Trudging back from Parliament to the rented apartments we use when we're in Canberra last night, I was depressed by the bureaucratic wasteland created by the Communist-style planners - wide highways with hardly any cars circling vast anonymous office blocks surrounded by dusty, sunburnt verges.
Some of the verges do have lush grass and these have sprinklers installed which spring into life with no warning and give your suit a good soaking. There is possibly a knack to knowing when they're going to start up but, if there is, no one's told me. Canberra is not as friendly as the rest of Australia, with the exception of the mainly immigrant taxi-drivers, and I am beginning to see why. It's not a good place for the soul.
However, in the vacant lot next to the Department of Foreign Affairs, waddling around in the scrubby grass, I found four galahs, splendid plump, pink and grey parrots, and a sulphur-crested cockatoo, which, as the name suggests, sports a fine yellow quiff, contrasting with a pure white body. They were only a few feet away and completely unperturbed. But then they are big birds. They added a welcome touch of the exotic to the bland surroundings.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 16, 2006
Old Ways, New Country
Back in Canberra after a brief weekend in Sandy Beach and, just after 6am, joined the multitudes out on the running and cycling trails. Just past the Greek Orthodox church, and on the shores of the vast Lake Burley Griffin, I saw an elderly Chinese gentleman, in a black, loose shirt and trousers, with a conical bamboo hat and fishing rod, silhouetted against the water. It was an utterly foreign sight.
There are many immigrants in Canberra. A bewildering racial array of cab drivers ply their trade at the airport and Eastern Europe and the Balkans are well-represented on the Parliament House staff. Perhaps it's because Canberra is considered an unpleasant place to live - too cold in winter and too hot in summer - and there are more opportunities for those starting afresh. I'm sure it's a sign of tolerance that the old man was clearly comfortable sitting by the lake.
There are many immigrants in Canberra. A bewildering racial array of cab drivers ply their trade at the airport and Eastern Europe and the Balkans are well-represented on the Parliament House staff. Perhaps it's because Canberra is considered an unpleasant place to live - too cold in winter and too hot in summer - and there are more opportunities for those starting afresh. I'm sure it's a sign of tolerance that the old man was clearly comfortable sitting by the lake.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Nerves of Steel
Went to a showing of a new Australian documentary in Parliament House last night. Nerves of Steel was about four young women who, with no experience whatsoever, formed a team that qualified for the skeleton in the Winter Olympics.
They did, I should point out, have the backing of the Australian Institute of Sport and were experienced in various sports. On the other hand, they had absolutely no experience of winter sports, or of hurtling head-first down a tunnel of ice on something like a tea-tray at 130kph.
There are many good reasons why many of us lack that experience, not least of which is the will to live, to retain the use of our limbs, and a keen sense that tea-trays are best used for other purposes.
I know I keep banging on about it, but here, again, was the “she’ll be right, mate” mentality writ large and taken to whole new level of professionalism. Apart, perhaps, from when they turned up on their first slope without proper gloves and apparently used washing-up gloves instead. The amazing thing is, and it’s a tribute to the women themselves and the whole enterprise, that, apart from many spectacular bruises and a few broken bones, they were more than “right”.
In five months, the team came from nowhere to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Only one team member could compete, and, on the day, fifteen months after starting out, one touch of a foot on the ice saw a possible medal-winning position slip to 13th.
I think what impressed me most was that, despite all the technical and financial help, it was their confidence in their ability and willingness to risk their necks time after time, that brought them success. Nerves of steel, indeed.
They did, I should point out, have the backing of the Australian Institute of Sport and were experienced in various sports. On the other hand, they had absolutely no experience of winter sports, or of hurtling head-first down a tunnel of ice on something like a tea-tray at 130kph.
There are many good reasons why many of us lack that experience, not least of which is the will to live, to retain the use of our limbs, and a keen sense that tea-trays are best used for other purposes.
I know I keep banging on about it, but here, again, was the “she’ll be right, mate” mentality writ large and taken to whole new level of professionalism. Apart, perhaps, from when they turned up on their first slope without proper gloves and apparently used washing-up gloves instead. The amazing thing is, and it’s a tribute to the women themselves and the whole enterprise, that, apart from many spectacular bruises and a few broken bones, they were more than “right”.
In five months, the team came from nowhere to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Only one team member could compete, and, on the day, fifteen months after starting out, one touch of a foot on the ice saw a possible medal-winning position slip to 13th.
I think what impressed me most was that, despite all the technical and financial help, it was their confidence in their ability and willingness to risk their necks time after time, that brought them success. Nerves of steel, indeed.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Red Rock Results
The start of the Red Rock Triathlon. It was 25C, windy and the water was fresh. John and Anne are in there somewhere. John's business, Coast and Plateau Fine Foods, sponsored two teams in the business category, the Babes of Baclava and Cheeses They're Fast.
Two of the Babes of Baclava in transition.
Carl brings home the bacon for Cheeses They're Fast.
Sara mops up for The Babes.
The teams, with our cheerleader, Darius, and Will, who did the whole thing on his own. Our strategy of entering the business category paid off handsomely as both teams won. And yes, I'm sure there were other business teams taking part.
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