Hold onto your babies!

The dingoes go for a walk.  Watch out, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Part 4

Some other animal encounters:

I told him leg first was not going to work . . .

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Part 3

Members of our group feeding kangaroos and wallabies.  Later this evening, back at the restaurant connected to the hostel, some kangaroos would involuntarily, and more directly, return the favor . . .

Good Charlie hard at work:

 We had them eating from our hands:

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Part 2

There is no truth to the rumour that the Hostel staff put this sign on the door of one of our students' rooms:

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Part 1

What do Pope John Paul, Marilyn Manson and Jackie Chan have in common?  I am so glad you asked:

The Blue Mountains, and Canberra: some darned good ideas

Blogging has been slow, it appears.  In spite of threats and cajoling the students have not begun to share their two cents yet.  Perhaps the next quiz will have to be harder.

We had a wonderful day trip to the Blue Mountains on Friday, at least I think it was Friday.  My personal goal is to know what day of the week it is on at least three occasions before the course concludes.  Our guides from the Australian National Park Service shared a lot of information with us, especially regarding Aboriginal uses of the land and the role of fire in shaping the landscape.  Much like the American national parks, those in Australia have a long and complicated history that involves mining and other resource extractions, dispossession of natives, and the development of a taste for scenery.  But that is another class.  Here are some images from our trek into the rainforest:

 

Yesterday (which may well have been Saturday) we took a lovely and relaxing bus ride from Sydney to Canberra, Australia's Capital.  Perhaps the most notable event was what did not happen.  Good Charlie and I were sitting in the front of the bus when, about 75 kilometers short of our destination, a kangaroo hopped out of the bush directly into our path.  It was the first hopper we had seen outside of the zoo and, for a brief second or two it looked like his reward for showing himself to us would be the end of his days.  Somehow, the bus missed him and he hopped off into the bush on the other side.  I hope that is a good omen.

The story of how Canberra came to be the Capital City is fascinating in its own right.  You can find the relevant details on Wikipedia, of course, but here it is in brief:

Travel back in time to 1901:

"Hey, guys, let's be a country!"

"Sounds great.  Where should the capital be?"

"Sydney, of course."

"Dunh, Melbourne of course."

"Sydney."

"Melbourne."

"OK, OK, let's compromise.  We'll pick a place in the middle between Sydney and Melbourne, pretty much the middle of nowhere, and make the capital there."

"Excellent idea!"

And so, more or less, it went.

Like another nation's capital I once read about--I believe it is called Washington D.C.--Canberra is a planned city, though its planning continues into the present.  Think of Pierre L'Enfant crossed with Frederick Law Olmsted and you get something of the idea of  Walter Burley Griffin's plan for the Australian capital city. Like so many individuals in the Australian story (and the American story, if I may), Griffin--who worked with the well-known American architect Frank Lloyd Wright--is a fascinating character whose life story has a number of intriguing twists and turns.  Hint # 1: do not fall in love with your boss's sister, especially when your boss is Frank Lloyd Wright.  Hint # 2: when the going gets tough, go to Australia and design its new capital city.  Below is the view of the central axis, from Mt. Ainslee, linking the War Memorial with the Parliament building.

We learned a lot about the functioning of Australia's parliament from our host, who expressed great envy for the change of seasons he once observed on a trip to New England and upstate New York in the Autumn.  So there: they envy us in Australia.  Here we are filing in to the chamber for the House of Representatives.  Apparently they have no filibusters and the sound gets cut off after 15 minutes.  Anyone else think that is a good idea?

Final note for now: while I found today to be the most informative and, yes, fascinating day of the class--the view from Mount Ainslee, a tour of Parliament House, a tour of the U. S. Embassy grounds, and a visit to the Australian War Memorial and Anzac Parade--two pieces of our day stand out rather profoundly as indicators of a rather impressive national trait, if there are such things.  As something of an afterthought, our bus driver took us on a quick tour of the National Arboretum a relatively new public space in Canberra.  Responding to a severe bush fire that destroyed 500 homes and the better part of a pine plantation, the government, with much public support, decided to transform the area into a vast public tree museum dedicated to growing and displaying trees from around the world that  are on the United Nation's "Redlist" of trees with endangered conservation status.  The trees are mere saplings now, acres of saplings.  It will be decades before they achieve maturity and the impressive visual effect that the designers intended to be realized by one hundred forests of rare and endangered (and, by then perhaps, otherwise extinct) trees of the world.  The grandchildren of current citizens might enjoy the fruits of these labors.  And yet, the people of Canberra and Australia have dedicated the resources to this most admirable of long-term projects.  Pretty darn impressive.

And then there is the Attaturk Memorial on the Anzac Parade.  A leader of the Turkish army that opposed the Australian (and British and New Zealand) forces landing at Gallipoli in April of 1915--an engagement that was unspeakably deadly--Attaturk is not the first person to come to mind when thinking about who might be honored at Australia's War Memorial.  He was, after all, the leader of the enemy forces.  Yet he is given a place of honor on the walk, close to the museum itself, a measure I think of . . . well, you can work that out for yourself.  For a soundtrack, listen to The Pogues rendition of "And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda."

The Charlies' Phone Numbers

Here are the phone numbers in Australia for Charlie Jacobson and Charlie Mitchell:

Charlie Mitchell:  011-61-4-0643-6055
Charlie Jacobson:  011-61-4-2304-0297

Those are the numbers to use if you are calling from the USA.  (011 accesses international, 61 is the country code for Australia).  For people dialing within Australia:


Charlie Mitchell:  04-0643-6055
Charlie Jacobson:  04-2304-0297

PLEASE NOTE!  There is a 14-hour time difference.  When it is 12 noon in New York, it is 2 am in Sydney.  Please only use these numbers for emergencies.  We will switch our phones off during course events; if you get voice mail, leave us a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.

More avian and other fauna (with some flora)

Arachnophobes beware (and be sure to ask Rachel Seweryniak about her interesting theory regarding the flesh-eating daddy long legs, evolving in a garden bed near you).  And that tree is a ficus.  See what happens when you do not over- water?  All in a morning's walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Australian pigeons

Though exotic by Central Park standards (and pretty cool however you look at it) the Australian White Ibis has become something of an urban pest, begging to be fed much like pigeons and ducks do

.

From Mrs. Macquarie Point

Looking toward the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge.  You might just about make out some of our group doing the bridge climb.  Rumors (or, as they would say here, rumours) of their smuggling up bungee jumping equipment have not been verified.

Aquarium Photos

Some photos from the Aquarium visit of 24 April:

A sea dragon

Anemone, clown fish, and some damsel fish

Wide-angle view of Reef aquarium

Green mangrove frog

Rays

Charlie J.

Cooking with Vegemite, part 1: Bacon-vegetable stir-fry with noodles

I decided that I would make it a project this year to learn to cook with Vegemite, a food product peculiar to Australia.  Made from mixing the by-products beer-making with a lot of salt and vegetable extracts, it sounds as though it would not be very appetizing -- and it is an acquired taste.  It has the appearance and texture of Nutella, and so Americans often make the mistake of spreading it on like peanut butter, far too much!!  It is nutritious; with a lot of B vitamins, the combination of of a breakfast that includes a cup of coffee or tea along with toast and Vegemite probably has an effect similar to that of one of those 5-hour energy boost shots.

Australians do put it on toast, or make sandwiches -- but just as both Marmite and especially Bovril find other uses in the kitchen, it only makes sense that Vegemite could be used in the same way.  Indeed, there is a recipe from a Native school for a stew for the children that included a fair amount of Vegemite as seasoning.  And one can find several sites with recipes, so I am not flying totally blind.

So, here's the first one, a bacon-vegetable stir-fry with Ramen noodles:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 strips bacon
• carrot
• baby bok choy
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• 1 package Ramen noodles or other noodle (don't use seasoning)
• curry powder to taste
• 1 Tbsp Vegemite
• 1 pat butter (optional)

Procedure:

• Saute bacon until crisp.  Coarsely crumble and set aside.  Retain bacon fat in pan.  
• Stir-fry carrots and bok choy in same pan.  
• Add crumbled bacon and keep warm.  
• Cook noodles according to package directions.  
• Add noodles and about 1/4 cup of the cooking water to the stir-fry mixture; reduce heat somewhat.  
• Stir in the peanuts.
• Add Vegemite and curry powder, stir until smooth.  
• Top with a pat of butter and stir in to thicken the sauce a bit.  

What I made served me.

Critique:

• It was not bad, for a first attempt.  The dish was far less salty that I supposed it would be, considering it had bacon, Vegemite, and a pat of salted butter.  
• The butter was unnecessary.  The Vegemite thickened up nicely.  
• The sauce coated the vegetables well.  
• One could drain the bacon crumble and replace the bacon fat with a 'good' oil like olive or canola.  
• Ramen noodles were quick and convenient, but a heartier noodle would work better.  One could omit the noodles altogether and put this over rice.  
• I like curry powder, but this would be fine with a little garlic, ginger, something hot like a pepper, and perhaps some basal for a Thai overtone.  

So, we're off to a good start.

--Charlie J.

Soon to be weary travelers

After a day at the beach. Lesson #1: put sunscreen on all exposed surfaces.

Packing, Rehearsal number 9....Ugh!!!

Next stop

That way . . . (looking southwest from Santa Monica)

Packing, rehearsal one

Where is my shark repellant?

Day not quite one

So here is where it all begins, with me learning how to blog.  Good thing I am not the Qantas pilot . . .