Do you remember “Eric The Eel?” If not, Eric Moussambani Malonga, who was from Equatorial Guinea, was a wildcard entrant at the Sydney Olympics. He had never swum in a 50m pool before, and after a couple of false starts, and moments when it seemed like he might not have been able to finish the race, he eventually finished the heat as a lone swimmer in close to two minutes.
The memory of Eric flashed through my mind as I went for a swim at Melbourne Baths. There were half a dozen of us in the “relaxation lane”, including one woman, whose style of swimming resembled that of Eric. Up and down the lane she travelled, with great determination. Unfortunately, she had the worst kick I think I’ve ever seen, sending water into the air maybe five or six feet, splashing everyone in the face. I looked around to see if there were hidden cameras. Despite the virtual tsunami she created, she gave everyone a big smile.
Located not far from where I’ve been staying, the Melbourne Baths is a lovely indoor pool, in a wonderful older building. I’d have taken a photograph to show you, but of course, you don’t take photographs at swimming pools nowadays, so here’s the outside.
Though I could have done a thousand things, my final day in Melbourne was very relaxed, as you might have imagined by this story.
I slept in for as long as I could, extending my sleep as close as I could to the eleven o’clock check out.
My only real “activity” for the day was catching a tram down to St Kilda.
It was fairly overcast and windy today, and only one teenage boy was braving the water. Otherwise, it was lots of families and couples walking along the pier, or enjoying brunch. “I’d like a flat white and the French toast”, I told the waiter. “You just want toast?”, she said, looking at me blankly. “No, French Toast”, I told her, resulting in a further blank look. “It’s on the menu”, I said, pointing. When the “French Toast” arrived, there was no cutlery. “Oh well, he’s going back to get it”, I thought. How wrong could I be. So, of course I got up and got it myself. Worst customer service, ever, though the French Toast and the coffee were very good.
St Kilda Pier
By the time I’d visited St Kilda, and had taken my swim, it was time to catch the bus back to airport, and spend about ninety minutes enjoying the delights of the Qantas Club. The last time I visited, it was “under construction”, and was pretty basic. The new lounge is very good, with good food and wine, comfy chairs, and enough space between people so that you don’t feel overly crowded.
As I made my way home on the bus tonight I checked Twitter to see if anyone else had been to see Lily Tomlin and what they thought. I tend to follow a wide ranging group of people – I see as many people tweeting about rugby union matches as I do about Mardi Gras – and so wasn’t expecting to be inundated, but I was expecting to see something. The only comment I saw was from one of the lame-arsed young gay comedians I follow who tweeted something about how her comedy was stuck in the 70s.
Instantly, I had to respond with a comment about how she was both several times the age, and several times as funny as a lot of today’s so-called comedians. I mean, Lily Tomlin is a %^%&*(ing comic legend! And her characters are multi-dimensional, have something to say, and have made a real difference. And they’re funny!
Her best known character, the telephone operator who doesn’t help (yes, long before Little Britain) remained contemporary in tonight’s show as she took on the American health system with a biting commentary. In between these character spots, Lily can be a little eratic. Some things she says – like her comments on gay marriage – seemed to come from nowhere. They were still relevant and funny, but seemingly with little context.
A favourite spot was her Q&A session at the end where she answers written down audience member questions. Her response to the question “have you had sex with Oprah?” was “are you kidding? Gayle would break my back” which got a huge laugh. On stage, aged seventy-one, she remains a power-house: the show goes close to two hours with only a couple of “video breaks”.
Although a lot has been written about the serious political content of their lyrics, I’ve always been far more moved by their melodies and beats.
Songs like “Power & The Passion” and “When The Generals Talk” appealed more to my “dance sensibilities” than most of their 1980s Australian rock contemporaries.
The lyrics of Midnight Oil songs are important, but it was the fact their choruses were easy to sing along to, and easy to dance to that has always appealed to me. I mean, what’s the point of having a message if you don’t easily communicate that to the audience?
Last night was the first time I’ve ever seen them perform a whole gig, and I was really impressed. Peter Garrett has a much stronger voice in concert than I’d anticipated. And even though his “dance moves” are perhaps a little slower / less frenetic than in his youth; aged 69, he still had a wonderful onstage presence. And I think I have developed a bit of a crush on Rob Hirst, as an energetic and passionate drummer.
Much of the earlier parts of the gig featured some of their newer works. I’ve heard a few of them on the radio, but there were a couple of songs they did from their album, “The Makarrata Project” that sounded appealing. I think I’ll investigate them further.
But it was their older, big chart hits like “Beds Are Burning”, “Power & The Passion” and “Short Memory” that got the strongest response. Great singalong tunes with meaningful lyrics.
Power & The Passion
Beds Are Burning
Though it was a “seated gig”, and the security guards tried to keep people in their seats, they eventually gave up, as the crowd got into the rhythm of things.
The crowd was a mixture of ages from the young couple in front of us for whom it seemed more like a “date” than a gig, to the 60-somethings who remember them from their youth. Peter Garrett called out the people who’ve “stuck with us through the years”.
There was a laugh-out-loud moment for me as I stood near the merchandise store, and saw a 60-something woman holding up a t-shirt on the chest of a 60-something man. “No, I think you’ll need a larger size Midnight Oil t-shirt this time around”, I overheard her say. Hey, ain’t that the truth?
During the show, Peter Garrett spoke passionately about the band’s ongoing, life-changing “connection” to the top end.
It was great that Darwin-based singer, Leah Flanagan joined them onstage as a backing vocalist, and as the “warm-up act”.
They clearly love this part of the world, and last night, we saw this part of the world loves them too.
I had a realisation earlier today I haven’t really been home much lately. I was home in Lismore for Christmas. I was in Newcastle for a week with my work, and my work will take me to Brisbane for a few days later in the month. And last weekend, a friend and I travelled to the Sunshine Coast for a few days.
We stayed in an apartment at Maroochydore which was nice: spacious and close to the beach. Maroochydore itself was quieter than I remembered, though noting it’s a few years since I last visited there. We relaxed, ate well, and enjoyed our time there very much. Memorably, Maroochydore must have the world’s largest adult store which, amusingly, has a large sign at the front saying they have parking and you should “enter via rear”. We both laughed.
Mooloolaba was a little more exciting, and a little more visually appealing with a lovely beach, and a lovely bush walk. The surf club was an excellent place for lunch: they’ve done a nice job making it appealing to both tourists and the many older, retired people who can still afford to eat out at what’s essentially a tourist town. My friend was after a pedicure and was told the basic pedicure would cost $90 “because we’re a tourist town”. Yikes. An unexpected highlight of the town was the Steve Irwin statue just off the beach. Yes, really.
Mooloolaba, Queensland
Mooloolaba, Queensland
Steve Irwin statue at Mooloolaba, Queensland
On the subject of travel, my mid-year plans are coming along nicely. In essence, a week in Japan, a week in New York, and three weeks in Europe (Sweden, of course) which now includes 5 days in Rome. I’ve never been there before, but am looking forward to it very much, having found good central accommodation (without breaking the bank), and with plans for sight-seeing both in Rome and beyond (Venice for a day-trip surely?). Any travel tips would be most appreciated.
I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster crowing. I could also hear cattle and birds. So peaceful. And then I heard the sound of milking machines. Less peaceful. But hey, I was on a friend’s dairy and goat farm outside Nimbin. They produce milk and cheese from both animals, and the sound of milking machines is, I guess the price you pay.
Two other friends and I stayed overnight, having attended a party on the farm. Conditions were pretty wet, though it was more constant drizzle than the heavy rain people here on the North Coast have been accustomed to this year.
On a farm outside Nimbin, earlier today.Part of the road just outside Nimbin, still recovering from the heavy rainfall this year.
Six months after the big floods of February/March, people here are still on edge.
One family member called me earlier this week in a panic, after seeing a Facebook post predicting further massive floods over the next few months. “You’re better off listening to climate scientists and meteorologists than someone you’ve never heard of reposting conspiracy theories about cloud seeding”, I told her.
As the radio played softly in the background, as I sat with an older family member who had only just survived the floods, her ears pricked up, as the news bulletin contained a report about possible flooding. “Don’t worry, it’s further down the coast”, I reassured her.
The floods and whatever happens next have been a constant conversation source in the last twenty-four hours.
As we headed out to Nimbin, I gave my friends what I called the “ten-minute” flood tour. Both live away from Lismore now, and for one this was his first visit since the floods. They couldn’t believe the scenes around our family home where buildings had been knocked off their foundations. They were both upset as we drove past our old high school which will likely be rebuilt on another site, due to the level of structural damage.
As I went for a walk around the block this morning, the sounds of construction were evident. It would normally be pretty odd to see tradies working on a Sunday, but today there were a lot of them around the Lismore CBD.A photograph taken earlier today at the AZA Motel has sparked a lot of interest on Twitter. The motel is located in the main part of Lismore’s CBD, and now features “flood signs” for previous record floods in 1974 and 2017, as well as this year’s catastrophic flood. Seven hours after posting, it’s had 145,000 page impressions and hundreds of “likes” and re-tweets. Many have commented it’s the first time they’ve really understood the enormity of the disaster.
The photograph was taken by a woman visiting from Sydney. Her son and his family live in Bridge Street, North Lismore.
“Maybe I go on about it too much? People in Sydney ask me how it’s going, expecting I’ll say all is okay, and we’re getting on with things, and when I don’t, their eyes glaze over”, I told her.
Despite the negative situation here, there’s room for some optimism as reconstruction work happens.
Most of all, though, it’s lovely to be home with my family, to hang out with them, and to help with a few repairs over the next couple of weeks.
Construction work has officially commenced on the new flood-resilient buildings for South Lismore Public School, marking a significant milestone for the 100-year-old institution. For many locals, the sight of the rebuild brings back powerful memories, particularly for those of us who grew up in the area. I had the privilege of attending the school in the 1970s, and with this new chapter beginning, I joined ABC Radio Lismore today for a brief local history spot to share some recollections of my time there.
Transcript: South Lismore Public School Memories
What do you remember about your primary school? Was it the teachers that stood out to you, the cute little buildings, perhaps even the canteen and what you used to order for lunch?
Construction is underway on new flood-resilient buildings at South Lismore Public School, a school with over 100 years of history. And the ABC’s James O’Brien attended the school back in the 1970s. He’s here to share some of his stories and memories about the amazing things he remembers learning about, and the people who came out of there.
Good morning, James. Thanks for coming on.
Hey there, Bridie.
What do you remember most about the school? What sticks out as the most prominent part?
Well, I think at the moment, because the construction is underway, I remember back in the 1970s, the school was rebuilt then. And it was about the time of the ’74 flood that they saw the need for a new school. So, my strongest memories of going to South Lismore Public School between ’71 and ’77 was the reconstruction of the new school.
So, those buildings that were recently pulled down, they date back to the ’70s. There were a couple of older buildings that were still around. But yeah, it was the sound of jackhammers and pile drivers and the fact that we kept staying in our classroom. And I do remember one day when one of our teachers just got so annoyed by all the sound that she just stopped the class for half an hour.
She just couldn’t take it anymore?
No, she was completely over it. I remember we had some new demountable classrooms at the time, and there were some students in those. And it was a couple of years of really quite difficult times at the school in terms of the whole construction work. But then when the new buildings arrived, the strongest memories I have, first of all, is we had carpets. We had fans.
I remember the library was this little tiny part of one of the old wooden buildings, and all the books moved over, and the library was too big for the books that we had. But it was this huge transformation of the school.
Can you remember primary school age James’s face walking into, for the first time, the carpeted classrooms?
Look, I remember we all were allowed to go and have a look, and I actually spent Sixth Class in one of the carpeted classrooms. And I think we were all just amazed because, you know, before that it was wooden buildings and wooden floors and all of those sorts of things.
Any air conditioning back in those days?
Look, I’m trying to remember now if it was air conditioning or fans, but certainly we had some fans. I remember when the fans were installed. And just to give you an idea of how old I am and how old things were back then, we used to have these radios on the walls that weren’t quite high up, or maybe they weren’t so high. They were high for me, you know, seven or eight year olds. And we used to listen to ‘Kindergarten of the Air’ on the radio every morning, I think about 10 o’clock.
Wow. I wonder if anyone else remembers listening to, was it ‘Kindergarten of the Air’, the program, James?
‘Kindergarten of the Air’. It might have had a few name changes, but it was on the ABC, and I remember the ritual of the teacher turning on the radio every morning, and we’d sing along to the songs.
So sweet. And was it an educational radio program?
No, it was songs.
Just songs? Just music?
Kids’ songs. Yeah, nice.
James, any significant alumni, even if it’s just locally famous?
Oh, look, some of the names that people would know pretty well locally. In my year at school, Tracy Bowen was in my year from Bowen’s Cake Shop in South Lismore. Lynne Youngbury, the well-known real estate agent, she was in my year at school. The year below us is a guy called Adam Worling. Now, Adam’s really interesting. He helped a couple of years ago. All the flood kids get clothes, and he waits for their year to all fall. But he’s also, I think, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney now. He’s certainly part of the Clover Moore team, and I reckon he could end up replacing Clover in a couple of years’ time. So yeah, they were all famous alumni. But, you know, I remember all the kids really well. I was looking at some class photographs last night, and I could name every one of them.
Second from the left in the front row, Third Class at South Lismore Public School in 1974
And how does it feel knowing that kids will continue to go to this school site, even though it is on the floodplain, and the school culture and history will continue?
Yeah, well, I really like… you know, I was born in South Lismore, raised in South Lismore, and until, you know, my sister got the buyback a couple of years ago, was a proud Southie all the way, and I used to walk to school. I remember walking up and down Casino Street to get to the school. Two of my sisters, who are no longer with us, both went to South Lismore Public School back in the ’40s and ’50s. Their children, who were born in the ’70s, went to South Lismore Public School. The grandchildren also went to South Lismore Public School, and one is still in Fifth Class, I think, years in now. And in a couple of years’ time, probably another great-grandchild, whoever it is, will also be going to South Lismore. So, you know, I stay very close to South Lismore Public School.
Quite a strong family connection. Do you remember what your uniform used to be?
Yeah, I vaguely do. It was a grey shirt and grey shorts, and I’m sure the girls’ uniform was a green check sort of uniform. Gee, you’re making me go back now. And we wore desert boots. All the boys wore desert boots.
Desert boots? What are those?
Look, this kind of suede shoe. You know, they were the popular shoe at the time.
Impressions of the new school were released last week.
