Addendum

Shortly before getting on the train to the airport, I passed by this internet cafe and felt a final message may be in order (especially since this thing just robbed me of a buck). The congress yesterday was fantastic. The opening ceremony in the great lecture hall featured interpretive dancing by an aboriginal couple, a serenade by a charming children's choir, a greeting from an aboriginal elder, and greetings from archival leaders from all over the world. I am embarassed to admit that the final portion of the ceremony called the children back on stage where they performed a beautiful rendition of "Waltzing Matilda" that made my eyes water. (Fortunately it was dark in the auditorium.) Then there were the speeches from the Archivist of the United States, the head of the National Archives of Australia, and other dignitaries. I even sat in on a speech from a Chinese archivist where they passed out earphones and transmitters so you could hear a woman translating his words. The lunch was a real gourmet affair, but it was served in the exhibition all where the seating was inadequate. I talked to a lot of the vendors and met a lot of nice people, but my fever came back and I really had to rest the time between lunch and my speech at 4:00 pm. Once I got on the podium, my discomfort evaporated, and the audience reaction was delightful. I can say without boasting it was one of the better performances I have ever had at a professional conference, and a few in the audience crowded around me afterwards to chat. I really enjoyed it, but I was drained beyond belief before getting on the train to the hotel. Now I feel somewhat better, facing this ordeal of travel with a modicum of confidence. Goodbye Australia, you were good to me again.

Too Much Fun

I think the last three weeks has finally caught up with me, and on this last day in Oz I have to work. I am currently at the Brisbane Convention Center, a cavernous building on the city's south side that is large enough to host several conventions at once. After coming down with a cold, and feeling really dragged out yesterday, I nevertheless set out from my hotel to see where the convention center was located and to have a last stroll around the city. By the time I got back to the hotel I was beat, and I spent the entire evening in my room watching television and feeling horrible. This morning I was somewhat better, but I knew I could not walk here so I took the train. So far the meeting has been pretty interesting, with over a thousand archivists in attendance from all over the world. My speech is scheduled for four o'clock this afternoon, and although I feel somewhat feverish I think I will be able to do it. It's just a matter of trying to take it easy and staying cool until the hour of trial since I cannot return to the hotel. I would suggest a meat pie for lunch, but somehow I think I have had all the Four 'N Twenties I can eat for one trip, and probably guzzled enough Coopers to last me for months. Today its just juice and something light, and hopefully I can give a good performance. Tomorrow I go to the airport with bags of swag from the convention, and the whole vacation, and I hope I can carry it all.

Super Saturday Football

I am tapping out this dispatch in the Brisbane train station where I linger for a while awaiting the time when I can check into my hotel. I arrived here after an all night journey in a private railway berth which I made extra cozy by using my little portable MP3 player and stereo booster. While watching the countryside roll by, I was listening to the Beatles and the Pure Prairie League and reflecting on my time in the country thus far. The last day with Ronald was dominated by sport. We lounged around the house in the morning (or at least I lounged; Ronald had to clean up the house before Jane got home) and then in the afternoon we made our way down to the Warringah Rats oval for a live rugby game between the Rats and the Penrith Emus. It was a rather intimate affair, for the day was blustery and the crowd light. We managed to get good seats as a result, under the stadium cover and blocked from the wind. The game turned out to be a lopsided affair, with the Emus only scoring once close to the end of the game, while the Rats piled up try after try. As soon as that game was done, we went back to Ronald's house where we tuned into the NRL games and cooked a nice batch of pork ribs for dinner. The games did not conclude until about nine fifteen, and we were both ready to sleep soundly after that. The next morning we did more lounging before Ronald drove me to the Central Railway station in Sydney to catch my train here. Now I will need to get my act together for the conference tomorrow, going over my speech and planning how I will get all this stuff back on the airplane for the trip home.

Rock of Ages

Writer Bill Bryson observed that Australia is a country of clubs, and it is true that every city has a selection of RSL or social clubs offering entertainment, food, and drink to its members. Yesterday I had the great experience of attending such a club with one of its newest members (Ronald) and I can only say it was positive to the nth degree. Before I explain myself, I must recap events from earlier in the day. I wanted to see Wyatt one more time before I left the country and arranged to meet him in the city for lunch. To do so, I took the bus from Narrabeen down to the Manly Wharf to catch the ferry, not because it is the fastest way but because it was such a beautiful morning that I wanted to log in one more cruise across this beautiful harbor. Before the ferry left, I noticed a bunch of people sitting around the Manly Anzac monument and realized they were having a memorial service, complete with veterans and military cadets in uniform. It was Vietnam Memorial Day, and it was with mixed feelings that I paused to pay my respects to a country that shared that hopeless military adventure with us. Once in the city, I got a text from Wyatt saying he could meet me at the Town Hall rail station, so I hied myself there in short order. It was familar ground since it is the stop one would take if going to the Queen Victoria Building, Chinatown, or Paddy's Market. Once Wyatt joined me, I suggested we stroll down towards the Central railway station because I recalled seeing an interesting store in that area that I wanted to show him. The weather turned ugly then, with howling winds and leaden skies that threatened rain, which made me decide then and there to take a bus all the way back to Narrabeen rather than return by ferry. We arrived at the store, which was a military surplus/reenactors supply house with all kinds of uniforms and edged weapons from the Crusades to the present, and we had a nice conversation with the proprietor who showed us the pride of his offerings, an 1861 Colt rifle musket, manufactured for Civil War use but apparently never fired. It was in mint condition, with the original burnished finish and all markings as clear as the day they were stamped on the metal and wood. I have never seen an original musket in such pristine condition. We then made our way to a "hotel" where we had a nice pub lunch of chicken schnitzel and prawns. Wyatt was great company, and we said our goodbyes with true affection on both sides. I made my way back to Narrabeen on an express bus with limited stops, and I got a pizza at Dominos for our dinner. Then, Ronald and I went to the Beach Club at Colloroy for a night of "clubbing." It is hard to explain the concept of an Australian club to Americans because such institutions are not found in our cities, a place where people gather to socialize as much as to drink, to enjoy discounts on food, and to just generally have a good time. Tonight the entertainment was the Steve Edmonds band, a trio that featured a guitar player of unusual skill who specialized in the "oldies," (in other words, music that Ronald and I grew up with). This guy played Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, ZZ tops, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, and so many more, all presented with enough variations to put the band's own stamp on these classics. While we had our beers and enjoyed the music, I could not help noticing the diversity of the people enjoying the show. It was not a large crowd for a Friday night, but there were young folks, old folks, and everyone in between just having a ball. There was a large group of people who had some Downs Syndrome young adults with them and not only did it seem entirely appropriate for them to be in this venue, they also danced with wild abandon to the classic rock and roll belting out from the band. The whole experience was not exactly one of community per se, but certainly felt like one of belonging, and I was happy to be a part of it. Since Ronald and I had taken a cab to the club (driven by a very chatting Oz lady who discounted her fare), we were able to have all the beer and cider we felt like drinking. By chance, when we left the club the bus home arrived to pick us up within three minutes, so it was the perfect ending to an evening of classic rock, and Australian culture.

Garden of Earthly Delights

On Wednesday we decided to ride the bus all the way into the Central Railway station in Sydney so we could have lunch at Chinatown and waste an hour or two wandering through Paddy's Market. The latter location is a popular shopping destination for anyone looking for cheap Asian made electronics, tee shirts, and "authentic" Australian souvenirs. It was not very crowded; many of the stalls were closed, but we still got an overdose of material goods that dazzled the eye and tempted the wallet. Ronald and I both got some fruit before frittering away a few dollars on lesser items, and then made our way to the dark passageway of Chinatown. I doubt one could fit another restaurant in between the dozens that line this particular walkway in Sydney, and we made our choice based on Ron's memory and navigation skills. The beef noodles were more than I could eat, and were served with soup and tea, all for a rather low price. The couple sitting next to us spent considerably more, and it was amazing to see how much those Asian octogenarians could put away. One nice thing about this trip was our ability to have a few drinks, since the ride home was taken care of by the bus driver. After an evening of the "Amazing Race, Australia" where we saw the good guy team win, we decided on Thursday to head back to the Blue Mountains. This was a considerable drive, but we made our way to the Mount Tomah Botanical Gardens, a really beautiful patch of land high on the slopes overlooking the land to the east. It was stunning, especially considering the fact that the plants are in the dead of winter, yet many are still blooming. There were plants from all over the world, and a great little creek and waterfall system flowing through the heart of it. My favorite part was our journey through the "Jungle," a deep green cavern of trees and vines that was cool and dark even at midday. The forest seemed almost like a scene from the beginning of the world, and it was a great little walk.

After lunch, we pushed on to the "town" of Bell (which is actually an intersection with an abandoned gas station) because it seemed to be the heart of the area designated as the sister city of Flagstaff, Arizona. However, we came to realize that the sister city is actually the Blue Mountains and all the communities within its precincts, which includes Katoomba, Leora, and a host of other mountain hamlets. As such, this is the second time I have paid respects to the sibling metropolis of my undergraduate location, the first being the nights Jayne and I stayed in Katoomba in February 2011.

Bases Covered

What a great couple of days it has been. Ronald has been an outstanding host and has laid a table that would win him big points on the popular television show, "Come Dine With Me." He has also performed above and beyond the call of duty as my driver for a variety of local attractions. On Monday morning we did a few errands (including picking up a bottle of absinthe and a box of sugar cubes) and then made our way to the West Head section of the local national park. This lovely area is not far from Ronald's house, but it is like a drive back into the bush with great vistas and a lot of wildlife. We saw a pretty cute little wallaby along side the road and birds aplenty before stopping at the lookout that is opposite the Barrenjoey Lighthouse which I chose for the first of today's pictures. After we returned home, I took a hand at cooking and prepared some edible beef curry. Yesterday our journey took a more ambitious turn with an extended spiritual sojourn to Wollongong and the giant Buddhist Temple. Before we even left the house we listened to the Hari Krishna chanting on Ron's battery operated Hindu alarm clock so we could be sure to hit more than one religion in a day. The drive down to the "Gong" was very lengthy and required us to go entirely across the Sydney CBD, but once we were on the other side Ronald chose to steer the car into the Royal National Park. It was a real pleasure to see the place again, and to travel the road that goes across the top of the reserve before it heads south to Wollongong. The place really is beautiful, with thousands of acres of green bushland and broken terrain. Once we came out on the other side, we followed a coastal road where the highway is actually on stilts set out from the sheer rock cliff that faces the sea. When we arrived at the temple I was unprepared for how large the complex was and how beautiful. It looked like a miniature Forbidden City, complete with a large courtyard and adjacent pagoda. The actual worship areas were unavailable for photography, of course, but I did managed to sneak a shot of an incredible carving from wood that defies one's definition of the possible in art. Hundreds of little, detailed characters interwoven into a crowed tableau that one could have stared at for hours and not seen it all, and carved from a single block of wood about four feet long. We made our way to the dining hall where a twelve dollar vegetarian lunch was offered, and I had a hard time reconciling my reaction to the bounty heaped upon my plate with the concept of "vegetarian cuisine." There was a califlower carrot sauce mix with slices of fried tofu that tasted exactly like chicken breast; a mixture of celery and brown sauce that included chunks that tasted very much like beef, some fried bok choy, and the standard bowl of rice. It was almost more than we could eat! After we left the temple we retraced our steps back to the northern beaches of Sydney, but we did not return to the house until Ronald made one more spiritual detour. The Ba'hai Temple that rests upon a mountain a few miles from Narrabeen was our target, and we went from two men with no clue about the faith to informed pilgrims in the space of eighteen minutes, thanks to an orientation film the staff showed us. The temple itself was not anything near as elaborate as the Gong complex, but it is still an interesting building of nine entrances under a lofty dome. We paid our respects and returned home where we enjoyed a delicious meal from a flattened "chook" (chicken) that we had purchased at the Devitt Meat Market. After a couple of glasses of absinthe, I fell into a peaceful slumber and woke this morning satisfied that we had covered three significant religious movements in one day.

Revisionist History

On Saturday night I met Wyatt and Shelly for an evening of revisionist history. They arrived in Manly in the early afternoon, having driven up from their home in Engadine, and we had some coffee on the Corso before starting out. I was suprised they wanted to go all the way into Chatswood, a section of north Sydney, but they had their reasons as I soon discovered. Within the shopping mall they took me was a sushi restaurant where all the little dishes parade around in front of the counter-seated diners along a conveyor belt, and there was an unbelievable number of strange and truly beautiful treats to enjoy. Being an old fart, I am squeamish about eating raw fish, but there was plenty of cooked crab and chicken rolls to sample, along with a really tasty pair of pork "potstickers" that were delicious. I also ate my first soft shelled crab, which was like a toothsome fried insect that made me yearn for more. After this repast we made our way to the movie theater where we were educated on the real course of American history by watching "Abraham Lincoln; Vampire Hunter." I cannot describe this film adequately, and must simply say it was the most pretentious, silly thing I ever recall watching. Honest Abe as an axe-wielding Nija taking on the dark forces which had aligned with Jefferson Davis made me giggle uncontrollably in the dark theater, perhaps to the annoyance of some Aussies around us who took the whole thing far too seriously. On Sunday morning Ronald came and picked me up at the bungalow, driving me up to his comfortable home in Narrabeen. We spent the afternoon getting provision (rum, beer, and a little food) and then settled in for a double rugby game broadcast on the television. Poor Ronald had to watch his Broncos get stomped again, but it was old news for me having seen them get a terrible thrashing before when I went to the game in Brisbane. In all, a most enjoyable day.