our miniscule narrator said it was the “most tragic event of WWII to take place on Australian soil.”

The Japanese did bomb Darwin in 1942 with a loss of 243 lives. A lot of the dead were sailors on the USS Perry. To commemorate the dead in Cowra, a cemetery has been established as well as a war memorial, Japanese garden, & an avenue of cherry trees. No mention was made of the Indonesians. David thought that some of what was missing from Australian history was battles. Luckily for them, there are no battlefields to visit here. That’s why there’s a sameness to tourist attractions. Here you can see prisons, restored settlements, & indigenous flora, fauna, & aborigines. In the U.S. we have the battles of the War of 1812, the French-Indian War, the Revolutionary War, & the Civil War. We have the Alamo to remember our war with Mexico & the often forgotten Spanish American War. We have innumerable battles with Indians/Native Americans & slave rebellions to memorialize. If being in an obscure part of the world has protected Australians all these centuries, the motto of this country should be “Shhh! No one knows we’re here & let’s not tell them.”

The kangaroo count rose today. The tally of roo vs. auto on a 200 mile stretch of road is now roos=0, cars=6. Even though I was diligently keeping track of road kill, I wasn’t distracted from my principle role as reader & interpreter of unusual signs. To add to my list of “poo” for sale signs (I have previously mentioned moo poo & chickie poo), I would like to submit today’s treasure. It read, “Aged Sheep Manure.” I couldn’t decide if it was manure from elderly sheep or mature manure that had been aged in something other than oak barrels.

I will not tell you how I happen to have more information on McDonald’s today lest you think our taste buds have gone numb, but a McOz burger (with beetroot) does exist. They also offer a grilled ham, cheese, & tomato sandwich, but I have no idea how that one tastes.

Canberra

We arrived in Canberra early in the afternoon. The approach road wasn’t at all like Washington, D.C. even taking into consideration it was a Sunday. Traffic was very light, which gave us a chance to find our way around the wide tree lined avenues, circles, crescents, circuits, & ovals. It allowed us to lose ourselves on the causeways, around the lake crowded with sailboats, & in the parks that make this a most lovely city.

In 1901, the Australian states were united in a federation & a need for a central capital arose. Many similarities to D.C. exist. A compromise for a location between Sydney & Melbourne was sought & the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T.) was formed. An inland area surrounded by mountain ranges was selected for added security. It was a totally planned city designed by Chicago architect & associate of Frank Lloyd Wright, Burley Griffin, for whom the lake is named. Controversy has followed the city as it grew. From the pronunciation of the name to the design of the new Parliament House, opinions differ. The prime minister refuses to live in the official residence here & travels four hours from Sydney when necessary. Some find it to be an idyllic place to live.

As we drove through Embassy Row & some of the neighborhoods, it reminded us of an upscale American suburb. People were out raking leaves & walking dogs. The attempt to build an urban utopia may have missed the mark, but not for lack of trying. It’s a bit sterile. There are no billboards or bright colors in the buildings. The city closes early. They even turn off the fountain in the lake by 5 PM. But the view from the Telstra Tower on Black Mountain in the Brindabella Range was as promised. Known as the Australian Alps, they join up with the Snowy Mountains in Victoria.

We had time to go into the Museum of Australian Film & Sound. One of the documentaries, “Kokoda, The Front Line,” won an Oscar in 1942. It told how the natives of New Guinea helped transport wounded Australian soldiers to safety. The Aussies thought so highly of them that they said, “The black skinned boys were really white.” Among the TV shows of the past was what I called “Opie Down Under.” It was actually called “Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo.” I hope that Skippy met a better fate than his mates on the road to Canberra did.

Toby

Singin’The Blues

April 6, 2002-Highs and Lows
(photos:Three Sisters,
Scenic Railway)

Today was one of the nadirs of all food days. We were reduced to a breakfast of egg Macmuffins (no sausage) at MacDonald’s. We were privy to being spectators at a tiny tot costume birthday party there. A two-year-old Superman had a little cape trouble when it got tangled in the door to the playhouse in the kiddie area but was quickly freed by Supermom. We caught lunch on the fly. David wolfed down a sausage (beef) roll & I grazed from the larder in the car. Dinner was at (I am embarrassed to tell you) KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). It’s one of David’s favorites, but he only likes new recipe extra crispy & spicy. They were out of it & we had to settle for original recipe. Let me just say that after I peeled away all of the greasy soggy skin, I was left with a dinner of fries & cole slaw. It wasn’t one of our stellar epicurean experiences.

We awoke to find ourselves in suburbia. Housing subdivisions, treed lawns, & soccer fields surrounded us. The aroma of freshly cut grass was so sweet. I hadn’t smelled that since we left home. We lived in such a commercial concrete area of the Gold Coast that despite all the beautiful plantings, any grass clippings were well out of reach of our sniffers.

As we made our way into the Blue Mts. The unattractive steel & wire skeleton of the commuter railway followed us. The topography grew more beautiful as the angle of the climb increased, & we were afforded glimpses of occasional yellows, reds, & oranges of the scattered maples. The air became crisper & people wore sweaters or jackets. We’d found autumn. The sun was in its usual prominent place in the sky with only the puffy vertical trail of one cloud climbing up from a ridge.
We arrived in Leura, a picturesque little town of three blocks filled with trendy cafes, galleries, a nursing home, & tourists. Its claim to fame is the Sublime Point Lookout. There the Jamison Valley unfolded & the Three Sisters rock formation was visible. As we were gazing through our binoculars a friendly couple of Sydneysiders asked us where we were from. When they heard that we were from Ohio, they became very excited. We were equally thrilled they’d actually heard of our state. It turns out they have a son who lived in Cincinnati & had just been in Cleveland. His home was Pittsburgh (two-hours from Akron), but he travels a lot for business. He cooks Awesome Aussie Ribs in rib cook-offs around the country & just won in Reno, Nevada. As we were marveling at the co-incidence, the man’s mobile rang. It was his son calling from Pittsburgh. We were introduced by remote, checked the weather in Pittsburgh, gloated at our weather here, & cheered when we heard he was buying a restaurant there. Our bonding attained new depths when we learned they too were expecting a new grand baby. We parted with best wishes for all & directions to our next stop, Echo Point in Katoomba. There we could admire the Three Sisters from yet another vantage point.

Three Sisters Three Ways We were eager to ride on the infamous Katoomba Scenic Railway. It was originally used for access to the coalmines on the hillsides, but the old cars have since been replaced. It’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the steepest incline in the world. As we boarded, I thought it could be more aptly named the “recline” railway. Our seats were tipped so far back that the only view I had was of the sky & treetops. As the “incline” pulled slowly out of the station, the theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark began to play. That should have alerted me. The cars plunged over a cliff & into a tunnel. In the blackness I heard David say, “I don’t go on roller coasters!” I was too busy trying to stay in my seat to calm him. Suddenly the angle of the seating made sense. We were now in a vertical, almost standing position as we plummeted out of the tunnel & could see the chasm unfold under us. We heard a story about an elderly woman who’d asked what would happen if the cable broke. She was assured that the cars would stop in three seconds. No one told her that was all the time it would take for them to crash to the bottom. At the bottom we walked a short distance along a trail until we came upon one of those wonderful warning signs this country does so well. It said “Warning: If you should walk beyond the landslide, note that the climbing conditions are rigorous; be sure to have water with you; be aware of magnificent trees & leeches.” We headed back to the railway, looked at the Three Sisters from a third angle for the third time, & were treated to an ear-popping ascent.

Our goal for tonight was to get to Cowra, a town noted solely for a Japanese breakout at a POW camp during WWII. About 250 people lost their lives during the uprising. The Japanese hid out for a while in the hills before returning to what they decided were not such awful conditions at the camp. The drive was reminiscent of our Smokey Mts. Since we were seeing it from the “wrong” side of the road, I felt as if we were seeing it in reverse. We emerged into kangaroo country where it looked as if the roos were losing. We saw three carcasses along the roadside. The undulating hills alternately framed & hid the setting sun, but the ancillary reflection lit up the sky in shades of mauve & lavender as we rolled into our motel.

Toby

Free At Last

April 4, 2002-Free Spirits
(photos:Nimbin,
Big Banana & Me)

We started our day by getting our hair cut. Neither one of us was satisfied that it was short enough so that we wouldn’t look like derelicts in five weeks. We dropped our linens at the Bruce’s & went to our favorite kebab stand for lunch & to say good-bye to the lovely woman who works there. We’ve been loyal customers for seven months.

We headed for Nimbin by way of Murwillumbah, Dum Dum, & Tumblegum. I will miss these uniquely Aussie/Aborigine town names. Nimbin is best known for pot & hippies. The first sign I saw as we parked said, “Cultural Center: No Dogs, No Dealing.” If you believe that, you’ll believe that all the drug paraphernalia sold in the stores is “for use with tobacco only.” The hippies arrived in the 70’s & the town has become a haven for those who’ve dropped out, those who are barely hanging in, or those who are flirting with sliding over the edge. Waves of incense waft from open doors of the stores and most of the people on the streets are smoking something rank smelling. It could have been just tobacco. They all looked like they needed a bath. Every store seemed to display tables of petitions at the door. You could affix your name to a request to legalize pot or save everything from a whale to a rainforest. The fashions for sale ranged from tie dyed to chenille & beaded anything was de rigueur. There were a few tour buses around & I was grateful we hadn’t paid to get here. It was something to experience & might have brought back fond memories for some, but we’re too old to have been hippies in that era & too straight laced to have indulged in the trappings.

Our car will be fine for the week if it doesn’t scare us to death. It came with a speed alarm that screams when the set maximum speed is exceeded. David had it set 5 K above the limit. It kept bleating at us & we were jolted by each incident. He raised the setting.

We drove past some scorched trees on our way to Coffs Harbor. It was a grim reminder of the mammoth forest fire a few months ago. The road we’re traveling on had been closed. We puzzled over a sign announcing the “Halfway Creek Realignment Project.” Since I’m given to flights of conjecture, I wondered if they were going to realign the creek, realign it with what, or only realign the creek halfway & wait to finish the job. Any other variables? If that sign didn’t give us something to think about, the next signs gave us pause. I have often mentioned the deadly creatures in this land, but never expected danger from some of its most benign creatures. Bold taxicab yellow signs warned us to beware of “wild horses & wild cattle” wandering onto the road.
As we drove, we realized we didn’t have a real sense we were going home. It hasn’t sunk in that it’s really over. We’ve left the Gold Coast many times & have always returned. Perhaps when we lift off from Sydney it will feel real. David did say he’s now truly retired & on vacation. He will not have to ever schedule around services, bar mitzvahs, & weddings. It felt good.

April 5, 2002-Learning Experience

When we arrived in Coffs Harbor it was too late to see mutton birds return to their nests, but early enough to find a room. We enjoyed the best night’s sleep in weeks & I woke up next to a well-rested retired person. We listened to the news as we dressed. I’m now convinced that American Jews have joined the ranks of the Arab Muslims for the world title of “most reviled.” Bush asked the Israelis to withdraw their troops as soon as it was possible which sounded to David like he gave them until Colin Powell got there.

We started our day at the Big Banana. It’s an enormously garish walk-through yellow fiberglass banana that sits in front of a tourist trap. David kept to the theme by having banana pancakes. He didn’t know it came with a dollop of whipped cream & two scoops of vanilla ice cream. I thought we’d take a photo of the fruit & hit the road, but David wanted to take the tram tour of the plantation & walk out to the scenic overlook. Fortunately, it was a half hour before the next tram & he didn’t want to wait. I’d have protested paying $A 12 for the tram & $A 5 for the walkway to the lookout point anyway. The stop was worthwhile. We had a chance to watch two brothers arguing. They were about 5 & 7 years old. The younger boy called his brother a “sicko.” The older one retorted with, “dick nose.” I’d never heard that epithet & was pleased to increase my vocabulary of expletives.

We decided to skip the koala hospital at Port Macquarie since I was more than content to keep my image of the healthy koalas I’d seen. It was a long & sometimes tedious drive to the outskirts of Sydney. To maintain my sanity, I began to sing. After “Itsy Bitsy Spider” & “Patty Cake” David decided I was practicing my repertoire for the baby. I switched to reading road signs. The one that confused me said, “Overtaking Planet Ahead.” I thought I’d have to turn to my Aussie translator, Daniel Bruce who now gets these emails, but the next sign cleared things up. The sign should have said, “Overtaking lane ahead.” Someone had skillfully stenciled in the additional “p” & “t.” Another oddity we came upon was a bicycle crossing on the freeway. As we sailed along at 110 k/ph (about 68 mph), we saw the sign with a picture of a pedal bike, the crossing path, & another sign that indicated the bicycle lane on the highway.

Throughout our trip, the Great Dividing Range hovered to the West just in our peripheral vision like an unobtrusive escort or chaperone. Now its presence loomed. We flew through the peaceful Hunter Valley, home of some great Australian wines, & found ourselves on the outskirts of Sydney. The approach to the city from the North couldn’t have been more beautiful. The road threaded its way through shadows of sheer pink & gold hued sandstone cliffs. We shot out of the half-light into the glare of the late afternoon sun. The startling blue of the Hawksfield River greeted us as we hurtled onto the bridge & past the marina.

It took what seemed like eons to navigate the roads around Sydney, but we finally arrived in Blacktown at the foot of the Blue Mts. The oil from the eucalyptus trees evaporates & causes the air to take on a blue color. Our motel has a sporting club as part of the complex. That translates as gambling casino. We ate a mediocre buffet dinner there which explained the ridiculously low cost of $A 10.80. Three men were circulating in the dining room & selling raffle tickets. One man held the prize, one man held the moneybag, & one man handed out the raffle tickets. The first prize was a tray of steaks & sausage. We declined.

Toby