Alice Springs - The Red Heart of Australia

Bill (and family) just had the pleasure of attending an Emergency Medicine conference (compliments of the Australian government) at a place called Alice Springs, almost dead center in the continent of Australia. The whole family went and contributed to the "kid soup" in the hotel swimming pool, along with 24 other conference attendees' offspring. A look at a map would suggest that the climate should be miserably hot and, hence, the surroundings barren and devoid of life - which couldn't be further from the truth. There are many "upside-down rivers" where the water flows on the surface during floods, but then 1-3 feet under the deep orangy-red sands during drier times - so a plethora of unique plant life abounds, in particular beautiful Red Gums and, higher in the 800million -year-old rocks, surreal white-barked Ghost gums (Eucalyptus trees). Some day trips included the dessert center with an abundance of plant and animal life, the reptile center where Ellary and Risa got up close and personal with lizards and an Olive Python, a trip to a local watering hole "Ellery Big Hole," a local Chasm steeped in Aboriginal custom and lore, and, last, but not least - a one day bus trip to Uluru=Ayer's Rock - 500km from Alice Springs. It's quoted as being the longest organized day trip in the world. We left at 6am and returned at Midnight and the temperature at Uluru was an unseasonably warm 39C (103F !). Everywhere we went we learned of Aboriginal legends, local geology, and the early exploration of the inner continent which led to the settlement in the middle of nowhere. En route to Uluru, we stopped at Jim's Road House where we saw a Dingo named Dinky who can "play" a piano and sing and is world famous - has been on radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines the world over. At magical and breathtaking Uluru, we heard fascinating accounts of Aboriginal legends and their explanations of various geological features of the rock and how this was passed from generation to generation to teach them the location of watering holes, etc. At sunset, we went to the sunset viewing area to experience, in an intimate setting with about 500 other people, the changing colors of Uluru as the sun went down.

Bill found the Indian Jones/Australian Cowboy (Kangaroo hide) hat of his dreams, hence his life is now complete.

We'd recommend a visit to anyone (only NOT in summer - it gets to 45C -116F).

BNER

Sailing in Paradise - The Whitsunday Islands

In mid September we all flew to the Whitsunday Islands - a collection of beautiful tropical islands at the south end of the Great Barrier Reef. After meeting up with our friend, Rick, who flew from the US to sail with us and hang out in Tasmania afterwards, we took a ferry from the small island we landed on, and hopped aboard the Morning Mist - a comfy 11 meter catamaran.

It was a magical week - perhaps our best family vacation ever - with a leisurely day sail from mooring to mooring in beautiful coves and bays, with fun snorkeling a splash away from every anchorage. There was a three mile long white sand beach, short walk to a cave with aboriginal paintings, plentiful sea life including breaching whales, dolphins, and sea turtles, and not too many other boats around competing for moorages. Sunsets were postcard colorful. The kids had fun bobbing around in the water and laying on a mini surfboard with a clear plastic bubble - so they could see the fish and coral. The weather was perfect and the water an amazing turquoise. Our eyes were bigger than our heads in our initial purchase of alcohol and snacks so we had some Boag's left over which we donated to some other sailors about to head out.

When we returned to Tasmania, a brief visit to a nearby National Park treated us with a look at some new little Joey's in their Mom's pouches.

A great week.

BNER

Blood Moon

The girls and I(Nikki) were able to watch the lunar eclipse tonight out our back door and windows. It's still blood red as I write, and it started to show the shadow of the earth around 6:50 pm here. It took about an hour to have the full effect. So whilst(see former blog entry) the girls were doing their bedtime stuff we would stop and gaze at it getting darker and then redder. The girls seemed impressed by the lunar changes. Bill was working tonight and I hadn't mentioned the eclipse to him so I called the ER to tell him to stick his head outside if he had the chance. So I called up the main ER number and it was answered as follows, "Emergency Room, this is Bill." With a great cheerful phone voice, I should add. He was having a slow night so would have time to do some moon gazing, as long as the phone to the ER didn't ring too much, of course.

I am not sure if the eclipse is a southern hemisphere phenomenon or everyone gets a chance to see it. If you can check it out, it's cool. And no special viewing box needed, which makes it easy with small kids.

All day I have had the Queen song Another One Bites the Dust in my head. It started after I heard about Roberto Gonzales resigning.

take care,
Nikki and BER

Local Lingo - ehStralia Speak

Ellary is developing a lovely Australian accent, when surrounded by Aussies. I said "Ellary do you still speak my language?" She just smiled, then asked for a vegemite sandwich.

The following is merely an incomplete collection of unusual expressions and customs we’ve noticed after 7 months of living in Tasmania.

“ehStraahya” = Australia

Fair Dinkum – on the up and up; trustworthy. “John Howard’s offer to save the Mersey wasn’t fair dinkum.”

“Keen” – you really like a certain activity. Used a lot in the newspapers – e.g. picture subtitle – “Melissa Smith, who is a keen swimmer.”

“Flat out” = “flat chat” = “chockers”= “chocker block”= very busy. The ER is chocker block and we’re flat chat at the moment.

“Jumper” = coat. E.g. “The weather is cool in the winter – you’ll need to wear a jumper.” The kids wear their jumpers to school in the winter.

“How you going?” = How are you doing?

“Mad” = crazy. “She’s mad.”

“Frog and toad” = road. “I think I’ll hit the frog and toad.”

“This arvo” = this afternoon. “Oh, are you working this arvo?”

“Bickies” = short for biscuits – cookies. (There is no such thing here as “cookies.”)

“Scones” = biscuits. Usually served with whipped cream and jelly. YUM.

“Lollies” = candy, except for chocolate which may be shortened to “chockie.”

“Is that the lot, then?” – Cashiers ask this (quickly) when you’ve taken up your articles to purchase – usually all slurred together so you have no idea what they just asked and you just stare at them blankly for a second then nod your head ‘yes.’

That will be ____ dollars, thank you. (Rather than please)

You go up to the register to pay when you’re done eating – even in fancy restaurants.

“Toilet” – NOT bathroom. This actually makes some sense since most houses have one room with a tub and/or shower and sink and a separate room with the toilet and sink.
Aussies who visit the US mention the shock on their hosts face when they ask “where’s the toilet?”

“Tissue” – NOT Kleenex. A 6 year old clarified this for Nikki while she was visiting Ellary’s class.

“Crook” = really sick – could be from medical causes or from an injury. “I hurt my back and was really crook last week.”

“Giddy” = dizzy, weak, lightheaded, etc

“Mmmmm” = yeah (i.e., an affirmative to an answer) = yes. It’s much more drawn out than “mm.” It can also be used to reemphasize something you’ve just said.
This is distinctly unhelpful when combined with “crook” and “giddy” in the ER. E.g.:
Me: “Can you tell me what happened this morning?”
Patient: “I got all giddy, then went really crook – mmmm…yeaahh…”
Me: “Oh, OK, now I have a clear understanding of your problem. Thanks.”


“Whilst.” They REALLY use this a lot. Even the web page for online banking shows a message after you’ve entered your password – “Please wait whilst we connect you with your account.” Similarly, “learnt” replaces learned.

“Tea” = evening meal. Not dinner – “tea.” Can also be used for other meals. Nikki has to pack a “morning tea” for the kids to eat at around 11am whilst in school.

You don’t have a bowel movement; you “open your bowels.” E.g., (in the ER) “When was the last time you opened your bowels?”

A “Ute” is a small pick up truck with a flat bed attachment on the back – very popular, always white. Weird.

You don’t go on vacation; you go on “holidays.” Sounds a lot more festive.

“Sickie” = a sick day. E.g. “So many fish, so few sickies…”

Surgeons are referred to as “Mr.”, not “Dr”

The letter “Z” is pronounced “zed.” Honest. The bank with the name “ANZ” is pronounced “A-N-zed Bank.”

The letter “H” is pronounced “haich.” No shit.

“Partner” = significant other, spouse, girlfriend/boyfriend, whatever. Many people about 50 years old and under use this to describe their significant other or spouse.
Nikki appreciates the neutrality of it.

Cars drive on the left, the steering wheel is on the right. The rules of the road also apply to walking on the sidewalk or in a stairwell – always stay left – people get pretty insistent about this. Similarly, even on the waterways, things are opposite – here, the red markers are on the LEFT when returning from sea. In the US, it’s “red, right, returning from sea…” here it’s “port to port returning to port...” (A little catchier, isn’t it).

That's all for now. ENJOY.

BNER

Quick Postal FYI

Thought I would pass on the postal website that outlines Australian quarantine requirements. It is www.aqis.gov.au. Most things have made it through but apparently pumpkin pie spice poses a national threat, because of the cloves and allspice of course. In all seriousness, I've heard a few radio programs about some horrible bee mite that is wiping out bee populations all over the world. Bees are hard workers and help with agriculture in ways that are more obvious now that they are falling prey to this mite syndrome that is not well understood. Anyway, it hasn't hit Australia yet, so they are doing what they can to keep it out. On a related note, the honey down here is delicious, especially the leatherwood honey. Has a very distinct taste. So to bring it to full circle, no need to send us honey through the mail.

Rubbing Shoulders with the Prime Minister

Yep, you heard right.

Our little community hospital (Mersey)has been repeatedly dissed over the years and recently we lost our ICU in decisions made much more at a state political level than with patient care in mind.

The Australian prime minister, John Howard is way behind in the polls (and belongs to the "Liberal"=conservative party as opposed to the Tasmanian state majority "Labor"=leftist party) and needed an attention grabber, so he decided to do an end run around the Tasmanian State government and propose a FIRST EVER federal takeover of a hospital (OURS).

He flew in to Tasmania and came to our hospital and stood out in the parking lot for about 30 minutes talking to reporters. Nikki and I happened to be driving by and stopped (so we had no camera - dang). We parked and walked right up to the crowd and stood about 15 feet from the guy. No metal detectors. No $1000 contributions to the party. Just walk right up and watch. There were a few policeman meandering calmly about and 2 or 3 tough looking guys in dark suits and black glasses, but that was it. WAY cool.

The proposal, by the way, has caused a heated national debate and photos appeared the next day in all the local and even national papers.

I wanted to stay and shake his hand, but Nikki wouldn't let me for 2 reasons:

1 We had stuff to do

2 The guy is a friend of George Bush.

Vegemite Musings

Jesse came over to play with Ellary after school today. She is in Ellary’s class, she’s tiny, strawberry blond, very energetic and gave us a lesson on Vegemite. I had decided that quesadillas would be a good snack for after school. Even if Jesse had never had one, it’s basically a grilled cheese sandwich with a tortilla instead, and I know they eat grilled cheese sandwiches here, but, not Jesse. She informed me she didn’t like melted cheese, only triangle cheese, which she couldn't explain in any greater detail so we had to leave it at that. She did offer an alternative, “I like Vegemite sandwiches,” she cheerfully said. So I pulled out the little single serve packets of Vegemite the hospital had initially stocked for us and pulled out the bread. She looked at the bread and said, “I think your different type of people, I don’t like that kind of bread.” The whole grain bread with seeds wasn’t going to work. So we came to a compromise. She would have butter and Vegemite on a tortilla. I told the girls this was true fusion cuisine, perhaps the first Vegemite quesadilla in the history of Tasmania. She helped me put the proper amount of Vegemite on, quite liberal I must say, compared to the other Aussie who had us try it on toast in Melbourne. Jesse makes a kind of yummy slurpy sound when she talked about Vegemite, she really seems to love the stuff. Her Mom later told me she even eats it on pancakes.

She tasted it, liked it and enthusiastically encouraged me to have some. I did, and I couldn’t let her down so I made a face like I liked it. But, it was way too much Vegemite for me. Bill tried it too, but I think he felt the same way. [No, I actually thought it was OK - just in small amounts]. She ended up only eating ¼ of her vegemite quesadilla, which I thought signified our failure in our cross-cultural food experiment. But, at dinner she only ate the very tip of her pizza (again, with the melted cheese) and ½ her ice cream cone. How many children don’t finish an ice cream cone? I had to ask her if she would have preferred Vegemite on her pizza. She thought that was just silly. So, she’s really is just a tiny eater and maybe our experiment worked, despite us being a “different type of people.”

As an aside, after much campaigning on the kids' part, we obtained a new pet bunny (from friends who have several). This one is about two months old. In the week run up to us actually getting the rabbit and purchasing the necessary stuff, we asked Ellary and Risa numerous times what they thought the name should be and Ellary always said "Fiona." Risa never had a suggestion. Just as we were picking up Fiona, Risa decided the name should be "Chimzey," (?!?) and was quite distraught when anyone suggested otherwise. Hence, the bunny's name is Fiona Chimzey Lockwood.

We've only had her two days and she already seems to be enjoying herself and the kids attentions and seemed to like being on the leash today, for the first time. The girls had a snack of celery at 9:30 am while watching the bunny eat her celery breakfast. This could be good for their overall vegetable consumption.