Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

This is how we do it! NY's Australian Style

NY's spent 24 hours freezing in Times Square? NO, are you kidding. NY's at a posh London hotel? Nope, been there done that. NY's on a boat in Sydney's harbour watching the bridge burst into a light spectacular? Nope, but maybe that's next year. 

This year was done in true laid back Australian style, chilled out camping down on South Australia's fine coastal shores in the gorgeous town of Robe, complete with posh shopping, gormand restaurants, ancient pub "The Cally" (1800's, which is OLD for Australia), home made icecream, craggy coastline, succulent crayfish, Coonawarra wines alongside the immaculate sands and splashy waves of Long Beach.

Awesome. You bet your booty it was.

Lone Seagull on Long Beach

Mark batting for Australia... and probably ugh... winning

DiGiorgio Wines near Penola in the Coonawarra Region

The Obelisk off the rocky shores of Robe
 
The Pink Salt lakes near Meningie on the Coorong
 
Cute as a button cottage in Robe


Robe seafront

The Caledonian Pub "The Cally" where we ate & partied pre 2011

Long Beach... beach bums & goonies

Icecreams in Robe

What is left of my Mussels from dinner at the Cally

Goonie scene re-creation note the painting above (at the Cally)

The BIG Lobster at Kingston, near Robe
"The Remains of the Crayfish" a tasty dish served up by the fishermen of the SA coast

Mark awaiting our coffee from The Providore cafe - delicious

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Post Office - SUCKS!

Big time. Urgh.  I do the right thing and make beautiful Christmas card greetings, admittedly out of paper and not out out cardboard. So much better for the environment, but alas not for the pocket. 

Lady at the PO (Yes I am going to diss the Messenger...she wasn't a very nice messenger) - "Its not a card, its a letter", while flopping card envelope around and looking up at it under the light.

Me - "Well actually it is, its home made, from paper"

Lady at PO - "Nope its paper, it will be classed as a letter and that is $2.20 each, you cannot use the card only rate of $1.30"

Me - "Urgh I have 45 to send, seriously its a card, its just home made from paper - not card, surely it will cost less to send, save Australia Post money, it weighs less too, environmentally friendly and all that"

Lady at PO - "You can try send them as a card - but they might bill you later for the difference if they think its not a card"

Me - "Ok I will then"... and I did!

Surely, it will cost them more to bill me for each letter - should they pick them out of the billion that are going through at this time of year - then send me the bills seperately for the difference in postage.  Me thinks they are going to not notice, and nor should they who ruled a card MUST be made of a card. Pft.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Row, Row, Row.... your houseboat!

The boat at the first base camp!

What a gorgeous day!

Sunset and Fishing - girls and boys happy!

River view

Sunsets.... perfect one day

Even better the next

Me in the gorgeousness of it all

Pretty desert succulent

Bonfire - all the better for marshmallows

Yabbie...such a poser

Red cliff reflection

And the cliffs

Post cooked Yabbie

Not so photogenic now are you Mr Yabbie

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Bella's First Day at the Beach

Since Mark's Mum has now moved to Seaford, mere minutes from one of South Australia's finest beaches, well actually they are all pretty good, but Moana is a particularly nice one. Aldinga and Seacliff are my favourites....whoa getting off topic.

Anyway, we were down there for lunch - delicious by the way Mum, fantastic homemade lasagna - and since it was a gorgeous and warm Spring day we popped over to the beach so Bella could have her first beach day. Unprepared as we were, there was no puppy swimming, though of course as Bella only under went surgery for her girly bits to be removed on Thursday, it wasn't an option anyway.

She was a bit hesitant at first, you could just see her little face go, "what is this squishy stuff, its not solid how do I walk?". I totally understand, I myself simply cannot walk on sand to save my life. She loved it, tried to escape and run along the beach too.

 
Car Trip... she slept most of the way there and back..

Moana from the car... almost there

Ah water, let me at it....

Family, Mark, Saroeun, Scott, Jess and Chris (much to his dismay)

Mummy and Bella

Looking windswept...

Longing look down the beach, "how far can I go..."

Monday, July 05, 2010

What I lack for with words....its here in pictures...

Norton Summit

Mist through the trees, near Norton Summit

Norton Summit

Norton Summitt, must say this is a fav...

Cyclists on the road up to Mt Lofty, Adelaide

PS All photos are for sale, prices on application

Friday, April 30, 2010

Australia's Finest...falls flat....

An update on my previous one....

and I quote "1. Loving no queues, or at least small ones at the Post Office and in Government offices, less than 5 minutes on two occasions, amazing!"

Well that is what I said...but it doesn't stop them from stuffing up, consequently I have paid for a new licence with the Registrar of Motor Vehicles only finding out today that I should have paid only $15 for a re-issue (my old one was current) rather than $295 for a new one...buggers!  Refund check here you come...

and I quote "4. Cold Rock ice cream..."

whhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....I still miss Ben and Jerrys...LOTS!

and I quote "17. Getting to wear party shoes without London cobblestones ruining them"

hummm, well now that I don't go out...don't even shop, seriously I haven't purchased a single, shoe (that alone would be daft anyway), top, dress, bra, so much even as a sock...for 7 weeks.  That would be correct you heard me S E V E N weeks.  Get me! No shopping!

Off the topic there though, basically I don't go out, I go out, but not OUT OUT...so no dressing up. Sob.

and I quote "19. Traffic jams only take 10 minutes to get through...maybe 15 if you are super unlucky"

Seriously don't get me started.  Mark and I are doing a road trip everymorning, leaving at slightly different times, taking various different roads to try and avoid dreaded traffic gridlock, alas its not like we are stuck for hours.  Just infuriating when you know you can get somewhere at a normal time of day in 20 minutes and it takes 40-50 minutes at peak hour.

and I quote "21. Peace and quiet, now my ears aren't the greatest, but its odd without the London hum that never stops"

This one well, please see my entry on What's my age again? and you will see that is just NOT TRUE, but on the plus side, it really would only be maybe one night a week. BUT I simply blame the lack of double glazing.

and I quote "23. Sunshine...just in case I did forget to mention it."
 
Nope that quote still stands - I love the sunshine!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

BBQ Days

Some of our close friends decided that a quiet low key BBQ was in order for Easter Monday. So we divided up the duties and on the day headed to our local park (about 2 minutes from our house) to fire up the BBQ and enjoy drink and catch up chats, you guessed it, in the sunshine. Delightful.

Mark cooking the snags

Friends - Matt Emma and Scott

The Boys at the BBQ

The Food - Yum

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Toying with changes...

A new name is in order, thus the wheezing, sighs, hurumps, that float wordlessly in this blog, are me struggling to release my creative inner demon to allow it to effortlessly guide me into nameing this blog something...well creative. Sigh....

Bahh.....

Sunworshipers of the South - sounds religous!
Drivel
Documentations of a desperado
Muse for Amusement
Doddlebug
Pictures don't date
My Subtle Story
Verbal Essence
Nothings stranger than the truth
Strange truths of Home

And well you can see what I decided....

Friday, March 19, 2010

Australia's finest

I have been been enjoying all things Australian over the past week or so and thought to jot a few of them down for your entertainment....

1. Loving no queues, or at least small ones at the Post Office and in Government offices, less than 5 minutes on two occasions, amazing!

2. Toobs, Smiths Thins, Burger Rings....YUM

3. Fruchocs...YUMMIER

4. Cold Rock ice cream

5. Bickfords Lime cordial with soda water

6. Molenburg and Tip Top multigrain bread

7. Crumpets...they may have come from England, but the Aussies perfected them

8. Sunshine....

9. Hot water pressure, I nearly blasted myself through the shower screen when I took my first shower back home

10. Butchers - I hugged the meat cabinet at the butchers I wanted to get closer to the deliciousness that comes from a tasty moo cow born and butchered in SA. I could never be a vegetarian, and before you ask, yes if I were starving I would kill my own cow.

11. Veal Schnitzel at the local footy club - classy stuff!

12. Sunshine...yes...

13. Trees, shrubs and an abundance of flowers, and parks everywhere (don't get me wrong, Hampstead Heath is still pretty special)

14. Birds singing in the mornings

15. Comfy air conditioned buses, yes I do occasionally use such a mode of transportation

16. Airconditioning!

17. Getting to wear party shoes without London cobblestones ruining them

18. Did I mention the sunshine....

19. Traffic jams only take 10 minutes to get through...maybe 15 if you are super unlucky

20. Julie's home cooking

21. Peace and quiet, now my ears aren't the greatest, but its odd without the London hum that never stops

22. Seeing the stars at night...

23. Sunshine...just in case I did forget to mention it.

I shall add to this later...........there has to be more, I have only been back 7 whole days so I have more to find out about as yet.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Getting back into the swing of things...

So we are officially back on land that "is girt by sea", as goes the national anthem, that's right Australia, and to be more precise Adelaide, Australia.

It's day 6 and I am ready to curse the person who invented cardboard boxes. I have paper cuts galore, my hands are a ruddy black colour, my nails ruined and I am permanently dusty. Ok am a bit overboard there, but I just want you to understand that I am up to my armpits in boxes and I get excited when its NOT a cardboard box that I am unpacking or i get to tidy something or better yet do washing.

Then to make matters worse, we haven't even received the shipping stuff yet, so although I am now about 90% done with existing boxes (we had an entire furnished house) and there are about 33 on their way via customs. Customs just charged us $88 for alcohol - damn that WET tax, why do they tax wine so heavily in this country - so any day now.

Fortunately of the 33 boxes, about 80% of that will be bubble wrap. That of which we may have to donate to a multinational glass exporting company for re-use after, which could potentially save them $1,000's on shipping costs. Mark made wrapping the shipping into a high security military operation for which I did not have the correct authorisation codes or biometrics, thus was relegated to a desk job, aka spreadsheet data entry clerk. What fun.

So anyways...enough about me, ok no...you want more. Glad to hear it. More there is. Well I have been to an agency already on Monday and they had 3 suitable roles, varying in my preference for them of course. They told me to give them 72 hours and let them work their magic, well success, I am lined up for 2 interviews already. Wish me luck. Mark fortunately is already working, though I say fortunately because it means he doesn't have to un-pack stuff with me.

Now this is nearly the end of Tourists on the Weekend, as we are definitely no longer such, more like Sunshine Devourers of the South, hmm, nice ring. Oh and my photo of the day project has clearly gone tits up. However, because I don't like things to remain unfinished I am going to probably change it to a Photo of the Week....maybe month....or a photo of the year....project just to complete it. Don't worry though, there will be more blogs to come, we did get up to quite a lot in our last couple of weeks in the UK, including a trip to Oxford and various parties. Photos of Egypt will follow too, just a few as most will go up on Flickr of course.

Ok well the boxes are calling me, they have a high pitched whine, its rather unsettling, so I shall get back to them and bid you adieu for now, whilst you contemplate if I should do a new blog and what it should be called... your thoughts please.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye...

It's been said before, but its now really true.
That time, to go, that time has come.
My, oh my, wow how the time did fly,
Life has certainly swished on by.

It's been a blast, we've travelled far, and travelled wide,
so long as it was on the European side.
We worked hard in London, then spent our days and much of our nights,
booking plenty of dates, exhibitions, so many shows and cheap flights!

We've made amazing new friends, some mates for life,
which made it more special, more fun and more homely.
Though it makes it harder to leave,
and we'll certainly grieve!

It's been four years, four crazy odd years,
so much has happened, including some tears.
We've broken up, saw all that through, then later started fresh together anew,
but, sadly some tears were because, I lost my beautiful Mum too.

God rest her soul, she always said, "Do what makes you happy..."
So I always will, we're soldiering on, oh Mum and this ones for you.
The travels continued, as did the fun time,
oh and the dining, the food's been sublime.

We've travelled light, then heavier with arms fit to drop,
as heaven knows, you know, I really do like to shop.
We've seen London, Greece, Gent, Dublin, Paris, Edinburgh, Croatia, Turkey
Bratislava, Delft, Madrid, Sevilla, Salzburg, Vienna ..... are you bored yet.

The travel list it was long, and it was never wrong.
Our world its too wonderful, there is too much to see.
We only live once, and three lifetimes I'd need,
to squeeze it all in, so enough done, home bounds we speed.

This chapter is closing, such amazing moments been had,
especially in August with time spent with my Dad.
I will always be glad that I have had this opportunity,
a thank you to my husband, and to British immigration consent.

When all is said and done, my word Qantas never got it wrong,
and just like that famous song,
We still call Australia home,
so in sunshine, with family, that's really where we have to be!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Happy Australia Day....from London for the last time!

Today is one of the most favoured days of the year, especially if you're actually in Australia. We get the day off there, but not here. However to make it more special as we have to work by doing Australian things.

Getting it ready...note the fairy dust (key ingredient)


Last night I made ANZAC cookies (last year I at about 11pm endeavoured to make Lamingtons, a great feat I tell you) which are nice and easy to make, well sort of. In my case difficult purely because I thought I got a few of the measurements wrong especially as I have an Australian recipe with metric measurements, imperial kitchen jugs (no spoons or scoops) and the scales are my luggage scales!!!

And the photos tell the tale!



Me doing cooking....yes really..I can follow a recipe!!!

Ready to go in the oven...

Today at work a few of the team made the epic, but required, annual trek to the Covent Garden Australia Shop for supplies. We had pizza shapes, BBQ shapes, Cheese & Bacon shapes, cheese Twisties, Violet crumble, Picnics, Tim Tams, and some Cherry Ripes, so quite a feast really.

The very busy Walkabout and the queue round the block

Tonight we headed to the Walkabout, a much packed Walkabout, the queue was rediculous, but at least we went for a little whiel. The entertainment that was the drunken Aussies (and generally Kiwi's too) who had been in there since lunchtime, dressed as yobbos, and you have to be one to dress as one and they were!!


My team at work; Brien, Amy, Matt, Jessie who is new (she has a cool French accent as she is from Maruitus) and me.

If we'd been a little later we'd have seen them try to belt out Aussie tunes on the Karaoke stage, it was extremely funny last year. Oh and I have a little Australian Flag on my arm for good measure, as you can see;
Me with my tattoo...

Next year, I get the day off, so BBQ, lammies, snacks, and drinks at my place.... yippee!