New South Wales

Canberra 2023-08 -4- Return

in

I awoke and remained in bed, having gotten to bed pretty early the previous night, but not quite ready to arise at whatever o’clock it was (it was about 5 am), and decided to roll over and try to sleep or watch some YouTube or something.

Eventually I dragged myself out of bed into the quite cold space of the guest house. The fire had gone out I'd messed up the air intake on the fire; closed it a little bit too much down it seemed, leaving a bit of an unburnt log within. However the small oil-filled bar heater was only just keeping back the worst of the cold.

The previous night I had already tidied away everything I could. I have a separate dirty clothes bag to my clean bag, so that was waiting near the door for my PJs to go in before being chucked in the back of my ute. I'd boxed up my snacks container that contained snacks, biscuits, tea, sugar, my mug and emergency trangia as well. My remaining clean clothes were in my Big Bull roll-up bag.

Quickly dressing and re-packing everything I made ready to leave, getting my bags and other stuff out into my ute I firstly marvelled at the frost that was on my ute’s tray, and then realised the large amount of frost on my ute's windscreen would actually need melting before I left.

Starting my ute I sat with the windscreen de-mister / heater on full power for more than 10 minutes as I waited for the frost to melt to enough depart. According to my ute it was -3º outside. 

I think this might be the coldest I’ve begun to drive in.

When I was in Tasmania it definitely got cold enough to snow while I was driving, but not so still and cold. 

It certainly felt quite cold as I waited for things to start to defrost. 

Then after enough time had passed to warm the vehicle enough to get the wipers to free the frost I departed. 

Within Canberra it wasn’t too bad, I’m not sure if that’s what passes for peak hour, but none of the traffic had gotten to a stop, or stop start sort of position, all of the traffic was moving pretty well.

I had to get from Beltana Road, Pialligo to the start of the Barton Highway in Lyneham.

The route (the same as I took to get to the AirBnB on Monday) was Fairbairne Avenue, past the War Memorial and onto Limestone Avenue, along that past some nice examples of Australian inner-surburbia architecture and then left at Wakefield Avenue. Crossing the tram tracks onto Northbourne Avenue and then north up to the Barton Highway.

Then it was just a case of following the Barton Highway all the way until it met the Hume Freeway.

However, leaving Canberra on the Barton Highway I encountered one of the least comfortable conditions to drive in; fog. Thick fog.

Can’t really do anything about fog, and especially on the Barton Highway which is undergoing upgrade, so there’s very few safe places to pull over.

And really unlike really heavy rain, which you can pull over and wait for it to pass (I have done so in the past when I’ve not felt safe), fog isn't going to disappear quickly, unless there's a breeze or a sudden burst of sunshine to get it moving, and there was not a lot of either this morning.

As got further along the Barton, thankfully the fog did start to lift.

And once the Barton became a separated road with a median strip it had pretty much entirely lifted. 

Entering onto the Hume I stayed on it for long enough to get to Yass, where I stopped at the McDonald’s in Yass for breakfast. 

A little over 180 kilometres later I stopped at the Little Billabong Rest Area, to pee and have a little bit of a walk and stretch. Without having taken photos and it being geotagged I’m not sure if I’d actually be able to say where it was that I stopped. 

I had decided that I would not be driving to the end of the Hume Freeway, and would not be using the Western Ring Road to come home. Given the experience of my last return from Canberra and my general dislike for the Western Ring Road I elected instead for the B300, the Melba Highway and other related roads.

The B300 is rougher, I think it’s gotten worse since the last time I drove on it. It is a much more visually interesting drive however, going through townships, past paddocks, abandoned farm houses. Driving past bodies of water, and changes of elevation. 

I stopped at Bonnie Doon, mostly as I was stuck behind someone doing just under the speed limit, although not quite enough to overtake safely.

I took some photos, stretched a little bit and had a bit of a snack and a little drink of water before returning to the drive home. 

On the Maroondah Highway, approaching Ringwood was the only place were the traffic got really heavy, which was surprising as I didn’t think it was quite peak hour time just yet at around 4:00 pm ish.

If you're on the Maroondah Highway heading for EastLink at the turn off for the Ringwood Bypass stay in the left-most right turning lane when you're turning on and stay in that lane. Otherwise you'll have to get from other lanes into that to get onto EastLink, in heavy traffic that's going to be more tricky. 

My day finished, at home, having left Canberra decently well rested, I hadn't needed to take any power nap breaks like the last time. Yes, I was tired after the drive, but not as much as I had been the last time. And especially so, that I hadn't needed to contend with the Western Ring Road, and associated roads in the midst of peak hour upon my return.

Canberra 2023-08 -1- Hume Highway

in

The Western Ring Road remains my most hated road, I hate driving on it. Everyone is so aggressive.

I entered the road and stayed in the far left lane, merging onto the road I saw a guy in a white 1990s Ford ute who seemed to accelerate towards me, then proceed to tailgate me for 30 seconds before swerving into the middle lanes and continue to accelerate before getting stuck behind a truck.

Like, mate you saw me, I’m in a Ford Ranger ute, it’s not as though you’re going to intimidate me, and you accelerated up, why…? 

Also the design of the Western Ring Road is just not great, it feels like it’s from another era with different considerations of safety and design. 

I made the mistake of being in the far left lane and then needing to change lanes before Sydney Road. 

It was a relief getting onto the Hume.

It was nice as I went further north to see that the the canola in bloom. It always puts a smile on my face to see the sea of bloom. And especially so when there’s a sea of bloom next to a field of green that hasn’t yet to bloom, it’s this intense colour contrast. 

The drive up to Canberra was fairly simple, there was a little bit of rain after I crossed into New South Wales. 

I stopped a couple of times on the way there, mostly to pee, dunno why I needed to empty my bladder more this time around. Firstly in Victoria at the Wandong Rest Area.

At Mullengandra rest stop I used the number on the side of the toilets to report that one was blocked and the one I used the tap was loose, so when you pushed it, it didn’t stay on.

I think it’s a good system, it being there so you can report it.

I didn’t see anyone else making a report, everyone else was just going in, doing their business and then leaving, or maybe walking around and chucking some rubbish away.

I was going to stop at the same Coles Express as I did on my last attempt to come to Canberra, at Gundagai, but decided as I had a little bit more fuel I could make it to Canberra. That fuel stop would have made me arrive an extra 10-15 minutes later, and I’d already stopped more than I would have liked.

Arriving into Canberra it was raining off and on as I made my way through the outskirts of the city.

I was glad of having CarPlay and Google Maps open. I had already looked at the route, and even written myself notes, although mostly the writing of the notes was so so I had it in my head, having already looked at things. However driving through Canberra it was good to have something guiding my way.

Arriving in Pialligo the road that my AirBnB was on I found had become a one way road, they seemed to be upgrading the road. But nevertheless I continued along the road, easily finding the address, and was grateful of the detailed instructions provided by the AirBnB host.

Canberra road trip failure 2023-07

in

Failure is always an option.

I see things, even failures as learning experiences, as even if it's a mistake, or something like that, there's something to be gained from the experience, even if it's just not to do it again, and to know what not to do.

Some time ago, when I did a road trip to Perth and back I stayed the night at Border Village, at one of the worst motels I've ever stayed at. It was a partitioned demountable, and...it left me feeling somewhat out of sorts, just...it was clean, more or less, but left me feeling just out of sorts. It didn't ruin the trip for me, and I had a few more stops between it and home. But it did change where I stayed the following night, and it shaped the decisions of where to stay going forward.

Recently I had intended to go to Canberra, I've never been in the winter and thought it'd be an interesting experience, alas it wasn't meant to be.

I booked an tiny house airbnb 'Tiny Baxter' - out at a winery opposite Lake George.

It's one of those that are based on a trailer chassis, for all good reasons I understand, cost and council permits; those two affect the costs of things like that. I know enough about permits, costs and all that to know why decisions like that are made.

I'd stayed in a tiny house on my last venture to Canberra, but that one was rather more permanent than 'Tiny Baxter'.

Lake George

The failings of this trip are mostly in my court, as I knew some of the failings of the location before going.

And I learnt some things about myself. 

In my past longer road trips 8-9 hours I knew was the absolute maximum for one day's driving. 

I now realise that 8 hours is the absolute hard max especially on a poor night's sleep. 

After an absolutely poor night's sleep at the tiny house, a persistent headache and...I just couldn't go ahead with anything I'd planned. 

I didn't have anything pre-booked, aside from the accommodation, so I decided to count this as a loss, and a learning experience and return home, there is no point in pushing through if you're not going to enjoy things. A road trip, holiday or what not isn't something to force through. I was looking at experiences, seeing things and if I'm not going to enjoy it, then I shouldn't push myself through it.

Day 1 - On the way up 

I stopped more times than I have in the past going along the Hume Freeway, more breaks that I had felt I needed in the past.

Rest Stop at Balmattum.

I knew I wanted to stop at Maccas Yass on the way there, just because I didn't want to cook that night, I'd brought two meals with me to cook at my accommodation, and figured the first night could be an early meal at Maccas. 

I also knew that I didn't want to be arriving at the accommodation in the dark, not just because of the difficulties of arriving in the dark, but also the roads to get from the Hume to Lake George went through farming country with a some scrub and bush land throughout; I had no desire to hit a kangaroo in the twilight of an evening. Which shaped what time I needed to leave from home etc.

Arriving it looked as it did in the photos, and the first thing I did after brining in my bags was to turn the reverse cycle on; a Euromatic reverse cycle, which as the compressor turned on the side of the tiny house vibrated a bit, not exactly the smoothest of processes.

Making myself a cup of tea I took in the space. I had assumed, as at home that the aircon would be able to push out a decent amount of heat before turning off, alas not, I cranked the temperature up to quite a high state, and it did heat the bedroom area quite effectively, but the downstairs area less so.

The bathroom was fine and present, and the toilet was an experience.

A composting toilet, again it's something I knew about, having watched enough tiny house videos on YouTube to have heard all about a composting toilet, and had read the listing, or others like it. 

A convenient way to not have to deal with sewage, septic tank or the cassette toilet that comes in some motorhomes. The reality is rather less ideal, there's a fan somewhere in the back that's obviously keeping air around it circulating and a box of wood shavings that was used to cover up your 'deposits', and an enzyme water to spray on everything to keep it all moving, the enzyme water was distilled water and vinegar. 

There was only half roll of toilet paper on the toilet roll holder, I hunted through all the cupboards and couldn't find any more in the whole tiny house.

I would describe a composting toilet as a long drop toilet, made small, it's marginally better than that. Although sitting onto it, it's all plastic so there's quite a creaky feeling to it.

With a headache coming on, and pretty tired from the drive all I wanted was to pop some panadol and have a hot shower to wash away the day's driving and relax in time for an early night.

I had read the instructions messaged to me; that the hot water sometimes take a little time to turn on, and to wait. I took some panadol, hopeful of a warming shower while it acted.

So I turned it on and waited, and it remained cold, I waited some more, and it didn't.

So I turned it off, and waited the then turned it on, and waited again...and nothing, just more and more cold.

Bathroom sliding door that would trap fingers as I closed it.

I didn't want to go to bed dirty from the day's driving, I really wanted to try and ease my headache which was approaching a migraine level of pain. I'd already tripped up (and down the stairs) in my dazed tired state. 

Now, I texted my hosts, as the messages from Tiny Away (the management that ran the tiny house) kept insisting I text them rather than it all going through the app, which seemed counter to airbnb's policies of the past, that it all should go through the app so it was all recorded, but whatever.

Texted them at a bit past 7:30 pm, it would turn out I wouldn't receive a message until 6 am the following day. (Thankfully I left my phone in do not disturb)

I made myself another cup of tea and turned the heater up a bit more, to not much warmth where I was sat on the sofa. 

I found while sat there a door snake, which I realised was necessary as there was a little gap between the door and floor of the tiny house which did let some cold in, or heat escape whichever, I pushed that door snake in there.

So I sat looking at airbnb and other accommodation offerings nearby, but unfortunately I was quite in the middle of not very much, and had little desire to drive off in a huff in the middle of the night. 

But I did think about it, and acknowledge that it's a trait of mine to just up and go in a bit of a huff. However I was determined to try and make it work, and as the panadol slowly ebbed away the worst of the pain I did continue to look around for other accommodation, I thought 'maybe I could make the trip work, just elsewhere tomorrow?'.

Going along with it all I looked elsewhere, but it had taken me a while to plan and plot how I was going to do this trip to be comfortable and everything, and now I was trying to do it in a tired state, in an amount of pain.

As I started to realise my mood was turning sour I had mostly decided that this would be a one night thing.

I decided to try the hot water one final time, turning the shower on there was nothing, just more, and more, and more cold water, but at this point I had become fed up and worried less about the waste of water, so let it go for much longer than the previous attempts.

Then, I felt a little change in the atmosphere of the bathroom, ...yes, a bit of hot water started to flow, good. I texted the host apologising for my previous text and also sent a message to Tiny Away also apologising for my annoyed tone.

Showering I could feel some circulation and warmth coming to my fingers as I showered, having sat in the cold lounge area of the tiny house while I typed away trying to find an alternative.

Finishing the shower and donning my PJs I went up stairs, grabbing my water bottle and the foil packet of panadol, just in case. It had now been 2 hours since I'd taken it, and I hoped I would be able to get to sleep, I still hoped, maybe I would find a solution and be fine tomorrow. 

Lying down in bed I suddenly became aware of the traffic noise from the Federal Highway.

Again this is something I knew of from the reviews of this particular tiny house, one of the reviews had mentioned the noise outside but inside was fine.

It wasn't.

I can deal with traffic noise, that's not inherently the problem, it's the uneven sounds of droning or whatever it was, along with the low frequency engine breaking noises that were somewhat disruptive.

I had noticed the noise driving along, something about how the road had been laid means vehicles make a slight droning noise in parts, and this was quite prevalent at night as trucks drove along it, sometimes from the sound of it using their engine brakes too.

No matter I thought, I'd just put a podcast on and drift off.

Then, maybe an hour later I needed to go down for a pee. I nearly fell down the stairs again in my bleary half dozy state, going back up the stairs I stubbed my toe and crawled into bed, hoping the residual heat would stay, but alas no, I had a cold nose which would not go away, but I tried, and then relented and put the heater back on. 

Bathed in a blue light from the aircon and plastic walls.

Now the tiny house was bathed in blue light from the front of the aircon which displayed the temperature on the front of the aircon head unit. Combined with the sound of the aircon, and the traffic noise I lay in the bed.

Now I was just waiting, in pain until the four hours were up so I could take another of the panadol, hopeful there would be some respite from the pain. (Tip for those in pain and taking stuff like panadol, set the stopwatch on your phone, that way you can hit lap, so you can keep track of how much you've taken over a period of time)

After getting to a half sleep for some hours I had to pee again, and again nearly fell down the stairs, crawling back into bed, I got some sleep.

Day 2 - Cancellation and return

Awakening again this time around 6 in the morning I tried to return to some further sleep.

The Tiny House just prior to my departure.

I had by this point decided to cut my losses and go home, count this as a learning experience and re-plan and decide what to do, and what I would do differently this time.

I was going to cancel the reservation just before I departed, but decided, mostly because I could see the hosts' house from the tiny house and in case I was delayed departing didn't want the possibility of confrontation and query. Instead I drove down the road, pulling into a rest area overlooking Lake George and then hit cancel on the reservation, alas no refund for it. I knew there'd be no refund when I booked it, so there was no real annoyance or complaint there.

The drive home was...not great. Still some pain from the night before, a headache combined with neck pain from a poor sleeping position.

I had to have a few power naps on the way back, those signs that say 'yawning take a power nap now' or 'tired eyes' etc, they seemed more prevalent, more insistent than in the past, or perhaps just more relevant to me this time. 

I heeded their warnings nevertheless.

It also seemed there were more, better sign-posted rest areas along the Hume, with blue 'Exit' signs into rest areas, contrasted against the green 'Exit'-the freeway road signs.  

Holbrook submarine

I stopped at Holbrook to look at the submarine, well actually if I'm honest it was to pee and stretch my legs a little bit. There were half a dozen other cars of people doing the same.

Used to be Holbrook was the last town yet to be bypassed, I'd driven through there several times in the past going to Canberra or further north, now it looks a lot quieter. 

As I towards the Western Ring Road, Google Maps informed me of the increasingly congested traffic situation. My power naps having pushed back my arrival to Melbourne's outskirts from 'just before peak hour' to 'around peak hour', which was unfortunate. 

I tend to plan meticulously for my road trips, right down to writing notes for myself, even if I don't actually look at them at rest stops etc, it's having planned them enough. But then I also put it into Maps, just so I have an estimated arrival time etc.

But now, this time I put my hands in Google Maps' hands, just because the alternative offered would be 45 minutes faster than going along the Western Ring Road, Tullamarine Freeway etc. Got to see various examples of Victoria's "big build" projects as I skirted around the congested areas. 

Now having returned home I am planning a new different trip to Canberra, either doing as I had the last time I went to Canberra, in between the lockdowns of 2021, or perhaps staying outside Canberra, further out than I did this time, while still a reasonable distance to the capital.

Kangaroo in My Kitchen by Ethel Sloan review

I was intrigued by this book’s garish 1980s cover and its promise of “one American woman’s devastating experience of life down under”. 

Front cover of ‘Kangaroo in my Kitchen’ by Ethel Sloan

After flipping to a random page where she’s traipsing around town seeking out “dimes” for a washing machine I thought it might be a Karen-esque sort of opinion piece from an entitled person who came to Australia expecting it to be exactly like America.

But what actually is is a little more insightful.

What reviews that there are online comment say “nasty, vicious diatribe against Australia and its people, particularly the women, by a privileged American woman who clearly did not wish to be there”.

It is all these things, but that doesn’t make it a bad book. 

I read in a couple of hours in between other things. 

It’s insightful because it’s not viewing Sydney or moving to Australia through rose-tinted glasses “not even a pinkish hue” as the blurb says.

And this less than rosy perspective is what makes it interesting. There are likely a lot of perspectives of people moving to Australia which are positive, in video or audio mediums those would be the ones that have been preserved. 

But this more critical perspective probably only lives in the letter pages of magazines, letters to family and friends, and perhaps the occasional letter to the editor in a small newspaper. 

Images (aside from the covers) are from Wikimedia Commons from 1970/1971, and one from 1969, to illustrate the environment she probably would have seen.

It’s 1970/71.

Ethel Sloan’s husband Bernard (Bernie to Ethel) has been offered a 2 year placement in Australia with his advertising company. They’re sending him out to Australia to “Americanize” the creative department in Sydney.

Ethel explains that Bernie’s been with the agency for 10 years and she thinks this 2 year move is a chance for him to try something new. Ethel isn’t a fan of new things. 

Ethel by her own admission is happy with a boring life, a samey life, the same discussions, visiting the same places, same friends and parties etc. She’s got her group of friends around her. 

She’s just had their house repainted and got the furnishing and layout just as she wanted it and the bathroom leak has been fixed. Plus they’ve just got new whitegoods!

It’s all just…nice.

And now Bernie is talking about going to Australia for 2 years?!

One of Ethel’s questions in the early chapter of the book was “what about tennis” to which her husband challenges “you think there’ll be a shortage of tennis in Australia?”

This is weirdly something which will crop up later in the book.

What’s interesting in the following couple of chapters in the lead up to the move is the lack of ‘information availability’ as I came to think of it as I read through this thin tome. 

It’s something I noticed reading it from a 21st century perspective, and something I’ve not really noticed reading other history books which are usually published in the last 10 years or whatever looking back rather than a contemporary account.

Ethel doesn’t know what to expect, the information she has comes from the World Book Encyclopedia and her friends.

And the brochures about Australia which simply adds to her concerns / confusion they show surfing but also skiing, she takes many suitcases including her ski gear because she thinks she’ll be able to go from the beach to the slopes regularly (aside from one holiday away it doesn’t seem like she escapes Sydney much). 

The weather in general seems to fill her with much angst, and no one including the company moving them to Australia seems to tell her what to expect.

She speaks to several people who give her conflicting information; it’s warm, it’s cold etc, leave your fur coat at home the Sydney weather is lovely, but you might need it, you’ll freeze at night. 

This latter one does pan out to be true.

She introduces us to her friends who are fine, if unadventurous. 

Waikiki, beach and high rise hotels; Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. August 1970. File:Hawaii, United States (28252953655).jpg. (2022, August 12). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 05:48, June 9, 2023 from link. Author: Urbain J. Kinet

But she also paints them as widely read / widely informed, especially compared to Australian women. 

The actual travel to Australia Bernie turns it into an extended holiday, first they’re in Maui (rather than Honolulu) which Ethel likens to Georgia.

What contemporary photos I could find from a quick search for both these locations and that Ethel describes it as being mostly under construction (they also stayed in one of the older hotels) I can imagine Ethel’s disappointment.

On from there they go to Tahiti and New Zealand, in the latter she enjoys herself, seeing the natural wonders it has to offer, seeing the sheep that look like fluffy clouds. They go mountain climbing and a policeman on a motorcycle escorts them to the zoo after they get lost, and they enjoy sulphur baths and see a power plant that doesn’t use any oil. 

I suspect if Ethel and Bernie had moved to New Zealand in the 1970s instead of Australia in the 1970s she might have written a more positive book than this one.

Upon arriving in Australia, or just as the plane is getting ready to land Ethel’s angst of appearances rises up

Upon hearing the local manager for the advertising agency would be meeting them at the airport she is understandably anxious, asking Bernie why he didn’t tell her?

“He had the gall to ask me what difference it made. What difference? My hair was a disaster, my clothes looked as if they have been squeezed into suitcases, the boys looked like urchins, we all looked like refugees, and he wanted to know what difference it made.”

This does come off as a bit dramatic, but I think her anxieties are real, and she’s just moved across the globe and her husband has been less than honest with her. His boss meeting them at the airport is not exactly the way Ethel would want the first meeting to happen.

Tom Middleton, the manager of the Sydney agency meets them at the airport.

Upon seeing the Australian men, women and their children waiting for Ethel and Bernie (and their two kids) at the airport terminal Ethel observes they all look like they’re from the 1950s. 

Which is an interesting observation, there’s often accounts of people saying in the past and even recent past that Australia feels like it’s 10 years behind the rest of the world. And in the 1970s coming from the US to Sydney it probably felt like a bit of a time jump in difference. 

Expressway, Woolomolloo (1970). File:70-755 Woolomolloo, Sydney 1970 (51217728742).jpg. (2023, June 3). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 05:38, June 9, 2023 from link. Author: wilford peloquin

The drive from Sydney Airport through the suburbs and into the CBD itself is less inspiring for Ethel she comments “not a kangaroo or gumtree in sight”.

She’s transported in a limousine with the Janice the wife of Tom and her kids (Paul and Steven). Bernie’s off with Tom Middleton.

Crossing the harbour bridge Ethel mentions that a bridge in Melbourne (the West Gate) collapsed recently. 

They’re then taken to some apartments after exiting at Kirribilli. 

First thing her oldest remarks on is how cold it is. Which is weird as everyone’s in flowery dresses at the airport. 

And Ethel remarks on the blue skies and sunshine as she’s driven out to their first house.

Janice has helpfully filled the kitchen with the basics in the fridge; milk, butter, orange cordial, sweet cream, eggs and lamb chops (which were stamped with 39 cents a pound). The cupboards held instant coffee, loose tea, bread, Weet-Bix and Vegemite - which Ethel describes as “a mouth burning vegetable extract which Australians smeared on their bread”.

Janice also brings out a quart of Scotch which they get stuck into waiting for the men to arrive.

As they go to bed on their first night in Sydney they both change into their nightclothes remarking how freezing it is. 

It seems they arrived in October 1970 or possibly 1971, (based on the references to the West Gate collapse) being a thing of conversation I'm considering it October 1970.

Looking at the Bureau of Meteorology’s monthly climate statistics for that era in Sydney the maximum mean temperature for October 1970 was 23.6ºC and the minimum mean was 13.6ºC. So while it was cool it wasn't freezing, even drilling down to a day-by-day data level it was only ever just below 10ºC. Perhaps it was just unexpectedly cooler than Ethel had been expecting?

I know Australian houses especially of that era didn’t have the greatest of insulation, but it’s still an odd observation. Unless (as Ethel seemed to lament often) she was expecting heating/cooling in the house to keep it at an even temperature. 

Manly, Sydney (1970). File:70-757 Manly, Sydney 1970 (51218653178).jpg. (2023, June 3). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 05:40, June 9, 2023 from link. Author: wilford peloquin

Ethel gets a Mini Minor to drive around in, apparently that’s as much as they think women can handle, and she starts looking at real estate adverts. 

She also gets her kids enrolled in school and faces the public school system where her kids get the cane, it doesn’t go well.

Apparently her kids in the US went to a school with a TV studio and pottery kiln. 

While at the first school she sends her kids to, they’re expected to go across the road to the milk bar for lunch and they’re given free “curdled milk” twice a day.

That night Ethel goes home and cries about all the Australian kids who go to school to learn and instead are “were treated as animals to be tamed”. 

Again I wonder if this is hyperbole or genuine concern / culture shock for Ethel. It’s certainly insightful regardless. 

She remarks “We had moved not only to another continent, but another century.”

Then she tries the private schools:

  • Knox is booked out till 1984

  • Barker has forty-five children to a classroom

  • Pittwater drilled boys daily and sent them on survival weekends

  • "Progressive Wahroonga taught the boys sewing and the teachers wore saris"

  • "Masada was the nearest thing to an American school"

Eventually some Australians recommend the “avant-garde” Sydenham.

From there the book is about her settling in, if that is how to describe it into her life in Australia. 

Eventually after looking around Ethel finds a house, it’s a battle-axe block in Vaulcluse.

81a Kurrakirri Avenue, Vaucluse to be exact. 

Australia Square, Sydney (1970). File:70-783 Australia Square Sydney 1970 (51219510295).jpg. (2023, June 3). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 05:43, June 9, 2023 from link. Author: wilford peloquin

It doesn’t exist. Googling it was the first thing I did when I saw it written in the form of a letter addressed to Ethel. The road doesn’t even exist disappointingly.

But there’s enough detail about the house, the area and the people around that it definitely existed somewhere in Vaucluse.

Ethel goes on a hunt for tennis courts, finding them all booked out, but does eventually find somewhere to play.

The most interesting thing is that in these games the women going are going to mostly socialise, the tennis is just a framing for them to do so.

At the break they bring out the tea, scones, jam and cakes etc.

Meanwhile Ethel sits to the side with her yogurt, fruit and vegetables. 

This is one of the interesting insights in the book from a contemporary reader looking back. It was very modern of Ethel, being 39-40. She was fit, eating healthily (she even laments later when she hurts her back and starts on the valium) that she was putting on weight.

When she speaks to her neighbour (Kath) who sits by the pool tanning and smoking, Kath muses of herself that she needs to go on a diet for the coming season of socialising with her husband.

Ethel corrects her and says she can’t just diet she needs to exercise, something Kath seems surprised by the even concept of.

Again it’s this little insight into Ethel, that kinda reveals a lot.

Kings Cross, Sydney (1970). File:70-631 Kings Cross, Sydney 1970 (51218652878).jpg. (2023, June 3). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 05:45, June 9, 2023 from link. Author: wilford peloquin

She’s focused on her health, and when she injures herself even the doctors remark on how good she looks for 40, that she wasn’t one the “wrinkles” as Ethel describes the women of similar age to her that have been in the sun.

She didn’t have any cancers “burned off” as those of the other wives of the company men have. 

Ethel laments the lack of a PTA (Parents and Teachers Association) as that was where she did a lot of socialising and work. Instead she has to work in the tuckshop along with the other well off ladies who arrive in Mercedes, Volvos and Jaguars.

One of the people (or rather one of the kids her child meets) invites him to a birthday, their father’s name is Sir Whitlam Malcomb, which is definitely a made up name. Ethel describes him as newspaper, magazine and television tycoon.

I’m wondering if this was Kerry Packer?

There’s not that many newspaper, magazine and television tycoons who’d be around in 1970s Sydney.

Their house on Kurrakirri Avenue gets burgled at least four times, and while they do install an alarm it doesn’t really deter people. 

By the end of her two years also her Mini gets stolen.

If this is true, and it’d be weird for her to add in this to colour up her story, I can appreciate the trauma she feels of this frequently happening.

They go on a holiday to Alice Springs, there Ethel observes it looks like California because it was built for the American missile base. She sees her first “real” (ie American) supermarket. 

There’s air conditioning here and there.

During this trip Ethel does wonder some questions regarding "Aboriginal peoples", whom she and her children wanted to see. They’re told if they want to see them in their “natural state” they would need to go to Arnhem Land.

Uluru, 1969. (Couldn’t find any 1970 images)

File:69-1263 Ayers Rock, Australia 1969 (51215930168).jpg. (2023, June 2). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 05:56, June 9, 2023 from link. Author: wilford peloquin

They visit a cattle station in Ross River, they have an adventure to get to Uluru (or Ayres Rock / the Rock as Ethel describes it).

Out of everything in this book chapter 20 detailing her trip is possibly the most detailed. It’s got the most observations packed in, and if I’m honest I skimmed it before re-reading it while preparing to write this up.

In the end Ethel doesn’t feel a lot for Australia, when asked when she returns to the US was she glad they had done it?

The answer was yes, because it made her more of a patriot, made her appreciate all the advancements and everything that USA had. 

It’s…an interesting observation and I can sort of see why this book annoyed a lot of people who read it.

Back cover of ‘Kangaroo in my Kitchen’ by Ethel Sloan

I do kinda feel for Ethel, I think people who read this book ignored the trauma and anxiety she felt moving to Australia without a lot of assistance. Assistance the company had promised her and her husband which didn’t materialise. And all without much of a safety net. 

Information availability is this concept I keep thinking of when musing on this book. 

That she didn’t have a lot of easy available information to access to salve some of these concerns she had. Just an out of date World Book Encyclopedia (from probably 1968 with maybe a year in review update for 1969) along with a mix of local newspapers and various people’s opinions. 

Which I guess was what was available then.

I think it’s a great insight into one person’s experience.

I don’t know why it was published or how she got it published, but it’s been preserved as having been published.

It’s a decent enough read, some insightful observations and you can read it in a short afternoon.

Canberra 2021 road trip - 3 - Snowy Mountains Highway

in

I stopped in Adaminaby to use the loo and to take a photo of the Big Trout. 

It was surprisingly cold outside, after the drive along Bobeyan Road it had been warm, I'd had the windows cracked, although but not by much.

Now stepping outside into the fresh air it was surprisingly chilly especially as it was still blue skies and sunshine. 

The Snowy Mountains Highway starts out as many a rural highway;  sweeping through the country side, but then it starts to climb and there are slow vehicle passing lanes along with snow chain fitment bays every tens of kilometres along this part of the route.

The road markings also switch from being white to yellow and the plastic road edge markings go from being white and normal height to being red and double height, all very indicative that this area gets snow. 

I stopped at Sawyers Hut which unfortunately had been burnt by the Black Summer bush fires, now with only the chimney remaining. 

The worst part of the Snowy Mountains Highway was I think the decent down to…well not exactly water level but the road next to the Tumut River. 

Almost needed to put my ute in sport mode to change gear manually, and certainly a good workout for the brakes in any car.

In the Blowering area the view of the water…it was an almost intimidating amount of water looking out there.

And again looking at street view, it's obvious that at the movement in 2021 it's a lot fuller than it was in several years past.

In Tumut I had intended to follow the Snowy Mountains Highway and sort of meander through the countryside until I got to Wodonga, and in fact deliberately drove past the turn off for Gocup Road (which leads to the Gundagai and the Hume Highway). But then driving out of Tumut was behind what looked like a convoy of horse floats and decided to do a U-turn and go back to Gocup Road, at that time and after the drive down from Snowy Mountains I just wasn't in the right mood to deal with that at that moment. 

Joining the Hume Highway, noted that when I got to Holbrook it had been bypassed, the last time I drove along the Hume Highway it had yet to be bypassed, one of the few towns that had yet to be bypassed. (Looking through my photos the last time I drove the Hume Highway was in 2012)

Canberra 2021 road trip - 3 - Bobeyan Road

in

I had at one point wanted to do Alpine Way from Jindabyne back into Victoria. But each time I looked at it was a bit more worried about its narrowness, and the fact that I'd left travelling to that area a bit late into the autumn. I needn't have worried about the weather aspect as the temperature was around 17-20ºC for my three days travelling. 

Just outside Canberra on Bobeyan Road.

Instead I decided to explore the Snowy Mountains Highway from Adaminaby to Tumut. 

Putting Adaminaby into maps from Holt suggested two routes. The Monaro Highway out of Canberra and Bobeyan Road. 

Bobeyan Road looked sealed for a little under half its length and then a dirt road for the rest. 

I got slightly cold feet, wondering what sort of condition the other half was as I'd read some mixed reports of it. And reading some more some forums suggested that it was driveable and was still a road, not a 4x4 track because it was graded regularly.

The only vehicles aside from a truck that I saw on the dirt road portions of the road were Toyota Land Cruiser utes. 

The sealed parts of Bobeyan road are lovely, you could take a sports car along this route, it's a fabulous run of sweeping curves, straights and elevation changes, it's a thoroughly enjoyable drive with wonderful views and everything. There were one or two points where road work was going on, including a bridge being worked on. 

Then the sealed road just stops. 

There was some road work happening where it stopped, and there the road was very rough.

Even though I had enough traction I needed to stop and put my ute in 4x4 mode to feel safe because the road was incredibly rough and full of pot holes. The proclamation online that it was graded regularly did not seem true.

Now reading into it, looks like it's being fully sealed.

There's several spots along the way both the sealed and unsealed portions of the road where there's walking tracks and look out points. I only stopped at Hospital Hill lookout and had a look, took some photos, it was amazing landscape to look at.

The worst roughest part of the road is through the Namadgi National Park.

But then even as you exit the Namadgi National Park there are still hazards. There's cattle grids across the road which are only as wide as a gate. There are several down hill parts of the road which are somewhat precarious with a nice view down the hill, with only multiple eucalyptus trees to stop you if you somehow veered off the road. 

Then as the road opens out into more fields and more indications of civilisation and I started to relax a little more I came upon a puddle. 

Reminded that despite the dryness around me it had poured with rain last night, and this puddle was more like a small pond of water. 

The level indicator beside it didn't indicate a huge amount of water, although in hindsight I perhaps should have tried going around it then powering through. 

Thankful of my ute's decent water wading capacity I plowed through with only a large amount of water being thrown onto the windscreen, but no worse for wear I continued on. 

The road then does become sealed, like a lot of country roads where the sealed section just seems to end there seemed to be no indication of why the road stopped being sealed where it did, but I enjoyed the sealed road. It was smooth, long straights and gentle curves. 

The Adaminaby Racecourse was interesting as I approached it, noticing the grander buildings first and then the somewhat overgrown racecourse next. 

Bobeyan Road finishes at an intersection with the Snowy Mountains Highway. Turning right I headed for Adaminaby.

Canberra 2021 road trip - 2 - Monaro Highway

in

I've never driven the Monaro Highway (B23), and it was a really interesting and engaging road. 

Immediately leaving Cann River it's a different road to the Princes Highway.

Farm land to the left and bush to the right. 

Then it starts to hug the Cann River, making it twist and curve for many kilometres. 

Crossing the Victoria / New South Wales border, where I briefly wondered how checks were done when the borders were closed because there was no phone reception. I had the previous night filled out my entry permit for New South Wales, so had that on my phone should I have needed to provide it. Although now as I write this realise I should have had the email or its number saved / screenshotted given the lack of phone reception (not that I knew that at the time). 

A short ways from the border I pulled over at a rest area to take a few photos. Only now looking at them, and comparing them to the street view of the same location realise how much damage the Black Summer fires had done in that area. 

Driving through Bombala it seemed relatively busy with most of the parking spaces in the main street full, with all of the cars reversed into the angled spots. It looked like a nicer place to stop for a bite to eat and a wander than Cann River. But as it's 2 hours from Orbost to Bombala probably a little too long to hang out for breakfast if departing from there.

I stopped in Chakola at a rest stop next to the Numerella River to have a pee and stretch my legs a bit. 

It's quite a picturesque place for a rest stop, with views of the mountains in the distance, farms across the river and the highway set far enough back from the rest stop to not be as noticeable (especially compared to some that barely anything separating them from the road). There are a lot of signs warning that the location is under surveillance, which did seem a little bit weird.

From there was only about an hour to reach my destination of the National Gallery of Australia, and its underground car park.

Canberra 2021 road trip - 0 - Planning

in

I'd been planning a mini road trip for a while, or at least thinking about it for a while since the lockdowns lifted and we're able to travel a bit. (Yet as I came to the end of my little road trip Victoria was heading into a "circuit breaker" lockdown)

I thought Canberra is…nice? Well it's a nice drive, or looks it I guess.

I've been up the Hume Freeway several times, up to Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane several times, so I'm familiar with the northwards route out of Victoria. 

But I've never taken the M1/A1 – the Princes Highway / Princes Freeway east away from Melbourne. 

I mean I've taken the Princes Highway east, but haven't gone so far out that the road would intersect with another highway offering the chance to go north.

Just a three night/four day road trip, a night in Orbost, a night in Canberra, then a night in Wodonga on the way home. 

Looking around Canberra I had been intending to go to the National Arboretum, but then saw that at the National Gallery of Australia there was the Botticelli to Van Gogh exhibition.

The National Arboretum is something that can wait, I could do it all in this trip, but I'd rather do one or two things on a road trip and give myself a reason to do another trip.

Not much planning was required for this trip, save for double checking Telstra's mobile coverage which remains a bit patchy along the Monaro and Snow Mountains Highways.

Plus, because this is the age of COVID I needed to download the Service New South Wales app and Check In Canberra app to use their respective QR check in systems. Additionally within 24 hours of travel/crossing into you needed to fill in an entry permit for New South Wales and Victoria (even if you're a returning resident I discovered). 

That's I guess the cost of being a responsible traveller during the age of COVID.

No need to plan or worry about fuel, there's plenty of petrol stations along the way at all major towns, and a lot of smaller towns.