Post #164 6 February 2018

Gentlefolk,

This post covers our trip from Canberra to Brisbane, 22 January to 6 February 2018.

Our first stop was Forster NSW.  The drive took about 7 hours; good divided road almost all the way now. We stayed for two nights with our old friend Geoff Gray.  We hadn't seen Geoff for several years, so it was good to catch up. He moved from Sydney to Forster (about 3.5 hour drive north of Sydney) last year and bought a beautiful house, almost new with a nice pool.

A view of the pool and back patio of Geoff's new house. 

Vera, Geoff and Albert with Forster's Main Beach in the background.

I liked the name of the cafe on Main Beach.

Geoff and Albert showed us around Forster.  We had coffee at this nice cafe overlooking the river.

Not all the locals are friendly!

A view of  lovely "One Mile Beach" about 5 minutes drive from Geoff's place.

Geoff couldn't resist buying this 20 year old BMW Z3; it is in great condition and you can have to top down in Forster for most of the year ...  boys and their toys  ...

From Forster we drove to Nambucca Heads, stopping at Lake Cathie, just south of Port Macquarie, to see Kate and Leon Norgate. They were our neighbours when we moved to our house in Curtin; they welcomed us to the street and were the most wonderful neighbours ever, so friendly and helpful.

We had morning tea (Kate made delicious scones!) on their back patio.  The Norgates moved up here from Canberra about 4 years ago, and love the great weather and relaxed but active lifestyle (an endless round of golf, kayaking, tennis, and cycling). Their daughter Gill and her family live at South West Rocks, a small coastal village about an hours drive north of Port Macquarie.

Our next stop was Nambucca Heads where we stayed for two nights with Siri and Bob Morrison.  I met Bob when we both worked at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in the early 1970s (Bob was the Army Attache and I was in the Trade Section) and we have kept in touch ever since.  Bob has the rare distinction of attending all three weddings: ours in 1973, Jen's in 2002 and Andrew's in 2014.

Nambucca has several nice beaches.

My first time in the surf this year.  The water was great - about 24C.

Vera on Nambucca's sea wall; many visitors paint their names on these rocks.

Bob Morrison in his study.  He and Siri are such wonderful, generous friends. He had 20 years in the Australian Army (retired as a Major), then has a second career as an accountant, and finally Bob & Siri ran a macadamia farm.  In the Army Bob learnt and became fluent in Indonesian and Chinese.  Bob is very active in the local community - he served as an Alderman on both Bellingen and Nambucca Councils.

From Nambucca Heads it was an easy drive to Armidale, along Waterfall Way, through the picturesque villages of Bellingen and Dorrigo.  We stopped at Fusspots Cafe in Ebor for lunch.

Vera with our friend Paul Barratt who lives near Armidale NSW; we stayed with him for a night. We worked together in the Department of Trade back in the 1970s.  Paul went on to become Secretary of the Department of Defence, one of the top positions in the Australian Public Service.  He moved from Melbourne to Armidale (his home town), in retirement, 3 or 4 years ago.

It was Australia Day, 26 January (commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet of British settlers in 1788 - some people of indigenous origin now call it Invasion Day). What better to do on our National Day than visit a historic home? so we went to Saumarez Homestead not far from Paul's place.

A view of the front of Saumarez House.  The original 1830s Saumarez property (40,000 hectares) belonged to Colonel Henry Dumaresq. In 1856 it was sold to Henry Arding Thomas; he then sold it to Francis White in 1874 (by which time it had been reduced to 8,000 hectares).  The White family were/are one of the largest pastoralists in NSW - it was said that one could travel from the Hunter Valley all the way to the Queensland border (about 1,000 km) on White land.
White's son built the original Saumarez House in 1888, and added the second storey in 1906. In 1984 the White Family donated 10 hectares including the House, gardens, and 15 other structures to the National Trust. The main House has 30 rooms and many furnishings are original.

Vera and Paul listening to the Pipe Band in the garden of Saumarez House.

For Australia Day, Armidale's Pipe Band held a concert on the garden of Saumarez House.  It was a magical setting, under a large tree - we could have been in a Scottish glen - and the music has a certain haunting sound. Australia has a strong Scottish heritage.

A closer look at some of the musicians in the Pipe Band.  

The Pipe Band marched away at the end of the performance. It was most enjoyable.

After the pipe concert we joined a tour of Saumarez House. Our guide was local historian Les Davis. It was a worthwhile and informative tour.  From there we went to Uralla for a coffee.

From Armidale we drove the New England Highway to Warwick, and then to Ipswich and into Brisbane (7 hours).

We stayed with Tom & Jen and their 3 boys.  They live in a suburb called The Gap, about 10 km north-west of Brisbane City.  The weather was warm for the first 4 days of our visit and we made good use of their swimming pool; then a cold front came through with wind and rain.  The rain was welcome because they haven't had rain for over a month and Tom's tank (for watering the garden) was almost empty - it was quickly back to half full after 3 days of intermittent showers.

Vera and I with the three boys: Kurt 12, Nate 10 and Sid 8. Sid is holding a cricket bat - the boys love cricket and often play in the park next to the house (or even in the pool!).

Jen and Tom are keen gardeners.

Sid and Nate watching TV in the family room.  They have a gorgeous Rhodesian Ridgeback dog.

We all went out to dinner to celebrate Jen's 42nd birthday; to Bang Bang Sichuan - delicious Chinese food.

Kurt has just started high school at Marist College Ashgrove.  This is an aerial photo of the school and grounds, which are magnificent.  The College was started in 1940 and is run by Marist Brothers, a Catholic teaching order.  It is a boy-only school; it has the last two years of Primary School and 6 years of High School.  Enrolments this year total 1,640 boys (including 200 boarders). The school facilities (teaching and sporting) are really impressive.

Another view of the campus.  Neither Jen nor Tom are practicing Catholics and they were very surprised to get the offer for Kurt to attend Marist.  They considered it carefully, but in the end felt/hoped that Kurt would benefit from the extra care and attention provided in a private school.

The coat-of-arms and motto of Marist College Ashgrove. The translation from Latin is "Act with courage" (although "Be Manly / Virile" could also apply).

The Marist mascot is a ferocious Bumble Bee, in the school colors of blue and yellow.

Ex-Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was a boarder at Marist College for the first two years of High School, but in his memoirs he says he didn't like it - homesick and too regimented - and transferred to Nambour High School where he did very well.  In this photo Mr Rudd is giving a speech at Marist.

We went to the first school assembly - impressive ceremony - the new students were given a rousing welcome.  There seemed to be a strong spirit of camaraderie among the students.   The rules are obviously pretty strict - we didn't see any boys with long hair or tattoos. 

The busy scene on the school quadrangle after the Assembly.

Vera with Kurt after the Assembly.  He is in Year 7 (first year of High School). Big transition from Hilder Road Primary School; there he was a House Captain and knew everyone, but here he is a 'small fish in a big pond'. Hopefully he will adjust quickly to his new environment. Good luck Kurt!

Marist has wonderful sporting facilities, extensive rugby, soccer and cricket pitches, and a 50m Olympic-standard swimming pool.  Kurt has joined the Swim Club (training 3 mornings a week at 6.30am, before school). He has selected volleyball as his second sport this term (training Wednesday afternoon and competition on Saturdays).

Tom took this photo when we were leaving Brisbane after our week there.  I got an upset tummy; we figured the culprit was some salami they bought a month ago, and spent 3 days convalescing.  I had forgotten how debilitating "the trots" can be - one goes so quickly from 'happy/healthy' to 'nauseous/exhausted'. Not a recommended way to lose weight!

Our return was along the Pacific Highway, straight down the east coast. Stopped one night in Nambucca, then a night in Sydney, and home to Canberra.

In Sydney we stayed with old friends, the Miltons.  They hosted a wonderful sit-down dinner last night for "old Indonesia hands".  In attendance: Niniek & Paul Milton (hosts); Tini & Michael Kramer; Marta & Liam Ward; Marta & Andrew McGuire;  Vera & Alex Olah. We well remember a very young Liam when he moved from Perth to Jakarta in 1988 to open an office for an Australian company.  He did well commercially and socially; met Mega and the rest is history.  

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We arrived back in Canberra this afternoon - home, sweet home. Back to normal.  It'll be good to sleep in our own bed again.  I still feel weak from my food poisoning but that should improve over the next day or two.

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Lots has been happening in the last two weeks; some events:

Australian of the Year (announced on Australia Day, 26 January 2018): Professor Michelle Simmons (for research into Quantum Physics); Senior Australian: Dr Graham Farquhar (biophysicist); Young Australian: Samantha Kerr (Soccer star); Local Hero: Eddie Woo (Math teacher).

Winners of the Australian Tennis Open: Men's Singles Roger Federer beat Marin Cilic; Women's Singles Caroline Wozniacki beat Simone Halep. Both Singles Finals were closely fought and went the distance. Roger Federer now has 6 Aussie Opens and 20 Grand Slam titles - an amazing career.

Ingvar Kampard died at 91.  In 1943, at the age of 17, he established IKEA (which took off when he started to "flatpack" in 1956).

On 28 January 2018 young Chinese golfer Li Hao Tong beat Rory McIlroy to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic with rounds of 66 - 66 - 64 - 69 = 265; this was his second European Tour win (he won the Volvo China Open on 1 May 2016).  He was born in Hunan on 3 August 1995 (only 22 now), 1.83m, 75kg.  Watch out for this guy - he will go far.

NFL Super Bowl #52 the Philadelphia Eagles 41 beat the New England Patriots 33.  Exciting, fluctuating game. Scores at Quarter times (Eagles first): Q1: 9 - 3; Half time: 22 - 12; Q3: 29 - 26; Full time: 41 - 33.  The Patriots hit the front with 9 minutes to go (33 - 32) but Eagles soon scored again.  Eagles Quarterback Nick Foles was named MVP. Tom Brady actually out-threw him (505 to 373 yards) but Foles scored a TD himself, from a passed ball and of course was on the winning side.

Justin Timberlake was the star of the Super Bowl Half Time Show.  TV adverts cost US$7.7 for 30 seconds. The game was played in Minneapolis with the outside temperature well below freezing (-12C).

Yesterday saw the biggest one-day fall ever by the Dow Jones Index 1,175 to close at 24,345 (down 4.6%).  The previous biggest fall was 778 points on 29 September 2008 just after Lehman Bros collapsed.  There have been much bigger one-day falls in percentage terms: the DJ fell 22.6% on 19 October 1987, 12.8% on 29 October 1929, 7.9% on 15 October 2008.

Wall Street had gone up much too quickly: from 25,000 to 26,000 in January 2018 alone - crazy, couldn't last, a correction was due. But let's hope the market stabilises quickly.

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Have you heard this one?

Once upon a time a merchant heard that a lot of monkeys lived near a certain village.

One day he came to the village saying he wanted to buy monkeys and was willing to pay $100 each.

The villagers thought he was crazy – why would anyone pay that much for a monkey when they are normally much less?  Still, some people caught monkeys and, as promised, got $100 for each. The news spread like wildfire and many people caught monkeys to sell to the merchant.

After a few days, the merchant announced that he would pay $200 each. The villagers ran around to catch the remaining monkeys, which they sold for $200 each.

Then the merchant announced that he would buy monkeys for $500 each!

The villagers started to lose sleep ... They roamed far and wide and managed to catch six monkeys, and sold them for $500 each.

Then the merchant announced that he was going on holiday but when he returned he would pay $1,000 per monkey!  He said that his employee would to take care of the monkeys he had bought during his absence.

The villagers were frantic and very sad as there were no more monkeys left for them to sell at $1000 each.

Then the merchant’s employee contacted them and told them that he would secretly sell them monkeys at $700 each.

This news spread – here was an easy way to make a quick $300 per monkey.

The villagers queued up and bought all the monkeys for $700 each.  The rich villagers bought many monkeys; the poor borrowed money from money lenders and bought as many as they could.

The villagers waited for the merchant to return, but he didn’t.  They tried to find the employee but he couldn’t be found either. The villagers were stuck with monkeys no one wanted and the price went into free-fall. 

 Any similarity between this story and Bitcoin is purely coincidental.

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That's it for this post.

Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera and Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Tuesday 6 February 2018

Post #163 20 January 2018

Gentlefolk,

This post covers the period 1 - 20 January 2018.

Vera and I will shortly be heading up to Brisbane to see Jen, Tom and the boys.  My next post will describe that trip.

Here are some photos of activities/events in the last 3 weeks:

Reno and Heath McMichael organised a picnic on the evening of New Years Day.  We all brought food and drinks, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours in the Chinese Garden on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin (named after the American architect who drew up the original design of Canberra).  It was a beautiful evening, mild and clear. A nice way to start 2018.

From left: Fiona, Reno, Tieke and Vera.

A Chinese Gate is the focal point of the Chinese Garden.

Vera and I in front of a bronze "Flying Horse", a common statue in China.

This man was feeding sea gulls by Lake Burley Griffin - he had a large and attentive audience!

I attended the funeral of Jack Smith, who died aged just over 100 years.  I met him when I joined the old Department of Trade way back in 1971; Jack was a bit of a legend - a trade policy expert who had served in a number of overseas posts. Actually, I only met Jack a couple of times, but knew his son John Smith.

. Inside Saint Christopher's Cathedral, Manuka, where the funeral service took place; photo shows Jack Smith's coffin and an award he received from the Vatican.  His son, John Smith, was also in the Department of Trade and we became friends; while I knew Jack mainly through his reputation, I attended the funeral to show support for John..

The Roberts family spent two days with us.  They had Xmas with Tom's relatives in Melbourne, and were heading back up to Brisbane.  We had dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Sammys.  From left: Nate, Sid, Tom, Kurt, me, Vera, and Jennifer.

Breakfast on our balcony. 

Watching TV in our living room. We checked out the blog they kept when they spent 5 months travelling around Australia (robertstour2014.wordpress.com) - it was fun re-living that amazing adventure with them. The weather was very hot during their visit - max 35C on the first day, and 37C on the second - so we didn't do too much.

Vera saying goodbye to the Roberts family when they left Canberra; they have a big 4 wheel drive and a camper-trailer.  Love camping.  They made good time through Sydney and decided to drive straight through to Brisbane - took them 14 hours to do the 1,300km. Tom did most of the driving, while Jen did some; a big big day.

Birthday celebration for my sister Aniko and my niece Britt. From left: Aniko, me, Davide, Sasha, Britt, Adrienne, Vera, and Peter.  The kids were in the playground.

The group, with kids.

Vera and I went to an exhibition of fashions during World War 1 (1914-8).  It was a horrible horrible war - Gallipoli was bad enough, but a picnic compared to the trench warfare in France and Belgium (freezing winters, mud and slush, dead bodies, continuous bombardment, gas, machine guns decimated frontal assaults).  I've just read a book "Hell's Bells and Mademoiselles" by Joe Maxwell VC, DCM, one of Australia's most decorated soldiers.  He wrote in  1932 "with hindsight it was such a futile, awful war ; so much suffering, for what?"

A nurse's uniform during WW1, one of the many uniforms and dresses on display. One doesn't usually think of women in relation to war, but their service (in many fields) was absolutely essential to the war effort. 

The exhibition featured many panels commemorating daring and resourceful Australian and New Zealand women who contributed to the war effort in WW1.  This panel described the life of Ettie Rout. She introduced sex education for the troops who were in great danger of venereal disease which was rampant; her efforts were finally appreciated by the military, but she was condemned as immoral when she returned to conservative New Zealand. She ended up taking her own life during a visit to the Cook Islands. A remarkable woman, ahead of her time.

A tennis tournament was held in Canberra from 8 - 13 January 2018; men's singles and doubles; a lead-in to the Aussie Open in Melbourne which starts next Monday. We watched a singles game on Wednesday, and the final of the doubles on Friday evening. 

The final of the Men's Singles was played on Saturday morning; Andreas Seppi (Italian) beat Marton Fucsovics (Hungarian) in two hours and 16 minutes. Good game, high standard. Seppi was just a bit more composed and handled the blustery conditions better.  Both players are in the Australian Open and flew down to Melbourne after the game.

The two finalists with the officials and ball boys & girls. They are all volunteers - the tournament couldn't run without them.

The winner, Andreas Seppi on the left with runner-up Marton Fucsovics on the right. I heard from my friend (and keen tennis player) Denes Hunkar that Marton is #1 in Hungary. He is a tall, strongly-built, handsome lad (I kept thinking he would have made a great Hussar, with flowing moustache and fancy uniform and sword!).

The ACT Government has 3 houses to show Canberra's early development; one is Calthorpe's House on Mugga Way, Red Hill (built 1927).  We've been meaning to visit, and finally did so on Sunday 14 January. Very interesting to see furniture and fittings which were in vogue almost 100 years ago.

The National Library of Australia has an extensive Chinese collection, including many propaganda posters from the Mao era 15 of which are currently on special display.  On 16 January the Australia China Friendship Society arranged a special tour of the poster exhibition.  

Our tour guide was Zheng Bing who works for the NLA. She explained that posters were a common way for the PRC government (Communist Party of China) to motivate the masses.  Socialist realism - happy, strong workers and peasants leading the way to the utopian socialism.  Mao was such a dominant figure in China, especially during the Cultural Revolution period (1966-76); no one was willing to question his ideas for fear of retribution.

Children writing criticisms of Lin Biao and Confucius. Lin Biao had been Mao's right hand man but they fell out and he died in a plane crash. He was then regarded as an enemy of the people.  Apparently Lin Biao admired Confucius so Confucian ideas were also criticised (which was in line with Mao's anti-traditionalism). The kids all look healthy and happy, but reality was probably very different.

A poster of Mao in a wheat field, exhorting farmers to work harder and expand production.  Mao collectivised agriculture in the mid-1950s but his policies had the opposite effect resulting in a disastrous famine (some commentators say 30 million or more died from hunger in 1960-61).

A poster to encourage raising of pigs.  Mao loved pork, and pork is still the most popular meat in China. The village and market depicted in the poster look rather ideal, don't they?

A girl inspired by writer Lu Xun (in background).  Lu Xun was a strong critic of feudalism and traditionalism, and one of Mao's favorite authors.

Dinner with friends at our favorite restaurant, Sammys Chinese Kitchen. From left: Greg Mills, me, Vera, Shana, Mariati, and Marco.

Music at the National Portrait Gallery last night.  

I want to show the Xmas card sent by Isabel and Roger Banville of Gatineau/Ottawa, Canada.   Every year Roger takes a "winter scene" and makes it into their Xmas card.  He is a talented photographer - this reproduction doesn't really do it justice.

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That's it for this post.

My next post will describe our trip up to Brisbane, and back.

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In early January the Dow Jones Index broke through 25,000.  Incredible - can it last?  In mid-January Apple announced that it would repatriate about a quarter of a trillion dollars to the States, giving the stock market another boost.

The recreational use of marijuana was legalised in California, America's largest State (by population).

Tomorrow will be the first anniversary of President Trump's inauguration.  What a roller-coaster year it has been.  He is an enigma.  The Washington Post calculated that President Trump made 2,000 false or misleading statements during his first year in office - incredible - the media calls him out but he doesn't seem to care - calls his views 'alternative facts' - and just continues on his merry way.

China's GDP/economy grew a strong 6.9% in 2017. China released its foreign trade statistics for 2017, showing a goods surplus of US$275 billion with the USA; Trump didn't react - he still needs China to handle North Korea - but I don't think we've heard the last of this.

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Some notable Aussies who passed away in 2017 included:

Les Murray (71). His family came from Hungary in 1956; Les became the face/voice of football/soccer in Australia.
Betty Cuthbert (79). She won 4 Olympic gold medals in sprinting.
Mark Colvin (65). TV and radio journalist with distinct voice; he got sick covering events in Africa.
John Clarke (68). Wonderful satirist and humorist; took the mickey out of everyone!

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Best wishes, stay healthy and keep smiling.

Vera and Alex Olah
Canberra, Australia
Saturday, 20 January 2018

Post #162 2 January 2018

Gentlefolk,

This post covers the period 23 - 30 December 2017, which includes the Christmas holiday.

We follow the European tradition and celebrate on Xmas Eve (24 December).  This year we all met up at my sister's place (Aniko and Peter Carey) where we exchanged gifts ("Berscherung"), sang Xmas carols, and then had a wonderful dinner.

In years long gone, when we were kids, after dinner we all went to Midnight Mass, but alas no more.  At about 11pm we all went our separate ways.

Our son, Andrew, visited from Sydney with his wife Caroline and their kids Fast Eddie (3.5 years) and Princess Jay (9 months).  They had Xmas Eve with us; on Xmas Day they flew down to Melbourne to join Caroline's sister/family and parents; then back to Canberra for a couple more days before heading home to Sydney.

This year our daughter and family went to a gathering of Tom's relatives in Melbourne. We will see them next week when they pass through Canberra on their way back to Brisbane.

Here are some photos of the last week or so.

Reading a book with Eddie.  He is 3.5 years of age and already knows his mind.

The Xmas Tree at Aniko's place with lots and lots of presents for everyone.  On Xmas Eve we first sang some carols, then exchanged gifts, before having dinner.

From left: Adrienne (Aniko's daughter), Tuey (Britt's son) and Eddie with Batman cape. Xmas is all about the kids, isn't it?  They loved the excitement.

The next morning, Xmas Day, Eddie and Jay were up early at our apartment and of course Santa had brought some more presents.

Eddie got a "Ninja Bike"for Xmas - very happy. After breakfast I took them to Canberra Airport for the flight to Melbourne, and more celebrations.

Xmas Day, 25 December 2017.  After dropping Andrew & co at the airport, Vera & I met Angie.  We walked around Lake Burley Griffin (5 km); had lunch at the Yacht Club; visited an elderly lady friend in a Nursing Home; visited the graves of our father and mother (above); and finally went to Britt's place for afternoon tea. 

Dr Jocelyn Chey was in Canberra and came around. She was my boss at the Embassy in Beijing 30 years ago. A real China expert, Jocelyn was the best boss ever, and Vera and I were delighted to see her again. We spent a most enjoyable couple of hours chatting about the "Good Old Days" and looking at photos.

I had a round of golf with old friends David Evans (in photo) and Paul Flint.  My golf is really inconsistent - for every good shot there are 2 or 3 bad shots - not surprising as I play so rarely. I'm determined to play more next year.

We picked Andrew & co up at the airport on their return from Melbourne. There is an interesting screen which shows animals from the zoo.

Vera feeding Jay-Jay.

With Eddie in front of the Xmas tree in our living room.

Getting down to work - me feeding Jay-Jay.  She is adorable. Just starting to crawl. 

Last night, New Years Eve, Vera & I went to the Canberra Old Time Dance Club.  Always a fun night and a good way to see in the New Year. 

Duncan and Gwen Souter celebrated their Golden Anniversary at the dance last night. A wonderful couple, they are stalwarts of the Old Time Dance Club.

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2017 was another big and busy year. Our highlights of 2017:

March: birth of Jay Milton Olah in Hong Kong

June: Andrew & Caroline moved back to Sydney

Aug/Sept: visit to Bali & Java; home via Perth

Jen & Tom are doing well in Brisbane (Tom recently did the Kokoda Trail in PNG), as are Caroline & Andrew in Sydney. Our five grandkids are thriving.  Kurt turned 12 this year, Nate 10, Sid 8, Eddie 3, and Princess Jay was born in March.

After a hiatus of seven months, in February 2017 I reactivated my blog; did 46 posts in 2017. The blog is my online diary. 

Always lots happening around the world: President Trump continues to puzzle, an enigma (will he try to close Mueller down???); President Xi Jin Ping of China unsurprisingly got another 5 years; President Mugabe stepped down after 37 years running Zimbabwe, good riddance; North Korea remains defiant; drama in the Australian Parliament due to dual citizenship - but at least we got same sex marriage equality! 

Many disasters happened too: devastating hurricanes; Las Vegas shooting 59 dead, 441 injured (almost one mass shooting per day in the US this year); Grenfell Tower fire in London, and killer bushfires in California; Terrorist attacks continue viz Manchester in May 2017 22 dead, 119 injured, Egypt in November 311 dead, 128 injured. ISIS on its last legs, hopefully.

The most interesting book I read in 2017 was "A spy among friends - Philby and the Great Betrayal" by Ben Macintyre. Well researched and written - a true story, but reads like fiction.

So that's it for another year: goodbye 2017, welcome 2018.

Our best wishes to you all for a happy and healthy 2018.

Stay healthy and keep smiling.

Alex Olah & Vera Olah
Canberra, Australia
2 January 2018