1961
This month we are pleased to turn the column over to Barbara and Pablo Gomez. Barbara wrote this delightful letter to us from 12 Hablett Crescent, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia 5750.
"Decided after six and one-half years of marriage that it's time to write and let you know what Pablo and I have been doing. We married September 15, 1967. Met skiing. Had our first child, Gregory Scott, on February 28, 1969 and our second, Kristina Louise, on January 5, 1971. We continued on a round of skiing, waterskiing, camping and backpacking right up to the time we left for Australia. I had been a Probation Officer for Los Angeles County for eight and one-half years when I quit to have Greg. I am now being a Home Management Engineer and enjoying it immensely!
"We bought a home in Huntington Beach, 6731 Crista Palma Drive, in 1971 and we are leasing while over here in Australia. We were active in tennis as well as our other sports, I was active in American Association of UniverSity Women.
"Pablo has been working as an electrical engineer for TRW for eight and one-half years. We had a chance to Australia through TRW and jumped at the chance. We toured Hawaii and Fiji on the way down and hope to see muchof Australia and New Zealand while down here. In fact. we plan to meet Howard and Judy Jelinek in New Zealand in September when they come down to see Judy's family in Christchurch. They plan to visit us here in Alice.
"We are.down here on a sixteen month tour with an option a second and a third if we like it enough. We left the States on November 7, just in time to miss all the energy Problems (good timing!). We are working on a U.S. - Australian project and there are a number of Americans here. We have very nice housing (Government), furnished and even solar water heaters. We have bought a 4-wheel drive and are getting motorcycles.
"Alice Springs is in the Centre of Australia, one thousand miles from both Adelaide on the South Coast and Darwin on the North Coast. The town has a population of 13,000, but the shopping center is much bigger than the population would indicate, because Alice is the center for all of the numerous cattle stations (ranches) in the Outback. The country around here is fantastic. It is aptly called the "Red Centre" because all of the dirt, rocks, cliffs and mountains are red. Although it is called the Arid Zone, there is ample growth in the Bush (Outback), including grasses, wildflowers, bushes, numerous Gums (Eucalyptus), Wattles, Mallee and Musga. There are also many waterholes, some up to one and a half miles long, a half mile wide and one hundred feet deep. This is a big tourist center with many attractions. We hope to see them all before we leave. We plan to do a lot of tenting with many trips into the Bush.
"There is a very active life here and everybody is very friendly. Perhaps because many people here are temporary they can't afford to be slow to make friends. Since the facility is open twenty-four hours, men work in shifts, consequently people have parties whenever they are off so it seems like one round of parties. There are lots of sports. Pablo plays basketball and we both play tennis. There are car races, horseracing, theatre, adult school classes, private clubs (we're joining one), movies, and a million and one events. You probably have heard of the Henley-on-Todd, the sailboat race on the dry river bed. The bottom is taken out of the boats and men run down the Todd. Lloyd's of London insures the river against water in it.
"When the Todd River does flow it becomes a raging torrent, nine feet high and half a mile wide. When it rains, it rains torrentially and the build-up is fast. They say if you've seen the Todd flow three times you're going to be permanent. We've seen it three times so we may never get out of here.
"We'd love to have people write to us. We are really enjoying our stay in this country and feel you learn so much by realizing that Americans are not the only people on this earth and don't always have the best ideas on everything. Right now, we are enjoying reading about the problems in the U.S. and being so far away, and also seeing it from the Australian point of view.
"The children are enjoying it here and play with mostly Aussie kids. Call me Mum, want tea instead of dinner, ask for biscuits instead of cookies, and for Cordial instead of Koolaid. We haven't seen too many kangaroos, because it has been such a wet year that there are plenty of waterholes, so they don't have to come near town or the big waterholes.
"Sorry it took me six and one-half years to write. If anybody is coming to Australia for a visit and thinks they might get up to Alice, do let us know."
Secretary, 14 Glen Road Winchester, Mass. 01890
Treasurer, R.R. 2 Windsor, Vt. 05089
