15 October 2008

Thanks be to.... Lowndsy?? Foiled again.

Thanksgiving is an annual one day holiday to give thanks for things one has close to harvest season. Some people thank God for this bounty. Others, offer thanks to those around them for such blessing, still others simply enjoy a public holiday.


While the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, Canadians might celebrate (eat their) Thanksgiving (meal) on any day of the three day weekend. Thanksgiving is often celebrated with family, it is also often a time for weekend getaways for couples to observe the autumn leaves, spend one last weekend at the cottage, or participate in various outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, bathing in hot sauce, and hunting.


As an interesting aside- in my ever-vigilant plight to educate people about Newfoundland; The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of- You guessed it! Newfoundland and Labrador- to give thanks for surviving the long journey. (As Scott and I can now also attest it is a BLOODY long journey and I can understand why Frobisher was so relieved to have survived it!) The feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in North America, although celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops had been a long-standing tradition throughout Canada.


I note sadly, that Wikipedia had a nifty little side bar on their Thanksgiving (Canada) page which stated:
Significance A celebration of being thankful for what one has and the bounty of the previous year.
Date Second Monday in October.
2008 date October 13
Celebrations Parades, Spending Time with Family, Eating Large Dinners, Religious Practice


As any Canadian family can attest, Thanksgiving is definitely about "Eating Large Dinners"; however it is my hope that the cultural significance is slightly more.....


Living now in Australia, I have carried on the tradition of Thanksgiving (minus the Turkey in recent years in favour of the more assimilated and appropriate Aussie Barbie) and more recent again, living now in Bathurst for some years, Thanksgiving will often coincide with: you have guessed it, Race Week.



A record crowd came in force to the Mountain to see Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes win the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for the third year in a row.

More than 187,000 fans enjoyed a remarkable race with Whincup and Lowndes becoming the first pair in 24 years to win three years in succession. And the win elevated Whincup to the top of the Championship table with Lowndes now fourth.

They dominated in a day of drama to head off Greg Murphy and Jason Richards (Tasman Motorsport Holden) with James Courtney and David Besnard (Jeld-Wen Ford) third.

In the following video below which I entitle "How not to start a race."... From POLE position, my favourite team of Garth Tander and Mark Skaife experienced clutch problems which they should be thankful they did not get CREAMED from behind!!!

From a stalled start (FROM POLE) to more drama on the track, poor Skaife had little to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:



As you can see, my traditions are now becoming meshed as I assimilate here in Australia. This does not mean, however, that Thanksgiving is not appropriately marked in our family. We were gratefully joined this year by Kerry (ex pat) and Andrew and Greg for a BBQ and an afternoon/evening/night of fantastic company and laughter, to only be reminded again of how lucky we are to have such love/acceptance/kindness/joy in our lives. Of course, we were able to top it all off by some marvelous PUMPKIN PIE!!! yum-yum. (Thanks Kerry for your culinary prowress)

As we capped off what was (to my mind) a tragic and sad Holden day at the Races, filled with much drama, and disappointment; we were also reminded that although we have not received the result we were after- we are in one-heck-of-a-better place than most people are. We have our health, we have happiness, and we have each other.

Foremost in my thoughts (believe it or not, yes, aside from the tragedy which struck Garth and Mark, I could spare a thought for other than Holden events this day) of course was Glenda's sister-in-law Thellie and her family, and Grace's closest friend Jackie; and for Kerry and her very special friend Laura and Laura's family. Which gave me pause to consider how blessed I am and how fortunate my life is.

So although I make light of the fun weekend we had once again this week and the activities and high jinx we get up to; Thanksgiving celebration did not pass without acknowledgement and gratefulness in Bathurst this year.

I will provide information below for those of you NOT familiar with Bathurst 1000 or v8 racing in Australia as it is a culture which I have embraced with gusto and fun. And that is something for which I am thankful also- the capacity to live and enjoy life. And believe it or not, the Bathurst 1000 is one of those things that not just I, but thousands of other Australians celebrate in their life.


The following overview was prepared as publicity prior to the Grand Final of key contenders and some great shots of Bathurst Races in years gone past:



The Bathurst 1000 is a 1000 kilometre touring car race held annually at Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia.

The race traces its lineage back to a production car race held at Phillip Island in 1960, called the Armstrong 500. Since then 51 races have taken place under the combined history of two events at two venues in two states. I t is known among fans and broadcasters as "The Great Race", and is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Australian motorsport.

“What I love about Bathurst is that an otherwise ordinary season can be rescued by a spectacular result on the mountain,” says Tracey Donaldson of the importance of this monumental race.

“So although it’s near the end of the calendar, it’s kind of like a clean slate,” she adds.

The winners of the race receive the Peter Brock Trophy, inaugurated at the 2006 race in honour of Peter Brock who, with nine Bathurst victories, remains the most successful driver in the history of the race. Since 2000, the race has been run exclusively for V8 Supercars and is now a round of the V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The mountain, is calling.


07 October 2008

Camping Labour Day Weekend: Macquarie Woods

Welcome to another edition of Australian Geographic. While Lorne Greene is on holiday, Jen Quill will be your correspondent reporting from Macquarie Woods, in NSW.

Give me sun. Give me gum trees. Give me rosellas and roos. Give me watermelon pips, white bread-sandwiches and silver long toms strung from hand-held fishing lines. Give me balmy summer nights under a canvas canopy. Give me mosquito coils, guy ropes, sleeping bags and the distant sound of someone snoring. (I don't kiss and tell, so you won't hear from me that Ginny Weasley and Scotty snore like chainsaws) Give me all of this and I’ll give you 1001 golden childhood memories pegged out in camping grounds nationwide.


Australia is a country of campers. Throughout the human occupation of our wide brown land we’ve headed to beach-side campsites in droves. However, my heart lies in the bush. I love and advocate tree-change, not sea-change. Camping is essential to the Australian experience. Camping connects you directly to the earth and the sky, the vegetation, the animals, the birds and especially each other. The strength of the wind, the power of nature…it overwhelms you. You understand the scale of things and your own place.


It’s the notion of this ancient way of life connected to nature and the elements – and the links that are forged between people living in such a way – that continues to resonate for modern campers. Europeans may have brought tents to Australia but they did not bring camping. Aboriginal people are great campers. The middens along the coast tell us how they moved from one good spot to another, visiting the same sites year after year. And the camper’s eye notes what well-chosen sites they are: near the beach but out of the wind; near a creek but sheltered behind the dunes.


Well, Scotty and I have taken a leaf out of the Aboriginal book and have ourselves found our favourite places of heaven here on Earth, and they are presenting themselves in the form of Macquarie Woods and the Bridle Track in Central West country New South Wales. (Although I still love the Brindabella's of Canberra, the Ranges of Broken Hill and the forests of Tasmania, but the secret hidey-holes Scott and I have discovered and laid claim to are predominately in the central west of NSW)



As a species we’ve been looking at – and wondering about – the night sky and other aspects of the natural world for a million years or more. Our western stories of the sublime, everlasting perfection of heaven and (from watching volcanoes) the eternal damnation of hell probably arose in this way. Humans are both blessed and blighted with an almost insatiable curiosity and a need to know why things are as they are – it’s what makes us human – and there’s nothing more puzzling than our experience of the night sky.


What better place to see this thing of beauty and awe than when camping in Australia?!


As you have gathered, Scott and I took the kids and went bush this past weekend. We are feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and reconnected. We are including some of our photos from the weekend, and as usual, there are very little of Scott. I make an apology now for this which must seem to some as a deliberate act of neglect on my part, however the simple matter is that Scott loves to take photos and is an amatuer photographer of both growing and prodigious skill. (Exhibit A: the 6,000 photos taken in one month in Newfoundland recently. Exhibit B: 300 photos taken over a day and half this past weekend!)


What I do hope is demonstrated to you is the fun and carefree time we are having exploring our little neck of the woods and sharing that journey together. We are simply getting out there; and no better fun has been had.

Signing off, for Australian Geographic, I'm Jen Quill. Lorne Greene returns with you next week when he looks at the World Heritage Rainforests of NSW.

01 October 2008

Congratulations

Clearly there is something about Springtime and creation of life. Clearly.

Even though it is not spring in Washington DC (or Clinton Maryland as the case may be) nor in Mount Pearl Newfoundland, it is spring here and that is my explanation for the wonderful and exciting creation of life news:

Congratulations to Trevor and Maxine Kearsey whose son Tavian will undertake big brother duties as Maxine and Trevor are expecting a bundle of joy in March 2009. How wonderful!

Congratulations also to another beautiful 'sister' in my life, as Juanita and Rick Spence prepare for their first child who will be arriving in May/June 2009. How bloody fantastic is that?!!!

Clearly there is something about Springtime and creation of life.

The irony that it will be springtime THERE when Maxine and Juanita are due is also not lost on me. Clearly there is something about Springtime and creation of life.

I am so happy for both of you. Congratulations.

You now join my cousin Joanne as she also expects in Spring 2009.

Isn't life grand? Isn't life great?! And well, let's face it, Spring babies make the BEST kids! (Not that I am saying that as a spring baby also makes me, well let's face it, pretty perfect- hahahahahaha)

Congratulations again, to the Kearsey/Barrett family and the Spence/Davison family.

I am sure you will all enjoy parenthood, best wishes for a smooth and safe pregnancy!

****** In other News******

In other happy news, some of you may be aware that I have been accepted as a scholarship holder of the Australian/New Zealand School of Government and will be undertaking an Executive Master's of Public Administration next March for 2 years as the NSW Government initiative to retain their middle and senior level managers in the public sector.

So there you have it, all sorts of wonderful and exciting things happening.

Hoping you are all doing just as well in your little patch, as I am fortunate to be doing in mine.

Love, Jen