Saturday was a day that was not as tightly scheduled, which was nice that most of us did separate activities with our host families. Bob and Jan and I made a brief stop at the Rotary Market put on by our friends at the Lower Blue Mountain Rotary Club. Kate and Lynda were also there as well as several of our friends in the RC.
In the afternoon, Bob Templeman hosted a golf outing to Springwood Golf Course for Pete, Laurie Waterson and his daughter Nyree, and myself. It was a great afternoon (quite hot for us New England types). If getting the highest score is good then I did well...
In the evening we met at Colin and Marilyn Kenney's beautiful home for a farewell barbeque. We had a very nice evening with the five host couples (Laurie and Bev Waterson, Bob and Jan Templeman, Colin and Marilyn Kenney, Peter and Lynda Sparkes, and David and Su Manzi) and Ivan and Marilyn Fedor.
Now it is Sunday. We had to say good-bye to our friends in Springwood and we are off to new adventures with the Penrith club. We have a quiet day here with my hosts Albert and Merle Blatch. In fact, I enjoyed close to a two hour nap!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Magic
It's moving day, heading out in a few minutes, but wanted to get this up before the scrap I scribbled it on disappears in the depths of my suitcase:
So Much to See at the Edge of the World
"Who would have thought
there'd be so much to see in the world?
Dandelions and ants
Traction engines and bolting horses."
- from The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay, Australian artist and scalliwag
Quickly: Went to the Glenbrook markets yesterday, had a coffee with Lynda, Paul and Liz : )
Found my Australian Christmas ornament, went to the Norman Lindsay Gallery, wonderful farewell dinner with Springwood Rotarians.
Uh oh, gotta run, time to go.
So Much to See at the Edge of the World
"Who would have thought
there'd be so much to see in the world?
Dandelions and ants
Traction engines and bolting horses."
- from The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay, Australian artist and scalliwag
Quickly: Went to the Glenbrook markets yesterday, had a coffee with Lynda, Paul and Liz : )
Found my Australian Christmas ornament, went to the Norman Lindsay Gallery, wonderful farewell dinner with Springwood Rotarians.
Uh oh, gotta run, time to go.
Friday, March 14, 2008
WAY Down Under
FRIDAY: Up at 7 for 8am departure, breakfast with Peter, then he and Lynda dropped me off at Pete's family to meet the others. After coffee and checking out the chickens in the backyard, we divided into two cars for the ride to the Jenolan Caves. Amy Beth, Mina and I rode with Ivan, while Steve and Pete rode with Bob and his wife. Our carload had lively discussion all the way up to the top of the mountains, one part of which was Mina and I yammering on about horses we have known and loved. The other side of the mountains reminded me a lot of some parts of Colorado, and there were the horses and cattle to emphasize that similarity.
We had some time before our 11:30 tour of Lucas Cave so we had a coffe and snack before heading down under, Down Under. We also went in Oriental Cave, which was fabulous, lots of diversity and explained by a fabulous guide who clearly loves geology, the caves, and could tell a wonderful, engaging story. She reminded me of Jody Wilson in a lot of ways.
The variety of formations in the caves was spectacular, from giant shawls to crystal sheets to rippled surfaces and walls that looked like they were covered in popcorn or fuzz or any number of other textures. One woman gave an impromptu solo recital to show off the acoustics, and soon after there was a light and music show that was too short, as far as I was concerned.
Lots of up and down, and amazing to think of the early explorers swinging through there with their candles and hemp ropes and hob-nailed boots, discovering things left and right. I believe we were told the caves date back 135 million years ...
After all the spelunking, we surfaced for a late lunch and a sleepy drive back to Ivan and Margaret's house, where we played with their 2 gorgeous shepherds, Elvis and Jetta. The others left and I stayed behind until 7, when we all came back to Peter and Lynda's for a massive meal and great conversation. Ivan led last year's group to NC and, like everyone else around here, is wonderful. I can barely keep my eyes open now, so will close. Tomorrow is a day with our host families, so Peter is manning the nursery and Lynda's got all kinds of nice things planned -ciao for now!
We had some time before our 11:30 tour of Lucas Cave so we had a coffe and snack before heading down under, Down Under. We also went in Oriental Cave, which was fabulous, lots of diversity and explained by a fabulous guide who clearly loves geology, the caves, and could tell a wonderful, engaging story. She reminded me of Jody Wilson in a lot of ways.
The variety of formations in the caves was spectacular, from giant shawls to crystal sheets to rippled surfaces and walls that looked like they were covered in popcorn or fuzz or any number of other textures. One woman gave an impromptu solo recital to show off the acoustics, and soon after there was a light and music show that was too short, as far as I was concerned.
Lots of up and down, and amazing to think of the early explorers swinging through there with their candles and hemp ropes and hob-nailed boots, discovering things left and right. I believe we were told the caves date back 135 million years ...
After all the spelunking, we surfaced for a late lunch and a sleepy drive back to Ivan and Margaret's house, where we played with their 2 gorgeous shepherds, Elvis and Jetta. The others left and I stayed behind until 7, when we all came back to Peter and Lynda's for a massive meal and great conversation. Ivan led last year's group to NC and, like everyone else around here, is wonderful. I can barely keep my eyes open now, so will close. Tomorrow is a day with our host families, so Peter is manning the nursery and Lynda's got all kinds of nice things planned -ciao for now!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Vet visits
Doc Steve and I were lucky enough to visit two affiliated vet hospitals today, one in Faulconbridge and one in Winmalee.
Dr. Blake Britton and Dr. Russell Bassett shared their very progressive hospitals with us. It was actually amazing to see how similar small animal practice is, much of the same lab equipment, drugs, and infectious diseases. But certainly no poisonous snakebite cases in our area! Their fridges are stocked with antivenom for the deadly tiger, brown and black snakes which are common in the area.
Russell is from South Africa and interestingly enough is a classmate of the veterinarian I will be taking a wildlife immobilization course with this summer at Kruger National Park! What a small world!
Cheers for now! :) Mina
(By the way, there are two adorable kittens for adoption at the Winmalee hospital!)
Dr. Blake Britton and Dr. Russell Bassett shared their very progressive hospitals with us. It was actually amazing to see how similar small animal practice is, much of the same lab equipment, drugs, and infectious diseases. But certainly no poisonous snakebite cases in our area! Their fridges are stocked with antivenom for the deadly tiger, brown and black snakes which are common in the area.
Russell is from South Africa and interestingly enough is a classmate of the veterinarian I will be taking a wildlife immobilization course with this summer at Kruger National Park! What a small world!
Cheers for now! :) Mina
(By the way, there are two adorable kittens for adoption at the Winmalee hospital!)
Clarification
For those who are wondering, Steve did not pierce his ears - the blog post written in the back of the Subaru is by Kate, who wrote it in Word on Steve's computer and he posted it when he had internet access ...
Time Travelling in Australia
"Wilderness is a spell that is easily broken." - from the movie Wild Australia, shown at The Edge theatre, Katoomba
Australia has us all under its spell, and it's hard to know where to start in describing this experience, but at the core are the people we are meeting. After just a few days, it was terrible saying farewell to Paul and Liz Wednesday morning. We stayed up late Tues. night, talking and having a shandy, biscuits and cheese. The presentation that night went well and we met the team members coming to NH in April, who are wonderful and I can't wait to see them the 13th when they're in New London.
The others have covered Tuesday so I'll tackle yesterday, Wed. We met at the Cooks at 9; our luggage all together makes quite a pile (I for one definitely overpacked, even with just 1 checked bag) but the Springwood club arrived with a small trailer for it all so that was brilliant.
Bob and Peter (Peter and his wife Lynda are my second hosts) had us for the day and we headed up the M4 motorway into the mountains. I rode with Steve and Pete in Peter's car; Peter's a retired high school teacher and principal and had loads of information about the history, geology and history of the area, which was great. Our first stop was The Edge theater in Katoomba to see the 40 minute documentary about the discovery of the Wollemi pines, thought to be extinct for millions of years but found a few years ago. It's a great film, but I'm on the world's slowest computer (it's taken 40 minutes to write this b/c it stops to grind away between words) so will elaborate more later. After, we saw the projection room and the 70 mm set up.
Then it was on to Scenic World, where we took the Skyway down 65 million years into a rainforest that dinosaurs would recognize, it was gorgeous and ancient and unlike anything anywhere else on the planet. When the Grand Canyon was nothing more than a trickling creek on the surface of Arizona, these canyons here looked the same way they do now - this land is beyond ancient.
We took the world's steepest railway backwards up to the top, and we had front row seats for the stunning, short journey. I don't know how they built that thing. Mina had a fear-driven but entertaining narrative but we all survived and then took the cable car across for a look from a different angle.
Dropping off the others with their hosts, Peter and I went to Lynda's nursery, a wonderful place with plants galore. From there we went to the grocery story, where I was able to replace the shower poof I realized I'd forgotten at Paul and Liz's. I always like going to groceries while travelling, and here there are a lot of familiar brands, both from the US and UK, plus some new things, of course.
Then we headed home, where 14-week old kitten Penny played and raced around. Lynda prepared a wonderful dinner of prawns and fish and salad and we sipped wine and discussed books, politics, travel, everything, it was a great meal and I felt right at home. Turned in at 11:30 and slept great with my feline companion curled up next to my neck, what a cutie.
And here I am at the Blue Mountains Gazette for the day; they are under a big deadline and the production room and editorial area are dead quiet. It's nearly time for lunch, so I think I will go for a wander along the interesting looking small-town Main Street and see what I can see.
This is just the roughest outline of what we've done in the past day, leaving out a lot of the thoughts and emotions that really make the essence of the experience, but suffice it to say that we have a great travel group that is meeting warm, wonderful people who immediately make us feel part of their families, and for that we are grateful, and excited, too, I think, because this is not a surface experience, it is intensely, immediately real and valuable and extraordinary. Last night at dinner, while telling the story of how Michael and I found our house and all the antics that went with the process, I got to the part where my grandfather did what he could for us in a physical sense ("If I were ten years younger I'd be up on that roof with them," he said, about Michael and our dads reshingling the place. Of course, he still would have been 71 years with the 10 knocked off!), bringing over his big tractor soon after the purchase to mow the neglected field, a project that meant he got to know every inch of the place, and he loved it because we did. I pretty much burst into tears right at the dinner table (much to my surprise - and theirs, I'm sure!) trying to talk because the one year anniversary of his death is coming up and it's on my mind, and the caring that Peter and Lynda showed ... you can't fake that. As Pete Peck said, we are all so blessed and fortunate to have this experience, it's pretty much beyond words. But I'll keeping trying, and blog when I can ...
Australia has us all under its spell, and it's hard to know where to start in describing this experience, but at the core are the people we are meeting. After just a few days, it was terrible saying farewell to Paul and Liz Wednesday morning. We stayed up late Tues. night, talking and having a shandy, biscuits and cheese. The presentation that night went well and we met the team members coming to NH in April, who are wonderful and I can't wait to see them the 13th when they're in New London.
The others have covered Tuesday so I'll tackle yesterday, Wed. We met at the Cooks at 9; our luggage all together makes quite a pile (I for one definitely overpacked, even with just 1 checked bag) but the Springwood club arrived with a small trailer for it all so that was brilliant.
Bob and Peter (Peter and his wife Lynda are my second hosts) had us for the day and we headed up the M4 motorway into the mountains. I rode with Steve and Pete in Peter's car; Peter's a retired high school teacher and principal and had loads of information about the history, geology and history of the area, which was great. Our first stop was The Edge theater in Katoomba to see the 40 minute documentary about the discovery of the Wollemi pines, thought to be extinct for millions of years but found a few years ago. It's a great film, but I'm on the world's slowest computer (it's taken 40 minutes to write this b/c it stops to grind away between words) so will elaborate more later. After, we saw the projection room and the 70 mm set up.
Then it was on to Scenic World, where we took the Skyway down 65 million years into a rainforest that dinosaurs would recognize, it was gorgeous and ancient and unlike anything anywhere else on the planet. When the Grand Canyon was nothing more than a trickling creek on the surface of Arizona, these canyons here looked the same way they do now - this land is beyond ancient.
We took the world's steepest railway backwards up to the top, and we had front row seats for the stunning, short journey. I don't know how they built that thing. Mina had a fear-driven but entertaining narrative but we all survived and then took the cable car across for a look from a different angle.
Dropping off the others with their hosts, Peter and I went to Lynda's nursery, a wonderful place with plants galore. From there we went to the grocery story, where I was able to replace the shower poof I realized I'd forgotten at Paul and Liz's. I always like going to groceries while travelling, and here there are a lot of familiar brands, both from the US and UK, plus some new things, of course.
Then we headed home, where 14-week old kitten Penny played and raced around. Lynda prepared a wonderful dinner of prawns and fish and salad and we sipped wine and discussed books, politics, travel, everything, it was a great meal and I felt right at home. Turned in at 11:30 and slept great with my feline companion curled up next to my neck, what a cutie.
And here I am at the Blue Mountains Gazette for the day; they are under a big deadline and the production room and editorial area are dead quiet. It's nearly time for lunch, so I think I will go for a wander along the interesting looking small-town Main Street and see what I can see.
This is just the roughest outline of what we've done in the past day, leaving out a lot of the thoughts and emotions that really make the essence of the experience, but suffice it to say that we have a great travel group that is meeting warm, wonderful people who immediately make us feel part of their families, and for that we are grateful, and excited, too, I think, because this is not a surface experience, it is intensely, immediately real and valuable and extraordinary. Last night at dinner, while telling the story of how Michael and I found our house and all the antics that went with the process, I got to the part where my grandfather did what he could for us in a physical sense ("If I were ten years younger I'd be up on that roof with them," he said, about Michael and our dads reshingling the place. Of course, he still would have been 71 years with the 10 knocked off!), bringing over his big tractor soon after the purchase to mow the neglected field, a project that meant he got to know every inch of the place, and he loved it because we did. I pretty much burst into tears right at the dinner table (much to my surprise - and theirs, I'm sure!) trying to talk because the one year anniversary of his death is coming up and it's on my mind, and the caring that Peter and Lynda showed ... you can't fake that. As Pete Peck said, we are all so blessed and fortunate to have this experience, it's pretty much beyond words. But I'll keeping trying, and blog when I can ...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Wonderland Down Under
Since arriving early Sunday morning Australia has not ceased to amaze me. Both the country and people are wonderful. After 4 days here I am still trying to get to full strength and recover from the travel, but we've hardly had time to think about as our hosts have gone the extra mile in every instance to ensure a great time for us. Our first presentation last night went well at the GSE alumni dinner held at the Panther Club in Penrith. Quite a place....its a large social club the size of a stadium that plays home the the Penrith Panther organization, a local rugby team. It was a great night and really gave us a good feeling going forward.
Our whirlwind start has including a wonderful run on Bondi beach upon arrival where after jumping into my first waves I was able to help Aunt Betty with her walker. After adjusting her shawl and spectacles she was able to again creep towards the water and let her bunions soak in the pleasant waters of the pacific.
We followed this up with a wonderful walk along the cliffs at Bondi and were able to get some great pictures of Sydney Harbour. Then we were off to the mountains to meet our wonderful host families. John and Susan Wakefield are two of the most wonderful people I have ever met. They are the first of several families to open their homes and lives to me on this trip. I can't wait to see them at the District Conference in Mugee. We enjoyed a great barbecue with our host families before fading off into jet lag oblivion.
John was kind enough to take me to some of his favorite haunts Monday morning which included the local Holden motor car dealer. General Motors-Holden division is a long standing tradition in the Australian culture and John has owned many over the years. They often mimic the Chevy and Pontiac cousins but usually include models only seen and produced. I was able to see a restored 1948 Holden in the showroom which was right up my alley. I got some great photos while there. John was kind enough to present me with beautiful Holden racing team shirt later in my visit.
We met for lunch at a local village cafe with the group before heading off to Lennox bridge for a visit. It is the oldest bridge on the continent of Australia. Like many things built with convict labor. We then proceeded to Red Hands Cave to see Aboriginal Cave artwork. After a short hike it became apparent that Aunt Betty's wheel chair would not be able to traverse the rugged bush terrain. With some effort we were able to load her and her knitting gear into a fireman's carry and continue on down the path. The cave paintings were stunning and hard to believe that they had survived over 1500 years. Our last stop for the day included a beautiful scenic outlook of the gradual steps down to emu plain with Sydney in the background. Susan made a charming lamb dinner for us that evening and we visited and watched a recording of my band the East Bay Jazz Ensemble. They seemed to recognize most of the tunes and enjoyed the music.
Tuesday brought our hike with Bandeluk the aboriginal guide and another wonderful trek into the bush. The amazing thing about Australia is that the plants and flora we are seeing is completely new to us. Not one tree or plant could be found in normal settings in Vermont. So it is a lot to take in and totally breathtaking. With a bit of free time before the banquet Amy Beth and I leaped at the chance to try a spot of lawn bowling at the club just across the street from John and Susan's. One of the local club member's husband had offered to show us the game and we were so obliged. Gary gave us some pointers and let us have at it....wonderful fun....just lovely I say. Its always fun to try something new...especially something never seen in the state. Amy Beth was quite good at it and Gary's smile of approval made our afternoon.
People have no more valuable gift to give than there time and insight....this trip is a tribute to that and I am thankful for Rotary International for such a wonderful opportunity. I am truly blessed.
Stay Classy San Diego
Our whirlwind start has including a wonderful run on Bondi beach upon arrival where after jumping into my first waves I was able to help Aunt Betty with her walker. After adjusting her shawl and spectacles she was able to again creep towards the water and let her bunions soak in the pleasant waters of the pacific.
We followed this up with a wonderful walk along the cliffs at Bondi and were able to get some great pictures of Sydney Harbour. Then we were off to the mountains to meet our wonderful host families. John and Susan Wakefield are two of the most wonderful people I have ever met. They are the first of several families to open their homes and lives to me on this trip. I can't wait to see them at the District Conference in Mugee. We enjoyed a great barbecue with our host families before fading off into jet lag oblivion.
John was kind enough to take me to some of his favorite haunts Monday morning which included the local Holden motor car dealer. General Motors-Holden division is a long standing tradition in the Australian culture and John has owned many over the years. They often mimic the Chevy and Pontiac cousins but usually include models only seen and produced. I was able to see a restored 1948 Holden in the showroom which was right up my alley. I got some great photos while there. John was kind enough to present me with beautiful Holden racing team shirt later in my visit.
We met for lunch at a local village cafe with the group before heading off to Lennox bridge for a visit. It is the oldest bridge on the continent of Australia. Like many things built with convict labor. We then proceeded to Red Hands Cave to see Aboriginal Cave artwork. After a short hike it became apparent that Aunt Betty's wheel chair would not be able to traverse the rugged bush terrain. With some effort we were able to load her and her knitting gear into a fireman's carry and continue on down the path. The cave paintings were stunning and hard to believe that they had survived over 1500 years. Our last stop for the day included a beautiful scenic outlook of the gradual steps down to emu plain with Sydney in the background. Susan made a charming lamb dinner for us that evening and we visited and watched a recording of my band the East Bay Jazz Ensemble. They seemed to recognize most of the tunes and enjoyed the music.
Tuesday brought our hike with Bandeluk the aboriginal guide and another wonderful trek into the bush. The amazing thing about Australia is that the plants and flora we are seeing is completely new to us. Not one tree or plant could be found in normal settings in Vermont. So it is a lot to take in and totally breathtaking. With a bit of free time before the banquet Amy Beth and I leaped at the chance to try a spot of lawn bowling at the club just across the street from John and Susan's. One of the local club member's husband had offered to show us the game and we were so obliged. Gary gave us some pointers and let us have at it....wonderful fun....just lovely I say. Its always fun to try something new...especially something never seen in the state. Amy Beth was quite good at it and Gary's smile of approval made our afternoon.
People have no more valuable gift to give than there time and insight....this trip is a tribute to that and I am thankful for Rotary International for such a wonderful opportunity. I am truly blessed.
Stay Classy San Diego
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