Zev "Happy Birthday" for me.

Just got back from a week long trip to Moree NSW. I
went there with an Aboriginal friend, Joyce, to help
her pack up her family home which had just been sold.
I spent a lot of time with her Aboriginal friends and
family and now know far more about Australia's
indigenous people than I'd learned in 23 years in
Canberra. The young people call their elders,
"auntie" or "uncle" as a matter of respect and by the
time we left to return to Canberra, the kids were
calling me "auntie".

The great thing about Moree is that the whole of the
area sits on top of natural thermal springs. They've
been piped into the town area with artesian bores and
the city has two public spas where people meet in the
evenings like in the ancient Roman baths. It's all
quite friendly...We went to the baths every night we
were in Moree and an hour floating in the hot mineral
waters is absolute bliss. I came back from Moree
rueing the fact that I'll never have a thermal spa of
my own in Canberra.

It's raining here in Canberra at the moment. We've
been in the middle of a five year drought so the rain
is quite welcome. I'm waiting for Joyce to come pick
me up in an hour or so. We're going to the Blue
Mountains for a Yule party. We're staying at a
country pub over night and then we'll be back in
Canberra tomorrow sometime. Bridget