After work last night I wandered home and watched television for a while. After having dinner at the “Happy Garden” Chinese restaurant (which has an outdoor area with fans, where you can have a beer as well), I returned to work to do a “cross” about “life in Darwin” with James O’Loghlin on the Evening Show. I emphasised the architectural change occuring here and read him a few funny stories from the “NT News”, including the obligatory crocodile story.
It’s Saturday morning and I think I may have malaria, or at least I think I have “gone troppo”, as some of the smallest things are giving me the giggles. I’ve just been listening to ABC Radio’s “Gardening Talkback”, and the first few questions were “I have a palm tree in the backyard that’s about to die”, “I have a termite mound growing in my front yard”, and “I’m having trouble getting my coconuts out of the tree”. I swear it’s true! And last night, I wandered to the local bar and met a girl, Michelle, who was from Snowtown, South Australia. I also swear it’s true. She, apparently, never worked in the State Bank, but did have an account there.
The local “bar”, the The Railcar Bar & Mississippi Queen is just as I remembered it with Damien two years ago, except this time a couple of people actually spoke to me, albeit briefly. The bar is in an old converted tram. The guy who owns it either has a massive inferiority complex or a massive ego… one of those people who wants to be the centre of attention, and commands a fair deal of attention, but frankly, wouldn’t be anyone anywhere except Darwin. As for the people… a strange combination of Tennant Creek “style”, but Sydney “attitude”. Maybe I will be able to present a better review with subsequent visits.
It’s Saturday night and I’m sitting at home washing clothes, listening to music, and surfing the net, on the eve of leaving Sydney for Perth. Quite a bit has happened in the last fortnight since last I wrote, so I’ll just be recounting the best bits.
1/…For his birthday, Damien and I went to Bistro Moncur, described by Mietta’s as one of Sydney’s best restaurants. Bistro Moncur defies change – so does our review: for the past seven years this has set bistro style in Sydney. The menu features the classics of French bistro cuisine in a smart but no nonsense atmosphere. No bookings policy remains and tables keep turning over. The service is pleasant, efficient and the wine list has some excellent choices. Some memorable dishes with perfect flavours and consistently good regular favourites, such as the Sirloin Cafe de Paris $33, Bistro Moncur pork sausages and mash potato $24.70, French onion souffle $16.50. Can be noisy – highly recommended. We had a fabulous time. A truly memorable night.
2/…I had a small drinks farewell at work last night. It was a really nice affair and I even managed to get a little teary.
3/…Also last night, Colin, Grant and I went to Muf-tee Cabaret at the Stables Theatre. It was a real pleasure to have one last Muf-tee experience before leaving for Perth. As Tim Draxl was one of the guests, I invited Grant to join us. He seemed to enjoy the experience very much. The only unfortunate part was the performance by Voice Squad. They weren’t any good a few months ago, and they aren’t any good now. Even the band’s one redeeming quality – the cute male singer – seems to have lost his looks. Hayden on the other hand was very good and I was impressed with Tim Draxl’s performance. Hayden could learn a thing or two from Tim in terms of song interpretation.
Earlier today I said goodbye to Nickson Street. Tomorrow will be reasonably busy, just making sure everything is okay for leaving. Yvette is picking me up and taking me to the airport, so there is the potential for messy crying in a public place. I have mixed feelings about moving. On the one hand, there’s fear of the unknown, but on the other there’s the possibility of another great adventure. At the moment, I’m feeling more of the latter, but some of the former. I’m sure it will all be fine.
Allsang pa Skansen - the national Swedish sing-a-long program - during Europride.
So I went online this morning looking for ferry tickets from Stockholm to Tallin, based on the advice given to me in my dream yesterday by that nice Norwegian travel agent. I am sure he was right about the ferry being very nice and romantic and all that, and the woman at the youth hostel today told me something similar, but they were both wrong about one thing: the price.
As with other internal European flights, I’ve found it’s much better, cheaper and faster to fly than to sit on some dreary ferry or train for hours on end. I’ve realised at this point in my life that I’m someone who much prefers the destination and experience to the journey and the travel.
So I’m flying to Tallin next Wednesday morning and I’ve booked into – what seems on the internet – a reasonably modern and clean hostel. I’ve only booked three days at this stage, just in case it turns out to be terrible, or I get bored senseless.
That gives me about a week to squeeze everything in. And for most of that week, that means seeing some great Swedish music.
A case in point was going to Allsang pa Skansen again tonight. I went a couple of weeks ago for the rehearsal, but didn’t stay for the main show.
I arrived at about 5.30 and watched the remainder of the rehearsal, which included BWO, Bodies without Organs, performing “Lay Your Love On Me” which was terrific.
I then grabbed a beer and something to eat. I settled on a Swedish favourite, a meat ball and potato dish, along with a light beer. At half the price of a standard beer, and at 2.2% alcohol, I’ve found it’s been more than enough for me as I’ve travelled around Sweden.
But while getting the food, I saw another Swedish culinary creation which I couldn’t help but marvel at: chicken with nachos. I mean, last night I ate at a Thai restaurant where they had the chop-stick option (they don’t have chop-sticks in Thailand to the best of my knowledge), and it was pretty lame Pad Thai, with a Swedish salad on the side. And then I saw this bizzare combination tonight of a BBQ chicken drumstick (skin removed) on a plate with corn chips, guacomole and sour-cream. I think there’s an opening for an Australian celebrity chef on television here.
Bjorn Ulvaeus has Mamma Mia, Linda Ulvaeus has Steel Magnolias.
People fishing in the heart of Stockholm.
Grona Lund, Stockholm
Martin Rolinski from BWO rehearses at Allsang pa Skansen
Light beer and meatballs at Skansen.
Allsang pa Skansen – the national Swedish sing-a-long program – in rehearsal.
Allsang pa Skansen – the national Swedish sing-a-long program.
Martin Rolinski and BWO perform at Allsang pa Skansen
Allsang pa Skansen – the national Swedish sing-a-long program – during Europride.
BWO perform at Allsang pa Skansen
BWO perform at Allsang pa Skansen
Dagens Nyheter – Daily News, the Swedish newspaper.
By the time I finished my meal, the show was about ready to begin. Well, the pre-show warm up, which is about thirty minutes long before the program goes live to air.
As I’ve previously mentioned, the premise for the show is community singing. And it occurred to me that in a largely secular society, this is probably the modern manifestation of what used to occur in churches. Though instead they sing popular Swedish songs of the last fifty or sixty’years. There was one tonight about a “Flicka fran Smaland” (girl from Smaland, a beautiful region of Sweden), that probably has as much cultural currency in Sweden as, for example, “The Road To Gundagai”.
Tonight, however, also had a Europride theme. There were drag queens, comedy sketches with a gay-theme, and BWO who have written the theme song for Europride, “Bells Of Freedom”. As a song, I think it’s pretty lame, and not up to the usual standard. I’m pleased they also did another song for the tv show, and then one just for the audience at Skansen.
And what an audience it was. Thousands and thousands of people. Most of them incredibly tall. The third tallest nation on earth, after Norway and Holland, apparently. And most with children on their shoulders, making it a little hard for me to see sometimes. And if it wasn’t the kids on dad’s shoulders, it was a bunch of poofs with rainbow flags :)
I was really pleased to see BWO live. They have great fun songs and the crowd really loved them. Martin Rolinski, the lead singer, is also surprisingly good looking. He was always a bit blonde and bland for my taste, but then I saw him in real life. and was quite impressed. The woman in the band also looks like a real hoot, and you see more of her personality live on stage than you do in the clips. Alexander Bard is… well… Alexander Bard.
Allsang is a really great show and I wish we had something like this in Australia. Of course, our TV execs would turn it into a reality show of some sort, and you’d have SMS voting and all the associated crap. I think it’s a bit like Countdown was for us back in the 70s, something a bit daggy, but also a bit fun the whole family could enjoy together.
Anyhoo I better get some sleep as Europride starts in force tomorrow. Tomorrow night, I’m seeing ABBA cover band, Arrival. I’m told they’re the best ABBA cover band going.
When I woke this morning, there was a brief moment when I realised I had absolutely no idea what day it was. “Is it Saturday? Is it Sunday?” Later in the day an older family member joked, “You need to get yourself checked out for alzheimers. That’s how I feel most days”.
I don’t think it’s that serious. It’s just a reflection of the fluidity of life right now, with the often ill-defined delineation between work and home, and spending many days never leaving the house. Perhaps it’s a good preparatory lesson for life in retirement?
I feel like I’ve turned into my grandmother sitting on the balcony watching the neighbours. Why are they doing this? Why are they doing that? Who is that? Why are they putting the mattress out?Though I’ve been staying at home most of the time I have been getting out for some daily exercise, and a few days ago I wandered down to Circular Quay and witnessed a terrific sunrise at Sydney Opera House. A few nights ago Kate and I participated in online Drag Queen Bingo. Last year we took part in the “real life” bingo in Darwin, and now the crew there have gone onlne. It was lots of fun, especially when they crossed to other participants around the country.
Like many others, I got up early for the ANZAC Day Commemorative Service, as people participated around the coutry from their front yards, verandahs and balconies. A great contrast for me to what happens most years, and most memorably to the day I visited Gallipoli for ANZAC Day in 2013. https://thelimbshift.com/anzac-day-in-turkey/
My Aunty Edna (Dunn / Ianna) was on ABC Radio yesterday with @GlynnGreensmith as part of a talkback about what it was like being alive during WW2, growing up in Lismore. “You could still do your shopping, but if you had no money, you couldn’t buy much”.
I love these comments from Jean, a friend on Facebook.
Edna & those army chaps !! This is rolled gold social history. Love the generosity of spirit she recalls which helped her family survive during the war, relying on the goodness of neighbours for the basics, do we see that today?
We saw something akin to that in the recent bushfires I thought ..an empathy out of the ruins ..maybe all is not lost.
So yeah, quiet, though I’m still keeping my mind active, even if I sometimes forget what day it is.
And then today, there was this.
Sitting on the couch, a bit bored, and then all of a sudden I heard that familiar sound of Greensleaves. There’s not many kids in our street, but he seems to have done a good trade in grown up kids!
All of this reminds me of a rather amusing observation I read on Twitter the other day that right now “Bedtime is either 7pm or 3am”.
I’ve just returned home from a terrific week’s holiday on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne. I feel fully rested, have had some terrific experiences and have almost completely forgotten about work for a while (a major goal),In some respects it was a little like going home to Lismore, starting from the flight down. Not being entirely au fait with the geography of Melbourne, I booked a flight through Jetstar which flies into Avalon Airport. When my friend, Sue, told me “Avalon airport is half way to Geelong”, I thought she was just being dramatic. But no, she’s correct. And arriving there was just like arriving at Lismore airport in many ways.
We stayed at the house of a couple of Sue’s friends, Sue and Richard who were away. The house was at Frankston, overlooking Port Phillip Bay, and it was literally a 10 or 15 second walk from the back door to the beach, as this sunset photograph taken from the backstairs shows. In stark contrast to my life in inner-city Sydney, the house Sue and I were staying in was on a really quiet street, with the only noises we heard being that of the ocean and birdlife.
Consequently, we slept in most days until about 10am (or thereabouts), starting off the day with a bit of mid-morning television and breakfast ahead of some daytime wandering, shopping, eating, touring and visiting galleries.
Mornington Peninsula Sunset. We stayed at the house of a couple of Sue’s friends, Sue and Richard who were away.
The first gallery we visited was that of Marion Rozestky, an artist who specialises in painted pottery. Curiousity got the better of me, and I asked her if she was related to David Rozestky, to which she replied “I’m the mother of the artist”. I thought this was interesting, as the art group I’m part of, Hawkesbury One owns one of David Rozestky’s works. We spoke for a while about her talented children and about her own late interest in developing her artistic skills. “I still can’t draw”, she told us, “and so I guess that’s why I do dots”.
The local regional gallery, the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery had a very good exhibition called, Moist, featuring watercolours from the National Gallery. The exhibition featured an eclectic range of works, including Sue’s favourite, a piece called, “Curtis Dancing On E”. There was also an exhibition by Melbourne print-makers, including one called Lesbia Thorpe? “Do you reckon many children are called Lesbia, Sue?” I asked wyrly. “I’ll suggest it to Karen as she’s looking for interesting baby names at the moment”, she replied.
We also visited the McLelland Gallery, which is mostly focussed on sculpture. The garden featured a range of interesting works including some astroturf topiary, what appeared to be a toothbrush/windmill, some large glass mirrored cubes as well as some more traditional sculpture. We both really enjoyed the gallery and believe it would be worth a visit when the weather was better.
Visiting the gallery was the first sign of the local sponsorship of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch who lives closeby. Dame Elisabeth has also contributed to the new Royal Botanic Gardens (Cranbourne) which specialises in Australian plants. Our guide, Sue Galbally, told us the gardens had only recently been planted and that it would probably be two or three years before it comes into its own, since most Australian plants are reasonably fast growers (with the exception of the eucalypts).
Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne
With an emphasis on the importance of water on the Australian continent, the gardens recognise the many different biospheres, and in a very practical sense for gardens provides recommendations about various plants depending on water availability. An especially interesting aspect of the design was the use of computer modelling to help mimic the sound of flowing water in the bush, and the use of rusted steel to create the nearby escarpment. Overall, a very worthwhile experience and we would both recommend a visit.
When we weren’t out and about, we spent a fair bit of time just relaxing, eating, and watching DVDs. We watched loads of DVD’s including “My Fair Lady”, “Prick Up Your Ears”, “Ride On Stranger”, “Primary Colours”, “Frontline”, “To The Manner Born” and “Six Feet Under”. I’m not sure if the final episode of “Six Feet Under” has screened on free to air television here yet, but I have a preview DVD which we watched. It’s interesting. “A bit surreal”, as just about everyone who appears on television seems to say these days.
Mostly, we ate at home. But when we did wander out, we visited a couple of nice places including the “Flinders Bakery” (for lunch), where we enjoyed some yummy pies, as well as “The Baths” (for afternoon tea) at Sorrento, where the coffee and biscuits were good.
It’s Thursday afternoon. Another blisteringly hot day in Lismore. I’ve neither eaten nor drunk water for several days now. There is no moisture left in my body to produce sweat. I am near death. I am sure I will surely die. OK, so maybe that’s a little melodramatic, but it’s still bloody hot in Lismore. The only place providing adequate respite is Lismore Shopping Square. Gotta love that aircon!
Actually, I did get out a bit earlier this week. On Tuesday, Sue, Paul, Kerry and I spent the day travelling around the North Coast on a food and beverage fest. We started off at the Brunswick Heads Hotel. In the last twenty years or so, Brunswick Heads hasn’t really changed that much. While it’s nearby sister-village of Byron Bay has taken off as an international destination, Brunswick Heads remains a quiet family-oriented holiday destination. That said, property values are pretty high.
Brunswick Heads
The Bruno is a good pub with a great beer garden. We had above-average standard pub fair underneath a wonderful shaded tree, although the service was a little slow. I ran into a colleague, Fiona at the pub, and we had a nice little chat before heading off for afternoon tea at a nearby cafe.
While sitting outside the local newsagent we noticed a throng of drunken young men wandering past. With shades of Cronulla, two of them had “AUS” (short for Australian) written on their stomachs. When we realised there was no evidence of violence, we decided they were all too young, drunk and silly for words and didn’t think too much about it. Though we did notice there were no police in sight!
With hunger pains returning, we though the Bangalow Pub would be a good mid-point for all of us to have dinner. Gathering a couple of beers, we headed into the comfortable booths in the backbar to peruse the dinner menu, which, frankly held little appeal. While the menu offered all manner of “jus” and “confit” we were probably thinking more along the lines of “Honey King Prawns”, and so passed up the delights of Bangalow, choosing instead the Mandarin Palace in Lismore.
For people of a certain age, the Mandarin Palace was often their first adult dining experience. With its offer of “Australian & Chinese Meals”, the Mandarin Palace recognises you shouldn’t confuse customers with the choice of cutlery or chopsticks. The menu, the decor, nothing had changed since the last time I went there on Boxing Day three or four years ago. Indeed, the waitress serving us was the same waitress who’d severed us twenty years ago.
But aside from that great adventure, it’s just life at home with the family, although I might wander out tonight to the aforementioned pub, The Winsome. It’s quite good fun, actually, as we have a new child in the family, Sammuel, who is crawling around the house at a rate of knots, is attempting to stand up, and loves nothing more than splashing about (and I mean splashing about) in his little swimming pool.
I’ll be back in Sydney on Saturday night and will post my “Year In Review” then. I’m not sure if it will be anything profound. I’m not sure if it will really live up to the title “Year In Review”. But I’ve been doing it for the last four years on this website, which I guess is far preferential than printing it off and mailing it to all my friends.
Great blog I enjooyed reading