Who is Kerry Packer?

It is Saturday evening. I’m watching the memorial services for someone called Kerry Packer. Still have no idea who he is. He has just been called the “Big Fella”. Seems pretty prominent. The PM John Howard has just taken the speaker stand. He and Packer apparently often talked about Australia – not about politics, not about media, but about how to make Australia better. “The best manner by which I can describe Kerry Packer is that he lived the full Australian life”. “He was a larrikin [a rascal], but he was also a gentleman and that’s a dual description that any Australian man would be proud to have.” More than 2000 people, including several hundred schoolchildren are packed into the Sydney Opera House.

It has been a bit empty in Box Hill with Grandma (farmor) back in Denmark. It is amazing how quickly one adjusts to an extra pair of hands to take care of the children. Tobias initially reasserted us that she would be back soon, but now he seems to have accepted that she has gone. Just before she left we went on a trip down the Great Ocean Road. We stayed overnight in the Otway National Park. Before putting the kids to bed we went for at drive to see the lighthouse. On our way we met a koala sitting in the middle of the road blocking our passageway. We stopped - waiting for it to move. Since it wasn’t intent on moving we got out of the car to have a closer look. After a while the little furry fela decided that a eucalypt probably was a better place to be, so it waddled its way down and off the road – a sight I won’t forget just yet. Koalas look pretty rediculous outside their natural habitat. The next day we visited the 12 Apostles and spent the night in Port Fairy.

The memorial is still going strong. Former Australia captain Richie Benaud is speaking of the cricket revolution Packer began - widely considered as the person who transformed cricket on television. …now they’re singing …C’om on Aussie C’om on …., even Tom Cruise is there? Packer has got to be super star! Now they are playing Frank Sinatra – I did it my way… I have to play him more often.

After Port Fairy we drove north to the Grampians. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see the scenic sights because of a bush fire a week earlier. Nevertheless it was worthwhile seeing the blacks and browns created by heat and flames. There is unique serenity and smell in a eucalypt forest that has been stripped bare.

What an impressive memorial service. So Packer's business empire included Nine Network TV station and magazines like Australian Women's Weekly. He also owned ski resorts, diamond exploration and extensive land. Last year Forbes magazine valued him at US$5bn. No wonder it was grand!