Visiting The Alice for Tory's 21st

 

Christina straddles the border

Although we have lived at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, for nearly five years, our son Dale, daughter Meredith and grandson Tory still live at Alice Springs.

Tory turns 21 on November 24, so we travelled north to spend time with our family and visit friends.

There has been a shipload of rain in the northern regions of South Australia. We've travelled up and down the Stuart Highway for decades. In my case since 1959 and have never seen so much water on the road, next to the road and also in the salt lakes.

Lake Hart was completely covered in water which we have never seen before.

The photo below shows Lake Hart with the water spreading from side to side. It's a few kilometres long so the photo is just a small portion of it.

Lake Hart

Usually, one sees the salt crust lying above the hard clay base and not a drop of water. Now, it's full, but it's salt water.

What was that line from "The Ancient Mariner" that I recall from school, "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."

The rain and warm weather have brought out a cornucopia of lizards, snakes and the occasional emu. Unfortunately, the lizards like to lie on the road for warmth and get flattened by traffic.

I managed to steer around a black-headed python snake and several lizards at 120 km/hr but regrettably took out one lizard and two small finches that crashed into the kangaroo bars of the vehicle. So sad, I hate killing wildlife. 

We take two days to drive the 1500 km. No longer do we spend 16 hours driving as we have in previous years. With cows, kangaroos and emus about, it's hazardous during dark hours as one never knows what's going to emerge from the scrub. We drive to opal mining town Coober Pedy and stay overnight at a motel. It's roughly half way but the southern South Australia section usually takes longer because of road works and an 110 km/hr speed limit. In the Territory it's 130 km/hr but I don't exceed 120 km/hr otherwise the fuel consumption skyrockets.

Our once-loved township has become overrun by Aboriginal youths creating havoc and crime and turning the place into an undesirable place to live. One has to live behind security screens, high fences and install security cameras and maintain vigilance when walking around the township.

The understaffed, demoralized police force can't keep up with the crime and the Labor Government seems impotent in dealing with it. It's simply getting worse as the bail provisions the government legislated to keep statistics of indigenous incarceration down, means that criminals are bailed at their first court appearance and let loose to continue offending. No penalty ensures continuation of behaviour. It seems to be on a par with some of the Democrat run states in the USA.

All three of our family will leave when the time is right. In the meantime, we plan to enjoy celebrating Tory's birthday and return to Tanunda before Christmas.

Stay well.

Robin

About time for an update

Robin's recent selfie

The last two years have been the least travelled of our lives (I think), if not, certainly of our later lives during which we have done a great deal of travel.

We have been keeping a low profile and neither of us has had the annoying and disruptive C19 bug but during the last couple of weeks we have had annoying coughs that have been harder than usual to shake off. Maybe it's something to do with age and the depleted immunity one suffers as one ages. 

We've both had four C19 innoculations and our annual Flu shot, but the cough still persists. Such is life.

Otherwise, Christina is heavily involved in craft and keeps busy travelling to and from this or that craft spot. I can never recall if it's embroidery, quilting, knitting, or something else. She's also treasurer of the Tanunda RSL sub-branch which provides a half day or so of financial processing most weeks. Then there are the barbecues and fundraising activities in which we are both involved, so it's not that we get bored - I often wonder how I had time to work - but we spend too much time at home and locally and not out and about our beautiful country.

My life is less busy but I do attend a Men's Shed Thursdays where I turn beautiful pieces of timber into ... other things, sometimes less beautiful. But I am improving. As you'd expect from an ex-training and education guru, I'm teaching myself to do stuff with wood using all the new tools that were never part of my existence all those decades ago when I welded underground machinery together at Peko Mine. And of course, I employ competency-based training methodologies. (Yes, my memory is still intact)

When I watch Anika on YouTube or read her Anikasdiylife blog and see what she's capable of, I wonder why it takes me 12 attempts to join two pieces of pine together with the same degree of accuracy she achieves. What makes it even more frightening is that she is a qualified electrical engineer, the farthest thing you could imagine from a wood butcher worker. She's brilliant.

Then there is the very attractive Korean girl Yang who, without saying a word, produces lovely pieces while incidentally displaying her stunning figure and providing a little entertainment. She's a true artisan and I hope she's a qualified tradesperson, otherwise she's a much more gifted amateur than you know who,

Other than the woodwork, I'm also heavily involved with the RSL Tanunda Sub-Branch as a committee member responsible for membership, grant applications and management, running the internet, being a barman, and doing a range of other things from picking up our Friday evening meals to vacuuming the floors of our hut. It's the usual 80/20 situation; 80% of members do nothing and the rest do everything.

Having said that however, Christina and I are among the younger people in the group. We have a WWII Founding Member of the sub-branch turning 100 years old in August 22. Many others are in their mid-late 80s or 90s, so we can't expect them to do too much of the heavy lifting. Our youngest veteran is 58 and has just retired from the Australian Army.

Unfortunately, younger veterans from the Middle East wars aren't joining the RSL so eventually our organisation looks like it will fizzle out.

As was to be expected with the Sun currently in one of its very low activity cycles - Solar Cycle 25, it is a colder than usual winter here in South Australia and we've also had an inordinate amount of rain on a too regular schedule. One positive is that we've been able to pull out some pullovers and jackets we've had for decades but never needed.  I think we are beginning to climatize after four years plus in the Barossa Valley.

Next year we have two Princess Cruises scheduled which are replacements for the 2020 trip we had planned up the Alaskan Passage that was cancelled when C19 became a pandemic. Before then, we'll probably take a trip to Alice Springs in November for grandson Tory's 21st birthday and may do a few trips to some local places just for three or four days.

Son Dale is commencing a new job at the Alice Springs Hospital in late August and is taking two weeks off, so we hope he'll visit us for the first time since we moved here. He's getting a second Cochlear implant sometime either late this year or next year but due to the C19 demands on the Darwin Hospital, elective surgery has been put on hold.

Meredith and Tory both seem okay and we hear from the former several times per week with updates on what is happening in their lives.

To conclude, we are all well and living the dream and forever mindful of the fact that despite the many people trying to destroy our history and corrupt our civilisation, Australia is still a great place to be.

Stay well.

Robin

All is quiet on the Southern Front

 

Sunset from our backyard

While things aren't so quiet in Ukraine, our family of two is leading a very calm life at Tanunda.

COVID-19 has slowed us as it has for billions of others. We haven't been on a cruise liner since early 2020; we haven't been anywhere really except for a two-day stint at Renmark that was rudely interrupted by a six-day SA state lockdown causing us to head home before it commenced.

We'd love to get away to either one or both of the SA peninsulas, however, we're busy with ANZAC Day preparations and a fund-raising Fashion Show that Christina is managing on behalf of the RSL.

Dale has been offered a second cochlear implant and has accepted, however, we don't know when it will be implanted because non-essential surgery at the Darwin Hospital has been suspended due to the C19 virus impact on hospital beds and staffing.

When he is given a date, we'll do what we did last time: drive to Alice Springs, pick up Dale, drive to Darwin and remain there while the surgery and follow-up are completed, and then reverse the trip. We'll spend some time at The Alice with Dale, Meredith and Tory before heading south again.

Post-operation, Dale isn't allowed to fly for a few weeks, so it all has to be done by driving. Additionally, he can't be expected to do it all alone, so Christina goes as his "carer" and Robin is the driver and odd-job, backup member of the team. We do get to spend some time with Dale.

We miss both of them being so far away after years living close-by and live in hope that one day they will move to South Australia. When Tory finishes his electrical apprenticeship, I'm sure he'll move somewhere, not necessarily south.

The Territory has a lot going for it at present with a lithium mine being developed, gas infrastructure, military expansion, an Albatross aircraft manufacturing factory being built, huge solar arrays to provide power for Darwin and Singapore underway, a tourist resort being built at Gove, Ammaroo ammonium nitrate fertiliser mine and processing plant, and finally, more copper and gold mining within the Barkly (Tennant Creek) region 500 km north of Alice Springs.

Robin lived at Peko Mine, a copper mine eight miles east of Tennant Creek from 1958-1965. He worked most of his school holidays with the Geopeko Exploration team exploring the region and identifying new mines, Gecko and Orlando. Now the area is being opened up again. That's great for the Territory and Australia.

If you don't mind oppressive humidity for most of the year, Darwin is the place to be as many "Mexicans" from Victoria and New South Wales are finding out as they move there in droves.

It's not all that exciting at Tanunda for we two retirees as it cools heading towards Southern Hemisphere Winter. But the sunsets are still enjoyable, the wine very drinkable, and the locals very friendly.

Life is good!

Robin and Christina