Journeys of life- part the second

In 1967 we set sail for Australia. I was 14. I think none of us, parents included, had any idea of what was really ahead of us.
Nevertheless we had an exotic trip aboard the SS Orsova of the P&O line. Visiting Gibraltar, then Port Said......just before the Suez Canal was closed we passed through, , bypassing Aden (where an 'incident' had occurred...a soldier I think having been shot.... ) we went to Djibouti on the horn of Africa.  I remember being quite frightened as night fell and we were far away, and quite aware, for the first time ever, that we were white people on a black continent.
We went on to the exciting city of Bombay/Mumbai....we had never seen anything like it. Encapsulating as it does both the tensions of India and the still present tensions of the Raj with its great gateway to India.
The tension that India is both British and Indian.
In the midst of all this is poverty and porn....women in cages.....I had no conception of what this meant.
From there to Penang and the Temple of a thousand Buddhas   and the Snake Temple (here). The stupid taxi driver gave my brother R a baby snake. At least we had the sense to realise that there was no way we would be bringing live reptiles into Australia.
A couple of day later we sailed into the more benign Singapore. A pleasant drive around and my father had clever photos taken of my mother sitting in his hand....I will try to find these and post them later.
Then we landed in Fremantle, sailed on to Adelaide (the Bight was rough!) and then we drove to Whyalla ......what a shock!

Quentin the desirable

Looking back to this time last year I was wondering why those who should know better keep spreading the misinformation that the Governor General is our Head of State.

They were complaining that she was daring to state an opinion.

She is not of course our Head of State
In fact the Constitution couldn't be clearer:
Section1. The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall
be vested in a Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a Senate,
and a House of Representatives, and which is herein-after called "The Parliament," or "The Parliament of the Commonwealth. "

Section2. A Governor-General appointed by the Queen
shall be Her Majesty's representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen's pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.

Criticising the GG for saying (what she has always said even since before being appointed ) that Australians would decide to become a republic at some point, (the soon to be ex) Senator Minchin was saying she should just say nothing.
Personally, whether she is our Head of State or not (and she is not), I think it is not only OK, but desirable that she should contribute to public debate. And not just defer to the pollies.

I was interested to see in the National Orchid Garden of Singapore when there in February, this rather stunning orchid..Dendrobium Quentin Bryce amongst those of other national leaders of the region. One hopes there is one for our actual leader, but QB deserves it any way.

BUT I do notice that since I first posted on this last year she does seem to have been quieter, or perhaps not reported on so much. I do hope the pollies have not got their way. She is in such a good position to comment as other GGs have been. And the more indepoendent, non-political voices that contribute to national discussion the better in my opinion

Medals

A friend told me yesterday that travelling through Australian customs with his military medals (quite a valuable collection both sentimentally and emotionally) his bags were rudely prodded and poked because the X Ray machine had picked something up.
"What's this?" said the rude little man; and when T went to get the medals out to show himhe was ordered to not touch the bag as that was his (the officious little inspector's) job.
This rather contrasts with some other experiences. We ourselves on a couple of occasions in our recent travels had to explain the contents of our bags, on all occasions only we and not the the official, were allowed to touch our belongings.
This is as it should be (at least in the first instance) since we are the ones responsible for them.
This did not stop proper investigation and actually allowed an higher level of accountability. What ever else you might say about the two Asian countries we recently visited, their regimens were always thorough and always polite. Australian official should take a leaf from their book.
And T followed up the story by remarking how different his experience when the same thing happened enetering the US, admittedly a little wiser he had the medals out his bag and ready to explain. The woman customs officer asked him to explain what they were and on finding out expressed the heartiest welcome to their land, and her sense of privilege at being shown the medals.
Like many Australian travellers we remark when we return that we could and indeed should do this stuff better if we are to be taken seriously

Homeward bound

We leave Singapore today, just as Sarah and Denes arrived there on their way back to Adelaide.
It was wonderful to see her, and I think she thought likewise.
We met between two airport terminals and had pizza and ice cream in a cafe before they charged off into Orchard Road. What a time they have had. Stunning views of Budapest from their apartment window...and they heard Santana...free for gratis...makes us old hippies jealous.
I am just (incidentally) waiting to board the plane for Bali...just about to go and buy a bottle of gin!