Gentlefolk,
This post describes our activities in June 2019.
It was a big month for sport:
- Champions League: Liverpool beat Tottenham in an all-British final.
- French Tennis Open: Nadal won the Mens, while Ashleigh Barty won the Womens (two weeks later 23 year old Barty became World #1, the first Aussie female #1 since Yvonne Goolagong (a remarkable effort - Barty was ranked 623rd just two years ago).
- NBA: The Toronto Raptors beat the Warriors; Kawhi Leonard MVP.
- Womens Soccer World Cup: valiant effort by The Matildas, but they fell short.
- Super Rugby: The Brumbies beat the Durban Sharks in the quarter-finals; semi-final against the Jaguares next weekend.
Politically, tension mounted between the USA and Iran. Two more oil tankers were damaged (Iran blamed, without evidence), the US deployed more troops to the region, then a US drone was shot down near Iran. In response President Trump imposed additional sanctions, while warning Iran of "total obliteration". We feel sorry for the ordinary people of Iran.
President Trump will meet President Xi in a few days during the G20 meeting in Japan. Will trade talks resume????
Herewith some photos of activities in which we were involved.
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| It was our turn to organise the monthly meeting of the 'Guys & Dolls' Group on Saturday 1 June 2019. We offered a tour of Old Parliament House at 11.30am, followed by lunch at the Hoi Polloi Restaurant (great name!) at 12.30pm. Members at lunch were, from left: Vera, Sandy Daly, Neil Moffatt, Donna Ledlie, Nadia Potas, John Bakker, me, Helen Moffat, Geoff Banbury, Peter Crapper, Marlene Dixon, and Paul Farrelly. It's fun going to different homes and/or restaurants with this group. |
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| Helen Moffatt posing in the Speaker's Chair at Old Parliament House. |
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| My brother Andy (with his distinctive trademark moustache) visited Canberra for a week. We did a quick trip to Narooma on the South Coast to visit Angie. Four siblings together, a rare occurrence: Andy, Angie, Aniko and me. Andy has lived in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, for 39 years - he calls it 'paradise' - shorts, t-shirt and thongs are standard dress all year round! |
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| We drove to Narooma via Cooma (where we grew up), had lunch at a cafe in Nimmitabel (passed a herd of cattle feeding along the road), then down Brown Mountain to the coast. |
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| Aniko takes her grand-daughter Hannah to a German play-group,"Spiel und Spass", once a week - we called in to see the set-up. |
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| We met Annaliese at Spiel und Spass. She is from Weilheim OBB where I was born - small world! |
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| At home for dinner and to watch the first State of Origin Rugby League game, from left: Neale Emanuel, Andy Olah, Vera, Paul Flint, Christine Evans, Noel Cock, David Evans. Queensland beat NSW 18 - 14. |
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| We did a guided tour of the War Memorial, the best museum in Canberra. Our volunteer guide was Murray Hanson, a dapper, knowledgeable gentleman. The War Memorial under director Dr Brendan Nelson (a former leader of the Liberal Party) has been given an additional $500 million for expansion; a highly controversial decision judging by Letters to the Editor of the Canberra Times. |
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| A ceremony with school children in the Hall of Remembrance. |
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| A German fighter plane on display. |
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| "G for George" Lancaster Bomber on display with video in the background. |
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| We visited the National Arboretum which was started in earnest 10 years ago. The trees are quite small now, but in 20 years this will be a wonderful, world-class site. |
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| We did a short guided tour. |
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| Many celebrities have planted trees at the National Arboretum, including Jimmy Barnes. |
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| Inside the impressive main building at the Arboretum - timber everywhere!. |
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| Expansive views from Dairy Farmers Hill at the Arboretum. Later we drove through the new suburbs of Molonglo (Wright, Coombs and Denman Prospect) - a whole new world. Canberra's population is now estimated at 420,000 (it was only about 150,000 when I arrived here in 1964). |
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| A sculpture of Dorothy MacKellar's hand writing of her famous poem "Wide Brown Land". |
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| Andy with old mate Alex Shumack. |
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| Dinner at the Kingston Hotel, from left: Laurie & Kaaren Laffin, Vera & me, Rae & Alex, and Andy. |
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| Indonesian community "buka puasa" dinner to celebrate the ending of Ramadan (fasting month). |
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| Iis and Rosie led the singing, accompanied by Dian on the electronic keyboard. |
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| We attended the 39th Annual Ball of the Canberra Old Time Dance Club. |
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| About 40 couples came to the Ball. |
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| Bob and Kay Stoddard cut the 39th Anniversary cake. |
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| With Eugen and Nee - good friends. |
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| The government organised a Memorial Service for The Rt Hon Bob Hawke. Australia's 23rd Prime Minister (1983 - 91). The Service was held at the Sydney Opera House. I watched the proceedings in the House of Representatives chamber at Old Parliament House, together with about 100 other people. Craig Emerson acted as MC and Linda Burnley did the "Welcome to Country". Speakers were Scott Morrison, Anthony Albanese, Kim Beazley, Bill Kelty, Ross Garnaut, Paul Keating, Sue Peters-Hawke (daughter), Sophie Taylor Price (grand-daughter), and Blanche Hawke (widow). It was a wonderful service to commemorate the life and contribution of a remarkable person. Some of the comments: forward thinking, daring, positive, good delegator, read all Cabinet submissions, persuasive, trusting, inclusive, liked people. |
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| We met Bob and Hazel Hawke when they made an official visit to China in April 1984. This photo was taken at a reception at the Embassy, Vera obviously chuffed at meeting the Prime Minister. He liked keeping fit and enjoyed tennis, so a game of doubles was arranged: Bob Hawke and his Chief of Staff against David Ambrose and myself. We played one long set, which they won 10 - 8. |
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| Hazel Hawke visited Beijing International School where she met Jennifer and Andrew, amongst others. |
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| The Brumbies played the Queensland Reds on Saturday 15 June 2019; it was a cold night with the temperature just above 0C - can you see the 'steam' come off the scrum? This was the final round of the regular season for Super Rugby. The Reds had beaten us earlier, but this time the Brumbies prevailed 40 - 27. We finished on top of the Australian Conference, and qualified for the Finals. The following week the Brumbies beat the Durban Sharks 38 - 13 at home (I missed the game, being in Sydney); next weekend they play the semi-final against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires; let's hope they make the final. |
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| Then it was off to Sydney to look after the grandkids for a week while Andrew & Caroline exhibited their furniture at the Denfair Trade Display in Melbourne. Here Jay and Eddie are engrossed in a video on Vera's phone. |
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| Reading with Jay-Jay. She is a little cutie. |
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| One of my ex-students from China, Charles Yu Zhi Chao, is now living in Sydney and called in. Charles did Safety Engineering at the China University of Petroleum, then Mechanical Engineering at Wollongong University. He likes the Aussie life-style and wants to spend more time here - finally got a job with Johnson Controls, where he starts next week. He is a very likable young man. |
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| Chin and Rod Jones invited the Miltons and us for lunch in their new home right on the water at Malabar. We met Chin and Rod when we lived in Jakarta 30 years ago; Rod was involved in the mining industry, while Chin built a substantial retail business. Fine people. |
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| Rod showing Paul and Niniek the lovely view from their living room |
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| Three wise men: hear no evil (Paul Milton), see no evil (Rod Jones), and speak no evil (me). |
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| Andrew and Jay-jay saw us off at Central station. The train is a bit slow - takes 4 hours Sydney to Canberra - but comfortable, and Canberra Train Station is only 10 minutes walk from our apartment. |
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| Vera with Harmonica teacher Mike Ilchef and fellow student Davone Knott. Mike runs courses for the University of the Third Age (U3A). Vera taught herself the harmonica when she was younger, but is now getting proper tuition and really enjoying it. |
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My brother, Andy, spent a week in Canberra on his way home to Rarotonga after a month in Europe.
Tomorrow Vera & I leave to visit him in the Cook Islands. We had originally arranged to attend his 70th birthday in January, but postponed that trip when Vera started chemo treatment.
Four days in Aitutaki and nine days in Rarotonga - looking forward to warm weather - will be the subject of my next post.
In preparation for our trip I have been reading Paul Theroux's book "
The Happy Isles of Oceania - paddling the Pacific", published in 1992. He is a master storyteller. Highly recommended.
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That's it for this post, folks. Another busy month. How quickly the days seem to pass. My two U3A classes (Superannuation and Why is it so?) finished at the end of May and I thought that I would have lots of free time, but somehow that didn't eventuate ...
Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra
Thursday, 27 June 2019
