Post #130 23 March 2017

Gentlefolk,

This post has photos of some of the things we did, and friends we met, during our first 6 weeks in Canberra.

30 September 2016 birthday party for Ike Supomo.  She turned 80.  Marvellous lady, a stalwart of the Indonesian community in Canberra.  Ike's husband (Dr Supomo) was a lecturer at the ANU (he passed away a couple of years ago).  They came to Canberra almost 50 years ago and lived in Curtin, not far from us. In the photo, from left: Robin Brown; me; Ike Supomo (birthday girl); Reno & Health McMichael; Vera; Tieke Brown. 

Some of the large crowd celebrating Ike Supomo's 80th birthday.

The Indonesian Ambassador, HE Pak Najib, made a nice speech congratulating Mrs Supomo and then entertained the crowd by singing popular songs.  

Every year in October (Spring) Canberra holds the Floriade Festival.  Lots and lots of wonderful flowers.  Spring is normally quite nice in Canberra, but this year it was cold and wet - but luckily we picked a good day to visit Floriade.  Many visitors, both local and from inter-state (including many Asians, mainly of Chinese and Indian origin).

A flower bed of tulips in Floriade.

More flowers at Floriade.

Floriade also features some amusement rides, like the ferris wheel in this photo.  Entry to Floriade is free, but you have to pay for the rides.

This year Floriade featured a display of gymnastics in a large tent (the performances were free!).

One of the gymnasts who performed at Floriade.

This wonderful old musical organ was another attraction at Floriade.

Tuesday 11 October 2016. Lunch with some former work colleagues from AUSTRADE days. From left: Michael Abrahams; John Bush; Geoff McKie (who organised the lunch); Ian Ffrench; Peter Kane; me; Dick Wilson; Alex Hackett; Jim Enright.  We are all retired now.  Good guys.  Glad to see them all looking pretty fit and well.

Saturday 15 October 2016.  We attended the wedding celebration of Cary & Ally Scott-Kemmis.  It was held at a vineyard about 20 km from Canberra.  Lovely garden and old homestead.  It was a perfect Spring day - cool, bright and clear.  After such a wet winter, the countryside around Canberra is greener than I've ever seen it - looks amazing.  

The countryside around Canberra was green, green, green.  Can you make out the vines?

The wedding reception/dinner was held on this beautiful terrace below the house.

Jane Freebury, the groom's mother, made a nice speech.  It was just a lovely event. We first met Jane and Don in 1994 on posting to the Australian Embassy Jakarta and have kept in touch ever since.  

Saturday 29 October 2016. The annual Indonesian Embassy festival at the Indonesian Embassy in Yarralumla, featured traditional music and dance, and of course lots of delicious food stalls.  This photo shows the Gamelan orchestra performing.

Another photo of the Gamelan orchestra members.  First from the left is Dr Adrian Clynes, who is married to Vera's aunt from Bali, Nanik Ketu (she is 4th from left).  Ibu Pomo who had her 80th birthday recently is in the center of the group.

Visitors to the Indonesian Festival could also have instruction on various traditional Indonesian musical instruments.

Wednesday 2 November 2016.  Dinner at Bangladesh Restaurant with old friends, from left: Christine Evans; Alex Shumack; David Evans; Hugo Hofgartner; me; Angus Hall; Rae (Alex's partner); and Vera.  Hugo was visiting from the Gold Coast where he lives.  We've known these friends since the mid-1960s.

Friday 4 November 2016.  Andrew and Marta McGuire called in.  They had been to a function at Adaminaby and were driving back to Sydney. The first friends we entertained in our new apartment - actually on our new balcony.!

Lunch with Noel Cock and Thuy at Sammy's Kitchen at the Foreshore.  

Thuy and Vera.

Saturday 5 November 2016.  John Scott proposing a toast at Ian Loiterton's 70th birthday bash.  Ian and Sharon organised an excellent party./dinner.  I met Ian in 1966 when we were students at the ANU (he majored in Geology, I majored in Economics).  They are a wonderful couple and one of our best friends.

Me with birthday boy Ian Loiterton.

Saturday 12 November 2016.  We bought a 2015 Subaru Forester D-S from a family in Sydney.  Our friend Simon Peidrafita helped with the negotiations, and then very kindly drove us to Baulkham Hills to pick up the car.  What a great guy.  The car was 15 months old, almost 'as new' condition, with 9,300km on the clock.  It is very different from the 2003 Subaru Outback we have been driving - a big step up - everything is run by electronics these days.

We changed the Forester's registration from NSW to ACT.  When we took the NSW licence plates to the Motor Registry in Queanbeyan we happened to meet Marty Harris, one of Vera's old bosses from MC - Peoplebank days.

Wednesday 9 November 2016.  Some friends came around to watch the results of the US Presidential election. From left: Neale Emanuel; Christine Evans; David Evans; Paul Flint; Vera.  Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the USA. Although she got almost 3 million more votes, he won more States (Electoral College votes).  An extraordinary result, almost unbelievable.  \What sort of a President would  Mr Trump be? ... only time will tell.

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So although we had been through some tough times in regard to the apartment, you can see that our first few weeks 'back home' in Canberra were not all bad.  We caught up with many old friends, which was great.

On 14 November 2016 I started teaching at the Australian National University (ANU College). The next post will describe that experience.

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Thursday, 23 March 2017