Australia: News and Views

The fact that Darwin was bombed not once but many times appears to be a little known fact to Australian’s never mind the rest of the world. Fortunately Baz Luhrmann’s new movie Australia is raising the curtain on this little known moment of Australian history.

The movie Australia features the first raid on Darwin by the Japanese which happened on 19 February 1942 around 9am.  More bombs were dropped in that raid than were on Pearl Harbour.  Around 600 people were killed or injured out of a population which was only around 2000 at the time.  Raids continued into 1943 with over 60 raids on Darwin and 30 raids on other northern Australia targets.

Australian authorities quietly decided that Darwin was indefensible - in fact most of northern and western Australia was considered forfeit and the last line of defence would have been 5000km further south near Brisbane. The reality is that the Japanese force which had rolled down the Malaysian peninsular, living off the land, would have found the Australian outback desert as impossible to cross as most other people had.

One of the consequences of the abandonment of Darwin was that the government suppressed the extent of damage and causalities from the air raids in Darwin.

Today there is little left of 1940’s Darwin: except for the original wharf which features in the movie. Little Bowen in Queensland stands in for Darwin for most of the Australia movie scenes set in 1940’s Darwin . What parts of Darwin which survived the wartime bombardment were destroyed during the 1972 Cyclone Tracey which flattened the town.

Sorry a couple of day’s late this week because of Thanksgiving and Andre Rieu but we might as well continue on with the compass points of Australia having done the eastern most point of Australia the sourthern most point is in fact called South-East cape in the far south of Tasmania.

This one doesn’t have a convenient car park - its several hour’s walk along a well-marked, and in places board walked trail to get this rather spectacular spot on the south coast of Tasmania. The walk continues on for another 7 days but we didn’t go the whole way - although the rain forest is dense and looked a more like New Zealand than Australia! Even in the summer the weather is unpredictable so take wet-weather gear and be preparred for wind - it really isn’t the image that most people have of Australia but Tasmania and particular the southern parts are spectacular.

Andre Rieu has wooed Australia and his last 3 concerts: one tonight in Sydney and then the two on Wednesday and Thursday at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium are now all officially sold out.  Rieu really seems to have brought the fandom out in the over 60’s.  Given the number of retireees in Brisbane’s hinterland of the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast I am not at all surprised he’s sold both nights out in Brisbane.

In contrast,  I am a little surprised that Andre Rieu has sold out Sydney; which is, lets face, it not a city we normally associate with ice skaters and Strauss - more hard rock or high opera and ballet.  Andre Rieu’s approach of light-weight classics and pretty staging complete with pretty girls in the front row of the violins,  doesn’t really go with Sydney’s image but the local Andre Rieu fans have voted with their feet and after great reviews in Perth and Melbourne the word is out and Andre Rieu is hot!

Well I thought that  I would do a bit of research to report what was happening for Thanksgiving, assuming that ex-pat Americans in Australia would be celebrating Thanksgiving.  Although Thanksgiving isn’t a public holiday in Australia I thought there might be something going on in the larger cities.

Well maybe they are: but there is little to no mention of Thanksgiving in Australia at that I can find on the web? I checked the American Embassy in Canberra’ s site: no mention of Thanksgiving!

I checked Google: the font of all no knowledge: nothing terribly relevant though an interesting article from The Age arguing that Australians understand how to party and therefore the American ideal of the “pursuit of happiness” than the Americans - that could well be true but it didn’t answer my question!

So over to you guys what are Americans doing for Thanksgiving in Australia? The turkeys are all available in  the supermarkets: the weather is pretty nice: my guess is you are throwing a sickie and heading down the beach - am I right?

Well Baz Luhrmann’s Australia movie goes on general release today in Australia anyway: most cinemas are showing it starting with a morning session if you are really keen. For those of you who can’t actually get to the cinemas you can check out the new cinematic trailer below!  The movie is quite long at around 2.5 hours long: in contrast to the very short latest James Bond. I actually like a longer movie so long as its decently edited.

If you are interested in more of the background of where the movie  was shot check out the history of the air raids on Darwin and also the beauty of Kununurra and the Kimberleys where most of the spectacular scenery was shot.

There are high hopes for the movie Australia which stars the superstar Nicole Kidman and the good lucking Hugh Jackman. Australia tourism hopes that the movie will be a hit but so far the critics reviews are mixed - though Oprah loved it.

Its a curious thing but it will probably get quite different reviews from the Australian critics compared to overseas. Australians don’t really understand just how romantic and exotic the north of Australia is to someone in the US or Europe.  Its probably because the flies, heat and dust are never quite the same on film!

Ironically to very few Australians will have been to the movies locations: apart from the stuff shot in Sydney. I have and I can assure you that regardless of how wide your local cinema’s wide screen is it will never capture the amazing site of the Bungle Bungles, the Kimberley ranges or even just the wide flat plains of nothing much between Darwin and Kununurra.

Though in contrast I would have to say that  Bowen looks a whole lot better on film than it does in real life: it really is a very little sleepy town, though the movie boast as persuaded the Council to spend some money on the foreshore which it really needed.

Schoolies is on now and is, depending on your point of view, its either an iconic rite of passage or a pathetic party for the rich brats, whose parents desperately want to buy their love.  Schoolies is the Australian tradition of school leavers (year 12’s) heading down to the nearest beach to get absolutely rat-faced for the week.

Of course many are under-age - but that doesn’t seem to slow down the mobs of drunken teens on the rampage. Visitors who innocently happen to be visiting Byron Bay, Gold Coast, Rotnest Island or Dunsborough probably wonder what happened!

Its a curious tradition: I’m not sure that Europe or the UK have similar. The American equivalent is probably Spring Break - though the timing seems odd - you have to still deal with your peers for another semester after Spring Break. The beauty of Schoolies is that whatever happens, so long as the law doesn’t catch up with, you can probably not see the people who were your witness ever again!

Well a couple of days ago we talked about the hype around Andre Rieu’s Perth concert so what are the reviews of Andreu Rieu concert in Perth’s Subiaco oval.

The reviews are actually a bit mixed: shocking I know for died in the wool Andre Rieu fans.  The lack of the  the huge Schoenbruun Palace set may have been the reason that 4000 of the 30000 seats were unsold, even though Perth prices for the concert were significantly lower than over East.  The Blue Danube did see the audience waltzing in the aisles - personal aside here  - the author has waltzed in a stadium before - and its a great deal harder than it looks - the artifical grass they use in these things is not good for waltzing!

The official dancers did have their own ballroom to waltz in  - though it was the ice dancers who apparently stole the show - I’d like to know how long it took to freeze an outdoor ice rink in Perth in November - they were lucky the temperatures are unseasonally cool at 24C - it could have been 34C and then the ice would have struggled I’d think - this is not Europe!

The music was all Andre Rieu’s classics including Nessum Dorma, Andrew Lloyd Webber but the more serious music such as Ravel’s Bolero and Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary was were the orchestra really shone. The local star was Mirusia Louwerese stood out for her fantastic voice in Lloyd Webber’s Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. The figure skating during the Titanic theme: My Heart will Go One was also  a highlight.

There was also 40 minutes of encores including all the great Australian songs such as Bananas in Pyjama and the Road to Gundagai - you can’t fault Andre Rieu for his ability to charm his audience with the local classics - its just a bit of shame that those are probably the best known Australian songs!

The grand finale included massed Western Australian bagpipes playing Amazing Grace. Don’t worry if you missed Andrea Rieu’s only Perth concert: he’ll be back on his neck Australian tour in 2010!

Holden is celebrating the 60th anniversary of their first Australian car: the 48 215, better know as the FX rolled off the assembly line back in 1948. The FX was an immediate success with a backlog of eager customers. The car was manufactured for a number of years until it was replaced by the FJ model in 1953.

I snapped these restored Holdens when they were touring Albany in Western Australia. The FX is the green one on the left: a ute version so probably dating from around 1951. The FX’s were built to post-war austerity standards but had the suspension to deal with Australia’s rough roads of the time: in fact they would probably deal with most of outback Australia’s dirt roads better than their modern counterparts: the Commodore.

In 1953 the FJ was introduced: they are the cream sedan and the metallic (not original) blue Holden FJ at the back, another ute version. The FJ was withdrawn in 1956 - so you these are impressive old cars still be driven for fun!

These days Holden is owned by GM and is looking at a decidedly shaky future. GM wants a huge bailout by the US government and Holden is trying for the same. In some ways Holden has made the same mistakes as its American owner: it builds big cars including the ever popular Commodore models and is facing increasing competition from smaller and more economical Toyotas and Hyundais. Also like GM, Holden is still a protected industry in Australia with prohibitive import duties on used and new cars being brought in from overseas. Australians pay a lot more for cars than their New Zealand neighbours.
For more information on Holden’s early models

Well Andre Rieu is in town for one night only - but Perth is loving it. The Dutch maestro has jeted in for one only concert at Subiaco Oval: more used to rugby and AFL than ballgowns, orchestras and ice rinks!

In fact this could be a great thing for the interest groups who are trying to Subiaco Oval re-developed! Because there is a huge problem with the Andre Rieu show in Perth: the castle wouldn’t fit - yes for real the 4000m castle facade which Rieu wooed Melbourne with  wouldn’t fit through the gate of Subiaco Oval. They couldn’t even get it to fly over the top, with the help of a crane. So the show will go on - just without the castle.

I must say its the first time that I’ve seen the line up of fans be all in the 60 plus or under 10 age group (want to go to the show with grannie?) One old dear proudly declared that this was the first time she had ever been to the hallowed ground of Subiaco Oval - which is quite an admission in sport’s mad Western Australia.

Personally I am amazed that Andre Rieu and his huge show is even making it to Perth. With only 2million people in the whole of Western Australia, and an above average number of those quite young because of the call of the mines, he was only ever going to fill a stadium once. Its a long (4 hour) flight from Melbourne to just do one concert. It seems though that the fans appreciate it and will give Andre Rieu a warm Perth welcome: and the storms have passed here - it will be a fine night

Click here for an image of Subiaco Oval 

Brisbane’s storms have not only killed two people and caused over $95 million damage. The severe weather in Queensland is now getting seriously anti-social and threatening the Australia-New Zealand test. The test is now poised to deliver a result: unless the storms that have been bashing Queensland for the last few days return and wash the test out tomorrow.

The Rugby League World Cup final, also between Australia and New Zealand is also under threat by the weather. The test is scheduled for Sun Corp Stadium tomorrow but the stadium’s roof is already damaged from the storms over the last few days. Officials will make a decision tomorrow morning as to whether the roof is safe enough for the test to go ahead.

Further storms are forecast for tomorrow and the region has always had 2 bad storms in the last 3 days. Thunder, hail stones as big as your fist and flash floods. As much as 250mm of rain fell in a single hour. The failure of a pump in a inner-city bypass saw 11 million litres accumulate in the tunnel flooding cars up to their roofs.

The situation is serious and getting worse as further rain will cause even worse damage because the land is satuated. Emergency service personnel are increasingly tired and have not had enough stand-down time over the last few days.

Premier Anna Bligh’s helicopter tour of affected areas was cut short when the helicopter was needed for rescue work.

Photo Credit Sunrise7