This post covers the period 1 - 21 February 2020.
On 22 February we will fly from Sydney to Delhi for the start of our tour of India. That tour will be the subject of my next post.
Some of the events which dominated the news during this period:
The Wuhan coronavirus (now called Covid-19) continues to grow rapidly, although some commentators think it may be peaking. On 11 February 40,000 people in China had the virus, with 1,000 deaths; on 17 February the numbers were 66,000 infected and 1,600 deaths; by 21 February 75,000 and 2,118. Dr Li Wen Liang who tried to raise a warning flag in December was a victim. The virus has been detected in 27 countries, but fortunately there have only been eleven deaths outside China so far.
A new 1,000-bed hospital was built in Wuhan in 10 days; another hospital is under construction but will take 2 weeks to complete. Remarkable - only in China!
On 7 February the US Senate acquitted President Trump of impeachment charges; Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican to find him guilty. This was always going to be the result and I just hope the Democrats haven't shot themselves in the foot by trying to (rightly) impeach President Trump.
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It's Primaries time in US politics - veteran left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders is leading a large field of Democratic Party hopefuls. They look hopelessly divided at this stage.
On 10 February the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, addressed a joint sitting of the Australian Parliament in Canberra; a new bilateral trade agreement, the Indonesia Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, came into force.
On 17 February General Motors announced the cessation of the iconic Holden brand this year. Holden has been an important player in the Aussie car market since the 1940s, producing 7.7 million Holden vehicles. GM stopped manufacturing Holdens in 2017, but continued to sell imported Holden-badged cars. Even that will now cease. Sad.
In mid-February it finally started to rain on the East Coast, breaking the long drought and extinguishing the many bushfires burning along the East Coast from Queensland down to Tasmania. But in some areas the rain was so heavy that flooding occurred.
What a crazy country: first drought, then fires, finally floods.
From July 2019 to February 2020 fires burnt almost 16 million hectares (equivalent to the entire area of England!!); resulting in an estimated one billion animal deaths; some 3,500 homes were destroyed; and 33 people died.
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) 2019 was the hottest year on record, and also the year with the lowest rainfall. A recipe for disaster, and that's exactly what happened. Tragic!
Here are photos of some of the activities in which we were engaged during this period.
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| On 1 February the Canberra Capitals beat Adelaide 73 - 71 to finish the WNBL season in second place. On 16 February Canberra beat Melbourne in the "best of three" games. Let's back the Capitals to win the Championship again this year. |
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| The Australia China Friendship Society held its annual Lantern-making workshop on 2 February. But the Lantern Festival itself had to be postponed from 8 February to 14 March 2020. Chinese community groups have stopped performing in crowded places because of fears related to the coronavirus. Chinese restaurants are also reporting significant falls in patronage. Let's hope things are back to normal by mid-March and the Lantern Festival can go ahead. |
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| My cousin from Germany, Oda and her daughter Marion, visited us in Canberra. Their Aussie holiday started with a week in Sydney, then 3 days in Canberra, and finally nine days in Melbourne. Welcome dinner from left: Michael, Adrienne, Britt, Touey, Novie, me, Aniko, Oda, Angie, Marion, and Vera. |
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| The following day we drove out to the Carey's farm at Wee Jasper, about 90 minutes drive from Canberra. The countryside was dry, dry, dry from the drought, everything was brown. Sheep were being 'hand-fed' (ie the farmer provided feed manually). A week later the rains came to the East Coast of Australia - even floods in some areas - they put out the bushfires and quickly the landscape took on a green tinge. A crazy country: drought, fires, and floods! |
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| An interesting rock formation on the road to Wee Jasper - this would be a geologist's mecca. |
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| Some of the sheep at Peter's farm (he has about 5,500). Difficult to see, but this flock of sheep actually have coats on to protect their wool. Peter said his brother started this program about 4 years ago. About 700 sheep with the finest wool have been "coated". Curious - I'd never seen that before. |
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| Angie and Oda trying out a 4-wheel bike. |
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| Vera in front of the shearing shed. |
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| It was crutching time for the lambs, when wool is trimmed around their eyes and bum. These two young shearers were fast. |
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| Peter showing Marion some fine merino wool. |
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| We had a picnic on the banks of the Goodradigbee River (or at least what was left of it) which borders the property. |
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| Tiny, cute, Wee Jasper Primary School, founded in 1899, where Peter and his siblings went to school. |
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| I showed Oda and Marion around Old Parliament House - Marion couldn't resist donning the Speaker's wig and gown and sitting in the (replica) Speaker's Chair. Thank god they don't wear wigs these days. |
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| We also looked around new Parliament House. Actually it was opened in 1988, 32 years ago so not really 'new' today. A large, impressive building. But interestingly, both our visitors prefered Old Parliament House - "more cosy/mehr gemutlich"!! |
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| Marion and Oda loved seeing the wild kangaroos in Weston Park. |
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| All too quickly it was time to say goodbye to Oda and Marion. We had a farewell dinner at Sammy's Chinese Kitchen at the Kingston Foreshore. From left: Aniko, Marion, Angie, Britt, Lelani, Vera with Nouvie, Oda, Touey, and me. |
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| Marion chatting with Lelani. |
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| Saying goodbye at Canberra Airport. Oda and Marion were amazed that here everyone can go right through to the departure gates. They flew to Melbourne where they spent nine enjoyable days. Marion's son, Moritz, lives and works in Melbourne so he was able to show them around. They were so worried about coming to Australia because of all the fires, but fortunately everything went well and they loved their time here. |
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| The Breast Cancer organisation, Bosom Buddies, arranged for Nutrition ACT to conduct a cooking class. The demonstrators were Ellen and Bridget. Partners were invited, so I accompanied Vera. |
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| They made three dishes: Corn fritters (recipe above), Thai Chicken Salad with rice paper noodles, and Chia Berry cup dessert. |
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| With old friends Kaye and Patrick O'Hara we went to the opening night of Canberra Repertory's play "The Grapes of Wrath", based on John Steinbeck's 1939 powerful best seller. |
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The Super Rugby season is underway and I watched the Brumbies v Highlanders game on 15 February. The Brumbies had wins against the Queensland Reds and the Melbourne Rebels and we were hoping for another win today. But it was not to be: they lost 23 - 22, when the Highlanders scored a converted try after the final whistle. Heart-break! 
In Sydney for a couple of days before our India adventure. Here are Andrew and Caroline walking the kids to school. Eddie is now in Kindergarten at Burke Street Public Primary School, while Jay-Jay is still at Surry Hills Day Care. We stopped at this little cafe for a quick cappuccino coffee.
Eddie in his school uniform. The first school building here was completed in 1884; with major renovations in 1910 and of course many more since then. Andrew and Caroline are impressed by the excellent staff at BSPS.
      We visited Peter and Karen Murphy near Emu Plains. Peter and I worked together in the Trade Office of the Australian High Commission in Singapore 25 years ago. It was great to see them again.  Peter Murphy - one of the nicest blokes you could ever meet. 
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That's it for this post. Tomorrow we leave for India.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera and Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Friday 21 February 2020.
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