Packing Up

Our plan was to leave Moree on Friday, tomorrow. Then the big winds started. Gusting at 60kph, they would not make good towing conditions. The weather forecast shows that they are likely to subside on Sunday, so this is now our estimated day of departure.

Steve was doing quite well with packing up his tools from the shed. These include a big saw, a rectangular thing about 3' by 2½'. Whilst lifting up the bed to store things underneath, he groaned as always, because the struts didn't do their job. (Mind you, it's nearly 18 months since they worked properly!) So, out came the saw!!! Nooooooooooo. But he has made the repair and now the bed glides upwards with one hand and stays there. Next time that saw gets packed away, it can stay there, no matter what breaks!

There were nice "surprises" under the bed ---- presents I bought months ago and had forgotten about. The bulk of my Christmas shopping is now done.

I had my last massage yesterday. Tom gave us a nice bottle of Jacobs Creek Cab Sav and we gave him a framed photo of all of us here when they came to visit. We abide by the Chinese custom of not opening the gift until we get home. This feels uncomfortable for me but I follow Tom's lead.

Lindy planned to take us out for lunch yesterday but I had to cry off. I had a horrible kind of indigestion or something, from the night before. Before she left on Tuesday, Stephanie had given me a fish recipe. It was Basa marinated in sweet chili sauce. I don't normally like fish but this was delicious. I think it must have been the sauce that upset me.

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The October Long Weekend

For nearly 2 weeks, the TV and radio announcers have been telling us that the October Long Weekend is coming up. So here we are now ---- the Sunday of the October Long Weekend.

A few years ago, we heard the announcements and wondered what was the reason for this long weekend.
We asked around and no one could tell us. We asked the librarians and they didn't know. We asked various shopkeepers and they were blank.

So, we turned to Google. There were many entries that trumpeted The October Long Weekend but no explanation of what it meant. Clicking on one, I found, "October Long Weekend Travel Restrictions - Load Carrying vehicles and Special Purpose Vehicles
These restrictions only apply to vehicles carrying or towing Oversize loads, and Oversize special purpose vehicles such as cranes, drill rigs, concrete pumps." No, that's no use.

Then I turned to Wikipedia, the brainy, all-knowing one. It said, "You may create the page "October Long Weekend NSW", but consider checking the search results below to see whether it is already covered."

Create the damned thing??? Not on your life! What could I write about it? There was nothing to write! I suppose I could have said, "It's October. We have that Long Weekend Again."

Wikipedia doesn't give up easily, so I followed its advice and checked the results below under Public Holidays.
There I found a table that required close scrutiny. Finally I found it ------

NSW ---- LABOUR DAY 1ST WEEKEND IN OCTOBER

Why couldn't it be called Labour Day like it is in the other states? Why don't people know that it's Labour Day? If they knew, would they know what it meant?

Does it matter? Who cares?

As long as there's a Long Weekend.

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The Healing Waters Festival

Saturday September 26. When I woke just before dawn, I could smell dust, so I hurried around to shut all windows. Dawn broke but the butcher birds were silent, as they were on Tuesday during the dust storm. We were enveloped in the orange-brown cloud again but not as thick as last time. I smiled to myself when I thought about all the cars that had been washed during the week! (We had decided not to wash the truck!)

By 2pm, we judged that it was clear enough to go to the street Parade. Emily and Carissa were very pleased about the decision! The four of us went in Nev's and Lindy's car and got a parking spot not far off the main street, which was blocked off. The Parade was reasonably good but not as long as last year, nor as attractive. Still, we applauded the efforts and had a good time. As always, each of the Princesses rode on the float of their sponsor.

Next was the Carnival and the inevitable argument about money. Every year, Lindy gives the girls ample money and we try to get them to spend it sensibly and have some left over. Every year, Steve says, "Give it up Laurie. They aren't your kids!" Old teachers never die!! This year, most of their money was spent on food! We had Maccas for our evening meal. Oddly, it was the most nourishing food we could find!

The Rodeo commenced at dusk and the wide metal bleachers filled up quickly. We all cooled down quickly, so Steve and Emily drove home for warm clothes and blankets. Our butts were freezing!! They returned with an extra child, Jackson, the girls' cousin. He had just arrived from Brisbane.

I'm ambivalent about rodeos. I want to say that I dislike them because they are tormenting, frustrating and cruel to the animals. Yet, the atmosphere and action excites me and I'm caught up in the enthusiasm engendered by the spruikers. They spoke frequently about cruelty to animals and some of the calf roping contestants were disqualified on those grounds. There were all kinds of events ---- bucking bulls, bucking horses, with and without saddles, two different kinds of calf roping and a terrific barrel race. A program explained exactly what was involved in each event, but as it all happened so quickly, it was a bit hard to see. Fortunately, Steve gave me a running commentary.

As the evening wore on, the kids became more and more restless and there were numerous visits to the toilets, trips for food, play fighting with those big plastic bats, general teasing and a lot of texting and exchanging of ring tones and photos! There was no bad blood, even though I delivered a couple of lectures! They were all high on sugar and no longer interested in the rodeo, so we headed for home. We had promised sundaes at McDonalds to finish the day, so that was our last stop before home, around 10pm. How did they fit in more food????

It was difficult to take photos of the rodeo and most of them have the metal bar of the safety fence across the middle. I haven't put any captions on the obvious photos; you'll work them out for yourself.

I have embedded a slideshow here. Click the arrow and it will run automatically.




Another method to view the photos in a larger style is to click on The Healing Waters Festival title at the top and then click on slideshow on the new page.

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Dust 2 Dust

Everyone is cleaning up after the big dust storm on Tuesday night and Wednesday.

Steve went outside late on Tuesday night and reported to me that there was a fog. If we had only realised that it was dust, we would have battened down the hatches!
It was unmistakable when we woke on Wednesday ------ a thick layer of dust covered our world, inside and out. I still haven't decided what is the best way to clean the venetians. They look as if they have been commercially sandblasted.

The sad part about this terrible dust storm which blanketed much of NSW, ACT, southern Queensland and northern South Australia is that many farmers have lost their top soil and the growing crops. Broken Hill farmers report that they will have to sell or agist their sheep, as there is no food for them.

The media made a big thing about reporting it in Sydney but ignored it in the rest of NSW. If I see one more photo of the Harbour Bridge or Luna Park shrouded in the golden glow of dust, I'll be sick. That is so typical. The Victorian drought was ignored for the first 5 years until Melbournians began to feel the effects.

Looking towards the Highway

The hidden Airport

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Massage

When I went for my massage at 3pm on Wednesday, Tom greeted me with just about all the English words he knows, "Baby, sleep, Wednesday 3 o'clock". I understood. He has a wall of photos and I've watched as his baby granddaughter grew. His daughter and granddaughter were up from Sydney on a visit and I had suggested that he might bring the little one to the massage room so that I could meet her. It was quite understandable that the baby was napping in the afternoon.

Tom kept repeating, "Thursday, 11 o'clock." Ah, he wants me to come in on Thursday and he'll have the baby there at 11am, I thought. He handed me a piece of paper and a pen and asked me to write ........ what? So I wrote my mobile phone number. Although I couldn't see why he would want that!! At that point, Steve left, believing that he understood all that was happening!

Tom made it clear that the phone number wasn't what he wanted.
Eventually, after much pantomiming and the repetition of, "Thursday, 11am", I got it! Or I presumed that I did. So, I wrote down the address of the caravan park and our site number.

Right on the dot of 11, their car pulled up. What a nice surprise! I had hopefully set up tables and chairs outside in the dappled sun but I wasn't totally certain that I had understood the arrangements correctly!!

Tom's wife Annie and her daughter, whose name we never discovered, hurried across, carrying little Belinda, pointing at me and repeating the Chinese word for Grandmother, which sounds very much like Nana. (Pronounced Nanay.) Eventually, the little one, about 18 months, was calling me by that name! I felt quite honoured!

Annie speaks a little English and Tom speaks very little. We thought that their daughter, being young, would be very fluent. Wrong! Inexplicably, after 15 years here, she speaks none. Bang went my plans for asking some of the questions I hadn't been able to get through to Tom or Annie.

Despite the language difficulties, we had a lovely hour or so together. They were thrilled to look through the caravan, darting here and there with sudden expressions of delight, like excited kids. Maybe they had never been inside a caravan before.

I had got some Textas and paper to entertain Belinda and was a bit worried about her getting the colors on her skin and clothes. I stopped worrying when Annie drew a watch on Belinda's arm!! She is a really lovely, relaxed Grandmother.

It's hard for me to imagine being forced to have just one child, with the possibility of having only one Grandchild.

Tom had handed Steve a bag on his way in. After they left, I investigated the contents. It was 2 packets of Chinese cigarettes, named Eighth Happiness!!!!!! Oh my!

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Mr. Olemayt

Finally, after years of hearing about him, I became acquainted
with Mr. Olemayt.

The locals here are always talking about him. He's an incredibly colorful character, who appears to have had many jobs and lived in a variety of places. His life experiences astonish me. He seems to have tried everything, both good and bad. I have often thought that I wouldn't like him but then I will be told something about him that is most compassionate and appealing.

Last night, he sped out of the caravan park, with a police car immediately behind him and turned right without blinking, then tried to outrun the police. Neville told us this when he was unblocking sewerage pipes next door to us.

We came inside and I asked Steve if he had ever met Mr. Olemayt. Steve looked very nonplussed and stuck for an answer. Then kindly and carefully, as if talking to a dimwitted child, he explained.

As with most places, Moree has particular speech patterns and habits. Obviously, I don't know all of these variations. The accepted way of referring to a man whose name you don't know is to call him, "old mate" ------ or as it is pronounced, "Olemayt".

Damn!

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Moree Healing Waters Festival

For years now, we have gone to the Moree Golden Grain and Cotton Festival, taking Emily and Carissa with us to the street parade and carnival afterwards.

This year, the Council has put together a number of celebrations and has made the Healing Waters Festival, running from September 19th to October 4th.

The timing is good for us. The old festival was held in November and we would have missed it this year as we are going home earlier than usual.
Andre Rieu on November 1st in Melbourne, courtesy of Rachel and Tom!!!!


Click on the Title Moree Healing Waters Festival to read more about Moree, the great Artesian Basin and the events being celebrated.

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