Gentlefolk,
This post describes our activities in August 2020.
The highlight for us during August was our trip to Brisbane to see Jen, Tom & their three boys. We left Canberra on 2 August and returned on 17 August. On the way up north we stopped in Forster and Nambucca; while in Brisbane we visited Maleny (in the hinterland of Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast); on the way back south we stopped in Ocean Shores, Nambucca, and Sydney.
Our Subaru Forester went well: we did 2,697 km and used 167 litres of diesel which cost $199.
It was a great trip. The highway is much improved these days which makes for easy driving. Big blue sky, green fields, wide rivers - I've always enjoyed that drive.
It was good to catch up with several friends, and of course to see our grand-kids again (we hadn't seen them since Xmas last year). The boys are thriving: Kurt is now taller than me (by a hair!!), Nate loves his footy and mountain bike, and Sid is a demon on his BMX.
We were lucky with timing - shortly after our arrival in Brisbane the Queensland Government shut the border with NSW because of rising Covid-19 numbers in Sydney. People could still go south (as we did coming home), but could not go north.
We had originally planned to stay longer in Queensland, but our apartment suffered a water leak towards the end of July, and we decided to return to help find and fix the leak (as I write the source of the leak is still unresolved).
Covid-19 Pandemic
The pandemic continues to grow. On 11 August 2020 the world recorded 20 million cumulative cases; today, 31 August the world figure passed 25 million. An additional 5 million cases in just 3 weeks!
The top 10 countries by CV19 cumulative cases as at 31 August 2020 are: USA (6 million cumulative cases, 183K cumulative deaths); Brazil (3.8m cases, 120K deaths); India (3.5m cases, 64K deaths); Russia (989K cases, 17K deaths); Peru (640K cases, 29K deaths): South Africa (623K cases, 14K deaths); Colombia (600K cases, 19K deaths); Mexico (592K cases, 64K deaths); Chile (410K cases, 11K deaths); and Argentina (401K cases, 8K deaths).
While the number of new cases appears to have stabilised in the USA (around 40K per day), the coronavirus is accelerating in India (and Pakistan and Bangladesh) and Latin America.
The search for a vaccine continues at frantic pace. There are several promising developments, but most experts say that it will be at least a year before a proven vaccine is widely available. International travel will be restricted for months (or even years?) so last week I joined Capital Golf Club - might as well enjoy our time of limited mobility.
Australia experienced a major hot-spot in Melbourne (its second biggest city) which resulted in a lock-down of the State of Victoria. Today Victoria had only 87 new cases, many less than a week or two ago. Sydney has also had some cases, but far fewer than Melbourne. We've been lucky in Canberra - not a single case for 48 days!!!
US Presidential Election
The next US election is scheduled to be held on Tuesday 3 November 2020, only 64 days from today. Biden/Harris head the Democratic Party ticket, while Trump /Pence, the incumbents, again head the Republican Party ticket.
All polls have Biden ahead, some substantially, but Trump is a very smart strategist as we saw in the election four years ago, and you certainly couldn't write him off, despite the awful mess America is in from the pandemic.
My heart says 'Biden' but my head says 'Trump'. I think it will be close.
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Here are photos of some of the activities in which we were engaged during August.
CANBERRA
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| Vera & I hosted lunch at the Hoi Polloi Restaurant on Saturday 1 August for the Guys & Dolls Group which meets for lunch or dinner on the first weekend of every month. From left: Vera, Helen, Peter, Neil, me, Geoff, Nadia, and Sandy (Dominic took the photo). |
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The following day, Sunday 2 August 2020 we left Canberra to visit family in Brisbane, Queensland. Our first stop was in Forster NSW, 590 km from Canberra (we didn't stop in Sydney because it was considered a 'hot-spot' by the Queensland Govt which had closed the border to people from Sydney). We spent a night in Forster (had dinner and breakfast with friends Geoff and Albert Gray). The next day we drove 3 hours to Nambucca to see Bob & Siri Morrison and stayed at the Cubana Resort; the following day drove 7 hours to Brisbane.
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First stop FORSTER, NSW
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| Geoff showed us his impressive collection of lego-models. The restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic have encouraged people to find new hobbies. |
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| Some of the intricate models built by Geoff. |
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| The following morning we had breakfast with Geoff and Albert and then went for a walk with their French Bulldog, Alfie. |
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The main beach of Forster. Geoff and Albert moved here from Sydney 3 years ago, and love living here. It is the middle of winter (and cold down south, including Canberra), but the weather was great here. This group of people on the beach were launching sea kayaks. The air temperature was about 23C, but they were all wearing wetsuits as the water temperature was still cold.
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Second stop NAMBUCCA HEADS, NSW
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| The drive from Forster to Nambucca took less than 3 hours. |
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| We stayed at the Cubana Resort. Great art-work, don't you think? We stayed here again 10 days later on the way home, and show more photos below. |
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| We saw Siri and Bob, and Siri's daughter Jiminy and husband Steven who were visiting from Bangkok. Bob is a retired accountant; he ran his eye over our 2019-20 tax returns before we lodged them with the ATO. After dinner we did Eddie Maguire's quiz which Steven won. |
BRISBANE, Queensland
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| Arrived in Brisbane and had 8 nights with Jen & Tom and the boys. It was great to see them again, after 8 months. Dinner with the Roberts family; from left: Kurt (15), Tom, Sid (11), Nate (13), Vera, and Jen. |
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| Jen with her 'punky' hairstyle. It was pink when we arrived a couple of days ago! |
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| Vera interrupting Nate doing his homework. |
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| Kurt recently turned 15 and is now taller than me - by a hair!!! |
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| Tom has been baking sour-dough bread every week during the Covid period. |
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| The wonderful result - nothing is as delicious (or smells as good) as freshly-baked bread!!! |
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| We 'donated' two Garuda statues to Jen & Tom (photo above and below); unfortunately these statues are just too big for our apartment in Canberra. Their ceiling is 3 meters high and the rooms are much bigger than ours, so large pieces of art fit in easily. |
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| On Saturday we went to Shorncliffe where Kurt's Marist team played basketball against St Pat's College; they lost a close game. Spectators were not allowed due to Covid, so Vera & I went for a walk on the esplanade along the shore of Moreton Bay (the Moreton Bay Cycleway) and Jen went jogging. |
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| The attractive and popular esplanade. |
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| Also known as Moreton Bay Cycleway which goes from Clontarf to Scarborough (11 km along the waterfront). |
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| A section of the esplanade is called "Lover's Walk" - see interesting story of the name. |
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| The old Woody Point Jetty was built in 1888 - it has been fully renovated - a popular spot, lots of people fishing from the jetty. |
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| Passed this attractive church. |
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| Many nice old homes along the esplanade. |
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| And many old trees too. |
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| We watched Nate play rugby at Marist College Ashgrove. |
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| Later we watched GPS play Souths in the main Brisbane competition. There was a good crowd, partly to see Will Genia (the Wallabies half-back) who played 20 mins for GPS (he plays in Japan and is back during the off-season); GPS won 50 - 12. |
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| Jen and Kurt preparing a pizza, which Tom cooked on the Weber BBQ. |
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| Tom slicing up a finished pizza. |
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| Sid (above) and Nate (below) at a bike track in Willonga Park, near their home. |
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| I went for a hike with Jen on Mt Coot-tha. Lots of great trails. Jen and Tom often walk and jog in this area. |
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| On our hike - we took the dog (Ketut) with us. It was good to see many people enjoying the 'bush' so close to the city. |
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| Photo with Sid and Nate. |
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| Kurt has decided to try American football (aka grid-iron or NFL). He looks huge in all the gear. |
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| Ketut in her favorite spot on an old couch. |
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| Saying goodbye after 8 wonderful days with Jen & Tom in Brisbane. |
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| Saying goodbye to Tom. |
MALENY, Qld
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| We visited Bronwyn and Daryl Hensley in Maleny, about 80km north of Brisbane. They were part of our group which toured India back in February - March (seems so long ago - Covid has changed so much since then). We had a lovely lunch at their "little piece of paradise". |
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They bake their own bread - delicious!
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St Lucia, BRISBANE
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We caught up with Michael Tjoeng who lives in St Lucia, a lovely river-side suburb of Brisbane. Michael and I were in the Trade Section of the Australian Embassy, Beijing, back in the mid-1980s (35 years ago!!).
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OCEAN SHORES, NSW
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Called in to see Shana and Greg Mills in Ocean Shores, NSW. They are ex-Canberrans (Greg worked in the Immigration Dept) and moved north when he retired. Great spot.
NAMBUCCA, NSW
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| Back in Nambucca, we caught up with Bob & Siri Morrison again, and Jiminy (her husband Steven took the photo). |
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| We stayed at the Cubana Resort in Nambucca Heads again on the return trip, this time for 2 nights. The rooms are situated around a little lake (and separate swimming pool). |
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| The Cubana Resort had bicycles available for guests, and we had a nice ride along the Nambucca River. |
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| This man was cleaning fish he caught in the river - note the pelicans behind him, waiting to be fed!!! |
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Of course we had to walk along the beach as well. There were two guys "hang gliding", they just kept going back and forth, catching the up-draft from the sea. A number of sea-eagles flew around them, obviously wondering about these huge newcomers! These days it seems hang gliders sit in large comfortable chairs rather than 'hang'.
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SYDNEY, NSW
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| Dinner in Sydney to celebrate my 74th birthday. From left: Caz, me, Eddie, Andrew, Jay, Vera, Paul, and Niniek. We stayed two nights with Paul & Niniek; Andrew, Caz & kids came from Surry Hills and spent the weekend with us. Good times. |
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| Birthday drawing from Eddie (6) and Jay (3). Great kids. |
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| We went for a bush-walk; the bush is very accessible in the Hornsby area where Paul & Niniek live. |
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Paul & Niniek had some friends over: from left Michael Kramer and Tini, Vera, Niniek, Paul, and Angus Dickinson.
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| We listened to a couple of audio books on the long drive to Brisbane and back. This book "Missing You" by Harlan Coben was particularly good. |
CANBERRA, ACT
We were away for 15 days in total; did 2,697 km and consumed 167 liters of diesel (cost $199).
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| The price of fuel at Costco when we arrived back in Canberra on Monday 17 August. Interesting that Unleaded Petrol is again cheaper than diesel - it had been more expensive than diesel for about the last 4 weeks or so. |
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Back in Canberra after our trip north; lunch with Frank Tavares and Sue. Vera met Sue about 18 months ago, and we have seen them regularly since then. Frank is a retired Air Force Officer.
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| Blossoms welcomed us back to Canberra. But it was a false Spring - a cold front came through the following weekend which was the coldest period this winter. But that only lasted a few days and then it was beautiful Spring weather again. |
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| Andrew & Caz brought the kids up to Canberra for a long weekend. On Saturday 29 August we all went up to Corin Forest Resort where they have small ski & toboggan areas (make artificial snow if the nights are cold enough). Eddie and JJ had not seen snow before, so they had a ball. We were blessed with perfect Spring weather - so lucky - only a week earlier Canberra had a very cold spell (on Saturday 22 August the 'real temperature' didn't get above Zero C !!!). |
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| Toboggan time! |
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| Caz helping the kids make a snowman. |
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| We returned via the Cotter Dam Reserve which has nice play areas; the kids had fun exploring the creek (things they can't do easily in the big city). |
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| On Sunday 30 August we walked along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. Many people out enjoying the beautiful weather. |
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| A dance group (The Australian Dance Party) performed. |
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| Vera & JJ watching the dance performance. JJ had her scooter, hence the helmet. |
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| Later we had fish & chips picnic on the grass at the Yacht Club - Yummy - the kids proclaimed them the best fish & chips ever! |
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| Eddie & Jay marvelled at the size of this dog (like a small horse!) near us at the Yacht Club. |
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| They headed back to Sydney on Monday morning 31 August 2020. Arrived in Sydney at 12.30pm, they dropped Eddie off at Burke Street Primary School, and Jay at SND Child Care center; then Caz and Andrew went to their furniture shop at 322 Crown Street. |
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| I read this autobiography during August. The author, Helene Chung, was the China Correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) when we were at the Australian Embassy, Beijing, 1984-86. She was an Australian-Born Chinese and the first female corespondent posted overseas by the ABC. She was accompanied by her partner, John Martin, who got a job in the Aid Section of the Australian Embassy. |
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| Helena grew up in Hobart, Tasmania in the 1950s. At that time Hobart had a population of about 100,000 of which only about 100 were of Chinese origin. It was interesting to read her experiences growing up. Today all the major urban centers have significant Asian populations and Chinese/Asian faces are common-place (in the 2016 Census over 1.2 million claimed Chinese heritage - about 5% of the population - and Chinese is the second most widely spoken language, after English). |
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Because of my career as an Australian Trade Commissioner I am interested in matters related to international trade. I subscribe to Bloomberg's daily newsletter "
Supply Lines - tracking Covid-19's impact on trade" (former title Trade Matters). The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on international trade. Here are some of the more interesting graphs in that newsletter during August.
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| USA trade - exports and imports - over a 20 year period: two big falls, during the GFC and now the pandemic. The US trade deficit narrowed slightly, from $55 B in May to $51 B in June. |
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| To me it is amazing that the Chinese are still talking to the Americans about their "Phase 1 Trade Deal" agreed last January (Trump has been totally negative on anything to do with China - even Tik Tok is seen as a risk to National Security). But apparently they are still in discussion. It looks as if China will not meet its target for imports from the USA, not surprising given the world downturn due to the pandemic. But just last week China announced new, record purchases of US oil and soya. |
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| Global trade saw a 7.6% rise in June, but after huge falls in the previous 3 months. Still, the worst may be behind us? |
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| US factory production increasing (after big drops in March and April) as inventories are rebuilt. |
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| Paper manufacturers have experienced a big fall in demand due to CV19. |
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| Have you heard of Bloomberg's "Misery Index"? I hadn't either. The higher inflation and unemployment, the more miserable. By that criteria the most miserable countries at present are: Venezuela, Argentina, and South Africa; the least miserable: Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. The USA is now the 25th most miserable country (last year it was ranked much less miserable at 50th most miserable). China is the 44th most miserable (an improvement on 37th last year). |
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Well, that's it for this post. My next post will be at the end of September.
The Brumbies (Canberra's Rugby Union team) finished on top of the Australian competition (comprises 5 teams: Sydney Waratahs, Brisbane Reds, Melbourne Rebels, Perth Force, and Canberra Brumbies). They will host the Grand Final in 2 weeks.
Canberra's Rugby League team, the Raiders, are doing well this truncated season, currently in 5th place on the ladder. We heard bad news today - Huawei, which has been the Raiders' major sponsor for 9 years, announced that they will cease their sponsorship at the end of this season. It appears the Aussie Govt's negative attitude to Huawei (and China in general) is affecting even sports.
In the meantime, best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.
Vera & Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Monday 31 August 2020
