As I explained, after camp finished most of the counsellors decided to decompress in Geelong. We were invited by Mr. Lubczenko to party and sleep at his house. In the end, I think there were nearly 15 of us there. We ordered a copious amount of pizza and had an equal amount to drink. It was so much fun and a great way to relax after the days away.
Mr. Lubczenko lives in a rather large bungalow in northern Geelong. His daughter and son were both counsellors at the younger scouts' camp while his other son, Greg, is studying law at ANU as well. Strangely enough, though, I haven't run into Greg really at all. We seem to keep virtually entirely different schedules and if you know the law school, that is quite a feat. We all set ourselves up in various places and, as luck would have it, I was offered a bed, even though I was willing to sleep on the floor. It turned out very well as I was one of the first to go to sleep anyway. For some reason, in the preceding days I had felt very tired and I finally got the rest I needed.
The night was filled with jollity as we caroused, ate and drank. I even learned a new Ukrainian drinking song which involves the people telling all those born in a particular month to front up and have a shot. I'd never heard this one before but everyone else seemed to know it; it must be an Australian thing. We all went to sleep very relaxed, of that much I am certain.
The next morning we were treated to Mr. Lubczenko's famous pancakes. Apparently, these are a Plast tradition and delicacy. Usually Mr. Lubczenko makes them after New Year's as a sort of hangover cure but he didn't do that this year, he saved them for us. All I can say is that they were delicious. Mr. Lubczenko made so many and I don't know how he found the ingredients or the time. We all gobbled them up as fast as we could.
A little after 13:00, Magalas and I were driven to North Geelong Station to catch our train into Melbourne. The V-Line runs a sort of express service into Melbourne and very soon we were flying through the flat countryside between Geelong and Melbourne. We arrived at Southern Cross Station, a gloriously grandiose structure that looks like it might be Melbourne's main hub but isn't; that honour goes to Flinders Street Station one stop further down. As Magalas and I made our way through the station we had to split up to catch our respective trains. We said goodbye and I assured him that I would see him again in at least 2 years' time.
I made my way to Glenroy Station where I got off and walked to the Stasyshyns' house. These are people who are distantly related to me by marriage. There I talked with Tania, who's now in her 90s and first arrived in Australia in 1949. We talked about her adventures coming here and how much Australia has changed since then. One of the things she remembers most was the heat in September when she got off the boat with her family in Melbourne. They were taken to Bonegilla (bah-ne-GYL-la) a refugee camp where many Ukrainians were first kept. Tania also told the story of how Nadia (her eldest child who lives with her) was segregated because she had a cough and the authorities were worried about tuberculosis. Nadia, who was only 3, complained constantly in the hospital that here parents had abandoned her. Eventually, her father was called in to take her of the hospital's hands after she had been cleared; Nadia says she was kicked out. As I talked to Tania, Nadia arrived home and shortly thereafter Maria and Katia. I said goodbye to Tania and Nadia and left with the Soc's as I promised to see them again next time I was in Melbourne.
I had always planned to fly out on the 5th so now I had a day to kill. I decided to go to the Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens that I had bypassed the last time. There are some very interesting buildings and works of art there. These are civic parks that have been around since the 19th Century.
The oldest building in Australia is housed in the gardens and that is Captain Cook's cottage. His home was built in Yorkshire in the mid 18th Century and was taken apart brick-by-brick, transported to Australia and then rebuilt. There was also a small model Tudor village with a fanciful sculpture called the Fairy Tree beside it; a tree trunk carved with fairies and Australian animals. There were other sculptures, fountains and assorted things. I could have sworn I took pictures but I don't seem to have them on my camera. At any rate, I took the train back to Broadmeadows where Katia drove me to the airport. I said goodbye and promised to visit again.
Plast in Victoria I found to be quite similar to Plast in Sydney. There may be a little more Ukrainian spoken and the scouts may do a little more of there own cooking in Victoria but most things are the same. Although I'll be at the Sydney camp again next year, all things going to plan, I'll go back to the Victorian camp in 2 years' time. I found everyone and everything to be most enjoyable.
No comments:
Post a Comment