WATER AND THE DESERT

SOUTH AUSTRALIA’S IMPAIRMENT TO GROWTH

“Water, water every where and not a drop to drink”. Did any of you study the Rime of the Ancient Mariner in High School? The poet, S.T. Coleridge, describes thirsty sailors who are parched at sea under the hot sun and cannot drink from the limitless salty ocean that surrounds them everywhere. Although this phrase from the Ancient Mariner is not quite accurate for the State of South Australia, it is still a pretty good description to describe the state’s need for water to sustain its economy and people, while at the same time being predominantly land-locked by a vast desert landscape, commonly referred to as the “Outback”.

South Australia’s mainland coastline is approximately 3800 km long (i.e., water everywhere), yet four-fifths of the state receives less than 250 mm of rain (i.e., not a drop to drink). By definition, an area that receives less than 250 mm (10 inches) of rain per year is termed a “Desert”. Therefore, four-fifths of the state is desert. Water for human use is scarce and a highly valued resource. Everyone we have met so far who lives in South Australia has an opinion about water use and conservation. We have frequently been told that we “live in the driest state in the driest continent”. South Australians have told us that the state has gone through 10 – 12 years of drought, reduced crop yields, and bush fires. People are wondering if this prolonged drought is temporary or a harbinger of long term climate change.

Kadina – Yorke Peninsula Climatic Conditions

Kadina only receives 338 mm (15 inches) of rain per year; yet it is only 8 km away from the Ocean. Prior to arriving in Kadina, we wondered how a community located so close to the ocean could receive such a limited amount of rainfall. The answer, we found, is dictated by the prevailing winds. South Australia’s climate is dominated by pressure systems which pass over the state from west to east. One only has to look at a map of Australia to see that the prevailing winds travelling west move across an extensive land mass. By the time the winds reach South Australia, there is little moisture remaining in the clouds. As shown in the attached figure, Spencer's Gulf is located to the west of the Yorke Peninsula. During summer, the wind blows off the continent and has very little ocean mass (Spencer's Gulf) to pick up any moisture before reaching the Yorke Peninsula. Hence the reason for Kadina’s low rainfall in an area located so close to the ocean. Also during the summer, high pressure cells may remain stationary over the state for long periods of time, bringing clear, sunny days and often heat wave conditions. This, no doubt, explains why we experienced a temperature of +43OC upon our arrival in Kadina. We had arrived in the middle of another summer heat wave.

As one travels to the tip of mainland South Australia, rainfall increases since the prevailing winds cross the Australian Bight and travel primarily over the ocean. Therefore these winds are not as greatly influenced by the continental land mass. This is reflected in substantially more rainfall along the coast. For example, Mt. Gambier’s annual rainfall of approximately 700 mm is almost double that of Kadina.

In the winter, the winds are reversed and originate predominantly, across the ocean, from the south west. As a result, the Yorke Peninsula receives sufficient moisture to be one of South Australia’s great grain growing areas. These same moisture laden winds travel further north – northeast of Adelaide to the Adelaide Hills and Mt. Lofty Range. As the clouds rise in elevation, they provide much needed water to two of South Australia’s famous wine growing regions in the Claire and Barossa Valleys. These Valleys enjoy a Mediterranean climate with dry hot summers and cool wet winters. (More on South Australia’s Wine in a later blog).

Goyder’s Line – Demarcation of the Outback

A fundamental ecological principle for managing land use is: Vegetation and Soils are a function of geology, relief, organisms, time, and climate. Simply stated, vegetation and soils on the landscape are not inert and stable but develop under the influence of a number of determining factors such as climate. In 1865 George Goyder, the Surveyor General for South Australia, put this ecological principle to good use. Goyder identified a boundary line, based on vegetation, across South Australia. To the north of the line salt-bush is dominant and to the south of the line - gum trees. Goyder discouraged farmers from planting crops north of the line as he believed that agricultural practices would prove to be marginal. Wittingly, Goyder’s Line represents the demarcation of South Australia’s Outback since it basically follows the annual rainfall average of 250 mm (10 inches). Also of interest, and as should be expected, most of South Australia’s population is presently located below Goyder’s line.

Fourth-fifths of the state’s land mass is Outback. Communities within the Outback are sparse and are centered near mineral resource extraction developments. A Dingo (Australian Wild Dog) Fence has been constructed to protect sheep flocks by containing Dingo’s within the arid desert areas. This fence serves as a further reminder segregating the fertile agricultural lands from the dry arid Outback.

The Murray River Also Known As “River Murray” if you’re Australian

Unlike Canadians, Australians identify River Systems using the word “River” first. Hence Australians would call the North Saskatchewan River the “River North Saskatchewan”.

The Murray River is Australia’s largest river and spans three states: New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. Millions of people rely on the Murray River as a source of water for domestic use. It also plays a significant part in Australia’s economy as it is used for irrigation, livestock and industrial purposes. The River Basin provides a continual bounty of produce and is sometimes referred to as the “Food Bowl of Australia”. Consequently the river is highly regulated to control water quality and quantity. The river has 4 major dams, 16 storage weirs and 15 navigable locks.

South Australia relies heavily on water from the Murray. Typically, the River supplies about 40% of the State’s urban water needs. During drought years, water use can increase to as much as 90%. As we drive throughout South Australia, we can not help but notice a number of water pipelines of varying sizes accompanied by their respective pumping stations. The scarcity of water in the state has made it necessary to depend upon water transported over long distances in pipelines. For example, the line between Morgan and Whyalla is approximately 400 km in length. The attached Figure illustrates the importance of the river system to supplying much needed water throughout the state.

Photo of Major Water Pipeline Running Between Morgan and Whyalla



Map of South Australia Water Pipelines


Water management for the Murray River is legislated by the federal government as well as the three states. Water use allocations, expanding populations, industrial requirements, recreational pursuits, poor water quality due to increases in salinity and recent droughts have put a strain on the system; with the Murray River Basin becoming a political issue for both federal and state governments. Water desalination plants are an alterative with a few plants currently in use; however, they are costly and big consumers of energy. The expression “Liquor is for drinkin’ and water is for fightin’” appears to have a whole new meaning here. Alberta’s water issues and over use allocations in the more arid parts of southern Alberta pale in comparison to the Murray River’s water issues.

The state has instituted a number of water conservation measures. Examples that we have observed include:

• Grey water is recycled and used for irrigating public recreational sports fields and golf courses. At a residential scale, some home owners have directed their grey wash water from their washing machines to discharge into their yards;
  
  
• No new houses can be constructed without installation of a water cistern (see photo);

• Gardens and yards can only be watered manually twice a week between 7 and 9 AM or PM using hand held hoses (i.e., no sprinklers);
  
  
• Cars can only be washed at home using water in a bucket (i.e. no hoses);
  
  
• Some home owners have placed a three minute egg timer glass in their showers to remind them to take a short shower;
  
  
• Many home owners are installing large water cisterns to store water for all residential uses including potable water; and
  
  
• No trees, either on public or private land can be cut down without prior government approval.

These water restrictions clearly make us realize how fortunate and thankful we are to have such abundant supplies of water in Canada. Water is something that we generally take for granted and think little about and often waste.

With respect to desert environments, Canada has a vast uninhabited desert which is part of the Arctic. Climatic conditions are such that explorations of our mineral resources are yet to be fully revealed. The only inhabited desert skirts the Canadian border at Osoyoos, B.C. Like some of the desert areas of South Australia, irrigation has made much of the land around Osoyoos a very fertile area.

HELLO FROM KADINA - OUR AUSTRALIAN HOME FOR ONE YEAR!

We landed in Adelaide on January 8th thus embarking on our final leg to Kadina, South Australia where Gail is to commence her teacher exchange position for 2010. Jill, our “Exchange Buddy” met us at the airport at 8:30 AM when the temperature was already well on its way to +300C. Jill advised that we were in the middle of a heat wave and the temperature would reach +430C by about noon. She also noted that the weatherman had forecast that the next couple of days were going to be “stinkers”, an official Australian weather term. We marvelled as within a six week period we had gone from -400C to +400C. Talk about temperature extremes, yet ironically that are a lot of similarities; which we will elaborate on in later blog entries.

We first met Jill, our exchange buddy, while she and her son were on an earlier teacher exchange to Edmonton in 2003. Since then, Jill has had the good fortune to also go on another exchange to Japan in 2008.

As part of the teacher exchange program, incoming teachers are matched up with an exchange buddy. The exchange buddy is assigned with the task of assisting the incoming teacher (i.e.; Gail and by default Rick) to adapt to their new and unfamiliar surroundings. The fact that we have already met Jill in her previous life as a newbie exchange teacher while in Canada made our welcome in Australia a re-acquaintance with an old friend. Jill spent the day showing us around Adelaide taking us to the Botanical Gardens, touring Adelaide’s Torrens River Valley (similar to Edmonton’s North Saskatchewan River Valley) and visiting the Central Market. The Central Market is similar to Edmonton’s Strathcona Market only about 10 times larger. While at the Market, we had our first opportunity to sample, in order of tasting preference, Emu, Kangaroo, and Camel Sausages.

As the temperature during the day rose to +43, Jill spent most of her day misting us both down with an atomizer so that we could stay cool in the unbearably dry hot environment. We found it to be quite humorous, a little embarrassing in being pampered; but most importantly, much appreciated. We also recognized that we were totally unprepared to handle such a HOT and dry climate. Plus 30 is one thing, but +40 is a furnace and something that we had not experienced.

The next day, Jill drove us to Kadina, which is located approximately 1 ½ hour drive northwest of Adelaide (refer to Map insert). Kadina is a town of approximately 4,000 – 5,000 people situated on the Yorke Peninsula. The Yorke Peninsula is an amazing place that warrants a separate blog entry at a later date.



As we left Adelaide towards Kadina, we drove through a flat landscape that reminded one of travelling through southern Saskatchewan. You could turn your head around 360 degrees and see nothing but flat. The difference being that the area was comprised of orchards, nurseries and hot houses, rather than miles and miles of wheat fields. Later we learned that this flat topographical area is the remnants of an inland sea that existed during the formation of the Australian continent. About half way to Kadina we started a gradual climb in elevation, and then steeper ascend, as we travelled onto the Yorke Peninsula. The Yorke Peninsula is a highly eroded plateau that was once part of an interior mountain range that rises out of the ocean in a west to east direction with the higher points of elevation being located along the eastern part of the peninsula. The peninsula is dominated by huge fields of cereal crops; with many of the fields being well over one section (1 square mile) in size. Given the heat of the day and the dry brown appearance of the vegetation, we found it hard to imagine that the area could produce a productive cereal crop. However, in realty, it is no different than one travelling through the Canadian prairies in winter. How can such a cold harsh climate be home to Canada’s bread basket?

As we were driving to Kadina, we couldn’t help but notice a large 24” – 36” water supply pipeline following alongside the road. We have subsequently learned that this supply line is the predominant water source for people living on the northern part of the peninsula. (The southern portion of the peninsula’s water supply is provided by groundwater sources and a desalinization plant.) The line originates approximately 150 kilometres away in Australia’s largest river, the River Murray. Water is pumped from the river and conveyed through a series of pumping stations to a large reservoir just north of Kadina. The reservoir is covered to minimize evaporation. We have been in Kadina a week and already three or four residents have reminded us that we are living in the driest state in Australia, which is the driest continent on earth. Parts of South Australia have just come through a 10 – 12 year drought and they are not sure if the water shortage crisis is over or here to stay due to climate change. Water is a precious commodity that everyone is alert to, and has an opinion about. We will elaborate more about water issues in a separate blog.

Kadina reminds us of any small Canadian agricultural town of a similar size located on the prairies. The town is the major agricultural hub for the area having a John Deere tractor dealership, fertilizer supply outlet, state government agencies and numerous other service providers for the agricultural industry.

We are fortunate enough to be living in one of the many original older homes in the town. Our house was built around the turn of the century with an addition added on around 1930 – 1940. These homes are something with which we have no familiarity. For example, the walls of the homes are typically 12-18 inches in thickness, are constructed of stone/rock, have slate or steel roofs with each room typically having 12 – 14 foot ceiling heights and a fireplace. Full length-size verandas are a standard feature and the houses are, where possible, aligned in a north-south exposure. They have been designed and constructed so as to minimize the unbearable heat in the summer and cold in winter. Given the thickness of the walls, it will take the house three or four days to absorb the full effect of +43oC temperatures. If the heat wave lasts longer than that, the heat is absorbed into the rock walls, turning the house into an inferno. When that happens, everyone closes all the doors to each room and camps out only in those rooms equipped with air conditioners.

It is our understanding that the newer homes are of wood construction, well insulated and covered with a facade of rock/brick. The ceilings are typically 9 feet in height and air conditioners are sized to cool the house. Once we have the opportunity to visit someone living in the newer homes, it will be interesting to see and compare the differences between new and old house construction methods.

In our first week at Kadina, we have purchased a vehicle, travelled to the Clare Valley for some wine tasting and toured the entire length of the Yorke Peninsula. We purchased a 1999 Ford Falcon with 170,000 km for $7,000 AUS $. Our impression is that cars are considerably more expensive to purchase here than in Canada. We were looking for a vehicle which was dependable and would get us from A to B and would hopefully not depreciate much over the course of one year. If we paid more for a newer vehicle, we think we would have loss on the depreciation when it came time to sell the car at the end of the year. If we went with a cheaper car, we think that we would be paying for repairs and see ourselves stranded on the road somewhere. Only time will tell if our expectations come true or not.

Random points we’ve learned so far:

• Most homes don’t have dryers but when it’s +40 out, clothes only take about 45 minutes to dry on the line.
  
• We have both an orange and a lemon tree in our yard. Photos will come once the fruit is ripe.
  
• You’re only allowed to water your lawn or garden twice a week but you have to stand and hold the hose – no sprinkler systems are allowed. Time allotment to water is between 6-9 PM only.
  
• We have become very aware of our water usage and have a gray water container in our sink at all times as you’re allowed to throw water from a bucket on your yard at any time as many times as you wish.
  
• Parents with smart girls (or boys, but especially girls) who can afford the expense send their kids to private boarding schools as early as grade 8 to complete their education. They feel that their kids will get a more rounded education with fewer distractions. Some of the parents are child free as soon as their youngest reaches 12! This is a difficult decision for both parent and child.
  
• Groceries, on average, cost more, but it is such a treat to have fresh fruit and vegetables. We bought cherries today- January 19th and we have been getting our fill of fresh watermelon.
  
• We’ve had marinated kangaroo steaks on the barby. They are almost fat free and very high in iron. They have a texture similar to liver only with more fibre. We’ve yet to see one bouncing out in nature though. Closest we have come to seeing one is road kill. We will keep you posted. We have seen Emu’s in the wild as well as a “Shingle-back lizard”. Pictures will be provided in our blog entry for the Yorke Peninsula.
  
• We’re giving ourselves until Feb. 1 to STOP turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn indicator. The car is left-hand drive and everything is reversed in the automobile. No doubt the locals think it hilarious to see the wipers turned on at every corner given that there isn't a cloud in the sky. We will send you a separate blog entry about driving on the “Other side of the Road”.
  
• Toilets have a ½ flush option. If you go big, you can flush big, if you don’t go big you don’t have to flush big.
  
• We are really enjoying the southern sky at night. Because we are in a small town there is limited light pollution to mask the stars. The Milky Way is something else to see. We haven't found the Southern Cross constellation yet as it is apparently quite low in the sky at this time of year.

Gas Prices:

• Janaury 1, 2010: Singapore – S$1.71/lire (Singapore $ is worth approximately $0.75 Canadian)
• January 7, 2010: Sydney – AUS$ 1.31 (Australian $ is worth approximately $0.98 Canadian)
• January 15, 2010: Kadina – AUS$ 1.24 (Australian $ is worth approximately $0.98 Canadian)

As you can see, we have a number of blog entries to work on. More on our travels in the Yorke Peninsula and daily living in Kadina in a later blog.

HELLO FROM SYDNEY

We landed in Sydney Australia on January 3rd, 2010 for a five day stay. Sydney is Australia’s largest city with a population of approximately 5.5 million people. Sydney reminded us very much of Vancouver. Both Vancouver and Sydney each have a well known bridge which is a symbol of the city – Vancouver’s being the Lion’s Gate Bridge and Sydney’s is the Harbour Bridge. They are both port cities, have a vibrant down town core, many trendy areas, a moderately good public transportation system, and lots of urban sprawl.

While in Sydney we spent most of our time walking or taking the public transit system to various points of interest. For example, we went to Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, the Botanical Gardens, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, the Blue Mountains and hiked across the Harbour Bridge. Some of the highlights and impressions of Sydney are outlined below:

• Our general impression of Sydney was that it was an expensive city to visit if you elected to partake in the well advertised tourist tours. For example, a tour boat of the harbour with dinner provided on the boat cost around $125/person. We elected to take the public transit ferry ships to various points in and around the harbour. You could buy a “day tripper” which provided for unlimited public transport travel for $17/person. It seemed strange to see the “tourist boats” traveling along side the public transit ferries each going to the same places.
  
  
• We found that Internet Access in the hotels can be a bit of a rip off. Apparently Australia is in the middle of the internet spectrum. Some hotels provide it complimentary as part of your stay in the hotel. Others charge a daily fee. Our hotel charged as hourly fee of $12.00 and a daily fee of $27.00. It was obvious that the hotel was catering to the business man, whose Company would pick up the Internet tab. Given the recent turn around in the economy, I suspect that many Companies would be looking at reducing costs wherever possible and will likely instruct their employees to seek accommodation elsewhere where Internet is free. On the other hand the hotel is trying to make a quick buck wherever possible….so who knows? We found an Internet Café two blocks from our hotel that charged a fee of $2.00/hour for Internet Service. Needless to say we found the idea of the hotel charging $12/hour a little bit of gouge. So if you are travelling in and around Australia, one of the questions to ask the hotels you are booking with is whether they provide free Internet Access.
  
  
• Bondi Beach was “IMPRESSIVE”. The water was a beautiful aqua blue. The garbage-free pristine sandy beach was dotted from one end to the other with a “bazillion” people lazing in the HOT sun on a Tuesday afternoon. Now we know why Bondi Beach is recognized as being world famous. We could and cannot get over how intense the sun is in Australia. Likely it is a result of two factors: (i) the degrees latitude is much closer to the Equator. Sydney is 34oS while Edmonton is 53oN and (ii) it may be the fact that the ozone hole over Antarctica is having an influence. We were on the beach for less than an hour and we were as red as lobsters. You could easily tell where we forgot to apply the sunscreen.

• The Blue Mountains are a two hour train ride from Sydney. It is a world heritage site similar to Banff and Jasper. On the way to the mountains, one travels through a metropolitan jungle traveling through one urban area to another (similar to travelling east from Vancouver to Hope), and then suddenly the Blue Mountains come upon you as there is an ear-popping rather steep elevation change to a topographic escarpment– like landscape. The Blue Mountains are more like the Appalachians as they are well weathered, not jagged like the Rockies. The Blue Mountains get their name because the area is densely covered with oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. Finely dispersed droplets of oil from the trees in combination with dust particles and high humidity/water vapour in the air give the atmosphere a hazy smoky blue appearance. I image that our closest analogy to a similar spectacle would be the Smoky Mountains in Kentucky.
  
  We were not that fortunate in getting any breath-taking vistas while at the Blue Mountains. The area was socked in with low lying clouds so it was foggy with poor visibility. Maybe on our return trip to Canada (we fly out of Sydney on Boxing Day) we will have the opportunity to go back and visit the Blue Mountains.

We are off to Adelaide and the final leg of our journey to Kadina.

Gas Prices:

• Janaury 1, 2010: Singapore – S$1.71/lire (Singapore $ is worth approximately $0.75 Canadian)


• January 7, 2010: Sydney – AUS$ 1.31 (Australian $ is worth approximately $0.98 Canadian)

LUGGAGE ISSUES - TRAVELLING IN AUSTRALIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

We have had a number of luggage issues on our travels to Kadina, so we think that it warrants a separate blog entry. It is also noteworthy information in the event you are considering travelling to Australia and hopefully coming to see us for a visit.

First there are two major ways to travel to Australia. You can travel via Air Canada or one of its affiliate airlines (eg. Singapore Airlines) or you can travel via Quantas. We elected to travel via Air Canada because we used Aeroplan airmiles. Quantas doesn’t recognize Aeroplan. The advantage and disadvantages of each travel option is outlined below:

• Aeroplan/Air Canada only flies to Sydney. Therefore if you are flying anywhere else in Australia you must use one of the domestic carriers. The problem with the domestic carriers is the luggage restrictions that are discussed later in more detail. The advantage of flying using Aeroplan points and Air Canada is that you are entitled to one stop along the way. We elected to stop over in Singapore. Using Aeroplan points the total cost of our flight to Australia was approximately $400/person. Hence a very appealing option.
  
  
• Quantas fly’s to numerous destinations within Australia and offers three one way stops while in Australia. For example you can fly into Sydney, stay awhile and then fly onto Adelaide, then fly to another location and subsequently fly back to Canada from there. It is an excellent option for seeing a lot of Australia. You must book your itinerary while you are outside Australia and you must provide the airline with your arrival and departure dates. Total cost of the ticket is approximately $2000/person. This option is very attractive for the tourist visiting Australia. However, we elected to forego this option because the duration of our stay is one year and we would end up “dead-heading” our three flights back to Adelaide. In addition, we didn’t know Gail’s school holiday schedule for the year and thus were unable to pre-book the three flights within Australia.
  
  We strongly suggest that if you are booking a flight to Australia and contemplating any domestic flight(s) within Australia, that you check/confirm luggage restrictions. This advice applies to any SE Asian Airline as well. Our problems with luggage and weight restrictions are outlined below. Hopefully our experience makes planning for your trip a little less painful.
  
  
• For economy class flights, Air Canada has a weight restriction of two bags per person each weighing 23 kilos (50 lbs). Air Canada’s final destination in Australia is Sydney. If you decide to fly internally within Australia, then you must book your flight with a domestic airline. The domestic airlines only allow each person one bag with a maximum allowance of 23 kilos. If you have excess weight, the airlines will charge you $10/kilos. Therefore, if you arrive in Australia with two bags each weighing 23 kilos you can be charged an additional cost of $430 to transport the additional bag. Of course Air Canada doesn’t tell you this because they are only concerned with getting you to Sydney. Our travel advisor with Aeroplan did not tell us anything. He just advised us that we would have to book a flight between Sydney and Adelaide using a domestic airline.
  
  It should be noted that if you pre-book your domestic flight and let the airlines know in advance that you have excess baggage, they will reduce the $10/kilo fee, by approximately 50%. However, in our opinion, a fee of $215 for 23 kilos is still excessive.
  
  
• We have no idea what weight allowance Quantas allows when flying between Canada and Australia. Now that we are in Australia, we know that they have the same one baggage, 23 kilo restriction per person for domestic economy class flights. If you elect to fly with Quantas and take the three stop flight option, we suggest that while you are in Canada you confirm weight allowances prior to booking your domestic flights within Australia.
  
  
• After our 5 day stay in Singapore, we arrived at the Singapore Airport with our luggage. At the airport, we discovered that Singapore Air has a one bag 23 kilo per person weight restriction and does not recognize Air Canada’s two baggage 23 kilo per bag allowance. According to Singapore Air’s baggage restriction, we were 46 kilos overweight and the airline was going to charge us 460 ($10/kilo) for the excess baggage. They did not recognize the one stop lay over that was provided to us by Air Canada and stated that we were starting a “new flight” with a new airline and hence the Air Canada baggage allowance did not apply. After a lengthy discussion, providing documentation of our Aeroplan/Air Canada flight plan and baggage agreement, and 3 separate meetings with various levels of “management” within Singapore Airlines, they finally waived the $460 fee and accepted Air Canada’s baggage agreement. It was just fortunate that we had left ourselves plenty of time (six hours) to catch our flight otherwise we would have been hooped. We were subsequently advised by Singapore Air that if our luggage had been booked through straight to Sydney, that there would not have been an issue. Again, our travel advisor with Aeroplan did not tell us about booking luggage straight through to Sydney.
  
  
• Upon arriving in Sydney, we recognized that flying our excess baggage to Adelaide was not an option. We received a number of quotes from couriers and transport companies and finally agreed upon shipping our bags to Kadina by truck transport. Peter, the Concierge at the hotel, and Jill, an Australian teacher in Adelaide who was on a previous exchange program in Edmonton, were both extremely helpful in solving our luggage dilemma. In addition we are so fortunate to have Leon (family member of Shannon and Riang - our exchange partners) willing to receive our luggage for us. Thank you all for your assistance.

I guess the morale of this is to travel “LIGHT!!” or don’t take any domestic flights. We have a year to figure out the best way to ship our baggage back to Canada. At this point we think that we will donate most of our clothes to Good Will and see about selling our golf clubs. Once we get back to Canada, we think it is time that we got some new clubs anyways. Hopefully when you come and visit, you’ll leave a spot in your bag for our junk!

HELLO FROM SINGAPORE

We landed in Singapore via Seoul 30 hours after leaving Edmonton. We went from minus 200C in Edmonton to plus 300C in Singapore. Our first experience in Singapore was feeling the oppressive heat and humidity. The country is located approximately 1 degree north of the Equator.

After five days in the city, we came away with the sense that Singapore is a beautiful and vibrant city/country well worth a visit. A population of approximately 5 million people live within a 700 km2 area. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. As a result, the city boasts an exceptional public transportation system. We were advised that a high “luxury” tax is placed on items such as automobiles so that public transportation is encouraged. Consequently, cars are a symbol of status, rather than a transportation necessity. The result being that the city has created an efficient subway with trains and buses arriving approximately every 5 minutes or less taking people to every corner of the country/city. To accommodate the population base, high density housing projects have been constructed around virtually every subway stop (outside the main down town core - city centre). Most subway stations are located within or near shopping malls ranging in size somewhere between Edmonton's Kingsway Mall and West Edmonton Mall.

Travel and outdoor recreational pursuits are limited because of the small size of the country; hence most Singaporeans spend their spare time shopping. We learned that their love of shopping is a result of three factors: (1) Wages are equivalent to Canadian wages. Thus they are considered to have good incomes in Asia (2) Children usually live with their parents until they are married. Thus single people have a large disposable income and most importantly (3) Singaporeans are only taxed approximately 5% of their total income. This low tax base is possible since the population base is of sufficient size to sustain infrastructure and other government costs within the small landbase.

Singapore is one of the major gateways to eastern Asia. Every morning we looked out our hotel window to see the harbour filled with boats laden with products. Many of the down town office buildings were named after banks such as Barclays, Bank of Scotland, and Bank of Hong Kong. The size of the city scape certainly dwarfs Edmonton and Calgary and most likely most of Canada’s other cities. Most of the well-paying white collared jobs are filled by Singaporeans while the blue collar labour and service industry jobs employ Malaysians. Many of the Malaysians live in Johore, a large city located adjacent to Singapore, in Malaysia. It is not unusual for the Malaysian workforce to have a 1 ½ hour one way commute since they must cross the border every day.

While in Singapore we visited most of the tourist spots. We went to China Town, Little India, the Botanical Gardens, and the Zoo. Some of the highlights of our visit included:

• The New Year Fire works from Singapore Harbour were SPECTACULAR. We don’t know how many people were on the street to view the fireworks, but we do know that it was CROWDED;
  
  
• The food kiosks on the street, especially those in China Town and Little India. The Satay Club located down town was an experience we will not forget;
  
  

Rick at the Satay Market with Chicken and Prawn Satay. Check out where we didn't eat.

• Having a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel. We were told that this is the place where the sling was invented. It seemed that five or six slings were ordered by the patrons for every other type of drink ordered. We were surprised when our bill for three slings came to $85.00. I guess we should have asked the price before we ordered;
  
  
• Travelling to Johore, Malaysia;
  

• At the Zoo, we had a first hand experience with the daily tropical rainstorms. The rain would come down in buckets for approximately 15 to 30 minutes. People would take cover until it was over and then resume their activities as if nothing had happened. Rick couldn’t get over the water management structures engineered all over the city to minimize erosion. For example, open concrete ditches with water dissipation structures would contain and move water into larger canal ways that finally ended up in the river systems;
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Elephant, the Pouring Rain and our Zoo Poser!
  

• The cosmopolitan shopping along Orchard Road. Lots of the young people were walking billboards for name brand clothes; and
  
• Going to Sentosa Island so that we could set foot on the southern most point of mainland Asia.
  
  
  Gail and Rick at the southern most point of mainland Asia.
  
  
  

• One other item that was quite interesting was our visit to the Canadian Embassy. We decided to go there for a visit, see the place, and find out how part of our tax dollars were being spent. After going through two levels of security, we finally made it to the embassy only to be asked “Did you loose your Passport?’ We responded “No”. Then we were asked “Are you in trouble?” We responded “No”. Finally they asked us “What are you doing here?” We told them that we only came to say “Hi” and look around. We ended up chuckling as our look around only consisted of the front foyer, seeing a photograph of Steven Harper and Stockwell Day and signing the “Guest Book”. We knew that our visit was uncommon when the guest book entries on the previous page were dated 1995.

Singapore is noted for being a safe country with a low crime rate. We found it sobering to see a sign at the airport stating that the sale of drugs while in Singapore was an offense punishable by death. A couple of years ago, two youths were caught putting graffiti on a building. One of the kids was American and the other was from Singapore. The American youth received 20 lashes with a cane, while the Singapore kid received 50…because he should have known better. Some people make think the punishment to be harsh, but on the other hand, we didn’t see any evidence of graffiti throughout our stay. Singaporeans jokingly call their country/city a “fine” city. You get a fine for spitting, you get a fine for littering, you get a fine for eating or drinking on the public transport system. The fines range between $500 to $5000, nothing to spit at (pardon the pun!)

We are off to Sydney next! We will keep you posted of our travels on our blog and hope to see you come and visit us once we are in Kadina. For those of you in Edmonton, please phone and invite our Australian Exchange Partners (Shannon and Riang) along on one of your outings or let them know about something you think they might like to see while in Edmonton. We know they would appreciate your Canadian hospitality.

For those of you interested in the price of gas (seems to be a Canadian quirk) we will keep you apprised of gas prices throughout our travels.

GAS PRICES

• Singapore - January 1, 2010 - $1.71/litre (Singapore $ is worth approximately $0.75 Canadian