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Published: August 26th 2007
After our whirlwind trip around Spain and surviving the running of the bulls, it was finally time to come back to reality i.e. get a job. First though we headed back up to Preston to see Bernie and Sean before they departed the UK. Had a nice weekend and a great night out on the town, visiting our first few British pubs and sampling some traditional ales. It is a shame the guys are heading home right at the time we are arriving but we did manage to score some of their unwanted belongings!
We somehow managed (barely) to squeeze all our gear and the four of us into Karen and Mick's volkswagen golf (Vicki) and drove the four or so hours back to Cardiff Wales. Spent a couple of nights in backpackers and a night at Karen and Mick's while we searched desperately for accommodation (even backpackers are really expensive). Fortunately we came across the ideal place for us, a room in a great terrace house in the picturesque town of Caerphilly, about 10 miles out of Cardiff. The town has its very own castle right in the centre which is quite surreal to us Aussies but we have
Bobby!!!
Bob loves going for walks!been enjoying walks and the odd run around it in the afternoon.
The place is fantastic, all newly renovated and complete with pay tv and Bob the border collie. Denver owns the place and his girlfriend Abbey stays most nights although she is off to London soon to finish her teaching degree. Anyway things have worked out really well and we seem to all get on ok, even Bob seems to like us.
We also managed to spot and buy a cheap car off a very dodgy looking dude. It's still going and the police haven't come to confiscate it....yet. It is a 1989 Volvo 480ES, apparently they were all the rave when they came out. We have named it Kit for the obvious reasons (see photos). Given its age it must have been a very flash car in its day! It has an inboard computer which provides every motoring statistic you could ever want! It has electric windows, pop-up headlights and heated seats...we are so flash! Hopefully it will keep going, so far so good, it actually drives pretty well, especially considering it only cost £350 quid. Kirstyn has even had an offer from some young guys
at the servo, apparently they are a bit of a rarity.
Jason had already been offered a job in Newport when we were in Spain and he started the following week. Kirstyn had been offered a job soon enough starting the following week and so it is we are back in the workforce.. Bit strange after so long not working and despite being a bit rusty at the whole work thing we seem to have settled back in ok.
Things are a bit different for both of us. Kirstyn is working outside the hospital system now in small community clinics doing mostly language work which she is finding hard to get motivated about. She works in small clinics often on her own so it can get lonley but it is just a means to an end and the money is sadly what it is all about! Jason is working at a large hospital. The work is mainly obstetric, abdominal and gynae ultrasound so not as diversifed as Perth but it has been ok so far. They do their own reports here as well which has been a bit different but not too bad as this particular trust is new
at the game so any complicated cases are still reported by a consultant. Bookings are a bit shorter too but Jason seems to be surviving ok, the 25 min back to back 19wk anomaly scans can sometimes do the head in a bit! All in all the place has been good, from what I've heard it is alot better than other places and everyone has been lovely. The pays not too bad either!
Outside of work we haven't ventured too far lately but have had some nice weekend day trips about the place.
We took part in the Big Cheese festival which was right here in Caerphilly which was interesting. Strangely it's not actually a cheese festival, its just called that as Caerphilly is famous for its very own cheese. The festival did have loads of market stalls and tasting stands which was delicious. The castle was opened up with renactments and a fireworks display one night. They say 40,000 people visit over the weekend.
We have also been up to the Brecon Beacons national park a couple of times. Lovely spot with rolling green hills, forest and waterfalls. Only did a day trip and a few nice
Catching up
Karen, Kirstyn and Bern walks about but was still very nice.
We have ventured across as far as Swansea to visit the National Waterfront Museum and spent several hours wandering about the interactive displays. It was quite impressive with a focus on the industrial revolution in Wales.
We have also visited St Fagans castle and the Cardiff castle to get a dose of the Medieval history and way of life. We have also been to a couple of music festivals, the highlight was Cardiff Calling on the long weekend.
Otherwise life has been relatively mundane, back in working mode with weekends to relax and unwind. It is a bit foreign for us having a 'weekend' now and actually being aware of what day of the week it is. We are hoping to buy a van soon, we are thinking of decking it out ourselves to travel but may still take the easy option and get a ready made campervan...
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