Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during the month of March 2024.
The contents of this post are in the following sequence:
Photos of our activities during March 2024.
News items which caught my eye in March 2024.
March turned out to be a busy month, with trips to Adelaide (by air), Sydney (by train) and Broken Hill (by car, with Robin and Tieke).
We've been blessed with really nice autumn weather during March: warm days (and not much wind) and cool nights.
Herewith photos of our activities in March:
ADELAIDE, South Australia
We flew to Adelaide, the capital of the State of South Australia, to see our friends Karen and Llew and also Mena and Gary. The distance is 970km, and the flight takes about two hours.
I last visited Adelaide about 30 years ago, and Vera had never been there. Karen and Llew kindly put us up for 4 nights - they have a nice townhouse in North Adelaide, a super convenient location close to the City.
Karen and Llew showed us around Adelaide - they are justifiably proud of their city. We also went to the McLaren Vale wine area and then back along the southern beaches. As a special treat they took us to a Fringe Festival show - 'Whitney' - which was great fun.
We also spent a day with Mena and Gary. They took us to Hahndorf, a historical German settlement in the Adelaide Hills and then showed us some of the beaches close to the City, including Glenelg.
Vera & I were impressed by Adelaide - a really liveable city, not too big (1.3M) and well planned.
We saw and did a lot in a short time - thanks guys, we really appreciated all your hospitality!!!
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| The statue of Colonel William Light (1786-1839), South Australia's first Surveyor General on Montefiore Hill, North Adelaide. In 1836 he chose the site for Adelaide and laid out the basic plan. The City layout is based on a practical grid pattern, with a band of parkland which goes right around the City and separates it from the suburbs, Wish other Aussie cities were as well planned! |
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| Vera in front of Karen & Llew's townhouse in North Adelaide. |
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| Magnificent French Gothic style St Peter's Cathedral in North Adelaide. Construction started in 1869 and took 9 years. |
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| We had lunch at the Mount Lofty Lookout (700m above sea level), with extensive views across Adelaide. |
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| Karen & Llew took us to a "Whitney" concert during the Adelaide Fringe Festival. |
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| Lunch at Fox Creek Winery in McLaren Vale, about 45 minute drive south of Adelaide. McLaren Vale is a major wine region with over 60 wineries. |
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| d'Arenberg Winery, with Dali sculpture and "Cube" in the background. |
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| From McLaren Vale we drove back to Adelaide along the nice southern beaches, such as Maslin, Noarlunga and Christies. We were impressed that beaches, wineries, national parks are so readily accessible from Adelaide. Here you can live near a beach and within 30 mins of the City, for less than A$1 million! |
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| Adelaide has many fine museums, but I only had time to visit one, The David Roche Foundation museum in North Adelaide. It houses the marvellous collection of David Roche (1930-2013). The son of a weathy property developer, David was an avid collector of 18th and 19th century furniture, paintings, clocks and ceramics. His house is a veritable "Aladdine's cave" of beautiful objects. |
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| One of the rooms in David Roche's home which is now the museum. |
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| The David Roche Museum had a special exhibition related to Quilts with a military connection - fascinating. Often army tailors would make quilts of old or discarded clothing. |
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| Gary and Mena took us up to Hahndorf, a German settlement in the Adelaide Hills about 30kms from the City. The King of Prussia forced Protestant churches to amalgamate but "Old Lutherans" resisted and some fled to South Australia, arriving early 1839; they established a village which they called Hahndorf after Dirk Hahn, the Danish captain of the ship, who helped them get settled. |
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| Many nice old buildings in Hahndorf. We had lunch (a huge meat platter) in The German Inn. |
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| On our last day in Adelaide, Saturday 2 March, we had lunch at Henley Beach Surf Club with Karen & Llew, and Karen's son Nathan and his family. We had not seen Nathan for several years and it was good to catch up with him and meet his family. We flew back to Canberra that afternoon, the end of a most enjoyable few days in Adelaide. |
CANBERRA
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| My niece, Britt, is a self-taught artist. She decided to exhibit her artwork at the Hall Markets and we visited to give her moral support. Here is Vera with Britt and her son Tui. Good initiative, Britt, and good luck! |
QUEANBEYAN (near Canberra)
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| Our friends Niken & John had a stall "Indo Noodles" at the Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival. Good luck with your new venture! |
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| The performance stage at the Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival. |
CANBERRA
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| We attended The Chief Minister's annual concert at the Albert Hall. |
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| A Puccini opera in the Albert Hall. Tragic story: a young unmarried woman gives birth. Her baby is given away and she is sent to a convent. When she learns, 10 years later, that he son died she commits suicide to join him. |
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SYDNEY Quick trip for the kids' birthdays (Jay 7, Eddie 10).
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| Friday evening, after Jay's Little Athletics, we had pizza in Surry Hills. |
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| This frozen yogurt shop on Crown Street was very popular. |
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| Bondi Beach on Saturday morning, |
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| Three girls and a boy came around to celebrate Jay and Eddie's birthdays. |
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| Caroline preparing Jay's birthday cake. |
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| We took the kids to school on Monday morning, before returning to Canberra. |
CANBERRA
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| We went to this exhibition at the National Gallery. |
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| This volunteer guide introduced the exhibition to us. In 1977 batik making was introduced to the indigenous women living at Utopia (a remote indigenous settlement in the Northern Territory). Some beautiful examples of their batik was on display. About 10 years later painting on canvas was introduced. They quickly adopted the new art because it was much less onerous than batik. |
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| Examples of painting from Utopia. |
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| An exhibition of paintings by Vincent (born 1983), great grandson of Albert Namatjra, was in an adjoining room. They have very different styles. |
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| Vincent has a sense of humour. |
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| Our U3A Australian History group made an excursion to Mt Stromlo Observatory (an agency of the ANU), near Canberra. Our excellent guide was Dr Brad Tucker. Did you knoww that the first telescope was built in 1911, which made it the first structure built be the Federal Govt in the ACT? |
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| Walter Duffield was the first Director of the Observatory. He (and family) moved into this residence in 1928. Most other buildings here were badly damaged in the big fires of 1952 and 2003 (500 homes were destroyed in Canberra in the 2003 fire). The house has been partially rebuilt so that visitors can inspect it. |
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| The Observatory is part of the ANU's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. |
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| Inside the Instrumentation a& Technology Centre. |
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| Ice creams after dinner: David & Christine, Vera, Noel, Thuy and Tien and me. |
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| Monthly Old Time Dance social at Belconnen Seniors organised by Audrey & Rob. |
MILDURA, VICTORIA
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| We did a road trip to Broken Hill in far west of NSW, 17 - 22 March 2024. Our first overnight stop was Mildura, the next day we drove to Broken Hill (3 nights), then returned via Dubbo and Cowra (see below descriptions). |
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| Robin and Tieke were going to a family reunion in Broken Hill, and kindly invited Vera & me to travel with them. First day we drove 800km from Canberra to Mildura. Thankfully Robin loves driving; the whole trip was 2,400km and he drove all the way - a champion! Mildura, about 500km north west of Melbourne, is a huge fruit growing region (grapes, citrus etc). |
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| The Grand Hotel dates back to 1891. Refurbished, but retains old charm. Famous restaurant Stefanos is in the basement. It is colsed on Sundays so we ate in the restaurant upstairs. |
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| The mighty Murray River at Mildura. |
WENTWORTH NSW
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| Wentworth is 35km north of Mildura, in NSW, at the confluence of the Murray and Darling rivers. Then we drove on to Broken Hill (260km). Robin thought we could get petrol on the way, but that service station had closed. We just made it to Broken Hill with only about a litre left! |
BROKEN Hill, NSW
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| A German boundary rider Charles Rasp (1847 Stuttgart - 1907 Adelaide) found silver here in 1883 and formed the BHP Company. Three years later, with growing wealth, he moved to Adelaide, married Agnes Klevesah (they honeymooned in Broken Hill) and basically retired. BHP grew to become Australia's largest company. |
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| We did a "walking tour" of BH. Our guide, Ross, was a retired miner, very knowledgeable. The streets are all named after minerals/metals. Having made a fortune, BHP pulled out in 1939 to go on to bigger and better things (it became Australia's biggest company). There are two mines still operating, but at much-reduced rates. Much of the actual mining has been mechanised. An odd thing about BH is that they use South Australian time, although the town is in NSW. They feel much more aligned with Adelaide (about 500km) than with Sydney (about 1,500km). |
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| On 1 January 1915 two men of Turkish affiliation fired on a train filled with holiday-makers, killing two and injuring several (two more died subsequently). They were hunted down and killed. An angry mob burnt down the German Club that night. |
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| Construction of the Trades Hall started in 1898. Unions were very strong in BH. Early conditions were awful and an estimated 900 miners lost their lives. |
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| The Palace Hotel dates back to 1889. Some of the scenes of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert were filmed here. The walls are covered with landscape murals painted in the 1970s by indigenous artist Gordon Waye. At its height BH had a population of about 35,000 and 62 pubs. The population now is around 16,000 (about 10% indigenous), with some ten pubs still operating. |
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The ceiling mural in the Palace Hotel.
I found BH interesting, Vera less so.
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| We visited the Sculptures in the Living Desert State Park 12km outside BH. |
SILVERTON (about 25km from Broken Hill)
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| A "silver-rush" brought a population of 3,000 here in 1883, but within five years the silver was gone and miners departed, many to Broken Hill which turned out to be a much bigger mineral deposit. The guide on our tour, Milton Hawke, actually grew up in Silverton before moving to Broken Hill to work in the mines. He showed us the reservoir which supplied Broken Hill with water (now there is a pipeline from Wentworth); we visited the Old Goal Museum, the Mad Max Museum, an art gallery, the Silverton Hotel, and had a pie in the Bakery (delicious!). |
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| The Silverton Goal had 14 prisoner cells. It has been converted into a really interesting little museum. Highly recommended. |
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| Interesting museum of Mad Max 2. Also highly recommended. |
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| With Mel Gibson in the Mad Max Museum. These movies kicked off his acting career. |
Back in Broken Hill
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| Five painters were known as the "Brushmen of the Bush". We visited the galleries of Pro Hart and Jack Absalom. |
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| We visited Pro Hart's Gallery, he is the best known local artist. |
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| Kevin Charles ('Pro') Hart 1928 - 2006. He grew up on the family sheep farm near Menindee. He worked in the mines for 20 years before being discovered as a painter in the late 1960s. He was a man of many talents: miner, painter, sculptor, collector, body builder, father. He married Raylee Tonkin in 1960 - they had 5 children. He had a collection of Rolls Royce cars and motor bikes. He was "Australian of the Year" in 1983. A remarkable person. |
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| Reclining nude. |
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| The home brew party, 1976. |
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| Self portrait 1982. |
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| Part of his collection of Rolls Royce cars. |
Back to Canberra, via DUBBO and COWRA
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| Sunrise on the drive from Broken Hill to Wilcannia, lots of wild goats grazing along the road. The landscape was dead-flat. Then on to Cobar, and Dubbo where we overnighted. Stopped in Cowra to see the Japanese War Cemetery and the Japanese Garden. The round-trip from Canberra to Broken Hill and back was 2,400km. |
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| We drove through Willcania (a sad little town), then Cobar, Nyngan, Narromine, and overnighted in bustling Dubbo. The following day Wellington, Molong, Canowindra and Cowra where we visited the Japanese War Graves and the impressive Japanese Garden. |
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| A wonderful Japanese Garden commemorates Cowra's connection with Japanese POWs (although there is no mention of WW2 or the break-out). The attached cultural centre is interesting too. Highly recommended. In August 1944 some 1,000 Japanese Prisoners of War (of a total of about 2,000) attempted a break-out; 231 were killed, as well as 4 Australian guards. There were also about 1,200 Indonesian political prisoners (advocates of Indonesian independence) interned in Cowra. They were transported to Australia by the fleeing Dutch when the Japanese invaded Indonesia in 1942 and the Australian government agreed to 'house' them until they could be returned to prisons in Indonesia. |
CANBERRA
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| Back in Canberra just in time for the Brumbies v Moana Pasifica rugby union game at Canberra Stadium. We had a big win 60 - 21. |
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| We called on old friend Geoff George. He had a fascinating life - from merchant marine captain to academic (Japan specialist) to painter. I'm looking forward to his autobiography later this year. |
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| One of Geoff's paintings. He took up painting late in life; had a studio in Bali. |
Three book launches in March
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| I attended this book launch. ANU Vice Chancellor Genevieve Bell interviewed the author, Andrew Leigh. Andrew was an Economics Professor at the ANU before being elected as the ALP Member for Canberra in the Federal Parliament (he wanted "to make a difference"!). In the Albanese Govt he is the Assistant Treasurer. Impressive intellect. A man of many talents: runs marathons, has a family of 3 boys, a responsible and busy job but still finds time to write books - amazing!
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| Kathy Lette is well known author. Her first book was Puberty Blues. This is her 20th book. |
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| Kathy is funny and quick-witted (like her books); the audience at the book launch loved hearing her stories. |
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| I'm sure Jen can relate to Kathy, so bought the book. |
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| Another book launch, this time by Julia Baird, ABC TV journalist. |
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| Julia Baird signing books. |
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| Cost of fuel at Costco, end March 2024. |
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News items which caught my eye in March 2024.
($ are US
dollars unless otherwise shown)
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Global
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France: Parliament voted 780-72 to amend the
Constitution to allow abortion; it was the 25th amendment to the
1958 Constitution. UK: Tata, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, announced
construction of a $5B electric battery plant in Somerset. Vaughan Gething,
first black leader of Wales. Palace announced that Princess Kate has cancer. High
Court postponed decision on extradition of Julian Assange to USA Canada reinstated visa requirements for Mexicans as
the number of asylum applications soars. Bitcoin hit $69K, a new record. Sweden joined NATO, its 32nd member. Saudi Aramco profit 2023 $121B (down 25% 0n 2022). Haiti: Gang violence disrupted govt and society. Russia: Putin easily won the election, Pres for
another 6 years; ISIS claimed responsibility for attack on concert hall in
Moscow 140+ dead, many injured. F1: Ferrari drivers Carlos
Sainz and Charles Leclerc were first and second in the Australian GP in
Melbourne (Max Verstappen stopped mechanical prob).
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Israel – Hamas (Gaza) |
117+ Palestinians killed by IDF at
a food distribution site; more when the IDF attacked al-Shifa Hospital. By the end of March an estimated 32,000 Gazans had been killed (70% women and children); and 75,000 injured (many of whom will die due to lack of medical supplies and care). The govt of the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank resigned. WHO said people are starving in
Gaza; USA started air drops of food for Gaza but admit limited effectiveness. Sweden and Canada resumed payments
to UNRWA. Pres Biden told Israel that
attacking Rafah would cross a “red line”. Senator Chuck Shumer called PM
Netanyahu an obstacle to peace. US Navy ship built a temporary wharf
to supply Gaza with humanitarian aid. Sec of State Blinken visited Saudi,
Egypt and Israel to discuss post-war Gaza. UN Sec Gen Antonio Guterres
visited Rafah, he called for an immediate ceasefire and better access for
humanitarian aid. UN Security Council passed a
resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire (USA abstained, so motion
passed). Israel angry, postponed visit by key officials to Washington DC). The UN’s Special Rapporteur on
Palestine accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
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Russian invasion of Ukraine |
US govt found savings of $300M
which enabled replenishment of military supplies to Ukraine (major aid
package still stuck in Congress). Ukrainian drones hit 4 oil
refineries inside Russia; Ukrainian missiles hit two Russian landing craft in Crimean
port of Sevastopol.
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USA
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President Biden (81) delivered the
“State of the Union” address to Congress; GOP reply by Senator Katie Britt
(42, Alabama). The “Super Tuesday” primaries were
swept by Biden and Trump. Nikki Haley dropped out of the GOP primaries race.
It looks as if the Nov 2024 election will be a Biden-Trump rematch. The US Supreme Court ruled to keep
Trump on the Colorado ballot; said that States can not remove a candidate for
a federal election. US Congress is investigating the
possible threat of Chinese “connected EVs”. HoR passed Bill (352-65) to ban
TikTok unless it ‘divested”; Trump said it would benefit Face Book which
he called “enemy of the people”. Ruth Gottesman donated $1B to the Albert
Einstein Medical College in the Bronx, which will enable students to study
without tuition fees; Mackenzie Scott (former wife of Jeff Bezos) is donating
$640M to not-for-profit organizations this year. Macys announced the gradual
closure of 350 stores by 2026; Family Dollar company announced closure of
1,000 shops. Blizzards hit California and
Nevada. LeBron James (39) became the first
NBA player to pass 40,000 points in regular season (Kareem Abdul Jabbar held
the record with 38,387). US budget $7.3T; Biden wants to
increase taxes on large companies and billionaires. Congress passed
last-minute govt funding package which averted a shut-down (good until
September 2024). 2024 Oscars: Oppenheimer got 7 Awards;
Poor Things got 4. US National Association of
Realtors changes rules to cut 6% commissions. City of Minneapolis decreed that
ride-share drivers should make at least the minimum wage of $15.57 per hour;
Uber opposing. A jury found James Crumbley (47)
father of school shooter Ethan, guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Reuters reported that in 2019 the
CIA created a special unit to spread negative narratives related to China.
Also that the US Office of National Reconnaissance paid Elon Musk $1.9B to
have access to Starlink’s low-orbit satellites to monitor developments around
the world. Scottie Scheffer won PGA Sawgrass
by one stroke; his final round of 64 was bogie-free. Trump’s social media platform,
Truth Social, went public (which could net him over $3B). Trump’s bond in NY
fraud case was reduced from $464M to $175M; he has 10 days to arrange. A container ship hit major Baltimore
Bridge which collapsed; 7 missing.
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Australia |
ALP retained the seat of Dunkley
(Vic) despite a swing of almost 4% to the Coalition. New member Jodie Beylea.
Australia-ASEAN Summit held in
Melbourne; Govt announced new $2B fund to promote Australian trade and
investment in SE Asia. ASIO’s annual threat assessment by
DG Mike Burgess; he said that a former politician (no name) joined a
foreign spy ring. Commentators noted that only one arrest since the stronger Foreign Interference Act
was passed in 2018. Senate inquiry into Fire Ants held hearings in Brisbane, Newcastle and Canberra. Judge Stephen Kaye found that
Walter Sofranoff had a probable bias against former ACT DPP Shane Drumgold,
which negated some of his negative findings (Sofranoff was investigating the DPP’s
handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case and had a too-close relationship with
Janet Albrechtson of The Australian newspaper). The ACT Govt paid $90K to former
Minister Linda Reynolds who was suing former
DPP Shane Drumgold for defamation. NRL played two games in Las Vegas
to start the 2024 rugby league season. The Roosters beat Broncos; Manly beat
Souths. Rooster’s player Spencer Leniu was suspended for 8 games for a racial
slur on Ezra Mam (called him a “black monkey”). Sam Kerr, captain of the Matildas,
charged in London for calling a policeman “a stupid white bastard” in January
2023. Sydney’s annual Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras
festival. Govt changed Stage 3 tax cuts for
wider benefit; an average wage earner on $73K will pay $1,504 less tax. Analysis by Property Exchange
Australia found that almost 30% of residential purchases are for cash (ie no
mortgage). Uber agreed to pay A$272M compensation
for market disruption to 8,000 Aussie taxi owners. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
made official visit to Australia.
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China |
2023 GDP growth of 5.2% (Defence
spending up 7%); Govt set 5% target for GDP growth in 2024. 2023 trade in goods surplus $608B.
China’s preliminary trade statistics for January & February (the first
two months of the year are normally joined to allow for CNY): Exports up
7.1%, Imports up 3.5% giving a record surplus of $125B. 7.7M marriages recorded in 2023;
2.6M uncontested divorces. Tim Cook visited China to boost
flagging Apple iPhone sales (market leaders are Vivo, Huawei and Honor). China approved 6.4M copyright
applications in 2023 (up 42%) mainly for works of art, computer programs etc.
The 508th Long March
rocket launched 11 satellites into orbit. |
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').
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That's it for this post.
We've been blessed with wonderful autumn weather in March (and into April): warm days, cool nights, little wind. Days are getting shorter, and the sun is lower in the sky; leaves are turning.
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Sunday 31 March 2024
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