Map of Australia

Aboriginals


The aboriginals we saw all through Australia made a big impact on me, I wanted to write a bit about them. 


The largest Aboriginal people today is the Pitjantjatjara who live in the area around Uluru (Ayers Rock) and south into the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, while the second largest Aboriginal community are the Arrernte people who live in and around Alice Springs. The third largest are the Luritja, who live in the lands between the two largest just mentioned. The Aboriginal languages with the largest number of speakers today are the Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri and Arrernte.

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population.


There is no clear or accepted origin of the indigenous people of Australia. Although they migrated to Australia through Southeast Asia they are not demonstrably related to any known Asian or Polynesian population. There is evidence of genetic and linguistic interchange between Australians in the far north and the Austronesian peoples of modern-day New Guinea and the islands, but this may be the result of recent trade and intermarriage.  


The Stolen Generation:   Between 1910-1970 an attempt by government to lift Aboriginal children out of poverty and disadvantage by physically distancing them from their families and communities.  As many as 100,000, or 1/3 of the Aboriginal children were taken from their parents and sent to foster homes or state training centres.  The idea--thought quite advanced at the time--was to prepare them for a  more rewarding life in the white world.  What was most amazing about this was the legal mechanism that enabled it to be done.  Until the 1960s in most Australian states, Aboriginal parents did not have legal custody of their own children.  The state did.  The state could take children from their homes at any time, on any basis it deemed appropriate, without apology or explanation.  They did everything they could to eliminate contact between the parents and children.  Parents had no way of keeping in touch with them, no way of knowing where they were.  This went on for decades.  They didn't see it as heartless.  They thought they were doing a good thing.  Their believe was:  No matter how frantic their momentary grief might be at the time, they soon would forget their offspring, they sincerely believed that indigenous people were somehow immune to normal human emotions. Very often the children were told that their parents were dead, or that the parents no longer wanted them.  Grief-related alcoholism and catastrophic levels of suicide was the result.  The children,  meanwhile were kept in care until they were sixteen or seventeen and then turned out into the community.  They then had the choice of staying in the city or returning to their communities which they barely remembered.  Dysfunction and dislocation was bred into the system.  This practice has been stopped, but that doesn't mean that all that damage is going to be magically undone.   


  It would not be fair to blame the Stolen Generations policy for every ill currently being suffered by the indigenous people.  One of the things we need to remember is that there was very little regard for Australian Aborigines as a race.  Native Americans were recognised as quite sophisticated in many ways, whereas most Aboriginal people were still Stone Age. Education was seen as a waste of effort, hence the focus on 'saving' the half-castes, who might still be salvaged, and the general neglect of the full-blood Aborigines.


A very high proportion of the Aborigines we saw looked poverty stricken.  They can withstand all the reverses of nature, fiendish droughts and sweeping floods, horrors of thirst and enforced starvation--but he cannot withstand civilization.   For virtually every indicator of prosperity and well-being, hospitalization rates, suicide rates, childhood mortality, imprisonment, employment,  the figures for Aborigines range from twice as bad to up to twenty times worse than for the general population.  Life expectancy is 20 years less than that of the average white Australian. They are Australia's greatest social failing.  Alcohol was largely responsible for the abuse of children, and the government pledged to find ways to limit the ability of indigenous Australians to drink so much.  In 2007 under income management, all Aboriginals in the Northern Territory had to spend half their pensions or welfare cheques on necessities in a government-approved store.  None of this has made any difference at all to the statistics. 


Over the past 20 yrs, successive governments have done quite a lot--or quite a lot compare with what was done before.  Spent more money on schools and clinics, community projects, helping small business get started, and restoring land to Aboriginal communities.   


Today, Australia’s 500,000 indigenous people make up about 2 per cent of the population. Life expectancy for Aboriginals is about 17 years lower than for non-indigenous Australians. In some parts of the country, Aboriginal men are 25 times more likely to be incarcerated as whites.  Years after government interventions, child malnutrition levels remain well below the country's national average. 


What should be done to spread the fruits of general Australian prosperity to those who are unable to find their way to it?  "Do more.  Try harder.  Start now."   

Itinerary (New Zealand & Australia)

ITINERARY  (New Zealand & Australia)                                     Feb 8- Apr 3, 2012

International flights are all "Air New Zealand".  

Feb  8   Fly Toronto to Los Angeles.  Terminal 1, flight 4799 12:10 pm

                    Arrive in LA  Terminal 2  2:30 pm

Feb  8   Fly  Los Angeles to Auckland.  Terminal 2 , Flight 0001  9:15 pm

Feb 10  Arrive in Auckland. 7:15 am   Pick up motor home at Auckland airport.  8 am for 15 days. 

Feb 10  Travel to Bay of Island. Camped in Paihia.  

Feb 11  Town of Russell boat tour.  Travel to Kaitu. 

Feb 12  Travel to Waitomo.  Glow Worms.  

Feb 13  Travel to Rotorua.  Thermal Geysers.  Travel to Lake Taupo. 

Feb 14  Travel to Wellington.

Feb 15  Travel to Westport. Ferry to S. Island.    

Feb 16  Travel to Franz Josef.  Pancake Rocks.  Jade Store. 

Feb 17  Travel to Queenstown. Kiwi Wildlife Centre. Knight lookout.  Beach stop.  Skyline (gondola)

Feb 18  Travel to Te Anau.

Feb 19  Doubtful Sound Cruise. 

Feb 20  Travel to Dunedin.

Feb 21  Elm Wildlife Tour:  Penguin, Albatross, Sea Lions & Fur Seals. 

Feb 22  Travel to Fairlie.  Aoraki National Park:  Mueller Glacier. Lake Pukaki (mirror lake)  Mt. Cook 

Feb 23  Travel to Christchurch.                     

Feb 24 (Fri) Drop off motor home @ Christchurch Airport 3:00 pm

Feb 24 (Fri)  Fly Christchurch to Sydney.  Flight 883  Depart: 3:45 pm. Air New Zealand.   Arrive 5:15 pm.  Will be picked up at Sydney airport by Chrissy & Ian.
   

Feb 24-28 (Fri-Tue) In Sydney-Meet Ian, Chrissy, Karena & Nathan.  Stay with Ian & Chrissy. (4 nights in Sydney) 

Feb 25  (Sat) Symbio Wildlife Park.  Opera house at night. 

Feb 26  (Sun) Blue Mountains.   

Feb 27  (Mon) Opera House tour.  Captain Cook harbour tour in Sydney.         .
Feb 28  (Tue)  Fly Sydney to Adelaide.  Flight JQ 762.  Depart 10:35 am.  Arrive:  12:10  Jetstar. 

Feb 28  (Tue) In Adelaide:  Take cab..(2.1 k) Pick up motor home 23 days.    

Feb 28  Camping in Adelaide.

Feb 29  (Wed)  Travel to Port Augusta.
Mar  1   (Thur)  Travel to Cooper Pedy.   

Mar  2   (Fri)     Opal Tour.
Mar  3   (Sat)   Travel to Ayer's Rock Resort
Mar  4   (Sun)   Helicopter Ride.  Sunset on Uluru.
Mar  5   (Mon)  Sunrise on Uluru.  Walk.  Camel ride.
Mar  6   (Tue)   Olgas.  Walk.
Mar  7   (Wed)  Travel to King's Canyon.  Walk.  Dingos at campsite.
Mar  8   (Thur)  Travel to Alice Springs.
Mar  9   (Fri)     Moved to another campsite in Alice Springs.  Shopping.
Mar 10  (Sat)    Botanical Gardens...Transportation Museum.
Mar 11  (Sun)   Desert Park.
Mar 12  (Mon)  Travel to Wycliffe. UFO campground.
Mar 13  (Tue)   Travel to Tennant Creek.  Devil's Marbles.  Battery Hill Mining Center, Gold Mine.
Mar 14  (Wed)  Travel to Katherine.  Kangaroos
Mar 15  (Thur)  Travel to Darwin.
Mar 16  (Fri)     Jumping Crocodile Boat tour.
Mar 17  (Sat)    Relax in Pool
Mar 18  (Sun)   Relax in Pool
Mar 19  (Mon)  Military Museum & Shopping.
Mar 20  (Tue)   Relax in Pool

Mar 21  (Wed) Drop off motor home  Cab to Rydges Darwin Airport Resort.     

Mar 22  (Thurs): Fly Darwin to Cairns.  Flight JQ 58.  Depart 6:20 am.  Arrive 9:10 am.  Pick up car (Thrifty) at               airport. 9:00 am. Drive to villa for 8 nights (22nd - 29th) in Cairns. BIG4 Crystal Cascades Holiday Park.  

Mar 23  (Fri)   Train and Gondola. 

Mar 24  (Sat)  Green Island. sea walking, snorkeling and semi-submarine

Mar 25  (Sun) Kuranda. 

Mar 26  (Mon) Billy Tea Safari.  Cape Tribulation & Daintree Rainforest. 

Mar 27  (Tue)  Relax 

Mar 28  (Wed) Bus City Tour.  Cultural show. 

Mar 29  (Thur) Cairns Discovery Tour. 

Mar 30  (Fri):  Drop off car at airport.  7:30 am. Fly Cairns to Sydney

Flight JQ 955 .  Depart 9:25.  Arrive 1:15 pm  

Mar 30-Apr 3 in Sydney .  Budget rental pick up at airport 1:15 pm.  Stay with Chrissy and Ian. :o)

Mar 31  (Sat)  Fly Treetop Adventure.  Rainforest in Budderoo National Park. Blowhole Kiama. 

April 1   (Sun) Shopping in Angadine town.  Royal National Park:  Aqua Bikes.  Wattamolla Beach.

April 2   (Mon) Shopping.  Supper.  Gifts.  

April 3   (Tue)  Return rental van at airport. Fly home.  Flight 9840  1:50 pm  Terminal 1.  Air New Zealand.

Arrive Los Angeles 10:10 am.  Terminal 7.

Depart LA 3:15 pm  Terminal 2.  Flight 4796

Arrive Toronto 10:48 pm  Terminal 1.    

April 3, 2012 Tue Day 55 Los Angeles-Toronto

This morning many tears saying goodbye to Chrissy, Karena and Nathan at the house, 
and Ian at the airport.  Ian again came to the rescue and offered to drive us to the airport, take the rental van back for us and then take the train to work. Their generosity is endless.  Chrissy lent us her GPS for our trek through Aussie. After returning it and being without the GPS, we knew we would have difficulty finding the airport and would  probably end up in Perth.   We quickly took Ian up on his offer to drive us. 
Customs did not check the name of my passport, so we sailed straight through. 
I asked if anyone was anxious to go home.  Happy, but not anxious was unanimous. 
Could have stayed longer. 

The Lounge
Comfort galore.  Delicious cappuccino and breakfast.  Including alcohol. 
Little too early for us....nope, wrong again.  Immy's on her second glass of wine.
The lounge beats playing euchre on the floor.
Yeah, they just brought out lunch.  Excellent food again.  

Skyping with brother Herman.  Free Internet in the lounge also.
We went downstairs only to find out our flight was delayed 40 minutes, which turned out to be 1.5 hrs.
Now, we will have to wait amongst the 'common people'.
Nope...went back to the lounge.  Packed with people downstairs. Thank you Ian. 

I think we all read about 5 books on this trip.
Most camp sites throughout our journey had a free book exchange.
Well used by our group. 

What to tackle first when I get home! 

7th flight.  Leaving Sydney for a 13 hour flight.  We had the double seats in the back.  Pre-booked.
Lots of room, but little sleep.    

On route, they fed us supper, then after lights out for a sleep, breakfast.
Peter did not even eat his breakfast. Very, very gross.  Think we may have to fly first class from now on. 
Or fill up in the lounge!

Arriving in LA the same time we left Sydney.  Pretty neat trick.  Found the lost day plus 7 hours.
We were going to try the lounge again, but decided against it.  Only 1.5 hrs to wait for the flight. And we would have to go through customs again.  U.S. airport is sooo unorganized.
They send you from one line-up to the other, and aren't even sure if it's the correct line.
Took 2 hours from the time we got off the plane to getting through all the line-ups through customs. 

Leaving LA.  8th flight.  

Arriving Toronto on time.  11 at night. Time three hrs. forward again.  Called Henny (5 min away) to pick us up with my van.  She got stopped for speeding.  Couldn't find the ownership (in my wallet).  The policeman even helped her search with his flashlight in the glove compartment.  Amazingly, he let her go with just a warning to slow down.   

Heading straight for the shower when we got home just before 2 am, just to find out we had no water.
Marcel checked in the basement.  Flood.  Pressure tank had a leak in it. Welcome home.
After vacuuming up the water, he turned the water on, we had a quick shower, turned off the water  and we went  to bed.
I slept till 12:30 the next day, while Marcel was up early, busy in the basement replacing the tank..

A welcome home lily from my dad

Our granddaughter Erin made this sign for us.  It was in our front flower bed. There was also a card on the coffee table from her, and a beautiful yellow mum (below) from our friends Herman and Amanda on the veranda.
What a wonderful home coming.  

Thank you, thank you, to our daughter Teresa and Doug for keeping an eye on our house, and vacuuming up the water in the basement the day before we got home.  
To Debby and David for looking after our plants and mail. 
To everyone who followed our blog and left comments or sent emails.  
For all your prayers for safe travels and flights.  Love to you all. 
But especially to Ian and Chrissy for their unending help and love before and during our amazing 2 months in New Zealand and Australia.  For spending time with us on outings and making wonderful memories.   
For all the great coffees and meals.
 To Karena for the delicious cupcakes, and Nathan for giving up his bedroom.   
For the laughter and fun we had together. And most of all, for making us feel so welcome in your home. 
We pray that God will bless you, as much as you've been a blessing to us. 

Side by side or far away...friends as dear as you.... are always close to our heart! 
 Don't cry because we're gone. Smile because we were there. 
Till we meet again.
Love always
Alida, Marcel, Immy and Peter. 

April 2, 2012 Mon Day 54 Sydney

Our last full day with our new family.  A gorgeous sunny day.
Great breakfast of french toast, strawberries, and of course Ian's special coffee.  

Willing to try the fruit!

Peter looking super cute with his new hat.
The four of us went shopping for a few hours to pick up some last minute things.
One last attempt by Peter to drive on the right side of the road at an intersection.  "No, no, no, left side" we heard from the navigator.
We were home by one.  Ian came home from work and told us he used his connections and got us the lounge at the Sydney airport. None of us even knew what a lounge was!

And our last dinner out with the whole family.
On our way down to the restaurant Ian kept laying rubber...all that engine power got to his head...we were having kittens in the back....good thing we had the O....handles!!  

Delicious food.  And great company again. 

The famous chocolate machine.  Remember Paul and Janice?

Very addictive.  Everyone donated their gold coins.  (loonies and toonies as we call them)

Twenty bucks worth of little chocolate bars.  Such a bargain.  And lots of fun.  Win..Win. 

Chrissy trying to get Marcel to try the machine.  

Off to McCafe for dessert.  The first McDonald we found did not have the Jaffa Torte cake I like.
Chrissy asked Ian to drive to the next McDonalds and he shook his head no.  She said, "Alida wants to go", and he said "yes".  Such a sweetie. 

Chocolate makes anybody smile. 

Nathan and Karena.  Two precious children.  

Miss you guys. 

Sharing the cake.  The pieces are large and very filling. 

When we got home, it was time for a few thank you gifts.  

Chrissy hadn't even opened her gift yet, and she was in tears hugging us all. 

A 'The Beatles' book for Ian. He is a huge fan of  The Beatles.  Not sure how many t-shirts he has with their picture on them, or how many Beatles pictures hanging on the walls.
Definitely a fan.  

Many thank you and we'll miss you hugs. 

As usual we had a fantastic evening,
especially because Chrissy and Nathan were able to join us.
Tomorrow is home time.  One more sleep. 
So looking forward to seeing everyone again back home.  

April 1, 2012 Sun Day 54 Sydney

A very lazy Sunday morning.  Delicious Ian coffee, toast and then apple-rhubarb pie we picked up yesterday.   Around 11 we left for the day's adventures.  We saw some knocked over pileons, and  Chrissy asked "Peter, have you been here?"  He'll never live that down.
First we went shopping in Engadine Town.  Very successful trip.  Both Immy and I bought 5 articles of                      clothing, of which Chrissy picked out quite a few.

Off to Royal National Park for a surprise adventure.
We were treated to paddle boat rides on the Hacking River.  Aqua bikes they call them.
Piles of fun. 

Immy looks like she's pulling out her hair.  

This little guy took a peek above water to see if those crazy Canadian drivers were gone yet. 

It's a great life!

Pukeko

Our legs were worn out after only half an hour.
A wonderful treat.  Thank you so much Ian and Chrissy.
  Neither Marcel or I had ever tried them before. 

Then the 'Wattamolla  Beach' (still in the park).
Watching people jump off the cliff.  

Forgot our bathing suits, so here we waded in the water.
Large waves...of course some of us got pretty wet!  

We were home by around 3:30, and 3 out of 6 went down for a nap.
Ian is carving up the 2 roasts of lamb that he put in the crock pot in the morning.  

Lamb, roasted potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and beans.  Wine to top it off.
And delightful company.  What could be better than that.
A perfect ending to a fabulous day.  Boy, will we ever miss you all.  :(

On the news in the evening we heard about the hurricane and floods in Fiji.
Originally, we had planned to stop there either before or after Aussie.

One more full day and we go home.  Very sad.
By now we should all be ready and eager to go home.  But no one was.