The Fillet Skillet: Travel

Hello 2008! Moooooving!

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:49:59 GMT

So the move went without a hitch, but there was no internet for Christmas/New Years, and even when I tried to update the Live network was malfunctioning and I couldn't do it. Also now that I am back home, I am re-experiencing the slowest... ever... broadband... connection............. ever. I've made a YouTube video but I can't actually upload it it's that slow. I also can't really watch any videos because they take so long to download. I should go and find out if the public library got that wireless connection they said they would get just before I left. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't because, hey, that's the Gold Coast. Economy bigger than the state of Tasmania and they do all sorts of bizarre things.

I experienced an uninterrupted three days of Christmas in '07, which is the perfect length of time in my opinion. It was the first time in years I wasn't working on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day. I also met my friend Peri, the first friend I made on the internet. I played Munchkin with him and a group of his friends, most of whom also have blogs somewhere out there in the Live network. It was a really good night.

New Years was also pretty cool. I did it in Canberra with my brother and a few friends of his. We saw the fireworks in Canberra and it was brilliant. In the end I was really glad we didn't drive to Sydney to do celebrations. It turns out one out of every 20 people in Australia were all crowded around Sydney Harbour looking at the sky. Too crowded for me.

So as I said, the move out of Darwin went smoother than I could have hoped. I even snuck in a Christmas party hours before I got on the plane to leave. Good times. My move into the Gold Coast is also going very well, except for my endless search for a new car which is rapidly making me lose the will to live. Do you know how unusable the used car websites are? They are very unusable. Very very. In the mean time I can use my Mum's car because she doesn't need it until the end of this month.

I updated my resume yesterday. Working at Dymocks has made me sound very proficient and capable. I hope I'm as good as I make myself out to be. Applying for jobs tomorrow. I want to work in that games store, because whenever I go in there they are so helpful. I want to be as helpful as that.

Already gone to see two movies with some of my Coast friends. I haven't caught up with Rick yet though. I'm told he's in the country (he travels a lot) so I should snag him before his uni starts with the studying.

I also just finished reading The Diary of a Young Girl (or as it's more commonly known, The Diary of Anne Frank). It's a good book, and not just because it is a first-person view of the suffering the Holocaust caused. Anne has a very clear, intelligent voice and she goes through a lot of very normal teenage things even though she is stuck in an attic. She articulates them very well, although there are a surprising number of "nobody understands me's" in there. All in all a pretty good book and I think you should read it if you haven't already. Ends on a bit of a downer though, poor girl.

Ta

Moving Should be an Extreme Sport

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:25:40 GMT

It irks me when people say that they are 'behind' on YouTube or their blogs. It makes it sound as if it's a chore they just have to get through or their universe will collapse and all will not be well with the world.

I, however, am BEHIND. I'm out of the loop during a crucial holiday period when people are networking as if their lives depend on it. I want in and I can't have it. Think of all that fun going on online and I'm not getting any of it. *pouts*

I'm moving again. Now we all know how much moving just sucks so I won't dwell on it for long except for the fact I have the added bonus fun of having to figure out exactly how much my stuff weighs. I have figured it out, and the answer is 60 kilos, not including hand luggage, which sucks considering the baggage limit for JetStar is 20 kilos.

Solution? Purchase an extra 20 kilos of excess baggage on my flight ($80) and send another 20 kilos of stuff I don't need right away by bus to the Gold Coast ($60). Joy joy joy.

Wanna hear an awesomecool story?

Stressing about stuff never works out. What the hell was I going to do with Esme? That car was becoming a pain in my... posterior. It was going to cost over $800 to send it by truck back from whence it came. It worked out that if I sold it for a reasonable amount in Darwin, I could buy another car on the Gold Coast for not too much extra, plus I wouldn't have to go through the rigmaroll of re-registering it in that gloriously all-too sunny state of Queensland.

Only problem is, I'm an indecisive person. For a while I figured selling it would be too much hassle, so I was going to keep Esme and ship it after all. Then I flipped and flopped and flipped and flopped until I finally decided with about a week left in the city that selling it was the best option. I stuck an add in the paper which appeared yesterday (Wednesday) and all day I got not one call : (

I figured, 'well that's that' and resigned myself to the fact that I would have to ship the car after all and that my mind had been made up for me. But I'd been praying and other people had been too, and right at the end of the day I got a frantic phone-call from one of the mechanics around town who wanted to buy my car for his wife (I think it was a Christmas present). This morning we negotiated a price that I was happy with, considering that one or two things needed fixing. Done and done. Just like that.

One ad on one day in one paper and I got one call from one guy who turned out to be exactly the right guy I needed to call me.

You could say I'm a bit excited.

But yes. Heartwarming to say the least. I should compile it into a book called "Chicken Soup for the Soul That's Moving House Across the Country". However, I think a better title would be something along the lines of "Moving. Cheer up."

Letter to Anna

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 04:41:34 GMT

In my usual, non-blog related correspondence I have with friends I made in so-called 'real-life' without the use of an internet connection I wrote the following email to my friend Anna. As I was typing it I realised it's a pretty good condensation (is that word used correctly?) of my latest news and what I'm doing here and there over the holidays. Considering it doesn't reveal too much about Anna's life I think she'll be ok if I use it on my blog too. Here is the entire thing copy-pasted out of Gmail.

Hey Anna,

Updates updates updates. Hmm. I don't think that if you go the the Fillet Skillet you'll find much in the way of news, you'll probably just find a lot of my gasbagging and being silly, so here's my update.

Yesterday I was on the phone to Griffith so I can enroll in my courses for next semester. My time at uni at Charles Darwin University has all finished now, so now my big project is getting ready to move and all that entails! I'm doing some pretty cool subjects next year. I'll have lots of writing and film making to do!

I'm spending Christmas in Adelaide this year. I'm flying out of Darwin at something like two in the morning on the 23rd of December. I'm expecting the airport to be hell at both ends of my journey. For New Year's I think I'm going to Canberra, but I'm not 100% on that. My parents are driving out to whoop-whoop to visit some people for a few days and I don't think it'll be very interesting. Perhaps I should just fly to the Gold Coast in time for the first? I don't know. The plan was to be with my brother over New Year's but he's working on the first, so he might not be doing anything after all. Nothing has been set in stone yet though. Expect me back on the Coast around the 5th of Jan.

Before that I'm going for a holiday from my working holiday! On the first of December I'm flying out of Darwin to go to Melbourne for what I call a 'new media conference' but it's really a YouTube meet-up/party thing. I'm spending a couple of days there and will be re-exploring the city because I haven't been there since... maybe 2000? Anyway, it should be fun.

Speaking of balls and formals and things (I hope yours went well. Send me pictures. Stat! Also did you go with anyone? Was he good looking? *wink wink*) I have a masquerade ball on this Saturday. I'm wearing a red mask to it and Jeshua is wearing a little black one like they have on The Incredibles. The ball is an end-of-year thing for the Charles Darwin University Christians group and it looks like it'll be pretty good. We're having proper catering and everything.

It sucks about the HA 8 (which, phonetically, is pronounced "hate" did you know?) I had a similar thing happen to me when I did Modern History. I just couldn't push myself into VHA territory no matter what I did. Still, I'm sure your OP will be good, and you can always transfer degrees later on.

The SU Schoolies camp sounds fun. I was going to do one of those when I finished Year 12 but I went to visit my sister in America instead.

(What an essay that turned out to be!)

See you!

Rohan

I'm Back Back Back! Sexy Christians and Potty Bookstores All in a Day's Work for your One and Only Fillet

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 04:15:13 GMT

So I'm finally back in the rat race. Hey, thanks for waiting around for me to finish my holiday. It was really brilliant and I'll get to telling you about the camels etc later, but for now I'll tell you about the CDU Christians camp that I went on - because it is fresh in my memory.

So let me pose this question to my around-about 50/50 Christian/non-Christian readership: What do a group of about 25 young Christians do together while they are away camping together for five days? Think about it but keep the answer in your head, no need to write it down.

Got it? Good, now read on.

The answer of course is talk about sex. What else would we do?

Haha. Did I get you? Well it doesn't matter because it is true. The theme for the camp was "Love, Sex and Marriage" and we talked a lot about, well, love, sex and marriage. Actually before I went I thought there wasn't much more I could be told about love, sex and marriage, and for some parts that was true, I'd heard a lot of the stuff before. However, the talks on singleness, dating and gender differences were very interesting - one exercise in particular.

It was on the last day and we were asked to put all the guys in one group and all the girls in another. Then, we wrote a list of things we wished the other gender would know. Once we'd each finished our lists we gave it to the other group and had a big discussion about what we'd written and received. It was very interesting and a really positive thing for both groups - I highly recommend it.

Also, being a group of uni students all in the one place, we were bound to come up with some funny quotes. I won't use people's names for these though because they're somewhat embarrassing:

Girl 1: "And then I laughed so hard I wet myself!"
Me: (just coming to the conversation) "What?!?"
Girl 2: "We both did!"
Me: "You wet yourself?"
Girl 1: "Don't tell me you've never laughed so hard a bit of wee came out!"
Girl 2: "Honestly you haven't lived until you've done it!"

Guy 1: "Well cleavage is definitely a big thing"
Guy 2: (knowingly) "A big thing huh?"
Guy 1: (confused) "Well... yes...? Ohhhhhhh"

This camp, compared to my jaunt around central Australia was like a stay in a five-star hotel. Not only did I only have to set up my tent once the whole week, I had showers every night and people cooking my every meal! While Alice Springs was exciting and fun, it was also a lot of work and very tiring. This left me feeling really relaxed and holiday-ed.

Perfect for....

HARRY POTTER! AAAAAAH! HARRY'S AFTER ME! PEOPLE KEEP ASKING FOR HAR - oh sorry. It's just that, you know, for the bookstore world Harry Potter is bigger than Christmas. Bigger than Mother's Day even. We sold over 1000 copies in one day! I worked 8:00 till 5:30 and by the end was wrecked. I didn't dress up unfortunately, but I didn't have time after spending a week away and everything.

I laughed at the grown-ups bouncing around the store like school children "I got my copy! I got my copy!" and the school children arguing with each other over who would read it first. We were also giving out little purple bags to everyone who pre-ordered a copy, and people went nuts over them. On my lunch break I sat and ate Red Rooster while reading chapter 1 (I was the second the secure my copy, the first being a blind man who lined up for an hour beforehand) The third were two librarians who immediately took their forty copies they had pre-ordered and ran to the library as fast as they could without even opening the boxes. They were both dressed up in robes and were apparently putting on a Harry Potter breakfast over there.

We didn't get any crazies lining up for days beforehand because our store is in an indoor shopping centre which closes down and locks up every night. That's why the blind man got his book even though he was only lined up for an hour. But after him and the librarians there was a line three hours long waiting for us in the kind of way that people were adding themselves to the line faster than we could serve them. It was fun but in the end I was exhausted because of the sheer number of customers that came through the doors. Also, I'm only up to chapter eight or so, so if any of you speedsters tells me what happens I'll reach through the computer and break your puny spines. I won't WON'T have a repeat of what happened last time.

Fillet

Camping Camel Capers

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:08:44 GMT

Big announcement: I am going camping next Sunday morning!

Stop laughing.

I know school camps in the past were like grinding fingernails into a chalkboard while doing some other equally unpleasant thing but I really think this will be different to all that. Namely, I won't have the... annoying people there annoying me and being negative. Instead they will be replaced by camels for the first four days.

That's right, camels.

I will be traipsing around near Alice Springs for around about two weeks, by camel, 4WD and foot. While on camel I'll be sleeping under the stars. It's been a long time since I've done that - the stars are going to be amazing.

The thing I am worried about though is the cold. Sometimes it gets down to minus temperatures down in the desert and I don't really have the sort of equipment to deal with that. Thankfully the latest news has been that the minimum is going to rise in the next week or so, so that might not be such a problem anymore.

After that I've got a five-day long camp with the Charles Darwin University Christian Students Group which is at the same place that I recorded the 'walk in the bush' video that you saw a week or so ago. So that's about three weeks of camping! I think I'll have had my share for the next few years or so.

Of course, that means that updates from me are going to be non-existent for that time, so you'll have to find some other way of amusing yourselves. I'm bringing a pad and paper with me though, as well as my camera. So expect a couple of desert-themed blogs and videos when I come back.

Thanks guys, I'll be around until next Sunday morning!

The Weather II & How do You Tell if You Stink?

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 06:54:20 GMT

Today actually feels like Winter in Darwin! It's overcast, so it's dark but not humid - crisp. It's also windy with a cold wind. I woke to my alarm this morning and didn't want to get out of bed because I had my blanket on and a cold breeze was gushing through the window. I slept for an extra half an hour (I always set my alarm for half an hour before I need to get up) and still didn't want to get out of bed. When I went to work in my jumper and jeans feeling like a wuss, I actually found that everyone else in the office was wearing ugg boots and jeans and jumpers too! The only person still wearing summer gear actually went home because he was so cold, and came back wearing several layers of clothing! There are no air conditioners going, not even in the kitchen where the server lives where it has to be cold. Instead we just opened the windows and let the cold air come in from outside.

I always feel bad being cold in Darwin because I know it's not really that cold, even when it is cold (say... 12 degrees?) I really shouldn't be complaining. But when I go camping in two weeks (have I told you about that? Yes? No? Well you'll just have to wait and see!) it's reported to get down to minus 1 at night. Of course, during the day it will reciprocate with temperatures high, high, higher than I'm used to, but I'm trying not to think about that for now.

Second part of the title: how do you tell if you stink? Not like the B.O stink, I'm talking about other stink. For example, I walked into my room for the first time after house-sitting at my friend's mum's place and realised how much my room smells like cockroaches. It's not terribly, awfully bad, but there is just this little acrid, acidic smell in the air that I have come to associate with Christmas (because the cockroaches live in the plastic tree for the 10/11 months of the year it's not used). There's not much I can do about it, because the little blighters come in from outside through the laundry.

This has got me a little bit paranoid; how would I know if I smelled like a cockroach? Nobody would tell me and my olfactory nerves would be too accustomed to the smell by now for me to smell myself. What if all my clothes reek of cockroach stench and I don't even know about it? I hate cockroaches sooooooooo much and I don't want to smell like one.

Even if it does remind me of Christmas.

The Weather

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 02:46:13 GMT

The Pink Booted Philosopher talks about the weather a lot does she? Well I will tell you what is going on right now.

In the Northern Territory we have just begun the Dry Season (it was late, but it's here now). You see, here we don't have summer, winter etc etc, we have two seasons: Wet and Dry.

The Wet Season is hot and very humid. The humidity will build up during the day and the air gets thicker and thicker with water. Then, just as the sun sets it usually rains. Sometimes it will pour down with big lightning storms. When this happens all the rivers overflow and people get the inner tubes of tires and go shooting down the rapids, avoiding crocodiles (I haven't seen one where I've done it, but I'm sure they were close by) floating under bridges where inadvertently (or on purpose) they scare the bats that live there. Exploding from under a bridge accompanied by a few hundred little bats is a lot of fun you know.

This is also the season where people get a little bit deranged and irrational. The humidity (sometimes up as high as 85-90%) makes them grouchy and unwilling to compromise. The best cure for this (what we call 'Mango Madness' because it coincides with when the mangoes appear on the trees) is a lot of sleep and a good air conditioner. The Wet Season roughly coincides with Spring and Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, Autumn and Winter in the North, and the average temperature is about 31 degrees C.

The beginning of the Dry Season is marked by the dragonflies that descend on the city, and the thousands of withered earthworms that commit mass suicide on the concrete footpaths. The Dry is much much less humid than the Wet, and it rarely rains. This is the active tourist season as the thousands of southerners escape the chilly weather of Sydney or Melbourne for the mild, cool breezes of Darwin.

Territory shoppers giggle at the silly advertisements that have been syndicated from down south showing people in jumpers and track pants all rugged up in scarves and beanies carrying umbrellas as the drizzle comes down. We are told by Jay Jays to "Warm up and be cool" and by House Homewares that Winter is the time to stay inside and redecorate/reorganise the kitchen. In reality this is the season where we lounge around outside. We go to the Deckchair Cinema where it's just a screen in the middle of a park in the open air. We go camping and restart those forgotten New Year's resolutions to exercise more.

I'm currently sitting in my office blogging, with the air conditioner off and my windows open. It rained a little bit this morning (for the first time this month I believe) but it wasn't humid enough to do a proper job so a cool rain scented breeze is coming through the windows. The office downstairs (I work in an elevated house) is cooking a roast or something for its family day today and the smell is coming through with the breeze and making me hungry. It's just the weather that you would like to stay in bed for, because it makes you drowsy, not because it's bad. I'm wearing shorts and a tee-shirt and no shoes. This is the best time to be in Darwin - it coincides with Autumn and Winter in the Southern Hemisphere and Spring and Summer in the North. The average temperature varies between 15 (which is quite chilly for here) and 25 degrees.

What about the weather where you come from? What do people do during Summer/Winter where you are? Comment or blog and leave a link in the comments section.

P.S: I hope I have used the correct spelling of 'weather.' If I haven't please let me know!

Sooo Late! Last Journal Entry! Really Outdated Now!

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 07:24:35 GMT

Okay, I'm sick of these now so I'm just gonna put them all up in one painful go. I'll also put up another comic though I think, so you can have fun with that too.

11th of Feb 2007

Singing without tongues
Screaming without lungs
I want more than my lonely nation
I want more than my lonely nation
Desperate we are young
Separate we are one
I want more than my desperation
I want more than my lonely nation

David and I want to church for half an hour in town for a little girl’s dedication, then left the service early to scoot back to Yirrkala and the church there. It is a very interesting church, completely open (the windows have no glass) and the congregation is made up of 1/3 Yolŋu (the Aborigines in this area), 1/3 Polynesian and 1/3 Balanda (European/white). Sure, only about half of everyone understands what’s being said at any one time, but no-one seems to mind.

After that it was back to Family Guy, but we did have dinner with another guy and his son at the beach. We started talking to some Yolŋu people at the beach too but for the most part I didn’t understand them.

The police still have me car *frustration* so the insurance hasn’t come through. It would be nice to get that sorted this week so Esmé si fixed by the time I get back. If not, my brother said I can borrow his though. What a nice brother he is.

12th of Feb 2007

Commenced my last week of training here. I finished another program off and it was better than the one master two years ago. Still, it’s not as good as Kendall’s at the moment. I’ll get there though.

I spent all day dividing up a massive 17 track album the station got. It was like country Yolŋu music and all the songs on it sounded the same. The whole CD was on one massive track and in one song there was mobile phone signal interference. Still, we fixed it up and once we make sure nobody’s singing on it who has passed away we can put it to air.

I also sat in on a really interesting interview with a Yolŋu guy about money and its origins. He was talking about the Yolŋu trade with Macassar (now Sulawesi – a part of Indonesia) and how Yolŋu goods made it to China and even Europe before Captain Cook founded Sydney. This trade didn’t stop until 1906 when the government told the Macassans they weren’t allowed to come anymore (they were trading without paying tariffs).

Never under estimate my Jesus
You’re telling me that there’s no hope
I’m telling you you’re wrong
Never under estimate my Jesus
When the world around you crumbles
He will be strong He will be strong.

13th of Feb 2007

We left the house early today to deliver a parcel to the airport so it could be flown to Galiwinku. As such, we ended up at work early. Today was a big internet day! I certainly got my fix.

Would you believer the police in Darwin STILL haven’t fingerprinted my car yet? They reckon they’re getting to it but if it’s not fingerprinted by Monday I’m definitely complaining about their sluggishness. So all this means Esmé won’t be fixed before I get back. *sigh*

New York New York
Does it taste right?
Does it feel right?
New York New York
Does it burn bright?
All the starlight
Do you know my name?
Do you even care?
Do you love when I take you up there?

I haven’t really got much more to say but my A4 page isn’t full yet. I had a good conversation with Mum and Dad this evening on the phone and… I’m looking forward to bingeing on fast food. I think I’m losing weight! Aaah! I’m disappearing!

14th of Feb 2007

Carry me!
I’m just a dead man
Lying on the carpet
Can’t find a heart beat
Make me breathe!
I wanna be a new man
I’m tired of the old one
Out with the old plan

Went to work and did that. Afterward I drummed up some connections on MySpace.

I’m in the process of changing my internet presence to say I live in Darwin. I just keep forgetting that there’s a ‘location’ field on those things.

And for a Valentine’s day I didn’t get any emails from adoring females. But then again I didn’t send any out so I’m not too crushed. Any ‘holiday’ where I don’t get the day off work isn’t a real holiday in my opinion – except for St Patrick’s Day. It’s so green and the Irish are everywhere. If I were not Scottish I would probably be Irish.

I was going to phone the secretary to double-triple check my flight home today and ask about my hours I can expect upon my arrival in Darwin. I didn’t though, I’m too scared of her friendly severeness. It’s probably all in my head though, so I’ll call her tomorrow. Really I will.

You know the best thing about working for ARDS? It sounds infinitely cooler and community spirited saying you master radio programs (“I master radio programs”) for rural indigenous communities than saying that “I’m a checkout operator. Or bitch. Or biach. Yeah.

15th of Feb 2007

Before work today we went to Mount Nhulun and got some photos.

During work I caused a small (or large?) panic in Darwin when I asked what happens when I get back tomorrow. Apparently not everybody knows – as a result I don’t know either. I’m pretty sure I’ll get some casual work with ARDS though. That’s the feeling I’m getting.

I gatecrashed another birthday tonight. I don’t even remember her name at the moment! It was a bit weird really, but in the end it wasn’t too awkward (not for me anyway!) The restaurant made good food but stuffed up Justine’s order (that is, they never made her meal). The restaurant didn’t even apologise to her – which was crappy. She went home none the poorer but hungry. That whole debarkle meant I didn’t feel bad for snubbing their dress regulations by wearing thongs (for my American readers, PLEASE read ‘flip-flops.’ Please) and avoiding their security.

All the good monsters: open their eyes
To see the wisdom where the home flies rise (?)
And the people shouting ‘Why? Why? Why?’
Do you know what you are?
Do you know what you are?
All the giants wake from their sleep
And roll outside of safety’s keep
And the pain makes them feel so alive
Do you know what you are?
Do you know what you are?

I’ve made a couple of good friends while I’ve been here. Even though the town is slow (at least, if you don’t crash birthday parties and if you actually live in Yirrkala) I’m glad I came.

Now I have to pack…er… I mean throw all my clothes randomly into my giant bag.

Oh yeah, and my birthday is less than three weeks away! What do I do?!?

16th of Feb 2007

Got up and went to work as normal but was all packed to go to the airport too. It turned out not to matter because we were coming back from work early so we could eat.

We left work AT 5:00pm (finished at 4:30 but then hung around waiting for this or that). Then we went to get my stuff and eat. We got to the airport early but that didn’t matter in the end. Then I said bye to Jenny and David and hopped on the plane.

Apparently AAMI has been trying to contact me all week but unsuccessfully. I maintain this isn’t me fault because they had my work number and I was readily available during business hours on that. So now I have to call them on Monday. I hope it isn’t anything major.

I’m glad to be going back, but I did make some good friends there and it was certainly a good experience. Also, now I’m proficient in the basics of Adobe Audition!

Still, I enjoyed my Red Rooster this evening. Communities without fast food should be illegal.

I am the slow turning hands
I am the slow burning lamp
I am the slow turning page
I am the slow and steady heart

And guess who got a camera cable?!?

Foiled! But I Soldier On!

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 07:23:17 GMT

Getting those final journal entries about my trip to Gove has proven more difficult than I first thought. At uni I can't blog for some reason... at work my USB drive, Guppy, doesn't register in the computer properly... at home there is only an Apple which has Safari which doesn't work with this site! But I will find a way...

So in place of that, I'm going to pull some pics from the big mobs I put up just the other day and talk about them. They will be about my road trip. Stimulating stuff.

My poor Esme who I miss dearly. Or should that be 'whom'?

Anyway, moral of the story is that she got really dirty when we drove through a swarm of locusts. This photo was taken in Mt Isa which is a mining town in the middle of literally nowhere. Still, I was impressed with Mt Isa, because it was big enough that you couldn't see the city limit from the middle of the town. In fact, I heared from somewhere that Mt Isa has the biggest city limit and the longest main street of any city in the world (even though the population is very, very small) because the limit streches to include all these little houses out further than the town itself. You can't really see how dirty Esme was in this picture, so here's a close-up:

The following is a picture of Esme sitting just over the boarder between Queensland and the Northern Territory. I was glad when we crossed over, because it meant better roads and a more generous speed limit. When I took this picture, there was a storm brewing to my right - in the NT. It was one of the biggest storms I've ever driven through.

Now I realise that so far I've been obsessing over my car, so here is a picture of my friend Jesh, who I traveled with:

He was getting rather over-excited about a chair that we found which you could also play like a xylophone. He's acutally sitting on it in that picture, but there is also a pic of him playing it in the album. This amazing chair was in Barcaldine - which is pronounced "Bar-cold-en" but which Jesh pronounced "Barcle-deen." He confused me a lot by saying that. Barcaldine is notable only for this chair and for the carcass of the Tree of Knowledge - the tree under which the Australian Labor Party was founded. Some mad vandal poisoned the tree a couple of months ago but the dead-wood is still standing there. I have photos of that too.

And finally, here is a picture of me exiting a lady's dunny. I used it only becasue it was cleaner than the gent's, and I did not urinate on the edge. Jeshua thought this photo was halarious because it was taken completely off-guard (even though it kind of looks set up). This was at a rest-stop just after Mt Isa where truckies go so they don't accidently fall asleep and kill themselves. And considering the number of female truckies, the lady's was almost brand-new. This was also near the 'war-road' which was built during WWII to supply the north. Before then there was no connecting road from Queensland to the NT.

And so I must depart. In the tradition of putting out-of-date stuff on my blog, I will bring you another of these photo explaination things... of New Year's... Three and a half months late.

Yeah!

Fillet

Yet ANOTHER Update. You Guys Are So Lucky

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 07:53:30 GMT

8th of Feb 2007

Your Toilet Frog is fine. With a vengeance.

Well kind of, it swam back up and I discovered it sleeping peacefully in the bowl. I tried and tried to pluck it out of there, telling myself that it was unconscious and it wouldn’t struggle about. I think I could have done it if I had gloves, not because it was in the toilet, just because of the psychological barrier between me and the frog. The thought of a cane toad jumped across my mind too and that didn’t help at all.

So you’re young, well that’s all right
No matter who you are
(Don’t believe that there’s nothing to say, nothing to say)
So you’re young well that’s all right
No matter who you are
(Don’t believe that there’s nothing to say nothing to say)

Learned that if a track has static in the background, don’t touch the static! It never works trying to pick that crap outta there.

Oh yeah, and Toilet Frog? Jenny scooped it out with some toilet paper and put it in the garden. My agonizing over that frog is unknown to them.

I have a weird craving for peanut butter.

Pregnant?

I’m sorry, that was in bad taste.

9th of Feb 2007

Took a half day off work today so I could go on a tour of one of the bauxite processing plants. It sounds lame, but actually it was a really good tour. I had to wear a long sleeved shirt and long pants “for my safety” and seeing as I didn’t have any with me I went to the OP shop yesterday and bought a pair of jeans and a shirt for $4 each ($8 for the whole outfit). They were actually pretty snazzy clothes and everyone on the tour was talking about them and how cheaply I got them. The girl whose party I gatecrashed was there and she kept bringing it up.

After that I put in four hours of work and then went to the yacht club for burgers. The others were there too. When I hang around them I feel a bit immature because they are all mostly in their mid-twenties with a pilot’s licence. Still, I enjoy being around them, even if I do more listening than talking.

How great is our God!
Sing with me how great is our God!
And all will see how great, how great
Is our God!

The order of the day is to NOT go through photos of your friends and make yourself more homesick and to NOT go through old Messenger conversations and begin to miss your internet friends.

And I am not just saying that to make you all feel squishy: I need a stable internet connection post haste! The uni might provide this for me – gotta love part-time study!

In the meantime I will suffice with a paper diary, transferred though my fingers into Word, then taken via USB to work, then copy/pasted to Notepad, then copy/pasted to my blog.

I need internet.

10th of Feb 2007

Got up late (8:30am) and sweated through a long and uneventful day really. Today was unbearably hot, it got to at LEAST 37 degrees C (that’s around about 95 degrees F) and the humidity was really invasive. Normally it’s not quite this bad, otherwise I’d just shrug and say it comes with the Territory. Also this house does not have air-con so I experienced every second of it. I spent the day watching South Park/Family Guy/American Dad on my laptop.

We went for a walk on the beach when the heat wasn’t so bad. All in all today was the typical roller-coaster ride of living in a remote community. Yes I am a city kid. I have a blog and feel suffocated when I don’t have an internet connection. What do you expect?

‘Cause eventually, all of this must become
Zeroes and ones
Everything, everywhere, everyone
Zeroes and ones

In this particular house (I don’t know about others in Yirrkala) there is no television, no internet and no stores in walking distance. All that is in Nhulunbuy and all the cars here are manuals (remember, licensed but not able to drive them!)

I’m not even properly up-to-date with the news, even though Jenny and David listen to ABC Radio National. I pick up a little, like the death of Anna Nicole Smith, but nothing important (like the cyclone that Innisfail had again which I only just found out about from my Mum just before I typed this out). At the moment I know more about the upcoming American Presidential election (20 months away) than I do about the upcoming Australian Federal one (due in the next couple of months – whenever the PM calls it).

Don’t take any of this too negatively, I’m just hot and my ears really hurt right now.

P.S: Stop eating so much rock salt, it’s bad for you.

P.P.S: Actually you’ve been sweating so much you may need to replace all that which you’re not getting in your diet. Go for your life.

I Did it Because it Offends the Greatest Number

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:34:59 GMT

6th of Feb 2007

My baby’s off yeah, he’s shootin’ tigers
My baby, he’s such a f**kin liar
My baby – boo-yeah! Lookin’ for a
19-20-20! 19-20-20!

Nothing much to report today, apart from that I had a song in my head this morning with a swear-word in it. SHOCK HORROR! So for all of you who came to this journal/blog thinking that you weren’t going to see the f-word all starred out like that I guess I’ve shattered your world.

Also, I sewed that button onto my shirt this evening – all by myself. That’s right, I do my own textile repairs now. That’s the first step to bachelorhood isn’t it?

Went on a mission to stake out a shack in Yirrkala for the expansion of ARDS this morning with Kendall. I guess it’s what they need here, I don’t really know.

Not that I’m counting, but I’ve got ten days left living here. I guess it is going pretty fast, but I want to use my mobile, and I want to find a second job. The money from training will tide me over for now though – my expenses are at an all time low right now – so I’ve decided not to stress about that.

Just finished reading a book about a guy who evangelised to almost everyone he met. Not sure if his forward approach would work in Australia, or if I’m just spiritually retarded.

7th of Feb 2007

Got up, went to work, got there a squidge late but it didn’t matter. Finished my second go at mastering a radio program and it was much better. These things take hours to do, as in five hours for a ten minute recording – if it’s a good recording – which these aren’t.

It’s hard work actually, my ears aren’t taking the headphones too well. If I wear them for more than an hour or two they get uncomfortable, and for more than three it’s actually painful. I’m hoping that the cartilage in my outer ear will would to the cups of the headphones.

I had dinner with Kendall’s friends from the progressive dinner. I had a t-bone with mushroom sauce and the best ever mashed potatoes ever. I was going to have croc but chickened out at the last second. I tried someone else’s though and it tasted pretty good so I’ll hunt it down when I get back to Darwin (in a restaurant of course, I’m no Mick Dundee.)

Don’t need no drugs
(You’re my chemical)
Now I’m dependent
(Yes, you’re my chemical)
Addicted to those glances taking chances tonight
I need a fix of those human eyes (?)

Updated my blog today. Didn’t have time to read comments though, so I’ll do it tomorrow arvo or something.

Don’t particularly like sitting all day. Need to get fit.

P.S:

A green tree frog has just scared the living hell out of me by appearing in the toilet.

Of course I have pictures.

I just spent an agonizing ten minutes trying to fish it out of there but it was no use: the poor bastard just swam back down the other way. But not before jumping straight at me and freaking me out all over again.

I was afraid to pick it up, not because I don’t like tree frogs – in fact, it has been many years since I have last seen one and I am very fond of them. No, I was afraid that my phobia of crawly, leggy things would kick into overdrive when it would squirm and that I would involuntarily squish it in my hand. The two shots of adrenaline Toilet Frog delivered to me, one upon his discovery and another upon his jump faceward, didn’t help either in controlling the irrational apprehension/panic I felt.

I can only assume that it has been living down there for weeks (or months) and is fine with being toileted on and flushed several times a day. And because I was busting for the loo I had no choice but to try and chase it further downward before, ahem, using the facilities. Yes, I flushed. But it was only a half flush.

I really hope that it is ok, poor guy.

Second installment, like, omg, like, like...

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 08:03:35 GMT

3rd of Feb 2007

Got up ‘late’ today – 8:10, just in case Jenny and David wanted to do something but were too polite to wake me up.

I spent a fairly long time getting the third degree from my insurance company (at the risk of being sued, I will name them: AAMI. Insurance companies can be such spiteful, bitter creatures) about the car. Never mind all my info is hearsay anyway because the last time I saw Esme it was sitting contentedly in the Kelly’s driveway. They would be better off talking to someone who actually knows. But it's privacy issues you see.

While on hold it occurred to me that the insurance industry is paranoia served with a smile.

After AAMI had finished (well not quite finished) ramming wooden stakes into me I had lunch – a new invention of mine – peanut butter and vegemite. And before I’d quite finished reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves, I was invited on a long walk around the community and the rocky, coral-y beach. I got some pretty good nature shots.

Jesus, won’t You take us home?
‘Cause home is where the heart is.
Jesus, won’t You take me home?
‘Cause home is where my heart is.

After finishing Eats, Shoots and Leaves I resolved to use a semi-colon; although I fear I have used it incorrectly. Not that that has ever stopped me in the past.

4th of Feb 2007

I see you look at me but you don’t see what lies behind me.
I hear you say the words I know we took some time to find them (?)
I feel so clear, (?) so real but I don’t think you understand it.
I know my feelings show but you will not see by – your innocent lies.

(Sorry for the mondergreens Perry, I just haven't been able to get those lyrics right)

Church today, it was a small one like my church on the coast. Pretty friendly people there.

Came straight back to Yarrkula and had lunch, followed by me reading and listening to music. The house over the road is full of traditional Aboriginal music, didgeridoos and clap-sticks and everything – because there has been a death in the community. All the tradition exuding from the place is very pleasant for us over here, even if it’s not so good for the people who’ve lost someone.

I avoided my favourite dish tonight, thank goodness. Instead of quiche we had a nice mushroom beef thing. After that I called Mum and talked to her about what I’m missing out on at the Gold Coast. When I was talking about my sister, Jenny (not the Jenny I’m staying with now) Mum began hinting that I should go back to Woolworths again like my sister did (“Once you’re trained you can always go back, like Jenny did!”).

Then David and Jenny and I played Upwords. It is easier than Scrabble.

Work tomorrow do do do…

5th of Feb 2007

Popped a button off my shirt this morning.

Did the work thing, sat in on a lesson on how to teach Indigenous people about germs. I saw some bacteria from someone’s spit and it was fully sick.

After work I bumped into a girl from the progressive dinner. She told me she’d ring the house if they did anything and also told me that Vodafone doesn’t deign to grant the Gove area service – thus negating any chance of my other job-prospects from ringing me. Just as I suspected. Bastards.

I have called you preacher, I have called you son.
If you have a father or if you haven’t one
I’ll do anything for you
I’ll do anything for you
I’ll do anything for you
I’ll do anything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you
I did everything for you

Although I’m not disliking my stay here, I miss everyone in Darwin. Also, I went through the photos on my computer and found all the ones from that time I went out for fish and chips with Jay-Dee and Hendi as well as the photos from New Years. Now I’m thoroughly homesick for the Coast too. Clifford! I love you!

Never eaten so much paw-paw and banana in my life ever.

Want to know the physics of sound.

Want fruit juice.

Want Coke.

J to the O to the URNAL

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 08:03:20 GMT

Here are the first couple of entries into my journal that I have been keeping of this trip. Because it's a journal and not a blog entry per se, it's just a tiny bit different than usual. I didn't think you'd freak out too much though.

31st of Jan 2007

What a royal disaster. Way to make a good first impression on your new job Ro, missing that flight was pure genius don’t you think?

A diagnosis for dyslexia would go a long way to explaining why I switch around numerals like I do. The following does not say “Departs 6:50, Arrives 7:35”

Departs 6:35 Arrives 7:50

So tomorrow you’re NOT going to arrive half an hour before 7:50 and miss your flight ok?

Give me a reason, send me a post-card

Tell me a story, why are you so far?

I’m cramming for nothing, pushing a button

Tell me why, tell me why

You’re fooling no-one.

So after getting the weirdest lecture of my life from the secretary (very friendly, full of encouragement, constantly mentioning departure times and travel budgets and ending with “You’re going to have the best time over there, the two weeks will just go in no time I know it!”) I sat at home feeling sorry for myself.

Oh yes, and I had to ring a billion people to tell them I wouldn’t be there today. Great. That’s my favourite.

And there’s a cyclone brewing somewhere around the Gove Peninsula. But I like rain… hmmm…

1st of Feb 2007

I just, flew in
From the, Windy City.
Windy City
Is mighty pretty.
But they ‘aint got
What we’ve got.
No siree.
They’ve got
Private lawns, and public parks.

Cue me getting up at 4-something this morning so I’d be SURE to get that bloody plane. Then once I’d gotten to Nhulunbuy I was greeted by a skinny man with a big beard. Just as I suspected he turned out to be a mathematician.

He took me to a little town outside of Nhulunbuy whose name I can’t pronounce (or remember in my currently fatigued state of mental retardation) and we bought some bananas and paw-paw from a wholesaler in the area.

Then we went to his house (the one I’m staying at) where I met his wife. This couple is so nice I fear they just have to have a deep, dark secret of some kind. Like cannibalism. All the movies tell me so.

We didn’t stay at the house for long but went into the office where I learned many wondrous radio-type things to do with sound-waves and compression and amplification and while I was learning them I nearly fell asleep many times on account of waking up at 4-something in the morning this morning. Oh yes, and nobody appeared pissed at me for missing that flight yesterday.

2nd of Feb 2007

Got up, went to work, found out my car had been stolen the previous night. What fun. Jason called me to tell me the bad news. It’s not all bad though, they only got 200m down the road before they crashed it and took out somebody’s fence. So now the police have poor Esme and are conducting forensics etc.

I couldn’t fix the insurance today either, because the claims lady asked some stuff I didn’t know, and will have to get it off the Kellys tomorrow. Mum rang before and talked to them about it and apparently it’ll only cost $300 excess to fix anything (rather than my normal excess, somewhere around $800) because a thief was driving it. Still, it’s $300.

I also gatecrashed this girl’s 24th birthday progressive dinner tonight when Kendal, a guy from work, invited me along. I felt awkward, then talked to some people and felt better, then started talking to an 11 year old who was in the process of reading Homer and The Odyssey. Even though he was a freaky genius, it was a fairly juvenile conversation. Then I talked to some other people, then I left.

Hallelujah to the Lord of Heaven and Earth
Hallelujah to the Lord of Heaven and Earth
Hallelujah to the Lord of Heaven and Earth
Hallelujah to the Lord of Heaven and Earth

Those are the two major things that happened to me today. I did some radio editing, got the settings wrong, and had to start again but it didn’t matter. So yeah, Saturday tomorrow.

Social Capital

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:13:48 GMT

I have another bit of news that is going to surprise many... but before I get into that I have to explain something I learned about at uni last year. That thing is called social capital. Social Capital is most easily explained in terms that relate to economic capital (wealth). Economic capital is all the money, property and shares that you won (although bear in mind I'm not an economics student, so this is not an accurate definition, but it will do for now). Social capital is the same, it is all the connections that you have that you can use to further advance yourself. Essentially it is the old saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." A regular lower/middle class male is likely to have a fairly low social capital if he doesn't take steps to forge relationships that can help him later on. On the other hand, a middle/upper class male is more likely to have a higher social capital, especially if he went to an exclusive private school (old school tie is an excellent example of social capital) and even more so if his parents are in business (and thus are well connected). In almost all cases, social capital is far more valuable than economic capital becaue it cannot be lost or stolen, and it can save you if you're in a tight spot. The potential for social capital is essentially limitless - once you spend it it's not spent. If you spend a dollar then it's gone and you have to find another dollar to spend. So look after each relationship you have. I write about this because I've begun to notice lately exactly how much my social capital affects me life. For example, my parent's social capital (which rubs off on me) found me a place to board. I've also discovered that churches are places of astronomical social capital. In attending church, I've been offered three jobs in just two weeks! Those weren't even people that attened that church six years ago when I used to go there either, they're just random people I met at church one day. Of course I'm not saying that you should go to church just for that reason, I bring it up becaue it explains the story behind my news. I've got a job part-time with ARDS (I'm almost 100% that this stands for Aboriginal Resource Development Service) mastering their Indigenous language radio programs - which is pretty awesome. I'm still going to have to find another part-time or casual job to fill the gap in time/money, but it's pretty awesome. Thing is, I'm going to Nhulunbuy for two weeks for the training. I get back in the middle of Febuary and leave this Wednesday. So if you thought my updates were sparse now, I may not update again for another two and-a-bit weeks. This is a job I would never have even known about had I not gone to that particular chiurch on that particular day and spoken to those particular people. Here is a URL for a small map of where Nhulunbuy is in Australia for my international readers. If that doesn't work, just think about the Northern Territory (or find a map of it) and imagine the little beaky bit to the right at the top. At the end of the beaky bit is the town of Nhulunbuy. http://www.totaltravel.com.au/maps/local/nhulunbuy.gif It is also interesting to note that I already have high social capital in relation to Nhulunbuy because my parents were teachers there at one time and were adopted into some indigenous families all that time ago. I will be getting a lot of people saying to me that Mum or Dad taught them at school or that they are my brother/auntie/nephew/grandmother. The indigenous family system is very complex and I do not understand it, even though I am in it. So even though I'll have a lot of people there who'll be friendly, it's still a new place, and I would appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for me while I'm there. Once again, I promise lots and lots of photos of my new adventure! The other photos are on their way I promise promise promise! There was yet another problem with the transfer cable. Fillet P.S. I'm not sure this is going to format properly. I posted it using a Mac, you know... lol

Or Weeks to Come...

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:10:47 GMT

So I've been getting quite a few texts on my phone from friends demanding new news about the whole Darwin thing. So I guess I'd better bend to the will of the masses (lol, I mean the four of you who've hassled me).

The reason why I haven't been blogging so much is because the people I'm living with won't be getting the internet connected for another week or so. I joined the library though, so I guess I can use the internet there too. At the moment I'm at another friend's place using his internet. The only problem with this is that Jeshua is pressuring me to make this a short post because he wants too look at webcomics on the web. I have no sympathy for him, but pretty soon he's going to start tickling me to get me off. So again, the actual post about the road trip will have to wait until I actually get the cable for the camera (it's coming in one week's time).

This whole time I've been running around trying to get all my stuff sorted out. I've got a pretty awesome part-time job in the pipeline but I'll tell you more about that once I know if it's going ahead or not. The biggest mission so far though, has been my rego and driver's license. Today is the last day I have to get it sorted out, seeing as it expires tomorrow and tomorrow is Australia Day so the Motor Vehicle Registry will be closed. I needed a new windscreen because my old one got a crack in it during the road trip. That's happening today (I had to go to the windscreen place at 8:00 this morning). After that is sorted (12:00 midday) I can go and get Esme legal to drive.

An interesting thing happened to me (or more, my license) when I got it changed over to the NT. Not only is it all orange (everything in the NT is orange) and covered in holograms, it's now an open license and a manual license.

Let me repeat that, I NOW HAVE AN OPEN LICENSE no more P plates for me nuh-uh. Also I'm now apparently licensed to drive a manual car. Even though I don't know how to drive a manual car. But hypothetically, if I was stuck out in the middle of a desolate wasteland with only a manual car for transport, I could use it and not get charged with driving a vehicle I'm not licensed to drive. This is super weird considering I only got my P's less than a year ago. I'm pretty sure they made a mistake at the license place. But there you go.

I think that's long enough now, I have an awesome story to tell you, but that will wait for another time I think. Jesh has a picture on his mobile that he can get to my laptop (through a long and convoluted process) so I'll post it once I have that little mobile phone picture. But I'll say this: it has to do with me breaking into houses.

I hope that sedated the seemingly insatiable hunger that you all seemingly have for updates about my life. More will come soon, and even more will come once I get the internet at my house.

Fillet

P.S. Jesh didn't end up tickling me after all. Well he did, but it wasn't to get me off the computer. It was just to royally piss me off. After that he left me to my own devices. He wants you all to know what a kind and generous person he is.

I Have Arrived

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:24:54 GMT

Just a quick one for the moment, I'll do this justice later.

I have arrived as of 4:00pm Northern Territory Time today. It was a pretty cool trip, but I think I have a bruse on my bum from sitting on it for so long driving etc. It kind of hurts.

I was going to post this yesterday, when we were in Mount Isa, but the wireless internet at Maccas requires you to give your mobile number to Telstra, and once I do that they'll be ringing me up at all hours asking me to change my plan over and stuff. It's not that I have anything against Telstra, it's just that I don't appreciate cold call marketing.

Also, I don't know when the pictures are going to come. I was really intelligent and forgot the camera transfer-cable. I'll see if I can buy one at the shops this weekend, but if not it'll be a long while before you get to see the landscape that I drove through with my friend Jesh. Also, you'll get to see the horrid state that Esme was in after driving through a swarm of grasshoppers. Lets just say, yellow guts everywhere.

The worst thing that happened was that I got a crack in my windscreen that I now have to fix before I can register my car in the NT. That kind of sucks a lot because I spent a lot of money on petrol this week. But never mind, it's all right.

At the moment I'm at my brother's place, he's off to Thailand on Monday and is pretty psyched about riding on some elephants. He locked himself out of his apartment though (I thought it was funny). We had to wait 45 minutes and it took him literally five seconds to break into the house. That's the way of things I guess.

Better post coming in the days to come.

Fillet

Job Description

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:14:11 GMT

Check out this job description:

"Independent Merchandising Contractor required to merchandise & market consumables within various outlets. Various retail products, dealing with small retail outlets to large chain outlets. Previous retail experience required. Must be reliable & workwell unsupervised. Car licence and own transport required. Start: ASAP. Pay - $15.50/hr plus 55c/km travelled. Preferred licence(s): Car. ABN required."

What a delightfully uninformative job description. Who amongst my readers doesn't think this whole deal sounds a little bit dodgey?

Sleezy Man: "Yes, I need you to market these consumables"

Me: "What consumables?"

SM: "These consumables." (Motions to unmarked cardboard boxes)

Me: "Where am I marketing these consumables?"

SM: "At various outlets"

Me: "Yes but WHERE?"

SM: "Various outlets"

Me: "WHERE?"

SM: "Oh, here and there"

Me: "You're asking me to market porn aren't you" (statement, not question. Read with falling intonation)

SM: "Oh no! Never!"

Me: "Well?"

SM: "We're asking you to market drugs"

Bah-doom-cha.

SO. Why am I looking for various sleezy jobs? Well most of you already know but I've forgotten who I've told and who's still in the dark.

Well... I'm moving away! To Darwin! For twelve months! Exclaimation mark!

3...2...1...

Everyone: WHY ARE YOU MOVING TO DARWIN?

Because I want to. So there. And I was born there. And I have friends there still. And I want to cut back on study. And a whole hoast of other reasons. And because the city looks like this(!):

Ok, ok OK. It's not the biggest of cities. I know that. You can shut up now... Hendra. Keep in mind, though, that this photo was taken in 2003 and there has been a lot of development going on since then.

Here is the flag of the Northern Territory, where Darwin is situated:

Awesome flag.

I think this is a pretty awesome flag. Much better than the other states flags. And I'm being quite serious in saying that. Here, look at Queensland's flag, it's just like the Australian one except WORSE! Also, there's a hell of a lot of fine detail that nobody's going to see if it's all the way up on a flagpole. The NT flag is much better.

See? Kind of sucky.

How am I getting to Darwin you may ask? Well I'm driving with a good friend of mine on the 11th of January. Once I get there I will be studying part-time at Charles Darwin University and working full-time somewhere where I don't know where. But I won't be "marketing consumables".

The trip I will be making will look something like this picture I convieniently found using Google Images:

OK! This blog has gone on long enough! Publish! Publish I say!

Fillet

Sydney. Just For One Day.

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 12:37:14 GMT

Today was the day I went to Sydney. The night before I'd had a whole four hours sleep. You might imagine how thrilled I was when I was woken up at 5:00am my my Mum flicking the light on and off. I haven't been to Sydney in a while so there are a few things that I noticed while I went fromt he airport to Central station that were a bit... strange.

Wait. No, no. That's not very politically correct is it. Different. Yes, totally acceptable but different.

In Sydney they like to give you very clear directions. I don't feel talked down to at all:

Their train stations are a bit dingyer. This photo of mine reminds me of the ones they used to take back in the depression days.

2006

And here it is in sepia, just to emphasise that point:

1926

Time travels that little bit quicker (i.e. one hour):

Gold Coast time Sydney Time

Politics is just a bit more violent:

Public transport is just a bit more toilet-like:

(Comic to come soon)

"Is that vomit?!?"

"Only the most well-traveled vomit in New Sout Wales!"

"Oh wow!" (Takes picture)

It was around this time that we'd gotten to where we were going, the Eastwood train station. Mum said it had shanged a lot since she'd lived there as a child - all the stores now had their signs written in Asian languages.

My friend, Hendra, aka Kevin, is going to uni in Sydney. I though he was exagerating when he said he wasn't a minority in Sydney, "Asians everywhere!" he cries. Apparently he wasn't wrong. He also reckons he's actually more Anglo than the Asians, but more Asian than the Angloes. I now think he's right about that too ^_^

Finally, lets get mad at the taxi driver for taking the Sydney Harbour Tunnel instead of the more-famous-and-impressive Bridge. So now I don't have any pictures of Sydney city. I do have some of the church my parents were married in though!

So yeah, Sydney. I'd rather live in Brisbane.

Sorry Nathan.

Fillet.

Goodbye Family

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 07:02:53 GMT

Yesterday was the day I went up to Brisbane to drop off my American relatives at the airport. And by drop off I do mean drop off. We parked in the taxi-bay and almost literally unloaded the car and drove off again.

It was only after we'd driven away we realised there was no way that a couple with two children in a double-stroller could move all that luggage into the airport. Even with the aid of an airport-trolly. As a result Mum felt bad.

But I just can't believe that I'm not going to see them again for at least another year, if not more (it's probably going to be more). Now the house is quiet, in a bad kind of way, so I've taken to filling it with music again. Also I've found I have no one around to talk to so I'm on the computer all day again. Is this really what I did before they came? No, I was at uni back then and I was writing Philosophy assignments.

I still haven't forgotten, I'm going to post that (ugh) awful assignment up here. No, better not make it out to be worse than it is. It's just a pretty bad essay. I don't actually think it's worth the 80 or 90 percent that my tutor must have given me for it for me to get a High Distinction.

I'm actually having trouble finding a picture to go with this one, I thought I'd have some photos or something of Ceara and Dan leaving, you know, walking into the terminal and me going "Goodbye Ceara and Dan!"

But I don't. Which kind of sucks because I haven't had pictures in here for a while (except for the comic entries). So let's just say there won't be one.

What else did I do on that day? Hmm, well I drove up there with my brother because he was going to stay in Brisbane that night, plus we needed Esme so that we could get all of my sister's luggage up there. After we dropped them at the airport we had breakfast and took my brother to my other sister's place in Brisbane where he was going to wait until he could catch a plane to Sydney.

Also, I am going to Sydney for the day tomorow. Leaving early, arriving in the middle of the day, going to my Gran's memorial service and then flying out again.

I may or may not blog tomorow (I think I ought to be able to).

Fillet

(Man, that was the most boring entry in a long time. Ugh)

Markets and Stuff

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 09:19:38 GMT

If you haven't noticed yet, my blogs are almost exclusively about my brother-in-law and my sister coming over. You wanna know why? Well, it's a long story so you may want to ask me for the whole version over Messenger (my Messenger addy is up there somewhere) but the crux of it is we are having Christmas in November.

That's right, not July, not December - November. So yes, that is why.

In order to make it a very special and proper Christmas in November we have invited almost the whole family. We have also invited some other ones to make it a proper Christmas. Like Tinkle the Christmas Fetus. Do you remember Tinkle the Christmas Fetus? He is a pretty awesome Fetus. All green and Christmasy and in his jar.

"Hi, I'm Tinkle. I've come this Christmas to spread fetussy cheer!"

I didn't know if I should spell it 'Foetus' or 'Fetus' but considering the original website spelled it the latter way I chose to stick with the American spelling. Also because my sister is using these blog entries to compliment her journal of the holiday and I figure most of the readers of that will be American.

On the topic of family members arriving for Christmas in November my brother just arrived this afternoon. He's at a friend's birthday party now though or something and he's not coming back to the house for a while so I won't see him again for a day or two. Also today my uncle and aunt came for a visit to see the two nephews (well, to them the boys would be... grandnephews or something).

We also went shopping at the Carrara Markets today. For me it was the first time in ages because I used to hate those markets with a burning passion. All the sun gave me a headache though so that wasn't much fun but we did get a lot of shopping done. I even bought a Christmas present for Liam! It's a little wooden Jeep like the one his dad has back home. I showed it to Dan and he said it was cool but 'complained' that the steering wheel is on the wrong side. I guess that means that it's not actually daddy's Jeep then but I think it's close enough.

Ceara and Dan also got two very big prints of some paintings done by Darcy Doyle. And two digeridoos. And some soft toys. And some stuff made out of wood. Don't ask me how they're going to get it all on the plane back! It's all pretty awesome stuff though. I don't hate the markets anymore!

Anyway, see you all again soon.

Goodbike~!

Fillet

Dreamworld

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:23:44 GMT

Ok ok, I kind of lied to you last time - the Post-it notes weren't everywhere but it was a close thing. Liam just can't get over the little, yellow, sticky squares. Stick stick stick.

Today we went to Dreamworld, mostly so we could take the kids to Wigglesworld:

It's so wiggly and fun!

This would have been totally fine as I'm more than happy to go somewhere that entertains my nephews. Except of course, for one thing: Mascot suits. You may or may not know that I am absolutely terrified of people in costume, they are the same as clowns to me. I know it's a phobia because it's a fear that has no reason. I was ok about it today because I didn't really have to get close to them to take the pictures. There was a moment, however, when I was in a store and Dora the Explorer snuck up on me (read: brushed past me) at the end of her sift and scared the crap out of me. Anyway, the boys were pretty chuffed that they got to meet Wags the dog and Liam met Dora the Explorer.

Me: "Aaaah! It's Wags! Run!"

Actually, looking at that picture now, those eyes on the door behind them are creepier than Wags is. It looks like the door is a monster ready to jump out and eat them all. Also, the guy on the left is Dan and that's my sister Ceara on the right.

I think that sneaky cartoon character is plotting to kill me.

Think about it guys, they are totally silent, communicate with hand signals, have perfect disguises and nobody will ever suspect them. They are like super-stealthy killers ready to pounce!

We didn't really go on many rides throughout the day but the boys were really well behaved almost the whole day. We mostly kept it fairly tame so they could join in. We went on the vintage cars and saw all the animals there and walked around so they could look at all the brightly coloured statues and buildings and things. I went on that Nick Central roller coaster which was fun (I don't like terrifying rides) and Dan went on the Tower of Terror. The boys got to see kangaroos which was cool. Oh yeah, and we went on the train a couple of times and the Asian tourists gave Liam lollies because he is cute with blonde hair and blue eyes.

AND I got this photo of the family that they hate but I think is totally awesome. I fear they are going to delete it but I will make it live on on this website. Yay. In the analogue age this photo would have been kept because it cost so much to take and print out. And even though everyone hated it, it would still go in the album because it was already printed out. Later, people would look at it and laugh. Now, in the digital age, anything that isn't perfect is immediately discarded because it didn't cost anything. But no I say! Bad photos should still have their place!

Nobody looks good in this photo! WE MUST DELETE IMMEDIATELY!

Sorry Ceara, I couldn't help myself.

Fillet

Oh Wow! Americans!

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 07:33:45 GMT

So hooray! My sister and her husband and their kids arrived yesterday! Hooray!

Now our living-room looks like a toy shop threw up on it and my dog is being harrassed by a two-year-old with an American accent. Also there's a one-year-old (as yet to say any actual words but he sure likes to babble) wandering around in a sort of dazed way. He likes to laugh at everything.

Also, I'm Uncle Wohnan now - and I'm busy teaching Liam words that are completely useless to him back home.

Me: "Can you say rubbish bin?"

Liam: "Wubbiss bin"

Me: "Gooooood"

I'm also teaching him how to say 'Awesome'

Me: "Hey Liam! Awesome!"

Liam: "ASUUUUM!"

Me: "Woo hoo!"

Liam: "Woo hoo!"

You could say that I'm going to have fun moulding this child over the next three weeks. One thing that I'd love to cure him of (and so do Ceara and Dan) is Liam beating up Alec all the time. Play time is more like Wrestle-Mania where Alec always comes out for the worse. I don't seriously think I can really cure him of that though, I think we're just going to have to wait until Alec grows up a little bit more and instead of bursting into tears he'll start hitting back.

Liam: "Watch out Alec, or I'll beat you to death with my enormous head!"

Liam really does have a rather large head. He'll probably read this when he's a little bit older and get really upset by that but it's true. But so far, all signs point to him growing into it. Alec, despite the look of the above picture, does not have a giant head. He's just leaning into the picutre.

Also, here is a picture of Liam pretending to be the dog:

The rest of the pictures are in the new album. So far we've neglected to photograph Ceara and Dan at all, the girl you see in the photo album at the moment is my other sister, Jenny. We'll take photos of them too I'm sure but you can see what they look like by looking in my American Holiday albums.

In addition to adorable nephews, my sister and brother-in-law have brought with them wonderful delicacies. I know Swedish Fish are actually a Canadian product (at least, Wikipedia says so) but they are widely avaliable in America and I am now addicted to them. I MUST have some more Swedish Fish! I must have them! They are so red and yummy!

More updates soooooon!

Goodbike~!

Fillet