1990 DIARY
June 4 1990.
We left wet cold London just one week ago, jet lag has just about gone.
After spending the last few days sorting out certification in Melbourne, I have finally arrived in Mildura.
Of all the places I could have come to, I have landed in the Garden of Eden. Mildura is just fantastic, a real oasis in the desert. Cobalt blue skies and not a cloud. What a change from dreary, grey Old England. Wide streets with trees down the middle and so few cars, and so many old ones, I suppose they just don't rust.
And they call this mid-winter; it is better than an England in summer.
Our house has a fire place. It must be ornamental.
All that sun and no one has a tan.
People very friendly. Going to love it here.
June 12.
The first patient came in and said “he had a wog”. I said, “why, did you catch something from her?” He explained a wog was an infection, and also a term of endearment for the Greeks and Italians.
I got excited when I saw my first skin cancer, but by the end of the week I had seen more skin cancers than I'd see in a year in England.
The locals have to pay for their medical treatment. They still seem happier to see their doctor, and pay his bill, than in the UK where it was all free.
June 20.
Had a barbecue, and invited our new colleagues and their wives. They all turned up in jumpers and coats. We were in shorts and tee-shirts. I don’t think they liked our grilled sardines. “Barbies” Brian said “should have ‘snags’" (whatever they are). Will know better when I find out what “snags” are.
The meat here is great; what we paid a pound per pound in UK, we get a dollar per kilo; so meat is about quarter the price. It is much tastier too. Except, I miss the Danish Bacon and Black Pudding
And they actually make orange juice from fresh oranges.
August 31st:
Mildura is a city that knows how to live!! More beautiful sunny days. We spend the warm balmy evenings sipping the great local champagnes. What a place! I watched the sunset from a deckchair on the veranda. It was beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here. Great red wines too. Penfolds Grange at $40 a bottle is said to be good but way out of my price range.
Have been using Hugh’s car till now. I drove it in four wheel drive all the way to Mungo Station just an hour away by dirt road. It made some strange noises and is now leaking oil. I gave it back to him and have bought a second-hand Holden Drover. (Holden is the local make of car). Everyone tells us we needed to have a car with “air” which I have found out means air conditioning. It is so very pleasant driving around with the windows down, I don’t think we will need it.
September 13th:
Really heating up.... got to 30 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, and I am glad I got that air for my car. What a pleasure to see endless blue skies and sun like this everyday.
Spent the weekend camping with Bill, Maria and about ten others down the river. Swimming and fishing. Caught some great looking fish, all carp. After I went to the trouble of cooking them, no one would eat them. They said they preferred their “snags”, which looked just like sausages. Great night sitting around the fire. So dark and so many stars. Slept in “swags” which are like a canvas tents, but without the poles.
This is God’s own country.
September 15th:
Found some carp I had left in the car over the weekend. What a stink!
Had the backyard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. They use water here as if it was limitless.
Another scorcher today, but I love it here.
October 10th:
The temperature hasn't been below 35 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least today it's kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected. Bill, Maria and all the others who went camping have gone down with what the locals call “Ross River Fever” with swollen, painful joints, spots and feel too exhausted to even get out of bed. They are “real crook”, which means, “sick”. It sounds terrible. Tracy and I are fine. Perhaps the mosquitoes didn’t like Pommy blood.
October 15th:
Fell asleep floating in the pool today. I didn’t realize you could get sunburn IN the water. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this. Got a bit windy towards evening and I saw my first dust storm. The sky goes brown and the hot gale force wind blows dust and sand everywhere. You can't even open your eyes. Everything now has a coating of red brown dust, including all our furniture. Our new white carpets are now cream carpets.
At least the sunsets afterwards are spectacular.
October 20th:
I missed our cat sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the car for lunch, she had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and was leaking fluid from both ends. The car now smells like dead carp and cat shit. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat. I told the Tracy that she must have run away.
October 25th:
This wind sucks. It feels like a giant blow dryer! And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the blink and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive over and tell me he needed to order parts.
October 30th:
Been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bloody $90,000 house and we can't even go inside. Why did I ever come here?
I have found that a thong is not a piece of scanty swimwear, it is footwear! A group of “sheilas” wearing black rubber “thongs” may not be as exciting as I had first hoped.
The Murray seems to be in flood and the most of the low lying land is under water. Brian and I went windsurfing on the flooded river by the Ski club. We lost Brian when the board went over. He was swept downstream at 20 knots. It took us two hours to finally find him looking like a drowned cat in the trees at the flooded Buronga Caravan Park. Afterwards he told me that not only can't he wind surf, he can't even bloody swim!
November 4th:
Its 38 degrees. Finally got the ol' air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 27, but the heat in the roof keeps the house hot all night. Stupid repairman. Stupid Mildura. No wonder they call the area "Sunraysia".
November 8th:
If another wise arse cracks "Hot enough for you today?" I'm going to throttle him. Bloody heat! By the time I get to work the car's radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, I’m stuck to the plastic seat and I smell like baked cat and rotten carp!
November 9th:
Tried to do some home visits after work. Wore shorts and sat on the plastic seats in the Holden. I thought my arse was on fire. I lost a layer of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and arse. Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried arse, dead carp and baked cat.
November 10th:
The daily weather report may as well be a recording......”hot and sunny.......hot and sunny.....hot and sunny”. It's been too hot to do anything for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn't it ever rain in this place?
November 14th:
Welcome to HELL!! Temperature got to 41 today. Now the air-conditioner's gone in my car. The repairman came to fix it and said "Hot enough for you today?" Mildura can go to hell!!! What kind of sick demented idiot would want to live here?
December 1st:
WHAT!!????? THIS is the first day of summer???? You have got to be kidding!!!!
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