Australian Blog #4

March 7th-Friday- Vanilla slice is a great dessert. Just write it down and save that information. I had one after buying a few books at “Books in Print” on Glenferrie Road where we always seem to end up.

We had Friday Shabbat with a lovely family—Penny’s daughter, Emma, and her boys, Ben and Harry. (Ben pictured at left). I had spent time with Ben at the park the day previous and we had all walked to his school to pick him and his brother up at the end of the week.

It was a remarkable scene with scores of parents, relatives and neighbours gathered in the school yard, exchanging gossip and weekend plans. Ben is in “kinder” at five and Harry is an old seven. Absolutely sensational kids, very bright and extremely funny. They have been reared on little television, lots of books and lots of free space and time to play by themselves and with each other. But both are very sociable kids and a joy to be around.

March 8th-Saturday- We went to an auction of a house priced by the “vendor” at A$3.4million. Good thing that he priced it that high as nobody in the crowd of over 70 even bid on the house and the auction flopped. Many homes are auctioned here and only 66% of them get their price or any bids at all. It was a lovely unit but, in our humble opinion, worth nowhere near $3.4 million, Australian or American dollars.

For lunch we had a “Florentine” for dessert. New to me, it was almost a meal in itself, made of corn flakes, peanuts, fruit chunks, raisins and other stuff all on a thin chocolate base. Unbelievably tasty.

That night we went to The Black Balloon, a new Australian movie starring Gemma Ward and Toni Collette. No, it is not true that she is in every Australian movie. This one is about a family coping with a son’s autism and we found it very effective and very moving. We came back along Chapel Street that appeared to be one long 20-something party site. Lots of varying clothing combinations and lots of legs and tans on display. The street was jammed with people and we felt very old.

Tomorrow is Moomba Saturday, the day of the great Birdman Rally. Jen is not enthusiastic but is being a good scout to accompany me and we’ll tell you all about it in our next entry.

Australian Blog #3

Tuesday, March 5

The tram system is extensive and efficient, but not cheap in Melbourne. The best idea, if you are going to be here for an extended period, is a weekly or 20-hour pass. They run about A$28. The 2-hour pass is A$3.50 while a daily is A$6.50. Connections are easy and the trams run on time. There are also trains that serve other purposes and have different routes, and you can catch on to the system quickly with just a little practice. Like other cities, the system looks like an “honor system” as there is nobody enforcing payment of fares—all the time.

When the “Enforcers” do board a train, they will ask for your ticket and check the time to see if you have any left. Woe betide the rider who has an out-of-date ticket! The other tip is to carry a map of the city streets or memorize your stops as there is little warning. You can always ask the tram conductor to give you a holler when you are coming to yours.

We had tickets for a rowdy and fun Australian musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, so ate out on Little Collins Street. You will not lack great eating opportunities in Melbourne though, again, things can get pricey very quickly. Tipping is expected in restaurants but anything over 15% is looked on as showing off. Everyplace else, no tipping is expected.

We hear that Priscilla is coming to Broadway but I’m not sure how it will translate to anybody who is not up on Australian culture and humour. The theatre, the Regents, is ornate 19th century and has the most comfortable theatre seats I can imagine. Like the English, however, the Aussie theatres present no printed programs—you can buy one for A$20 but other than that, you’re on your own as far as cast and credits are concerned.

Wednesday, March 6
TV ratings in Australia are interesting: #1= RSPCA Animal Rescue #2=Australian-Indian cricket #3=The Force #4=Border Security #5= Seven News Sunday. Desperate Housewives ranks #13 and House is #16.

The Green Guide is an incredible weekly 56-page supplement jammed with TV, radio and film news with focuses on personalities in local programming. It’s more informative about the media in Australia in one week than we get in a month of media writing.
This morning we trammed to the National Gallery of Australia to see the Sidney Nolan exhibit. He was a fascinating artist who featured the bushranger Ned Kelly in a lot of his works.

While buying a Ned Kelly print by Nolan we ran into a woman from Appleton, Wisconsin, and told her about Brett Favre’s retirement. She was as distressed as I was. Her first visit and she and her husband are already planning another trip. Australia tends to do that to first-timers and veteran visitors alike. It was hot afterward so I zipped off my pants. A great purchase from a travel clothier, the pants convert to shorts in a jiffy and as it neared 90 I was glad I had chosen them.

Melbourne, though looking more like DC in terms of ethnic diversity, is still startling for its almost total absence of aborigines. It is a colorful and flamboyant city and a joy to walk through as we’ll find out when we go to “Moomba,” a uniquely Melbournian festival of madness, food and frivolity

Australian adventure #2

March 4th, Tuesday

March 3 was spent in the air and was totally lost to us. We gain back the day coming back as we’ll fly for 35 hours but take off on the 24th and get home on the 24th. I hope March 24th is a good day since we’ll live it twice.

Our friend, Penny Coates, was ready for us when we landed. We had called her before leaving LAX to tell her of the luggage problem but she still laughed when she picked us up with “all” of our luggage.

We arrived at her lovely home in Caulfield, a south-eastern suburb of Melbourne, to be greeted by Pippa, her 13-year old Maltese mix and a family of three magpies. We were introduced to them by their conversation outside the kitchen door. Penny talks back atthem but she also delivers nuggets of hamburger which she tosses at them. They snap the meat out of the air and chortle their thanks before abruptly leaving, we assume for the next gullible neighbour. (There goes that spell-checker again!)

The secret to surviving a trip like the one we just concluded is to stay awake as long as possible on your first day. Yes, it’s painful, but with a good night’s sleep you should be fine for the rest of your vacation. We stayed up as long as we could and made it to about 2100 (9PM) and slept acceptably before rising at 0730 the next morning to the sounds of the hungry maggies. By the way, most Australian times are listed, as they are in Europe, in 24-hour format so you might get used to it before coming here!

Wednesday, March 5
We had breakfast to the sounds of the neighborhood: the maggies, plus the dog next door who is taunted by two dogs from up the street owned by a somewhat ancient Elvis impersonator, and the aging Volvo of the lady down the block. She has very shaky brakes that scream when she touches the pedal and she is a VERY cautious driver, touching the brakes all the way down the street and through the roundabout. Then there is the Mt. Scopus school bus that loads up early. Nothing irritating, except the thud of the Melbourne Age against the front window where we are sleeping. The paper is in a tight roll wrapped in Saran wrap so it can fly a long distance with a great deal of force behind it. Makes a lovely crunching sound against the window.

The forecast for the next five days is for “Fine” with highs near and over 80. Sounds perfect, but water capacity in the area dams is at 35.2% of capacity vs. 34% at this time last year! NOT a good situation. Penny has a “green smart house.” She collects solar energy on her roof and stores gray water there as well, which is used for toilets and gardening. Her windows are double-glazed and she has electronically controlled shades that cover the windows on the west side of the house that allow sunlight to warm the place during the day.

Still, Jen mourns for the lovely gardens, both formal and individual, that she remembers as they are all short of water and everything is very crisp at the end of the Australian summer. Some commentators are blaming the government for encouraging farmers to stick with it, even though the climate changes here have made small farms unviable for many. The commentators say that the farmers would be better off to admit defeat and get out of the business entirely.

Next entry: getting around Melbourne by Tram.