Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during the month of May 2018.
We had such an exciting month in April (Dubai, Iran, Penang, Singapore) that being back to our normal routine in Australia seems a little tame. Still, life continues to be busy.
The weather was great in May - late Autumn - sunny days, nights getting colder.
The first week back involved dental (Vera, implant) and medical (Alex, prostrate) appointments. Alex saw Dr Al Sameraaii who recommended a "re-bore" (he called it an "endoscopic enucleation"). It was all done very quickly, and relatively painlessly; seems to have been a success.
We had a long-weekend in Sydney to catch up with Andrew & co there, and then drove up to Brisbane (about 1,300km each way) to see Jen & co.
In Brisbane we had lunch with Kristine Cant and Ross Stewart who were part of the Iran tour group; they are an interesting couple, widely travelled, and we are delighted to have met them.
Here are some photos of activities in May:
 |
| Sunday 6 May picnic lunch with the Australia Indonesia Family Association; on the shores of Lake Ginninderra. Lovely day. |
 |
| Ducks and swans on Lake Ginninderra, where we had the AIFA picnic. |
 |
| We caught the train (11 - 14 May) to Sydney to see Andrew, Caroline, Eddie & Jay. Here is Andrew with little Jay-Jay; she is almost walking. |
 |
| Fast Eddie at home; he is standing on the jigsaw puzzle he and Andrew completed. |
 |
| Big hug for Vera on Mother's Day (13 May 2018) |
 |
| Two young German guys, Moritz (20) and Valentin (19), came around to Andrew & Caz's apartment; Moritz is the grandson of my cousin Oda. He and Valentin have one-year Working Holiday visas; they plan to travel around Australia. Vera knocked up a quick dinner for everyone. The following day they drove to Canberra, met us at the train station, and stayed with us for the week. Two very nice young men. |
 |
| Back to Canberra, and I attended a meeting of the Committee of the Australia China Friendship Society. Here the President Carol Keil, is thanking Shirley Jones for the 20 years she was on the Committee; for many years Shirley ran a monthly "Conversation Evening" in her home - first hour Chinese, the second hour English. |
 |
| Carol, Shirley and Suzie with the beautiful patchwork quilt made by Suzie and presented to Shirley on behalf of the ACFS Committee. |
 |
| I took Moritz and Valentin up to the Australian Parliament House. |
 |
| We did a guided tour of the Parliament House - impressive building - here are the boys in the Senate chamber. |
 |
| Dinner at the Ainslie Football Club, from left: Vera, Valentin, Peter Carey, me, Moritz, Aniko Carey. |
 |
| We showed Moritz and Valentin around Canberra - found this mob of kangaroos in a local park. They were amazed to see wild animals so close to habitation. Canberra isn't called the Bush Capital for nothing! |
 |
| Lunch at home to introduce the boys to Britt and Angie. |
 |
| From left: Valentin, Britt, Angie, and Moritz. Both boys are over 190 cm, so Angie asked them to kneel for the photo! |
 |
| Valentin and Moritz saying goodbye when they left Canberra. They bought a VW Transporter (Trakka), they can sleep in it. But Canberra and Sydney are too cold now, so they are heading north to warmer climes. Actually, we also left shortly after them, headed for Sydney and then Nambucca and finally Brisbane to visit Jen & Tom & co. We ran into Moritz and Valentin in Coffs Harbour, and then again at Jen's place in Brisbane. |
 |
| In Nambucca Heads we stayed with good friends Siri and Bob Morrison. I accompanied Bob to a Lions Club meeting - here is Bob making and announcement. |
 |
| Nambucca has a sea-wall built to form the mouth of the Nambucca River. Visitors draw on available rocks - here are some of the interesting images. |
 |
| We called on old friend Hugo Hofgartner who has retired at Helensvale, in the hinterland of the Gold Coast. Hugo is a gentle giant, and one of the nicest people around. |
 |
| In Brisbane Vera & I caught up with Michael Tjoeng, with whom I worked at the Australian Embassy Beijing 30 years ago. |
 |
| Dinner at Jen & Tom's place. From left: Vera, Tom, Nate (partly obscured), Valentin, Sid, Moritz, Jen and Kurt. |
 |
| Tom checking out jobs and accommodation in Brisbane for Moritz and Valentin. Tom identified a possible job for Moritz (a qualified mechanic) and helped Moritz submit an application, a couple of days later Moritz went for an interview, and got the job (a 4 month contract doing pre-delivery inspections for a hoist importer). They like Brisbane and will spend a few months there before continuing their journey up the coast to Cairns and beyond. |
 |
| We watched Nate and Kurt play rugby, Nate for GPS (he made the Districts team) and Kurt for Marist Ashgrove. Sid is recovering from a broken collar-bone (bike accident) and can't play rugby for another month. |
 |
| I took their dog, a Ridgeback called Ketut, for a walk in the mornings. Some early mornings were quite cool, below 10C, but then it would warm up to over 20C - that's winter in Brisbane! |
 |
| With the three boys. From left: me. Nate(11), Vera, Sid (9), and Kurt (almost 13). |
 |
The Roberts Family. From left: Sid, Tom, Vera, me, Jen, and Kurt (Nate took the photo).
...
|
That's all for now.
...
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Alex Olah and Vera Olah
Canberra Australia
Friday 8 June 2018
