I'm glad you had a great time, welcome back Maggers.

Thanks, Ken. I read A TOWN LIKE ALICE long ago, as well as ON THE BEACH. Perhaps it was those novels read as a young girl that inspired my love of Australia and a deep need to see it in person.

I'm just back from 3 deliriously happy weeks spent in the land down under. I loved it even more than I thought I would. If I could take my job and plop it in Sydney, I'd move there in a heartbeat. I was in the Blue Mountains, mostly, with day trips and a few overnight stays in Sydney. I left my heart in Australia. I will return to pick it up before long.

I can certainly understand that!

One of the (simultaneously) most interesting and irritating people I've ever met, was Peter Allan Wilkins, who was from Sydney. He was lead fabricator for Jack Brabham when Brabham was racing Formula I. Dan Gurney was driving for Brabham, and when he decided to start his own Formula I Team, he lured Pete into being his head fabricator. Pete was the one who built the Magnesium/Titanium Eagle that Gurney won Spa with in 1968. Later Pete left to start his own business and I worked for him for three years; building and restoring race cars, and building frames and "swing arms" for racing motorcycles.

Virtually all motorcycle manufacturers have aluminum swing arms on their products these days, and Pete was the one who originally came up with the idea and started making them -- I was the one who taught the other fabricators in his shop how to weld aluminum.

That's when I had the privilege to meet the grandson of Soichiro Honda. He, and a few engineers came to the U.S. to look over Pete's operation and soon after began to make aluminum swing arms for their motorcycles.

The last time I saw Pete was not long after he had learned how to fly, modified a single engine aircraft and flew it non-stop from Sydney, Australia to Phoenix, Arizona -- setting a world record.

In 1998, I was getting our passports updated in order to take Kaye to Australia -- she dearly wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef, and the constellation Crux (the Southern Cross.) Unfortunately, she began to have Alzheimer's induced Grand Mal seisures, and we never got to go.

It's a beautiful country, and although it's far too Socialistic for me, there are a lot of really wonderful people there.

Ken V.

I can certainly understand that!

....In 1998, I was getting our passports updated in order to take Kaye to Australia -- she dearly wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef, and the constellation Crux (the Southern Cross.) Unfortunately, she began to have Alzheimer's induced Grand Mal seisures, and we never got to go.

It's a beautiful country, and although it's far too Socialistic for me, there are a lot of really wonderful people there.

Ken V.

Ken,
I'm so sorry that you and Kaye never got to see the Southern Cross. Living in the Blue Mountains for 3 weeks during a period of exceptionally beautiful weather (clear and warm), I saw the southern sky nearly every night. Oh my! The moon is upside down (at least I think that's how I saw it), so the Man in the Moon was not recognizable to me, and that was distinctly odd. I needed to have the Southern Cross pointed out, but then it became easy to determine, and Orion's Belt was large and clearly visible all the time. And the Milky Way!!! Oh boy oh boy! Living in NYC I cannot see the stars. Up in the Blue Mountains, on a clear fall night (it's fall for the folks down under), the Milky Way was gorgeous, like a sheer shawl draped provocatively over the rest of the sky.

I like Australia. I like its people, the land, the water, the animals, and the birds. Oh, the birds are a thing of beauty, so large, musical, abundant and so different from the birds I know here.

I cannot wait to return. I suspect I may retire there. At this time, the US dollar goes a long way down under. Too bad I have about another 7 years until full retirement benefits kick in.

No trip to Australia is complete without this....

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I've always wondered about Vegemite. Did you try any Maggers? What exactly...is it?

I've always wondered about Vegemite. Did you try any Maggers? What exactly...is it?

I did try it and wasn't thrilled with it. It's a paste they use as a sandwich spread or a spread for crackers. It's a yeast concoction that is very salty. It tasted to me like thickened soy sauce.

Liam loves it, as do all Australians, it seems. His neighbor, Bob, who lived in the US for several years, actually created Vegemite from scratch while in the US because he missed it so much. Vegemite = home to Australians.

I did try it and wasn't thrilled with it. It's a paste they use as a sandwich spread or a spread for crackers. It's a yeast concoction that is very salty. It tasted to me like thickened soy sauce.

Liam loves it, as do all Australians, it seems. His neighbor, Bob, who lived in the US for several years, actually created Vegemite from scratch while in the US because he missed it so much. Vegemite = home to Australians.

Ok then....salty yeast. Sounds like something I'd pass on.

Some photos from my trip. That's me at the Pacific, shots of the Blue Mountains, me and Liam and, of course, Vegemite.

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Great pics, Maggers! Sounds (and looks) like an absolute dream vacation.

Did home seem a little less ordinary after a long stay in an exotic place?

Great pics, Maggers! Sounds (and looks) like an absolute dream vacation.

Did home seem a little less ordinary after a long stay in an exotic place?

Thanks, Webby, it was a dream vacation, and I miss Liam terribly.

Home seemed completely ordinary after Australia. Where are the wombats?