This post covers events / activities in October 2017.
We arrived back in Canberra on 21 September 2017 after our visit to Indonesia and Perth (see Posts #147 - #157). We settled back into our usual life very quickly - one of the benefits of living in an apartment.
It is Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere and the weather in late-September and October was great - cool nights (down to zero C sometimes), but usually clear, sunny, days (maximums around 20 C) and relatively little wind. So much better than this time last year, when we arrived back from China - the weather then was cold, overcast, rainy, and windy.
First some photos in Sydney, then in Canberra.
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| When we have time in Sydney a favourite trip is to take the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly. |
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| A view of Manly Beach; it was a lovely day and some people were swimming, but still too cold for us. |
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| Replica of the Endeavour at Darling Harbour. How did men cross vast oceans in such small ships? Brave. |
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| We had dinner at a restaurant in Dixon Street, Chinatown, with a German tourist we met Bernard Jensch (his hobby is plane-spotting, and he loves holidaying in Australia). Very busy - lots of people, eating, walking around. Balmy night, many diners sat outside. We walked back to Andrew's apartment after dinner and were really surprised at how many people were about - in contrast, Canberra on a Sunday night is very quiet indeed. |
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| As a change we took a ferry from Circular Quay to Parramatta (90 minutes). We were surprised how big Sydney Harbour is and how little highrise development has been allowed (only at Homebush and Parramatta). |
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| We had a look around Parramatta and then caught a train back to Central - only one stop, at Strathfield, so quick trip. |
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| Our friends Angie and Howard Eakins visited us for a weekend, and we took in the annual Spring Flower Show called Floriade. Very nice. |
Here are some photos around Floriade.
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| Not only flowers at Floriade! |
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| The day we sent to Floriade was "Doggie Day", lots of people brought their four-legged pets. |
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| Vera's cousin, Ailan, and about 20 others flew from Perth to Canberra to attend a wedding. |
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| The wedding took place in St Andrew's Church. |
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| The Choir of St Andrew's Church sang hymns during the marriage ceremony. |
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| Paul Milton and Niniek (Caroline's parents) visited from Sydney. Heath McMichael joined us for dinner at the Canberra German Club. |
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| Dinner with old friends Jim O'Callaghan and Yvonne. We met at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta 1988-90. Jim was head of the Immigration Section and I was in the Trade Section. We both loved running with the Hash House Harriers. |
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| We have started dancing again - New Vogue or Sequence Dancing - with the Canberra Old Time Dance Club (on Thursday nights) and at the Southern Cross Club (Wednesday nights, fortnightly). After about 8 years ... the steps slowly come back ... |
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| Canberra Old Time Dance Club barbeque at Bob & Kay Stoddard's place. Some of the old stalwarts: from left Diane, Brian, John, Elizabeth, and Glennis. Nice to catch up with old friends. |
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| We finally got around to hanging some family pictures in the study. Good memories of Jennifer and Andrew as they were growing up. |
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| We attended a talk and book signing by Ex-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra to promote the first volume of his autobiography "Not for the faint-hearted". We met Kevin and Therese at the Australian Embassy in Beijing in 1985-6 (Kevin was in the Political Section, and I was in the Trade Section). I have long been an admirer - he is a man of vision and intellect - who could/should have been a great leader of Australia. |
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| On 30 October I gave a talk to the Australia China Friendship Society on "Aspects of Chinese Culture". Questions I addressed during the talk included: Why does one see so few old people in China? Why doesn't the game Chinese Whispers work in China? Why do many young Chinese admire Jews? Why does China only have a single time-zone? Are there left-handed Chinese? etc. Also gave similar talks to the Pan Pacific Women's Association and the University of Third Age. |
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| With Brian Keil at the ACFS talk on Aspects of Chinese Culture. |
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| On 31 October, three siblings celebrated Angie's birthday with lunch at Batemans Bay. |
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Many important developments in September/October, including:
Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy, died aged 91.
Independence referendum by the Kurds (in Iraq), and by Catalonia (in Spain).
Shooting in Las Vegas (58 dead, hundreds injured).
Eight people killed by terrorist in Lower Manhattan (I rode a bike on that same pathway).
19th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC); another 5 years for Xi Jin Ping.
High Court ruled five Members of Parliament were unable to serve (including Barnaby Joyce, Deputy Prime Minister) due to their dual-citizen status (S44 of Australian Constitution).
In the AFL Final, Richmond Tigers 108 beat Adelaide Crows 60; in the NRL Melbourne Storm 34 beat North Queensland Cowboys 6.
The Houston Astros beat the LA Dodgers to win the 2017 Baseball World Series.
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The first thing I do every morning is check CNN and The Washington Post for the latest on President Donald Trump. He is an incredibly intriguing person and a constant source of interest and puzzlement - news is so much more interesting now! No one can really fathom the way he thinks and acts.
The first indictments in Robert Mueller's Russia - US Election investigation have taken place; more to come???
President Trump is off to Asia next week - sure to be interesting.
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Well, I'm happy to have caught up my blog with our recent travels.
Don't forget, only 50 shopping days left till Xmas!
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Alex Olah & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
Saturday 4 November 2017
