May

Finally we find our dream house!

Monday 1st May - No Bank Holiday here I'm afraid :-(

Can't complain - work is still good. I'm in the scratchy club (gamblers anonymous) but its nice to be included in such things. You've got to pick a name starting with S, and every Friday you pays your money and you pick a scratchcard to try your luck at, and you can be called by your scratchy name all day, if they like. There are some crackers, like Slippy, Stupid, and a few scary others, so as I used to have a mop of curly hair, I thought I'd pick Sideshow (as in Sideshow Bob!) Ah well, if you can't laugh at yourself eh? 

His hair doesn't look that curly, but I was under pressure, and Jimmy Neutron doesn't start with an S!

JiMMy neuTRoN BOY gEniUS! (c) VIACOM INTERNATIONAL INC

Its a long story but one day, wee Linsey Hamilton (a good friend's wee girl - not forgetting her big sister Lauren too, just in case she reads this!), probably just 3ish at the time, was quietly walking about, then out the blue she shouts "Jimmy Neutron. Jimmy Neutron!!, points at me and giggles her head off "... so occasionally in the Hamilton household I can be seen answering to Jimmy Neutron. It could worse!

Tuesday 2nd

Had the dentist from hell today! It was like the gestapo and chinese water torture all rolled into the one tiny person, hell bent on inflicting pain and giving me a hard time about everything! I think I might just be looking for another dentist very soon. The dentist I had back home was absolutely amazing (John Blessing, Renfield Street, Glasgow) - You never even felt the needles go in, ever, and he had a calming nature that made going to the dentist a breeze. He was so good I would even fly back and pay for him privately. You get skinned over here for the dentists anyway, so its even more painful if it hurts your mouth as well as your wallet. Winging pomme they'll be saying soon!

Wednesday 3rd

Working late - some medium cheese from the US was in town and his only available slot for a meeting was 5 till 7pm (and I thought we worked long hours!). Couldn't do that too much though, getting home at 8ish - there's hardly any time with Holly before her bedtime!

Thursday 4th

Its doesn't matter what time of the day you go past the Harbour Bridge - there is always people climbing it! We climbed it the first time we came year 5 years ago - it was an amazing thing to do... I don't know if you can see the wee people at the top of the bridge from this pic

Friday 5th

Came home early today - caught the 4:30 ferry back and met Sheryl and Holly off the ferry - and it was daylight for a nice change - well almost!

It was a good way to finish the week, walking along the beach, holding wee Holly's hand as she toddles along shouting at the birds and shreaking with delight when a dog or puppy comes along.

There are LOADS of dogs here for some reason - and I've lost count how many trailers I've seen on the back of cars offering mobile doggy grooming and shampooing!

Saturday 6th

Took Holly out a walk out in the morning, and then after lunch we all went up to the Manly Dam - which we'd never been to. The nice lady across the landing handed in a leaflet with a wee pocket map of the walks and picnic areas etc at the Dam - so we thought it would be nice to check it out.

There is a nice beach area, with kids paddling and swimming, and a couple of boat ramps with guys and their water skis (complete with a ramp out in the water for jumping over!) and there were two areas with gazebos that can be reserved out for parties - there were two happening that day, with all these wee kids (about 35 of them) dressed up in various costumes smacking the Piñata (Pin-YAh-tah) to get the sweets out - much to Holly's delight watching all this!

Thursday 11th

Sheryl and Holly came into town on the ferry and we met up for lunch which was nice, and then I met them again after work (left early for a change) and went home in the daylight again. Its nice at night time too - the bridge looks nice at night (see picture) but it was a nice change to be sunny on the way home..... 

Lucky for them it wasn't quite twilight when the ferry was leaving, as that's when all the bats come out of the trees next to the Opera House and spookily fly over the sky above the ferry, which like something out of a horror film. You get a couple flying around the flat at night time, but its probably the same one, going round and round, whereas in the city there is about 60 of them that fly past !

Friday 12th

Got the car back from the garage. Needed something fixed on the car again (paid for by the garage I bought it from of course!)...They tell you that cars last forever over here, but they miss out the part where its only because you are always fixing wee bits and bobs all the time! The other guy Craig over here had the same hassles, with brakes etc, and it ended up failing on the handbrake and it rolled down his driveway and took out his double garage! Anyway, that's all the wee nigglies fixed now and the car is running much better.... The 3 months warranty was due to run out, so I had to make sure I kept pestering the garage to get them all fixed and paid for before it became my responsibility. So here's hoping the car stays tickety-boo, otherwise it'll be getting washed and waxed and traded the heck in for a newer one! Its a nice car to drive, and its got low mileage, so it will probably last forever - it just needed brake discs / pads and a new battery (the battery's go about once every couple of years over here because of the heat!)

Saturday 13th

Took Holly out a walk this morning down to the wharf to get some rolls and lunch. The ferry was in, which Holly likes to wave to, cos that's where her Daddy comes home from!

Someone was coming round to look at the flat (its on the market for sale by the landlord - doesn't affect our lease any - the landlord just changes that's all). We went out a wee run in the car up to Cromer to have a look at some of the houses and area etc - its okay, but if you're going to go that far up, there are other places a bit closer for the same cash. 

Although on the other side of the coin, there are huge blocks of land about 50 mins or so North of here where you can get a few acres and a paddock for the same price as a 3 bedroom down here....but you would add an hour overall onto your travel time to the city. So it would depend on how far the house was away (if you have 6 acres then you need to walk a couple of them to get to the end of your garden before you even get to civilisation like the train station!!!)

Sunday 14th - Mother's Day in Australia!

Its Mother's Day here in Oz so time for Sheryl to get a treat, and get some flowers, chocolate and breakfast in bed for starters. Then we all went a run out to the Blue Mountains (which was nice in Autumn colours!)

where we lunch and then some high tea later on (devonshire cream tea and scones - yum yum!). 

Wee tea room we went to called Bygone Beauties

We went to the same wee place we went to 2 years ago when we were last here, and the tea and scones were just as nice. It was weird to be here so soon after last being here on holiday - who would have believed (..in the last years of the 20th Century, that human affairs were being watched....sorry...had an Orson Wells moment there!) that we would have come back to live here only two years later - surreal indeed!

Nice and cool crisp air (16 - 18 degrees - 850 metres above sea level) So if we ever need a blast of cool crisp air to get away from the heat, we can always take a wee drive up here, as its nice to wrap up and look out over the mountains, breathing in the refreshing crisp mountain air. Sydney air is clean enough, as is the breeze coming in from the beach, but there was something nice about the thin mountain air up at the Blue Mountains. Although its probably the last place you would expect to see a London bus!

Came back home, and just tucked into a nice pizza and some apple and cinnamon "pull-apart" / tear-n-share (massive big iced bun with apples and cinnamon). Its been a big belly day!.

A pic of all three of us for a change!

Monday 15th

*** big gap I will try to remember what went on.....**

Tuesday 23rd

All Staff Party at one of the big museums in the city. Couple of thousand people, free food and drink all night. Lots of huge prawns, and mini steak sandwiches, champagne, and then a wee sweety bar where you got little paper bags of your favourite wee bananas, jazzy drop and cola bottles....

Wednesday 24th

Sore head !!!! nuff said...  :-(

Thursday 25th

Big Brother is on over here! Its on the TV all the flippin' time! There only is about 3 or 4 channels at the best of times (which is good in the summer for getting you up off your bottom!) without one of th channels for hours of watching 15 eejits sitting about. Its a bit less confrontational over here I think - they don't seem to put in as many people teetering on the edge of madness that they do back home and in the US version...

On the up-side we get ER, House, about 10 different types of CSI & Law and Order, and the occasional Cracker and Rebus - which is a nice wee slice of home!

Friday 26th

Wee Jeanie (Sheryl's mum) is coming over today for a couple of weeks, so that'll be nice. Hopefully she's bringing over some Tunnocks Caramel Logs! Also packing up our desk at work as we are moving across to a new building a couple of blocks away which looks out onto the Centrepoint Tower, a well known landmark. That's my new building next to it....

Saturday 27th

Went a nice run up to Newport with Jean. Holly had some fun in the swings by the sea, and then we had some fish and chips of course for out tea!

Sunday 28th

Its roasting today! I was out T-cut-ing / polishing the car and I had to stop half way through before I got cooked! (and of course I was cream crackered!).

Going over to pick up Elaine and Tim from the airport. Later on we are going to The Rocks to Phillips Foote restaurant / pub, where you buy the raw steak and cook it on their big gas barbeques...

http://www.phillipsfoote.com.au/

Wednesday 31st

The company hire out a whole screen, and about 150 people from the ITS department went to the cinema to see The Da Vinci Code this evening. What a surreal experience sitting in a cinema with your workmates with some free popcorn and ice cream, and the odd participant in some wine smuggling! It was a good film, but then I must be one of the few who haven't read the book yet, so I wasn't expecting too much - others who have read the book may have had more to pick up on.