Beach Culture

A lot of the time we spent at Broulee was on the beach. Both North and South Broulee beaches have long sweeping sandy beaches, especially the latter where the beach curves for several km and I frequently walked much of its length in the early morning or late afternoon. The southern beach also offers the best surfing, but alas on the days we were there the surf was mostly pretty flat.

That didn't bother Ella and Flynn who wanted to build sandcastles, jump in the waves or use their small body boards. Nor me for that matter because I could just float on my back in the water with a minimum of being tossed around by the waves. Alas, I'm unaware of any pictures taken of me floating. Here's North Broulee beach - nice, eh? And there's our base camp - a very useful beach tent that provided relief from the intense midday sun.

Ella and Flynn loved to paddle in the gentle waves and to use their body boards to surf them. It's hard to believe they're just 6 and nearly 5 years old and both can swim.

Building sand-castles was fun and often highly creative. How about this monster with Ella and Flynn working on the keep in the background and their parents and Aunt (Rebecca, foreground) also working on improvements. Greg was especially good at constructing wispy spires on the circular turrets, while the girls constructed tunnels under the ramparts

On another day, Bec had a wonderful idea for some beach art-work. She constructed a 3-dimensional mermaid as shown below! I love that tail shown in its final form!

Most of the time the beaches thronged with people and especially South Broulee, which had a surf patrol as shown here.

And here's our whole party ... except for me. The surf, you'd have to agree, was very flat when this picture was taken!

The NSW South Coast has heaps of gorgeous beaches back by lovely mountain scenery, dense forests, and lovely coastal estuaries of many rivers. It's a perfect holiday location.

AS

Games Around the House

On many occasions during our 6 days or so in Broulee, we found the grand-kids playing vigorously in the garden. All sorts of things kept them happy, but especially imprinted on my memory were hitting tennis balls, playing cricket, throwing water bombs, and etching away at the plaster mentioned previously. Remember that Flynn isn't quite 5 and Ella's only 6 and I can't recall playing either tennis or cricket when I was their age ... and nor did I have a Smart Watch capable of taking photos and even movies!

The water bombs went off fast a furiously and most of us got wet in the process. Flynn seemed to play a lead role in this exercise.

And, one day Ella might make the Australian Women's cricket team, while Flynn wins the Australian Open at Kooyong!

AS

Prezzies and Food

For a long time I've associated Christmas Day with two events - the giving and opening of presents and over-consumption of food and drink! This year was no different, but was held on the South Coast of NSW at Broulee - just south of Batemans Bay. It's a great spot, with lovely scenery, sandy surf beaches, and a mild climate. Better still, Greg's parents, Mike and Moira, own a holiday home there, which housed Dot and I along with seven others. Emily and Greg flew across the Pacific from Seattle with the children Ella and Flynn to be part of the proceedings. And Rebecca drove with us from Canberra to meet up with our hosts, M & M.

The Christmas Elf mysteriously moved around our home in Armidale, M & M's home in Canberra, and the Broulee residence keeping an eye on Ella' s and Flynn's behaviour in the lead-up to Christmas and reported no adverse findings. So Santa, or was it a subordinate Clause (?), found his way to Boulder Street in Broulee. There he delivered a swag of presents, ate some food left out for him, and we noticed that the reindeer must have been thirsty as they drank the water provided for them. Strangely Dot and I slept through these events, perhaps aided by the lovely and abundant food supplied by our hosts!

It was no surprise that the kinds tore into their numerous presents despite already having enough toys to open a retail business. They had a ball tearing paper off the prezzies, opening boxes and then constructing or building whatever was inside. Here's some of the action.

Note the cluster of water bombs at the top of the following picture - the source of great pleasure out in the garden!

Both kids received a block of plaster which they scraped away, like archaeologists, to discover the hidden contents. Flynn found some dinosaur bones and Ella found some rocks, alas not diamonds, though I gather they might have been!

Here they're playing with a Lego helicopter which they'd assembled and had lots of moving parts.

And so to dinner, which had all the traditional fayre and in abundant proportions, wolfed down quickly. T'was a grand occasion.

Ella and Flynn both received Smart watches with which they experimented furiously - even at the dinner table!

AS

Christmas - New Year Break

Dot and I have just returned to Armidale from two weeks away over the Christmas period. It was an exciting trip, as this and the following blog-posts will reveal and looking at the distance gauge in our Rav 4 we were stunned to discover that during those 2 weeks we covered no less than 2500 km (or 1550 miles). That's because our first stop for 6 days was Canberra and the drive there is about 850 kn via the inland route we prefer. That usually takes 10 hours with stops en route and takes us through some warm inland districts. If I recall correctly, we experienced a high temperature of 33 C (91.5 F) in Wellington. Of course, the air conditioning was on full bore for much of the journey.

Our stay with Bec at her house in the suburb of Dunlop (named after a WW 2 hero, 'weary' Dunlop) was timed for the start of Max's school holidays. Of course, he's lots of friends and spent much time socialising with them at various attractions like skate parks, pools and water attractions. Some months ago, Max had his bikes stolen and one of our tasks was to pick up, and part pay for, his replacement mountain bike. Lucky Max got a high-end replacement for about A$ 1500 (about 850 GBP) and it didn't take long for him to master it!

Here he's out for an early ride ... with our car in the background. After a few circuits on two wheels - one crossing the rocks at the edge of Bec's front garden, he then tried riding the bike on one wheel!

On another day we went for a BBQ at Weston Park on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin. It was a lovely spot, not far from the Governor General's mansion at Yarralumla. Unfortunately, it took a while to find a BBQ facility that had gas left in the tank! And while that occurred, Max played on some of the facilities provided like this lovely climbing frame - he easily reached the top spot.

Once we'd found a functioning BBQ some distance away he Navigated a fallen tree branch prior to his meal, while Bec and Rob cooked it.

We had a very attentive flock of gulls watching our progress and, believe it or not, their reward took the form of cherry stones, which they swallowed whole!

Here's me - suitably attired for a warm day!

And, while we were awaiting out meal we could view the flag flying above Parliament House across the lake. The platform on the lake in the foreground was for swimmers seeking to dive into it.

AS

Barramundi Dinner

I attach below an article from today's Australian Financial Review because it's about a bloke I really admire. Age 15, he was a refugee from Europe detained on Cyprus by the British trying to make his way to Palestine and last week he was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle. In between, he reached Australia, became one of the nation's leading businessmen, played a major role in the rise of Australian soccer (and we're headed to the World Cup in Russia next year), and is widely admired.

And I'll never forget the day when he bought me a barramundi dinner at Sydney's Hakoah Club shortly after my arrival in Australia back in the 1970s. I was taken there by Howard Lowe, another Australian businessman who was a good friend of my Uncle Henry - they'd grown up together in Germany before fleeing that nation in the 1930s.
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From detention to the highest distinction, arise Sir Frank

Jill Margo

Frank Lowy with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh after presenting the Australian State Coach, a gift from the people of Australia, May 1988.

Long journey: Sir Frank Lowy, AC, during his investiture by the Queen at Windsor Castle last week.

At 15, Frank Lowy was behind barbed wire in a British detention camp in Cyprus. He had been arrested trying to make his illegal way from war-torn Europe to British Mandate Palestine. On Friday, at 87, he was at Windsor Castle awaiting his investiture as a knight by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. As he sat quietly in the castle’s splendid Waterloo Chamber, he thought of the distance travelled. ‘‘I couldn’t quite add two and two together and work out how I got here. But, of course, it was a wonderful feeling to be honoured in this way,’’ he told The Australian Financial Review.

When The Queen entered the room attended by the Yeomen of the Guard – the oldest British military corps still in existence – and the orchestra played the national anthem, Sir Frank stood in incredulity and appreciation. Among the roomful of candidates for awards, three were to receive a knighthood. When his turn came, he kneeled on an investiture stool as The Queen placed her sword on one shoulder then the next; he bowed to receive his decoration and congratulations. They chatted a little and he mentioned an event in May 1988 when he had presented the Monarch with the Australian State Coach, a gift from the people of Australia. The Queen remembered and also thanked him for the good he’d done in London.

Sir Frank Lowy AC, chairman of Westfield Corporation, had been appointed a Knight Bachelor in the Birthday Honours List announced in June. According to his citation, he was recommended for his contribution to the UK economy through Westfield and its major investments in the UK. The group opened Europe’s two largest urban shopping centres, Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City, and had submitted an application for a new £1 billion plus retail development in Croydon. In the UK, the Cabinet Office War Rooms, the Imperial War Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum have all benefited from Sir Frank’s philanthropy. He chose the museum and the war rooms because of his fondness for Churchill and for the way the British treated him in detention.

In that internment camp he’d observed his captors closely. When he looked into their faces, he saw decency. ‘‘We didn’t fear them. They were just doing their job and were not cruel like the Nazis or the Russians. There was no hatred and we were never afraid they would shoot at us. ‘‘And when there was an outbreak of impetigo [a contagious skin infection], they treated us and did so with kindness.’’ After three months, he was on the first boatload of children to be sent to Palestine. On Australia Day in 1952, he arrived in Sydney, to be reunited with the surviving members of his family who had since moved there.

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That's quite a story.

AS