Darwin memories

Boxes everywhere! It's not long now that Gina and I will be returning to Melbourne. Tomorrow we are having a garage sale and next week we're moving to stay with some friends of ours for a couple of weeks before hitting the road.

I'm looking forward to stopping in the Adelaide Hills (although having listened to the news today, I'm not sure they will let us in). The wineries and giant glasses of German beer really tickled my fancy last time I was there, and G is excited about visiting Beerenburg, the manufacturer of all her favourite condiments.

It's going to be great seeing you more often when I'm living down there. Exciting little snapshots keep flashing in my minds eye of things to do in Melbourne. Next year is likely to be a leaner year than this one, with both Gina and I studying, but we've been living high and mighty for quite a while now.

Here's a few pictures of things I will miss about Darwin. Actually, there are many more than this. It's a good thing to be leaving town on a high note.


Sublime skylines.


The daily news.


The colours.



The local music scene.

Lots of love:

T

Man Bashed By Prawn

It's difficult to believe that I just saw David Helfgott play the beat set of classical music I've ever heard in the same town that produces headlines like the one above on a daily basis.

Nonetheless, it's true. Down the street from where Gina and I live is the Darwin Entertainment Centre. It's great to live "downtown", especially when you can't stop nodding off, like Gina this evening. I can't count how many times that has happened to me. But not this evening!

His set of Liszt, Rachmaninov and Chopin was simply astounding - I've never seen anybody play that well. The Liszt tunes were my favourite although I can't tell you what they were because I refused to shell out for an $8 program. (That is such a scam! It should be illegal to charge money for programs.)

He was an interesting performer to, constantly talking to himself and peering out at the audience as he played. The eccentricity of his bearing was a surprising juxtaposition to the precision of his playing.

At the end of each tune he would leap up from the seat and hop up and down giving the thumbs-up sign to the audience. He received a standing ovation and replied with Flight of the Bumblebees before jogging of the stage, blowing kisses as he went.

Great fun; I will play you the CD next time I see you.

Soon, I hope!

Love:

T

De Paris

This photo didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. It's a view down the rue Belleville with the Eiffel Tower in the hazy backdrop, in the raffish and lively home suburb of cousin Samuel who showed us around a bit yesterday afternoon. It would have been a lovely farewell if it weren't for our getting stranded at CDG airport for the night. (I exaggerate - we were put up in a hotel by Air France).

Never mind! If our luggage rematerialises we won't be any worse off and in fact we will get a chance to go and see some more of the town today.


We also made it to Lille to stay with a couple of very excited historians on the day of the Fromelles ceremony. All the children must have been at the ceremony because we had the whole playground to ourselves.




Sorry for the paltry communiqué -more to come:

Much love:

T

The Horror's

One of my daily torments is the "Territorian apostrophe". Even the Vietnamese know how to use one properly!

These are but a few examples, however there is evidence of this egregious misdemeanour everywhere. The last one, which is a bit difficult to make out, is the most inexplicable of the lot: "chipolata's" follows directly after "hash browns" and "eggs".

Of course, I blame the local school system.

Sunset on the way to French class

For all its faults, Darwin sunsets are unsurpassed in my experience. In fact the sky is a worthy photographic subject at almost any time of day.

The campus of Charles Darwin Uni had been cleverly designed to incorporate a lot of the special features of the environs. This shot is the centrepiece: a vast, vibrant lawn stretching into the sunset, framed by delibetately geometric structures.

Location:Charles Darwin University

Welcome to the Cyber Scrapbook

Tonight I have been swotting for an exam that is coming up this Friday. The subject is Developmental Psychology which is quite interesting in its coverage of infants and children and the changes they go through. Alas, the content about adults is very tedious. The text book reads like a Boy Scout approved primer on marriage, children and the autumn years. The main failing of this and other psychology courses is that it is overly concerned with what is normal. Every day I count myself lucky that all the people in my family are extraordinary!

One thing I did pick up from tonight's reading session is that statistically speaking, and on average, "normal" grandparents often deem their grandchildren remiss in view of their lax correspondence.

This blog is for pictures and stories that I want to share with my grandparents. Soon I will also fix it up so that my net savvy grannies are able to post thing on here as well. I hope you enjoy it:

With love:

Tom