Australian Adventure 2013 - 5

After a relaxing Monday afternoon & evening of catching up & getting reorganized, we woke up on Tuesday morning to a “hot fog”, quite dense and 60 degrees F.  Pam claims not to have seen such a phenomenon before.

After breakfast Pam, Nick & I went for a walk, taking a car for the first ¼ - ½ mile so as to not have to climb the horrendous hill when we were leg-weary coming back.  This time we went the “other way” along the edge of the mangrove swamps.  The rest of the morning was relaxing & largely spent at the PC.

In the afternoon we went to Wellington Point.  By now the day was beyond breezy but a number of young maniacs were kite-surfboarding.  There is a beach and also a fishing pier there.  We took a stroll before heading back into town for a quick and unavailing shop for fabrics for Pam followed by a delicious ice cream cone break for “tea”.

We eventually went on to Faye’s house where her Peter cooked us all a delicious steak dinner.  It was a simple and pleasant day.  Peter did a great job, but having now had steaks in several places I am concluding that Aussies prefer their steaks tougher than Americans do.  Since I am living in what amounts to a largely “English” house I am finding all home foods very familiar.  Resisting temptation is a bit difficult at times.  I am also drinking a great more tea than coffee.

Now that I have been here for a number of days I can reflect on the similarities and differences that particularly strike me.  Coming from the Indiana flatlands and noticing both the immediate area of Wynnum as well as two of the highlands to which I have been taken I am struck by the steepness of the hills.  Roads seem to have excessive amounts of markings in all urban areas, and of course there is a plethora of English-style roundabouts instead of four-way stops.  Evidently most of the funding for police of all kinds is derived from traffic fines as typically rather low speed limits are very strictly enforced and fines are high.  Driving, of course, is on the left so crossing streets on foot requires more attention than usual.  Many vehicles are familiar but many are not although largely similar. 

Heavy trucks are impressive.  Excluding the Road Trains of Outback legend, which of course I have not seen, the term has obviously been downgraded as it is used on some road signs.  Tractors, both US and European, are similar, although there are a great many more "cab-overs" compared to conventional tractors when compared to the modern day USA, but trailers appear to be slightly bigger and usually have three axles at the back.  All through major city streets one may see “doubles” where the tractor has a steering axle and three driving axles carrying a trailer body or tank or up to two shipping containers at the back of which is a triaxle bogey, partly for the rear of the front load and partly for the front of the rear load at the back of which are three more axles.  In other words, on roads with two lanes in each direction one may be beside a behemoth of 10 axles using 38 tires!

Things here are expensive, including food and clothing, and especially restaurant food, but pay is apparently generally high.  House prices are usually spoken of in millions or large fractions thereof.  Because of heat and especially high sun loads large overhangs provide shade and many houses are elevated on short (or even long) stilts so cooling air can blow underneath.  Water is a big deal.  Although “averages” may be reasonable even in non-drought years rain tends to come rarely and in vast quantities when it does.  Virtually every free-standing dwelling has multiple large water tanks fed by run-off from roofs.  Although they could order up a tanker for resupply so far Joe and Gayle’s entire water supply has been supplied from the heavens, for a good few years.  Pam & Nick use their tanks for garden watering and toilet flushing.  Solar panels for both heating water and making electricity are widely used.

There is rather less emphasis, so far, on handicapped accessibility, but one oddity is that shops built on hills often have sloping floors, instead of flat ones with occasional sets of steps, and take a little getting used to.  Australia is a “coastal” country, literally.  At 70,000 population Toowoomba is the second largest “inland” city in the country, beaten only by the national capital of Canberra with its plethora of bureaucrats and the shopkeepers that support them.

Aussies are famous for not using whole words if a shortened version will do, some of which are quite odd-sounding to a stranger.  The accent is pronounced (but not “Crocodile Dundee”) and takes some concentration.  I am sure that there are many perceptions that have slipped my mind here, but I thought I’d note a few, and I am always open to responding to specific questions.

Wednesday (25^th) started with my taking a rather more strategic exercise walk down to the shore where now the tide is almost fully low at that time of day.  Uncovered by water the mudflats are far from attractive!  I took a picture or two and returned, well exercised.  The big event of the day, rather a hot one, was a trip to the Tamborine Mountain area that is just inland from the “Gold Coast” or national playground area.  Once again the final stages of the journey, and I was glad that young healthy Peter was driving, was even more “not a Rita road” than Bunya.  We parked and headed into one of the many small national parks in the area (Joalan Natl. Park??) to take a trail through the rain forest.  It was very nice, and downhill all the way.  We ended at Curtis Falls, took a picture or two and I then discovered that we had to retrace every step, except it was now uphill all the way!!!  Actually it was very pleasant and no doubt was very good for all of us, both aerobically and calorie-burning!

We drove a short distance to the tourist village of North Tamborine, parked, and found a restaurant for a nice (expensive) sandwich lunch, as we all wanted something but not a major meal.  Then we wandered the various shops and galleries and found a mildly upscale tourist shop where I spent money.  I have no doubt I will buy more souvenirs but I am now happy that if I buy nothing further I will not be coming home empty-handed.  We then returned home, realizing as we got here that it truly was quite a bit cooler (out of the sun) in Tamborine than in Wynnum/Brisbane.  I commented to Peter about role-reversal, remembering hideous drives from Kings Island with a vehicle full of somnolent kids, while he was driving a vehicle full of somnolent seniors!!!