From: Jhalpert

Sent: June 15, 2006 8:02 PM

To: Pbeesly

CC: JWilson

Subject: Sydney Day 6

Hi Sweetheart. (Hi to Janice also)

Thank you for telling me about Dad. I mean it. You were right that I would hate to be out of the loop. If you are absolutely sure that there is nothing I can do by coming home early, I won’t. But this way I will be forewarned, if for some reason I do have to come home. You will let me know, right?

Oh and you can tell Mom that I have no intention of bungee jumping on this trip. Of course I will be sky diving on Saturday…No. No. I’m kidding! I swear! No jumping out of or off of anything...I promise. No crocodile wrestling, no poisonous snake wrangling, no shark cages. And I’ll even watch out for spiders.

So, now on to Tobruk, the Merino Sheep station. Since the both of you seem to have watched The Thorn Birds last night, you might be disappointed. At no point did I see any sexy priests lurking about. I did see lots of sheep, however. Tobruk claims to be a working sheep ranch, though a lot of what they do is tourist oriented. It was pretty interesting, though. The people who run it are the real thing…the guy who demonstrated the sheep shearing…when he says "Oive been sharin sheep for twenty eight yeahs," you believe him. And the dogs were totally amazing. They are sort of ordinary looking mixed breed dogs… but so smart...they can jump right up on a horse next to the rider, and they follow all sorts of commands, herding the sheep and guiding them into the gates. And when the sheep are in a clump, the dogs jump right on top of them and run around on top of them like they are just wooly pathways. They sometimes nip the sheep to get them to behave, but the sheep’s skin and wool is so thick that they never break the skin.

The wool is not soft and fluffy like you would expect...instead it’s greasy feeling, because of all the lanolin. When they soak the wool to clean it, the lanolin rises to the top and it is skimmed off and used for all sorts of skin care products. The shearer actually has to take off his shoes and wears these sheepskin slippers when he shears, because the lanolin from the fleeces softens the leather of shoes so much that they fall apart. He can shear a sheep in about a minute...and he does it all in one piece. It was incredible to watch. The sheep isn’t too happy about the process and squirms like crazy, so the shearer also has to wrestle the sheep while wielding these electric clippers. And when he’s done, he lets the poor naked sheep back into the pen and he takes the pile of fleece and shakes it out over a big table made of slats of wood. And the wool covers the table in one big piece like a fuzzy tablecloth, and the small scraps fall through the slats. And he goes around the fleece and trims off all the black and crusty stuff at the edges, from underneath the sheep, and then rolls the fleece up and throws it into the bin.

The tour featured a steak lunch with live entertainment, playing all kinds of Australian songs, which was pretty good. For dessert they had Lamington cake and Anzac biscuits, both Aussie staples. The Lamington is cake dipped in chocolate and covered with finely flaked coconut, and the Anzac biscuits date back from WWI when they were baked for the troops. The are a very crisp cookie, also with coconut in them, I think.

After lunch they took us outside to demonstrate some jackaroo skills; cracking whips and throwing boomerangs. You will be happy to know that I was one of the few who actually got my boomerang to return. More or less. The key is all in the wrist snap. You don’t throw it like a Frisbee, or it just spins up into the air and comes down on your head. I wasn’t quite so good at the whip. I didn’t like the tail whizzing about my head and couldn’t give it the real sharp snap that echoes all over the field. Oh well. Now I’ll have to give up my plan to work a whip into my management style at the Stamford branch.

For afternoon tea, we got damper bread and billy tea, stockman fare from out in the fields. The bread is baked in a bucket over a fire, and served with margarine and golden syrup, which sounds weird, but it is very good. The tea is boiled in a billy, which is a can with a handle...like a paint can. The stockman demonstrated cooling the tea by swinging the bucket in a big circle over his head without spilling any of it. The speakers were all very entertaining. I love their accents. You’d better beware; between the Brits and the Aussies I’ve been hanging around with, I may have picked up a bit of an accent. You know how I love to imitate people. Well, I keep finding myself doing it unintentionally. They don’t seem to mind, thank goodness.

I fell asleep on the long bus ride back to Sidney. Jet lag hasn’t been bothering me too much, because I traveled from East to West. Apparently it really hits you when you go the other way, so I look forward to a long recovery period when I get home.

Oh...the opal center. I went to a place last night called The Costello Opal Discovery Centre on George Street. I wanted to find out about opals before even considering buying any of them. They showed a film which was fairly cheesy (at the end, the room shook, like a mining cave-in...Oh no!) but informative. Basically there are three types of Australian opals, black, boulder, and white. The black opals are the rarest being found in only one place in Australia…Lightning Ridge. These are not called black because of the color of the stone, but because of the color of the ore it comes from, which is the backing of the stone. Since opals are translucent, they need something behind it to bring out the color. The black rock really emphasizes it. Okay...do not expect to find any black opals in your Christmas stocking this year. I saw one at the center that cost $40,000. Of course that is in Australian dollars which means that it’s a mere $30,000 American. The next most valuable is the boulder opal, which has a brown stone at the backing. These were also gorgeous, but majorly expensive. White Opals are light colored with light backing. They are found at Cooper Peedy, which is a mine near Adelaide where George lives. Quite far from Sydney, I’m afraid. Most of the mines are, I’ve discovered. Australian opals are prized because they re so dry…opals from other places can crack because they still contain a lot of moisture. The dry conditions in Australia make for stronger opals. Or so they claim. Anyway, going further down the price ladder and beginning to edge into affordable territory, are doublets and triplets. Doublets are slices of opal glued onto a backing rock, while triplets also have a dome of clear quartz glued to the opal to protect it and bring out the color. Since both use smaller amount of actual opal, the prices are quite reasonable. I thought that the opal prices at the center seemed high to me…I’m not doing any shopping yet.

Anyway, Pam, you were right. They are sending me a cameraman on July 26th, if I give the okay. I figure I might as well, since they will be taping you too. We started this thing together; we may as well continue it that way.

Okay...that’s my tale for today. Say hi to everybody, and tell Mom to try not to worry too much about Dad...at least until his tests come back. I bought a phone card at the local convenience store and will give her a call tonight...I’ll try to figure out a reasonable hour.

Bye for now...I love you both!

Jim

From: Jhalpert

Sent: June 15, 2006 9:30 PM

To: Jporter

Subject: re: documentary

Hey Josh,

That’s okay that you wrote me. As it turns out I’m very glad I brought my computer with me. It’s kept me in touch with my family.

I don’t have any problem with the cameraman, as long as it’s all right with you. I’m used to it, and I know they have this story that they re trying to tell…I won’t be sure what it is until we see the show, but I may as well go with it.

I’ll be leaving Cairns on Friday the 23rd. As it turns out, I will arrive home that same day, giving me the weekend to recover...I hope.

Don’t hesitate to write if you need me for anything. Hope everything is going well at the branch. Talk to you soon.

Jim Halpert

From: Pbeesly

Sent: June 14, 2006 9:20 AM

To: Jhalpert

Subject: re: Sydney Day 6

Dear Jim,

No sexy priests? What kind of lousy sheep station was that?

So when the jolly swagman in Waltzing Matilda is waiting while his billy boils, he is just making tea? (I googled the words when I was bored yesterday) Wow. Isn’t it nice to know that your letters are educational as well as entertaining?

I was looking up opals on line (it was a very boring day yesterday) and my goodness…I didn’t realize that they were so valuable. I had never really given much thought to them before…please don’t spend all your money on stuff like that. At least not for me.

So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow? The beach? Has the weather improved any? Aren’t sharks a problem? And Dwight tells me something about jellyfish that can kill a man with one sting. Wouldn’t you rather visit a nice safe aquarium? I’m just kidding…I know that the beaches are patrolled. (I looked it up…I was really bored yesterday) Actually, since you can water ski, you should be able to surf…don’t you think? You should give it a try. Can you rent surfboards and wetsuits, etc.?

Ha. Ha. I have been invited to a party. It’s from your friend Dan. I gather he is graduating from Law school this week, and his parents are throwing him a big shindig. (His word, not mine) The party is not until the 25th, though, since he knew you would be away. I’m sure your invitation is sitting in the Post Office waiting for you. That was nice of him to invite me, personally. He actually sent it here to the office, since he didn’t know my actual address. And now I’ll get to meet the famous Judy. That is, if you have recovered from your Australia coma by then.

I can’t believe they are sending you your own cameraman. Dwight is going to be so jealous! What are they after, I wonder? When do we get to see some of this show? Maybe we should go on strike...refuse to say or do anything interesting until they show us some footage. Too bad you’re not here to lead the rebellion!

I’m glad they you’re calling your Mom. She will be so glad to hear from you. You should hear the way she talks about you, and shows off all your basketball trophies, and the things you made her for Mother’s day. It’s really cute. And your dad doesn’t say anything, much, but I can tell he’s really proud of you too. Don’t you worry too much about him, either. Your brother in law seems to have it all under control, about the tests and all. If there’s anything serious, they’ll let you know right away.

Back to the grind.

Love,

Pam

From: JWilson

Sent: June 14, 2006 2:00 PM

To: Jhalpert

Subject: re: Sydney Day 6

Hey bro!

Well, all I can say is that it mustn’t have been much of a sheep station without a sexy priest hanging around causing trouble.

Dad’s feeling better. Ted gave him some medication to relieve his symptoms until they can do definitive tests. I think he’s scheduled to go in Monday the 19th. And if he needs any specialists, Ted knows just who to send him to.

On the very good news front…Our new little tadpole is doing very well. We just went to the doctor today. Ted and I are scheduled for Lamaze classes beginning in two weeks. I hope that Ted can actually make some of them this time. He was always on duty when I was pregnant with Davie, getting through his residency and all. This time it should be much easier. A word to the wise, baby brother? Plan your pregnancies. Well, not yours, exactly, but you know what I mean.

Talk to you soon.

Love,
Janice