My First Trip to Foreign – 4
Puffing Billy, Dandenong, Bunnings and houses in Australia.
We went for a ride on Puffing Billy, which is a heritage train that goes along a scenic and beautiful route. We took many photos along the way. It is admirable that the administration and the running of Puffing Billy are done entirely by volunteers. Four friendly conductors accompanied us in turns during the 2-way ride totaling 48km. They told us about the history of Puffing Billy, how it survived a fire and still runs for the past century. It was colder that I had expected, but we thoroughly enjoyed the ride. We were allowed to site on the ledge and hang out our feet. It had always been my childhood wish to do that. So, I was mighty thrilled. I also got my mother to do the same. I like the lady. She is unafraid. On the way, Billy stopped for a few minutes in Menzies Creek, while we had a cup of coffee and visited the Train museum. It was a miniature train track complete with surroundings. It was lovely. I also saw and photographed some beautiful birds at this stop. We then boarded the train again and went to Gembrook station, where the train halted for around 45 minutes. We had a great barbecue at the park. Oh! This is another thing I love about this country. There are barbecues at all picnic spots, to enable us to cook our own sausages and meats, and toast our breads, and eat them all nice and hot.
And oh, the toilets… they were immaculately clean in most places. Having lived in India all along, with inadequate public toilet facilities; and not being able to go to the toilet when you are out, it was such a relief to have clean toilets all over the place. We didn’t have to change shopping plans like we do back home, just because one of us wanted to pee.
Later that week, we met a few Indian families in Dandenong. We had a nice time, we played with their children, we prayed with them and we ate together. We later went there again the coming Sunday, and Natchi spoke in a church. On the way back, we went to an Indian store in Dandenong, which had so many Indian things, right from coconut oil and small shampoo sachets to snacks and various types of masalas.
We then went to Bunnings. Now, that is my kind of shop. I just love the place. It has everything that you would need around the house – all kinds of tools and equipment and do-it-yourself stuff. We got some planks and nails, and made a small kitchen table. It was satisfying work. In India, we would have just bought a table or hired a carpenter to do it. My brother keeps telling me that when he builds his house there, he will have me over, to help him with some of the construction work. I’m looking forward to that.
And oh! The houses here are made of toy building blocks! Seriously… I mean, there’s a wooden frame that is constructed in a few days. And on these frames are flimsy walls that are hollow on the inside. Having come form a country where everything is in concrete, it surprised me that the walls of the houses were not made of brick and mortar. When I read in books and saw in movies the phrase, “the walls are thin”, I never understood it, until I saw it for myself here. Now, when I see movies where there are winds and the roofs go flying, I know why. I’m sure they have a reason why they build like this; just that I don’t know why.
And in all the homes that I visited, the ratio of number of toilets to number of rooms is less. In India, a 2-bedroom house would have 2 bathrooms (each with a toilet). In Australia, even bigger houses with 4 bedrooms have only 2 bathrooms. Sometimes, a small separate toilet. My brother now lives in a house with 3 rooms, which previously had 2 parents and 3 children. It has one bathroom and one toilet. Now, that is not the most pleasant thing in the morning, when everyone wants to answer nature’s call! And the bathrooms have an exhaust fan, which is fine if you want the moisture to leave the bathroom. But no exhaust fan in the toilet! What?! When 5 people have to use the toilet in the mornings, I would think that an exhaust fan in the toilet would be a good idea.