Nhulunbuy es una ciudad muy pequeña pero tiene las comodidades de una ciudad grande. Tiene dos tiendas de comestibles. Una de ellas tiene también artículos de ferretería y artículos para el hogar. Los precios son un poco altos comparados a las ciudades grandes. Uno puede caminar a cualquiera de estos lugares y la mayoría de la población aprovecha de esta oportunidad. Hay 4 restaurantes y he encontrado La Rouse un restaurante bastante bueno para el café y los sanduches. Existen varios clubes que incluyen golf, tenis, aquaticos, picina. Todos son rasonables en precio.
El sábado pasado se celebró el relay por la Vida. Es un evento que tiene por motivo el reunir fondos para ayudar en el estudio para combatir el cancer. Duró toda la noche y la mañana del domingo. Participaron la mayoría de la población.
Al frente de mi apartamento está la playa, he puesto algunas fotos, es muy linda, muy tranquila. Invita a apreciar la naturaleza. El atardecer es muy imprecionante, no hay mucha gente en laplaya y me siento muy agradecido a Dios por tener esta oportunidad.
Thank you for visiting
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
English - September 10
Nhulunbuy is a small town but it has most of the conveniences that you have in big cities. It has two grocery stores. One of them is like a mini combination of grocery store and hardware store. The prices are somewhat high. Most everyplace is within walking distance and most everybody does a lot of walking. There are about 4 restaurants and I have found La Rouse to be a nice place to have good coffee and sandwiches. There are several clubs, a surf club, a tennis club, a swimming pool club, golf club. All of them are very affordable
Saturday night and Sunday morning the Relay for Life was held at the local stadium. This is event raises money for cancer research. Lots of people from the community participated in the walk. It is nice to see the contribution made by the citizens of this community.
The beach in front of the apartment where I presently live is wonderful. The water is clear blue and the sand is very white and fine. I have published a couple of pictures of this site. I will take some pictures of the town
Saturday night and Sunday morning the Relay for Life was held at the local stadium. This is event raises money for cancer research. Lots of people from the community participated in the walk. It is nice to see the contribution made by the citizens of this community.
The beach in front of the apartment where I presently live is wonderful. The water is clear blue and the sand is very white and fine. I have published a couple of pictures of this site. I will take some pictures of the town
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Nhunlunbuy, NT Australia
Saludos a todos ustedes, familia y amigos. Un resumen de mi estado actual. Les hablo desde la peninsula Gove en el Territorio Norte de Australia lindado por el Mar de Arafura. A 12 grados bajo la linea Ecuatorial. Este lugar se lo conoce comúnmente en Australia como el Tope Final. La ciudad se llama Nhulunbuy, se pronuncia “Nulunboy”, tiene 4000 habitantes. El territorio pertenece a los aborigenes. La compañía de aluminio ALCAN paga a los aborigenes por ocupar la tierra en donde la Rifenería se encuentra y también por todas las casas y edifícios que existen en esta ciudad. ALCAN gobierna la ciudad. Los 4000 habitantes no incluyen los aborigenes, los cuales no son muchos. La mayor parte de la gente no son originales de aqui sino simplemente vienen a trabajar para ALCAN por un período de 2 a 10 años. En general toda la gente es bastante joven. ALCAN paga muy bien a toda la gente para que vivan aqui y poder operar la Refinería.
La naturaleza de este lugar es maravillosa. Las playas son muy virgenes, la vejetación es abundante, las carreteras muy primitivas. Se viaja distancias muy cortas y se necesita veículos de 4x4. A eesta ciudad solamente se entra por avión.. Hay cuatro vuelos diarios, los cuales viajan a Cairns y a Darwin, ciudades grandes que quedan a dos horas de distancia al sureste y al noreste respectivamente. Sí, existe un acarretera de unos 700 km de distancia que llega a Katherine pero solamente se puede viajar en la temporada seca y solamente con permiso del gobierno, vehículo de 4x4 y tanques de gasolina extra.
Me imagino que ustedes s preguntan el porque estoy aqui. Es porque siempre me a gustado la aventura, el conocer lugares nuevos, gente y cultura nuevas. El explorar y gozar de la vida no necesariamente desde el punto de vista de lujo sino desde el punto de vista de saborear la naturaleza, gente nueva y cultura. Y a más de esto tengo una mujer que también comparte conmigo los mismos deseos. Por el momenmto Peggy no está aqui pero llegará a mediados de Octubre.
Comparto con todos ustedes la impreción muy grande de estos 5 días en este lugar. No extraño el no tener un celular, ni no tener 130 canales de televisión, ni no tener McDonalds o 100 restaurantes más. No pueden imaginarse lo bonito que es el ver a los niños jugando en la calle, a los padres caminar de un lugar a otro en lugar de manejar. El ver gente leyendo libros sentados al frente de sus casas. De no tener que preocuparse si alguien le va a demandar, a robar o a matar.
Mientra escribo estas pocas letras escucho a boleros cantados por Luis Miguel, a canciones cantadas por Frank Sinatra, Tony Benett, Dean Martin, Ill Divo. Estoy a 12 grados bajo la linea Ecuatorial, en el trópico, en el medio de naturaleza primitíva y al mismo tiempo gozando de avances tecnológicos que también devemos apreciar. Aprecio todo esto mientras como una simple cena, tomo un buen vino Australiano y dedico un poquito de tiempo a todos ustedes que tanto quiero.
Mi familia y amigos seguiré compartiendo mis impresiones de este lugar a travéz de este medio de comunicación. Dios mediante.
La naturaleza de este lugar es maravillosa. Las playas son muy virgenes, la vejetación es abundante, las carreteras muy primitivas. Se viaja distancias muy cortas y se necesita veículos de 4x4. A eesta ciudad solamente se entra por avión.. Hay cuatro vuelos diarios, los cuales viajan a Cairns y a Darwin, ciudades grandes que quedan a dos horas de distancia al sureste y al noreste respectivamente. Sí, existe un acarretera de unos 700 km de distancia que llega a Katherine pero solamente se puede viajar en la temporada seca y solamente con permiso del gobierno, vehículo de 4x4 y tanques de gasolina extra.
Me imagino que ustedes s preguntan el porque estoy aqui. Es porque siempre me a gustado la aventura, el conocer lugares nuevos, gente y cultura nuevas. El explorar y gozar de la vida no necesariamente desde el punto de vista de lujo sino desde el punto de vista de saborear la naturaleza, gente nueva y cultura. Y a más de esto tengo una mujer que también comparte conmigo los mismos deseos. Por el momenmto Peggy no está aqui pero llegará a mediados de Octubre.
Comparto con todos ustedes la impreción muy grande de estos 5 días en este lugar. No extraño el no tener un celular, ni no tener 130 canales de televisión, ni no tener McDonalds o 100 restaurantes más. No pueden imaginarse lo bonito que es el ver a los niños jugando en la calle, a los padres caminar de un lugar a otro en lugar de manejar. El ver gente leyendo libros sentados al frente de sus casas. De no tener que preocuparse si alguien le va a demandar, a robar o a matar.
Mientra escribo estas pocas letras escucho a boleros cantados por Luis Miguel, a canciones cantadas por Frank Sinatra, Tony Benett, Dean Martin, Ill Divo. Estoy a 12 grados bajo la linea Ecuatorial, en el trópico, en el medio de naturaleza primitíva y al mismo tiempo gozando de avances tecnológicos que también devemos apreciar. Aprecio todo esto mientras como una simple cena, tomo un buen vino Australiano y dedico un poquito de tiempo a todos ustedes que tanto quiero.
Mi familia y amigos seguiré compartiendo mis impresiones de este lugar a travéz de este medio de comunicación. Dios mediante.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Arrival at Nhulunbuy, Australia
I arrived to the Gove Peninsula Sunday night 8:00 PM Australia time (14.5 hours ahead of CDT). It is a long trip from the US. I immediately hit the bed to be ready for my first day at work on Monday. Jet lag woke me up at 3:00 AM; my body was telling me that it was daylight.
Life is proceeding well, I now have a car, getting used to driving on the left side of the road, have obtained a drivers license, opened a bank account, a post office box (P.O. Box # 2077, Nhulunbuy, NT, 0881).
The refinery and the town sit on leased land. The aborigines own the land. A permit is needed to access sites other than the town and the refinery. The permit costs $ 80.00 (Australian dollars) for accessing the beach and any other recreational facilities. Nothing can be done without the permission of the aborigines.
The town is small, 4000 people, it has most of the basic needs, there is no real poverty and it is safe to live in. I have not seen a police car yet. I presently live in an apartment until our house is renovated. It is expected by October 1st but who knows if this will happen. Things move a bit slower down here. I can walk to any place in town for exercise or just to go to the grocery store, bank, church, etc. People exercise outdoors, walking, tennis, golf, fishing is big sport here. I guess I have to learn to fish since I have never been into this sport. The weather has been great, average 85 degrees and a shower or two. We are in the dry season; the wet season will start around January. It is interesting how quickly one finds out that you can do without many of the amenities that we have in the US or in big towns worldwide. I have not missed the cell phone, driving every where, tragic news. I keep up with big news, my buddy George is in Sydney and has created plenty of excitement. There are only 3 TV channels in the local television. I am planning to get Satellite TV once in the house.
I do miss my wife, family, dogs and friends, yes in that order….
Gus
Life is proceeding well, I now have a car, getting used to driving on the left side of the road, have obtained a drivers license, opened a bank account, a post office box (P.O. Box # 2077, Nhulunbuy, NT, 0881).
The refinery and the town sit on leased land. The aborigines own the land. A permit is needed to access sites other than the town and the refinery. The permit costs $ 80.00 (Australian dollars) for accessing the beach and any other recreational facilities. Nothing can be done without the permission of the aborigines.
The town is small, 4000 people, it has most of the basic needs, there is no real poverty and it is safe to live in. I have not seen a police car yet. I presently live in an apartment until our house is renovated. It is expected by October 1st but who knows if this will happen. Things move a bit slower down here. I can walk to any place in town for exercise or just to go to the grocery store, bank, church, etc. People exercise outdoors, walking, tennis, golf, fishing is big sport here. I guess I have to learn to fish since I have never been into this sport. The weather has been great, average 85 degrees and a shower or two. We are in the dry season; the wet season will start around January. It is interesting how quickly one finds out that you can do without many of the amenities that we have in the US or in big towns worldwide. I have not missed the cell phone, driving every where, tragic news. I keep up with big news, my buddy George is in Sydney and has created plenty of excitement. There are only 3 TV channels in the local television. I am planning to get Satellite TV once in the house.
I do miss my wife, family, dogs and friends, yes in that order….
Gus
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Leaving Kestrel to Australia
This summer has gone by very fast getting ready for our trip to Australia. The date came before I was ready and I left Peggy, Sue, Beemer and Simon all by themselves this past Friday August 31st. It will be a month in a half before I see my wife and 2 in a half months before I see my dogs. This is the longest that I will be separated from them an d I will miss them every minute. Peggy is left with the task of having hour belongins packed and shipped to Australia and to storage. In addition of taking care of the dogs and shipping them to Australia in mid October.
Leaving my friends at Kestrel was not easy either. We have only been 8 months at Kestrel but in this short time we have met great people and acquire wonderful friendships. The past week in a half have been full of farewells, dinners, "milkins and grazing". My guess is that we are going back to Kestrel as soon as this assignment is completed. I am going to have to go on a big wine diet in order to loose the pounds gained due to all these wonderful friends.
This past week was absolutely hectic not only packing up for my trip but on Tuesday we sold the Honda CRV and on Friday morning we sold the BMW. The motorcycle was shown to a couple of people but my guess is that I will keep it until I get back to Kestrel. I finally finished packing for my trip at 11:00 AM when Peggy, thanks to Peggy, reviewed the tickets and let me know that my flight was leaving at 2:30 and not at 4:00 PM as I have mistakenly read the tickets. I have been planning to take the plane for an hour flight and instead ended up going up for 20 minutes. The highlight of the flight was that I rolled the plane 4 times. This is the first time that I have done it by myself. It was absolutely great. It was very sad to leave Clotilde in storage for the next 2 years. She will be well taken care by our good friends at Kestrel.
I left San Antonio at 3:00 Pm Friday and here it is Sunday 2:00 AM Victoria time in Cairns, Australia. It is 5PM Sunday in Cairns and still have to fly 2 more hours to get to Gove (Nhulunbuy). It is a long 42 hour trip. Oh well, it will be a great experience. more to come later...
Leaving my friends at Kestrel was not easy either. We have only been 8 months at Kestrel but in this short time we have met great people and acquire wonderful friendships. The past week in a half have been full of farewells, dinners, "milkins and grazing". My guess is that we are going back to Kestrel as soon as this assignment is completed. I am going to have to go on a big wine diet in order to loose the pounds gained due to all these wonderful friends.
This past week was absolutely hectic not only packing up for my trip but on Tuesday we sold the Honda CRV and on Friday morning we sold the BMW. The motorcycle was shown to a couple of people but my guess is that I will keep it until I get back to Kestrel. I finally finished packing for my trip at 11:00 AM when Peggy, thanks to Peggy, reviewed the tickets and let me know that my flight was leaving at 2:30 and not at 4:00 PM as I have mistakenly read the tickets. I have been planning to take the plane for an hour flight and instead ended up going up for 20 minutes. The highlight of the flight was that I rolled the plane 4 times. This is the first time that I have done it by myself. It was absolutely great. It was very sad to leave Clotilde in storage for the next 2 years. She will be well taken care by our good friends at Kestrel.
I left San Antonio at 3:00 Pm Friday and here it is Sunday 2:00 AM Victoria time in Cairns, Australia. It is 5PM Sunday in Cairns and still have to fly 2 more hours to get to Gove (Nhulunbuy). It is a long 42 hour trip. Oh well, it will be a great experience. more to come later...
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