The Hawk's Nest

Sunday, I rode the train in to attend Mass at the Cachedral.  I arrived at 9:50, so missed the 9:30 Mass.  I took more pics outside and spent some time in the gift store while waiting for the 11:00 Solemn Mass.  I am glad that I got to attend that one. 

The outside bells began playing 10 min before Mass.  Beautiful!!  Then little at a time, a bell would drop out until there was just one gonging a beat.  Then the entrance antiphon was begun to that beat in Gregorian chant by the adult men in the choir.  Awesome!!  Then that wonderful organ began to play!!  I knew the song, but by then was too choked up to sing. Then the procession appeared: one altar server in black and white bearing the cross; behind him, two side by side carrying candles; behind them three, the center one swinging incense, the outer two wearing plain long stoles in addition to the black and white.  Then came the all male choir beginning with boys around 7 or 8 and ending with the adults.  They were wearing red cossacs (?) and white surplices (?).  Then came 2 more servers with candles, two permanent deacons, a priest carrying the mass book, then , to my suprise and delight, the bishop himself!  Much of the Mass was sung using melodies and phrasing that is common all over the world, so I was grateful to be able to join in fully.  It was one of the most beautiful Masses I have ever attended, and I spent much of the time in tears.

After Mass, I took more pictures until the lights were turned off.  Most of the marble is a pale amber color and all of the side windows are amber colored, giving the church it's warm gold appearance, but making good photography difficult.

I caught the train back home, and happened to be sitting in front of four LDS (Mormon) missionaries, one of whom was black and referred to his mates as "bro"!  We stopped at a station where hundreds of people were exiting another train and heading down the staircase to a "footie" game.  One of the LDS fellas said "Look at all the ppeople, bro!"  The other replied "I'd love to be a missionary going up!"  I was glad to be facing away from them so they did not witness my amusement!

Walking home, I took the opportunity to take some more pics. (Of course)

Monday, we got up early, took the boys to school, the Paul, Julie, and I drove the Great Ocean Road.  We leeft the house a bit past 7:00 AM andd arrived home around 9:00 PM.  The roads were twisty and hilly, lined with sub-tropical forest like the roads in the Mountains album, so I did not photograph those.  However, the views of the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania and of the South Sea betewwn Australia and Antarctica were awesome as you can see in the photos.

We arrived at the Twelve Apostles just before sunset.  There were originally 12 rock formations, hence the name, but 5 have fallen into the sea.  There was a land bridge that could be walked across to one of them called London Bridge.  Then one day London Bridge fell.  Luckily, the tourists were already on the other end and did not fall, but I bet it was a bit nerve-racking waiting for the rescue helicopter.  I will let the pictures speak for me about the rest of the day.

 

I am taking a little time to blog before Mass.  Golly I miss daily Mass.  Anyway, since last blog, we have been up to the Rialto.  As you can see, there is a 360 degree view of the city.  If you look closely at the pictures, the bay can be seen in the upper left of the ones looking  that way.  The city goes clear around the bay, but this cannot be seen in the pics because of the clouds.  It was VERY windy that day, and I had a hard time holding the camera still enough to get a good picture.

 

Julie took me to St Patrick's Cathedral Friday.  When you look at those pictures, have your screen on bright and your room dim so the pictures do not come out real dark.  I really cannot add anything to what the pictures say.  It was an awe-inspiring visit.  Today, I am going to get courageous and take a train into the city all by myself to attend Mass at the Cathedral.  The music from that organ must be wonderful, so I hope they play it whiile I am there.

 

We also went to a display of illuminated manuscripts dating from 800 to 1600 AD.  No pictures allowed as the light breaks down the delicate old materials.  The displays were under glass casings and very dimly lit.  Illumination basically means decoration.  These are pages and books made of very thin lamb or kid skin.  The writing is done by hand using home-made inks and feather quills.  The decoration is extremely elaborate and intricate.  The labor involved was intensive, and a single book would take a person years to produce.  Therefore, books were VERY expensive.  Usually books were produced by monks in monasteries as many monks could produce a book or two per year.  More, if it were a large monastery.  They are all done in Latin since anyone educated enough to have the means to buy a book could read and write Latin.  This way, a book produced in France could be sold in England, Spain, or Germany, etc. and therefore had a wider market than a book that could be sold only in the country of origin.  Also, very few people could actually read and write in their native language.  I am continually amazed at the intricacy and balance of the writing and decoration, since there was no erasing an error.  Several of the manuscripts had gold leaf in their designs.  Absolutely breath taking!

 

We walked in the city quite a bit, so there are several miscellaneous pictures.  In Australia as a whole, about 74% of the population is of Anglo-Celtic ancestry and 19% European.  In the city, about half is European and the other half is Asian, Indian (India), and Middle-Eastern.  Many people wear the Middle-Eastern dress, especially women.  A great variety of accents can be heard from the many races represented here.  However, I have not run across one Hispanic/Latino person and only two Africans that were not white (South Africans).

 

The drivers here are at once both aggressive and polite.  They are generally careful about obeying the rules of the road, but drive fast and close together within the rules.  For instance, if you put on you ticker (turn signal), they must - and do - make room for you.  There are lots of roundabouts here, with etiquette about using your ticker in them.  They also have something called hook turns.  If you are turning right (think left, as they drive on the left) you pull all the way to the left and let everyone coming from behind AND ahead of you go before you turn.  This is so that you  do not get hit by a trolley (like San Francisco street cars), which all have the right of way and run on tracks inn the middle of the street.

 

Time to go to Mass.   I'll have Juliie read this and publish any corrections after I get back.

Yesterday, June 10,  we drove up through the Black Spur, then to Mount Dandenong.  It was fairly clear when we started, but of course it clouded up by the time we got to the look-out stops.  The roads were all 2 lanes with lots of winding and hills.  We were driving pretty slowly, and every time there was a wide spot, we'd  pull over and let people pass. The tree ferns were glorious, as were the peely-bark trees (otherwise known as Mountain Ash, a type of (Eucalyptus).  The peely-bark  trees actually shed their bark, leaving their trunks and branches bare and pale.

 

After the Black Spur,  we stopped for a bit of pub grub.  Julie had chicken parmesan (a common dish here), and I had some fish and chips.  There are not to-go boxes here unless the establishment is licensed to provide take-away (carry out) food, so have to sneak out our leftovers.  We have decided that we will try to split meals from now on. 

 

Then we got back on the road, drove for an hour, and found that we had made a big circle.  Talk about taking the scenic route to the scenery!!We arrived at Mount Dandenong about an hour before sunset.  You can see clear to the bay around which Melbourne is built.  We stayed until dark as you can see by the pictures.  I did not hold the camera very still, so many of the night pics did not turn out well.  I did figure out the panoramic assist, but unless the pics are viewed as one, it doesn't look the same.

 

Today, Julie and I manned the  booth at the mall while Paul attended to some business elsewhere.  Julie left me alone when she went for smokes, and I discovered that I had picked up enough about the product to answer most questions.  However, I was always happier to not be alone in case I had something wrong, thereby misinforming potential customers.  Then we came back home to do sundry chores.

 

For fashion anything goes, but people as a rule don't seem to care too much about their face.  This is more apparent in the women who do not tend to wear make-up.  However, both sexes will generally not have missing teeth replaced, and crooked teeth are very common.  Even Julie's dentist suggested she not replace a tooth that was just behind her smiile line!  We were amazed since this destabilizes the rest of that side of the mouth, causing more teeth to be lost, followed by lack of chewing and excessive wear on the other teeth.  Amazing!!  Also, they do not wear much suncreen, and with the hole in the ozone abouve Australia, people of both sexes look kind of weathered.

 

If people guess that you are from North America, they will ask of you are Canadian.  This is because Canadians get insulted if you think they are American, but the Americans don't get insulted if you think they are Candian.  The Iraq war really lowered our international prestige.  As a rule, people here do not make eye contact when passing on the street or in the trains or buses, so at first they seem cold and aloof.  However,  if you have reason to be talking to them, they are friendly.

I forgot to say in my last blog that when Burger King came down under, the name had already been taken, so they are Hungry Jack here.  The menu prices are for sandwiches only.  Nobody really has value meals here.  Look at how the drive-thru is neatly planted rather than an alley like so many are in the USA (BK E 10th excepted, of course).

Play the video even if you do not like Steve.  (I cried when I heard that he died)  Anyway, he is perhaps the world's best-loved Aussie (pronounced Auzzie), and the song is Aussies best-loved song.  It could be called their unofficial national anthem.  Most Aussies know all the words to "Waltzing Matilda",  but not the words to their national anthem.  Swagman or swaggie = bum or gypsy; Billabong = oasis or watering hole; Coolibah tree = a species of  tree; Billy = pot of water for cooking; Jambuk = sheep; Tuckerbag = bag for carrying belongings; Squatter = landowner; Troopers = police or sheriffs