Category: Countries

The toddler that my mate’s mother minds 4 days a week was extra hyperactive yesterday, prompting her to tell me that he had a bee in his bonnet. She then told me that there was a Lebanese equivalent and, after a pause to translate, came out with ‘He’s got a clove of garlic stuck up… Continue reading A clove of Garlic

April was a very wet month. It’s hard to believe reports on how little water we have when you see that much falling from the sky. And apparently things have improved tremendously in Port Macquarie, where my parents live, in the last few months, but Sydney is still scared. This is after I saw the… Continue reading Catchment Areas

It’s been a few days since Anzac Day, but I’ve been listening to a few songs over and over since then. Mostly I’ve had them in my head, but not in the annoying way of jingles that get stuck. These all get me thinking about war and the hardships it brings to even those not… Continue reading War Songs

Yesterday was ANZAC Day. The day the Australia / New Zealand Army Corps landed at Gallipoli – the day most of our fatalities occured. Anacdotely, I’ve heard it said that half of our fatalities happened on that one day. It may have been half from that particular battle, but either way, it’s an enormous loss… Continue reading Anzac Day

It’s been about 25 years since I’ve eaten an Easter egg. Australian chocolate isn’t the best so Mum would hide a packet of crumpets for me instead. Coming from an agnostic family, I never even knew the meaning behind the egg. That all changed over the past weekend, living with my adopted Lebanese family. I… Continue reading My first catholic easter

I was very happy to see signs alerting passersby of the aboriginal community that used to live in the area, when we were house hunting on Saturday. I don’t know how long they’ve been up, but I haven’t noticed them at all before and I saw 4 last weekend. It’s too late to give the… Continue reading Aboriginal Community

We were having an interesting conversation at Sunday lunch yesterday about the ‘aboriginal problem’ in Australia. There were no aboriginies present, so it was a one-sided view, but worth noting down as it does represent the thinking of some more recent immigrants. The older generation agreed that the aboriginies that they knew 30 years ago… Continue reading The ‘Aboriginal Problem’

One of the things I’ve missed most about Australia is the thriving music scene and the ease of getting tickets to high quality concerts at short notice. Last night I went with Lyn (the daughter of the house) and a few of her friends to see the Idea of North at the Basement. Imagine an… Continue reading The Idea of North

While I was in Perth, we watched a TV show called Cool Aid that measured the comparative environmental impact of our lifestyles. It went a bit far, talking about seas rising by 6m, which is far beyond realistic limits for the forseeable future, but showing the impact our actions have on greenhouse gases was interesting… Continue reading Cool Aid

I’ve just returned from my trip to Western Australia, so I’m now able to claim having been to all states and territories in this massive country. As expected, it’s extremely open and hot, but I guess I wasn’t expecting it to be so flat or well forested. The heat and forest work together to make… Continue reading The Last State