Gentlefolk,
This post describes some of our activities during December 2018.
First, some international events this month.
The death, aged 94, of George HW Bush, 41st President of the United States (1988 - 92). The Cold War ended during his watch: on 25 December 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved into 15 independent countries. Unbelievable, a miracle.
The 40th anniversary of China's "Reform and Opening"; China's GDP increased from US$150 billion to US$12 trillion (putting it another way, China's share of Global GDP rose from 2% to 18%). Astonishing, another miracle.
The "Yellow Vest" movement in France, persistent and violent.
Brexit negotiations not going well - with only 3 months left - difficulties for Theresa May.
Wall Street (and other stock markets around the world) very volatile, up and down like a yo-yo (lost all 2018's gains). It looked as if this might be Wall St's worst finish since 1931.
At the behest of the USA, Canadian authorities detained Meng Wan Zhou, CFO of Huawei, apparently for alleged violations of sanctions against Iran five years ago. She was released on C$10 million bail. Extradition hearings to follow. China not amused.
Herewith photos of some of the activities in which we were involved this month:
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| Vera's chemo treatment resulted in hair loss - don't we look like twins now? |
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| We caught up with Dennis and Irene Smith. Dennis was Vera's boss at MC Computing when we came to Canberra in 1996. Great guy; has lived with Parkinsons for years. They are retired in Tweed Heads and visit Canberra to see family and friends. |
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| With Anna and Bernt Larsson who we met in 1979 during our posting to Sao Paulo, Brazil. They met when Bernt was sent to Australia by Saab Scania back in the mid-1970s; live in Sydney and were visiting their daughter who has moved to Canberra with her family. |
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| My brother, Andy, lives in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. The island is small, but they can always find a bit of bush for off-road cycling. Andy has been a keen supporter of the Raro Hash House Harriers over many years, but bad knees make running difficult now. |
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| At the National Library I attended the book launch by Peter FitzSimon of "Mutiny on the Bounty". A journalist, commentator and prolific author, he is also an excellent public speaker and kept the audience entertained for an hour-and-a-half. Peter is President of the Australian Republican Movement and a passionate believer that Australia no longer needs "a little old lady in far-off London" as our Head of State. |
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| With my new 'best mate' after the book launch. |
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| The cover of Peter FitzSimon's book Mutiny on the Bounty - a saga of survival, sex, sedition, mayhem and mutiny. It is 562 pages, plus 34 pages of footnotes and sources. The main characters are Captain William Bligh (portrayed as a great sailor/navigator and an even greater bastard) and Fletcher Christian the leader of the Mutiny. On 28 April 1789 the Mutineers took over the Bounty and set Captain Bligh and 18 Loyalists adrift in a Long Boat (about 7m long by 2.5m wide). On 14 June they reached Kupang in the Dutch East Indies, having covered a distance of 3,618 nautical miles in 47 days (with the loss of one man); an incredible feat of seamanship. Most of the Mutineers ended up in Tahiti (later arrested) while Fletcher Christian and others made new lives on remote Pitcairn Island. |
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| Finally received Peter Horne's book which is a directory of those who served during the life of the Trade Commissioners Act (1933 - 86); it lists Trade Commissioners, Trade Officers and Trade Secretaries. He named it "Australia's Carpetbaggers" after salesmen in the old days who carried their wares in bags made of pieces of carpet. In 1986 the Department of Overseas Trade was abolished, with Policy areas joining the Department of Foreign Affairs while Promotional areas became the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade). |
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| I joined the Department of Trade in 1971 as a Trainee Trade Commissioner. It was an honor and privilege to work on the promotion of Australian trade for 30 years, with overseas postings at Australian Embassies - in Indonesia (twice), Thailand, Canada, Brazil, China, and Singapore. During my second posting in Jakarta I was proud to receive the Ambassador's "Carpetbagger of the Year" award. |
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| Julie Bishop recently resigned as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and Foreign Minister. Here she is presenting the shoes she was wearing when she made the announcement, to Ms Daryl Karp, Director of the Museum of Australian Democracy. I happened to be at Old Parliament House at the time, as part of my training to become a Volunteer Guide (my first official duty as a Volunteer Guide will take place on New Years Day - bit nervous - could be a big crowd?). |
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| As part of our training we did a tour of the Education Office of the Australian Electoral Commission; our guide was the daughter of old friends Yvonne and Jim O'Callaghan - generational change. |
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| Annual Xmas drinks for the Volunteer Guides of the Museum of Australian Democracy in the courtyard of Old Parliament House. |
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| At the Xmas drinks I met an old colleague, Malcolm Mackerras; we shared an office at the Associated Chambers of Manufactures of Australia (now Confederation of Australian Industry) a half-century ago! |
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| In December I did a course to become a Volunteer English Tutor for migrants in the AMEP program run by Navitas. There were 15 in the course - it was interesting that only 4 of us were older/retired, the others were all much younger. It was good to see young people willing to contribute time and effort to help newcomers to our society. ACT Public Libraries run free weekly English Conversation Groups - I will try both to see which suits me better. |
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| A poster advertising the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). All migrants are able to access 510 hours of English tuition (a combination of classes and one-on-one). It is a free service for those on Humanitarian Visas; others make a contribution as part of the fees they pay to get a visa to migrate to Australia. In Canberra AMEP is delivered by Navitas, a large educational services company. |
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| On 11 December 2018 Nate Roberts had a Graduation Ceremony to mark the end of Primary School. Last December we flew up for Kurt's graduation, but couldn't this time because of Vera's chemotherapy. Here is young Nate (11 years old) with beaming parents Tom and Jen. Fortunately his other grand-parents, Barbara and Richard Roberts were able to attend this memorable occasion. |
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| Nate Roberts at his Graduation from Primary School. Next year he will join Kurt at Marist Brothers, Ashgrove. Like Kurt, Nate was Captain of Taylor House. Hilder Road Primary School in The Gap, Brisbane, has been a wonderful school for the boys; Sid has just completed Year 4 and will be there another 2 years. |
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| Xmas drinks at Reno & Heath McMichael's place in Hughes ACT. |
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| Michael and Peter Kramer visited from Sydney. We did a tour of the exhibition at NLA on Captain James Cook; our Volunteer Guide was Genevieve, very knowledgeable. James Cook (27 Oct 1728 - 14 Feb 1779) was a remarkable man: despite humble origins and little education he became an expert sailor, navigator, surveyor, leader, explorer, etc, etc. |
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| The exhibition features the actual diary Captain Cook kept on his first voyage. Cook did three major voyages: 1768 - 71 (main objective: to observe the Transit of Venus from Tahiti, he discovered the East Coast of Australia in 1770); 1772 - 75 (main objective: to look for the Great South Land); 1776 - 79 (main objective: to find a North West Passage; killed in Hawaii on 14 February 1779 aged 51). |
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| A scale model of the Endeavour, Captain Cook's ship on his first voyage of discovery. It was relatively small: about 32m x 9m. Carried 94 (71 sailors, 12 marines, 11 civilians such as botanist Joseph Banks). Cook kept his crew healthy for two years, until they got to Batavia (now Jakarta) on the way home, where several died of disease. |
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| A painting of Cook's death in Hawaii on 14 February 1779 (aged 51) during a fight with natives; a tragic end to a life of achievement. |
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| Andrew visited from Sydney to check on Vera's progress; here we are saying goodbye at Canberra Railway Station (Jen came down from Brisbane earlier - really strong support from both kids for Vera). |
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| Canberra has its own baseball team, the Cavalry, in the National competition - which they won last season! Their home diamond/ground is at Narrabundah, not far from our apartment. I went down to watch them play Korea - Geelong; the Cavalry won 6 home runs to 2. In Australia baseball has a niche following (cricket is much more popular). |
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| Some of the Cavalry players on the bench. |
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| Xmas Eve we had a picnic down by the lake at Bowen Park. It was a lovely evening, clear and warm (25C). |
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| The gang, from left: Michael, Adrienne, Aniko, Davide, Oscar, Peter, Bonnie, Vera, Angie, Sasha, me, Jimmy. |
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| On Xmas Day we went to the cemetery to pay respects to our dear father and darling mother. That evening Sasha and family returned to Sydney. Angie spent the afternoon with us - we learnt to play Monopoly cards, a fun game! |
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Did you know: December 2018 had 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays, and 5 Mondays - happens once every 823 years.
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An Aussie event of note during December: widespread demonstrations by school children calling on the Federal Government to finally act on Climate Change.
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From a personal perspective the way Vera handled her chemo treatment has been great. She felt tired, of course, but few other side effects. Two down, two to go. The next treatment will be on Wednesday 2 January, and then the 4th (and last, hopefully) three weeks later. It's been quite a journey - started six months ago - but the end is now in sight.
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Well, it's the last day of the year - tomorrow is the first day of 2019. It's been a crazy year with many ups and downs. I might do a separate blog post summarising the main events of 2018. We live in an age of "information overload" and need to look back sometimes otherwise even important events quickly recede into blurred memory.
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That's it for this post, and for this year.
Wherever you are: best wishes for 2019, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
31 December 2018
