From Melbourne
12.12.82
Dear Alan
Your
parcels for Christmas arrived safely but your mother decided that they
shouldn’t be opened until Christmas Day, which is the correct time. The result
has been some speculation from Pamela @ Bev that will be resolved in time.
Christmas
is not far away now and we are hoping that the parcels sent from here arrive
safely. We hope too, that you have a happy Christmas and would be pleased to
hear details of how you spent it.
Because of the end of the year everybody has been very busy
doing all the necessary things to complete this year. Your mother as you know,
is busy at the kindergarten at this time and the school teachers are flat out –
or so they claim.
Lois
has just received her appointment for next year and she is coming back to the
city for Kings Park High (west St Albans). The experience in the country has
been very valuable for sure, particularly as it was such a remote part. She certainly learnt what a dry country
Australia is in the inland, particularly as this has been a serious drought
year. You may have heard that eastern Australia has experienced the worst
drought for nearly fifty years with drastic consequences in the country areas.
Where Lois was, in the wheat area of the Mallee, the rainfall has been less
than four inches for the whole year. Fortunately in Melbourne we had four
inches of rain this week and things are looking entirely different. The rain
also covered Trentham and things are looking better there too.
Today
we have been watching the first cricket test in Adelaide against the Englishmen
and I’m afraid the Englishmen are not up to standard. They miss the players who
went to South Africa and were suspended. It was odd that in the second test the
best batsmen in each side was ex-South African. They certainly produce good
sportsmen and it is a pity they can’t play test cricket but it’s their fault. I
can’t see the situation changing for some time/despite the efforts in South
Africa. We have just heard the news of the raid into Lesotho and that sort of
behavior is simply going to isolate them further.
Apart
from those who are busy at the end of the academic year we have been quite busy
in the printing business which is very pleasing considering the general
economic conditions. The unemployment figures continue to go up and there has
been quite a spate of retrenchments in local factories. Manufacturing in
Australia is going down the sink and will probably never get back to the levels
of the past. We will have undoubtedly have access to a wide range of goods but
a lot will be produced overseas and the percentage of people in manufacturing
must decline. More people providing services, fewer people making goods is the
trend.
We
haven’t any exciting plans for Christmas, probably be at home for few days then
up to Trentham for relaxation, bush walking and some work.
Uncle
Ray has been invited to spend Christmas with Glenn and he will leave for
Malaysia on Christmas Day. Glenn, his wife and Ray will tour Malaysia and
Singapore for a week then spend a week in Indonesia.
When
Ray returns (broke) Glenn and his wife are going to spend the rest of the
school holidays touring Asian countries. I believe their itinerary includes
Japan, Taiwan, Philippines and Thailand. A lot in a few weeks.
Cousin
Darryl got married on Friday to a Chinese girl. She comes from Malaysia and has
just completed a degree at Monash. She now becomes and Australian citizen.
Despite the economic downturn I should think living conditions in Australia
would have the edge over Malaysia. At least we are a free society in practice
as well as theory. Not the same for most
people in the world.
Best
wishes for a happy Christmas, keep well
Yours
Dad
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