From Melbourne
2.2.83
Dear Alan
We have
not heard from you since before Christmas but presume you are well and still
working at the same place. If you have been on holidays we would like to know
something about it – where you have been what you have seen etc.
The
holiday period has been fairly quiet for us this year, just a couple of spells
at Trentham. Even Lois and Pamela were home most of the time. At Trentham there
hasn’t been as much grass cutting as usual owing to the drought – but more
caring for trees.
I
notice that there has been a big drought in parts of South Africa; similar to
Australia the worst for about 100 years.
Fortunately the summer here has been comparatively cool; we have yet to
experience a 100 day in January.
Whereas
last year we had quite a state of them. The absence of rain has meant increased
bush-fire danger and a few weeks a ago there was a very serious fire in the
Wombat State Forest near Blackwood. We saw the ravages of the fire last weekend
and it was a sad sight. As yet there have been no fires around Trentham but the
danger is greater than anytime since we have been there.
South
Africa has been rather prominent in the news here because of West Indies
cricket tour. There seems to have been general approval of the Govt’s action in
banning and of the players from entering Australia. That seems drastic action
but I’ve just heard on the news that they have banned two South African
journalists who wished to visit Australia and interview former test cricketers.
Like it or not politics and sport are inextricably mixed but it is unreal to
think that trade between Australia and South Africa has doubled!
The
presents you sent were distributed on Christmas Day and everybody seemed
pleased. I enjoyed reading the book you sent. It gave a good picture of a
middle-class family of that time and I thought was well written. I enjoy his
total recall of earlier events. However the little space given to racial issues
was quiet noticeable. No doubt sympathetic of the times and I guess his views
are somewhat different today.
The
small “l” liberals in South Africa (have you met any?) must wander if they are
ever going to get much help from outside except sporting boycotts. And I wonder
if the sporting boycotts do anything but boost our own politicians.
Uncle
Ray spent a pleasant holiday with Glenn at Christmas and they went to Singapore
for a few days then spent a week in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. Exotic
scenery and interesting place but hardly completely free societies.
Glenn
and his wife then did a tour of Hong Kong, Philippines and Taiwan which means
they covered most of South East Asia.
Lois
called at the local dentist yesterday and was examined by a locum who knew you
at Uni. He didn’t find out his name but said he was surprised to know you were
in SA.
Your
mother has just finished reading a book by Andre Brink, an author you may have
come across. She was quite impressed but I haven’t had time yet to read it.
Despite
the recession and increasing unemployment we are still managing to survive in
the business at much the same level. We’re not advancing but we are not going
backwards at a great speed, just surviving.
The
school teachers went back to work today (somewhat reluctantly) so routine is
back to normal. Beverley filling in time before going back to Monash. More or
less Dullsville.
Kindest
regards Dad
