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Exchange to Australia in July 2004.
One Ambassador's experience.
July 8 - 15
Mt Barker Club, South Australia countryside very much like Northern New York State and Vermont with beautiful stone houses, built individually during a 200-year period. Central heating is not available; space heaters, electric blankets and infra red lights in bathrooms provide comfort during 32F/ 0C winter temperatures. Occasionally one could sense the cold breezes directly from the South Pole.
The town of Strathalbyn: Strathalbyn means white stream through a town; this natural winding beauty has been enhanced by bridges, tall trees, children's parks and the tall spires of churches and civil buildings. The original stores have been upgraded and are now dedicated to the selling of antiques. A developer has purchased a nearby farm and has planned to construct 400 homes, which might alter the charm and overwhelm the tax structure.
Visit to Signal Point, mouth of River Murray, tour of Museum, The River Murray is said to be one of the major rivers in the world crossing Australia, which incidentally is the same size as our United States. There are many demands for its water so that little reaches the ocean. This has been emphasized during the current three-year drought. Now the salt carrying ocean waters are moving higher into the riverbed. Extensive sand dredging is going on to deter this and to provide beautiful white sands for the beaches of Waikiki. This helps diminish the cost of the project.
Trip on Cockle Train along Fleurieu Peninsula
At one time, shellfish gatherers would take this ˜steam-ranger" past pine forests, across farmlands and coastal dunes. It is now both a family and tourist daytime treat.
Tour of the South Australia Whale Watch Centre.
We were treated to a film, a lecture and many displays on whales, but unfortunately no whales appeared offshore, even though July is in the middle of the whale season.
Trip to Cleland Wildlife Park to see lorikeets, Tasmanian devils, dingoes, swamp birds, pelicans, snakes, reptiles, koalas and some kangaroos. My hostess took us on a private tour where we petted the koalas and fed the ˜Roos".
Then at dusk that night we drove through the countryside on a kangaroo search much like seeking deer in Lake County, except that we were successful. Kangaroos tend to congregate at the Road's edge to nibble the grass and brush at the edge of the road where moisture accumulates during the brief fifteen-minute rains of droughts.
Visit to Adelaide to visit the Edwardian exhibit at the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Botanical Gardens.
Adelaide had a rather unique founding "by invitation only " so that there is a sense of graciousness in its hilly residential areas and quality as a university town, center for museums, botanical gardens, and even farmer's market. When we visited the art exhibit, some of the locals had even dressed up in period costumes.
The botanical gardens include acres of naturalized forests "typical of the original bush" even to having singing kookaburras in the trees. These designated nature preserves or National Parks predate those in the States.
Free tram tour of Adelaide. Stop by at the local market to purchase kangaroo meat and fresh produce. I thought the 'roo' meat had a gamey smell which hindered my enjoyment of the cooked product but the produce, by contrast, was so fresh that the enticing odors enhanced my pleasure in the dining table dishes.
Tour of the Bleasdale Winery and a visit to another winery, which also has acres dedicated to growing proteus plants. Those are actually indigenous to South Africa. Australians appear to consume, water, tea and wine little in the way of soft drinks. They seem to prefer those with Shiraz on the label.
Night tour to observe the Southern Cross. There was minimal lighting in Strathalbyn so that the night sky was most appealing. The Southern Cross is on the national flag but it had to be pointed out as we could see so many other constellations visible in the sky.
Daytime tour of park dedicated to salvaging and breeding endangered animal species whose native climate is similar to South Australia. This included the American buffalo. The trip was undertaken in a school bus that had to enter a double gate type enclosure to prevent the escape of the breeding stock.
Farewell dinner
July 15 - 22
Gold Coast Club, Queensland
"very much like Miami" posh homes, high rises.
Cruise of Runaway Bay Marine with stop at South Stradbroke Island Resort. We took a tractor ride to the beach and had a lunch of fish and chips. The immensity of the ocean was apparent providing a sensation not unlike that of Jones Beach at Long Island, New York. Shell collecting was very easy.
Brunch at Currumbin; walking tour of resort area. Pot luck dinner at seaside home. Flat boat tour of the canals. Group pictures.
Visit to local market to purchase sheepskin. This was an immaculate farmers market where produce, foodstuffs, plants and even clothing were sold.
Meeting and lunch with Gold Coast Mayor, Ron Clarke, former Olympic Gold Medal winner.
Participation in tree planting ceremony at Botanical Gardens
Tour of Carlton Brew House. The displays were most informative but the modernized brewery lacked the charm of those in Milwaukee.
Visit to Tropical Fruit World and Research Centre. Tour of acres of fruit trees; train ride to visit small animal zoo, which included emus, which come unexpectedly close and steal food. The lecture and demonstration of the variety of tropical fruits by the plant geneticist was the high light of this stop over.
Sightseeing at Point Danger where the Japanese in WW II sank many Allied ships. All were listed, including one from Guatemala and another from Yugoslavia. The loss of life was carefully annotated. I found this so moving that I prefer to not dwell on it.
Day in Brisbane, a pretty city tastefully laid out. This is where Mac Arthur set up his headquarters during WW II.
Public transportation appears to be taken seriously. A five-dollar (Senior) round trip ticket included unlimited bus and ferry trips inside all the major cities I visited. Frequent bus service to the train station was available from the communities where I stayed but in each case my hostess elected to drive and park for a fee. Many times throughways and bypasses were pointed out as being more evidence of the generosity of the Americans during WW II. Too many times these same hostesses would refuse to let me pay my fair share, all because of their gratitude for American kindness.
A favorable American-Australian trade agreement was being touted on television and in the newspapers during my visit.
Australian concern about the open beach borders was mentioned several times, but they were convinced that the Americans were, again, helping with that. There is spoken fear of radical Moslems in Indonesia.
By contrast, many spoke of the delights of visiting Viet Nam, Thailand and Cambodia. Local Thai restaurants are among the favorites and Thai recipes were prepared by each of my hostesses.
July 22 - 29 Sydney Club, New South Wales stayed in St. Ives, much like Highland Park. Homey atmosphere, but extremely high real estate prices.
Walking tour of Hyde Park Barracks, Queens Square, and Sydney Hospital. All of these original buildings have been tastefully gentrified, but there are most realistic displays of the original squalor inside, even to a cage of living rats to commemorate those once abundant mammals.
Visit to the Sydney Art gallery, lecture on indigenous art. The aborigines have a rather unique style viewing all representation from above.
Lunch at Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, a look out point. Walked past the Opera house to take a ferry to the Aquarium. Aborigine street musicians and dancers were providing abundant entertainment along the way.
Tour of private camellia gardens. I learned so much about those beautiful plants, which are also the source of tea, something never mentioned in China.
Visit to a commercial nursery. The Australians are now pushing hybridized versions of their native plants, many of which are incredibly beautiful.
Matinee performance of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs. Those Aussie mastered the
Brooklyn dialect.
Coach trip to Canberra with visits to National Museum, War Memorial, and New Parliament House. Tour of Embassy row including the Aborigine Embassy, a typical structure built of branches.
Day trip to Blue Mountains with side trip to the Paragon candy shop, two resorts and the purse museum.
I have seen the Grand Canyon only from a plane so this Australian natural wonder left me eraptured. It is a three-hour drive from metropolitan Sydney. Do not miss it.
Train ride into Sydney with tour of the Rocks, the original settlement of Sydney. Walk across the Harbor Bridge, the clone of Goethels bridge on Staten Island.
Immersion in the wonders of the Barrier Reef courtesy of the Sydney Aquarium. This visit costs $25.00, and was money very well spent. It took me three hours to view all the live exhibits in a nondescript building that is adjacent to the harbor on Point Darling, reached by taking a ferry. All the funds have been spent on the interior displays. It is breathtaking.
Visit to the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney's renovation building, now the most upscale shopping area. I enjoyed a cappuchino and a slice of cream filled cake. The Australians have a love affair with this Italian coffee drink. Every hostess had either an elaborate mechanized apparatus or a small hand agitated one to prepare that treat each afternoon. (I need to see if I can find the $30.00 version locally as I have been hooked.) I must mention that all the varied forms of cream; clotted, whipped, etc., were most tasty, possibly because the local cattle are grass fed twelve months of the year.
The shortage of water has been handled quite well with covered tanks that collect all rainwater from the roof to be stored and reused in clever plumbing. The toilets have a dual flush system depending upon the product being eliminated. The kitchen sink has a separate faucet for potable water. The gutters have slits in the top to handle heavy storms so that the drainpipes are not overwhelmed and the excess water can be distributed to all the flower beds.
They also have a unique hanging clothesline, which can be attached to the side of the house, placed in the garage or built into a breezeway. It folds away against a vertical surface when not in use.
I have not spoken about the many meals taken with my hosts, day hosts and sometimes with the whole group. It would take too many words and pages to describe their generosity, kindness and the pleasure I had just being with them. It was almost overwhelming.
All in all it was a wonderful Exchange, and my hosts and all the other members of the Australian clubs who became my instant friends, will never be forgotten. I will return!
Return to Recent Exchanges
Click the words below to view other pages!!
Club Profile
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Home Page
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20th Anniversary
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