Cape Arnhem

Boxing Day a fantastic day spent at Cape Arnhem, Gove. The Rue's, Petrofes' and Aguirre's left Nhulunbuy at 9:30 AM and after 2 hours arrived at the location. The distance as the crow flyies is only 15 miles however it is a winding trip thorugh the bush only accessible via 4x4 or by boat. The trip in 3 Land cruisers was not uneventful. Steve was the first one to get bugged, followed by Gus. It took a bit of shoveling sand and the strength of the 2 youngsters, Audi and Mathew, and also Charles and Peggy to help push the land cruisers out of the sand. Once you arrive to Cape Arnhem I realized that the trip is worth it every bit. The scenery is fantastic, the water, the beach, the igneous rock, the vegetation growing in this sandy, rocky place is breath taking. The nature is virgin. Charles took us to a "lagoon" which is a small bay where we swam and snorkeled, jumped of the cliff and prayed for no croc's or stingers. Fortunately did not have any of that. Charles also tought us how to find oysters and found some. We ate them out of the shell. Abigail played with the clams and gathered all kinds of shells. At 4PM it waas time to return and unfortunately there is no other way out but the one that we came in. SO there we went, Steve got us lost first, Charles took the lead but also got us lost and bugged down. Then Charles took the lead followed by Gus who was watching in the rear view mirror for Steve. Gus slowed down to see if Steve was coming without realizing that Steve had to slow down because Gus was in front and as result Steve got bugged down. All in all we got out of the place. The driving is half od the fun. This is definitely the place to have a 4x4. It is used to its potential.

The End

Several weeks ago, Gus was told that his contract would end early on January 31. They are sending all the expatriates in his department home. We were not totally surprised since the global economy is affecting everyone. We’ve evaluated our options. Gus has a job offer in Texas (more of this later on). We’re excited to be closer to all our family. We’re sad to leave friends and jobs unfinished. Australia has been a wonderful experience, one we will treasure for the rest of our lives. What a great year and a half this has been. Our ears will always perk up for every Australian accent we come across and we’ll have to ask, “what part of Australia do you come from?”.

Peggy is somewhat sad to be leaving her job. She had just figured out how to do it efficiently and made out the travel schedule for next year. The hardest part is knowing that, unlike in populated developed areas, they will probably not be able to recruit an audiologist for East Arnhemland and the patients will go unserved.

So, now on to the next chapter. We have lots of sorting, packing, unpacking, rearranging to do. Peggy doesn’t have a job yet, but has begun to look. Taking the dogs back will be a breeze compared to bringing them. Christine will care for them for a couple of weeks during the actual move. We will leave Australia and visit New Zealand on the way home.

Perth and Margaret River wine country

In October we had an invitation to help celebrate the 40th birthday of a friend, Claude DiPrinzio. We knew Claude and Patsy from their time in Point Comfort. They’re now back home in WA (Western Australia). We planned a 10 day trip to Perth and surrounding area.

When we arrived in Perth, we stayed with Peter and Jane Bailey, also old friends from Point Comfort days. We spent 3 great days in the Margaret River Valley wineries and seeing the far southwest corner of Australia. What beautiful country! And Peter and Jane own Woody Nook winery, so we got to see things from the inside. We then returned to Perth and Fremantle. We shared a beach front condo with Dave and Sue Buick (again old friends from Point Comfort) who now live in Brisbane. The last weekend was filled with food, drink, and camaraderie with the DiPrinzios, the Buicks, the Pascoes, and Steve and Karrie Petrofes, who also flew in from Nhulunbuy. We arrived home on Monday, needing a rest.

The End

Back in Nhulunbuy

Saturday July 26 arrived to Nhulunbuy after the long flight across the Pacific. The trip started on Thursday July 24, the initial flight was 2 hours late which made the rest of the connections in Dallas-FW and Los Angeles fast and furious. Flew American Airlines in the US legs and the experience was not positive. American Airlines is cutting back in costs to the extent that the First Class service between Dallas and LA, 3 hour trip, consisted in 1 chocolate chip cookie! To say the least, the Qantas dinner 1 hour into the flight between LA and Brisbane was welcomed and certainly enjoyed the wine served. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the rest of trip.

The highlight of the arrival was seeing Sue, Simon and Beemer. The dogs were happy to see me and it took a half an hour to calmed them down.

Peggy is still in the Midland with Emory and Ann. She will be back in Australia August 8.

Visit to the USA

While in Virginia we attended my cousin’s wedding. What fun. Relatives everywhere.

Then it was on to Texas. Diego is a doll. Christine and Rudy seem happy in Texas. Houston is not our idea of an ideal city to live in, but they seem to like it.

Peggy’s parents had just moved into assisted living and she was able to help get them settled. In the month before we began our holiday, Peggy’s mom had major abdominal surgery for an obstruction and then a stroke. They had already set a move in date of June 1. In the months since they seem to be adjusting. Their health has definitely improved. The regular meals and medicine and care are what they needed. My sister, Nan has taken care of so much since we moved to Australia that I can never thank her enough. She has been a champ.

Gus and Peggy came back separately, but they both noticed that as they approached the Qantas counter in Los Angeles, it sounded like home. It felt good to hear the Australian accent.

Houston

We were in Houston from July 16 to July 22, 2008. We had a busy six days in Houston with our family. We stayed with Christine, Rudy and Diego. Diego is a cute sixteen months old. He’s a good little boy and very sharp. Of course we’re not prejudiced. ☺
Gus’ nephew, Fernando, lives in Houston with his wife Angie with their children Madeleine and Marcel. Gus’ brother, Miguel, and his wife Bella came to Houston from Quito, Ecuador, on Wednesday. So we had large family gatherings every night for supper. On Thursday and Friday, one of Gus’ other nephews, Fausto, was able to join us as well. Lots of good food and drink!

Washington DC

Flight BA 217 landed at Dulles airport on time. It was very easy to get through immigration and customs, get the rental car and drive to Peggy's aunt Nancye and uncle Bill house.

On Monday we visited the new Smithsonian Air Space Museum located next to Dulles Airport. We spent the whole day admiring the history of airplanes development since the late 1800's to the present. This is a a place worth visiting.

Sunday - London

I'll write all about Thrusday - Saturday while in flight this morning. All has gone great but we decided to leave a day earlier. We are on flight BA217 this morning at 11:05. We should be in Washington Dulles by 13:15 hours. The traffic from London to the Airport was very easy this morning since it is Sunday.

Trusday - Saturday

Thursday
We visited Buckingham Palace and saw the change of the Royal Guards at exactly 11:30 AM. It is quite impressive. As we walked around Buckingham Palace we came across the Royal Mew, this is the stables where the Royal horses and carriages are kept. The gold carriage used by the King/Queen during their coronation is kept here.

Friday

A walk around Piccadilly Circus, wine bar and afternoon tee at the Fortnum & Mason department store and visit of the London Bridge followed by beer by the Thames took care of Thursday.

Saturday

The trip to Dover today was probably the best part of our visit to England. A two hour train ride to Dover takes you through the green southeastern country side. The Dover Castle build by William the Conqueror in the 1080's is impressive. It takes a good three hours to cover this visit and includes a visit to the World War II tunnels where England operated their communications center for coordinating the war efforts. From this location you can easily see the White Cliffs of Dover and 21 miles across the channel one can also see the coast of France.

The Thai food tonight at a restaurant in Trafalgar square was great.

Wednesday in London

Having a good visit of National Gallery, British Museum, The House of Commons. In between we have tried Lamb Shank and some beers: Bombardier, 1664, London Pride, Guinness. The Tube is great and makes it easier to get around London. Peggy met a Lord Of Commons. I think that he was after her but once he saw me he politely walked away!!!.

London

Arrived here at 4:40 AM London time. We took advantage of the British Airways Club and had a nice shower and breakfast. Went down to the Transportation Information booth and purchase a ticket for the "TUBE" for the week. This is the underground train. We arrived at the Ceasar Hotel after 1 hour ride from Heathrow Airport. We are on the Bayswater side of London. Weather is nice , summer temperatures in London between 18 - 25 C. We were very tired yesterday and after lunch at the The Bayswater Arms pub, 3 beers, a Bombardier, a 1664 and a?, we wentback to the hotel and slept from 3 PM to 3 AM London time. We have gotten an early start this morning and are having breakfast at 6:30 AM. See you later.

Hong Kong

It is Sunday night and we are at the Hong Kong Airport waiting for our departure to London at 11:15 PM. We have had an amazing 2 days in this beautiful city. Arrived here Friday night. The city lights are impressive and have taken several pictures. Very impressed by the cleanliness of the city and the friendly people. The weather has not co-operatedto do a lot of touring but we have managed to see enough of this place to want to come back again in the future. We attended a concert by the Hong Kong symphony last night. The music was great although we did not understand the soprano. The food so far has been outstanding. There is thousands of places to shop. We often think about our nephew Pablo and family because they loveto s shop and they would have a great time here.

The flight tonight will take 12 hours and will arive in London at 6:00 AM. We'll write again this coming week from London.

Wurrwawuy

June 9, 2008 Queen's Day in the Northern Territory. Gus, Peggy, Amanda, Abigail, Sue, Beemer, and stinky Simon and stinky Bob visited the Wurrwawuy beach. Nice, windy day good enough to fly our kite for a few minutes. A few families were also enjoying the holiday at this beach.

USA WORLD WAR II JEEP

The Petrofes finally got their World War II Jeep. It was a long wait but finally the Jeep arrived in Gove. Steve has his big smile. The whole family helped cleaned it up this past weekend. This picture was just before the Petrofes were stopped by the Nhulunbuy Police for driving without registration, license plates, left hand steering and seat belts.

The New Bike Path

Today Peggy and I went for a 16 Km bike ride. Most of the ride was taken along the new 7.5 Km path built between Nhulunbuy and the Rio Tinto Gove Alumina refinery. The path is surrounded by eucalyptus trees. A number of employees bike ride and walk from the refinery to town. The addition of the bike path will certainly make the trip more enjoyable and safe. Occasionally we should be able to come across buffaloes, snakes and wallabies.

Scout Camp - May

Located about 50 km southwest of Nhulunbuy via the Stuart highway. This is a popular camping location easily accessible without a four wheel drive vehicle. We have been here twice accompanied by good friends. The river is deep enough to swim and there is even a rope attached to a tree. We have enjoyed swinging from this rope and falling into the deep water. Sue, the dog, is getting used to the water and has swum across the river.

Nhulunbuy Soccer

We have been attending the local youth soccer league games every Friday evening. We enjoy watching the kids play. Gus wishes to be a kid again. This is our good friend Abigail Petrofes, age 5.

Banambarrnga (Rainbow Cliff) - NT

Is a sheer section of the coastline where the exposed and weathered rock profile produces a colorfull effect on the cliff face.

Wathawauy (Latrum River) - NT

Located approximately 17 Km south west from Nhulunbuy via the Stuart highway. We made a day trip and found this to be a nice location. The river is shallow surrounded by plenty of eucalyptus forest. Peggy, Kerry, and I sat our chairs in the water and enjoyed an afternoon of conversation and tasted a nice "Los Vascos" Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. The dogs, Sue, Beemer and Simon also enjoyed this location.

Hunter Valley, Wine Country - March 28-30

Arrived at our B&B "Thistle Hill"; great place to stay. It has "Chloe" the 21 year old Kangaroo and "Charlie" the cat for pets. Both accompanied us during our early morning breakfast. The B&B is owned by a wonderful couple from South Africa. We visited several wineries and tasted different varieties of wines. The region is famous for the Semillion and Sauvignon Blanc. Two great restaurants, Amanda's on the Edge, the food was exquisite and so was the wine. Moline's Restaurant was also a great plaace to eat. Both locations allowed us to bring our own wine that we had purchased during our winery visits.

Unfortunately this was our last stop of our trip and it was time to get back to the Top End (Gove Peninsula).

AirBorne Ultralights

South of Newcastle about 20 km in the town of Redhead is the factory for AirBorne Ultralights. We met Rob Hibberd, Marketing Director, who took us through a tour of the facilities and invited us to a demo flight. The flight took place on Easter Saturday at a nearby grass field airport where a local flying club usually meets. Peggy and I flew in different Trikes and experienced flying ultralights as well as seeing Newcastle, the beaches and the ocean from about 1000 ft high and at a speed of 65 mph. It is a different feeling than flying an airplane. It is the closest to being a bird, in my opinion. We thank Rob and the rest of the AirBorne personnel for giving us this opportunity.

Newcastle - March 25-27

After three days in Sydney we travelled north of Sydney on Hwy 1 to Newcastle where I visited the Tomago Smelter on business. While I was at work Peggy visited the city and researched all the good places to see and dine in the evening. Newcastle is the second oldest city in Australia. It is a very industrial city and one of the major providers of coal for the country. Although there is plenty of industry, Newcastle is a very clean and pretty city surrounded by beautiful beaches.

Sydney - March 21 -24

Well, we did arrive in Sydney and had a wonderful visit. We stayed at the Lord Nelson's brewery and hotel. A very nice small, clean and friendly place located in the center of The Rocks. Great beers. Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The view of the city, the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour from this location is spectacular. We enjoyed walking The Rocks which is the oldest section of Sydney. Visited the Toranga Zoo where we had the opportunity to be close and personal with the Giraffes, Koala bears, Bilbys. This was possible due to a friend of Peggy's who is a Veterinarian at the Zoo. We took a 30 minute bus ride to the famous Bondi Beach. We spent the afternoon enjoying the fine white sand, the water. Gus enjoyed this topless beach. Since Nhunlubuy does not have great restaurants we took advantage of what Sydney has to offer and enjoyed Sushi, Italian, Continental cuisine accompanied by some very nice Australian wines.

on our way to sydney

we left nhulunbuy at 8:20 pm and are in Darwin as of 9:30 PM. We went to the airport hotel and had a nice bottle of wine cabernet sauvignon. We discussed and solved the world problems. We are now back to the airport terminal to catch the flight to Sydney. It is 12:00 midnight onthe 21/3/2008 final call bye

Audiology in Australia

This post is by Peggy, especially for all my audiologist friends out there.

When we decided to move to Australia I was excited about the possibility of working in another country. The Australian system for educating audiologists was patterned after the US system. I have filled out all kinds of paperwork and I have to take the praxis exam that they give all the graduating audiologists. !!!! They give the exam only twice a year. I should be able to take it in April, but I don’t know where it will be given yet. Even though audiologists are in short supply (there are only about a thousand in the entire county) they have a rigorous entry system.

In the meantime I am working on a “temporary” basis. When we came for the interview I talked with the audiologist in charge of the Northern Territory Hearing Services, which is under the Department of Health and Community Services. (Socialized medicine here, much like Canada.) She offered me a job as soon as I had approval on my application to the Audiological Society of Australia. I started working two weeks after I arrived. I’m only working 3 days a week and only traveling to aboriginal communities where the plane flies out of Nhulunbuy. (More on the aborigines in a minute.)

Audiology is rather fragmented in Australia. The different state governments provide diagnostics free of charge to everyone. Hearing aids, on the other hand, are provided for children and some older adults by a federal agency, Australian Hearing. Private practice audiologists provide hearing aids for everyone else and do the industrial work. There is one audiology private practice in the entire Northern Territory, in Darwin. My impression is that often the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. There seems to be some disconnect between diagnosis (hearing test) and treatment (hearing aid), at least out here in the bush.

About half of my job will be testing patients here in Nhulunbuy in the clinic and for the ENT’s who come to town four times a week. The other half of my job will be traveling by small charter plane to aboriginal communities to do testing. I have already made one trip with the audiometrist from Darwin. Most of the aboriginal communities have only some running water, and only some electrical power. They are truly third world. In this remote area, there are many aborigines who finish “school” with only a limited grasp of English. The rate of otitis media among the aborigines is among the highest in the world. I think I saw more perforated eardrums in one trip to the bush than I’ve seen in 30 years as an audiologist.

The up side to the trips to the bush is that I am seeing a side of Australia that few people get to see. And I get to fly in small planes! ☺ Australia is definitely a huge and sparely populated country.

Gus's Groove - Gove FM 106.9

I have started as volunteer at the local community radio station, Gove FM 106.9, and have a two hour program on Sunday 5 to 7 PM. Gus’s Groove is a mixture of Jazz, Classical, Latin Jazz and some Blues. Soon we will be streaming on the web. I am learning a bit about programming, editing and announcing music.

Cyclone Helen

Sunday 6 January and we have been without electricity since 5 am. This is due to the high winds experienced last night as result of cyclone Helen which passed 100 km south of us. It is 10:30 am and we are just beginning to feel hot inside the house. For the past week we have had monsoon rains every day. All of this due to the low pressure centered north and northwest from us. It is similar to our summers in south Texas and the low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico. We take advantage of the few minutes of no rain to take our dogs out to the back yard or for short walks. They are getting used to the wet season.

Party month in Nhulunbuy

December is a party month here in Nhulumbuy like every other place in the Christian world. Summer begins here as of the 21 December, summer solstice, which is the longest day in the southern hemisphere. The schools are also out for a month of summer vacation. Nhulunbuy becomes a ghost town by Christmas day. I don’t think I exaggerate if I say that half of the population of 4,000 people leave town and head south to the big cities. There are even special charter flights that Qantas ads in order to get people out of here. Christmas day and Boxing Day (26) we had a quiet celebration, walked the dogs around town, saw a few other people doing the same. We attended midnight mass and had a nice dinner afterwards. The natives that stayed in town really celebrated Christmas day, the kids were out early in the morning playing with their new toys and by noon everyone was cooking on the barbie. New Years Eve we went to the Surf Club for a couple of hours to socialize and drink a couple of tinnies, came back home and welcomed the new year with a nice glass of wine.