From Melbourne 3.10.86

From Melbourne

3.10.86

Dear Lorna, Melissa, Jolene & Stacey,

                                                                                Today I went for a swim in the heated pool.  The water is very warm. I think over 30 C. they block off several lanes for those swimming laps.  Three lanes at a time. You swim up one lane, stop then swim down the other lane. The middle lane is for overtaking. This way you can have many people swimming laps at the same time.

                My mother has very expensive tastes in food. More profligate than Aunty Maureen. The most expensive ice-cream etc. Anything. I’m sure she wasn’t like this when we were young.

                Even if you can organize your money and passport I still think you are best to do your exams. You can forget about the Embassy & tickets & money etc. Just sit down and study and relax and enjoy yourself and pass.

                Any doubts I had have disappeared. To wander around some of the newer shopping centers is a delight. Even I feel in the mood for shopping. And eating. The take-away foods are better than I remembered. Petrol is half the price. To fill a tank costs about $15. To phone RSA it is $2 a minute compared to R6 a minute. But the post is more expensive. It costs 36 cents to post a letter compared to 14 cents.

                Electrical appliances definitely are cheaper here. About 30% cheaper.  I haven’t seen anybody apart from relatives. I have been driving over the country and sleeping in motels.

                At the moment I feel that the practice in Camperdown is best. It’ situated in very rich farming country. Cattle and sheep. Population 4,000 but many live in the surrounding countryside. It’s about 2 hours east of Melbourne along the coast though it’s situated inland. This dentist is very busy and has just bought a farm and has been running both but is desperate to sell. During lambing he’d lamb in the morning then do dentistry in the afternoon. The town itself is small but it’s not at all isolated with many medium sized towns fairly close.  It’s a atypical Australian bush town with a very wide main street. All the shops are on the main street with the houses spreading out on either side. There is some beautiful bushwalking and camping country close by. Also some lakes and surf beaches which are very popular. In one of the lakes are some floating islands. These islands are complete with vegetation and according to my brochure they move up to 20 meters in five minutes depending on wind direction. I suspect most days they move a lot slower than this. The country around Camperdown is beautiful. I can’t wait to go camping.

                The only problem is that it is a fairly small town and it doesn’t offer everything that the bigger cities do. When you come in the main street it doesn’t look that modern but it’s not a dead or dying town and the dental equipment is modern and there is no problem on that side of things. To get the money for the practice could be a long story but I’m confident things will work out. I won’t bore you with details but if things work out we will definitely make a profit. You will have to organize the books and all the finances though if we came in and fired the present receptionist the whole town would know within 5 minutes and we would be in trouble. In fact I’m sure we would need her plus you in a very part-time capacity. I’m just thinking aloud at present. I don’t know what is going to happen but I have my plan. Now we just go for the gap.

                                Love Alan