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Friends Across the Sea Before I left my job with Parsons Brinckerhoff in Portland last year, I sent e-mails to about a dozen folks in PB offices throughout New Zealand and Australia asking if I could drop by their office if I happened to visit their respective city. I just picked these names randomly from a staff list and had never met any of them before. As testament to the good will of Kiwis and Aussies, though, I received a nice reply from each – and some rather humorous replies, as well. A fellow in Wellington, New Zealand wrote back suggesting that I stop in for some "chokky biscuits" (which I later translated to "chocolate cookies"), and a cheerful chap in the Sydney office filled his reply with all sorts of Aussie-isms, like "G'day, Mate!" (i.e., "Hello") and "Give me a bell" (i.e., "Call me").
Over the following months, I exchanged several e-mails with a guy named Peter Horn who worked in the PB-Newcastle office in Australia. From his e-mails, Peter seemed like a pleasant fellow and I was looking forward to meeting him if things worked out.
As I traveled through New Zealand and Australia, I'd been able to meet with only one PB office (in Auckland) due to scheduling conflicts. As I got closer to Newcastle, though, I kept in touch with Peter and it looked like a visit might work out. He and his wife Helen even offered to put me up for a night or two, which I thought was exceptionally kind since he knew me only from reading my website. Newcastle was a few hours north of Sydney, so based on their kind invitation, I decided to spend my last weekend in Australia visiting the Horns before flying out of Sydney on Monday morning.
I drove into Newcastle on Friday afternoon, found Peter's office and introduced myself. Peter, as I had deduced from his e-mails, was an exceptionally nice fellow and he gave me a tour of his office. After work I followed him out to his house in the bucolic countryside, in the town of Clarence, where I met his wife Helen, his dog Iva and Helen's cat. Peter and Helen were both super hosts and unbelievably kind to this total stranger, and the next day they showed me around the beautiful rolling foothills of the Blue Mountains, one of the most scenic areas I visited during my two months in Australia.
Back at their house on Saturday afternoon, Peter brought out a bag of tortilla chips and opened it up. We then had a friendly and funny disagreement over how to pronounce the word "tortilla." Peter and Helen, being Aussies, pronounced it "tor-till-a," just as it's spelled, which I thought sounded odd. Being an American, I said "tor-tee-ya," the way it's pronounced in Latin America and the U.S., and I'm sure Peter and Helen thought that was odd. Oh, the things you learn when you travel. I'm sure I expanded their perceptions of the world just with that one discussion!
Not only did Peter and Helen put me up for two nights, they fed me, entertained me, and even showed me the correct way to spread Vegemite on my crackers. Getting to know them was one of the highlights of my overseas trip and I'm looking forward to seeing them again someday.
Above left: Getting an all-day tour of the rolling hills west of Newcastle with Peter and Helen. Above right: Like almost all Aussies I've met, Peter and Helen were exceptionally hospitable. Thank you so much!
Above left: Saying goodbye to them (and their dog, Iva) at their place in Clarence. Above center: On my way to Sydney that morning, I passed by an Australian hotel. A "hotel" in Australia has a pub on the ground floor and basic rooms on the top floor. Just about every town in Australia, no matter how small, has at least one hotel. Above right: Roundabouts are also common throughout Australia, but they can freak out Americans. They're simple, really: just yield to the traffic in the circle. They work much better than four-way stops, but remember to get off!
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