Rural life in New Zealand

The New Zealand All Blacks beat the Australia Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup finals on Saturday. The only reason I know this is because we were in Australia for the semi-finals and New Zealand for the finals. The kids really wanted to watch the finals at a sports bar or somewhere with a crowd, but we ended up waking up early Sunday morning at 5 AM to watch the game in our hotel room. Being in New Zealand, we cheered for the Kiwis.

The rivalry between the Kiwis and Aussies was on full display during the lead up to the event. Listening to some Kiwis, they seem to see themselves as under-appreciated by their larger rivals the Aussies, who they consider brash. Which is funny since the two countries are such close partners in business and politics. Reminds me somewhat of the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.

We drove south from Christchurch to a rural hobby farm near Oamaru. We enjoyed the drive through the countryside, which was very beautiful. The country has been turned into grassland for the sheep and cattle, which were everywhere. It was very striking to see the rolling hills all covered in grass like an endless lawn. The grass was often watered by industrial sized sprinklers. The fields, or blocks as they call them here, were bordered by hedges of cypress trees, sometimes 30 feet tall and shaped like a square hedge you might see in the suburbs, just bigger. It was very pleasing to the eye to see all these rolling hills, all the while with the snow covered mountains in the distance, called the Southern Alps.

We're saying at a hobby farm near Oamaru, or as they call it a lifestyle block. Our hosts Andrew and Tracy are very nice, and we've enjoyed speaking with them. We've learned a lot about their farm. Their sheep are having lambs right now. A couple of lambs with black faces were born two days ago and one ewe is due to give birth anytime. They have chickens, and the kids have learned to feed them, pick them up, and check their roost for eggs. We cooked up some of the eggs this morning - they were tasty. Tracy was also kind enough to saddle up one of their horses and give Elizabeth and John a ride around the paddock.

The weather was really pleasant today with sunny skies and a high in the low twenties. It's springtime, and the trees and bushes are in bloom. We're not having any problems with flies and insects here either - no bush flies to be found in these parts, unlike Australia. Good thing we got out today to enjoy the weather, mostly around the farm. The next couple of days the weather will turn as the rain and cold come up from the south.

Christchurch after the earthquake

We've had to park in some narrow driveways at our accommodations in Australia over the last week, and at one of these places I managed to scrape the front bumper on a fence. I thought we might be on the hook for the damages but luckily the attendant didn't notice or care when we dropped the car off in Sydney. What a relief.

We spent Thursday night, our last night in Australia, at a swanky downtown hotel in Sydney. The kids were happy to visit the Apple Store one last time, and it was nice to stroll down to the harbour again to see the Opera House and bridge. Catheleen and I stopped in at a pub in The Rocks district next to the harbour, and I had a schooner of beer called 150 lashes, which was really good.

The beer is named after a rogue and entrepreneur from the early days of Sydney named James Squire. He was sent to Sydney in the 1790's with the first fleet for stealing some chickens. After serving his seven years, he led a colourful life in Sydney with his mistress, wife and businesses. He's credited with starting the first brewery in town, and was later caught stealing plants from a local hospital to imitate the flavour of the hops used in his beer. For this offence he received 150 lashes immediately and 150 lashes later when he could bear it. This was a lenient sentence at the time, and the last 150 lashes were conveniently forgotten. It's suspected that the local authorities really liked his brewery, and maybe received free drinks, which probably played a role in his lenient sentence. When he died in the 1820's, it was the most well attended funeral up to that point. There's more information on Australia's convict past these days, and it's a point of fascination for many now to have a convict ancestor, rather than it being something to be covered up. From shame to fame.  

The next morning we flew to New Zealand. We really enjoyed the in-flight safety briefing with the catchy song based on the Men in Black movie. You can find it here or just search for it on You Tube - http://www.slashfilm.com/men-in-black-airline-safety-video/ . New Zealand airlines has collaborated with Sony on a number of videos, including a Lord of the Rings video. What a nice change from the dry safety demonstrations we've suffered through over the years. Leave it to the crazy Kiwis to mix it up a bit. On our descent we had clear views of snow capped mountains, grey silted rivers, and endless farms in the plains. Very exciting so see all this packed into a small area.

On our first and only full day in Christchurch today, we took the gondola ride up to the summit near Christchurch which offered stunning views of Christchurch city, the Pacific ocean, the Southern Alps and Lyttelton Harbour. It was a beautiful cool sunny day, and we enjoyed walking around at the summit on some of the trails, with tall clumps of shiny golden grasses surrounding us and small birds overhead, singing continual melodic tunes as they went. We also took a ride at the summit called the Time Tunnel, where a carriage rolled slowly through a few rooms with videos and displays showing the history of the Cantebury region. It started with the aboriginals who arrived here 1,000 years ago, and moved on to the first settlers who arrived in 1850 with visions of creating a model English town in a Neo-Gothic style like Oxford England. We all liked the ride, it was well done.

Later today we took a tram ride around the city centre. Christchurch was severely damaged by major earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. The one in 2011 killed 185 people and destroyed much of the downtown core - it's estimated that insurance payouts will total $20 to $30 billion. The tram driver provided great commentary on the reconstruction efforts. Over 1,000 buildings have been torn down since the earthquakes, and many more are slated for demolition. A lot of the abandoned buildings are covered in graffiti with broken windows. A large number of buildings are under construction, many with just steel frames built at this point.

The main cathedral in the centre of town is a wreck with its demolished spire and cracks throughout the structure. There is a standoff at this point between the church authorities, who want to tear it down and rebuild, and many residents who want it repaired to help maintain the character of the downtown. The government has appointed a mediator to help settle the dispute. In the meantime the church built a transitional cathedral in 2013 called the cardboard cathedral, since it was built in part with cardboard tubes. I can't see the tubes but I was impressed with the building with its tall A-frame style. When we stopped by on a Saturday afternoon there was a service going on, which was nice to see.

We also visited a temporary memorial downtown to the victims, which consisted of 185 chairs, all painted in white. Each chair was unique, to signify the uniqueness and value of each person who lost their lives. The chairs included small stools, a wheelchair and a baby car seat. It was very poignant and moving.

Our hotel proprietor Annie told us her story. Her daughter was downtown at the time of the 2011 earthquake, and had to run for it to escape the mud and water. It turns out Christchurch is built on a diverted river bed, and ground water rushed out of the earth as it liquified during the earthquake. She came back home with mud up to her chest. What a harrowing tale. Annie's house in the outlying streets was not affected, but other houses were ruined, seemingly at random. She said many people feel guilty that they were not affected when others were.

Later we stopped by one of the only shopping areas open at present in downtown Christchurch called Re:Start, which was built out of shipping containers. It was actually well done, with some of the sides of the containers replaced with glass. From the inside of some of these buildings, it was hard to tell these were temporary structures. Good for them for thinking about innovative ways of getting on with it.

Here are the kids at the summit on a walking trail.

Human nature and alpaca encounters

Before leaving the coast, we visited Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay, which was purported to have the whitest sand in the world. The sand was fine like sugar and was very white. But what we liked the most was the feel of the sand itself, which squeaked and sang under our feet when we walked on it. I don't know why this was so. One theory is the fine sand grains are uniform in size and shape and somehow resonate when the particles rub against each other like crystals. The kids must have spent a good half hour jumping around in the sand before they tired of it.

When John and I had our hair cut in Sydney last week I chatted with the barber. He was very interested to find out we were from Canada and lamented that he wished he had four seasons including winter, since it's too hot in Sydney sometimes. I was surprised and didn't know what to say. Maybe I should have told him to be careful what you wish for, or you might end up with five months of winter. I've had a few encounters like this with Australians who clearly think the grass is greener on the other side. It really must be human nature on display - we are a restless species.

The next time it happened we were at the Cambewarra lookout, 700 meters above sea level, with views of the flat valley below including the ocean shore line, Gervis Bay, and the meandering Shoalhaven River. At the tea room lookout we saw a sign that said the lawn was a hang glider takeoff point, and that the local naval base should be contacted before lift-off. I don't know why - perhaps the hang glider will show up on military radar scopes? After being greeted by the restaurant dog, a grey Great Dane, we met an English woman who was sitting on the veranda with her two smaller dogs, feeding them bacon appetizers from the restaurant. I marvelled at the view and told her so. She said it was nice but certainly couldn't compare to Canada. I just said that every place has its charms.

Later in the day we stopped in at Fitzroy Falls, another pleasant surprise. The falls drop 80 meters straight down over sheer black and tan limestone cliffs. The kids enjoyed releasing stones over the side of the railing and counting how many seconds it took to hit the bottom. The falls reminded me of the Angel Falls in South America, which I've only seen on television. The Angel Falls are so tall that I understand much of the water turns to mist by the time it hits the bottom. At Fitzroy Falls, the cliff is so sheer that it seemed as though some the water also turned to mist by the time it reached the bottom. It was very mesmerizing.

We eventually arrived in MossVale at a bed in breakfast affectionately called Nana's Place, since the attached residence used to be home to the owner's mother before she passed away. Later we chatted with the owner on the back porch. I mentioned to Denise how beautiful the countryside was and how special I thought Fitzroy Falls was. Denise was self-effacing and qualified that it couldn't possibly compare to Canadian scenery. I begged to differ. Come on Australians - the goal is not to see who's country's mountains are taller. I personally get a kick out of anything new and different. The scenery here is definitely unique and worthy of admiration. Like I said, every place has something to offer.

We've enjoyed the last couple of days in the southern highlands around MossVale and other small towns, so called because this area is on top of an escarpment, 700 meters above sea level. The high ground makes for cooler weather and four seasons, unlike the sub-tropical coastline around Sydney. The area feels a lot like Canada in many ways - maybe it's just the quaint smaller towns that remind me of Perth or Westport in Ontario.

We certainly enjoyed spending time at this bed and breakfast, which is really a home in itself and so well appointed. We've had great luck with these types of places so far. This one has been a real treat, and everyone has enjoyed the animals especially. There's Boris the Dalmatian, Smokey the grey long-haired cat, Honey the tan-coloured horse, and a dozen or so alpacas in all shapes and colours. Elizabeth and John both were able to ride Honey today, and we were all were able to pet the alpacas, who were not too skittish.

Here's John and Elizabeth on Honey.

Baristas and the open ocean

On our first day in Australia I walked down the street from our apartment in Sydney and stopped in at a 7-eleven convenience store to grab a sandwich. The attendant was chatty and after discussing his trip to Vancouver Island, he talked up their coffee maker and suggested I try the coffee. I wasn't expecting much from a 7-eleven but thought what the heck. I was confused by the options though. Did I want a long white or a short black? I went for the long white - whatever that was. It was very good and tasted much like a latte. By contrast the next day we visited a Starbucks and I didn't find the coffee as good.

Australians are not a pretentious bunch, but they could be about their coffee. It's excellent and they're willing to pay a few dollars more to have it made to order. No ready to pour drip coffee pots are to be found here. Starbucks tried opening up some stores in Australia but most of them closed down a few years later. It turns out Australia already had great coffee on offer from many independent cafes, which have been in operation for decades. I was intrigued to learn why - Australians don't strike me as too picky when it comes to food and drink in general.

For example, just today we stopped at a very popular local burger place and ordered the burger with 'the lot', which included the beef patty, fried onions, cheese, bacon, pineapple, a fried egg and a beet - this artery clogging concoction isn't subtle cuisine. It was really good by the way. As I understand it, the country has a large Italian community, and had a very large influx of Italians after WWII. These immigrants brought their love of espresso machines with them, and spread coffee to a bunch of tea drinkers. I understand many Australians will drink an instant coffee at home, but they will take the time for a barista to make them a flat white or perhaps a cappuccino when they're out.

We're staying in an area a few blocks from the beach that looks like a suburb. After a while things started to look like other mundane suburbs, with people walking their dogs or mowing their lawns. Then out of the blue we spied a group of kangaroos hopping down the street. There are other unusual things about this neighbourhood. We heard a cacophony of strange sounds from the birds overhead, and we saw succulents taller than me growing on the front lawns. Walking by the shore we saw a half dozen large pelicans standing stoically in the water a few feet offshore while young kids fed the seagulls bread. But it's the kangaroos hopping and grazing throughout the suburbs in the parks and brush that strikes us as most strange. What an unusual animal to see.

This morning we took a whale watching boat tour from Gervis Bay. We had high hopes since October to November is prime humpback whale-watching time in the bay, where the whales come to feed. Sadly there were no whales to be seen today, but we did see a pod of dolphins swimming by, their dorsal finds and open bodies breaching the surface as they propelled themselves along. We also saw a couple of pods of seals, resting near the shoals with one of their flippers waving out of the water to either cool themselves down or heat themselves up. After leaving the bay we travelled for awhile along the sandstone cliffs, feeling the rolling waves from a open ocean with no land heading east for thousands of miles. What an awesome feeling to be on the open ocean with massive waves crashing on high cliffs, creating a mist. It all had an alien, eerie quality to it.

The Aussie salute and six seconds of free fall

At times we practise the Aussie salute, waving our hands in front of our face at regular intervals to prevent bush flies from landing on our face, and entering our nose or mouth. After awhile I started to look around to confirm that everyone was doing it, including the locals - yes most people were saluting. The bush flies looked like house flies but are attracted to us to feed. I was surprised to find them in downtown Sydney - but there they were, especially in the parks. I understand the flies used to be an even worse nuisance, until the Australians introduced foreign dung beetles a few decades ago that significantly reduced the bush fly population. I would tell you why the beetles helped but it's gross, so look it up if you're interested. I don't think I would want to move to Australia just because of this. Sorry Australia, amazing place and all, but what's with the flies?

After learning about the beetle, I started wondering what other foreign species have been introduced to Australia, and to what effect. It turns out this country is an invasive species theme park, where foreign species like foxes and rabbits have caused havoc to the local environment over the years.

It is thought that perhaps two dozen rabbits were let loose for hunting sport on one farm in the province of New South Wales in the 1850's, and within ten years there were millions of rabbits eating the vegetation and causing soil erosion problems. The problem was so bad that by the 1870's the government was offering a reward for any new ideas to control the population. A large fence was constructed across Australia from north to south in the early 1900's to prevent rabbits, foxes and other animals from moving to the west, but it didn't work. By the 1950's viruses were introduced to the rabbit population, which killed off many of them. But the survivors were immune and re-established themselves soon enough. Some would say the foxes have had an even worse impact, and were responsible for the extinction of many native animal species. Even domestic cats cause havoc with the easy prey, which are so vulnerable to foreign predators.

We haven't seen any rabbits or foxes, but we have enjoyed sighting the local wildlife. On the way by car to the Blue Mountains we spotted a few wallabies, including one with a baby in her pouch. We pulled over and were able to get up very close to the pair, who were feeding on the grass, with baby in mother's pouch copying what the mother was doing - they were very endearing. On a related note, yesterday at the grocery store we saw kangaroo burgers and sausages for sale. I was up for some roo but Catheleen would have none of it - maybe next time. I understand it's very tasty, and I don't think we should discriminate by only eating the ugly animals.

We've also seen flocks of scarlet rosella parrots and cockatoos. The parrots are blue and red and are very bold. We were able to hand feed them crackers very easily. The cockatoos make this awful squawking noise. But they do make up for it when we see a flock flying overhead, all in white with smatterings of light yellow on their under bellies.

Last Friday was cold and wet so we decided it was a good day to visit the Jenolan caves. We've seen a few caves on this trip, but this cave complex was the best one we've visited. The highlight was a guided tour of the Chifley cave, one of many caves available for tours. The cave walk was well described by the guide, and well done with concrete pathways, railings and stairs which led down pathways from one large chamber to the next. As we descended down into the deeper chambers we saw beautiful limestone crystal formations, including delicate opaque sheets of limestone crystals called veils that looked like flowing sheets. We also enjoyed learning about the history of cave exploration starting in the 1800's, when the cave explorers were mapping out the caves using basic ropes and candlelight. It's been an increasingly popular tourist attraction since that time, and it's good to see the operators have been kind to the place and have kept the formations intact.

Yesterday we visited Scenic World in Katoomba, which provided stunning views of the limestone cliffs and the Jamison Valley floor below. The place had a glass bottomed gondola which travelled 300 meters above the valley below, allowing us to see the cliff faces we were leaving from and travelling to. Once on the other side, we took a hike along the top of the cliffs. Along the way we were able to go up to railings, and look straight down the cliff faces to the tree tops below. One of the guides on the gondola said it would take six seconds of free fall to reach the ground. I did the math though and I think it's closer to eight seconds (sorry, I can't help doing the math - old habit). We saw a few foolhardy people who were on the wrong side of the railings and sitting close to some of the cliff edges. This gave me the creeps - a few people in the area fall to their deaths every year doing crazy poses and selfies near the edges.

We next took a train ride down to the valley on a 52 degree decline in a glass roofed carriage. We were told this was the steepest passenger railway in the world. It was pretty fast as it whipped us down through a tunnel in the rock and then along the side of the mountain to the valley floor. Once there, we took a boardwalk through the rain forest, saw some remnants of coal mining from the late 1800's, and then eventually went back up via another gondola. The rainforest had massive eucalyptus and turpentine trees, and also these unique fern trees with canopies spanning 20 feet or more. It was a strange but beautiful place.

Here is Elizabeth and me travelling down the railway.

War memorial and the Blue Mountains

On our last day in Sydney we visited the ANZAC War Memorial in Hyde Park. I'm glad we did. The building itself was beautiful. Built in the 1930's and constructed in an Art Deco style, it commemorates the Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) joint forces that fought in the First World War, starting with the 1915 Gallipoli quagmire. The exterior stone statues and bronze reliefs were superb depictions of the Great War, and the interior was dominated on the lower level by a sculpture. It showed a dead warrior carried on a shield by his mother, sister and wife. It is based on the legend of Spartan warriors from Ancient Greece who were raised to come home from war either with their shield or on it. Clearly the experience for many families during the First World War was one of sacrifice and loss. I found it very moving.

The memorial was re-dedicated in the 1980's to veterans of all wars, and inside we saw displays from the Boer War to Australia's latest involvement in Afghanistan. Of particular interest to me was information on Australia's involvement in the Vietnam war and the recent Iraq war. I wasn't aware that Australians fought in both these wars and I was intrigued to find out why Australia followed the U.S. into these conflicts (Canada did not fight in either). I did some investigation, and I understand Australians felt and perhaps still feel particularly vulnerable to aggression, given its geographic location far from other Western powers. For example, one of the memorial displays described Japanese bombings of Darwin Australia during the Second World War. Its foreign policy strategy appears to align very closely with the U.S. to help mitigate for this vulnerability.

Yesterday we rented a car and travelled to the Blue Mountains, a couple of hours west of Sydney in the interior. It was strange at first to drive on the left side of the road, but I think I got the hang of it. I still have trouble remembering that the change signal is on the right though. Driving around today we admired the landscape, with sheep and cattle grazing on gently rolling grassy fields, and individual trees scattered around. In the distance were the forested mountains, which did look blue. But I think all hills look blue from a distance, since the atmosphere tends to absorb or scatter red light over long distances, leaving only blue light. This is the same reason the sky is blue.

We stayed in Leura, a small but picturesque town in the mountains, at a bed and breakfast run by the owner Isabella. She was such a wonderful host, and we felt like guests in her home. She has a great kitchen which she offers to guests, so I made the most of it and cooked a roast beef dinner last night with all the fixings, and invited Isabella to join us. She did, and we heard many of her stories.

She immigrated to Australia from France 30 years ago after she married her Australian boyfriend, and has been living here ever since. She's since divorced and has one daughter, who now lives in Sydney. We enjoyed listening to her stories of visitors to her bed and breakfast over the last few years. She's a self-professed hugger, and told a story of one Japanese university student on school break who started to cry after she hugged him goodbye. He told her he grew up mainly in boarding schools and had never been hugged before. What a strange and sad story. One last story - her ex-husband lives in Vietnam now, as he always had a fascination and longing for that country. I asked why and she said that he couldn't serve in the Vietnam war since he had heart problems. In fact he was one of the first Australians to receive a heart transplant. However he felt a connection to Vietnam, since many of his friends served during the Vietnam war. Isabelle was very kind to us, offered us breakfast, and filled the kids up with ice cream and hot chocolate. I'm sorry we have to go so soon. It's nice to be in someone's home for a change.

Here's Catheleen watching out for kangaroos and wombats in the Blue Mountains.

Platypuses and rent control

We've learned something about the fauna in Australia over the last couple of days. The animals here, as most everyone knows, are very different from other places. We visited the zoo a couple of days ago, and saw a platypus, koalas, a Tasmanian devil, and an assortment of kangaroos. The platypus had to be one of the strangest creatures I've ever laid eyes upon. He was swimming in a tank, back and forth, wiggling his bill from side to side. He looked like a mix of parts from other animals with its duck-like bill, otter-like body, and webbed feet on the side of its body, and eyes like a lizard. He was every endearing in a way. The zoo breeds these creatures, but we didn't see any baby platypuses, which are called puddles.

In the zoo we spotted some koalas, including a mother and baby. They were sleeping in the eucalyptus trees with their faces tucked into their arms. I understand they sleep 20 hours a day so it's not surprising that we caught them napping. We also were able to do a walk-about along a path, with two emus taking a bath on one side and kangaroos taking a rest on the other. The Sydney zoo was well worth the trip. The kids especially enjoyed the seal and bird shows. There was one vulture that flew down onto the stage from above with a body the size of a dog. It had a massive wing span and proceeded to crack open an emu egg with a rock. This particular bird was born in captivity and wasn't taught to do this, which is standard behaviour in the wild.

Yesterday we visited the Australian Museum in Sydney, which is mainly a nature museum, and included a floor on aboriginal culture and history. We saw many of the same Australian animals we saw living at the zoo, but this time they were either displayed stuffed or in skeletal form. There were even some models of some of the mega fauna that roamed Australia millions of years ago, like large marsupial carnivores that looked a lot like cats.

The museum provided some insight into why Australia has the creatures it does. Australia has most of the marsupials in the world, which are mammals with pouches to grow and house the babies. I didn't get a really great explanation for why that is, other than marsupials arrived here before placental mammals, and then Australia became isolated geographically. The marsupials would have travelled from South America via Antarctica to Australia maybe 100 million years ago, back when these continents were joined together and Antarctica and Australia were both covered in forests.

An explanation for hopping kangaroos builds on this theory. Once Australia separated from Antarctica, Antarctica continued to drift south to the pole and became a very cold place. Australia continued to drift north and became a warmer, drier place. In this isolated, hot and dry landscape with few remaining trees, hopping became a more efficient way to cover long distances than doing it on four legs. Go figure.

Later in the evening Catheleen and I went for a walking tour of the Rocks. Back when Sydney was first established the convicts and poorer folk were given the rocky land up the hill from the harbour to build their houses and businesses (called the Rocks). Government officials and the better off settled on the gentler rolling hills nearby. As we walked around the narrow roads and alleyways in the Rocks, we were told stories of some of the more interesting characters who lived in the area.

My favourite story was about one of oldest pubs in the neighbourhood, which in the 1840's would have regularly plied an unsuspecting patron with free rounds of beer. After all the other patrons had left in the early morning hours, this drunken soul would remain at the bar for one last free pint. A trap door would then open up underneath, dropping the victim into a holding cell below where they likely passed out with a beer still in hand. Upon awakening, the victim would find himself on a ship in the harbour, pressed-ganged into service.

We also heard about recent government plans to evict the last renters in government controlled housing in this area. It's quite controversial and we saw some protest signs. The properties are very valuable now, with modest garden homes selling for millions. The government plans to sell off the remaining properties, and use the proceeds to fund other government subsidized housing in other parts of the city. Some renters are descendants of the original renters from the early 1900's, and pay nominal amounts for their rent.

Here's Catheleen on the ferry on the way to the Sydney zoo.

Australia's convict past

Yesterday we visited the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, which we really enjoyed. The building was originally built to help process convicts transported from England at that time. The museum displays and the audio guide were well done, and provided some excellent insight into the formation of Sydney from a penal colony into the vibrant city it is today.

England had a surplus labour problem in the 1700's thanks largely to land reform that privatised common lands, and better farming techniques that improved productivity. The end result was a population boom and idle hands in the countryside. Subsistence farming was no longer a viable way to make a living, and many peasants poured into cities looking for work. This time was also the start of the industrial revolution, and factories were built in the cities. But this surplus labour drove down wages, and many still struggled to make a living in crowded cities. Theft was on the rise. The government reacted by getting tough on crime, and for awhile making theft above a minor amount punishable by death. But this approach didn't seem to have the deterrent effect intended. In any case, influential citizens no longer considered the death penalty for petty crimes humane or appropriate. So the jails started to fill up. Eventually the government started transporting convicts to the colonies. This served many purposes, including relieving the pressure on overcrowded jails, providing forced labour to expanding colonies, and providing an avenue to rehabilitate prisoners. 

Convicts were shipped throughout the British colonies, and many were sent to America, until the American Revolution removed that option. Then in the 1780's, ten years after the explorer James Cook visited the east coast of Australia, the first convict transports were sent to Botany Bay, near what is now Sydney. Over a thousand prisoner ships were sent to Australia over the next 70 years, and many arrived in Sydney. In the 1820's over 85% of Sydney's population of 12,000 were emancipated criminals, who had served out their sentences, typically seven or 14 years. Today around 20% of Sydney's population of 4.5 million are thought to have a convict in their lineage.

In the museum we learned about life for convicts in the early 1800's. I didn't realize this, but convicts were not incarcerated upon arrival, but were instead employed as labour by the government or by private citizens. In many cases the private citizens were emancipated ex-convicts. The convicts could even earn their own money on Saturday. The best plan for a newly arriving convict, if he had a skill, was to hide that fact on the way over. That way he could avoid providing his skills for free as forced labour and instead use them for profit on Saturdays. The barracks building was mostly just used to provide room and board for convicts who hadn't yet found room and board in the town for whatever reason. Even the building itself shows how vital a role convicts played in building Sydney. The building was designed by a convict architect and built with convict labour in 1820.

The barracks must have been influenced by naval traditions, since we saw how the men slept in hammocks all packed together on the top floor, and we learned how the men were formed into messes to organize and cook their own rations, including salted meat. In one room there was a list of the convicts living in the barracks in 1821. We noticed there was one William Turnbull, age 36, who was a wood turner, and was serving a seven year sentence. It didn't say what his crime was though. The youngest person on the list was 13 years old, and had stolen a watch.

There was a poignant memorial outside the museum to the Great Hunger, the Irish potato famine in the 1840's which lead to the transportation of 4,000 young women to Australia. The memorial consisted of a wall with a table and stool, with no food on the plate.

The kids enjoyed the museum too, since many of the exhibits were hands on, like lying in a hammock, wearing prison clothing, or trying on leg irons. The barracks served many purposes after the convicts stopped coming here in the 1840's. In the late 1800's it was a waypoint for young women, who arrived and were quickly employed as domestic servants or in other trades.

Here's Elizabeth wearing a costume from this time period.

First day in Sydney, Australia

Good thing we happened to arrive at the Bali airport last night about four hours before our flight departed for Sydney, since we were in for a surprise. When we tried to check in we hit a snag. It didn't occur to us that we would need visas in advance to enter the country, but it turns out all foreigners need them. It was a team effort though to solve the problem. John and Elizabeth helped search for a WIFI site and outlets to get our devices charged, and we scrambled over the next couple of hours to get our visas issued on-line. What a pain but we made our flight!

We then took the red eye flight overnight to Sydney. John and Elizabeth were both looking forward to pulling an all-nighter to get in some quality movie watching time on the plane. Catheleen and I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep but the kids did manage to stay up for the most part. But everything has a cost, and they did end up crashing later in the day in Sydney.

We're staying downtown near the Sydney harbour. Again we're staying at a apartment we rented from the AirBnB web site. We're finding we're getting better value using this method than booking regular hotels, since he AirBnB places are usually more spacious and better priced.

Today we didn't venture too far from home. Just by walking around I felt more at home than I have in a while, more relaxed. The weather was cool today, a nice change from the previous three months. Coming from Indonesia, I appreciated everything we've been missing lately - wide sidewalks, sandwich shops, good coffee to go, grocery stores, an English speaking population. I think my favourite difference today was just being another person on the street making my way around town. Very nice.

In the afternoon John and I went down the street to see what we could see. John was thrilled to spot the three-story Apple Store, and he was happy to show me the new features on the latest iPhone. We also found a really good three member band playing on the street called CuzN - two guitarists and one violinist. They were selling their CDs between songs, and somehow I felt compelled to buy one too. I don't think I've ever bought music from a street performer, but there's a first time for everything.

Later Catheleen, Elizabeth and I took a walk to the harbour to see the iconic Sydney Opera House and harbour bridge. It was great to see the opera house from different angles as we walked along the harbour and under the bridge. The opera house with its overlapping shells looked good from all angles. We went again at dusk, and it was interesting to see how the building lit up as night fell. The harbour bridge was beautiful to see as well, and we could see people walking the top of the bridge.

Here's Elizabeth and I at the harbour front. It's just water in Elizabeth's Starbucks cup by the way, in case you're wondering if she's picked up a venti coffee habit lately.

Hunger Games in Southeast Asia

Admittedly I'm not actually starving on this trip. In fact, I've probably gained a few pounds, unless my clothes have been shrinking every time they come back from the laundry. But it does feel like I'm often staving off hunger between each meal. Yes it's a personal problem but I feel like sharing.

Catheleen mentioned yesterday that I am always talking about food. I think it's true. I usually start off by asking Catheleen whether she wants to go for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Then there's often the need to research restaurants in the area for good ratings, since apparently we can't keep going back to the same restaurant for all our meals. Next we decide when to go and whether everyone wants to go. Then there's the time needed for everyone to get ready. I'm not naming names, but let's just say some people take longer to get ready than others. Then we need to walk there, order, and wait for the meal to arrive. All the while I'm starving, or feel like it anyway.

Well you might suggest I pack snacks at all times, which I try to do. But we're lucky if we're even near a convenience store. Unless I start eating junk food, my snack choices are usually limited to nuts and, if I'm lucky, yogurt. What about going to market or a grocery store? Grocery stores are hard to come by, and we don't usually have kitchenettes where we stay. Say we did have kitchenette, we're not really equipped with the tools or skills to make use of the ingredients on offer at the outdoor markets. Do I really want a live chicken and a bag of rice?

I'll keep packing the snacks and hold out for Australia and New Zealand. Maybe we'll actually be able to go to a grocery store, buy ingredients we recognise, and cook a meal. I would settle for a bowl of cereal frankly with some fresh milk.

Here's that egg coffee I had a few times in Vietnam. Now that was good - tasted something like liquid tiramisu. 

Reflections on Southeast Asia - it's been a slice

We're taking it pretty easy for our last few days in Bali, before we head off to Sydney Australia on Saturday evening. We thought about going to the beach today at the end of the strip but we heard there were a lot of hawkers there. So we're spending another day at the resort by the pool, near the ocean. I really like this spot near the pool, next to the seawall. It has some beach sand in a contained strip, with some beach chairs and umbrellas setup here. It's like we're at the beach, without being on the beach. Very nice.

It seems to be low season here with few tourists. Sometimes we're the only patrons in the restaurant. Even so, there are many hawkers on the street as we walk to local restaurants and shops. As we stroll along, we are invariably asked every 50 or 100 feet whether we want to purchase sunglasses, whether we need transport, or if we want to go snorkeling. It looks to me like a great number of Balinese men around here are idle without much to do, at least at this time of year. Or maybe it's worth it for them to sit around most of the day, waiting for the odd tourist to show interest.

The meals we've had on the strip near the resort have been excellent - less so at the resort. On the strip we've had good breakfasts in particular with the best coffee I've had on this trip. We've also been to the Hungry Crocodile restaurant across the street a couple times, which has been consistently good. I particularly enjoyed the steak in a black pepper sauce.

So on our last full day in Southeast Asia before heading off to Australia and then New Zealand, with lunch over, it's a good time to reflect. I'm glad we came to Southeast Asia, having visited Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia in succession over the last three months or so. I think we had a pretty good idea of what to expect, having visited Thailand a couple of times over the years. We expected and found new sights, sounds and cultural experiences, different and unique from experiences back home. We expected and found some adventures and hiccups along the way. We knew things wouldn't always be as comfortable as life back home. This is still the developing world after all (except for Singapore which is highly developed), striving to improve its standard of living and infrastructure. They are not there yet but they're working on it, especially in hard working Vietnam.

The weather cooperated for the most part, although it was a bit too hot for my liking throughout most of our time in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. We sure did sweat it out, but it was always nice to come back to reasonably air conditioned accommodations at the end of the day. The first time we came to Thailand as backpackers in the '90's we didn't have much air conditioning; it was a relief to have it on this trip, especially with the kids in tow. We didn't experience the rainy season anywhere, which was a pleasant surprise. It really is dry here in Bali, with the brown hills, waiting for the delayed rainy season to turn the countryside lush and green.

I enjoyed learning about the history and significance of a new place or site, and I always liked observing what the locals were up to. We've talked to locals and fellow travellers along the way to hear some of their stories. Here in Bali we constantly witnessed the locals bringing offerings of flowers and incense to their small temples and spirit dwellings and making silent prayers. We've found the locals friendly and welcoming everywhere we've been. As we pass the Balinese we are greeted with smiles, with their hands held together at their face like they are praying; we try to return the greeting in the same manner.

The food has been excellent on our trip for the most part. The Indonesian food has not been as varied and interesting as the Vietnamese or Thai cuisines, but it's been good nonetheless. I think that is why there is more variety on the menus in Bali and Java, where we could usually have French, Italian, or American meals at just about every restaurant.

One of the main things I wanted to get out of our trip to Southeast Asia and the Pacific was a career break with some time spent with Catheleen and the kids. I was I little worried whether we would all get along for this long but I was hopeful. I think this has panned out just fine so far. John and Elizabeth certainly had to rely on each other for companionship, and I'm happy how well they've gotten along most of the time.

I have always thought of travelling as a good opportunity to gain a better appreciation for my home country, by learning how others live. Travel opens the mind. I hope we have learned a few things - I think we have. The people we came across were happy for the most part, although we've seen some poverty and hardship, especially in Laos and Vietnam. I hope the kids better appreciate how lucky we are to live in Canada, with everything it has to offer.

Overall I've enjoyed the time spent in Southeast Asia, but I must admit I'm ready for Australia and New Zealand with its spring weather, and with its food, language and infrastructure so similar to Canada. I haven't worn long pants since we left Canada though, so I'm wondering if they will fit; but that's what we call a personal problem. At least I won't have any more excuses for not running.

Here's Elizabeth and John with their endless horseplay at the pool. Best friends?

Stepping stones and democracy

We've been at our resort on the east coast of Bali for a few days now. You can't always be sure what to expect when you book a place though. We thought this place was more of a condo, since we rented I through the AirBnB web site directly from the owner, but it is more of a hotel resort. No matter, it turned out to be an excellent choice. Our rooms have great views of the ocean, and when the tide is high we can hear the surf pounding against the hotel's retaining wall, and see white water shooting up past the railing. The place is pretty quiet. There are not a lot of other people here, which is nice. The first night we were here we had dinner at the pool by the ocean and listened to a really good guitarist sing songs from the '80's and 90's mainly. I think they were targeting our demographic.

Today we hired a driver to take us to some of the sites in the area. We first visited the Taman Soekasada Water Palace in Karangasem. The place was built in the 1920's by the local king for this eastern part of Bali, known as the Raja of Karangasem. The grounds were very beautiful with a large rectangular water feature and bridges leading to a rectangular island in the middle. On the island was an airy building which housed the king's bedroom and a family room. The focus was more on the grounds than the building, and we enjoyed walking around to the various water features and gazebos. Everywhere we went the view was amazing. I wonder what I would have been like to be the king, going for a stroll along the many paths. As Mel Brooks said in the movie History of the World Part I (an oldie but goody), "It's good to be the king."

We next took a harrowing ride on a narrow road up and down the side of mountains along the shore on the way to a black volcanic beach in Amed. The views of the ocean and shores below were spectacular. Every little beach we saw along the way was packed with fishing boats. The boats were not like any fishing boat I have ever seen. Each of the boat hulls were about 15 feet long and four feet wide, shaped like a banana, and painted white. There was a pontoon made out of a wide piece of bamboo attached to each side to maintain balance, each placed about five feet from the hull and attached with cross beams and line. The boats were all equipped with a small outboard engine and a brightly coloured sail on a 15 foot mast. The masts and rolled up sails were detached and lying on the hull. It was a striking site to see so many fishing boats all lined up on the beach. We must have passed many of the fisher men's houses in the hills, which were very modest and basic.

We stopped along the way at one view point with a cloud free view of the Gunung Agung volcano. It was something out of a movie with its perfect conical shape and black sides, rising 3,000 meters to dominate the island. The volcano was thought to be extinct before it last erupted in 1963, killing about 2,000 people and devastating the agriculture in the area with ash and debris. It still belches a little smoke and ash on occasion.

At the beach in Amed we had lunch and enjoyed some snorkeling. The coral wasn't as beautiful and varied as that around Gili islands, but we did see a large variety of strange and colourful fish. We even saw some bright blue starfish under rocks which were unusual. It was also nice to see so many local Balinese enjoying the day snorkeling with their families (it's a national holiday today). It seemed most of them couldn't swim and so were snorkeling in orange life jackets.

On the way back to Candi Dasa we stopped at the Taman Tirtagangga Water Garden, which was built in the 1940's, again by the Raja of Karangasem. I guess he liked water features. The grounds were once again unique and beautiful. The kids especially liked one of the rectangular ponds where you could step from pillar to pillar in the pond. The pillars were only an inch or so above the water, and you couldn't see the pillars below the water line, so it gave the impression that the octagonal tops to the pillars were floating stepping stones on the water. It was fun to walk along the stepping stones, with three foot long black and gold coloured coy swimming in the pond below.

I was glad to hear that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 went to The National Dialogue Quartet in Tunisia for its contribution to building democracy in Tunisia following the 2011 Jasmine Revolution. I didn't know much about Tunisia, but learned that its new constitution was drafted in early 2014, and free elections were held later in the year. It's the first free and fair elections the country has had since gaining its independence in the 1950's. The Tunisian constitution is one of the most progressive in the region and guarantees civil liberties including freedom of expression and equal rights for men and women. Islam is the official state religion, but is not the source for law, and religious or non-religious freedom is protected.

Hopefully Tunisia can stabilize as a secular democracy as other Muslim majority states like Turkey and Indonesia have managed to do. It a good example for other countries in the region. As one pundit said, Tunisia proves that democracy is possible in the Arab world.

Here's a picture of Elizabeth on the stepping stones.

Glass bottom boat and anniversary

Yesterday we went snorkelling on a glass bottom boat. The wooden boat was pretty basic with a couple of glass boxes covered in algae which prohibited much of the view. And I wasn't impressed when we were more or less crammed in with 50 other people, but all was forgiven after we arrived at our first snorkelling site. We were diving in the middle of the ocean between two Gili islands, drifting with the current. We followed our guide, who was an expert at spotting turtles on the sea bottom that I couldn't spot. He would then dive down 20 or 30 feet to nudge the turtle, who would slowly swim away. What a thrill to swim with the turtles. Sometimes they would swim to the surface to catch a breath, and one time John was able to touch one and then swim along with it.

We went to two locations before lunch and two places in the afternoon. At two locations we searched and found turtles, who rested deep down on the seabed. The other two times we saw some spectacular coral and fish. The coral was more varied in shape than at our last snorkelling trip in Thailand. Whereas much of the coral in Thailand reminded me of big brains, here near Gili most of the coral was more like crisis-crossed miniature trees, in varied colours from pink to deep purple. It was more like the coral I've seen on documentaries. John was getting good at diving, and liked to swim down into the coral canyons to get a better look at the fish underneath the coral.

This morning, before we checked out of our hotel, we met our neighbour. He is Canadian from Toronto, two months into a year long trip around the world with his two sons, aged 8 and 10. It was sad to hear that his wife had passed away two years ago. He and his two young sons were retracing some of the places his wife had visited when she did some travelling years ago. It was interesting to hear his travel plans. He had already been to Australia and New Zealand to visit family, and planned to visit much of south east Asia before moving on to Africa and Europe.

We certainly enjoyed our time on Gili Air. It is a very small island in the early stages of developing a tourist trade. Some things are rudimentary, but that just adds to the charm for the most part. Catheleen and the kids especially will miss the many cats we met on the island. In front of our hotel room in the bushes we meet a tabby mother cat with a kitten. The kids would coax the kitten out of the bushes to pet it, much to the nervous dismay of the mother. The sales approach here was always low key, and I liked the international feel where the tourists came from everywhere. Nothing against Australian Legian and Kuta at all, but I do like to see a mix of tourists from all over.

We took the fast boat today from Gili Air to Candi Dasa this afternoon, on the east coast of Bali. The boat was more choppy this time than when we took it to Gili Air. On this trip the bow of the boat would occasionally become airborne and then come down in a teeth shattering crash. Catheleen and Elizabeth enjoyed their time on the top of the boat, watching Bali appear in view through the mist. John and I preferred to be below.

We're now in our new location, more of a resort than just a condo rental. It's very nice though with nice views of the ocean and easy access to the pool from our rooms. We took the room above and the kids are in the room below. It's more of an older crowd here than at out previous locales. We got a kick out of the '80's music they were playing at the pool this afternoon.

So today is our 19th wedding anniversary, and we've had a great day today, spending time with each other and the kids. Thank you Catheleen for 19 wonderful years and here's to many more to come, full of adventure and wonder I'm sure. I love you very much.

Here's are the kids at lunchtime on our snorkelling day, happy they found a big sea shell.

Galloping ponies and Thanksgiving

The seafood is very good here in Gili Air. Yesterday we had excellent fish tacos, and the night before Catheleen had Mahi Mahi in a garlic sauce which she said was good. Today before the sun had set we went out to get some gelato ice cream. Along the way we saw today's catch on display for dinner at one of the restaurants. The seafood included multi-coloured parrot fish and bright red grouper fish. We've done some snorkelling off the beach over the last couple of days and I'm pretty sure we saw similar fish while they were alive. Catheleen said she wasn't interested in eating the fish after seeing them swim among the coral, but don't think I mind.

This afternoon we witnessed how some of the fish are caught as we sat on the beach enjoying lunch. About six men, each with 25 foot poles, waded out about 100 meters through the shoals up to their waists and cast their lines into the deeper blue water. This is the same place we were snorkelling earlier and the fishermen were sharing the space with other snorkelers.

Today's activities were pretty low key after we slept in. The kids could barely make it for breakfast at the hotel before breakfast ended at 10:00 a.m. I could barely return the bikes we rented yesterday before they were due at 9:30 a.m. I think this place makes it hard to get going. I mean, I could go running, but ... meh. We tried to go snorkelling today on a glass bottom boat but we were too late for today's outing, so we scheduled this activity for tomorrow. We'll somehow need to make it to the rendezvous tomorrow morning before 9:30 a.m. I'm not sure we're going to make it.

Today we saw one of the horse drawn carts galloping along with a couple of tourists in the back. Where were they hurrying too? The gelato place? They're not running out of ice cream. I saw a sign today that sums up the feeling of this little island for me, "Beer is not the answer, it's the question. The answer is yes". It might be tough to get back into that whole work thing after this trip is over.

We ended up at my favourite spot from two days before, where we again staked our claim to a bamboo platform under a tree next to the beach. We rented our snorkelling gear from the guy next door and enjoyed the day snorkelling and relaxing. Elizabeth spent most of the day on the beach catching crabs the size of her thumb nail. They blended in with the sand, but she would walk around to get them to move, and then she would catch one inside an overturned shell before releasing it.

We stocked up on cash before we arrived at this island, which turned out to be wise move since the few ATMs here don't want to dispense us anything. While at the ATM today trying all our cards we saw a posted note from some dispirited traveller saying that the machine didn't return her VISA, and asked the operator to return it to her. Next to this note was another note from a different traveler that said she had the lady's VISA and provided her an address to pick it up. There were no other notes but I hope it all worked out. I can imagine it must be very tough to lose your card, especially if it is your only source of cash. That's a cautionary tale for all travellers - always have a backup plan if your card is swallowed.

So this weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada and it makes us think of home. While I understand the weather is a little cold and wet in Ottawa this weekend, it still would be nice to spend time with family and friends. Catheleen and I reminisced today about past Thanksgivings at the farm in Mayo, Quebec, where we enjoyed the hospitality and company of family, enjoyed the farm and surroundings, and experienced the fall coloured leaves. We'll need to have something for dinner tomorrow night in celebration. No turkey here though so we'll need to stick to Nasi Goreng (fried rice with chicken), and perhaps pretend it's turkey with stuffing. Or maybe we'll just have the fish.

Here's a foot selfie.

Gili Islands - relaxing on a mile long patch

Tuesday evening John and I went for dinner by ourselves and listened to some Singaporeans perform a Karaoke version of "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. The whole place was getting into the groove with its catchy (or kitschy) "Sweet Caroline, Ba, Ba, Ba...". All the while we watched the Just for Laughs show from Montreal where pranks are pulled on Montrealers, without any speaking or commentary. I wonder whether this show is popular elsewhere. It seemed to be popular here - everyone was watching it, including the local staff. I always get a kick out of the Americana and sometimes Canadiana on display when I'm abroad. Yesterday in a convenience store I heard a couple of Balinese girls who were minding the till sing along to an Avril Lavigne tune. They hardly spoke English, but that didn't matter - they liked the song.

Wednesday morning we took a fast boat to our next stop, Gili Islands. I was a little concerned when the staff offered anti-nausea medication to everyone in the waiting area. I think this is the first time I've been offered drugs as part of a transport service. I declined, since Catheleen had her own stash of motion sickness medication, just in case. After the boat started up, I took one from Catheleen just in case. This was a fast boat which holds about 20 people and took only two and a half hours to travel around 100 kilometres. As it turned out the sea was relatively calm and nobody felt ill, which often happens on this ride. So we were able to sit up top and enjoy the thrill of going fast, white water splashing up the sides of the hull, all while watching the volcanoes, mountains and shoreline of Bali pass us by.

After a stop at a slightly larger Gili island, we arrived at the little island of Gili Air, which has a diameter of about a mile. The brochure for the speed boat said that these small atolls are a favourite paradise island escape from Bali. Which is odd, because I thought Bali was supposed to be a paradise escape. I must admit though that we did want to try a more remote and basic place with modest accommodations and small hotels - a vacation from the vacation so to speak

So here we are in Gili Air, a pretty basic island locale indeed. My first clue that things would be different was when the boat beached itself so we could get off from the bow of the boat, since there is no wharf. Our hotel was only 100 metres away, so we carried our luggage off the sandy beach and rolled it as best we could along the sandy cobbled roads to our destination. Along the way we gave way for a few bicyclists and horse drawn carts to pass. With no motorized transport allowed on this island, this is how people get around, although I have noticed a few silent electric scooters - they kind of sneak up on you. In any case, the lack of regular motorcycles especially makes for a more peaceful and stress-free time. Something in short supply in most of the places we've visited in South East Asia.

Even though it's off season, the tourist industry is booming everywhere we go in Indonesia. This place is no exception, with a number of new buildings going up in the vicinity. On this island I regularly see men carrying bags of concrete from the boats across the shallows, up onto the beach, and into waiting horse carts. I regularly see these horse carts going back and forth with rebar and other construction supplies, all pulled by small horses or ponies. This morning I saw men loading up garbage onto a boat for transport off the island. I'm glad to know the garbage isn't being piled up or burnt in the middle of the island somewhere. I also saw a large fishing boat being constructed out of long 2x4 and 2x6 lumber. The locals were making the hull using standard construction tools one might use to construct a deck or shed - they were making the hull flat and wide. This makes sense since the tides are big, and the boats are often stranded on their sides during low tide.

Last night John and I went out for dinner down the unlit road from our hotel. It was the first time I could see the real charm of this place. I'm sure if we ever come back things will not be the same, since more development will likely take place by then. But being here at this time in this place, it was special to me. I think it boils down to crowds (not a big fan), so the quieter the place is the better. We walked along a meandering path near the shore to the first place we could find with live music. Along the way we looked up to see the Milky Way in the sky, which was brightly illuminated this night. We experienced good music and good seafood, all within a basic restaurant/bar on the sand with tables, benches and lounging platforms made of bamboo. It reminded me somewhat of the first time we visited Koh Phangan in Thailand in the late '90's, when there wasn't much development and where we often ate at basic restaurants on the beach.

This morning we walked around to the other side of the island, which didn't take long, and found a place to spend the day. We sat on a bamboo lounge platform, ordered some food and drinks throughout the day, and enjoyed our time walking the beach, snorkelling, and just relaxing. When we were snorkelling, we saw a lot of tropical fish among the coral, and a few small jellyfish too. It was a bit disappointing to see the jellyfish, but we just stayed vigilant. I don't think they were a hazard anyway; I'm sure I must have collided with a few but I came out of the water unscathed as did Catheleen and Elizabeth.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in this spot, looking out onto the receding tide, with the jingling sounds of an occasional horse drawn cart passing behind me. Bob Marley music was playing faintly in the distance, mixed occasionally with the distant call to prayer from a faraway mosque.

Here's John, who showed up late in the afternoon for lunch, after doing some successful geocaching today.

Hawkers and fat burgers

While we're having a good relaxing time on the whole, there are regular annoyances. The beach is the great selling feature of Legian. Otherwise the area is a bit too touristy for us with little to offer in the way of local culture. The hawkers are everywhere we go and a constant irritant. I suppose they get enough business to make their sales approach worthwhile. Sitting on the beach, I am asked to purchase either a watch, sunglasses, hat, ice cream or massage on a rotating basis. I'm pretty sure the same guy who had asked me to purchase a hat an hour ago asked me again. Another guy asked John if he wanted a henna tattoo with a typical sales approach- "Boy! Tattoo?" John laughed afterwards and thought it was odd that the seller thought he would have the money or decision making power for that.

The ATMs have been another pain here in Indonesia. It took awhile to catch on, but I learned that the ATMs from the big three banks do not work for me. In fact, one of these banks would not only not give me the cash, but would debit my account anyway. Only after two or three business days would my account be credited back the amount. Since then I've learned that I can use some of the ATMs in the convenience stores to take out small amounts at a time in small bills. After getting enough cash the last a few days my wallet is so thick I close it properly anymore.

Well, I think that's enough whining. I mean, we are here in Bali after all. On Monday the kids couldn't go surfing as planned since the water was too rough. But we enjoyed our time at the beach anyway, and we enjoyed venturing out into the waves up to our knees. When we went any further the lifeguard would whistle at us to get out. He warned us there was a riptide right where we were, but if we moved down the beach a hundred feet or so we would be okay to go in up to our waist. On Tuesday afternoon the weather wasn't quite as rough so we rented a surfboard for John and a boogie board for Elizabeth. After an hour John had enough with surfing so we switched him over to a boogie board too. Catheleen and I also tried the boogie boarding, but after a short while I was happy to sit in a lounge chair under an umbrella and watch the kids fill their shorts with sand in their attempts to ride the waves. They had fun but I'm sure we'll hear all about the war wounds later.

A few nights ago we were at the Fat Bowl restaurant for dinner, which offered some pretty good meals by the way. Two Australian guys at the next table each ordered the Fat Burger, which consisted of a one kilogram beef patty on a bun the size of a dinner plate. Their buddies were egging them on, but they each only managed to consume about half the burger. They didn't look like they were feeling too well afterwards. Last evening at a local restaurant we noticed suckling pig on the menu, which is a local specialty. With one or two days notice and a minimum of eight people, you too could arrange for a whole roasted pig, head to tail. Sure enough a large group at the restaurant had ordered the pig, which was served with an apple in its mouth. I personally don't like my dinner looking back at me, but to each his own.

Back to the newspaper, the Jakarta Post is just a head shaker every time I pick it up. There are continual stimulus plans in the works to boost the Indonesian economy, even though it is growing at around 5%. I guess that's just not good enough. One scheme is to grant amnesty to all those convicted of tax evasion, fraud, etc. so the perpetrators are incented to bring their ill-gotten gains home from abroad. A lot of this money resides in Singapore. The thinking is the government could take its 15% tax on the repatriated money to help boost their coffers and help fund stimulus efforts. I'm not sure this will deter future law breakers but the government must only be planning one step at a time.

Another crazy story involves shenanigans between the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission, which has been in operation for the last ten years and appears to have done some good work prosecuting graft cases. It's well trusted among the general population in any case. The commission has been rooting out corruption within the police department for years, but the police regularly retaliate by bringing charges against the commissioners. The latest row has two commissioners charged for alleged fraud committed years ago when the commissioners were lawyers defending or prosecuting clients. The charges are likely based on fabricated evidence if the police's past actions are any indication. The current president was elected last year on an anti-corruption platform, so this appears to be a test for him. He can protect the commissioners by directing the Attorney General to dismiss the cases. But by doing so, the police could always come after him on charges of one sort or another with the potential for impeachment action. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Australian rules in Legian

We've been staying in Legian, Bali the last few days. The weather is perfect with sunny days and consistent highs of 28 with lows of 24 Celsius. The kids had two days of surfing lessons, two hours each day. They acquired a lot of rashes and scrapes from their lessons though, so they took a break today to rest and heal up. John's fingertips were scraped up somehow, and when he did his math homework on his iPad later in the day he complained that some blood was streaking his screen - yuck. They might try skipping the lessons tomorrow and we'll just rent the boards. I might try a boogie board - that's more my speed I think.

We have been strolling along the beach near sundown the last couple of days. The first time we walked along the long beach we went south and walked through a couple of small streams which were emptying into the sea. After the second stream we noticed a sewage smell. We cleaned our feet after that and started walking the other way. There is definitely room for infrastructure improvement here, especially to maintain such a beautiful beach.

The late afternoon was also the time for the local Balinese to flock to the beach. Many local families had headed out to enjoy the sand and sea. Local teenagers were playing soccer games up and down the beach, and Australian kids were kicking footballs around. Locals and tourists were jogging along the flat and wide beach which was ideal for running. We saw people riding horses, and there were a couple of weddings going on. A lot of people were lounging or sitting on beanbag chairs having a drink.

We saw one guy walking along with what looked like a weasel or otter following him. We were so transfixed watching the animal pass that we didn't notice a huge wave coming our way that soaked us. The wave immersed the weasel as well, but its owner just plucked it out of the sea before it was sucked back into the ocean by the riptide. The animal was happy enough and they continued their walk together.

The waves are calm early in the day and pick up for ideal surfing later in the morning. After that the conditions get rougher. By late afternoon the waves are truly awesome in power, and break with such strength that it creates an ominous low rumbling sound. It reminded me of huge white galloping horses. We saw a few foolhardy souls trying to surf these waves, but they didn't have much success. I thought they were risking their lives. The whole beach was marked with red flags, some with skull and crossbones, to warn people not to go out there.

The North Queensland Broncos beat the Brisbane Cowboys 17 to 16 in the National Rugby League finals at the Sydney Olympic Stadium today. The only reason I know this is because we're in Legian, Bali, where the tourists must be 95% Australian with a few Kiwis mixed in. There always seems to be a rugby or Australian-rules football game going on that fills the pubs along the streets with cheering fans. Just this evening we were walking home from dinner when we heard yelling coming from a bar. It turned out to be a large older man who was demonstrating the Haka, based on a Maori war chant, which is always performed by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team before the start of their games. I think he was doing his old team proud.

That's the thing about this place. We're more exposed to Australian culture here than Balinese culture. I don't know how many times someone has called me mate - ga'day mate! The kids have been playing with some Australian kids at the hotel pool, and it's fun to listen to them exchange stories about their homelands. One kid wanted to verify Elizabeth's claim, and so asked Catheleen if it's true that people in Canada really pour maple syrup onto the snow and then eat it. He didn't believe it.

The Australians have great beaches themselves but must come here to stretch their tourist dollar further. It's calmer here in Legion but I understand there is some hard partying going on nearby to the south in Kuta, where the terrorist bombing took place back in 2002.

Here's Elizabeth showing us how it's done.

Prambanan, surfing and remembering the past

Yesterday was our last day on the island of Java. We had a late flight, so we were able to visit Prambanan, a 9th century Hindu temple compound, on the way to the airport. It contained about six stone temples, all tall pointed towers that we could walk around and into. There were statues in the temples dedicated one way or another to Hinduism's expression of God as the creator Brahma, the preserver Vishnu, or the destroyer Shiva. I understand this temple was built shortly after the Borobudur temple was built, partly as a response to the Borobudur structure. Funny to think that groups were competing in the 9th century on the island of Java to see who could build the most impressive architecture. But I suppose this has been going on in many places for a long time and is still going on today.

There were few tourists at the site so we were able to walk around freely and visit each of the temples in turn. The reliefs on the temples were my favourite part since they were artistic and varied, describing parts of the epic story Ramayana with its battles and adventures. Like Borobudur, there is a hierarchy where the zones become more holy as you move up from the lower to the upper levels. I found the lower levels more interesting though, and I wonder if the artists who made this temple felt the same way. Although it was hot, I think the kids enjoyed the site. At least they liked having the run of the place since there were many levels and places for them to visit on each of the towers. They also liked a deer park on the premise where the deer all had white spots like Bambi. I wonder what kind of deer they were.

Our flight was delayed, but we eventually flew back from Java to Bali and settled into our hotel in the town of Legian along the south-east coast. This is a beach town and known for its surfing. The next day the kids had surfing lessons and had some success riding the waves. I didn't see it, but they both said they managed to get up on their feet a few times. I've never been at a beach that was conducive to surfing but it's big in many parts of Indonesia. We're here for a few days so maybe I'll give it a go. Good thing we have travel health insurance - I might need it.

While Catheleen and I were watching the kids take their surfing lessons, we experienced a lot of hawkers trying to sell us this or that. One lady wanted to give me a massage, and was very insistent. I wasn't interested, but she still started massaging my neck and arms while she was talking to me. Talk about a proactive sales approach.

I had some time to wander about today and just relax. In the Jakarta Post the front page article was about President Jokowi of Indonesia, who attended an annual ceremony in memory of seven generals who were killed in a botched coup in 1965 blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. The article cited rumours that Jokowi might apologize to the families of the victims who perished in the anti-communist purge that followed the failed coup. As many as half a million suspected communists were killed in the purge. About 5% of the population of Bali perished, who suffered disproportionally. Some parts of the country still seem to be torn up about the incident, although the general population doesn't know much about it. It's hardly mentioned in the schools' history books. As it turned out the rumours were false, and the President had no intention of acknowledging or apologizing for the purge.

Here we are at Prambanan, with me wearing the required sarong.