Hello All,
January 6th, 2011
We enjoyed terrific hospitality in Gosford, a town north of Sydney. Our gracious hosts, Zillah and Errol Goldschmidt, treated us as we envision Sarah and Avraham catered to their visitors. Errol, however, never offered to wash our feet. Well, we suppose there are limits to kindness.
Not everything went as we would have liked. Our second experience of note was dealing with an Australian blood-sucker. Yes, the country is not perfect. It too has its problems. While walking in the forest with Errol, Jenni was ‘attacked’ by a leech. When she discovered it on our return from an interesting forest walk, she found her foot covered in blood and the swelled-ugly ‘bugger’ clinging for more. Yep. That’s Australia for you.
On the plane from New Zealand, we met an elderly man who proved to be most interesting. We would describe Bill as a true gentleman, someone from a disappearing generation. We had to ask him his age and loved his reply. “I am eighty-seven…and a-half.” He is currently ‘a globe-trotter’ having just led a group of seniors to China—twice nog al. Besides his travel stories, he told us of his experiences as a ‘gunner’ on B-17 bombers during the war. We learn much from the previous generation. And where does Bill, the American citizen, reside? Orange County, California, an hour north of us.
We had a taste of how Adam and Eve might have felt some years back although we did not actually taste the fruit. ‘You cannot have those apples,’ the customs officer barked sternly as we entered the country. It seems that the apple will always be a forbidden fruit. Apparently, there is an ongoing dispute between the Kiwis and Wallabies regarding apples or fruit and we found ourselves in the middle. We declared our bagels again, not the same two we brought into New Zealand a month before, and were allowed to proceed. The reason: We did not have ham on the bagels—the question asked of us. It was most fortunate as we had gulped the “chazza” down moments before. It seems we are in a constant struggle with the authorities on multiple continents these days. We used to be two peaceful citizens. How the times are changing.
We have done mostly city walking besides the enjoyable one with Errol in the forest. Of course, for us the city is ancillary to our pursuits. We can feel a ‘whining bubble’ beginning to surface as we dream of getting to the beautiful places in the mountains. Fortunately, our editor has too much experience not to recognize early symptoms. Therefore, her sharp glances towards us keeps the mouth closed…most of the time. In the meantime, we are absorbing the ‘culture’ of Sydney, an attractive city centre. We have walked to the Opera House twice, visited some museums, thought of the ballet and symphony. By stretching the imagination considerably, we might say we have reached some ‘higher notes’ and enjoyed a cultural experience. Yes, we are inclined to be somewhat free with our thoughts at times.
“Where can we park the car?” we asked the fellow after becoming pretty frustrated in Sydney. “There’s a caar paark across the road, Mate. They chaarge $ 20 per haar.” Looks like our editor is going to be circling the city for a while, we thought. After six days, we are beginning to get a ‘feel’ of Australia although we realize any thoughts are more than likely premature. We always wondered about the differences/similarities of the peoples in this part of the world. We think there is quite a difference between the Kiwis and the Aussies. What are they? Only a reckless person would offer an opinion.
We look out the window and we watch the rain continue to fall and are faced with a decision. We'll let you know next time.
Cheers,
Jenni and her Mate
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