Post #292, end July 2025

  Gentlefolk,

This post describes our main activities during the month of  July 2025 (from 1 - 24 July).

The contents of this post are in the following sequence:

Photos of our activities during the period 1 - 24 July 2025.

News items which caught my eye in July 2025. 

A brief summary by MSNBC of some key actions by President Trump during the first 3 weeks of July 2025. 

Highlights of  1 - 24 July 2025

A number of friends & family events: Laura's birthday celebration (I call her my niece, but she is Oda's granddaughter), catching up with Will Costin, Jen's visit, Julius' birthday, Barbara's visit, wishing Nate all the best for his move to the USA. And, of course, Vera's big raffle win at the Sip, Soup, and Sing night.

This blog post is short because we are travelling 24 July to 24 August: first to Sydney to say goodbye to Caz & Andrew & kids (they will move to London in 2 weeks), then on to Indonesia for the biennial family reunion. The next post will be long.....

Herewith photos of some of our activities 1 - 24 July 2025:

Laura, Oda's granddaughter, is doing an online HR Management course while working at a restaurant in Noosa.  It was her birthday on 4 July. Her brother, Lucas, and his partner Ella flew in from Perth. We took them all to lunch at the Boathouse Restaurant in Noosaville (about 1 hour drive from Caloundra). 

Birthday girl, Laura. She is so sweet. She loves Australia.

We caught up with old friend Will Costin who moved from the ADB Vietnam to Noosaville in 2011. We met in Jakarta back in 1972 and have kept in touch.

End of term lunch for the U3A Travel Chats group. Front right is Adam Brunner, who was born in Bavaria - his family moved to Australia when he was eleven. He had a good career as an engineer, including two spells in Indonesia (in Jakarta and Surabaya). The lunch was at the Dicky Beach Surf Club.

The view from Dicky Beach south towards Moffat Beach.

We watched the third Rugby League State of Origin game in the Clubhouse on 9 July. The NSW Blues won the first game in Brisbane, then the Qld Maroons won the second game in Melbourne, so this was the decider. NSW were the favourites, but Qld blitzed them winning 24 - 12.
Most of the Village residents are Queenslanders, so there were many happy souls that night. We are from "south of the border" so support NSW, but I must admit that Qld were by far the better team on the night.

It was school holidays, so Jen visited us for a night on 10 July (she works at a Catholic Girls School in Ashgrove). Always great to see our lovely daughter!

The Social committee put on a "Sip, Soup, and Sing" event at the Clubhouse. A dozen residents volunteered to make a variety of soups - all delicious. Songs and dancing followed. The enty fee of $5 went towards a reverse raffle (totalled $450). 

The 'reverse raffle' was interesting: house numbers were drawn from a barrell and eliminated until there were only 3 left - Vera (#133) was one of the final three. They all agreed to share the prize of $450 - you can see how excited Vera was to get her share of $150!!!!

We have become friendly with a lovely Indonesian couple, Henny and Julius Sutjiadi, and were delighted to clebrate Julius' 60th birthday at their home. Their daughter Fina came - she works for a firm of solicitors in Brisbane.

Cec Ward organised a lunch at the G'Day Thai Restaurant at Mt Coolum, where Margaret and Cec lived for 20 years before moving into our Village. 35 residents came along.

On 14 July we attended the Indonesian Christian Group's (Eukameni) service in Maroochydore. Unfortunately we couldn't stay for lunch afterwards, as Vera wanted to get back for a Ukulele session. We are hoping that the Ukulele group will last this time.

Tom's mother, Barbara Roberts, visited them in Brisbane and came up for an overnight stay with us, with her dog Clover. It was a lovely afternoon, so we did the walk from Bulcock Beach to Kings Beach. Later  took her to Bingo (every Thursday night) and then to a Japanese restaurant in Baringa.
We enjoyed your visit, Barb, even if too short!

Dinner at the new Spice Hut Indian Restaurant in Baringa, with Ruth and Tim Buick. They spent time in Indonesia.

We went to Brisbane to say goodbye to Nate, who is leaving soon to take up a rugby scholarship at Arkansas State University. Kurt is on holidays in Bali, but the rest of the family went to the Italian restaurant - delicious food!

With Nate the next morning.  He is a good lad, and a very good rugby player. What an adventure, to go to college in the USA.

This film was part of the German Film Festival at Caloundra Cinema - it was excellent!

......

News items which caught my eye in the period 1 – 24 July 2025.

($ are US dollars unless otherwise shown)

Global	Canada: cancelled plans to introduce a 3% tax on the earnings (above $20M) of digital companies in Canada (eg Google, META, etc). Trump said it was anti-American and threatened higher tariffs. China: AI driven humanoid robots played a soccer tournament in Beijing. Work started on the mega-dam in Tibet ($167B).  UK: the “Sovereign Grant” to support the Royals is $119M pa; in exchange the monarch hands over profits from Crown Estates. France: the Siene River in Paris was opened for swimming, first time since 1923.  Buddhism: the Dalai Lama celebrated his 90th birthday. F1 motor racing: British Grand Prixwas won by Lando Norris, then Oscar Piastri and Nico Hulkenberg. Tennis Wimbledon: Iga Swiatek (Poland) beat Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 to win the Women’s Singles. Jannick Sinner beat Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Men’s Singles. Novak Djokovic was going for his 25th Grand Slam, but lost in the semi-finals. Golf: World #1 Scottie Scheffler won the British Open played at Royal Portrush course in Northern Ireland.  Taiwan: Taiwan Semi-conductor Manufacturing (TSM) profit increased by 61% last quarter. UNESCO: Trump announced USA’s withdrawal next year. Thailand/Cambodia: At least 12 killed in border clashes. China/EU: economic summit in Beijing. EU wants to reduce its $360B pa trade deficit, and upset at Chinese support of Russia.
Israel – Hamas & Hezbollah & Iran	I’m going to stop this section, as Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue unabated. Over 59,000 have now died in Gaza, mainly women and children and the killing continues. It’s just so depressing. The IDF bombed Damascus in support of the Druze minority. On 22 July 27 countries (including Australia) condemned the continued killing of civilians in Gaza, and the Israeli restrictions on entry of humanitarian aid (the UN said people are dying of starvation). On 24 July Pres Macron said that France would soon recognise a Palestinian State - Israel angry.
Russian invasion of Ukraine	Same with this section – this conflict is just crazy! Trump seems disillusioned with Putin: he will impose stronger sanctions on Russia if a ceasefire isn’t agreed within 50 days. In a reversal of policy, the USA will sell Patriot missile systems to NATO countries for delivery to Ukraine.
USA	Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill passed the Senate by one vote (JD Vance’s casting vote), was sent back to the House, which also passed it (218 to 214). Trump signed the Bill into law on 4 July (250th Independence Day). It adds +$150B for border security, +$150B for military, -$1T Medicaid, tax cuts of $4.5T over 10 years, and is estimated to add $3+T to America’s debt over 10 years. A CNN poll showed that 61% of Americans oppose Trump’s BBBill. Doctors said swelling in Trump’s legs and hands could indicate veins disease. Trump wants the Washington Commanders (NFL team) to revert to its previous name: the Washington Redskins. Trump announced that Federal funding of public broadcasters (PBS and NPR) will be terminated. Elon Musk founded a new political party, the America Party. Six countries (China, UK, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Japan) had reached trade deals with the USA by 24 July. To put pressure on countries, in early July Trump had sent letters to countries advising what tariff rates would apply to imports from them, commencing 1 August, if no deal was negotiated beforehand. The US – Indonesia “deal” seems lopsided: Imports from Indonesia into the USA will attract a tariff of 19%, while American imports into Indonesia will attract zero tariffs. Indonesia also pledged to buy $10B pa energy products from the US, $5B of agricultural products, and buy more than 50 Boeing aircraft (in 2024 US imports from Indonesia totalled $28B, and US exports to Indonesia totalled $10B). Under the trade deal with Japan, imports from Japan will pay a 15% tariff. Japan will open its market to US products and also promised to invest $550B in the USA. The USA’s effective tariff rate has increased from 2.5% to 17%, and rising. Trump threatened to impose extra tariffs on BRICS member countries as he said they were an anti-American grouping. The USA placed sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese for criticizing Israel’s campaign in Gaza. The US State Department started to reduce staff by a total of 10% (1,870 personnel). Trump sued the Wall Street Journal for publishing an article suggesting he was close to Michael Epstein. Jeff Bezos married Lauren Sanchez at a lavish wedding in Venice. LeBon James (40) took up an option to stay with the LA Lakers for another year, for $52M. This will be his 23rd NBA season. Last season he played 70 regular games, averaging 24.4ppg, 7.8 rebounds and 8.2 assists. Apple’s new film “F1” took $56M in its first weekend. Heavy rain caused flooding in Texas (the Guadalope River rose 10 metres in 3 hours) resulted in 150+ deaths with many still missing. Nividia became the first company with a valuation over $4T. The original Birkin Hermes handbag sold at auction for $10M. Larry Ellison (Oracle) passed Mark Zuckerberg to become America’s second richest man (Elon Musk is #1). JP Morgan announced profit of $30B in the last half-year.
Australia	The 48th Parliament opened in Canberra on 22 July, about 2 months after the election in May. The ALP has 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives. Latest Newspoll has ALP at 57% and Coalition at $43% on a 2-Party preferred basis. Greens 12%, One Nation 8%, Independents 15%. PM Albanese made an official 6 day visit to China, accompanied by a business delegation. Aust Govt announced some of the sanitary import restrictions on imports of beef from the USA will be removed - win for Trump who said they were unfair? Erin Patterson was found guilty of 3 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, feeding poisoned mushrooms to relatives on 29 July 2023. Julian McMahon, actor and son of Billy & Sonia, died aged 56. Queensland won the third State of Origin Rugby League game against NSW 24-12, to win the 2025 series. German backpacker, Carolina Wilga, was found alive after being lost in the WA Outback for 11 days.

 

 Some of Pres Trump’s actions in the week ending 9 July 2025:

MSNBC

Signed the megabill that enacted most of his domestic political agenda at a Fourth of July ceremony.

Said that Democrats didn’t vote for the bill because “they hate Trump” and added “I hate them too” because “they hate our country.”

Announced new tariffs on Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos and Myanmar.

Claimed without evidence that New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is an illegal immigrant and threatened to arrest him if he blocks immigration officers.

Described bankers as “shylocks” in a speech, then said he was not aware of the anti-Semitic connotations of the word.

 

Some of Trump’s key actions in week ending 15 July 2025

MSNBC

Threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with sanctions — for the fifth time — if he doesn’t reach a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Threatened to take away comedian Rosie O’Donnell’s U.S. citizenship, a power that he does not have under the U.S. Constitution.

Claimed that nobody cares about the late Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and alleged sex trafficker, after years of pledging to release government records on him.

Announced a 35% tariff on Canada and 30% tariffs on Mexico and the European Union starting Aug. 1, an escalation from previous tariffs.

Named right-wing influencer Nick Adams, best known for his “alpha male” X persona, to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia.

 

Some of Trump’s key actions in week ending 23 July 2025

MSNBC

Got the first judicial confirmation of his second term: Whitney Hermandorfer, one of the youngest people nominated to serve on a federal appeals court in the 21st century.

Posted an AI-generated video on social media that showed Barack Obama being detained in the Oval Office.

Said he was surprised that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell had been appointed, even though he was the one who appointed him.

Announced he would sue The Wall Street Journal over an article about his links to Jeffrey Epstein that he didn’t like.

Claimed that his uncle taught Ted Kaczynski at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which the “Unabomber” did not attend.

......

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

My 30 year career as an Australian Trade Commissioner gave me an interest in matters related to international trade.  I subscribed to Bloomberg's excellent daily newsletter "Supply Lines", but on 10 May 2025 this publication became "pay only", so I no longer had access. But Bloomberg has other, shorter, daily bulletins. The following graphs are from those sources.

......

That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah

Sydney, Australia

25 July 2025

Post #291 30 June 2025

 Gentlefolk,

This post describes our main activities during the month of  June 2025.

The contents of this post are in the following sequence:

Photos of our activities during June 2025.

News items which caught my eye in June 2025. 

A brief summary by MSNBC of some key actions by President Trump during June 2025. 

Highlight of  June 2025

Our trip to Sri Lanka 10 - 24 June 2025. (formally called Ceylon). This was our first overseas trip for a year. We were concerned about Vera following her falls last September and November, but she managed pretty well. Overall impression: a nice country and nice people (many similarities with Indonesia).

Snapshot of Sri Lanka: Ancient culture. Area 66,000 sq km, Population 22 million. Religion: Sinhalese Buddhists 70%, Tamil Hindus 13%, Moor Moslems 9%, Christians 7%. Foreign Powers: Portuguese 1505 - 1656; Dutch 1656 - 1796; British 1796 - 1948 (it was known as Ceylon under the British). Granted independence in 1948, became a republic in 1972, new constitution and name in 1978: The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Rebellion by the Tamil Tigers took 26 years to defeat (1983 - 2009). A severe economic crisis 2019 - 2022 (on top of everything else, Covid killed tourism, one of the major industries). The country is starting to recover now.

  

Herewith photos of some of our activities in June 2025:

We started June by organising a "Pot Luck Dinner" at our place for residents of Foxtail Lane (our street). Fifiteen came (absent: Karla & Peter, and Linda. Jo popped in late): left to right: Tanya, Robyn, Therese, Margaret, Una, Sue, Peter, David, Margaret, Gary, Cec, Attila, Jill, and Vera. Cec & Marg brought soup, others brought main dishes and desserts; plenty of good food.
We played charades later. It was a fun night.

Marg playing charades.

David's turn.

Sue also had a go. 

The U3A "Travel Chats" group played travel trivia quiz. 30 questions, such as "Where is the biggest Buddhist temple (Borobudur, Indonesia); Where are the remains of Thomas the Apostle buried? (In Chennai, India); Where are the Butchard Gardens? (Victoria, Vancouver Island); In which State is Mount Rushmore? (South Dakota); California hosts 2 Presidential Libraries - whose? (Reagan and Nixon). Our table came equal first, and won the run-off!!

Tour of Sri Lanka, 10 - 24 June 2025

I took many photos during our trip to Sri Lanka - some are shown below.

A daily summary of our itinerary follows the photos (below).

We flew Singapore Air from Brisbane to Singapore, 7 hours transit and then on to Colombo. 

The flight from Brisbane to Singapore was full - in fact, all the four SIA flights were pretty full.

Singapore Air staff still wear the same style uniforms, as when Vera worked for them in Jakarta 60 years ago. At that time SIA stewardesses could not be older than 27 - from observation on these four flights, the age limit may now be 35 or 40? (Asian women's ages are hard to pick). The service is still first-class. Our only complaint was the cold cabin temperature on the return Sing - Bris flight.

Singapore Airport is rated as one of the best in the world, so spacious and well designed (we just hope Sydney's new airport will be as good). 

A construction site at Singpore Airport - it was past 7pm and the workers were still hard at it (probably would have knocked off at 4pm in OZ). No wonder they get things done quickly in Asia.

Our itinerary in Sri Lanka. We really only covered the South-West quarter of the country.  Sri Lanka covers 65,000 sq km (about the size of Tasmania), with a population of about 22 million. It was a well paced tour - we normally spent 2 days in each location. Several of the hotels were in remote locations. We only had a day-and-a-half in Colombo, which was a pity as it looked like an interesting city.
Local prices looked inexpensive, but the big hotels and restaurants had standard add-ons of 10% service plus 18% Govt taxes. Our system in Australia where advertised prices already include all add-ons is much clearer.

The first hotel we stayed in was on the beach at Negombo, about 45 km north of Colombo. We had a nice sea view from the restaurant. The beaches were pretty ordinary compared to Aussie beaches. Very few Sri Lankans actually swim in the sea.

Our group of 15 had an excellent bus for our tour. The driver was very good, and his assistant (pictured here) was always friendly and helpful.

We were able to spread out and each person had a seat to themselves.

Our local guide for the tour: 'Danny' (Dananjaya Iiyanange) explaining that the Sri Lankan flag has 3 parts: the lion holding a sword reflects the majoritiy Sinhalese Buddhist population (about 70%), the orange stripe reflects the Tamil Hindu community (about 15%) and the green spripe the Moslem community (about 9%). Danny has been guiding for about 20 years and was very knowledgeable about all aspects of Sri Lankan society and culture. He is maried, with an 18 year old son (who is studying at the local campus of Edith Cowan University).

First day on the ground: Tour of Negombo City. This district has a large minority of Catholics (from the Portugese era). First stop was the nice old St Mary's Catholic Church; then we visited a Buddhist temple, then fish drying on the coast. Relaxed in the afternoon, swam in pool and walked on beach.
This place reminds me of fishing villages in Indonesia: struggle to make a living. 

Interior of St Mary's Catholic Church, Negombo.

Fishing fleet. A constant struggle to survive.

Drying the catch at the beach.

Visiting the Buddhist Temple at Negombo.

Reclining Buddha statue. The Buddhist shrines/temples in Thailand are more impressive and the Thais seem more devout.

Four of the group (including us) decided not to climb the 1,200 steps up the Sigiriya Rock Fortress (in background) - just too difficult for us old folk. The others said it was hard-going, but worth doing once. We went back to our hotel (in a wilderness area) and had a swim in the pool.

Tour of Polonnaruwa. This kingdom was sacked by invaders from India (King fled and established a new capital at Kandy). 

Local school excursion.

Vera & Judy. It was a hot day and Judy helped Vera get around.

Reclining Buddha statue.

These two large Buddha statues survived the invasion/war by being covered & hidden by local villagers.

Buffet lunches at local (up-market) restaurants were delicious (around A$15). Breakfasts were always included at the hotels and usually offered a very good selection of western and asian food.

Our group at dinner, from left: Sarah, Matt, Brian, Doc, Annie, Robyn, Darren, Vera, me, Peter & Jan (the 4 girls from Melbourne Terri, Karen, Judy & Chris had eaten earlier).

Buddhist Temple.

We didn't see many monks, not like in Thailand where monks (and Buddhist shrines) are everywhere. 

"Michael" was our knowledgeable guide at the Ranweli Spice Garden. The tour concluded with a massage for everyone (paid, of course) and time in the large shop. Presumably (like in other countries), guides get kick-backs for taking tour groups to such private "factories & museums".

We visited the Tiesh Gem Museum in Kandy. These "factory visits" are really clever marketing exercises, but can also be informative and a nice distraction. 

That night in Kandy we went to a cultural show: music is mainly from drums, with female and male dances and acrobats - energetic! The finale was an impressive fire display, with performers eating fire and walking through fire.
We saw a similar, but better, cultural show at the Radisson Hotel in Galle.

In Kandy we stayed in The Grand Kandyan Hotel. Ornate, with a Middle Eastern feel. Actually, there was a big Muslim wedding in the Ballroom the night we stayed there - hundreds of guests, very flash.

A view of a part of Kandy from our hotel balcony. Kandy is the second largest city (after Colombo, which dominates Sri Lanka's political and commercial life).

We visited the Royal Botanical Garden in Kandy - many interesting plants and trees. 

You can see why this one was called "cannon ball tree".

Most toilets in Sri Lanka (and most of Asia) are squat toilets, but at the Botanical Gardens they provided pedestal toilets "for foreigners".  Our guide was always careful to take us to establishments with pedestal toilets.

Getting higher, into tea country. Reminded us of the Puncak hills outside Jakarta. The highest elevation in Sri Lanka is about 2,500 m above sea level.
In 1848 a Scottish botanist, Robert Fortune, smuggled tea plants out of China on behalf of the East India Company. Those plants started the tea plantations in India, and later in Ceylon.

We stayed at Hotel Heritance Tea Factory. A disused tea factory was converted into a modern hotel - must have been a huge project, an impressive result.  It was the only hotel we came across with a dress code - no shorts allowed in the dining room!
We had two nights here - it was interesting, but quite isolated (for example, the last 5 kms of road was too narrow for our bus and we had to change to small vans). One night there would have been enough.

Vera next to an original lift, still working. 

We visited the town of Nuwara Eliya. It was a popular summer Hill Station under the British, to get away from the coastal heat and humidity. It has a good golf course, a horse race track, and fine hotels and villas. It is obviously still popular today with rich Sri Lankans.

We "High Tea" at the Grand Hotel. It is a lovely old hotel, which started life as the summer retreat of Sir Edward Barnes, Govenor of Sri Lanka 1824 - 1831. In 1891 the property became The Grand Hotel. The region flourished when the railway arrived in 1903 and motorised transport made the area more accessible. Many famous people have stayed there. 

Richard Nixon stayed at the Grand Hotel in the 1950s.

Marshall Tito (Yugoslavia) was another guest.

Also Roger Moore. 

The fruit and vegetable market in Nuwara Eliya. Vera bought 4 brand-name slacks at the local clothing market, for A$90. Many international companies, such as North Face, produce clothing in Sri Lanka because of the cheap and abundant labour.

We stopped at the nice town of Ella to see the 9 Arches Bridge and a nearby waterfall. We took a tuk-tuk to the bridge, about 30 mins each way, a fun experience. Local buses and tuk-tuks are the main form of transport in Sri Lanka. We paid the driver about A$20 for the 90+ minute excursion - our guide Danny said we were "too generous" - locals would have paid half that amount.  

The 9 Arches Bridge was completed in 1919, an engineering triumph in very difficult terrain. We watched the 12.30pm train pass, and then returned to Ella for lunch. Ella had a nice atmosphere - reminded us a little of Ubud in Bali.

Many tourists use tuk-tuks to visit local sights - much cheaper than travel agency's cars and buses.

A waterfall near Ella.

Our next stop was Yala. We stayed at the Double Tree by Hilton outside the town. Nice rooms. The hotel boasted it has the biggest swimming pool in Sri Lanka - it was enormous!

Nice decor of the Double Tree by Hilton hotel, lots of bamboo.

We did a 3 hour safari in Yala National Park. 

Our transport for the safari.

We saw many birds and animals, but the highlight was seeing a leopard, which, we were told, is a rare experience. 

 

A huge elephant. 

The beach in Yala National Park were 26 Japanese tourists lost their lives in the 2004 tsunmai. They did the safari early morning, and were having breakfast on the beach when the tsunami hit. Our guide told us that, in total, about 35,000 Sri Lankans lost their lives in this event.

On the drive from Yala to Galle we stopped to see the "stilt fishermen". This was a traditional fishing method, but it is just for tourists today.

Darren got up on a stilt. The beaches along the south coast have limited sand. In fact, many beaches have been reinforced with large stone walls to minimise erosion, but of course that makes them less attractive. 

This test match was on in Galle and our guide got us entry for an hour or so (the match ended in a draw). Sri Lankans love cricket and know a lot about the top Aussie players. The two teams were staying at the same hotel as us (Raddison Blu).

The Galle Cricket Stadium is well known. The Australian cricket team won a test match here just two months ago. Shane Warne took his 500th test wicket at this ground. We were told that Shane was very active in raising funds for relief of the Sri Lankan victims of the 2004 tsunami.

We met the coach of the Bangladesh Cricket Team, West Indian cricketer Phil Simmons. He played for the West Indies from 1987-99.

The Radisson Blu Hotel had a nice pool/garden. We were told not to swin in the sea - dangerous rips.

We had some free time in Galle, so Brian and I went into town and back by local bus. The fare was 50 rupees (about 10 cents). The interior of this bus was decorated, with loud music blaring - good to see how the locals live.

These were the only advertising signs we saw for mobile phones. Strange - in Indonesia phone adverts  everywhere. We saw many adverts for networks (Hutch, Dialog, Mobitel) but very few for actual phones. Our guide said the most popular phone brand was Samsung, followed by Chinese brands such as OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, etc. 

Rashid was our self-appointed guide around the commercial area of Galle.

Rashid explained aspects of the local Buddhist temple (it featured a number of Hindu gods!).

Fresh produce was cheap and plentiful.

Different types of mango on offer. Rupees1,000 is about A$5.

Arpico is a supermarket chain - this was their Juen catalogue. A$5 = Rupees 1,000. You can see that the cost of living here is not expensive. Imported products attract high import duties and are expensive, but locally-made products are very reasonable. Education is free, and there is basic universal helthcare for everyone. While most people were obviously not rich, they looked healthy and reasonably well-dressed - we encountered very few beggars and saw very little extreme poverty.

We needed some toothpaste, so bought this tube of "Clogard" in a local shop. The graphics are very similar to Colgate's, aren't they? But the price is very different: this tube only cost A$0.40 (40 cents). It tasted OK too. 

ometime

Brian and I had a coffee in The Biker's Cafe.  The owner's huge motor bike was parked inside the cafe.

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Occasionally we saw cows wandering the streets. Cows are not regarded as sacred by Buddhists, but seem to be tolerated.

We came across some girls playing netball.

Galle's fascinating "Old City" shows influences of Portuguese, Dutch and British times. Many of the old buildings are being renovated.
 

This Dutch Reformed Church was built in 1755.

Interior of the Dutch Reformed Church. It was in much better shape than the 1871 Anglican Church nearby.

The All Saints Anglican Church (1871) in the "Old City", was in need of some TLC.

Many of the buildings in the Old City, like this one, are being renovated - it will be an attractive area in the future.

Galle's Catholic cathedral (1875) looked in good shape.

This old building had been converted into the attractive VOC Cafe (VOC was the symbol of the Dutch East India Company). 

The architecture of Galle's main train station was disappointing. 

On the drive from Galle to Colombo we stopped at a Mask Museum (and shop, of course).

Also stopped at a turtle hatchery. They breed the babies, and then release them into the ocean. We were told that only one-in-a-thousand make it to maturity.

This turtle weighed 7 kgs.

The beach at the turtle hatchery. Apparently they always return to their "home" beach to lay eggs.  Many of the beaches we saw have had to be stabilised with large rocks to stop erosion.

Some local primary school students.

In Colombo we visited the Independence Memorial. 

Statue of former Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike (1899 - assassinated in 1959). His widow Sirima  succeeded him, and was the world's first female political leader.
The 50 storey Shangri-La Hotel is behind the statue.

Some gorgeous colonial architecture in Colombo.

The main railway station in Colombo.

In Colombo we stayed one night at the Hilton Hotel. A group of about 30 boys from The King's School, Sydney where on a cricket tour of Sri Lanka.

The foyer of the Hilton Hotel - very nice, it was certainly the best hotel we stayed in.

We did a city tour of Colombo. Many interesting old buildings. First stop was this old Anglican church.

Interior of St Peter's Church.

The colonials lived well in Ceylon.

Busy China Street in the commercial heart of downtown Colombo.

Our guide took us The Cricket Club which is a haunt of expats in Colombo (the manager is an Australian lady from Melbourne who moved to Colombo with her husband 30 years ago). 

Cricket memorabilia.

Mainly local (Lion) draught beers on offer at The Cricket Club - about A$10 for a pint. 

The impressive Galle Face Hotel dates back to 1864. We had afternoon tea here.

Che Guevara stayed here.
 

Also Donald Bradman.

And author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in Sri Lanka as a young naval officer - this was his first car.

Going home, our stop-over at Singapore Airport was only 3 hours. Jen picked us up at Brisbane International Airport at 8.30pm on 24 June and we were at their place by 9pm. We drove back home to Nirimba/Caloundra the following day.

Some observations of Sri Lanka: many poor people (but we saw very few beggars or abject poverty); we experienced several power outages in our two weeks there; imported products are expensive and high-end establishments (hotels, restaurants, etc) attract a 10% service charge plus 18% govt tax, but the basic cost-of-living is low; re Australia: our cricket team is well known, the only other references to Australia were advertisements to study there and some universities have established campuses in Sri Lanka; the food was generally delicious (mainly curries) and only one of our group got an upset tummy, the buffets offered in major hotels were wonderful (I ate too much!); the beaches we saw were just average, and many had large rocks to combat sea erosion. Our guide said Sri Lankans were upset by the number of Russians who had managed to "settle" in the country and that they had taken over several tourist-related activities such as surf schools. 

Although hydro produces much of their electricity, we saw very little evidence of other renewable energy projects such as wind or solar farms - few solar panels on roofs, all motor bikes (of which there are millions), tuk-tuks and buses are still petrol, and very few electric cars.

Our guide warned us of scammers targetting visitors in tourist places - and yes, we did come across some very clever touts in Galle and Colombo. 

 

Our on-ground tour facilities were provided by a local travel company, Aitken Spence, which is part of a large group including hotels. Sometimes it appeared as if our itinerary was determined by the location of their hotels. For example, we stayed 2 nights at the interesting but isolated Hotel Heritance Tea Factory, when one night would have sufficed, also we only had a day-and-a-half in Colombo at the end, although that city appeared to have a lot to offer (yet we had a free day in much-smaller Galle, but the hotel there would have been much less expensive than in Colombo???). 

My personal highlights: the High Tea at the lovely old Grand Hotel in Nuwara Eliya; in Galle the Old City, and the cultural show at the Radisson Hotel; and the Turtle Hatchery on the way to Colombo.

Anyway, all in all we had an interesting and enjoyable visit to Sri Lanka.

Back to reality in Nirimba

Friends from Canberra, Tieke and Robin Brown, popped in for lunch. We hoped that they would stay for a few days, but that was not to be. Anyway, it was good to see them again.

Vera & Alex Trip-a-Deal “Luxury Sri Lanka”

10 – 25 June 2025

(Alex Olah tour client number 4904 429 908)

Date	Itinerary / City	Accommodation
Day 0 Mon 9 June	(Nirimba to Brisbane on Sunday afternoon 8 June) Monday free in Brisbane	Stay with Jen & Tom at The Gap. To Airport on Tuesday morning.
Day 1 Tues 10 June	Brisbane to Singapore SQ256  9.20am / 3.25pm  Singapore to Colombo SQ468 10.20pm / 11.35pm	Met at Colombo Airport by Trip-a-Deal rep   Hotel Sentitdo Heritance Negombo 175 Lewis Place, Negombo 11500
Day 2 Wed 11 June	AM: Free morning PM: Negombo City Tour	Hotel Sentitdo Heritance Negombo 175 Lewis Place, Negombo 11500
Day 3 Thurs 12 June	Negombo to Sigiriya to Kandalama (140km day) (we did not climb the rock at Sigiriya)	Hotel Heritance Kandalama Dambulla, Ph: +94 66 555 000
Day 4 Fri 13 June	Kandalama to Polonnaruwa AM: look around Polonnaruwa PM: two optional tours (Jeep safari or cooking)	Hotel Heritance Kandalama Dambulla, Ph: +94 66 555 000
Day 5 Sat 14 June	Kandalama to Kandy (100km) Visit spice garden at Matale City tour of Kandy Cultural show	The Grand Kandyan Hotel 89 / 10 Lady Gordern’s Drive, Kandy
Day 6 Sun 15 June	Kandy to Peradeniya to Nuwara Eliya (80km day) Visit Royal Botanical Garden	Hotel Heritance Tea Factory Kandapola 22220, Ph: +94 525 555 000
Day 7 Mon 16 June	AM: free PM: Nuwara Eliya City Tour High tea at the Grand Hotel	Hotel Heritance Tea Factory Kandapola 22220, Ph: +94 525 555 000
Day 8 Tues 17 June	Nuwara Eliya to Ella to Yala (190km day) Ella: Ravana Falls & 9 arch bridge	Double Tree by Hilton Weerawila Rajawarna Resort, Weerawila Watta, Wirawila 82632 Ph: +94 472 030 100
Day 9 Wed 18 June	AM Yala city tour & markets PM Yala: Wildlife Jeep Safari	Double Tree by Hilton Weerawila Rajawarna Resort, Weerawila Watta, Wirawila 82632 Ph: +94 472 030 100
Day 10 Thurs 9 June	Yala to Koggala (155km day) See beaches and stilt fishing Cricket match at Galle Cricket Oval Sri Lanka v Bangladesh	Hotel Radisson Blu Resort Galle 523C Colombo Main Road, Galle 80280
Day 11 Fri 20 June	AM: free  PM: Galle City tour Dinner in Old City.	Hotel Radisson Blu Resort Galle 523C Colombo Main Road, Galle 80280
Day 12 Sat 21 June	Free day	Hotel Radisson Blu Resort Galle 523C Colombo Main Road, Galle 80280
Day 13 Sun 22 June	Galle to Ambalangoda to Kosgoda to Colombo Mask factory and museum. Kosgoda Turtle Hatchery.	Colombo Hilton Hotel 2 Sir Chittampalam A Gardiner Mawatha Colombo 00200, Ph: +94 112 492 492
Day 14 Mon 23 June	AM: Free (Vera & I went to the local market opposite the Fort Railway Station).  PM: Colombo City Tour Independence Monument; St Peter's Church; The Cricket Club; The Galle Face Hotel. Transfer to Airport after dinner on the roof-top of the Kingsbury Hotel.
Day 15 Tues 24 June	Colombo to Singapore SQ469 00:50am / 7.20am   Singapore to Brisbane SQ245 9.55am / 7.30pm

 

News items which caught my eye in June 2025.

($ are US dollars unless otherwise shown)

Global	Canada: 200 wildfires burning across Canada. Formula 1: Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) now leading the 2025 driver's championship. Poland: Right-wing candidate Karol Nawrocks elected President. Islam: holy day Eid al Adha was  celebrated in Muslim countries on 6 June. South Korea: new President elected, Lee Jae Myung. Vietnam: ended the “maximum 2 child” policy. European Central Bank: cut interest rates by 0.25% to 2%. Soccer: Tottenham Hotspurs sacked Australian manager Ange Postecoglou. Portugal beat Spain to win the “Nation’s League”. The Economist: in 2000 an estimated 1.6M baby girls were aborted (preference for boys), in 2025 will drop to abut 200,000. Sailing: Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman became part owners of the Australian SailGP team. Tennis French Open: Carlos Alcarez (22) beat Jannick Sinner  (23) 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in 5h29m to win the Men’s Singles. Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 to win the Women’s Singles. Austria: former student of Graz school shot 10 dead, injured 12. UK: new director of MI6 is Blaise Metreweli, first female head. G7 meeting: Canada hosted; Trump left early. Economist’s EIU Livable Cities: Best: Copenhagen; Vienna; Zurich; Melbourne; Geneva; Sydney. Worst: Damascus; Tripoli; Dhaka; Karachi; Lagos; Harare; Port Moresby. QS World University rankings: MIT; IC London; Stanford; Oxford; Harvard; Cambridge; ETH Zurich; NU Singapore. Peking U was ranked 14th; Tsinghua U 17th; Melbourne U 19th ; UNSW 20th ; ANU 32nd. NATO meeting: Trump attended; most NATO members agreed to increase spending on defence (target 5% of GDP by 2035).
Israel – Hamas & Hezbollah & Iran	Many Palestinians killed and injured near food distribution station in Gaza, run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (set up by Israel). At least 4,500 Gazans have died since Israel’s current offensive began on 18 March (85 yesterday 29 June). IDF bombed targets in Beirut suburbs. Norway, Canada, NZ, UK, and Australia sanctioned (banned from entry and assets frozen) two far-right Israeli Ministers for repeated incitements to violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. 13 June Israel attacked 100 targets in Iran (military sites and also military leaders and nuclear scientists); Iran retaliated by firing missiles at Israel – most were shot down. Over the following week 610 Iranians died and 28 Israelis. 22 June US bombed Iranian nuclear installations. Trump then brokered a ceasefire truce between Israel and Iran.
Russian invasion of Ukraine	The Economist estimated Russian casualties in the conflict (killed and injured) close to one million. In daring “Operation Spider’s Web” Ukrainian drones attacked 4 military airfields across Russia and damaged dozens of planes (est value $7B). Also, underwater explosives damaged the main bridge to Crimea.
USA	After managing DOGE for 129 days, Trump held a farewell ceremony for Musk in the Oval Office. But a few days later, on 6 June, Musk publicly criticized Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, accusing the Bill of increasing USA’s deficit and negating DOGE’s efforts to cut Federal Govt spending. Their “Bromance” was dramatically over. Trump increased the import tariff on steel and aluminum from 25% to 50%. Trump deployed National Guard to help quell anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles – Gov Newsome said it was “over reaction”. Anti-Trump/ICE demonstrations in many cities. Trump announced a ban on visitors from 12 countries, and a partial ban on 7 others. Finally, Trump and Xi spoke on trade – agreed to high level talks the following week in London, at which a deal was agreed. 14 June (Trump’s 79th birthday) large military parade in Washington DC to mark 250th anniversary of the US Army. Many “no king” anti-Trump demonstrations across America. Egyptian asylum seeker Mohamed Jabry Soliman was charged with fire-bombing a Jewish gathering in Boulder Colorado. Bill Gates (Microsoft) said that he will give away 99% of his fortune to charities. Trump approved Nippon Steel’s takeover of US Steel for $15B, with the US Govt getting a “golden share”. 27 June the US Supreme Court by 6-3 restricted the ability of lower courts to delay President’s initiatives (such as changing birthright citizenship). Trump stopped trade negotiations with Canada to force Canada not to introduce a 3% tax on digital companies (such as Google and Facebook, etc). Wall Street (DJI. S&P, Nasdaq etc) hit record highs (despite Middle East conflicts, tariff wars, etc).
Australia	Senator Dorinda Cox left the Greens to join Labor. After another recount, the AEC declared independent Nicolette Boele the winner in Bradfield, but 26 votes. Aussie sprinter Lachlan Kennedy (21) ran 100m in 9.98secs. The ABC announced termination of its popular Q & A program, after 18 years. Will offer 44 redundancy packages. Qld won the second State of Origin Rugby League game 26-24 (although NSW scored 5 tries to 4). Series now one-all. Remuneration of top CEOs in 2024: Robert Thompson (News Corp) A$42M; Victor Herrero (Lovisa Holdings) A$40M; Shemara Wikramanayake (Macquarie Group) A$30M; Greg Goodman (Goodman Group) A$27M; Mick Farrell (ResMed) A$20M; Mike Henry (BHP) A$19M.

 

MSNBC Trump’s key actions in week to 4 June 2025

 Saw Trump-backed nationalist Karol Nawrocki win the Polish presidency, a contrast with recent elections in Canada and Australia.

Said a reporter’s question about the Wall Street joke “Trump Always Chickens Out” (TACO) on his proposed tariffs was “nasty.”

Had sweeping tariffs blocked by a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of International Trade, though an appeals court later paused the block.

Called Leonard Leo, the influential former chair of the conservative Federalist Society, a “sleazebag” who “probably hates America.”

Said that people should not feel bad for Joe Biden for having prostate cancer and shared a social media post claiming he was replaced by a robotic clone.

MSNBC Trump’s key actions in week to 25 June 2025

 Authorized airstrikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran: Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Dropped an f-bomb when responding to reporters about Iran and Israel accusing each other of violating a ceasefire.

Rescinded a rule that blocked logging and road construction on 58 million acres of national forest lands.

Called for a special prosecutor to investigate his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

Posted on social media during Juneteenth that there are “too many non-working holidays in America.”

......

That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah

Caloundra Australia

Monday 30 June 2025.