Closing in

We are now closing in on the final days of fall and entering into the winter season.  We don't think that any of the indigenous trees drop leaves in the fall, but some of the imported ones do.  We have seen a couple of trees with no leaves, but we have not seen a tree that has fall colours.  The closest we have seen to a tree that looks autumnal is some kind of import, pictured below (we don't know what kind of tree it is).  We have also noticed that the Frangipani trees drop their leaves, but they don't change colour first.  One day there are leaves, the next day, nothing.  The whole "fall" thing just doesn't happen here.

"Fall" Colours

Frangipani trees with no leaves...the other trees don't seem too concerned about autumn

In addition to "fall" not meaning the same thing here as it does in other places, we were also confused last week by the end of the world on May 21. The world didn't end (obviously) but was that supposed to be May 21 at noon GMT?  Maybe noon EST?  That makes it the next day here, so we are going to need some clarification on this.  Maybe the doomsdayers could let us know what time the world is ending in each country and make it clear if the world ends at the same time everywhere or maybe at the same time in each time zone, so that the world would end in Brisbane half and hour before it does in Adelaide, but an hour after Sydney.  Let's just make sure that we are all playing the same game here!

And speaking of playing games, last Wednesday was the first game in the three game series "State of Origin" rugby match.  This is a three game contest that takes place every year between the best players born in Queensland and the best players born in New South Wales.  Before game one there were all kinds of commercials about "winning this one for Locky" or "let's do it for Lockyer".  If you cast your memories back to early in the year, the Lockyer Valley was one of the areas devastated by floods.  We thought that the match was raising funds for relief efforts, or something like that.  No.  Not even close!  "Lockyer" is the name of a player for Queensland who is retiring and this is his last series.  Talk about mis-interpretation!  We were laughed at severely for even suggesting it.  At least we know what "fall" really is.

Jazz hands

We have been trying to get out to different areas of the city now that we are so much more familiar with our own suburb.  In the New Farm suburb there is an arts centre (The Powerhouse) that features free concerts every week, with a rotation of musical styles.  On Saturday night we went to hear some live jazz.  We were completely blown away by the talent and we found out later that the jazz quintet is very highly revered and normally sells out concert halls, not give free concerts in small venues.  What a treat to hear that quality of music in a small setting, enjoying a glass of wine (or two) before dinner.

Saturday night Jazz at the Powerhouse

It is now more than 4 months since the floods.  One of the hardest hit areas was our suburb, Milton.  Walking past the Milton School on Sunday, we noticed that someone had spray-painted the water level on a utility pole.  This is an area that is about 1km from the river, it just happens to be a bit of a catchment area.  Seeing this reminded us of why there are some businesses that still aren't open.

The white line at JB's hand marks the peak water level

This week has been full of crazy news!  First there were all the stories about "planking", which neither of us understood, then there was the terrible stories out of Slave Lake and the wildfires that destroyed the town and finally we had deja vu all over again: didn't Iceland just have a volcano last year that disrupted air traffic?  Iceland needs a time-out until they learn to control those things!

After the game

Centre field at Woolloongabba Stadium

One really fun thing here is that the Australian Rules Footbal League encourages participation by kids.  At halftime of every game, the field is taken over by about 8 - 10 teams of kids under the age of 10.  They get a chance to play on the big field in front of the crowd and everyone cheers them on.  There are porbably a few kids that are really excited about playing, and thinking about giving their first interview 15 years in the future and talking about how their playing life was changed at the age of 8, the first time they got on a real field.  Most of the kids that we have seen are a bit more intersted in looking at the grass or chasing bugs.  Nobody is thinking about interviewing those kids!

The other fun thing is that after every game the field is open to the fans.  Anyone can go down and run around the field and kick a ball around.  Lots of people practice kicking or, for the unfortunate few, being tackled.  The only part of the field that is sacred is the centre rectangle (cordoned off by the red and white tape in the picture).  That is the pitching area for cricket and, although it is run over several times during a game, the riff raff are not allowed to stand on the grass.

There are lots of parents taking the kids down to put them through a few plays, there are girls and boys hoping to meet up and there are few people who have had a few too many, mostly just falling down.  We can't help but think how entertaining it would be, given the amount of beer that is consumed, to have fans out ono the ice after a hockey game!

Gentle Fall

It is hard to believe that we are only one month from the start of winter.  It really doesn't look too different from the end of summer or start of spring.  We must be acclimating though, because right now a high of only 23C means that JB needs a sweater (or jumper, as they are called here) when she goes outside.  This is a far cry from debating whether or not it is necessary to wear a toque when it is "only" -15C!

Story Bridge from Eagle St Pier

There are still plenty of things to do in the "cooler" weather.  We have seen lots of people climbing the cliff face at Kangaroo Point and sea-dooing is always popular.  There is always activity going on around the river and the Southpark swimming area is now ~75% open.   Everything looks like it is back to normal, it is so easy to forget about all of the damage that was done by the flood waters.  We still see places with signs letting patrons know that they will soon be open, and we see signs that just say "Thank-you Brisbane" right above another sign that says "For Lease".

Kamgaroo Point Cliffs

Sea-dooing on the Brisbane River

The only way that we really know that it is autumn is that our air-conditioner/heater unit has actually turned to heat a couple of times.  We can't quite figure out how it works: if we set it at 23C then the air-con won't kick in, but the heat will.  If we set it to 20C then the heat won't come on, but the air-con will.  It is not a problem that we were used to having in Calgary.

The Sparkly Brisbane River

If all of this doesn't grab you and make you want to move to Brisbane, then maybe the lead article in the on-line Calgary Herald will.  We have certainly noticed that there are a lot of Canadians here, and apparently Australia is looking for even more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Aussies+court+skilled+workers+Alberta+labour+crunch+looms/4746480/story.html

Civic Duty

As soon as it was announced that there would be a federal election, we dutifully sent off for our absentee ballots, filled them out and mailed them back to Canada.  Not many people living overseas do this, there isn't much time to order the ballots and they need to arrive in plenty of time to mail them back.  So, by voting while overseas we were most likely in the minority...unlike the Conservative Party of Canada. 
It is tough to be overseas during an election and to have any sense of participation.  We are eligible to vote in Canada if we have lived overseas for less than 5 years or, if we have been overseas for more than 5 years, if there is clear indication that we will be moving back (this is mostly for soldiers and their families stationed overseas).
Another way we are in the minority, or maybe the minor-majority, is that we actually voted, regardless of where we live.  In Australia it is illegal not to vote.  An Australian can spoil his or her ballot, but everyne must vote or pay a fine.  The fine isn't huge, but it gets most people out to the polls.
Given the events of yesterday, the election in Canada is not big news here.  Every newspaper, internet site and news station is full of news about the death of Osama bin Laden.  After seeing the news stories we find it hard to accept that none of the villagers seeing the comings and goings from the compound didn't figure out that a fugitive of some kind was hiding out there, but that is easy to say when you are living safely like we are.
Another surpising thing in the news right now is that after all the floods and foul weather in this part of the world, plus two earthquakes in Christchurch, there was a tornado today in Aukland.  And this is the dry season!

Endeavour

A replica of Captain Cook's sailing ship the Endeavour is making its way around Australian waters and is presently in Brisbane.  It was built in Australia, and is one of the world's most accurate maritime reproductions.  The ship is circumnavigating Australia and will recreate one of the Endeavour's voyages.

In April 1770, the Endeavour became the first seagoing vessel to reach the east coast of Australia, culminating with Cook's landing at Botany Bay (Sydney) and laying claim for the British.  After Botany Bay they sailed north along the Queensland coast, eventually running aground in the shallow waters of the Great Barrier Reef, which required 2 months of repair work.

With a crew of 94 men and being at sea for nearly 3 years, we expected the Endeavour to be larger than it actually was.  Those were some cramped quarters!  None the less, what a beautiful sailing ship, representing a significant piece of history.

In keeping with the Imperial theme of the weekend, we were able to watch the entire Royal Wedding, which started at 8pm here.  Although Australia is much more republican than Canada, the Royal Wedding was celebrated across the country.  It was even shown in pubs!