A moment in our history

Surely the momentous announcement of Australia's better-late-than-never entry into the international movement to control carbon emissions should be something for bipartisan agreement? But, no. The opposition is still determined to keep Australia in the last century, and is charging around the country in a cloud of misinformation and appealing to the ignorant. It's enough to make you despair...

We did a bit of charging around of our own today, trying to dispel our clouds of ignorance. Of house-related products, that is. After a night in The Hotel Clarendon (c. 1936 and showing its age a little) we had a somewhat sub-par breakfast at a nearby cafe, and then went for a brisk walk to the harbour. Brisk in the sense we nearly froze.

Newcastle shows a certain lack of aesthetic sensibility or evidence of any town planning having ever taken place. It truly is one of the ugliest places I have ever visited. Take this, for example, bisecting the middle of what appears to be the dead heart of what must have once been the CBD. We had to cross this, via a level crossing, to get to the waterfront a stone's throw from our hotel.

We saw no public artworks whatever, few parks (unless you count the sport-shrines) and a jangle of commercial signages and buildings. This (below) was the closest I saw to anything looking like a sculpture.

We spent the day looking at more kitchen and bathroom and tile and window places and I was glad to drive home at the end of it. Maybe we should go back and seek out the finer side of Newcastle some time. Quite a pretty sunset en route to Halliday's Point.

Today is Julian's birthday, he's 28. Lindsey is 30, Lian is 30-something. Wim is 27 and Mae 26. I can hardly believe their ages. Wasn't it five minutes ago that they were 4,5,6,7 and 10?