Koala encounter

This morning Oliver and Antonia found a koala - it was across the drive very close to the house and up a eucalyptus tree. The koala seemed very comfortable jammed into a fork on his or her tree on what was a quite small branch.

They are (according to the www.savethekoala.com website) arboreal [tree living], herbivorous [plant eating] marsupial who, it is thought, use their noses to test the toxicity of eucalyptus leaves - this fluctuates according to the type of eucalypt and the time of year. He had obviously found that this tree was a good prospect for his breakfast.

 

As we watched, another koala approached and started to climb up the same tree. This started a grunting, bellowing and gesturing territorial 'war' for a few minutes with the lower koala attempting to talk his way up the tree and the top one loudly protesting.

 

We think it was two males jocking for position for the tasty leaves on the tree. We don't think it was a male and a female who look pretty much the same, although it is the mating season. Apparently the mature males have a scent gland on their white fronts and the females have a pouch - as they are usually UP a tree when you spot them it is very difficult to decide if they are male or female.

After a few minutes of the lower trying to get further and being repelled, he climbed down into the bushes but was to be seen up the next door tree after a few minutes. They both went to sleep (they sleep for 18-20 hours a day) for the rest of the day but were gone the next morning.

 

 

 

 

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Happy Christmas from Oz

I thought you would like a couple of photos of some of the birds that visit the garden.

This is a pair of Laughing Kookaburras - they are kingfishers and common residents here, nesting in hollows in trees or tunnels in woodland termite mounds (there's one at the bottom of the drive but I don't think there's a nest there). They eat insects and small lizards. When Prue was in the garden this week a kookie swooped down and took one from under her feet. Ruth, their next door neighbour, said that where there are kookies there are no snakes. They have a very distinctive loud chuckling laugh which, when one starts, others join in in chorus so they are very easy to spot.

In the garden is an ornamental cherry tree in fruit which is attracting the birds. They tend to travel around the available fruit in a timed cycle so the Hills parrots visited today before I got my camera to them but I will hopefully catch them tomorrow.

This is an Rainbow Lorikeet which is a medium to large sized parrot. The lime green collar shows it's an eastern form - there's a red-collared form which is northern with fewer colours. The Lorikeet's tongue is brush-tipped for gathering nectar and pollen from flowers and trees which is its usual food although in this area it does eat fruit. It makes a noisy screech in flight so you know when they are in the area. The plumage is amazing as you often see three colours in one feather. It's my favourite Australian bird and I always rush to see them much to the grand children's amusement.

 

 

Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2014 to all .....

 

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Temperature

We have just spent the day in the Art Gallery taking advantage of their air con as today's temperature was 44 degrees in Adelaide. It's slightly cooler in the hills - only 39 degrees at 5 pm. As long as you stay in the shade and do nothing it's okay!

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Bushfire safety

My family live in the Adelaide Hills, an area that is highly forested, as you can see from the photo below from the veranda of the grannie flat. It's about 17km South East of Adelaide and is a beautiful peaceful area close to the vineyards and some of the earliest settlements in South Australia. Hahndorf, a village with German roots which we all like very much, is close by and celebrates 175 years of its foundation next year.

 

So, unlike the metropolitan regions of the city where Adam and Prue lived before (the Safer Settlement of Adelaide), bush fires are now an everyday concern now we have entered the Fire Danger Season - summer from 1 December to 30 April.

In the UK we are probably more aware of the dangers following the extremely severe bush fires last autumn in New South Wales, so I thought I would outline the very comprehensive plans and systems surrounding fire danger.

The key is, like a lot of things in life, being prepared.

Adam & Prue are currently attending neighbourhood forums around fire safety (Bushfire Blitz) run by the Community Fire Service but basically it is suggested that people assess their own circumstances and either decide to defend their homes or leave the area in a timely fashion for a safe area.

This is what Adam and Prue have decided given the youth of their family, the construction materials (glass and wood) and location of their house (on a wooded ridge). They have already done this once this season, going towards the cleared area around Hahndorf. They got the children to pack their own emergency bags then when they got there discovered that Antonia had packed her guinea pigs, the whole series of the book she is currently reading but no underwear. That fire was quite small so they were able to return home quite quickly.

 

However, there are also actions that all responsible homeowners take such as clearing their lot of unnecessary undergrowth (the booklet I read also helpfully pointed out this reduces the areas where snakes could live), keeping gutters clean etc so Prue is weed whacking down by the road this morning. It is going to be very hot over the next few days so this is an early morning job. I've made sure that I know where to go and what to do if there is a case for evacuation when I'm in charge. Fortunately there are neighbours near whom I've met and routes out in two directions (one of the criteria for buying this property). Fire alerts come through by radio, TV and via phone apps. You have to be impressed with the forward planning.

On a lighter note we spotted these koalas recently:

 

This one was when we were walking back from school last week.

 

And this one was on the neighbour's property (there are no fences) and was just swopping trees - it ended up scritching and scratching itself a bit higher up in the tree fork.

 

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Sydney to Adelaide

I am now in not so sunny Adelaide - it was 16 degrees today so it was lucky that I had left some warm clothes here - you can imagine how delighted I was when my daughter-in-law Prue handed over my sweatshirt this morning. I know it's not so cold compared with the UK but I've gone soft in the past two months.

Connie, Phil and I flew down to Sydney for the weekend, staying with their daughter (my niece) Rachelle in her flat (or as the Aussies say - unit). It is in Maroubra which is the last beach town going south before you get to Botany Bay. Phil and I went for an early morning walk and ... the waves were up, so the sea was full of surfers.

Just beyond the main beach area is quite rocky so a swimming pool has been made on the edge of the sea. I've stayed in this pleasant township before and the big story last time was about a man who had gone to this pool for a very early morning swim and found, as the sun came up, that a shark had been swept into it on the tide and was swimming around alongside him. Perfectly likely as you can see from this photo.

 

We had a great time - went to a very up-market (and expensive) craft fair near Sydney centre, met up with some old friends and had a very pleasant Christmas lunch cum birthday party with C&P family of four children with partners and a selection of grand kids. What do you eat in Oz for such a celebration? BBQ turkey sausages + veggies followed by fruit salad, Christmas pud and birthday cake. Most excellent.

Yesterday, I flew into Adelaide from Sydney (2 hours) landing ten minutes before Adam's plane. He was returning from a meeting in Canberra so I was able to meet HIM at the airport in a reversal of what usually happens. They are now living about 30 min outside the city in a very pleasant area in the Adelaide Hills on a plot amongst the trees. A koala was making an unattractive noise up in the eucalyptus at the back of the granny flat last night but there was no sign of him this morning when I went to remonstrate.

I have been in school today - Stirling East Primary School where both my grandchildren go is about five minutes from the family home. In the morning we went to Ollie's End of Term concert which was very good fun - each of the classes did songs from 50s (like How Much is that Doggie in the Window?) through the decades (Staying Alive) until the 2010s. They were all dressed up in costume and the concert was stage managed by the older children.

In the afternoon Prue and I went into Antonia's class to help with the art lesson. There were three parents there so the teacher briefed the class on what they could do and then sent them into our area to work on their designs for Christmas crafts. I was shown how to stamp and emboss cards, which was something I'd not done before, so I could then help the children. All went well apart from a bit of over-enthusiastic use of the heat gun and some very sparkley jumpers where the embossing powder had landed rather than the paper. And that was just me!

It was a total contrast to my Cambodian school crafts where the most exciting thing I could do was cut out shapes out of printer paper for the children to crayon.

 

 

 

 

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Sunny Queensland

Well, here I am in Australia after a fairly long but uneventful set of flights - Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur to Sydney to Coolangatta which is the airport for the Gold Coast. This is a beach area just south of Brisbane and is where George's sister Connie and her husband Phil live.

 

I am spending a few days with them getting over my culture shock, before having early Christmas back in Sydney with their children and grandchildren. One thing that is quite shocking is that it appears that Christmas has crept up on me ... There's decorations .... And reindeer .... And light on houses .... And Santas!

I actually fly to Adelaide next Monday and it turns out that Adam will be flying in from Canberra to arrive at the same time as me so we have a date to meet at the Chocolate Cafe (such a hardship) at the airport so we can travel home together.

It seems very odd not to see street vendors, motorbikes and tuk tuks everywhere and, of course, this is a very upmarket boat-y area. Here's the contrast this week with last :

 

Floating house and boats on the Tonle Sap lake

One of the houses in Runaway Bay

(where Adam & Prue first lived when they emigrated to Australia)

 

 

Connie and Phil are residential managers of Windsong, an apartment complex by the water where we all spent last Christmas. This is the view through the front balcony doors from one of the units.

 

 

I met a very interesting woman on my journey - Nicoletta Revis with Egyptian and Greek ancestry. She was telling me that she had a very bad RTA a few years back and so had to totally refocus her life as she was unable to continue her career. She decided to start making jewellery using antique and hand made beads she sourced from throughout the world (she was on her way home after a buying trip to Bali when I met her). Each piece is unique and comes with a story of the beads and their once owners.

I found her story and also her website fascinating. It is www.republicofyou.com.au - I am sure that you will find her beautiful jewellery inspirational.

 

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Last day in Cambodia

I was very sad yesterday to leave my children, who were very sweet and gave me drawings and notes and little presents like a very flat dried banana. I was sick with a cold on Wednesday so wasn't up to singing and being teacher so had a day off, then the Director called a day's holiday on Thursday for Independence Day, which fell at the weekend of 9/10 Nov, so I was worried that I wouldn't complete all the phonics sounds but managed to do so on Friday. I handed out pens, pencils, erasers, sweets and balloons which seemed to go down well. There is another volunteer due on 4th December so I've left everything ready in case she wants to continue, however, it is not yet decided to which project she will go. Why not, you ask? Well, this is Cambodia.

Maggie from NZ and I decided to go to the free concert at the local Kantha Botha hospital this week. It is part of their ongoing fundraising by Dr Beat Ritchner, a Swiss Pediatrician who has been such a positive force for the health of children here since the 1970s. Have a look at Beatocello.com for an overview of this amazing man's achievements. We got to the concert hall within the hospital which was donated by "a Swiss family" and where I had seen the crowds of parents and children on my way to the orphanage at the start of my stay. (You can see them on the video on the website).

There was a chair on a rug on the stage and, gradually the hall filled up. Then a pleasant young man got up and said that Dr Richner was in Switzerland "but we did not tell you because we wanted to show you our work". How Cambodian, and how could we resist? We both were blown away by how Dr Richner had set it all up - the doctors and staff are all well paid so there is no corruption and all patients are treated for free including free medication and transport if they have to go back for a repeat appointment. This has improved the health of the children here out of all recognition and provides such a great facility both here and in Phnom Penh.

Anyway, today I went for a walk near the Royal Residence where painting and decorating is in progress. When I said to Pisey yesterday "it looks as if the King is due", she said "he's already here - that was the traffic hold up this morning". That will also account for all the trees next to the Residence being trimmed as well, so today, he has the bonfire next to his windows!

Near to the Residence is the big Temple where there were no less than four weddings in progress today. I asked this young couple if I could take their picture as they were being arranged by their photographer into the correct pose, this they were happy with ....

 

Aren't they glorious?

These are some of the 'bridesmaids' from the second wedding in their Sampots. I think it is the type called Lberk which seems to be used for weddings. The one on the left is holding the bride's flowers.

And here are the bride and groom being posed on a lucky white elephant in the temple grounds:

 

 

Sorry it's a bit dark - I need to run it through Photoshop. It is a very bright clear day today with a nice, cooler breeze after some very hot muggy days, cleared by two terrific thunderstorms this week. I then went to the Foreign Correspondents' Club for a coffee as I walked along the river. It's in an old colonial residence and, as you can see, has a lovely (evening) seating area overlooking the river. It has also has foreign correspondents' prices, so is best for an occasional treat.

 

 

As I walked on I saw my favourite bicycle salesman with his awesome stock. I have seen him here before, under the trees at lunchtime.

 

It is so sad that I couldn't take any wicker or straw items into Australia, they are so well made and beautiful.

I was making for the bookshops (second hand) as I realised as I was checking in online for my flight tomorrow, that I had a good nine hour stop over in Kuala Lumpur and wanted something to read. Yes, I've got my Kindle but really prefer to hold a book. Mission accomplished with the Once and Future King that I thought the children might also enjoy when I get to Oz, and essays from the laconic American humorist David Sedaris that their parents might too.

My journey took me down a very sleepy Pub Street which has developed from one small road to a whole district full of bars, restaurants, shops and markets which are hopping most of the night. At the start of the dry season umbrellas were strung along the main streets of this area. They are very pretty but have been getting filled with water during the thunderstorms. This, they cascade on unsuspecting people walking underneath.

 

 

Tonight I've booked to go to dinner at a hotel called the Angkor Victoris which is supposed to have a dancing show in its lovely grounds. However, when I went to book they said "no dancing" but as I went to go the other night when they said there was, and there wasn't, I am keeping my fingers xxxed.

Finally, the humour of tuk tuk drivers:

"Madame, free ride to Old Market. Tip is $1,000".

"Madame, let me take you round the world"

And from to whom I had said "no thank you" "but, Madame, I did not call you"

I've had great fun here. What a complex place.

 

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The school grounds

As the school is adjacent to the Wat where services are held and where the monks live, there is always something going on ... some activity is generated by the school, of course. There has been a big movement to clean up with the children weeding, picking rubbish and cutting down small bushes and shrubs. These have been piled under the trees where there has been at least three aborted attempts set fire to it. The first time, as the children had left all the plastic within the pile, filled the classroom with dense acrid smoke. Eventually one of the teachers sent some boys to put it out by pouring water on it. The second time it puffed away a bit as you can see and then went out. The bigger boys were sent out to reorganise the pile. This morning's attempt sent clouds of white smoke, not quite as acrid but equally nasty, into the classroom so I shut all the windows again and we carried on again in the murk. But when we went out for break, it had gone out again, so I will hold my breath (literally) for tomorrow's effort.

 

These are some of the afternoon children. They have been to school in the morning from 7 am until 11 am when they have their lunch. School is then finished for them for the day unless they decide (themselves) to return at 2 pm in their own clothes for my lesson. You can see why I've a much smaller group in the afternoon of about five advanced and ten starters. This does mean we can do things like True or False where one of the readers will hold up a flash card and say the word. The children will jump to the True or False side of a chalk line on the floor according to what they think to great laughter from all.

Some of the children wear their normal clothes under their school ones, just taking them off when their school session is finished and, like most kids, screwing them up and stuffing them into their backpacks.

Behind the golden stupa is the open area for cremations which happen now and again. I think I'm the only one who notices them.

There have been a number of different celebrations while I have been here - the funerals, Ancestors' remembrances which are obviously very important, New Moon And Water Festival. This is one of the lovely banners which hung for a few days at the edge of the school grounds.

 

 

 

People use the school grounds as a short cut so you get them strolling past or standing at the open door for a while watching what you are doing. They are joined there by a gathering of small children, some of whom end up leaning against the nearest bench and participating so the population of the class fluctuates during the lesson.

And, of course there is the custom that the fruits of the jungle belong to all. So, today I looked up into one of the palm trees next to the school to see a man collecting palm sap. This is boiled down to make palm sugar which is rather nice in very small amounts. I was watching him with Pisey discussing what he was doing when she asked if there would be "safety for this in your country"? I explained our expression Health and Safety gone Mad, while the man shinned down the very tall palm in his T Shirt and shorts with his full bucket of sap tied to his waist. No shoes, no safety equipment, no cherry picker, no one standing by just in case. There must be a middle way for our countries! I didn't have my camera today but here's another example of the free food gathering.

 

This man and his son were harvesting some of the edible water plants at Angkor Thom when I was there last week. I suppose an equivalent for us would be people going into the Serpentine and cutting the water weed to sell on the side of the road for people to feed to their cows.

Back to school. We also had a very tiny kitten with us for the afternoon class - it had got in the way of the football that I hand out at each break time. One of the girls picked it up quite roughly (not a surprise really they aren't at all sentimental about animals), checked it swiftly for injuries and plonked it back amongst the game. I protested and the children took absolutely no notice so Pisey carried it to safety under a tree some way away. It made its way back across the playground, up our steps, past me at the front and under the desks to Pisey to sit on her foot (in safety) before falling asleep. Certainly is the survival of the fittest round here.

 

 

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Cooking and culture

This weekend was my final one in Cambodia so I decided that I would have a good sort out of my room, throwing out toilet rolls that I was collecting for some reason but for which I'd not found a suitable activity; all the bits of drawings the children have given me (I still ended up with some very nice ones) and getting my onward clothes sorted. I did bring a reasonable amount with me as I remember getting so fed up with my only sweatshirt in North Africa and I was only there for three weeks! Not a problem here I've had plenty to choose from.

After this clear up which took ages, on Sat pm I went to do the second part of the cookery course. This was most enjoyable - I made fresh spring rolls, Cambodian curry (not very hot) and Nom Tong Noun, a crispy pancake. The others in my group were from the UK, Canada and USA. As you get to eat what you make in a 'floating' restaurant in the middle of a pond with huge catfish, it made a most enjoyable afternoon with some good company. The group had been travelling through Indochina for five weeks and had had some adventures with flooding in Vietnam including having to be taken from their hotel by boat.

On Sunday Mr J had suggested that I go to the Cambodia Cultural Village which is one of the places that has reopened since the start of November for the main tourist season. The number of visitors around has really hotted up since I arrived which is very good for the local people. I had had conflicting tales about the CCV so I went, not expecting too much.

Well, we got there at about 2pm and went first to the waxworks of Cambodian life which were pretty good - nicely done and presented. There was also a small museum with some stuffed and surprised looking animals. I've been concerned about giving the children the word squirrel as I didn't think they had them here, but here on display was ... the variable squirrel! Just what he was a variation of, I do not know.

We then we walked into an enormous theme park but without the rides. Everything was beautifully laid out round a big lake representing the Tonle Sap - life size representations of ethnic villages; miniature Cambodian cultural landmarks (the Royal Palace, National Museum etc); a replica of a reclining Buddha from the landmark local mountain. Mountains are revered places as it is so flat here.

What there wasn't was people. We walked around this huge area on our own with the occasional distinctive sound of local music to prove that we hadn't walked into some strange sci fi movie. We went to see some gibbons, a couple of deer and a lone wolf in some cages near to some random concrete statues - Tom and Gerry, a superman with no head and some large brightly coloured blobby heads in a play area. I was beginning to wonder why I'd come when Mr J (who had been allowed to come in for free as I'd paid the foreigner price of $15) who had been looking at the schedule said it was time to go to the Cambodian Wedding Ceremony in the Millionaire's house.

And there were the people!

And it was great. The performers, because that's what it's all about, were very good and got the audience involved by picking one or two to participate in each 'play'. We were a mix of Cambodians (that Mr J said were visiting from out of area) plus mainly Asian tourists with very few Europeans, but they managed to find one young Dutchman man to 'marry' the Cambodian girl in the first play. This was thought to be hilarious by the Cambodians. The bridegroom's parents were Chinese tourists much to the amusement of their tour group. As we went through the plays and dances, the audience got the idea more and the participants were hamming it up it to everyone's huge entertainment. Of course, the more they did that ... the more fun we all had.

 

After the wedding, we moved to another arena where Chinese culture was celebrated with some good acrobatics and tumbling - and Chinese dragons that focused on the front bench full of young children, much to their delight.

 

Then we moved to another area to a play that culminated in the Kula people's peacock dance - the Robam Kngaok Pailin - about the courtship of two peafowl. It is measured and stately given the complicated costumes but very humorous. I was really pleased to see it as, when I was at Angkor Wat, I had seen some people dressed to perform but AFTER they had done so. The Kula people come from the Cardamon Mountains in the West near the Thailand border.

 

 

This is the 'clown' getting in on the act in a costume of old fishing net pretending to 'court' the beautiful peahen.

 

 

She thinks she has lost her mate, but the sun rises in the hills ... and there he is!

 

 

The performers were putting a lot of effort into what they were showing us, and taking much pleasure in their dances and acrobatics.

 

 

I can't work out which legs and arms belong to which girl in this snake routine.

There were two other performances as it got darker.

 

This one was about three men trying to woo the pretty young girl in the red costume. The audience had, by this time, got mixed in with the performers as you can see from the mum and her baby. The three suitors were clowns so there was lots of slapstick - it really amazed me to see the old music hall joke where the fall guy is given a sword in a scabbard to fight with ... of course, when he pulls out the sword it is a very short one compared with the man he is going to fight.

The final show featured a water buffalo which did what comes naturally to animals when they are under stress completing the performance with a plop!

 

 

 

It was practically dark by this time, and there was going to be a break for dinner before the last two spectacular events (one in front of the large replica Buddha) finishing the evening at 9pm, so Mr J and I went back to his home where his wife had prepared dinner for us.

They rent a room with a bathroom within a compound which has two other rental properties in the grounds of the landlord's home. It is on the edge of town, down dirt roads which were flooded in the rainy season so he had to leave his tuk tuk on the paved road and wade about a mile to his home. The rental is $50 a month including water (which even the Cambodians don't drink) and electricity. It is smaller than my hotel room, made even smaller by the five huge speakers in the corner. They don't work and he has though about selling them but he said "if I do I have $15 and no speakers. If I don't sell them, I have no money but I have the speakers".

His wife had prepared rice, a lovely fried fresh fish, vegetables and sauce with chilli on a small portable stove on the floor. We then had mango for dessert. We sat on a mat on the floor, laid down specially for the meal. The family's dog tried to join us but was firmly pushed outside. It is unusual for young married couples to live on their own but both their parents are too far away in opposite directions for them to do this while Mr J rise running his tuk tuk in Siem Reap. It must be lonely for his wife who doesn't work and is newly pregnant but living nearer town isn't an option because it is so expensive. Before he married, Mr J shared a room with his unmarried brother within his uncle's house near the Old Market but again although the uncle has room, it isn't their custom to live there as a married couple.

 

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Butterflies and flowers

There are some really lovely flowers in Cambodia.

 

This lily was in an attractive social enterprise cafe in Siem Reap that is also a butterfly breeding farm. I was sitting here yesterday after morning class having a second breakfast of mixed fruit (papaya, banana, pineapple, mango and dragon fruit) with yogurt and honey, surrounded by butterflies which are kept in the area by a covering of netting over the flowers and plants. It was magic especially with the sound of monks chanting in the background. The local butterflies are glorious ... but very difficult to photograph in the wild. In this cafe they obligingly settled on nearby flowers:

 

 

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Bikes

I realise that I've been a bit remiss not mentioning bikes in my enthusiasm for the Honda Dream 125cc motorbike but of course bikes are everywhere.

 

 

This chap is the Cambodian equivalent of an ice cream seller as he has a very loud radio on the back of his bike. Someone stopped him and he opened the flap of his carrier and took out two of what looked like sticks of rock - palm sugar sticks wrapped in palm leaves. The father who brought them gave one to his 2 year old and ate the other himself.

 

 

A lady in pjs and one of the beautifully made local baskets on her bike in the countryside.

 

You don't see these bicycle taxis (rickshaws?) in Siem Reap - this one was in Phnom Penh where they all seem to be operated by old men.

 

 

Of course, it is very flat here. All the children ride or give lifts to each other, sometimes on bikes that are so big that it makes you wince. It is quite worrying that, although the main stream of traffic is quite slow with even the tour buses keeping with the general speed, there are a lot of quite large land cruiser type vehicles, the owners of which want to travel as quickly as possible without regard for the general speed.

There is a general disregard for normal road rules. If you want to go in a direction, you go even if it is a one way street. To cross the road you sort of aim a route winding in between the bikes, buses, lorries, tuk tuks and cars. No one stops for pedestrians at the very faded zebra crossings - the traffic barely stops at red lights - going if there's a gap or ... maybe a gap ... or there was a gap here last week!

You can hire a bike for $1 a day and cycle around but I've not been tempted as it is too hot and humid. About 30 degrees today and 65%.

 

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