Work

A very quick post before I get dressed to head out to the post office … I haven’t made mention of how the new job is going, so here goes …

Work is OK - to be honest I’m still unsettled where that’s concerned, but it’s more to do with the circumstances than anything else.  The problem is that there are so many projects and changes happening in our department, and resources are so thin, that I haven’t had much time for someone to sit with me and show me the ropes.  I keep getting taking into this meeting and that meeting so that I can get an overview of what’s happening around the place, but that just seems to be confusing me more when I’m not technically involved in the project work itself.

Last week there was one person supposed to be sitting with me, but she kept getting interrupted - but she was the only staff member available as the other two were on training courses all week (plus they’ve been accepted into a new department, so they’ll both be leaving anyway shortly hmmm).  It will get better once I can get my head around what it is that I should be doing.  I was doing some computer testing of a new computer integration system last week for a while, so at least that was something - then inbetween times I potter and try to answer the simpler queries that come through that I don’t need help to answer.  I must say, though, it’s an extremely friendly team I’m working with, and the office environment is great!  And it’s quite nice not to be chained to a phone anymore!

The first couple of days I felt like a fish out of water - it was a culture shock to move from a staff of about 400 to a staff of probably 1000’s.  Moving from an office building of 2 dedicated floors, to an area housing 5 separate office blocks, all housing my company’s staff … that was a shock in itself!!  I most definitely felt like a very little fish in a very large pond!!  It’s been wonderful meeting people that I’ve been dealing with over the phones for years - one girl came over and introduced herself with a big kiss and a hug … she used to work in the job I’m now doing, and we had a great rapport - she’d sing “take the shackles off my feet so I can dance…” to me and we’d both have a giggle.  Anyway, I’m sure as time goes on the work will get more interesting as I can contribute more to the team … and learn the ropes a bit more.  I’d better hurry up as two new team members are likely to be joining us very very soon, and in January I’ll be one of the longest serving members of the team … hahahaha.

Rightio, it’s now 8.04am, which means it’s time to jump into the shower and get dressed - for today I open up a PO Box so I can start receiving all those bills that have been piling up in Melbourne.  I still need to get to the Mascot PO at some stage after opening my account today to pick up the actual keys, though - but one of the other girls at work also moved from Melbourne and has a PO Box there too, and she’s offered to pick up my mail for me at the same time if I give her a key (she drives to/from work) … I might take her up on that offer, as I think it will be a good half hour round trip for me to walk there and back at lunchtime, and in winter it will be fine, but right now it’s stinking hot and sticky …

And that reminds me of another difference between Melbourne and Sydney - the weather!  Melbourne is well known for its four seasons in one day … Sydney, I realised on my first day here, is like Auckland to me but with much higher temperatures.  Sydney is more ’sub-tropical’ in that it has a high humidity level.  The first few days here nearly killed me, and we’re not even in the height of summer yet - yikes!  Thank goodness for airconditioning, is all I can say!!  I dunno how I’ll survive when I move into a place with no aircon …

Rightio, time to get moving to the Post Office - then my next challenge is to find some new sandals/shoes for work and two new tops (my summer clothes are still goodness knows where in my storage unit in Melbourne ho-hum) - then I’m settling in front of the TV or my laptop to watch a DVD or two and stitch … my goal to finish blocks 1 and 2 of Snapperville, as I’m really close to doing that … that will then leave me only 2 blocks left before it’s finished yippee

PhotoHunt - Hot

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

Here is a photo of a Fijian starting a fire the old-fashioned way … those sparks are soon making a hot fire! I’ve used this photo before, and I still love it - I think it has to be one of my all-time favourites

The daily drudge

Well, what can I say, I’ve survived 1 1/2 weeks of living and commuting in Sydney … there are a number of differences (both good and bad) between Melbourne and Sydney that I’ve experienced so far, but I’m getting a handle on things and starting to feel a little more settled.

The biggest shock to my system is having to leave home at 6.25am to catch the first of two trains at 6.47am - eventually I finally walk into my office building at 8.00am pretty much on the dot … it’s quite a ‘quick’ trip (in comparison to the one going home) because it’s an express train with limited stops.  To get home it can take me 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours after leaving work … that means between 3-4 hours travelling time each day being wasted sitting on public transport, whether it be standing shoulder to shoulder with dozens of other commuters on the actual train or standing on the train platforms waiting for the next train to arrive.  Oh how I wish it wasn’t so crowded that I could make better use of that time by stitching, but as it is I count myself lucky if I can find enough space to put my book up in front of me for reading!!

One difference between Melbourne and Sydney is their trains … Melbourne have single-level carriages, while Sydney have double-level ones - doesn’t make any difference, though, in both cities they’re all overcrowded at peak times, and I’m certainly not doing the trip each day for the enjoyment factor!

Another difference between Mel and Syd is that train tickets in Mel are issued for 2-hour time periods or all day travel, and stations are separated into zones of travel.  There used to be 3 zones, but now there are 2 - you could buy a ticket for travel just within one zone or between all zones, for one set price.  This is great value if you spend a fair bit of travelling and want to pop out at a couple of different stations - you can hop on and off as much as you want … and something else I LOVE about Mel transport is that the same ticket covers you for not just trains, but trams and buses as well!  In Syd you pay sector fares for your journey instead, and basically buy a one-way or return ticket … you leave the station at your destination point and that’s it, your ticket is finished.  This can be a cost-effective way to travel is you just want to travel point-to-point, but not in other ways.

 Take last Monday as an example … Monday Mum returned home, so she came in on the train with me in the morning - when I spoke to the gentleman in the ticket office about my personal options for buying a ticket (I wanted to buy a weekly ticket, but needed to travel two extra stops to drop Mum off at the airport, then return to Mascot again to start work), I had to pay $17.40 for a one-way ticket to the International terminal (bearing in mind it normally costs me $16.80 for a return ticket to work for the day!!) … then I had to buy another ticket just for two stations away at another $13.40 (yikes!!
), followed by another $8.40 to return home again at the end of the day.  Daylight robbery, is all I can say!!!

Talking about Mum, unfortunately the poor love got stuck at the airport from 8.00am until 4.30pm due to a cancelled plane service to Christchurch and people having to now travel via Auckland (darn-it) … eventually though she got home, but is no doubt even now still recovering!

Before Mum went home we had some wonderful social outings - it was Brenda’s birthday last Thursday, so we went out to a Malaysian restaurant at Castle Hill for a delicious dinner with all of us plus one more of Brenda’s closest friends (who I like a lot) … then on Friday we had a BBQ at home with some of Nigel’s work colleagues.  This weekend I’m being a lazy slob and hoping to get a tiny bit of stitching done, so no social outings for me this weekend!  I get home too late and too tired to do anything during the week, so I need to start making use of my spare time.  Tomorrow, though, my first job is to head out to the local Post Office to open a PO Box at Mascot so I can organise my mail to be redirected (it’s been piling up in Melbourne for a couple of weeks now!), and pick up my Sydney “e-tag” for the toll roads here.  Yes, that’s yet another of the differences between Mel and Syd (cash toll booths and many toll roads).

Anyway, I’m feeling a bit wrecked, so I might call it a night - I started off writing this quite eagerly, but my eyes are half-closed already and my mind has become extremely foggy … so time to sign off before I fall asleep in a pile of drool at my keyboard!!

My apologies to people I owe emails to, and also for the fact I’m not blog reading much at the moment … with my lack of spare time blogs are a bit of a low priority for now - hopefully, though, things will change eventually

Katoomba & Blue Mountains

First of all, my apologies if this post is a bit ‘abrupt’, but I’m pretty shattered … I do want to put our ‘journey to bed’, though, so here goes …

The final expedition of Mum and I was last Tuesday - my final day of freedom before starting work on Wednesday … I was originally going to drive to Katoomba, but needed to drive to the train station to pick up a timetable and work out where I’ll need to park my car etc for the commute into the city.  In the end we opted to take the train into Katoomba instead of driving - and I have to admit I do regret the decision!  It would have taken us approx 1 to 1 1/2 hours to drive there, but instead we were on the train for almost 3 hours (there were some track works, it seems, which slowed things up a wee bit) - it was a lovely train trip, but very very loooooong.  Coming home was a much shorter 2-hour trip!

I’m very glad we decided to head out there, though - I really wanted to take Mum to see Karen and the shop at Dragonfly Dreams (as well as being very keen myself to say “hi” in person).  It was a very hot day, and Mum and I walked from the station to the shop … when we got there I was thrilled at what a wonderful haven Karen has put together - we loved every minute of being there!  Karen was an exceptional hostess, and it is so easy to chatter away to her as if we’re long lost friends, instead of strangers … and every room we entered at Dragonfly Dreams I’d say “but wait, there’s more!!!” … every room hosted a treasure trove of goodies … sheer bliss to a stitcher’s soul!

After spending a couple of hours with Karen, Mum and I headed off with goodies in hand to the end of the street where we were most impressed with the sight of the Three Sisters.  Unfortunately by the time we got down there it was too late to do any of the tourist trips, but we enjoyed the scenery for a while before starting the arduous trek back to the train station again.  Brenda has offered to go with me again one weekend to do the cable car trips with me … which is awesome!

Following are some photos of the Three Sisters - and the first one shows the cable that the cablecar travels over … with a glass bottom car!!!  I might need a stiff drink to get into it, but it’s just gotta be done one day!!

We got home around 8pm, and just had time to eat dinner before having to hit the hay for bed - and thus it has been ever since I’ve started work!  On the previous weekend, though, I did actually have time to put a couple of stitches into fabric, and finally managed to finish off It’s Halloween by The Drawn Thread.

Here endeth the fun part of moving to Sydney … from now on the drudge begins …

I’ll tell you about the arduous task of getting to and from work another day - ‘cos it’s now almost bedtime … already!

Life in Sydney

We arrived Saturday night, and headed straight out again the next day … to Craft Depot to drool over their patchwork fabrics.  Advertised as having over 8000 bolts of fabric, it was great fun walking up and down the aisles.  Managed to bring home three pieces of fabric (well, we had to buy SOMEthing haha) - plus Mum very generously bought me a floorstand Ott-lite for my Christmas present.  My old one is still in storage, and it needs a transformer for it as I bought it in the USA before you could buy them locally, and the transformer always affects the TV … so now I don’t have to worry about that anymore yippee!!!  That was all we achieved on our first day in Sydney - we finished off by having an appetiser plate of flathead fillets and potato wedges at the nearby pub at Pennant Hills, and it was totally divine

The next day (Monday) we hopped on a bus into Parramatta, then caught the train into the city and had a wander around Circular Quay to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, before having lunch at the Gumnut Cafe in The Rocks.  I’ve decided I’ve now fallen in love with Iced Chai tea … just divine!!! 

After lunch we waddled over to the Information Centre to pick up oodles of brochures for later visits, then headed back over to the Opera House and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the Royal Botanic Gardens.

We spent ages looking up at the gazillion grey-headed flying foxes (ie fruit bats) hanging upside down in the trees … they look like huge pods hanging down - I tried to get a photo of one in flight, but didn’t manage to get a good clear shot.

After that we tried to hurry to get to Tapestry Craft in the city to look at their displays on the walls, but they closed at 5pm so we missed out.  Poor Mum and I were both hobbling by that stage, our feet were so weary - so then we continued on up the street to the QVB building for our train home again.  It was a very long, but very enjoyable day … although we ended up on the wrong bus coming home and it took us 2 1/2 hours to get home … “not happy Jan!” (if you’re curious how that saying came about, you can check out the link to the YouTube video

The saga continues

Rightio, now where was I up to when I posted last???  Better go back in again and find out …

When we arrived in Bermagui, we decided to get a motel room as opposed to a cabin - and arrived just in time before the heavens opened up and it poured down with rain.  There was a fish and chip shop/restaurant directly across the street from us, and once the rain eased off a bit we walked over to find at 7pm they were closed for takeaways … what the?  Anyway, we then took a short stroll in the drizzling rain into the main township and found another place for fish and chips, so we decided to sit in and eat before heading back to the motel room.  Unfortunately I personally have to say it was the worst fish I’ve had in years … it was marketed as Blue Grenadier, but when questioned what sort of fish that was we were told kiwis may know it as Hoki - I had reservations, as I was sure Hoki was one fish I’m not keen on, but ordered anyway … and was proven right, it was bl**dy horrible!  The chips and salad were nice, though, and we still cleared our plates as we were so hungry - I definitely wouldn’t go back there again though

The next morning we re-packed the car and had a quick look around the area of Bermagui.  It is only a very small little hamlet, but very very pretty.  Straight opposite the motel was the harbour of fishing boats (I won’t bore you with too many photos, but let’s just say I took a fair few photos haha), and it was a wonderful sight to see.  After going photo mad for a while, we drove just around the corner to look back at Bermagui from the ocean inlet and took another photo.

From Bermagui we started our trek back up the coast again.  We took a small detour just up the road to see Camel Rock - and spent a short time watching the surfers catching a few waves.

The next detour we took off the main highway was to go to Pebbly Beach - on a lengthy unsealed road, it was a lovely drive through Murramarang National Park to get there, and we had stopped and ate our ham-filled bread rolls under the trees.  A friendly crimson rosella flew over to see what was on offer, but unfortunately we didn’t capture him on film as the camera was in the car.  Anyway, I was thrilled when he hopped up on my knee, then started walking up my chest … I put my hand out and he sat there for ages … all the while trying to get my filled roll!  We had fun watching him each a grape, then he pinched the last inch of my bread roll from my fingers, the little sod - it was great fun!!  Not so great was when a great big black bird of the raven family started to try to do the same thing, and trying to take the entire bag of grapes … at that point I decided it was time to stand up and leave!!  We did manage to see one female kangaroo and her joey near the beach, which Pebbly Beach is quite famous for.

In fact a great thrill for us on the whole trip was the different amount of native wildlife we saw on the way - we had an echidna, a wombat (unfortunately the victim of a car accident, I think, as it was laying on the side of the road with one paw up - I don’t think he was trying to hitch a ride), a snake (thankfully half-dead on the road, also the victim of a car), kookaburra, galahs, pelicans, rosellas, kangaroos, and koalas (Mum saw them while I was driving).  It was wonderful!!

Anyway, after Pebbly Beach we pretty much drove straight up the coast, and just had a short stop in Woollongong.  While we were driving we saw a wonderful temple on the skyline - when we saw tourist signs giving directions to get there, we thought “what the heck” and took a quick detour.  I’m so very glad that we did!!  What a gorgeous place - unfortunately the temple itself was due to close in a few minutes time, but we could still have a quick look at a small part of the gardens.  I definitely want to go back again and spend more time there.  They have a website, so you can see more of it there - it’s called the Nan Tien Temple, and it’s a Buddhist temple … it’s just exquisite!!

It was then back on the road again - we looked at the map and decided it was easiest to miss the final hour of coastal driving into Sydney itself and headed over to the Hume Highway, as that then linked to the M7 which took us up to where Brenda and Nigel live.  We arrived about 7pm, and after chatting for a while we popped around to the local Outback Restaurant where we had dinner.  It was wonderful to see them again, and we’ve had a lovely week here with him so far.  I’ll go more into what Mum and I got up to during our two days free before I started work in another post … right now I need to get dressed and head over to the other side of Sydney to look at a flat!

PhotoHunt - I Love …

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

It’s hard to narrow it down to just one thing that I Love … so I’ve chosen three different things …

“I Love … my Mum” - she’s always there when I need her, albeit it across the ocean … she’s my friend, my mother, my role model, and I feel blessed to call her my Mum

“I Love … Ducks!!” - no need to say anything else … I can’t explain why, but I’ve always been drawn to them, both the feathered and immitation kind - a girl can never have enough ducks!!

And lucky last … “I Love … a Jim Beam and L&P” at the end of a long day - unfortunately L&P is like gold dust over here, as it’s imported from New Zealand, but it means I savour it when I get my hands on it!

Actually, I just thought of one more to add …

“I Love … Melbourne!!” - this photo is taken at the waterfront of Docklands, with the Telstradome arena in the background.

Farewell to Melbourne … but hello eastern coastline!

Before I do anything else, let me post a piccie of Tannia, Mum, Fraze and Jason (and me) from our pub night out - for some reason WP won’t let me edit my last post whatsoever, so the formatting is totally screwed up, and a couple of piccies missing ho-hum …

Rightio, back to the story we go …

My final day at work in Melbourne was very very sad - I was mortified that the my fellow Hotliners had done a small collection for me (which never happens for a secondment as technically you’re not ‘leaving’) … so I was very unprepared when a sign went up saying the presentation for Anne was about to start … yikes!! I was so overcome emotionally I could hardly say anything, and got all teary-eyed. Their gift for me was perfect - I got given a book of Sydney street maps for driving (which was christened on my way into the city on Saturday night) and a $50 gift voucher from Visa so I can use it anywhere … to say I was stunned and touched is a definite understatement!!

Anyway, we didn’t do too badly by getting on the road by 1pm (I finished work around 12 noon, although I only answered about 4 phone calls all day - I brought mini chocolate bars in for everyone in the building and spent 2 hours walking round handing them out and saying farewells to everybody … gotta love that! haha). As we’d been up since just after 4am, we decided not to push things on the first day of the journey, and drove as far as Sale before stopping for a leg stretch and drink (I also paid my RACV membership which had expired and got printouts of a driving map for the next day). After that we just drove to Lakes Entrance, arriving around 6pm, where we paid for a cabin with ensuite at one of the Big4 Holiday Parks. We unpacked the car which was basically the entire back seat jam-packed right up to the top of the seat head rests haha, and then wandered over for a walk up the river inlet and over to the beach to see what “90 mile beach” looked like. It was nice and invigorating having that walk, as we’d been feeling like death warmed up just moments before being over-tired. We finished the day with a chicken salad and bottle of wine while watching So You Think You Can Dance on TV … and so endeth our first day travelling. One highlight of the day for me was seeing an echidna on the side of the road (alive).

Day 2 saw us driving up the coast with a bit of a side trip. I’d been advised Mallacoota was a nice spot to visit, and I have to say they weren’t wrong, but before we got there we took a side trip to Marlo … a very small and peaceful hamlet, we were thrilled to see our first pelicans in the wild when we drove down to the water’s edge. I got a bit camera happy there, but loved every minute of it. I have to say, too, I wish I’d had the guts to also take a photo of some of the local fisherman as they looked like they’d just walked off the set of Deliverance!! Picture the long flowing beards and look of Z-Z-Top, and you’d have the image perfectly created!!

After Marlo we drove on to Mallacoota - it was a fair detour off the main highway, but it was just lovely. It’s definitely somewhere I could have stayed a night or two and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the area. Here I found another stuffed duck to add to my collection (actually the dog here, Dusty, can obviously sniff out a ‘toy’ at 1000 paces ‘cos I caught him with his snout in the bag last night, with jaws around my poor duck - it’s now residing on a top shelf in the wardrobe away from his drooling jaws LOL), and I grabbed a cappuccino to take away so we could sit and have lunch and refreshments down on the lakefront watching yet more pelicans and their antics. They made me laugh when at one stage there were four of them lined up at the fishing station begging to be fed fish scraps - it was too funny!!

From Mallacoota we took one more quick detour before returning to the highway, to Gypsy Point - mentioned in the tourist info it’s supposed to be a great haven for bird lovers, and it was lovely and secluded with a small like in the bush setting … definitely a place to ‘get away from it all’ and relax. Here we managed to see some Galah’s up close (although they’re really common in Victoria too, Mum hadn’t seen them that close I don’t think).

After that we continued on hugging the coastline via Eden, Merrimbula, Perrimbula, and Tathra, before finally settling in at Bermagui for the night … but I’ll leave the tale there for another night, as it’s way past my bedtime before my alarm goes off at 5.50am tomorrow!

Arrived in one piece!

Here we are in Sydney … 1190 km after leaving Melbourne, we’re really here!!  In fact we arrived on Saturday night, but I haven’t had time to post until now.  It was a great trip, with some exquisite scenery and wildlife that we encountered along the way.  Parts of the trip were a bit boring, but you’ve gotta expect that driving across such a vast land mass.  I’ll share a few photos of the journey just to give you a tiny taste of what we saw etc in another post (in fact, I think I’ll do a few separate posts to make uploads easier).

Firstly, though, I want to share some words of belated thanks to Jenna, my northern twin … weeks and weeks ago she sent me the most awesome card in the technique of quilling, and I just love it to death.  I was parading it around the office showing it to anyone who would stand still long enough, then had it sitting on my desk all day.  Unfortunately it arrived on the day when I was moving housesitting jobs and it got packed away - and I couldn’t blog about it immediately as I didn’t have internet access at the time.  I did take a photo that night, but in no way does it do it justice (I really should take another photo in daylight!).  I can finally share it, though … isn’t it the most perfect thing for a duck lover like myself?  I just adore it to bits!!  I’m going to get a wee frame for it to keep it protected - thanks so much again Jenna, I totally adore it!

Rightio, now back to the travelling news etc … in fact, I think I’ll do a separate post for each day, and I’ll start off with snippets from our final week in Melbourne.

As I’ve already mentioned, we managed to get to see Tannia and Bill performing the week before we left - it was a wonderful listening experience, and the time flew past.  I have to say the food was also great - and the company just as great.  Thanks again Tannia for your friendship - while we only start meeting each other recently, I hope the friendship continues, and I look forward to the day when we can catch up once again

On the Sunday before we left, I took one more day of annual leave so Mum and I could have a “free day” to go back out to the Mornington Peninsula and Arthur’s Seat to see how the gardens have changed, and see the roses in bloom.  It was absolutely pelting down with rain, and I found out later there were flood warnings out past the area where we were … but we decided to brace ourselves and get out in the abysmal weather and still have an enjoyable day out.  The winds were quite blustery so Mum’s umbrella ended up inside out a couple of times - and she was holding two umbrellas over me while I tried to take some photos of the roses - we didn’t let the weather get us down, and we had a really lovely time together as always.  I’m very lucky to have a really close relationship with my Mum!  Here are some photos I took that day … including a funny one of Mum!

Ashcombe Lavender Gardens & Maze
Of course we couldn’t go and not sample the rose petal scones - which were divine! (plus some plain ones)

I think this one is from the Myrtle family?

Of course I got all excited when I saw a row of ducks waddling in formation across the lawn - I finally managed to get a quick photo when they stopped for a bit of preening!

Enchanted Maze Garden
It was nice to see the cottage garden all filled in with flowers, and leaves on the trees

And the piece de resistance:

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On the way home we called in to see our good friend Sharon, along with Pete and Erin - as always it’s a pleasure to spend time with them … Sharon was the first stitching friend I made in Melbourne, and it was sad to say goodbye - but it’s not for good as Sharon is hoping to come visit me in Sydney, which will be wonderful!  Both Mum and I adore her, and even though we didn’t see each other that often, I will miss being able to pop over and say “hi”.  Sharon spoilt me rotten with some farewell gifts, which I forgot to take a photo of, and everything is now packed up - as soon as I unpack everything again, I’ll take a piccie - I especially adore the birdie ornament, it took my breath away - but everything was very thoughtful and touching … Erin kindly took a photo of the three of us ladies together - I’ll check that Sharon is OK to add the photo to the blog and hopefully I’ll be able to post that later as well

OK, that’ll do for today - there’s so much more to write, but I have to run to get ready as we’re heading out to catch a train to Katoomba today.  Dragonfly Dreams, here we come!!

PhotoHunt - Flexible

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

Here is a photo of some trapeze artists at St Kilda Beach during the recent FIFA swimming championships. I reckon you’d have to be pretty flexible to do that!