Val & Robin in Australia

The Sydney Opera House Illuminated Its Sails with Images of Firefighters to Support Bushfire Relief

 Bonjour d'Angleterre.

Valérie et moi remplissons nos valises prêtes pour notre voyage en Australie. Nous prenons l'avion mercredi matin et nous arriverons à Sydney 24 heures plus tard. Nous resterons avec la sœur aînée de Valérie qui a émigré en Australie en 1968 avec son mari et ses deux jeunes enfants. Avec nous sera l'autre sœur de Valérie et ce sera une grande expérience de revoir les trois sœurs ensemble.

À notre arrivée, nous serons accueillis à l'aéroport par la nièce de Valérie et son mari qui vivent dans le nord de Sydney et nous resterons avec eux pendant quelques jours pour nous reposer après le long vol. Ensuite, nous voyagerons vers le Nord pour passer quelques jours avec la sœur aînée et le beau-frère qui vivent maintenant dans une belle région appelée Nelson Bay (à environ deux heures et demie de route de Sydney). Leur maison est au bord de l'océan avec une vue imprenable sur la baie.

L'autre sœur de Valérie fêtera son 80e anniversaire début février et nous avons un cadeau surprise pour elle. Nous prendrons tous l'avion pour Melbourne où nous commencerons une croisière fluviale de 5 jours sur la célèbre "Murray River" suivie d'un séjour de 4 jours dans la ville de Melbourne pour explorer la ville et la région environnante.

Naturellement, nous avons été très inquiets des incendies de forêt. Dieu merci, notre famille là-bas n'a pas été menacée par un incendie réel, cependant, la fumée est parfois très mauvaise selon la direction du vent.

Nous espérons que la situation s'améliore concernant les incendies et nous sommes en mesure de terminer nos vacances sans problème.

Nous revenons en Angleterre en mars mais je vous enverrai quelques nouvelles de nos voyages et expériences.

Kind regards

Find ourselves bumped up to Business again (must be my charm) here’s the view of Oz from above

[22:19, 18/01/2020] Robin WOOD: Been a bit of a bugger yesterday! plane incoming from Singapore to LHR was delayed due to the vicious storm over UK and Western Europe. So we boarded at 09:30 hrs, flight should have departed at 09:00hrs. We finally got a takeoff slot only for the pilot to abort on the runway due to a faulty generator, just as he began to say”rotate, rotate”. We returned to a parking bay and a small army of technicians stripped out the failed part and replaced it! We finally took off at noon so 3hrs late. So our flight to Singapore arrived late enough to miss the planned connection to Sydney! Still a couple of “sharpeners” in the Business Class lownge perked us oldies up!!!
We should touch down at 21:20hrs local time. Oz is 11 hours ahead of GMT. 
Cheers me old drongos 
Woody

[22:21, 18/01/2020]
 Robin WOOD: Just like England and Normandy as the rains hit Australia’s NSW!
[22:23, 18/01/2020] Robin WOOD: Good day me ol drongos!

Poor Aussie Ockers are bloody suffering. One would hope that the rains would help the firefighters eh?
The news here is dominated with stories of flooding and fire engines now called to pump out flooded properties.... no rest for them. As a thought 💭 do you know why firemen have bigger balls than policemen? ‘Cos they sell more tickets’ Ah! Those old days of annual dinner dances...
Today has been a time of considerable contrast on the Northern side of Sydney... during the night torrential rain swept through in waves. Followed by a couple of hours of biblical stuff including quite fearsome lightening strikes... Around noon 🕛 things began to ease and the wind direction changed to a South Westerly. Almost instantaneously these winds dra…
[22:24, 18/01/2020] 

Robin WOOD: Good day Possums from “a land down under”... since arriving in No one has yet to see the sun. It has rained continually! Not that us Limeys begrudge it as the Aussies really do need plenty of it.
 The news bulletins are informing that the bushfires are finally being contained now the rain has come... the humidity has livened up the flora and fauna and these few photos attached are proof of this...note the raindrops in the puddle!
 Myself, along with Madame Bois and her sister, are not suffering too badly from jet lag, although it does catch you unawares at times and manifests itself in unfamiliar ways. One moment you’re talking and suddenly the words start drifting away. Next thing you’re being shaken by the arm and asked to wake up! Hopefully the time adjustm…

[22:26, 18/01/2020] Robin WOOD: A few photos of the colonial cottage where we are staying. 

Note the examples of the “widow maker” . A colloquial name for the eucalyptus. Giant eucalypts have a habit of dropping heavy branches earning them the nickname of Widow Maker as forestry workers have been killed by branches dropping without warning. These gum trees preserve their health during periods of drought or inadequate water supply by allowing some branches to dry out and break off – a sort of self pruning.

Nelson Bay

[01:28, 26/01/2020] Robin WOOD: Some photos of the views from the garden and the family home near Nelson Bay
[01:28, 26/01/2020] 
Good day me ol drongos! It’s Australia 🇦🇺 Day and your Aussies are out in force to celebrate! The habit is to descend to the nearest beach where enthusiastic locals get together and set up mass BBQs. The dish of the day is usually egg and bacon rolls washed down with a long black coffee ☕. Generally there are amateur side shows and a big favourite is the Aussie equivalent to our “welly wanting” except they use flip flops! Which for some reason are known as ‘thongs’ here... initially I imagined the Sheilas ripping off the skimpy knickers and launching them into space!!!
Here at Mallabula we are convening in family for a ‘barby’ in the garden rather than join the masses on the beach...
Cheers from an land down under’

Rob

Hello Joe Here’s some news from both Australia 🇦🇺  and Canada 🇨🇦. Do you remember Byron and his wife who came with Val and I to your home 5 years ago... there is an email from him attached... Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Woody <festival2@virginmedia.com> Date: 2 February 2020 at 10:41:27 GMT+11 To: Byron Hollett <byron_hollett@hotmail.com> Subject: Re:  Brexit  Good Day me ol’ Pelicans from a very hot land down under! Well Brexit has finally happened hurrahs!!! At last the UK is no longer a cash cow to the European Parliament. Our 2019 contribution of £20 billion GBP, less the 3 billion we received back in grants for projects within the UK, was larger than the GDP of several of the smaller member states and enough to make massive improvements to our National Health and other social services to make life better for our own population... I could go on for hours about EU imposed import taxes, crass waste of money moving the whole of the EU Parliament from Brussels to Strasbourg once a month just please the French, inflated salaries and expenses plus 1st class travel for Euro Members of Parliament, inability for more than 20 years to sign off its audited accounts cos they don’t balance, unelected governing politicians etc etc etc, but I will restrain myself!!! Suffice to say that during the last 3 and a half years since the referendum, and despite the “harbingers of doom” the UK economy has boomed... So to other things... our visit to Oz. Good day me ol drongos! It’s 26th January and it’s Australia 🇦🇺 Day and your Aussies are out in force to celebrate! The habit is to descend to the nearest beach where enthusiastic locals get together and set up mass BBQs. The dish of the day is usually egg and bacon rolls washed down with a long black coffee ☕️. Generally there are amateur side shows and a big favourite is the Aussie equivalent to our “welly wanting” except they use flip flops! Which for some reason are known as ‘thongs’ here... initially I imagined the Sheilas ripping off the skimpy knickers and launching them into space!!! Here at Mallabula we are convening in family for a ‘barby’ in the garden rather than join the masses on the beach... Views from the house at Mallabula near Nelson Bay NSW.... Later in the day a thunderstorm blew in... pretty scary lightning strikes!!! 30th January and we’ve moved away from 2 weeks of intensive family for some R&R and quality time together... look up Gosford NSW on the map, it’s North of Sydney and South of Newcastle... We’ve arrived in Terrigal a resort on the coast near Gosford, south of Newcastle for a few days rest away from relos.... Nice views of the Pacific Ocean from our hotel room... More photos taken on a walk along the ocean promenade... More to follow soon Cheers Rob On 2 Feb 2020, at 02:43, Byron Hollett <byron_hollett@hotmail.com> wrote:  Good morning, Robin and Valerie. We have been following events regarding GB's departure from the EU after 47 years. There will no doubt be great changes to the British relationship with the present EU membership in future. On this side of the Pond we are not aware of all the details of the departure and are clinging to every bit of news we see online to learn more of the implications of separation. There still seems to be a lot of Brits who are not in favor of the political / trade / travel implications from this deal. It should not affect colonials coming to visit your fair country as far as I know. I think about your annual pilgrimages to France to visit friends and return with a stash of fine meats🥩, cheeses🧀, and wines🍷 and wonder if there will be more red tape for you in future. We had a rough time since January 17 with a State of Emergency in place for nearly 10 days in order for the city to clear and dispose of all the snow that had accumulated. The Federal Government even called in the Military to help out! The silver lining...conditions are great for snowshoeing!!! Juanita and I are well despite the snow. We will be escaping the winter for 10 days with a vacation to Dominican Republic with her family members in early April. I am not going there to lose weight😎! That's all for the moment. We wish you both well and often think about the wonderful time we spent with you and Valerie in 2016. Will be in touch. Cheers! From: Woody Subject: Australia bonjour mon ami.  quelques nouvelles d'Australie.  Valérie et moi avec la sœur de Valérie avons quitté Sydney le week-end dernier pour prendre l'avion pour Melbourne.  nous avons été accueillis à l'aéroport de Melbourne par un directeur de la compagnie de croisière fluviale et conduits à la ville d'Echuca pour commencer notre croisière sur le bateau à vapeur.  Nous avons passé 3 nuits à bord et chaque jour nous avons eu une visite intéressante dans la région où le bateau avait accosté.  dans cette partie de l'Australie il n'y a pas eu de pluie depuis près de 2 ans et la région a l'air très triste.  tous les arbres sont stressés par manque d'eau et il n'y a pas d'herbe dans les champs.  de nombreux agriculteurs et viticulteurs ont été contraints d'abandonner leurs terres et leurs maisons alors que leurs entreprises étaient en liquidation ... certaines personnes accusent le changement climatique des conditions de sécheresse dans cette région.  bien que les habitants de cette région ne souffrent qu'à 4 heures de distance de l'Est, des pluies torrentielles et des orages ont provoqué des inondations tout le long de la côte est du pays ... nous sommes maintenant de retour à Melbourne et visitons les endroits intéressants de cette ville comme tous les touristes!  Hier, nous avons visité le Parlement de l'État de Victoria, où le gouvernement de l'État fait les lois pour l'État de Victoria.  Le fonctionnement du Parlement australien est basé sur le système britannique. Il nous a donc été facile de comprendre ce que notre guide expliquait au sujet du gouvernement et comment les lois étaient élaborées.  nous avons également pris du thé et des gâteaux l'après-midi dans le restaurant utilisé par les députés. Je joins quelques photos des derniers jours ... sincères amitiés Robin