Post #251 31 March 2022

 Gentlefolk,

This post describes our activities during March 2022.

The contents of this post are in the following sequence:

Photos of our activities during March 2022.

Books read.

Some news items which caught my eye in March.

International Trade.

Chuckle Time.

Overview

We returned from our visit to Brisbane. Did 2,700km, used 166 litres of diesel which cost $260.  Our activities were restricted because of the heavy rain and subsequent flooding in Brisbane and surrounding regions.

When we left Brisbane on 7 March the Transport NSW website showed the Pacific Highway was still closed, but fortunately it re-opened that morning and we have a good run down to Nambucca.

Internationally the Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to dominate headlines. Russia claimed they were acting in self-defence (which was patently untrue) and also said that only military targets would be attacked - but there were many media reports of civilian casualties. It was awful to see a much smaller country being battered, but also inspiring to see how the Ukrainians stood up to aggresive bully Vladimir Putin.

Russia's actions caused a great deal of angst, expecially in Europe. Stock markets crashed, commodity prices jumped, further fueling inflation.  This will not end well ...

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Photos of our main activities during March 2022.

In Brisbane.

The boys in their Marist College Ashgrove uniforms. They are shooting up: Kurt (16) is now 1.92m, Nate (almost 15) 1.70m, and Sid (almost 13) 1.62m.

Brisbane experienced days of heavy rain (see February Post). Jen & Tom live in a suburb called The Gap, which is elevated, so although they had 800 ml in 4 days there was little flooding in this area.  But many low-lying areas of Brisbane suffered extensive flooding. Also parts of North-Eastern NSW such as Lismore had extensive flooding. The photo is a creek on Settlement Road near their place. The creek had risen at least 4 metres.

This creek still had a lot of water. We could see that the level had been at least 2 metres higher at the peak. We often walk here but this little causeway at the back of The Gap High School was still impassible - will take another day or two (of no rain) for the water to go back to its normal level.

At its peak the water level was well over Vera's head. Amazing. Big trees were uprooted and swept along.

This was a pedestrian bridge near the Gap Shops.  The water level was up over the bridge.

Another view of the pedestrian bridge (above).  The water here had risen 2 or 3 metres at the peak a couple of days ago.

We went into Brisbane City. The Brisbane River was still high, but well off its peak by now.  In the big 2011 flood the Brisbane River peaked at 4.2 metres (above its normal level); this time the peak was 3.8m, so not quite as high. Still, many houses and businesses were flooded in low-lying suburbs like Milton, Auchenflower, New Farm. Luckily the buildings along South Bank escaped this time, although the big public swimming pools were affected.

We caught up with Michael Tjoeng who lives in Brisbane. We were colleagues in the Trade Section of the Australian Embassy in Beijing back in 1985-6. 

I couldn't resist taking a photo of Nate's room. A typical teenager's room - Messy!!!

We walked past this shop in Brisbane City - reminded us of our grand-daughter Jay Jay who will turn 5 next week.

A demonstration in front of Brisbane City Hall protesting against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What Putin is doing in Ukraine is awful.

Tom spent hours cleaning the pool after all the rain; we enjoyed the results of his labours!

Jen helping the boys with their homework.

Sid and their dog (Rhodesian Ridgeback).

Sid, Vera and Tom (wearing his Kokoda Trail T-shirt).

Tom, Vera and Jen on the morning of our departure. Tom was working from home that day, Jen was leaving for her school.

In Nambucca Heads

The mouth of the Nambucca River - we have never seen so much water here, caused by all the rain and wind.

Big tides and waves / wind caused erosion to Nambucca Main Beach.

The V Wall protecting the entrance to the Nambucca River.

Bob, surrounded by his favourite girls: Siri and Vera!

In Sydney

Jay and Eddie's birthdays are only a week apart. Jay turned 5 in March and Eddie turned 8.

Doting grandparents with Eddie and Jay Jay.

In Canberra

A view of Lake George, near Canberra. It was first discovered by Whites in 1820. The lake is shallow, max depth 5 metres, so water evaporates quickly in summer. It is rarely as full as it is at the moment, because of all the rain in the last 4 months, so this is a relatively rare sight. Often it contains little water and views from this lookout are mainly of grassy meadows.

We got back to Canberra just in time for the annual Enlighten Festival. It is a week of activities and commemorates Canberra Day (the official founding of Canberra on 12 March 1913). We went to art exhibitions, a Short Film festival, concerts, and the Balloon Festival.

We visited the Van Gogh Alive exhibition. Vincent van Goh (1853 - 1890) was born in The Netherlands  He started painting in 1881 at the age of 28. Moved to Paris and then Arles in Southern France. He painted/drew mainly: still life, portraits, and landscapes. He is now regarded as one of the leading Post Impressionist painters, but his talent was not recognised during his lifetime. In 1890, aged 37 poor and disappointed, he commited suicide. 

A real-life recreation of one of Van Gogh's paintings - people can step 'into' the painting!

Vincent Van Gogh loved painting sunflowers. This room was filled with (artificial) sunflowers - very bright and cheerful (although Vera doesn't look that happy???).

"Symphony in the Park" was lovely. The Canberra Symphony orchestra backed a group led by singer-songwriter Lior.  Beautiful evening, a very pleasant event.

The following day, Monday 14 March (actual Canberra Day holiday) we returned to Commonwealth Park. There were three stages operating with various dance and music performances. Lovely autumn day, but the crowd was rather small.

We watched this Baltic Dance Troupe perform some dances. 

Scottish musicians. Don't you love the sound of bagpipes?

The annual Balloon Festival is held at this time. Usually light winds; this year the balloons could take off every day, while last year they could only fly on a couple of days.

At 6.30am we watched the ballons inflate and take off. The noise and sight of 20 huge balloons filling up is always impressive.

And the favourite balloon was ...

We drove to the Arboretum which had good views of the balloons over Canberra.

On 18 March I went to Canberra Stadium to watch the Canberra Brumbies play the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby Pacific competition.  Here is the Mens Rugby Choir performing before the game. Only about 4,000 spectators at this game - disappointing! I can remember the 'good old days' 15 or 20 years ago when crowds if 15,000 and more were commonplace.

We had seats high up in the Meninga Stand. The Brumbies won a close, tough contest 16 - 12. But Rugby Union is now too 'stop-start', there is little running rugby which we all crave. In this game there were 19 scrums, 32 lineouts, and 26 penalties.  Crazy! The administratiors will have to do something to make this game more attractive or people just won't come. 

We enjoyed listening to Leo Joseph, at Smith's Alternative Cafe. He is a scientist at the CSIRO, but loves honky-tonk and jazz piano.

A street artist at work in Canberra City centre (Civic).

One of the new sculptures in Canberra City centre (locals know it as Civic).

Lunch for the birthday girls, from left: Frank, & Sue Tavares, Vera, and me.

This case got a lot of media attention. A policeman, Zachary Rolfe, was arresting 19 year old Arthur Juamangi Walker when Walker stabbed him with sissors. Rolfe shot 3 times, killing him. The jury found Rolfe "not guilty". But Walker's family, and other indigenous commentators reacted furiously. They claim that about 450 Indigenous prisoners have died 'in custody' in the last 20 years, and the police have always been exonerated.  Good that there is now a serious discussion about this issue.

Caught up with Tomoko and John Scott. They have a lovely house in Bowral, but also spend time in Canberra.

Photo taken by John Hemphill on 20 March 2022. He was trying out his new camera.

Photo taken by John Hemphill on 20 March 2022.

Dinner at home, from left: Michael and Tini Kramer (visiting from Sydney), Vera, and Stuart Valentine (visiting from Hong Kong). The following day, when they got back to Sydney, Michael tested positive for Covid. Although we don't have symptoms, we did RAT tests, both negative, and also proper PCR tests, both negative.  Still, thought it best to self-isolate for a few days, stayed away from crowds. Did RAT tests again on Sunday 27 March (Day 6 after the dinner with Michael) which were negative, so it looks as if we are in the clear. 

I went to this exhibition at the National Museum of Australia. Many wonderful pieces. I was surprised at how many of the objects were found outside Greece itself, mainly in Italy. Pottery was clay, painted (I was surprised not to see any glazed ceramics, so popular in China). Life-like marble statues.

Influence of Ancient Greece.

I wasn't aware of this story - fascinating.

Building Mausolus tomb.

Greeks fighting and defeating Amazon female warriors.

The winner being presented a laurel wreath (sometimes made of gold leaf).

Wrestlers (bronze).

Women (playing marbles?).

Brass band concert at Hall just outside Canberra.

Nice setting in the grounds of the old Primary School which has been turned into a museum.

Mens choir entertained us - wonderful harmony.

Quick visit to Sydney.

Quick visit to Sydney on 30 & 31 March. Andrew & family are in isolation as all have tested positive for Covid. We took them two packs of RAT kits. They have booked to visit Indonesia in 10 days, and hope that all will be negative by then.

We stayed with Howard & Angie Eakins. They got us tickets to this concert. Well-known singers performed: Phil Burton, Emma Pask, Christine Anu, Gary Pinto, Shannon Nol, and The Dia,monds. A most enjoyable afternoon in the impressive theatre at the ICC Darling Harbour.

A view of the new casino and hotel at Barangaroo.

An interesting new building at Darling Harbour - good to see some innovative design. But the builder, Pro-build, went broke recently and everyone is hoping that this project will be bought and finished.

After the concert we had dinner at French restaurant "The Little Snail" - delicious!

On 31 March (this morning) Caroline showed us progress of their new home at Queens Park. It is 95% complete - huge project - she has done an amazing job as project manager!

Caroline explaining the house to Howard and Vera.

Caroline in the living room, - "atrium style" - double height ceiling. Stunning!

Diesel has gone up 20 cents a litre in the last month, due in part to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Lots of prices are going up, inflation is here. I guess it's no surprise after the billions (trillions?) of dollars governments around the world have injected in their economies to combat the Covid pandemic. Those ducks are coming home to roost! 
To relieve cost-of-living pressures (the upcoming election had nothing to do with it??!!) on 29 March in his Budget sppech the Treasurer announced a 50% cut in the fuel excise for 6 months (ie from 44 cents per litre to 22). When we bought diesel on 31 March the price had dropped to $1.82 per litre.

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Books

I read two books during March: George Smith's biography, and an Australian novel titled Jasper Jones.

I loved reading George Smith's biography. He was an extraordinary rugby player - open side break-away or flanker - it was a joy to watch him.  He played 12 seasons (142 games) with the Canberra Brumbies and later 22 games with the Queensland Reds. He was voted "Brumbies Player of the Year" 10 times, and was voted the John Eales Player of the Year twice (2002 and 2008). He won two championships with the Brumbies, in 2001 and 2004. He played 111 tests with the Australian Wallabies.
He was born in Manly, Sydney in 1980. His father was Australian and his mother from Tonga. He had 9 siblings.  He is married with 2 children.
George finally retired in 2019, aged 38, having played top-level rugby in Australia, Japan, France, and England for 20 years. In the current Brumbies team, only Pete Samu comes close.

A fine novel. But the title is intriguing as I think Charlie Bucktin is actually the main character. That's him at the front of the picture (above), with Jasper Jones in the background.

 

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News items which caught my eye during March 2022.

 

Global	Energy (oil, gas) prices rising sharply, translating into higher petrol prices and flow-on to all sectors. Commodity prices increasing (wheat, nickel, iron ore) United Nations agreed to negotiate a Global Plastics Treaty to control waste and pollution. Winter Paralympics 5 – 13 March in Beijing; 46 countries, 700 athletes, 73 events. IOC banned athletes from Russia and Belorussia. Omicron sub-strain BA2 identified; even more contagious. Netherlands and Australia initiate legal proceedings against Russia for shooting down of MH17 in 2014. China lock-down cities Shenzhen, Changchun, Shanghai to combat Covid. China has about 5,000 cases per day (UK has 55,000!). Germany announced doubling defence budget to E100 billion (2% of GDP).  2022 World Happiness Survey top 10: Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Sweden, Norway, Israel, New Zealand. Australia was 12th, Germany 14th, Canada 15th, USA 16th, UK 17th. France won the European Six Nations Rugby Competition, first time in 12 years. P&O Ferries in the UK sacked 800 staff (to be replaced by contractors). A Chinese airliner (Boeing 737-800) crashed; all 132 dead.
Russian invasion of Ukraine	Five weeks in and there is heavy fighting in many parts of Ukraine. The Russian military seems to have stalled in some places. Ukrainians are putting up strong resistance (arms supplied by West). Ukraine winning the media/PR war – President Zelensky has addressed, by video, ten Parliaments including USA, UK, Germany, Canada, etc. Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine ongoing; little result so far. An estimated 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine, mainly women and children. Most are in Poland, then Hungary. The EU hoping that all member countries will take Ukrainian refugees. USA said it would take 100,000. Russian oligarch, Roman Abramovic, decided to sell Chelsea Football Club. The International Court will investigate if Russia is guilty of war crimes. Russia is not releasing information on casualties, but a newspaper reported there were close to 10,000 dead and over 16,000 wounded in the first 4 weeks of the invasion of Ukraine.
USA	President Biden’s first State of Union address. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced plans to divorce. Australian golfer Cameron Smith (28)   won the Players Championship. Tom Brady announced that he will play again next season, with Tampa Bay. In response to inflation of 7.9%, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25%, first increase since 2018 (UK Bank of England has raised twice this year).  US economy expected to grow 2.8% in 2022. Biden attended NATO Summit in Brussels; EU, G7 meetings; visited Poland. Madeleine Albright died aged 84. She was first female Secretary of State under President Clinton. The Oscars: DUNE got most awards. Best picture: CODA; best actor: Will Smith for King Richard; best actress Jessica Chastain; best director: Jane Campion. Highlight was Will Smith punching the host on stage!
Australia	Major flooding in Brisbane, Lismore, Ballina, Sydney. Extensive damage, 20 dead; PM declared national emergency. Western Australia opened its borders; no quarantine requirement for triple-vaxxed visitors. “Neighbours” TV show will end in June, after 37 years (9,000 episodes). Two Australian cricket icons, Rod Marsh (74) and Shane Warne (52) died. Marsh was wicket-keeper; Warne was leg spin bowler who took a remarkable 708 Test wickets. A State Funeral was held for Warne at the MCG. Elon Musk’s Starlink low-orbit satellites offered internet service in Australia: dish antenna $824 plus $139 per month. Australian unemployment rate 4%, lowest since August 2008 (underemployment estimated at 6.6%). Labor won the South Australian elections; Peter Malinauskas new Premier. Tennis champ Ashleigh (Ash) Barty (25) announced her retirement from professional tennis; she was World #1 for 116 weeks, won three Grand Slams (French Open 2019, Wimbledon 2021, Aussie Open 2022). What next? Lance (Buddy) Franklin (Sydney Swans) kicked his 1,000th goal. Only 5 other Aussie Rules players have achieved that number. After years of negotiations Australia finally accepted New Zealand’s offer to take 450 boat-people refugees who have been in detention for years.

 

 

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INTERNATIONAL TRADE

My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade.  I subscribe to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines - tracking Covid-19's impact on trade" (former title 'Trade Matters').  

Here are some of the more interesting graphs in the Bloomberg newsletter during March 2022; they are largely self-explanatory.

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Chuckle time:

 

I hate it when I see an old person and then realize we went to school together.

 

I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes... so she hugged me.

 

My wife says I only have 2 faults: I don't listen, and something else....

 

At my funeral, take the bouquet off my coffin and throw it into the crowd to see who is next.

 

I thought growing old would take longer.

 

I came, I saw, I forgot what I was doing. Retraced my steps, got lost on the way back, now I have no idea what's going on.

 

The officer said, "You drinking?" I said, "You buying?" We laughed and laughed.... I need bail money.

 

Day 12 without chocolate. Lost hearing in my left eye.

 

Scientists say the universe is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. They forgot to mention morons.

 

The adult version of "head, shoulders, knees and toes" is "wallet, glasses, keys and phone."

 

Life is too short to waste time matching socks.

 

Wi-fi went down for five minutes, so I had to talk to my family. They seem like nice people.

 

If you see me talking to myself, just move along. I'm self-employed; we're having a staff meeting.

 

Some people call me crazy. I prefer “happy with a twist”.

 

My doctor asked if anyone in my family suffers from mental illness. I said, "No, we all seem to enjoy it."

 

Camping: where you spend a small fortune to live like a homeless person.

 

I told my wife I wanted to be cremated. She made me an appointment for Tuesday.

 

I've reached the age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me.

 

If you're happy and you know it, it's your meds.

 

THINK! (It's not illegal.... YET)

 

A dog accepts you as the boss... a cat wants to see your resume.

 

I don't care who dies in a movie, as long as the dog lives.

 

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That's it for this post.

Just heard that David Irvine AO (1947 - 2022) passed away yesterday. We were colleagues at the Australian Embassies in Beijing and Jakarta. He went on to have a very distinguished career. A great servant of Australia, he will be sorely missed. RIP David.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah

Canberra, Australia

Thursday 31 March 2022.