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.