Australian Adventure 2013 - 7

Much of Saturday was relatively quiet and mundane, with all of us pottering about at various tasks.  At one point I went with Pam to a nearby mall for a couple of things followed by, in the same mall, a significant grocery shop to lay in supplies for the next few days.  However, the primary activity of the daytime was planning, researching and booking our other two major trips (Barrier Reef was booked long before I got here), one to Sydney for straight tourism and the other to Melbourne for a combination of tourism & a visit to friends of P & N (the female half of which was my late sister Fliss’s best friend when we were all young & by extension a friend of mine).  Since all three trips include flights & two need accommodation the credit cards are taking some serious hits!  However, it has allowed us to more nearly balance our expenses without person-to-person transfers which are proving to be surprisingly difficult between currencies and incompatible banking systems.

The main event of the day was Brisbane’s annual fireworks show.  Faye had tickets, good for all of us plus parking for one vehicle, from Rebecca’s school (a PTA fundraiser).  Most of the hilltops and strategic high cliff tops in and around Brisbane were appropriated in the very early days by the Catholic hierarchy for churches, monasteries, convents and so on.  This had once been a convent and is now All Hallows school, one of Brisbane’s better ones and the reason for Faye’s “conversion” to Catholicism.  Its large grassy quadrangle had a great view of fully half of the show & a bit of a view of the other half, one half being from the bridge and the other from a barge in the river hidden from us by one of Brisbane’s many high-rise buildings.

While we waited there were a couple or three low-level flyovers by the RAAF and rather more by assorted military helicopters, to the delight of the children.  The Storey Bridge is always outlined by many lights, all of which are capable of many colors and can be changed virtually instantaneously.  They were an integral part of the show.  The fireworks were, well, fireworks, bright and noisy and very intense.  Several of the pictures I took actually came out fairly well and I have posted them on Flickr.

Much of Sunday was consumed in general relaxation and the consumption of a large English breakfast, a light lunch and a roast lamb dinner all beautifully prepared by Pam.  In the morning Pam & I drove down to the coast road, walked a little to the local farmer’s market and back to the car after a nice browse.  At this time of year it is almost as large a Columbus’ market but with less actual farm produce and more crafty stuff, as well as second hand, especially books.  I bought nothing but Pam got a few veggies as well as some young plants to be planted in her yard/garden.

In the afternoon we went over to the Brisbane River, near the mouth, to an old military fort, originally built in the mid-1800’s as a defense against potential Russian expansionism and actually kept in active use, with some updates until well after WW II before being abandoned & allowed to rot for a while.  It is now being restored (slowly) by the Fort Lytton Historical Association.  On a quiet afternoon we were welcomed by a very enthusiastic and talkative docent/guide, ex-military, and both saw and learned a great deal more than we had planned.  They have a largely restored “disappearing gun”, oddly enough designed by the same guy who designed Tower Bridge.  The guns could be aimed according to a spotter, pop up, fire, and pop down again to disappear behind not just concrete but huge, disguising earthworks.  There is little record of much, if any, firing in anger.  We were all glad to get back home for a cuppa tea!

As an observation, this area reminds me of my growing up years insofar as little or nothing commercial operates 24 hours, and very little indeed is open on Sundays.  Very strong labor unions, plus a just-finished governing run by the Labor Party means no work is done either.  It was eerie to see a large docklands area absolutely and totally still.

Monday was a low-key family visit day of ordinary household activities.  We did slip out in the afternoon for a bit of a shopping expedition, but Pam was a little frustrated by “retired husband syndrome” or go-find-pay-return with general browsing not allowed!  Two “differences” struck me.  One was that instead of escalators they tend to use angled “people movers”, no steps but just having your feet tilted up or down, which are a bit unnerving when one is unused to them.  The other was that because of a climate that only varies from very warm to very hot standard clothing tends to be a very much higher usage of shorts for men under working/shopping/whatever circumstances, and all but older women favor short skirts or very abbreviated short-shorts – nice if one enjoys looking at legs!

Another difference discussed as we headed home is the popularity of “utes” (presumably derived from utility).  They are particularly popular with “tradies” (skilled tradesmen).  At the larger end these are like the US “Avalanche”  - a 4-wheel drive vehicle with a large 4-door cab and an absurdly small pick-up type bed, suitable only for maybe a couple of sheep or a large tool-box.  The smaller versions resemble an unsuccessful chevvy vehicle of the 70’s, a front half like a luxurious car and the back (with no apparent separation) like a low, covered, pick-up bed.  Sometimes the car part ends with a back and a flatbed is substituted for the fancy covered usual back half.

Tuesday was “Zoo Day”.  We made a respectably early start and headed over to the far side of Brisbane to what is officially called the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, a cross between a small regular zoo and a petting zoo.  Since the day was warm and getting steadily hotter we were quite glad it was not any larger, and in fact we made our escape at about the same time as was going from warm to hot as well as crowded to very crowded since it is still Spring break here.

I will be posting some pictures on Flickr but most are rather disappointing.  All the splendid colorful birds were behind fine but heavy-gauge wire netting (to prevent the stupid from partial loss of fingers!), the platypus habitat was very dark as platypuses are nocturnal and must be tricked into thinking day is night and vice versa, the heat and sun had sent a number of animals into dens, but it was still very interesting for me.  On the other hand, despite their tendency towards somnolence, the koalas were very accessible (if a bit smelly), and a large grassy area was effectively a petting zoo for Grey (and female Red) Kangaroos with tame (but not pettable) Emus.  It was great to see these birds and animals in person even if my pictures are very so-so.

Since for various reasons none of us had had adequate sleep in the previous 24 hours the post-lunch period saw a lot of human somnolence for a while.  Later Pam went out for yet another grocery shop while Nick & I pottered about separately.