This year’s Trivia Night at the AODC conference contained a “What is it?” round. This was a series of extreme close-ups or distance photos, with multiple choice options. One that has hung in my brain for a while was this image:
What is it? And is it real?
Well, it’s a piglet squid, and it *is* real! Seems these critters are found in the ocean off Nigeria. Very strange…
No, not the conference in Austin, Texas!
Catching up on the past few days…
On Tuesday evening our friend Dave arrived from the US, via the AODC conference on the Gold Coast, the 3-day Indian-Pacific train trip across Australia, a 3-hour coach trip from Perth to Bunbury, and a 1 hour car trip with my husband to our house. After he’d had a decent shower and checked his email from the past four days, we dined on my “Seven Mules” pumpkin soup (an Australian favourite he can’t get easily in the US) and my husband’s favourite—lamb burgers. Lots of talk, laughter, and catching up!
Wednesday was a GORGEOUS autumn day. Sunshine, a few clouds, no rain, no wind. By late morning we were off to the Donnelly River Holiday Village so Dave could experience the kangaroos and emus ‘up close and personal’. They didn’t disappoint. Because there was almost no-one there, the kangaroos decided we might just have some food for them (we didn’t), so they hopped on over and got very friendly with us. It was mostly the females and the young ones, then the male ambled over to keep an eye on his ladies. While all this was going on, a couple of emus were checking us out too, but they aren’t quite so cuddly or friendly! More photos… (BTW, the entire village is up for sale—36 cottages, store etc. all for $2.9m!)
We headed back to town and out to our block of land which Dave was mightily impressed by. Of course, the green grass and blue sunny skies helped. We also popped in for him to meet some neighbours who have just moved in to the rammed earth house they’ve been building for the past two years or so.
Next stop was The Cidery where we sampled some ciders and had a light lunch. Dave’s a big cider fan so this was on the ‘must do’ list for him.
After checking out the main street of town, picking up the mail and some groceries, we headed back to the house to enjoy the peace and quiet and watch the birds. Late in the afternoon we popped in to the Bridgetown Hotel for Dave and J to play some pool, and to have one of their delicious meals.
Thursday dawned wet and windy. By late morning we were on our way to discover more of the southwest of our fine state. But the rain meant that outdoor activities were off the list (not that any of us were that keen anyway…). We had a long lunch at Jarrah Jack’s brewery in Pemberton, then hit the road around 3pm. Below are the Honey Tempura Prawns from Jarrah jack’s.
I thought it would take about 90 minutes from there to my sister’s place near Yallingup, but it took more than two hours. We arrived at the farm after the sun had set but there was just enough light to find the keys! Over by the dam was a family of kangaroos, so Dave got to see them jumping around in their natural habitat.
We had a really big storm come through on Thursday night, and being so close to the coast (less than 10kms), it was very wild and woolly at the farm. Dave slept in one of the upstairs bedrooms and he thought the roof might blow off at one stage!
On Friday we drove out to Canal Rocks where the ocean was absolutely ferocious—but majorly spectacular.
Then we headed south again to Margaret River, stopping in at Vasse Felix and sampling some of their lovely wines. Lunch was a delicious 100% Wagyu beef burger for each of us at Settler’s Tavern in Margaret River, then we scampered to the car in the rain and headed north again, through Cowaramup and out to Cape Naturaliste. The aim was to show Dave some of the spectacular wild scenery on this part of the coast, but unfortunately, you can’t go to the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse these days without being on a paid tour, and it was too wet and windy to negotiate the 400+m walking trails to the cape. Bunker Bay is now closed off with commerical developments and you can’t get access to the beach without walking. Eagle Bay and Meelup were almost impossibe to see because of the heavy rain, so this part of the trip was very disappointing for me as these were some of my favourite places in the region. Lots of driving but with not a lot to see or do because of the inclement and inhospitable weather.
We stopped in to see my parents briefly, then headed to Bunbury for Dave to catch the late afternoon coach back to Perth for his midnight flight to Sydney then his long flight on Saturday to LA. We only got to achieve a few of the things I had on the ‘things to do and see’ list. The rain and storms on Thursday and Friday, and the later starts than expected meant that I had to remove a few items from the list. No matter. For me, it was a nice break from work and a chance to catch up with Dave outside the confines of conferences; for Dave, it was an introduction to our little part of the world; and for J, it was an opportunity to drive to places and share some beers and wines and music information with a mate.
Most of all, though, it was a chance to spend some quality time with a good friend. Thanks Dave—next time you’re in Oz, perhaps we’ll do the Ghan train trip from Adelaide to Darwin together!
Coach or train?
That was the dilemma. The train to the Gold Coast took 90 mins from central Brisbane, so I expected the return trip to the airport to take a tad longer. The train fare was about $10, but then you have to factor in the cost of the cab to the train station. My experience the other day showed that was around $25, making the total cost around $35. The alternative was to get a cab from the hotel to the bus station, find the bus that went to the train station, and get there in time to meet the train. Doing that would’ve been cheaper but I’d have to have been up at 5:00am and getting all this sorted by about 5:30am. And did I mention that I had a bag, a small backpack, and my laptop bag?
So I investigated the door-to-door offerings of some of the coach services. Their prices were much of a muchness (about $39 per person one way) and were comparable to the cab/train combination. But the advantage was that they pick you up from your hotel and drop you at the airport. I decided on one of them and booked the fare on Thursday. The coach picked me up a minute or two later than the 6:30am pick up time, so that was good. But then it did something I wasn’t expecting – it continued to collect people from their homes! I don’t know of any service in Perth or Bunbury that does that, so I think we could learn a thing or two from the Queensland tourist industry. While it was a little annoying waiting for people to come from their homes (and for the driver to find the locations – he had no sat nav as his wife said he didn’t need it… WRONG), once we finally got on to the Motorway the trip to the airport was quick and easy. We got to the international terminal at 8:15am and a few minutes later we were at the domestic terminal. All up the coach trip took an hour and three quarters, which is probably about the same as the train trip (not including the time taken to get to Nerang train station from Surfers Paradise).
So having experienced both modes, which would I choose if I had to do this again?
Well, it depends! It would depend on how much luggage I had, whether there was just one person or a couple or family, and how well I knew where it was I wanted to go.
With a reasonable amount of luggage, the coach service probably wins hands down as the driver loads and unloads your luggage for you, whereas if you take the bus to the train, you have to deal with your luggage yourself. Also, there may be issues with luggage on the train if you are travelling at peak commuter times as the train is a commuter train, not one designed for people and luggage.
If you had a family, the public bus/train option is much cheaper, but probably a lot more hassle with luggage.
If you were a couple or single with little luggage, then the public bus/train option would be the best and cheapest.
Anybody with luggage or who was living or staying in a private residence not close to the bus or train station – and without an easy means of getting there – would be best served by one of the door to door coach services.
Checked out of the central Brisbane hotel this morning then took a cab to my new client’s location. Spent three hours there helping the tech writer with some of her issues with Author-it. Then a cab back to the city to pick up my bag and head to train station to catch the train to the Gold Coast. The train ride was about 90 minutes, but NO food/drink vending machines etc. on board and NO toilets. Hello people – this is a 90 minute train trip and many Gold Coast residents and visitors are over 60… My seat smelled like stale urine – at least until the air conditioning kicked in properly. I then caught a cab to the conference venue as I had no idea about the buses etc. Train fare to the Gold Coast from Brisbane: $9.40; cab fare from the Nerang train station to the hotel: $25!!!!
My hotel room is up with the high-flying birds. I’ve got a little balcony and windows to two aspects (can *just* see a glimpse of the ocean from one window). But if I stand on the balcony or close to the bedroom window (pic below) and look down, I get dizzy. The people below look like ants. The views are fab. I’ll post some pictures soon… Here are some pictures.
Caught up with some conference friends from the past few years, then, after Joe’s intro session, a bunch of us went for a terrific meal at the local Malaysian restaurant nearby. We sat outside on the pavement – the weather was beautifully balmy. I had a delicious and spicy curry chicken laksa and a couple of glasses of house red (the only choice of wine by the glass).
But it was the schmoozing and catching up that was fun! There was Dave (US), Mick (Melb), and a new Dave (Syd), Joe (US), Penny + Tony (Melb), Sarah (NZ), Teresa (Syd), Colin (Melb?), Matthew (UK), and a few others whose names I don’t know yet. Lots of talk, lots of laugh, lots of shared accomplishments and horror stories.
Swimming with my own fish again – love it!
The conference proper starts tomorrow at 9am, so I’d better load up the pics and get some shuteye…
I worked at the client’s head office in Brisbane office all day Friday, then J and V and I went out for a pretty nice meal at Il Centro at Eagle Pier. I had the Black Angus Sirloin (300g) with Bearnaise Sauce and it was superb. The three of us shared two desserts – a delicious Zabbaione (sp?) and a selection of gelatos/gelati?. It was good to catch up with J and V – we all worked together in the previous company’s Perth office and all happened to be in the Brisbane office the same week.
I had Saturday and Sunday to myself, so the decision was ‘what to do?’. After our dinner Friday night, Saturday was taken care of – I found out that V was working all day Saturday and probably most of Sunday to get some stuff finished prior to him going to Malaysia Sunday night. I knew on Friday that there was a new part of the program that I had to document on Monday (I’m not available the rest of the week), and it just so happens that V is one of the main developers on that part of the code! So V and I spent most of Saturday in at the office. He continued development and I documented what already exists. It was great too – he demo’d the software to me, gave me a link to a functioning database, and was on hand if I needed help (which I didn’t). Even better, when I found an ambiguous error message he changed it immediately. And it was quiet! No-one else was around, there were no interruptions of people or phones or emails or IMs… A bit like working from home, really.
Saturday evening J and V and I had another meal together, this time at ZenBar in Anzac Square. I had a really nice and very filling Laksa. It’s really close to where I’m staying and they do delivery and takeouts too, so that’s a good option for future visits, or even this coming Monday night.
Uneventful drive to Perth, uneventful flight, arrived safe and sound. Uneventful cab ride to hotel, and uneventful check-in. You can’t get any better than that!
Update (later that night): Just dropping off to sleep… when the sound of hammer drills or jackhammers immediately below my room broke through the dream barriers. 10:30pm on a Thursday night is a great time to break up concrete… NOT. Thank goodness I had some ear plugs with me.
Tomorrow I head out again—this time just to Queensland. I spend a couple of day’s in my client’s offices, then a half day with a new Queensland client, then it’s off to the Gold Coast for the next conference I’m speaking at. Posts from the conference will be on my professional blog—start looking for them from around May 13.
A few days after I get home, one of the US speakers from the conference—who’s a good friend of ours—arrives to spend a few days with us. I hope the weather is good…
David Pogue’s technology blog on The New York Times website alerted me to this amazing technology. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not… especially if it’s used to ‘correct’ errors made by long-dead musicians.
Anyhow, see for yourself (7 mins).
I freaked out a friend of mine this morning. She lives on the east coast of the US, and I live on the west coast of Australia. Here’s an edited version of the IM chat we had this morning:
Me: So, when were you going to tell me you were in hospital????
Her: Excuse me??? I just got admitted an hour ago!
Me: Exactly! I’m psychic! 😉
Her: You had to have talked to [husband]
Me: Nope
Her: No one else knows I’m here! ???
Me: Yes they do… keep guessing… not [your son] either… keep thinking
Her: Who?
Me: lol
Her: Heck, they only decided to admit me 3 hrs ago
Me: You drove yourself there, right?
Her: Well, yeah. You got a tracer on my car?
Me: And you have a blood clot, right?
Her: Yes
Me: And you’ve had swollen legs for 3 weeks, right?
Her: Yes. OK, this is freaking me out
Me: And you’re not meant to go up stairs, right?
Her: Right
Her: I didn’t even twitter [Aside: I seriously think she was panicking by now!!]
Me: I can’t keep you in suspense too much longer… who’s birthday is it today?
Her: Oh, duh.
By some weird coincidence, I’d emailed birthday wishes to a friend of hers 24 hours too early. Her friend’s reply email told me the details (including how she’d driven my friend’s husband and son to the hospital just a few minutes earlier), so I decided to play games with her head!
You can run, but you can’t hide! Even from half a world away…
BTW, diagnosis: DVT.
Google Australia (http://www.google.com.au) has changed its logo for ANZAC Day (25 April in both Australia and New Zealand). Thanks Google!
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 