Walter, not Oz - Catalonia, Spain (a very sharp distinction).
I hope you're not telling me something about Australia that I shouldn't already know!
I've been there many times - a great country. If I had my life to live again, I probably would have ended up there (or Canada maybe), if either of them had me,as have many Irish people done before in desperate times. Preferably in Sydney - I love its brashness, its sheer hard neck, the bling of the place. Only problem: the summer. But then again, Brisbane is worse.
At the moment, in Ireland, we're going through an Australian type heatwave. It's not typical of our summers and we, being fair-skinned and vulnerable, are steadily progressing towards madness. We are on a collective holiday binge. It's too hot to do anything outside, and inside, there is a listlessness that hinges on exhaustion. We can't sleep at night, we can't concentrate and can't settle to anything. People drink beer at a great rate, sit out dangerously in the sun, turn to the sea, river, lake or quarry water to cool down. We have had a record number of drownings, not all of them due to youthful inexperience. With this heat, we are having a hard time. People pay big money to depart for lusted holiday destinations such as Spain, only to discover that the weather at home is better. The ironies of life!
I'm going back again to Brisbane to see my son, daughter-in-law and my 2 years old grandson in September, not too long after my wife's passing. We were both there last August on a bit of a pilgrimage and I took a lot of pics in and around a city which I thought at its heart is a big country town. I love the people there, especially the bus driver! The natives are friendly, open, curious and very helpful. I resent the way they've been designated rednecks by the rest of the country. Not fair.
