Newcastle Friends

I tend to take too few photos of people. Here, however, is a round-up of some of the great friends that we made in Newcastle. It's trite but true--the people of Australia are the country's greatest asset (followed closely by the beaches and coastline, if I may say so myself). But Sarah and I were bowled over time and again throughout the year by how friendly and helpful everyone was--from the school teachers to the bus drivers to the car repair people and the folks staffing the phones at the utility companies. At every level of Australian society, the "no worries", "no dramas" and "you're alright" ethos seems to govern interpersonal relations. What a refreshing change from the sometimes defensive, conflict-ridden daily exchanges in the U.S.

But enough. Above are Chris and Nathan. They did a great job helping Peter and Nicholas develop their artistic skills at weekday afternoon and weekend art classes.

Here's Peter with his school teacher, Ms. Nelmes, and good friend, Jack. Next is Hamilton School Principal David Jack, a gem of a guy, unique personality, exemplary administrator, and tenacious, occasional tennis player. He hiked around the Simpson Desert during a long vacation early in the school term.

The group photo is from the last class of the term for Peter's P.A.C.K. class, an art class run on Monday afternoons at Hamilton School by Nik _______, pictured in the right-hand part of the photo, wearing the beige cap.

Further below is Nicholas' soccer team photo. He played in the Adamstown Rosebuds junior league. The coaches, pictured, were Troy _______ (left), a Newcastle police officer, and Steve Filmer, who lived a couple of houses down from us on Buchanan Street.