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Cuba - One final adventure

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One final adventure

Inevitably we had a number of adventures catching busses and getting about generally, including a delayed flight that threw our schedule and pre-booked hotels into temporary chaos, but the best was the cab that failed to appear at three in the morning to get us to the airport when leaving.  As time ticked by the hotel staff roamed the streets looking for a replacement.  It’s a long drive and everyone appreciated the urgency. 

 Cuba1080

At last a cab is found.  Off we set; but as we are travelling through a deserted ex-industrial area; there is a loud bang.  The cab’s front near side tyre has blown out.

The driver is beside himself.   Our bags are thrown from the boot and lie in the middle of a wide intersection; the jack and spare are uncovered.  Ten minutes he says; just ten. 

He is so panicked he hurts his hand jacking the car.  He is so charged with adrenaline he needs help to get the spare onto the wheel bolts and to thread the wheel nuts. He keeps dropping them.  I help again.

Ten minutes later our bags are back in the boot.  He can shave five minutes on the trip if we are fast. 

We complete the rest of the journey at 100Kmph plus, ignoring all the red lights.  I tell him to take his time going back.  I'm hoping his adrenaline has subdued and he gets back safely.  We give him an extra $5. He smiles broadly.

 

We made the flight.  Phew!

And so we left Cuba; a unique place caught in a strange time warp; at least for the present.

 

 

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Travel

Greece and Türkiye 2024

 

 

 

 

In May 2024 Wendy and I travelled to Europe and after a string of flights landed in Berlin. By now we are quite familiar with that city and caught public transport to Emily and Guido's apartment to be greeted by our grandchildren and their parents.  I have previously reported on their family, so, suffice it to say, we had a very pleasant stay and even got out to their country place again.

From Berlin we flew to Greece and had an initial few days in Athens, before returning to Berlin, then back to Greece, a week later, to join a cruise of the Greek islands and Türkiye (just one port).

At the end of the cruise we spent a self-guided week on Crete. We finished our European trip with a week in Bulgaria, followed by a week in the UK, before flying back to Sydney.

Read more: Greece and Türkiye 2024

Fiction, Recollections & News

On The Secret

There is an obvious sub-text to my short story: The Secret, that I wrote in 2015 after a trip to Russia. Silly things, we might come to believe in, like 'the law of attraction' are not harmless. 

The story is also a reflection on the difference between American and Australian stereotypes, that were evident from conversations on the cruise.

I lived in New York for some time and my eldest daughter was born there. I have visited the US fairly regularly since. It is, in many ways, the closest country to Australia that you will find, outside New Zealand.  So, I have often been surprised by how different it is in other ways to Australia, given the great similarities in the median standard of living, shared popular culture and immigrant demographics.

I have come to the conclusion that this stems from our different founding origins.

Read more: On The Secret

Opinions and Philosophy

Gone but not forgotten

Gone but not forgotten

 

 

Gough Whitlam has died at the age of 98.

I had an early encounter with him electioneering in western Sydney when he was newly in opposition, soon after he had usurped Cocky (Arthur) Calwell as leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and was still hated by elements of his own party.

I liked Cocky too.  He'd addressed us at University once, revealing that he hid his considerable intellectual light under a barrel.  He was an able man but in the Labor Party of the day to seem too smart or well spoken (like that bastard Menzies) was believed to be a handicap, hence his 'rough diamond' persona.

Gough was a new breed: smooth, well presented and intellectually arrogant.  He had quite a fight on his hands to gain and retain leadership.  And he used his eventual victory over the Party's 'faceless men' to persuade the Country that he was altogether a new broom. 

It was time for a change not just for the Labor Party but for Australia.

Read more: Gone but not forgotten

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