Last full day in Brisbane

6 03 2008

Another full work day today. I ended up getting all the work done that was on my list for the four days. That included an extra 60+ page document that neither Mel (my boss) nor I were expecting. We worked hard on that doco on Monday and very early Tuesday morning, so the guys could hand it to the client on Tuesday and train them with it on site (central Queensland) on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the words of the Implementation Team Lead today, according to the client the doco was ‘sh*t hot’.

Today I also got the email saying that my conference session looked like being popular, so it was back to Big W to stock up on more Caramello Koalas! I now have nine dozen of them, so I hope I have enough for everyone.

After work, Mel and I took a cab over to New Farm for a couple of drinks at Gerties, a neighbourhood bar, and then we wandered across the road to the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant (cnr Brunswick and Barker). We had Madras Prawns and a chicken dish (Chicken Nariyal??), both hot; some pappadums; and some chilli naan. All hot. All lovely. All eaten!

We also had a really good chat about life, the universe, and everything. Thanks for a lovely evening Mel, and thanks Greta for the Indian Restaurant suggestion (Greta couldn’t join us as she’s at PDAC in Toronto, but she sent Mel a text message sending her regrets).

Mel only lives around the corner, so I caught a cab back in to the city. This time it was less than $10, so I was happy with that.

I started packing when I got back. I’ll finish in the morning after I’ve had a shower etc. and pack the toiletries. I think that the packing will overflow into the second bag – nine packs of Caramello Koalas (and something for someone who reads this blog so I can’t say what it is) take up quite a bit of space!! I’m a walking, talking wine and chocolate courier… Not much room for clothes and shoes, but hey, I can always buy them in the US 😉


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Categories : Australia, Food & Wine

Busy days

4 03 2008

My first two (of four) days back in the office have been busy. Quite a lot of staff on the team are away in far-flung places, but that hasn’t made it less busy. I think they’ve been keeping some things aside waiting for me to arrive!

I didn’t get a chance yesterday to write in this blog, and it’s now 10:30pm on Tuesday night and I should be in bed, but I wanted to get this out of the way before I rested my head.

After work yesterday I caught the train out to Thorneside (?) with Ian from work, then he drove me to his and Donna’s place. From there we went to a restaurant called The Lighthouse over in Cleveland, where we had the most fabulous meal. Ian had the Tempura Tiger Prawns to start, and while there were only three prawns, they were HUGE. Donna and shared an entree serve of the most beautifully spiced and cooked calamari. To die for. Then we all had a Coral Trout as our main course (delicious), and shared the ‘for two’ “Lighthouse Death by Chocolate” dessert. Three of us couldn’t finish it! I took photos of a seafood platter at a nearby table (yes, TFP, you’d be proud of me–I just went up to their table and asked permission to take a photo!) And I took a couple of photos of the chocolate dessert we shared. When I get better connection (tomorrow?) I’ll upload the photos…

Seafood platter

Death by chocolate

The worst thing was catching a cab back in to the Brisbane CBD. I have no clue where Cleveland is, but the taxi fare was over $70!!!! And I had to wait 20+ mins for it… the restaurant staff were in the closing up stages by the time it arrived.

Today was another busy work day, starting at 6am (under pressure to get a doc finished for the client by 8am–two of us came in early to get it done as we couldn’t finish it yesterday). And my $5 fake Rolex that my Mum bought for me in Bali died! For the past 12 months I’ve hardly needed to wear a watch–and just when I have to, it dies. So I bought a $15 watch from Big W. It’s only got to last 4 weeks… Normally, I wouldn’t have bothered, but tomorrow I’m doing my conference presentation for the software development teams, and have a couple of meetings, and so I NEED the correct time. My husband suggested the clock on my phone, but the phone will be turned off in the presentation, so that wasn’t a solution. It’s not like I have a plane to catch… NOT!

Tonight I practiced my presentation out loud and had a go at recording it on a voice recorder I purchased a while back. So I ended up not eating an evening meal. But then, after last night’s feed and breakfast and lunch today, I really didn’t need it.

OK, to bed!


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Categories : Australia, Business/Work, Travel

On the first part of the journey…

2 03 2008

(with apologies to “America”: Horse with No Name)

Travel day today. First, the 3.25 hour drive to Perth to leave my car with friends, then they took me to the airport for my early afternoon 4-hour flight to Brisbane.

Perth Airport didn’t seem as busy as usual, which was good! A bit of a queue for check in, no queue for the carry on baggage security check, and the Qantas Club lounge wasn’t bursting at the seams (which was lucky because they’ve got construction going on in there). I saw Kate Ceberano and her entourage in the Qantas Club – she must’ve been over for a concert. After seeing her on “Who do you think you are?” I think most Australians would feel they know her quite well after sharing her genealogical journey of discovery.

I sat next to a Qantas pilot on the flight – interesting conversation! He’d flown in from Tokyo last night and was flying home to his home on the Gold Coast. I taught him my techniques for Sudoku as he’s never figured out how to do them.

For the foodies: The lunch on the flight was excellent. I had a Lamb Rendang and it was really tasty. Airline food tends to be bland to cater for all tastes, but this had a nice bite. The little tub of delicious vanilla icecream with chocolate ginger snaps finished it off nicely.

Arrived safely in Brisbane right on time at 6:45 and I was in the accommodation within an hour.

Work tomorrow!

Apartment in Brisbane

Photo of apartment where I’m staying near the office


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Categories : Australia

Checking out a beach

4 11 2007
Summer is coming and we know we’re about 75 mins from the Busselton beaches and a similar distance from the Bunbury beaches. Busselton would be my preference—the beaches are calmer being in the corner of Geographe Bay, and there are cafes etc. pretty much on the beach. I grew up on Bunbury beaches and the back beaches are notorious for rips, dumping etc. Not pretty. Location of Windy Harbour

But there’s another beach within two hours of Bridgetown—on the south coast of Western Australia. So we took a drive to Windy Harbour today to check it out. The drive was a little longer than I’d expected based on the distance (90 mins), but that’s because the road is fairly narrow and winding. Beautiful drive though, through some fantastic forested areas especially between Pemberton and Northcliffe. Of course, a glorious spring day helped!

We checked out the Windy Harbour beach, but that’s not for us. The fishing boats come in and out of there, there’s seasonal seaweed piled up and stinking on the beach, and it’s bloody windy!!! Guess it’s not called Windy Harbour for nothing…

Oh well. We figured we may never be back, so we took a drive to the Point d’Entrecasteaux lighthouse and checked out the stunning views of the Southern Ocean (next stop, Antarctica!) from the cliffs. And then we spotted it! Salmon Beach. Sheltered from the wind, in a bay, clean white sand for miles and miles, no rocks, no seaweed and no fishermen. We didn’t go on to the beach itself though a couple of people were fishing from it, but it’s a definite possibility. The only detraction—that water will be icy cold ALL year round, including at the height of summer.

Salmon Beach, d’Emtrecasteaux National Park

Here’s my pathetic attempt at a panorama of Salmon Beach. For the full size (and better quality) photos click here and continue on the next couple of pages.


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Categories : Australia, Life stuff

Field of quilts

30 09 2007

We took a drive through the backroads today to go to Boddington. Why Boddington? Well, the local Arts Council in this very small community had their sixth annual “Field of Quilts” exhibition.

They hold the exhibition in a field near the town hall and string up the quilts as though they’re on a washing line. There were heaps of quilts flapping away in the sunshine (and the rain showers), and even more in the hall. Some quilt vendors had stalls selling fat quarters, notions, and other goodies, but I didn’t buy any. Even my husband appreciated some of them—he’s been taping Simply Quilts for me whenever I’m away, and he takes out the ads, which means he has to watch the show! He’s obviously learned something because when I talked about the ‘stained glass’ effect created by black bias fabric used on some of the quilts, he knew what I was talking about. And he pointed out the stippling on some quilts, ‘cos he’s seen me do it!

The exhibition is just that—an exhibition, not a judged competition. Anyone can enter their work. If the visitors want to, they can vote for the quilt they think is the best and the winner gets a $250 prize.

Unfortunately, my camera’s memory card is playing up at the moment, so I got maybe one photo (which I’ll share if I can get it to download…).

It took longer to get to Boddington than I thought. I expected it to take about two hours, but it was closer to two and a half. We did a big loop going up the inland backroads, then back on Albany highway and cutting in towards to coast. (Reason: It’s a long weekend and none of the little towns—including Boddington—had a fuel outlet open. Go figure! So we had to get on to Albany Highway to get fuel at Williams.) So it was about a five hour drive, plus an hour or so at the quilt exhibition. A gorgeous spring day, marred by a few rain showers. The pastures and crops are looking magnificent! And there were lots of wildflowers on the sides on many of the roads, with the best display on the Collie to Williams road.

Where we went:

Drive to Boddington

The only bummer of the day was coming across a motorcycle accident on the Boyup Brook to Mumballup road, near Noggerup. Police and ambulance were in attendance, but unfortunately there was a silver foil blanket over the body on the side of the road. I’ve never seen that before, except on TV. It’s very different when it’s real. A very sobering wake up call. May he rest in peace.


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Categories : Australia, Quilts and fabric stuff

Melbourne trip

25 09 2007

Our quick trip to Melbourne to watch the AFL Preliminary Final had some other features:

  • The VirginBlue flights were uneventful, and the leg room was much more than on Qantas. Staff were very pleasant.
  • We got to visit my Mum’s sister and her family on Friday, then have lunch with my cousin and her husband. I hadn’t seen any of them for about 10-15 years, so that was good!
  • The rental car was an electric/petrol hybrid—a Toyota Prius. After getting used to the start up/shut down procedure and the lack of noise (!!!) it was a great car to drive. And incredibly fuel efficient. We did 200kms and when I filled the tank before returning the car to the airport, it took only 6 litres! That’s 3L per 100kms. Normal vehicles run about 9-10L/100kms, and 4WDs are upwards of 12L/100kms. The lack of noise was a little disconcerting at first. When you are idling (like at traffic lights or when you first start the car), there is NO engine noise, so it seems like you’ve stalled, except all the dash lights tell you otherwise.
  • The toll road charges are HORRENDOUS! $11 per calendar day whether you use the roads or not. No wonder Victoria can afford such great sporting and arts venues.
  • We walked for about 2 hours around the Yarra on Saturday morning before going to the airport. The weather was absolutely brilliant and Melbourne shone like a Christmas bauble! Photos are here…

Melbourne in the spring


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Categories : Australia

Oh, the places you’ll see!

6 08 2007

For the past year or so now, I’ve been writing about life and living in my local area. Of course, quite a few of you live outside Western Australia, and even outside Australia and so probably have no clue where I’m talking about! So I thought I’d give you some perspective on where I live.

Here’s a Google map that is centred on Bridgetown, Western Australia: http://tinyurl.com/2l3d6p. Zoom in/out to get a sense of place. Perth is where we used to live; the company I do most of my technical writing work for these days has its head office in Brisbane, Queensland on the other side of Australia!


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Categories : Australia, Travel

Botanica Gallery

3 08 2007
When we went to Pemberton two weekends ago, I forgot to mention we stopped in to take a look at the Botanica Gallery there.Wow! What a superb little gallery this is, with the most exquisite paintings and drawings of the unique flora of southwest Western Australia. It is a joint showcase for the works of six prominent West Australian botanical artists, and includes textiles and books, as well as their art works for sale.

Some years ago, I went to a UWA Summer School Extension course run by Katrina Syme, one of the artists who exhibits at the Botanica Gallery. Her course was called “Art from Nature”, and I learnt a lot, though I’ve rarely had a chance to put pen/ink/paint to paper since. Katrina’s specialty is fungi, though she does flowers and leaves as well.

I think my favourite artist of the six was Ellen Hickman – I’d *love* to be able to draw/paint like that!

 Botanica Gallery

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Categories : Australia, Travel

Street-wise emus and kangaroos

23 07 2007

One of the things that many in the US have often asked is “Do kangaroos hop down the main street?” Those who have actually been to Australia never ask this question, and it often amuses us Aussies to answer “Yes”, just to see the reaction.

Well, yesterday we found a town where kangaroos and emus *do* roam the streets!! Despite the wintery weather (rain, strong winds, cold), we took a drive to Donnelly River, then on to Manjimup and Pemberton and back.

Donnelly River is an old mill town. Like many small towns in the southwest of Western Australia, when the timber mill closed the town died. But they kept the houses at Donnelly River and have made the place into a holiday village where you can rent out a whole house or two or three for a night or a week at a time. There are a couple of places like this in southwest, and they are ideal for large community, corporate, or school groups – or just a very big family!So we drove through the two streets in Donnelly River. And saw about 6 kangaroos and at least a dozen emus just wandering about without a care in the world. Some were strolling across the old school yard, others were lolling about on front lawns, some were lurking near verandas, others were sheltering out of the rain under trees in front yards, and still others were ambling down the road.

To the Americans I’ve kidded about this, I take it all back! Donnelly River is one town in Australia where kangaroos and emus *do* roam the streets!

More pictures of the kangaroos and emus at Donnelly River…

 Emu strolling along the main street of Donnelly River

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Categories : Australia, Travel

Week in Brisbane: Summary

17 07 2007

I’ve been back a few days now (and as busy as!), so this will be a quick summary of my week in Brisbane last week:

  • VirginBlue flight left after 10:30pm on Monday night. They stuffed up the seat allocation so this guy and I were both allocated the same seat. The steward had a hissy fit at me and was rude and obnoxious. I posted my letter of complaint to VirginBlue today. Will I fly with them again? Nope. Not if I have anything to do with it! Their motto: “The on-time airline.” My experience? That’s BS!
  • Had meetings and workshops with the new team the entire week. Great group of people. Mixture of software tech-heads and geology/mining people.
  • The company is very transparent – employees at all levels are kept informed of the bottom line at all times. The company doesn’t have ‘feel good’ mission statements or sprout off about how much they value their employees – they just do it! Actions speak louder than words and their actions the entire week were terrific. There’s no need for talking the talk if you can walk the walk.
  • The social events they had organised for the team were great. On Tuesday night we had dinner at the “Pig and Whistle”, an Irish pub in the Brisbane CBD. There were probably about 30 of us and the company picked up the tab for the food and the drinks. On Thursday night we went to the Strike Bowling Bar to do ten-pin bowling (Craig, you’ll be impressed! I chose the lime green/yellow/fluoro bowling ball!!). Lots of yummy finger food and snacks served. Open bar… yes, including cocktails! Mmmm… Long Island Iced Tea and Caprioska! After the bowling, we adjourned to the pool tables. Some left at a reasonable hour; some were still there at 3:00am!! (or so we heard the next day – it sure wasn’t me!)
  • Our Perth team stayed at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Brisbane, about a 20 minute walk from the office. Breakfast was excellent. Rooms were good except for the tiny and very awkward bathrooms (The toilet was directly behind the door, and you couldn’t open the door more than halfway as a result. Reaching around the door and the toilet to turn on the shower was an exercise in contortion!) Internet access was…. wait for it… 55c a MINUTE!! Highway robbery. I checked email etc. at the office. Even though the company paid all charges, that to me was an absolute rip-off.
  • Qantas Club at Brisbane Airport on Friday night was standing room only! I’ve never seen a lounge that busy. After the flights to Sydney and Melbourne had left, it cleared out enough to find some chairs to sit on.
  • Qantas flight home was uneventful – and on time. Got in just after 11:00pm Friday, grabbed bags, caught shuttle to carpark out in Woop-Woop, car started OK (but was FILTHY), overnight accommodation was cheap but fine.
  • Drove home on Saturday, stopping off in Mandurah to get fuel, put car through car wash, grab a late breakfast (mmmm…. Aussie meat pie!), look at sofas in a couple of stores and write down measurements of those I liked. One in particular took my fancy. After the last experience with sofas, this time I asked for a tape measure when I walked in and wrote down details of the height of the back, the width, and the depth of the seat. I won’t get caught again.

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Categories : Australia, Business/Work, Travel

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