subject: Our Year In Australia Had A Small Scare But Our Home Offered Protection [print this page] Looking out of my window I can see the initial indicators of the leaves turning on the trees. We had our first indicator of autumn a two weeks ago when a huge house spider ran across the living room carpet. Following that we have seen another 3 and another is hiding near the stairs somewhere. I'm not good with spiders, and I wish I could bbq them all. It was one of my horrors when we moved to Oz as the red back sometimes lives under toilet seats and is known to snap at things that dangle too near. The fact they can be fatally venomous just adds to the sorrow. But for some reason they never live above the 2nd floor in a building and we got an apartment on the 3rd in ours.
We lived in a block called Capital Tower, one of the two highest structures in the Australian Capital Territory. The other one, Rydges Hotel was next door and was convenient for a quick drink on the way home on a warm day. The main bar had pictures of all Australian prime ministers including the greatest, Harold Holt who went swimming in a cove near Melbourne on December 17th 1967 and was never seen again.
Our apartment building included a gym which had a sauna and hot tub for soaking after a session which I used often. Odd, when you think it was free for us to use and paid a fortune for a membership in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, and yet I very rarely went. Outside it also had a garden which included a swimming pool and a huge gas bbq that you could borrow as long as it was reserved and left clean. There was also a smaller charcoal bbq which largely redundant as you had to provide your own briquettes and return it cleaned and cleared of ash and detritus. The building also had a two tennis courts as well which were usually in use once autumn was done.
Leaving the building, you could turn right along a path to walk into the central business district, known as the Civic, or head left which took you over a bridge to the edge of lake Burley Griffin, named after the man who designed Canberra when Australians decided to construct a city to be a home to the national government. There was a tiny beach, though going in the water was not a good idea, but also a place where you could borrow rowing boats and pedalos plus a picnic area which had a public bbq area with was free to use if there was a free charcoal bbq as long as they had their own coals. If they hadn't got briquettes, you could use a gas bbq which were operated by inserting a coin which would expel a metered measurement of gas. These were everywhere in Australia which is of course keen on the bbq as a cultural feature and not everyone wants to cart a portable bbq with them when they go out for the day. They just want to carry the food and beer they will need to get them through the day.
We should have them in the UK at parks, beaches or other places where people go to spend a day in the open air.
