Winter has arrived Down Under

Floods hit Brisbane, the worst for 17 years. (incidentally, the pictures actually click to open larger - hooray!)

The road above is the one I use to get to and from work. Not today though.

The next day someone came back to find their car had been written off in the flood. 800 cars suffered the same fate across Brisbane.

The bridge above is near the 'leash off' dog area. The park is beside us.

A car at the Gold Coast was washed off the car park and into the sea by heavy waves.

There's a cycle track under the water here. The sign says "Warning: car park subject to flooding".This was the scene near Aviation High, Hendra. It only lasted one day though.

This is the entrance to Aldi at Toombul Shopping Town, our local shopping centre. All this water passed our house.

Taken from the deck at home. People came from everywhere to watch the waters.

The pedestrian bridge at Toombul Terrace at the height of the flood. This street is behind us.

From the ground level at home.

This was at the very beginning of the heavy rains. There has been some erosion of the banks.

As a headline this post, I stated that winter has arrived. Well, let's not get too dramatic - winter in Brisbane has been so far down to 13 and tomorrow it'll be a maximum of 22. Delightfully nice weather warranting a sweater at night and first thing in the morning, but that's all.

We had two major events 10 days ago, firstly a really big flood event, then my 59th birthday the next day. The birthday was lovely with a dinner with friends at a local restaurant on the day, a night at the casino the following night with Rene and the third day we helped an American friend celebrate his birthday at his home with family and friends. Throw in two morning teas at my two schools and so on, a very nice time was had by me, myself and I. Rene had already given me a Tom Tom a month before, so that was really fabulous, and I received many lovely cards and prezzies over a few days.

Now, to the floods. We escaped any inundation, but it did come close to the bottom of the retaining wall below the driveway. Rene even saw a fridge float by during the day. I rang home in the middle of the day out of curiosity rather than worry about the house, and Rene assured me all was well. Many schools and businesses closed after the middle of the day when there were issues developing about people getting back home. Even the following day some people were still trapped or otherwise prevented from moving around easily.

It was the heaviest rain for 17 years. The speed of the rushing water was impressive and scary all at the same time. We had fences bolted into concrete along the newly built footpath around the airport tunnel site completely pushed over and ripped out of the concrete with sections of concrete attached.

I'm off to the airport next Friday for my orientation program as an Airport Ambassador - the volunteers who staff the booths in arrival halls offering advice and details for visitors. We live only one stop on the Air Train away from the terminals, therefore it's easy to reach with the free rail pass you are given. It should be fun and very interesting (I love meeting and helping people).

There's so much hysteria in the media and government circles about the H1N1 (Swine Flu) cases that it is getting out of hand. I had a regular flu shot last Friday to protect me from the school kids (nicknamed Super Spreaders) I see every day, but that is just regular influenza. The carrying on regarding a cruise ship this week with three cases on board (all crew) was pathetic. I'm off in three weeks on my little weekend cruise to Sydney and I sincerely hope the fuss has died down by then.

My surprise trip to the US in September is booked and I'm going on my own to join friends in Lafayette in Indiana who are house swapping for two months. I'll be away for 19 days, the first 4 in Las Vegas and the remaining days in Indiana. It's a chance to see the Mid West, an area I've never been to before. This will be the eighth time I've entered the US, and finally I am getting to see the Mid West (including Chicago - just 2.5 hours drive north of Lafayette). This will be my third trip to Vegas, but this time over 4 nights I can be not so exhausted. Friends Merle and Ian from Portland OR will join me there for much fun, fun, fun.

The Eurovision Song Contest was much better this year with slicker scoring, but the usual bunch of tragic score presenters who wanted to make their 30 seconds of fame last and last. When will they realise we just want the scores, forget the dramatic pauses and sound delays. Does anyone still remember Katie Boyle slipping whilst descending the staircase at the contest held in London around 1963/64? It was live, black and white, and she regained composure and proceeded like nothing had happened. That was style, not like the Tragics who present today yelling and joking and just being terribly, terribly unsophisticated. Yes, I know, I sound like that grumpy old man again. Sorry.

Oh, nearly forgot, I loved the winning Norwegian entry; both the song and especially the singer. Suffice to say by this stage Rene had left the living room muttering something to himself - it's just NOT his cup of tea.

A couple of Tuesday's ago our team came equal first in trivia at our pub, but last week we were back in 6th place. It's a variable thing for our team. We saw Dame Edna a fortnight ago and had an enjoyable time, and next week we are seeing Judith Lucy (an Australian comedienne) performing live - she is very, very funny. We also have an exhibition opening this coming week and a Dutch Alumni dinner meeting the following week, so we are continuing to be socially busy. I of course haven't included dinner and outings with family and friends - we just do them on a regular basis. Last night we had dinner at my brother Stephen's home along with his lovely wife Adele. The two of them talked excitedly about their upcoming trip to Britain and France, their first together overseas. It was a lot of fun talking about things to do and places to see over there.

Rene has received notification of his success in applying for citizenship. He now has to go through a ceremony swearing an Oath in order to officially be recognized as an Australian citizen. I'm looking forward to that day.

It has been lovely to receive emails, cards and even post cards, from friends both here and abroad. Thanks, and please note that all communication is greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

The venerable Mini was 50 during the last month. I've only ever been in one once, and it was SO small, SO low, SO close to the ground that I felt very vulnerable in it, especially at speed on the open road. The German reincarnation of the Mini is certainly more to my taste, but sadly I'll never ever be able to get in and out of one elegantly ever again.

Piece of cake!

First up, a lovely bloom from one of our newly planted native shrubs. It didn't have a bud on it when I bought it two months ago. We will eventually have a small but pretty garden.

ANZAC Day is over again, last weekend. It seems to come around very quickly. Once again the Fallen are remembered and we give thanks for the many sacrifices of past and present generations. This week the Dutch also remember their people who sacrificed both liberty and life. I guess Dutch school children are as aware as Australian children are of the dates and the battles and the faces - the many faces - of people long gone, as well as those serving today in many theatres of conflict. I turn 59 in just over a fortnight. I have witnessed one scary riot (Athens) in all my life. My father joined the Royal marines as a band boy aged 14. At 16 he was at war in 1939. He went through WW2, serving on ships protecting convoys going to Murmansk, worked in all sorts of situations, in all sorts of vessels. He was helping evacuate the Nationalists from China to Formosa (Taiwan) in 1949, was also in Korea, the Suez Crisis, Cyprus, plus various conflicts whilst we lived in South Africa. He escaped with his life on more than one occasion - once trapped against the wall of an aircraft carrier when a damaged aircraft landing hit the deck and spun around, he had a fire hose on and drenched both himself and the burning aircraft. At 40, after 26 years service, he retired and emigrated to Australia with his family, for a quieter life full of opportunities for his children. He lived to just 65. On ANZAC Day 2009 I remembered Dad, and in doing so I thanked him and the many, many other men and women who surrendered their youth and innocence in order for me to lead such a wonderfully fulfilling peaceful life.

The Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance, ANZAC Square, Brisbane, 2009.

Today, apart from attending an art auction (no, we didn't buy anything) I took a short walk with Di, a long term friend who lives nearby, to the Nundah Cemetery. It was established in 1837 when the area was known as the German Station. The first free settlement in Queensland (then part of NSW) was predominantly German, although the Irish and English were here too. I'll tell more about it in another post. I love exploring cemeteries, they are just so very fascinating in every detail.

Another native bloom from the garden. This is a Robyn Gordon, a favourite of mine.

Rene came back from the citizenship test stating that it was a very simple, fast exercise for a western person with good English, but challenging for anyone without English and from another background. He achieved 20/20, but he's still got to apply on line next week (May 15) then wait up to three months for the conferring of the certificate.

The top picture shows the work on the entries to one of Brisbane's many road tunnels. The lower picture shows the progress on the new airport Gateway deviation, giving a new northern entrance to the airport and reducing traffic delays before the end of this year. Hooray!

It has been a bit dry here, and the days are still up to the mid 20's. Our garden continues to impress with its growth and resilience to maintenance from people completely devoid of green thumbs. I shifted three plants to allow for more space (thanks for the advice Kay).

The most expensive Aboriginal painting by a woman purchased last year (just over $1 million) has gone on display in a gallery in Alice Springs. Emily Kame Kngwarreye's 'Earth's Creation' is large (huge really), colourful and impressive. I love being associated with Rene's passion for Australian contemporary indigenous art.
Finally, a very clever young English art student has made a Skoda disappear - now, no jokes about Skodas now, they're made by VW and seriously good. Anyway, she painted the car over three weeks so that from a certain vantage point the car appears to disappear. Clever.

Finally, a pinup from friends on the Sunshine Coast. Their dog, Jack, sports the latest look just perfect for that all over tan.