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From the Pen of
Passepartout |
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From the Pen of
Passepartout |
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It all became official. On the 19th of June I attended a ceremony at the municipal offices and underwent my Australian citizenship ceremony. It was a pleasant, hour long affair, with music and food and the necessary speeches and formalities. The people at my work were very kind and when I arrived at work the next day, there was a box of Australian goodies for me. It made it all very special, a day that had meant a lot to me - especially as a result of where I was coming from, came to mean a lot more. The last major obstacle (that I can do something about) is the house. The ceiling is in now and the walls have been plastered. Les and I spent the weekend choosing tiles. It will be so great living in a house that is full of things that mean so much to us, rather than having things (colours etc.) forced on us. A couple of kilometres from where we will be living are some beautiful botanical gardens. We went there for a cup of coffee the other day and had a super time with Rachel delighting at spotting all the fish. The gardens consist of about 5 acres of grounds and are at the northern border of a large lake known as Lake Joondalup. We went to a picnic area on the east edge of the lake and it brought back memories of a lake that I spent some time at in Zimbabwe called Lake McIllwaine (now the name has changed to Lake Chivero). Lake Joondalup has the big advantage of being 5 minutes from our house whereas McIllwaine was about 30 minutes and thus more of an outing. The drought that we are suffering under has diminished the volume of the lake quite drastically (dam levels in Western Australia are currently at about 17%), but when it is full again it will be a lovely place to spend a Saturday afternoon and with the coast only 10 minutes from the house we really are spoilt for choice. Our new house is about a 40 minute drive from the centre of Perth, about twice as far as we are now. For many places, that is just around the corner. For us it is a long way and the drive is through undeveloped areas giving it a 'bush' feel. Les and I have made a couple of very pleasant visits to the Western Australian Art Gallery to Monet and Rodin exhibitions. Coincidentally my CEO was at one stage in charge of it (the Art Gallery). Now it is run by one Alan Dodge. I have been angling for a visit for some time (so far without success) and was quite excited to see him scheduled to have a meeting at our offices the other day. So I was very upset to get called away mere minutes before his arrival and only to return after his departure. Oh well - better luck next time. Top of page |