Five Days Down Unda

Shane Falslev, our son-in-law, (husband of Angie) has a carpet laying business in Cache Valley. He must be good, because for the past eleven years he has been invited to lay carpet in LDS temples around the world. He was recently asked to take a crew to the Sydney Temple. Our son Andy volunteered to go with him. Andy is a commercial pilot with Sky West, but he has worked for Shane before and chose to take a week off. One of the great perks about being a commercial pilot is that Andy can fly just about anywhere in the world for free…or close to it. The really best perk is that Andy’s parents get to fly free also. So I invited myself. What a deal!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008: Andy planned out our day…stand-by to Los Angeles…so we took an 11:00 AM flight to ensure that we could make the 10:30 PM flight to Sydney. No problem. Andy gave me his first class ticket and sat in the back of the bus. What a son! We arrived in Los Angeles with 10 hours to spare. Big problem. We could not check-in for the Sydney flight for six hours. The real problem was that Shane had asked us to take two of his tool boxes, because we were travelling light, but allowed to check two bags each. Because we were flying stand-by to Sydney we did not check our bags straight through. That was a mistake; we were stuck with heavy tool boxes, could not get boarding passes, therefore, we could not get past the ticketing gates. So we rented a car.

Jill Smith, our travel agent, (and Kathie) lined up a car for us, from some off-line rental company…$47 for the day. There are probably pros and cons going that way, but personal attention is a real pro. The one person in the trailer office was very friendly…she gave us a Chrysler Sebring convertible. We went to the beach…ate Argentinean empanadas from a street vendor…snoozed in a park…it was a tough day. As with Kathie in Pittsburgh, I had my own “welcome to the big city” experience when I went to the public rest room at the park…but we won’t talk about that.

The flight to Australia was tough. First class seats allowed us to sleep in comfort most of the way. I’m starting to really appreciate Andy…he’s the man! We lost Thursday somewhere.

Friday, September 26, 2008: We learned something at the Kingsford Smith International Airport, in Sydney. As dual US/Australian citizens, we were advised to enter and depart Australia on our Australian passports…and re-enter the US on our US passports. There was no hassle…just friendly advice.

We rented a car. Jill Smith did it again. $152 for the week. The gal behind the Hertz counter was again very friendly. She asked where we were staying in Sydney. We did not know, so we gave her my step-mother Margo Wegener’s address. Then the gal asked…”Are you going to the temple?” “What? How did you know that?” She apparently noticed Andy’s CTR ring…and she was Maori. Mormons and Maoris are everywhere! She gave us a hot Toyota four door sports car…real zippy.

Problems arose with the vehicle immediately. The steering wheel was on the wrong side. On that first day I attempted to enter the car from the wrong side four (4) times…actually made it into the seat twice. It is always a shock to discover that the steering wheel is gone. Andy noted that it is also disturbing to look at the car next to you on the freeway and discover that there is no-one in the (US) driver’s seat. It was disturbing. The next day I only tried to get in on the wrong side once. Quick learner.

Kathie will appreciate that I turned on the windshield wipers numerous times…instead of the turn signal. Some idiot reversed the locations. I’m a slow learner on that one…never quite got over it.

I asked Andy to drive at the airport, but he declined, suggesting that he would do better as a navigator. Sure! He was immediately lost… I took a wrong turn…missed a freeway entry…we stopped to regroup. After that we were a pretty good team. We even found Margo’s home in North Strathfield without any problem…and we arrived at the temple just minutes before Shane and Cody pulled in. They were met at the airport by a Church employee.

Margo is still Margo…now 84…and pretty sharp…except that she repeats herself frequently…but at 84 that’s her prerogative. She was pleased to meet Andy, whom she thought was “bloody handsome”. She said…”too bad I’m not a lot younger”. We left Margo with a three ring binder with our latest family photos.

Our accommodations were at a motel which was purchased by the Church for patron housing. Since the temple was closed for repairs there were no patrons, but there were other guests. One group was from Florida…LDS musicians who were performing somewhere. The other group was with a movie company…working on a movie about the descendants of Joseph Smith in Australia. I asked if the movie was based upon Gracia Jones’ research…it is. They gave me Gracia’s e-mail address, so we could contact her about our video of the First Reunion of the Joseph Smith Jr. Family. Gracia responded saying that she would help me distribute the CDs upon my return.

The boys, Shane, Andy and Shane’s nephew Cody Creech, went right to work. It is hard work. They were jet-lagged and exhausted at the end of the day. Back at the housing the boys were entertained by laughing kookaburras and warbling magpies.

We were told that there are big changes coming to the temple complex. The temple is actually being downsized to a mini temple. The maintenance personnel have been trimmed from four to one, as of Jan 31…when a new Presidency will take over. And all 40 positions at the Area Church Offices will be transferred to New Zealand.

Saturday, September 27, 2008: The guys worked all day while I worked on Family history…in the temple. It can’t get much better than that. Talked with Alan Murrin…met the Temple Recorder…John Parton…grandson of the Stake Patriarch, when Kathie and I were in Sydney in 1964/65.

Sunday, September 28, 2008: We attended Church at the Greenwich Ward, where Kathie and I first met; it was a special experience, marred only by one speaker who was a BYU co-ed who used BYU football hysteria as a metaphor in her talk…made Andy quite uncomfortable. I was glad that Kathie was not present. The highlight was meeting Babe Enoka (Williams) who was leading the music. Babe abd I used to sing together in a quartet...Babe, Rakapa Parata, Les Young and I. Met Howard Jeffree again. He offered to take me touring tomorrow.

I actually tripped on the steps going into the Greenwich Ward. Told Andy that this is where I “fell” for his mother too.

Following Church we drove out to Manly Beach, where Andy was the only one to brave the cold water…the body surfing was great. We had planned to drive across the Sydney Harbor Bridge, but the traffic was so heavy that we gave up the idea. Driving in Sydney is much like driving in Pittsburgh…tunnels and all…just much bigger.

Monday, September 29, 2008: Today is the 43rd anniversary of my departure from Australia. Where has the time gone? And how interesting is it that I am back in Sydney, from whence I departed. I’m sitting here looking at the gum trees (eucalyptus), watching the birds, which this morning include parrots and pink and grey galahs…and listening to all the sounds. I love this place.

The boys went off to work and Howard Jeffries picked me up at 8:00 AM. I knew Howard in Sydney back in 1964/65. He was at the dinner which Alan Murrin hosted for us last year. He became an architect and spent the last half of his career working for the Church. He is now retired. He recently moved and now attends the Greenwich Ward. We drove the “loop” road, which took us out into the country. I enjoyed the beautiful OZ trees. We visited Max Maine, who was the architect in charge of the Australian Building Program in 1964/65. Max is now in his eighties, living with his daughter. He gave me a copy of his personal history. Howard bought me a copy of an Australian classic "A Fortunate Life" by A. B. Facey...saying that it was a must-read for a bloke from Perth.

Howard helped us get tickets for a special showing of “Emma” at the Fox Theatres in Sydney. The “National Tribute Band”…the musicians staying at the Patron Housing…gave a concert ahead of the movie. They tied their music to the early Mormon experience. The movie was marvelous…certainly helped our understanding of and appreciation for Emma Hale Smith. I met Michael Kennedy, who is President of the Joseph Smith Jr. and Emma Hale Smith Historical Society...asked for his card so that I could send him one of my Joseph SMith Reunion DVDs.

Doug and Robin Hann were at the movie. It was good to see them again. I would like to spend more time with them.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008: The boys had hoped to be done by today, but the job took most of the day to complete. I had promised Margo that I would bring the crew over to meet her so we did that before dinner. When I told Joe Cicli (main temple engineer) that I was taking the crew to meet my step-mother…he looked at me carefully and said …”How OLD is she?” That cracked up the crew.

Wednesday, November 1, 2008: We had some spare time this morning so we went to the Featherdale Animal Preserve, on the way to the airport. The flight home was fast…and first class. We had a 100 + mph tailwind and arrived an hour early…in 13.25 hours. We slept for 7 hours straight…watched a couple of movies and read…and ate lobster. We arrived in Los Angeles 4.5 hours before we left Sydney…now that’s fast.

So we had a fast, furious and fun few days in Sydney. It was great!