Thursday, September 14, 2017: Back in Sydney

Up at 0530.  Early wake-ups are the norm for us here in Australia.

The bed's a bit firmer than I like and could use some more pillows.  Logged on to my work laptop to do some approvals... continuing to avoid logging in to my Outlook account and checking e-mail - I'm on holiday!!

Taking a peek outside our 6th floor window, the day's start is overcast.  First time we've experienced that since we arrived in Country.  We've enjoyed great weather!  Pretty sure most, if not all of that will clear up.  It's going to be another good day.

Today, amongst other things, my childhood and oldest friend, Jan Landwehr, will be training in from her home in Werrington, to spend the day with us.  I am a bit nervous and excited to be seeing her for the first time in over 40yrs!  We've got a lot of catching up to do and I'm happy that Rosie will be able to meet and get to know her over the next few days.

Hmmm, let me was a bit nostalgic for a bit:

Way back in 1966 my father had just completed a 4yr tour of duty over in Cambodia (when according to our Government, we weren't in Cambodia) and South Vietnam.  He and his Seabee battalion built much of Da Nang's DMZ.  My mother, my three brothers and I, were living in southeastern Oklahoma surrounded by relatives on my father's side.  I don't remember many details but, he very quickly got us all bundled up and out to California where we boarded a PanAm jet and flew to Western Australia via: Hawaii and Christchurch, New Zealand and, Perth, Western Australia.  There had to have a few other stops along the way but, those memories and details elude me.

Right up front, my apologies, Jan... you shared much about your life experiences after my family left Australia, thank you, with us over our brief 2 days together and I won't do them justice in this blog. You've lived an amazing life so far and we look forward to staying in closer touch with you moving forward.

My father was a member of the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion (the Navy's version of the Army Corps of Engineers), CBs for short and nicknamed :  'SeaBees'.  He somehow got assigned to a little known, remote Naval Station in Western Australia whose function at that time was to maintain an Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) communication array used to contact our submarines in the Indian Ocean.  He was part of a small 350 U.S. Naval personnel contingent assigned to the base, a base un-named at the time, on Northwest Cape.

Side Note:  The base eventually got a name while we lived there:  the Harold E. Holt.  Named for the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honorable Harold E. Holt who, as I recall, went swimming off Perth somewhere and never came back.  Rumor had it that he was taken by a shark, most probably a Great White.
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The commander of the base was Captain Freeman and Dad was assigned to the Motorpool.  A small Aussie outback town supported the base and was home to the their families and the families of the sailors assigned to the base.  Exmouth was a mix of Australian and U.S. families approximately 2,000 in number.  I don't recall exactly when or how but, Jan's Dad, who worked at the power plant, became fast friends with my Dad which followed that our families would be too.  Jan's Mum, Madeline, was a wonderful person.  I have very fond memories of her engaging personality and robust laugh, the type of laugh that soon had everyone around her laughing too.  Fred Landwehr reminded me a bit of Fred Astaire in looks and he could also sing quite well as I recall.  (Oh by the way, Jan had a brief country music singing career, inspired by my Dad in her past - she has a wonderful voice!).  Jan also had some older brothers and sister: John, Fran and Chuck.  I vaguely remember Fran (also known as Muriel Orr and living in the U.S. now and is Facebook friends with me); don't remember ever meeting Chuck; John and Jan were the only two siblings I got to know and Jan the most, since she was in class with me.  We were classmates and playmates and, among other things, she loved to play and was quite good at marbles.  The Aussies called marbles a name that eludes me at the moment.

After 3 1/2 years of living in the Outback, my father got relocated to a new station in Hawaii and we moved away in early 1969.  I remember leaving, being extremely unhappy and then just being in Hawaii.  I know that Jan had a very interesting upbringing after we moved and, by necessity, grew up much too fast and missed out on a bit of her childhood.  Her Dad moved to where the jobs were and most of those were in very remote areas of Western Australia.  Jan and I lost contact until the mid-70s when she and her parents (there may have been other siblings along but, I don't remember) came for a visit and stayed with us for about a week or so.  Really enjoyed re-connecting with her at that time, as teenagers, and hated seeing the Landwehrs leave for home.  We stayed in touch via mail for quite some time and then as time and distance often do, we lost track of each other again.  Many years later in the world of social media, Jan found my cousin Debbie Lansdale Thurlo in California via Facebook and that connection eventually turned into the two of us reconnecting again.  I know I'm leaving out a lot of details but, at least from my perspective and at a high level, this is how we've come to meeting up again in Sydney, Australia!

Rosie and I were ready for the day and left the hotel at 1005 to meet Jan's train arriving at 1015 in CQ. The wind was up and you could feel the chill in the air.  We saw her first as she was coming down the stairs and it wasn't long before she spied us standing outside the turnstiles... she looks great and it just felt right seeing her again!  Hugs, kisses all around and lots of small talk as we sorted through the enormity of seeing each other for the first time in over 40yrs!  We had no big plan on this day, just to spend time with Jan and re-connect.

Started off our reunion by walking around CQ and over to the Opera House Cafe for some coffees. Most of our initial conversation was around childhood memories in Exmouth.  My memories pale in comparison with Jan's detailed recollections.  When pressed, I could remember a handful of mostly American kids who were with us. Jan knew those and many more, particularly those that were in classes with us.  Really added a lot more color and detail to my faded memories.  After coffee we enjoyed a leisurely stroll and good conversation all around the Botanical Gardens up to and including Mrs. Macquarie's Chair.

Side Note:  Mrs Macquarie's Chair.  Mrs Macquarie's Chair (also known as Lady Macquarie's Chair) is an exposed sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench, on a peninsula in Sydney Harbour, hand carved by convicts from sandstone in 1810 for Governor Macquarie's wife Elizabeth.

The peninsula itself is named Mrs Macquarie's Point, and is part of the The Domain, near the Royal Botanic Gardens.  Mrs Macquarie was the wife of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. Folklore has it that she used to sit on the rock and watch for ships from Great Britain sailing into the harbor. She was known to visit the area and sit enjoying the panoramic views of the harbor.

Above the chair is a stone inscription referring to Mrs Macquarie's Road. That road was built between 1813 and 1818, and ran from the original Government House (now the Museum of Sydney) to Mrs Macquarie's Point.  It was built on the instruction of Governor Macquarie for the benefit of his wife. There is no remaining evidence of the original road, other than a culvert over which the road ran.

The peninsula sits between the Garden Island peninsula to the east and Bennelong Point (where the Sydney Opera House resides) to the west. The chair itself faces north-east towards Fort Denison in the middle of Sydney Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. The area around it on Mrs Macquarie's Point is a popular lookout position for the view to the north-west of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge.
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Not long after noon we were all getting a bit peckish so, popped into the Botanical Gardens Cafe, made our selections and had a nice picnic out on the nearby lawn under a tree.  I'm having a hard time conveying how wonderful it is again to be with Jan after all these years and in Sydney no less!  Feels like a dream except that our friend, Time, has kept things real over the past 40yrs.  We have all aged but in my eyes and mind's eye, Jan's still as I remember her - not to mention the personality is uniquely Jan: artistic, gregarious, kind, adventurous, a certain mischievous twinkle in her eye, a laugh that reminds me of her parents, Fred and Madeline and, just a good soul.  She's cool and comfortable in her own ski.  I'm happy Rosie's getting a chance to get to know her.

After our extended lunch, we continued to walk around the Gardens back towards the Opera House and it was getting cooler.  Made our way around CQ and decided to pop in to Phillip's Foote, a pub and restaurant for a cocktail.  I saw a Pimms drink being advertised so, ordered us all a pitcher of Pimms.  Jan had never heard of Pimms before so it would definitely be a new drink experience for her.  Ever since I had my first Pimms back in Ireland, I've had fond memories of the taste and have even purchased a bottle of Pimms myself - just haven't used it yet!  Pimms is actually a British gin-based liqueur that is most often used as the alcoholic base of a mixed drink.  Our drinks came out in a pitcher and it tasted just like I remembered.  I believe both Rosie and Jan enjoyed the cocktail.  They each thought it was a very strong drink... I didn't think so. :-)  Jan commented that it made her feel 'morish,' as in she'd like more!  Gave us all a good chuckle. Aussie slang is still mostly a mystery to us and it's good to have someone to translate for us.

Side Note:  Phillip's Foote.  From their website: "Established in 1975.  Phillip's Foote was named after Captain Arthur Phillip who led the first fleet from England to Australia in 1788. He was one of the first white men to set foot on the shores of Sydney Cove, his mission, to set up a British penal colony.

Among the convicts on board The Scarborough of the First Fleet was Joseph Tuzo whose descendant Howard Dredge helped establish Phillip's Foote in 1975.

The building formerly housed a sailors bar, customs agent and stable prior to standing derelict for many years until the early 1970's when during Sydney's notorious Green Bans, Phillip's Foote emerged to become what it still is today; an informal eatery with lots of colonial charm and good old fashioned Australian hospitality.
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Turns out in Australia, you should not refer to your 'fanny pack' as a fanny pack.  To Aussies 'fanny' refers to a part of the female anatomy that shall not be named in this blog.  So, we now refer to our packs as 'bum packs' when we're wearing them!  The Black Dog light backpack I wear around Sydney is also an eye catcher to the Aussies.  Where in the U.S. the Black Dog trademark is known for their nautical themed wear (company started by someone who owned a Black Dog), to Aussies it represents people in their society that have clinical depression.  Now I know why the check out clerk at the Botanical Gardens, when he was ringing me up, asked of my well being - 'Are you OK?' Amazing how something so benign in one country could be so very different in another. There are plenty of other examples.

Side Note:  Here's how you make a Pimm's cocktail:  Fill your glass with ice, pop in the mint and chopped fruit, pour in the Pimm's, top with lemonade and stir. To make up a pitcher use the same method, this time with a handful each of the chopped fruit, cucumber and mint leaves.
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It was getting late in the afternoon and since Jan wasn't in any particular rush, decided to go find a nice place to have dinner.  Turns out her favorite food is Thai, who knew?  We know now.  Turns out there's a Thai place right on George Street near the Hilton, Wild Ginger, so that's where we headed.  It was really getting chilly so while Jan and Rosie went in to get us a table, I went back to the hotel and picked up a sweatshirt for Jan to wear home and Rosie's coat.  Dinner was tasty and quite enjoyable. There was a bit of menu confusion but, Jan worked through that.  After dinner we walked Jan back to CQ to catch the train home.  She'll be meeting up with us on the train out to the Blue Mountains tomorrow morning.  Looking forward to it.

Another quite memorable day in Sydney done!

Fuji