The POTUS comes to Australia

I sent some of you photos of the recent visit by the President of the United States (POTUS) - here are a few more plus some video.

Here's the President arriving with Ambassador Bleich (note the beefy guys up front):

 

 Ambassador Bleich introducing the President (they are old friends):

  
The President works the crowd - he stopped and posed holding a lot of babies, which of course thrilled everyone - the parents of this one were so excited they didn't get pictures - but I did and passed them on.  At one point because some beefy guys were blocking the view and access, Debbie and I hoisted a Marine Major's son up and over the ropeline so he could shake the President's hand (successfully).  Events like this should be about giving the kids access first rather than people who just happen to be at the head of the line and take up prime real estate - at one point I had to ask a beefy guy to move so a kid could take pictures (and I got one of him with the President speaking in the background for his parents - see below with beefy guys).  Some kids won a lottery (Debbie made the tickets!) and got to be in a special section (below) but the rest of them were having to jump up and down to see the President or be on people's shoulders.

A Famous Redhead was also present - this is just prior to Debbie getting to shake The Hand.

In this video you will also see a Famous Finger (mine) as I attempt to work a video recorder and still camera simultaneously (with mixed results).  I could not get a picture of The Handshake as I would have had to be 8 feet tall.  However, I did note that Debbie's hand had a slightly ethereal glow to it for several minutes.  She has been sleeping with it wrapped in plastic wrap ever since.








Well that was our fifteen minutes of fame (after standing in the sun for about 2.5 hours waiting...).  There was nearly a mutiny over in the kids section because it was such a long time - the Secret Service looked worried.  Unfortunately you had to be in place TWO HOURS before the President arrived.

Still, very interesting experience; Debbie has now worked a 4th of July ceremony, a 9/11 ceremony and finally a Presidential visit - the Trifecta of Protocol.

Further Magpie Proof

He has now expanded his interests to cashews...that's the dry catfood next to him there.  You can tell he's a male because of the bright white patch on his neck; the females have a mottled grey/white patch.  And a little handbag.

And in a return visit 20 minutes later, he has further expanded to champagne (see split on right); we invited him to celebrate our purchase today (or at least the mortgage for) 2778 North Street in Clinton:

 

And here it all is in video.  See us for all your hungry Magpie needs...got to figure how to get this bird into the States...maybe cousin Jim Klein knows how - he's got lots of birds.

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

A Magpie in the House

By popular demand...


Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

Fun With Birds II or Feed Me or Else

Well, he was just back.  I found him inside the house eating out of Karnak's bowl.  I chased him out and he stood there in the door with a defiant look on his beak.  So I let him back in so I could film him, which I did.  Unfortunately I have used up my quota for free video uploads this week so I will post that in a bit.  But he literally walked in, flew around the kitchen and then left.  Just to show that he could. Can't leave that back door open for the cats anymore!

Somewhere I have a video from last year of a Magpie that flew upstairs to the office.  I came home and found him sitting on the back of my chair staring at me.  If you could teach them to file...

Fun With Birds in Australia

I appear to have accumulated a critical mass of bird photos and it's time to share them. I have also adopted a Magpie in the back yard who now comes every day to be fed.  This is the "swooping" season where male birds are defending their nests and will attack without warning.  And it is illegal to hurt them intentionally - you can defend yourself but don't take any offensive action.  They like their wildlife here and that's good (except when slowing down for echidnas, see previous post on that subject).  But Magpies are smart, and if you feed them, they remember you.

But boy, does it annoy the cats.  I just ran the video below and Karnak, who has taken to sitting next to the computer, stood up and started staring at the skylight and then ran downstairs to the back door to confront the intruder.

Here's my breakfast visitor:

Apparently being able to feed them by hand isn't that common, but they see me every day and apparently are used to me.

Magpie feeding from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

And they have a beautiful song as well - here's one giving full voice in a local park.  He just sat there and sang his little heart out.  Sorry about the sideways film - can't be fixed.  I forgot that you have to hold the I-phone sideways when you shoot video.  But it's the sound that matters...

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

Then there are the Cockatiels (yes, the same bird that you remember from the cop show "Baretta"...

 

 Here's what happens when you put seeds out:

Cockatiels in the backyard from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

Then there are the King Parrots...

 The Galahs...

The Crimson Rosellas...

The occasional Raven...

Black Geese...

 

Some sort of duck...

And the (angry) Minah...this one was so territorial he attacked his own reflection.

There are all other sorts of birds flying wild here that in the States you would only see in a petshop.  There are beautiful parrots called Lorrakeets that are all the colors of the rainbow, Grass Parrots (little green parrots), Currawongs (look like a miniature Magpie), little blue and green thrushes and all sort of birds just passing though.

One last blog this weekend...parking in Canberra.

This is a typical parking experience here...read the sign carefully and note the position of my vehicle...

 
I just got an $80 parking ticket because of a similarly confusing sign..it depended upon whether you read it from the top down or the bottom up.

10-Year Anniversary of 9/11 Down Under

Because there were also Australians killed in the Twin Towers, 9/11 is also an important date down here.  In fact then-Prime Minister John Howard was in the U.S. and he immediately invoked the Australia-New Zealand-US Treaty (an attack upon one is an attack upon all) and is the reason both Australia and New Zealand are in Afghanistan with us (thus far Australia has suffered 29 Diggers (soldiers) Killed In Action, while New Zealand has lost one soldier). 

The U.S. Embassy conducted a very moving ceremony at Reconciliation Plaza on the waterfront of Lake Burley Griffin at 5 PM on 9/11.  It was a public service and very well-attended.

Ambassador and Mrs. Bleich greeting VIPs:

 

Security on the lake.

 

On the left current Chief of Defence Force General David Hurley speaking with just-retired Chief of Defence Force Air Chief Marshal "Angus" Houston.

Former Prime Minister and current Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd arrives.

As you can see, it was a little cold and rainy (it's Winter here)...

 

We had two bands, one of them a police bagpipe band.

 

 Debbie worked this event - that's Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Ambassador Bleich on the dais in the background.

 

Ambassador Bleich gave a very moving speech about his college roommate, who barely escaped the Towers before they collapsed.

Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich 9/11 10-year Anniversary Speech from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

PM Gillard followed.

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

The ceremony concluded with the lighting of candles in memory of those lost on and since 9/11.  The gentlemen at lower right in the green jacket is just-retired Chief of Defence Force Air Chief Marshal "Angus" Houston.

The Australians I talked to thought the ceremony hit just the right note.  It was a good way to spend a late Sunday afternoon remembering how the last ten years have affected us.

A Roosa Comes To Visit

Well, our friends Roos (that's Christopher A. Roosa, COL USMCR (Ret)) and wife Dr. Danielle J. Malek Roosa were hunting in New Zealand and after that was completed, Roos decided to stick around for a week this past August and visit us (while Danielle went back to her job in DC at the World Bank - she's in charge of those paper rolls you put the coins in).  We set up a busy itinerary to whit:

The NASA space "listening" station at Tidbinbilla:

 

"Question Time" at Parliament (translation - where Opposition Members of Parliament stand up and are really rude to the Prime Minister under the guise of questioning Government policies)...

Given Roos' space background (his dad, COL Stuart A. Roosa USAF (Ret) was the Apollo 14 Command Module Pilot) we took him out to the Mount Stromlo Observatory.  They just inked a deal with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for a space museum in Canberra (at Mount Stromlo) and Debbie, who knows some of the Australian National University people involved, passed on some critical contacts provided by Roos at Air and Space to help make it  happen.  Needless to say, they were very happy to see Roos and provided a personal tour of new facilities under construction at the Observatory.

Given our plans, it was time to start on the road.

A must-do visit to the Roos Club in Queanbeyan outside Canberra (it's a football club - the Kangaroos).

The obligatory dead wombat trophy shot on any road in Australia.

Lunch in Bateman's Bay (Clyde River draining into the Tasman Sea)

 

On to Husskison on Jervis Bay to see our friends Mase and Bron and the girls.

 

Mase teaches physical education but is also an expert Bonsai grower and has a business selling his miniature trees - which take a minimum of 5 years to grow...see Mase for all your Bonsai needs...Bron teaches "maths" (as they say here).

The next morning it's whale-watching on Jervis Bay, where we saw both Greys and Southern Rights.

Here's a Southern Right in the water:

Jervis Bay Whale-Watching from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

 

That's Debbie and Point Perpendicular

 

This is the inlet that allows you to enter Husskison.

Then on to Kangaroo Valley for an overnight visit at the mountain-top house of our friends James and Su:

 

The view:

 Where did she come from?!

 And dinner prepared by the resident chef Monique (she and her husband John look after the place for James and Su; it's a working farm as well).

And in winter, you always need a fire...

Next day, on to Jenolan Caves in the Blue Mountains.  This is an old and famous tourist attraction in Australia.  Has an old hotel with a fancy old dining room.

 

They even have a road through the "Devil's Coachhouse."

The famous "Broken Column"

 

Roos checks in with Dr. Malek (er, Roosa) - "Yes, Dear."

Leaving Jenolan - we head up and over the mountains to our next stop - Leura, where our friends Lindsay and Heather have just bought a house after selling theirs in Sydney.  But before we get there, we spot an echidna - an Australian version of a porcupine - slowly moving across the highway.  I nearly get run down by an Australian who doesn't seem to understand the universal sign for "Slow down, there's an endangered species trying to get across the road here..." (me, standing in the middle of the road waving my arms).

 

In the movie from Debbie's camera, the oncoming car drives between me and the echidna rather than just stop for one minute.  I'm sorry to say that's typical of the driving here - I love Australians, but when they get behind a wheel they tend to be impatient.  Here's the one from mine so you can see how slowly these things move.  Don't ever try to pick one up unless you have special gloves on (which strangely enough, I keep a set of in the back of the car) - also useful for checking the pouches of dead kangaroos for joeys...I have pictures of that but I don't think you want to see them.

OK, since you insist - here's proof of what I say:

Echina On A Mission Plus Impatient Australian Driver from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.



We arrived in Leura at the new home of Heather and Linds (who will continue to work in Juvenile Assistance in Sydney, commuting two hours each way every day of the week).  But it will be worth it; Leura is a pretty little mountain town which has beautiful views and waterfalls all around it.  And, there is a suite specifically dedicated to us (so we intend to return often...).

Untitled from Charles Ikins on Vimeo.

The next day, we placed Roos on the plane back to DC, then headed back to Canberra to make use of our copious free time; in my case, to write a military history essay for my graduate course.  Go ahead, ask me something about Maori hill forts during the Land Wars in colonial New Zealand...

Next post:  the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 Down Under.