Lighting up !!

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DAY 451, 452 & 453

1st, 2nd & 3rd February 2010


Well, everyone this blog is number 500, yep 500 uploaded since leaving the UK, you know we work on 2.5 Hrs per blog, to type, edit, upload pictures and upload the blog well that equates to 1250 Hrs work, or based on a 40 Hour week is 31 ¼ weeks worth of work and we have only been about 67 weeks, it is like having a full time job, as well as driving 60,000 K’s taking over 20,000 pictures, putting up and taking down the Wendy House god bows how many times, plus cooking meals, having a shower, here and there plus everything else we do and you think we are having a holiday.

We see this as a trial of the new blog format for the time being, whilst I am job searching and Caroline is working.

It will be important that we don’t drop the ball completely as we will certainly forget where we have got up to and what blog day it is, so are going to condense a couple of days into one blog.

I took Caroline to work this morning, we were trying out the new route into work, instead of going down the motorway, we go right through the town centre, which is very slightly longer in time, the traffic is heavier, but 5 kilometres shorter.

Caroline seems to be enjoying being back at work now, she tells me that it is not a very dynamic environment that she is in but that’s government, so somebody famously said recently.

I drop Caroline off, and she joins the swarm of people going into the building, I think that she enjoys the challenges that work offers and though the travelling has been fantastic, work does bring its advantages and not always financial.

When I get back to the Wendy House, its important that I keep myself busy, with things, the last couple of days I have been faffing around with simple chores like food shopping, washing clothes, and trying to sort our new fridge out, as I explained previously that our EvaKool has again packed up and as this is the third time, enough is enough we have requested that we have our money back so we can get a different manufacturer.

I have decided to be a bit more health conscious and have swam everyday, I thought whilst I have the opportunity to get fitter then I ought to capitalise on it. Though the water is fairly cool to start with it is nice once you are in and of course I always dive straight in.

I have scoured technically the availability of different units and with someone’s advice who we trust implicitly have been steered to a company in Caloundra, who supplies fridges to the Australian Army, and they have just developed a fridge that is fitted to a new tank, well if that’s not enough of an endorsement I don’t know what is.

This fridge so I am told is fitted between the engine block on the tank and is reinforced so it can be stood on, so I assume with the heat generated from the engine its still keeps their beer cool. Heck you can’t go in to battle with warm drinks, that would surely not be the Australian way.

I have heard over these last couple of days that the two jobs I have been interviewed for, I did not get a bit of a punch in the guts but that’s life. Caroline is very supportive and sooths my sadness.

When I go and collect her in the evening she always has that smile on her face, its funny as I watch, again the throng of people migrate out of her office and the first out are always the smokers desperate to light up and have their nicotine fix, there should be an exclusion zone for the great plume of cigarette smoke that envelops the first 100 yds of the building. There should be signs saying “passive smokers beware” as we all know that smoking can seriously damage your health.

She tells me that you can book a bike to ride between the offices in the area, fancy that, still I guess that the Government are supposed to be seen to promote the green issues.

When we get back in the evenings we again try to swim as Caroline is also trying to improve her fitness and it would not be fair if I did not go as swimming alone is a drag, so I am getting twice the exercise.

I have another interview on Thursday morning, with a contractor so we shall see what that brings.

It has been so hot since we arrived here I went out and bought a pedestal fan, however it was great on the first day but since then the days have been cooler, so I think that was the kiss of death on the lovely hot weather, the downside of that is that the swimming pool is colder.

The weekend is getting closer and hopefully we can do some more exploring, there are a number of nature parks around the area that are popular with cyclists and walkers so we should take advantage and go and explore them.

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Comments

[Jan Davis]

Australia Day and since
Hi Guys, Take 2 for this comment. The first one of a couple of days ago seems to have disappeared into cyberspace somewhere so, will give it another shot. Day 7 and, we are still surviving! Better than surviving and, only took us a couple of days to get into the routine of school drop offs/pick ups; daycare; swimming lessons; ballet lessons and the odd birthday party cum sleep over. We haven't yet zigged when we should have zagged so, all calm on the western front. Erin & Adam are good and settled down well after the initial shock of the news and, we are managing to keep things as close to a normal routine as possible. Nat & Justin are still in Perth. Passed on your condolences to them both for which they were very appreciative and have asked us to say a special thank you on their behalf. Undoubtedly they will catch up with you on their return. Nat will be home tomorrow night. Justin will stay on to attend to all the legalities. The funeral was Monday which was a tough day for all concerned but, all weathered it okay. Loved your blog on Eating Around Australia - love them all but, particularly this one as it had a personal meaning. We did have a great time on Australia Day, didn't we? It was a lot of fun and enjoyed it immensely. There are more photos of the day once you get your email sorted. Pleased to hear you are settling into the workaday world again Caroline and, hang in there Andy - your perfect job is just around the corner! Love you guys. Catch up again soon. Luv, Jan, Ted & Co. xxxxx

[stu &yvonne]

best refrigerator [ Auto frig ]
andy they are not cheap [ $2500.00 ] but are the best they only need to run 4 to 6 hours a day then you can turn them off , great when in the bush . they do have a draw back they are only 12volt so you will need a12v adaptor to 240volts ,next would be Engill or waco but they need to be on 24 hours a day did you get my last email it took me about hours to write bye for now Stu