Back to work

Most of my friends remaining teaching have opted to quit by the end of this year. I wish them well. They're not retiring, just that they're old enough to quit Education Queensland and (in one case) travel a bit, then teach in Italy for a year. Me? I'm still doing some ESL work, and the first day back yesterday was pleasant enough, but as soon as Rene's gallery business is off the ground I'll be just as happy meeting, greeting, cleaning, packing and transporting whatever needs to be done with him, and leave teaching alone altogether (at least I think I'd be happy doing that.....I actually like teaching........need a bit of structure still in my life).

Kay2 visited for three nights, it was very nice to have her here as our guest. The three of us ventured quite early Tuesday morning to walk along the beach and, alas, there was a king tide and no beach to walk on. It was really terrific seeing the angry sea, yet feeling totally safe (and not cold). The picture below shows Rene and Kay just before they got covered with sandy cappuccino froth from the surf as it swept up over the dunes.

The official opening of the Centred Art Gallery in our next door apartment happens at 4pm this Saturday. It should be a quiet but happy event. We have friends staying the night, so it'll be very social yet again. Sunday is high tea in Brisbane for Kay1 who is not only having a birthday but celebrating her last birthday whilst working (another one retiring). Monday is a public holiday for Australia Day so I only have to drive to Brisbane three days next week. Mind you, on Friday next week Rene and I are meeting with the cabinet maker to finalise the kitchen for Nundah. Rene's already stated he's lost both arms so far in the cost of the kitchen, I reminded him that he has two perfectly good legs still to go (haha). That should also be the day we see our house foundation finished (here's hoping!).

www.centredart.com.au

Holidays and visitors

We've both been enjoying visitors over the holidays. The latest was a friend from Toowoomba who stayed a couple of nights and as a result we ventured north of Maroochydore for the first time since we've been here. We dropped in to the Hyatt Regency at Coolum to find a gallery closed on that day, then went further into the wilds to Hastings Street in Noosa where Rebecca shopped and we finally lunched at the Sheraton (it was very delicious). Yesterday we all went to Eumundi to the markets. Rebecca shopped again, with gusto. It was nice to see. After she left for home another friend passing by rang and we all went for coffee across the road at the Islander Beach Cafe. Shame I have to go back to work next week (not until Wednesday though).

iMac Reigns Supreme

In Brisbane today Rene finally crossed to the 'other side'. Yes, he's now a Mac bloke. After years of cussing Bill Gates and virus firewalls and the machinations of software/hardware issues with a PC, he's now the proud owner of an iMac. Those already converted (even zealous advocates) will have to understand that this decision was not arrived at lightly, let alone quickly, but finally the power of the Mac swept over him and he was reborn - this time a wiser and much happier soul. Yes, even I, a Luddite, am finally being won over by the speed, style, intuitive operation and sheer beauty of the machine. My Dell PC is great, no worries about it - only 7 months old -terrific, but when you witness the speed, cleverness, compactness, beauty of its operation, an iMac makes the PC look like the fossil it unfortunately is. Oh well, another 2 years and I'll upgrade. I'll be the next one to cross over to the other side.

Thursday January 17

Today Rene and I met with our builder on site for the very first time. He said we should have our foundations down by the end of a fortnight, so we both left very excited to seeing the construction actually materialising. The time between selling the house, buying the land, choosing a designer then builder, getting approval, starting work has been very fast to my mind.

Pic - Rene and builder on site this morning:

Finally downloaded phone's pictures

Yes, I know I'm not the world's most technically literate guy but I'm also not totally stupid (I think). I tried for the past few weeks to learn all the features of my new phone. Heck, I even bought it to be just that - a phone; but today, if you want bigger keys, brighter and bigger screens, you have to go the camera route. The cute guy selling me the phone apologised for it 'only' having a 2 mega pixel camera (ha! that's the size of my first digital camera) - so having pictures and video capabilities in my pocket this past month has meant that I've taken pictures BUT COULDN'T FIND A WAY TO DOWNLOAD THEM BACK TO MY COMPUTER. I researched it (you know, read the manual, viewed the 2 CDs it came with) and emailed folk, even Motorola - still no reply - and asked knowledgeable looking young people in phone shops, but alas, no answer. Yesterday an upgrade came on-line, I downloaded it and HEY PRESTO I can now download very good quality pictures here on my computer from my slim mobile phone. I now love the phone. Until yesterday I looked upon this device as yet another testimony of the fact I'm getting too old too fast. Today I admire its capabilities.

All these pictures are from the phone: Our friend Kay's Toowoomba garden (now 18 months old)

Kay's young olive tree (first crop)

Erosion on our beach after the storms

Beautiful sand dunes did their work of protecting the shore.

Rene relaxing with a book on the balcony

One of my Aboriginal paintings

Mother and Son

Those Australians old enough will remember the ABC TV series 'Mother and Son' which featured Gary MacDonald and the equally renowned Ruth Cracknell. Well, featured in this show was a car, a Morris Minor convertible (1953 model). This bit of TV history goes to auction soon in Sydney - expected to sell for $7-12 000. Alec Issigonis, the designer of the Mini, also designed this Morris Minor range car back in 1948.

We owned the very first Morris Minor Traveller (British racing green) in South Africa, bought in Cape Town around 1958. We even brought it back to England on the ship we came home on in 1960. It was testimony as to why the British motor industry failed - it leaked like a sieve. Every time it rained, it poured into the interior from around the side windows (if memory serves me right). Anyway, repeated visits to the BMC garage in Cape Town failed to have it rectified, so in true tradition, my mother wrote to Lord Nuffield - the owner of BMC - back in England. Within a few weeks (this was 1958, communication was slower then) Lord Nuffield had written to Mum, sent it air mail, the garage had been roasted over the phone by He Himself, and the problem fixed. Now we won't mention the electrics, Lucas et al were equally renowned for stuffing this up too, but it was BRITISH, so we owned it until we traded it in around the middle of 1963 (in Dundee, Scotland) for the new Ford Cortina (the same colour as the picture) - it was very, very smart and was probably THE car that turned me on to following the motor industry.

Imagine the humiliation when we went from this to a 1952 Holden in 1965 (it was all we could afford being newly arrived in Australia) - I was embarrassed to be dropped off at school in it. We soon upgraded to a 1962 Ford Falcon. This I polished and polished until it truly sparkled so that on a rainy day I could be dropped off in front of school in it (hey! I was 14 and impressionable).

43 Years later I own a very ordinary, but incredibly reliable, city car called a Mazda2. With 8 air bags, ASB, ESP, auto, air - it may be basic, but it does the commute to Brisbane from the coast just as reliably as a much larger car. There is a new car in my future plans, but not until the house is finished. This one may well have a large rear loading area for Rene's paintings and 'gear' - we'll have to see.

You must be kidding?

'Caribbean', Double Bay, Kawana Island.

January 8 already? Get away! Oh well, I might as well fess up and say that I have been having a good time and the days have just got away from me, so sorry for the big gap between blogs.

(Our BBQ spot beside the beach)

Many thanks for the emails and updated contact details from near and far. Much appreciated.

Christmas came and went enjoyably - hooray! Roman, a friend from Switzerland, joined us for Christmas. Like a good boy I bought loads of prawns and oysters for Christmas lunch, alas Roman announces he doesn't like seafood (I had asked Rene to check with him prior to coming if he liked seafood - he didn't). OK, Plan B - some smoked cooked turkey I just happened to buy 'just in case' something like this happened. Anyway, we went on the beach on Christmas Day but it wasn't great for swimming so we had a swim in the pool. That was our last swim until around four days ago, the weather turned bad and we had strong winds and lots of heavy showers, sometimes really raining, for the next fortnight.

New Year's Eve was delightful. It was spent with 14 or so friends at Di and Torquil's in Brisbane. The night before was our 5th anniversary, so I arranged a night at a leading hotel in South Bank and we also headed to the Treasury Casino. After the morning of New Year's Eve spent at the Andy Warhol exhibition at GoMA on South Bank, I thought at 3:30pm how on earth I'd stay awake until midnight? No worries! Rene and I saw 3am - we had a brilliant night.

The rain in the region has produced another 4 months of storage for our dams, so that's good, but far from enough. The best thing is that the populace at large are feeling very optimistic about good soaking rains coming soon (this is our rainy season). The 8 day Woodford Folk Festival near to us here in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast was a very muddy affair, but the loyal fans adored it still. Me? No way Jose!

A few days ago I tried to go for a walk in the light rain and strong wind (it was warm though) down to the local beach. Alas, when I reached there it was gone! Just dunes and a dramatic drop to the flat sand that was being pounded by the waves (I love this rough weather). Although the beach was eroded, it'll return soon enough. All the beaches here on the Sunshine Coast have dunes left to protect them. Over at Mooloolaba Beach it was fine, fairly normal beach conditions (although closed to swimmers). Our beach (Warana) was not suitable for swimming anyway, but the ever present lifesavers were still on duty checking the beach goers. What a superb job they do.

Whilst it was pouring one day Rene and I ventured to the local cineplex to see a film. After much fun fighting for a car park space we ended up at the foyer of the 12 screen complex only to find the largest assembly of humanity I'd seen in years. Scratch one film, but Rene did some serious clothes shopping instead. I'd already done some earlier at Myer and David Jones so I had enough, but Rene was out for more. Both our wardrobes needed sprucing up. Consider it done.

We've had a swag of visitors over the past few weeks. Some have been for the day, others have stayed over. It's been lovely, and the feeling of holidaying at a resort rather than living a normal life in an apartment is having a relaxing effect on me. I still have 2 weeks to go of vacation, but I'm actually ready to go back to work now.

GALLERY

The official launch of our temporary Kawana Island gallery is Saturday January 26. If you are around the Sunshine Coast on the Australia Day weekend, consider yourself invited to it, between 4-6pm. Email me if you want some more details. Rene is enjoying having the apartment next door to work in. It is slow at this time of the year, but I can tell you that one painting has been sold to The Netherlands already, very good to have that 'first' out of the way.

Rene's lovely sister had her birthday recently. I think her partner spoils her a bit, don't you think? I love this picture.

Our apartments are situated at beautiful Double Bay on Kawana Island. Very nice location. Here are some pictures that I quickly took this afternoon.

MURDER

I read on a Dutch website where in 2007 there was a decline in homicides in The Netherlands - 147 for 17m population. I couldn't find our 2007 figures but over the last decade we've averaged 315/year for 21m people. A per capita figure of nearly double for Australia would seem rather alarming to me, I really can't conjecture any reason for the difference (from Expatica.nl):Record low murder rate once again 02/01/2008 00:00
147 murders were committed in the Netherlands last year.
2 January 2008
AMSTERDAM – 147 murders were committed in the Netherlands last year, one fewer than in 2006 and therefore a record low, according to the annual report from Elsevier.
There has been a declining trend in the murder rate since 2002. In the 1990s there were an average of 250 murders a year.
The number of murders in Amsterdam rose from 15 in 2006 to 26 last year, but only a few cases were crime world assassinations. In February 40-year-old Turkish businessman and drug criminal Nedim Imac was shot and killed in Amsterdam-West. The public prosecution department believes the crime was connected with other underworld killings.
The number of murders in Rotterdam rose from 15 to 19. The numbers for Utrecht and The Hague remained virtually the same, with three and five murder victims, respectively.
The weekly publication reported that the large number of victims of muggings, stabbings and shootings, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, was notable. In other cities the motives for murder were primarily relationship-driven. In most cases the victim was the murderer’s partner.
The study classified murder as the deliberate killing of another human being, not necessarily the definition used by the justice department.

Mind you, we Aussies take New Year's Eve wayyy too casually compared to Holland. There was nothing reported anywhere across Australia other than a usual arrests for drunken and disorderly behaviour (feel free to correct me) but in The Netherlands there were riots, burned cars and 20 school fires as well as homes burnt down to welcome in 2008 (from Expatica.nl):
Massive celebrations, fires, riots and extreme fog characterised the Dutch New Year's festivities.
2 January 2008
AMSTERDAM - Massive celebrations, fires, riots and extreme fog characterised the Dutch New Year's festivities.
At Dam Square in Amsterdam and on the banks of the river Maas in Rotterdam tens of thousands of people gathered at both festive countdowns of the old year and the subsequent special fireworks shows.
A police spokesman said Tuesday there was more fist- fighting and rioting in many cities than in previous years, particularly in Amsterdam.
In Rotterdam the situation remained under control with just 85 arrests.
Three people were arrested - two German 18-year olds in Amsterdam and one Dutch national in Maastricht - after firing shots into the air with real guns.
In The Hague, the military police had to control rioters, while in Utrecht, in the centre of the country, the police were understaffed and unable to control the situation.
Dozens of cars went up in flames and rioters threw fireworks at civil guards.
In southern Vlaardingen, a firework explosion caused damage to tens of homes. Elsewhere in the town, four people sustained knife wounds during a fight.
In Rozenburg, also in the south, 30 people were arrested after rioting near a mall.
A police spokesman said on Tuesday that a record number of buildings went up in flames during the night in the Netherlands.
Extremely dense fog resulted in chaos on the roads and many traffic accidents during the night, particularly in the east and north of the country. On the highway near Putten some 30 cars collided. One person died.
Shortly after midnight the police issued a warning to all drivers to stay off the roads.
Many schools set on fire New Year's Eve 04/01/2008 00:00
More than 20 schools were set on fire on New Year's Eve this week.
4 January 2008
APELDOORN – More than 20 schools were set on fire on New Year's Eve this week, compared to less than ten during the festivities a year earlier.
Most of the fires were the result of "heavier fireworks" set off deliberately in the direction of the buildings. A spokesperson for insurance company Centraal Beheer Achmea said this on Friday.
Most of the schools affected are primary schools. The spokesperson from Achmea says this is evidence that primary schools are not adequately secure.
"More should be done to prevent these situations, by setting up camera surveillance for instance." More schools should also install sprinkler installations, the insurance company says, to spare society the high costs of the damage caused by these kinds of fires.
At the request of broadcaster NOS, Achmea, which insures most of the schools in the Netherlands, investigated how many schools suffered fire damage during New Year's Eve festivities. An initial estimate places that number at about 20, compared to seven last year. The total damage is reportedly between EUR 20 and 25 million.
"It causes a lot of damage for society, aside from the fire damage. Children cannot return to school immediately, for instance, and childcare has to be arranged," the spokesperson said.

MELBOURNE

The beautiful city of Melbourne, Victoria's capital, got a write up this week in the New York Times. It makes for a good read (in fact the NYT Travel section archives are a mine of useful information). Here's the link: http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/travel/06hours.html?ex=1200200400&en=0a69ed550494b26d&ei=5070&emc=eta1

VOIP

After much trouble we have a wifi internet connection plus a VOIP phone line that gives us overseas (10 countries), local and national calls for free - all thanks to not being able to get a landline connection on the island. We've used the net based phone to call home phones already in America and Holland, and the quality is great. I can highly recommend it (it's like Skype, only you phone to another phone, not a computer).

Hey, I'm overdue for a dip in the pool. Just a note, our apartment balconies are the two surrounded by blue in the pool picture. One is with our office apartment, the one to the right of it is our home apartment. I like the one of Rene (below) standing on his office balcony. Just like Beatrix, he has his working apartment and residential apartment separated :)

That's about all for now, thanks for reading this. Have a terrific remainder of your week. We're heading off to Brisbane staying with friends and shopping and buying a new iMac for Rene's business.