Back to normality

It's a comment on modern life that we, collectively, rely so heavily on the internet that when you're not connected day to day routines become difficult. Without it you feel like the poor relation. That's how it's been for us since we've been here. But not any more - we're now connected! No more evening walks/drives up to the university campus to latch on to the wifi there. No more sneaky peaks at Facebook on the office PC over lunch time. Perhaps it's a comment on Australian inefficiency that it's taken 8 weeks from ordering to delivery but I won't bore you with the details. Regardless, we now feel normal.

Wilderness

We took our first trip out of Greater Sydney last weekend. It was quite an eye opener. We drove an hour and a half west to the blue mountains and by the time we got there it already felt like the wilderness. It's just a blip on the Australian map and it was easy to imagine miles and miles of the same nothingness all the way to Perth on the west coast (a mere 4000 km) Yes, I know I have a vivid imagination! See the photos below for a taste of the wild west.

Blue mountains photoset

Homesick??

Despite the feeling that things are finally slotting into place here (see previous posts!) it’s fair to say that the honeymoon period is over. We’ve been here two months now so perhaps our subconscious minds are realising that we’re not on a holiday after all and in fact we’re here for the long-haul. All three of us are feeling homesick to varying degrees and for various reasons, perhaps it’s the thought of Christmas away from friends and family that’s reinforcing this. However we realise that the best thing to do is to focus on all the positives of living here - and there are many (see previous posts!)

Yesterday slotted into the category of compensations!! Here’s how it went:

We set the alarm early to get out on the bikes before the traffic build up (starting the day early seems to be an Australian thing to do) and so Niall and myself were setting out under a clear blue sky by 7am. We rode the 20 miles out to the coast and stopped for coffee and warm muffins by an inlet, Church Point, with yachts and rowing boats in abundance. Then around a loop on smooth roads where cyclists were in the majority and cars were giving way for once. Returning home to find Ros resting after her morning run we dived into the swimming pool to cool off. A quick lunch and we were heading out to the coast again, this time in the car. We parked at Palm Beach (where Home and Away is filmed - apparently) to start a bush walk to Barrenjoey Lighthouse on a rocky promontory 400 metres above the beach. The immediate area was ravaged by bush fires a few weeks ago so it made for a strange landscape - black trees with no leaves but with green shoots of life sprouting from the ground. By way of contrast the walk back down to the beach was very lush and tropical - a testament to the effectiveness of the fire service here who must have contained the worst of the fire. We grabbed the things from the boot of the car and spent a couple of hours on the beach and in the surf. Niall now has a body board and he was perfecting his technique (aided by a brief expert demonstration from his dad). The day was still young as we drove down the coast towards home so we stopped off in one of the small towns, Avalon, for a bite to eat. We found an Asian street food restaurant and sat outdoors eating fish cakes, dumplings and tai green curry. The end to a perfect day!

I can't claim that every day is like this, the highlight the day before was a trip to Ikea for example, but we're determined to maximise the opportunities life here presents, it's a good balance.

Cars and bikes

A couple of significant happenings this week!

Our shipment from the UK has finally arrived -  pots and pans, bedding and extra clothes etc. Of course it makes a massive difference from a practical point of view but what we weren't expecting was the emotional aspect of all these extra's. It's like getting lots of home comforts in a box, all at once. Perhaps most importantly we now have our bikes! Niall and myself have already been out on an evening and we'll be dragging Ros along for weekend rides before long. I've already got a few routes worked out and we're eager to get started. 

Over the past few weeks we've become increasingly aware that society here has a very American approach to car ownership - it's pretty much essential. Everywhere is set up with the assumption that you have access to a car and we've been getting the feeling that we're missing out on things as a result. So we've finally taken the plunge and bought one. I'll admit to being a bit of a car snob normally and only consider certain makes but I've taken the 'when in Rome' approach and have chosen a second hand Hyundai - the most popular small car here. It's not a brilliant car to drive but it doesn't half make a difference to day to day life and that sense of freedom that easy mobility can bring. I suspect it's going to be the most significant of the incremental steps we're making towards normality here. 

Finally, I realise I've been getting behind on the photos front. Here's a couple of links to the latest two sets :

• Royal Botanic Gardens
• Sculptures by the Sea 

Adventist hospitals and the like

I came across a Church sponsored hospital while out on a bike ride at the weekend - The Sydney Adventist Hospital . There was an Emergency department and I got to wondering if they turn you away if you're not Adventist??  I don’t think I’ve seen such a thing before but it didn’t come as a surprise as it appears to be a very religious society here... to a point. By which I mean the majority of schools, both Primary and Secondary, are religious i.e. under the auspices of one church or another. I have to say the kids are very polite particularly when in uniform - there do seem to be some benefits to what is probably a strict school regime. I say things are religious to a point and that seems to be where it ends - school! There are churches around, probably as many as back home, but like the UK they seem to be empty the majority of the time….. and I haven’t seen anyone queuing to get in on a Sunday either.

The preponderance of Religious schools has worried Ros. Despite the fact that she’s applied for a number of teaching jobs she still hasn’t even managed to get an interview. She thinks it might be down to the fact that she can’t demonstrate that she’s a devout catholic (the predominant church here from what we’ve seen) i.e. provide a reference from the priest. Some schools actually insist on this!

Too close for comfort

I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the problem with bush fires out here. Today, with temperatures in the low thirties,  they got a whole lot closer. There were two burning in close proximity to the University campus as we looked slightly worryingly from the office window. One in particular was burning in West Pymble, about half a mile away from work and even more worryingly about quarter of a mile from our house. The services were straight onto it, with three then four helicopters in the sky within minutes. Two of the helicopters (one nicknamed Elvis apparently) were fire-bombing the worst of the flames and within a couple of hours had things under control.

I walked across the campus to get to the gym at lunch time (no sign of our road bikes from the UK yet, so I'm still interval training on a static bike a couple of times a week) and took these videos as the helicopters took water from the University's lake. You can probably see the smoke coming up from the bush beyond the lake in the second video - the site of the fire.

Click for

• Video 1
• Video 2

And so on...

The school I’m working for (the Australian School of Advanced Medicine) was in need of cover for one of our educationalists currently on maternity leave. Knowing that Ros was looking for work she’s been interviewed and has secured the job. So we’re now working together! At least for the next few months. We’re less than 10 minutes walk from the campus so we walk in together, usually in warm sunshine with cockatoos and the like singing from the trees. All very cosy! We don’t see too much of one another during the day but we do hope we don’t get on top of one another in all of this.

I’ve been making a few observations on how Australia seems to fit with the wider world.

The media seems very inward looking. The focus of the main evening news on TV is not even Australia wide it’s concentrated down to New South Wales i.e. Sydney! On the one hand it’s reassuring to know that not much crime happens here but on the other it doesn’t half make for boring news, it’s like Local Radio on the TV. When an international item is run it’s very much in the context of Australia and how it might affect things here. (maybe it’s the same at home and it’s just that I’m more tuned in due to being new here?) I’m reading Bill Bryson’s travelogue on Australia and he makes the observation that perhaps this inward looking aspect springs from the fact that the outside world pretty much ignores Australia. So Aussies think ‘if they’re ignoring us we’ll ignore them’ kind of thing.

That said, the city is very cosmopolitan, I’m working with a multitude of nationalities and the University seems very international - more so than I’ve ever felt at Leeds Uni. (or perhaps working in a foreign country opens up your eyes and I’m now more aware of how ‘small’ the world is) We have more commercial partnerships than would be tolerated in a UK University and so we’re surrounded by big multinationals placed strategically on the periphery of the campus and that adds to the sense of globalisation. So it probably depends on where you’re looking the new is colloquial but business certainly isn’t.

Home sweet home

We finally moved into our own place this weekend. Here’s the link to the estate agents view of the house. The reality was a little different to the pictures as the previous occupants had ‘done a bunk’ -  leaving the country in a rush and neglecting to clean the place before they left! So we spent the weekend cooped up indoors cleaning. All that’s behind us and it does feel like the effort involved has made it ours now. We’re happy bunnies. While Kirsty and Derek have been fantastic sharing their home with us for 3 weeks and 'showing us the ropes' it is good to be in our own space now - it does make a difference.

Luckily the house is furnished (not many rentals are for some reason?) but there's no kitchen equipment, knives & forks or plates. Thing is that we've shipped all that stuff out but it hasn't got to us yet. So when we weren't cleaning we were buying the cheapest gear we could find. It reminded me of being a fresher at Uni.... that excitement of setting up home - for next to no budget.

Friend and colleague, Ceri, has lent me her road bike so I managed to get out on the open road the other day. Prior to that I’d been riding a static bike in the University gym in an effort to maintain some remnant of fitness. The roads are smooth, there are more hills than I expected and the weather is perfect for cycling - I can see I’m going to enjoy the riding here. I was caught by a group of riders from the North Sydney Cycling Club so I tagged on to the back of them. I was happy to stay at the back, out of the way, but when we got to a small climb the group started to splinter so I had to pass a few riders. Judging by the ‘under the breath’ comments made I think they were a little put out by the foreigner in civvies and trainers (I don’t have any cycling gear here yet) seemingly cruising past them on a tough climb. I did get chatting to one of the group later on who invited me to join the club - I mustn't have upset them too much.

Fires

We're under a dark cloud at the moment. Not the adage, a literal one. we're told that there's a big bush fire burning in the blue mountains and the easterly wind has blown the smoke across Sydney. I've looked it up, the mountains are 120 km away! It's a strange thing, the light has that pre storm glow to it and car's out on the road have their headlights on despite the fact that it's 3 hours till sunset. I had ash falling on me before I got on the bus to head home. Brit's might be pre-occupied with rainy weather but the Aussies are certainly obsessed about bush fires - especially during warm dry weather - understandable I suppose given the stakes.

Being away from home makes you question things, things you take for granted. The most profound of questions come to mind such as: "Why do Fish and Chip shops have such high counters?" There are Fish and Chip shops here, not surprisingly, and they have standard height counters. All very friendly and welcoming. So why not in the UK?? Perhaps we'll never know!

Settling down

It's been less than 3 weeks but we feel to be settling down in Sydney now. After a couple of Saturday house viewing sessions we've found a house to rent. We'd love to live out on the Northern Beaches where we've been staying up to press. The area has a more laid back vibe going on but isn't so well connected (no train line so buses only!) and until we know where Ros and Niall are going to be working we can't commit. So we've taken out a short lease on a house near to the University - fairly central and close to the Northern train line. For the first time in my working life I'm going to be within walking distance of the office, I can see a regular 'sleep in' coming on.

Thanks to friends Ceri and Tony we've had our first Australian BBQ. Similar to a UK BBQ as it turns out - just better weather! It's the approach that's very different - no song and dance, just fire up the ubiquitous gas grill and get on with it. Seems like every back yard is set up with all the required flat surfaces and miscellaneous equipment - they come as standard, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised.

We also discovered the force of the surf yesterday. We walked down to the local beach, the wind was getting up and producing some big breakers on the surf so we dived in. It wasn't long before we were being bowled over - literally. I came out feeling like I'd taken a tumble off the bike, aching bones, grazes and all. Good fun though, Kirsty was with us so there were 4 brits screaming with laughter as we were battered by the sea.

And as promised here's the  first set of photos from Sydney  - enjoy!

Hot!

It's the hottest day since we arrived today - by far! It's currently 36 degrees in the shade and predicted to get hotter towards the end of the afternoon. I'm not so sure I've experienced this before, even in the Caribbean a couple of years ago. I'm not so bad in that I'm in a cool, air conditioned office but Ros and Niall are out and about - not so sure how they're getting on. It's not going to last it seems, they're predicting a max of 22 tomorrow. We're told this is the difference between spring and summer - you can get hot days like this in spring but it's not sustained heat like it gets in the summer. So just a flavour of what's to come!

Like we've always been here.

It's still not two weeks since we landed in Australia but in many ways it seems like we've been here forever. It's amazing how quickly we've 'adapted' - exotic plants, animals and birds become commonplace. You come to expect warm days and are slightly disappointed when it's just 20c. And you become critical of the many fantastic beaches "this one's a bit busy, I much preferred so and so....".

We can't quite get over the cost of living here and a straight conversion from dollars to pounds according to the prevailing conversion rate leaves us feeling short changed. So Ros has come up with a pragmatic solution and has decided a straight two dollars to the pound conversion takes account of the higher salaries .... and certainly helps with the mental arithmetic.

We think we've found the house for us and we're currently filling in the application paperwork. That's another aspect of Australian life we've noticed, everything relies on the completion of long, poorly designed forms... ad infinitum. You come away with the feeling that they, in this case the owner/agent, are doing you a favour allowing you to stay in their house - which would be OK if they weren't charging extortionate sums for the privilege!

We've had a busy weekend seeing the Australian Navy Review in Sydney harbour and then the Jazz festival in Manly. We're beginning to see the city in a more positive light now. The Sydney bridge is far more impressive when crossed on foot or observed from below. Doubly so when it has fireworks and spotlights emanating from it and projections onto it (this during the Naval review on Saturday evening). We also sailed past the Sydney Opera House on the Manly ferry last night and decided it was best seen from the water to appreciate the scale and aesthetics of the building.

Sorry, I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to photos so it's taken me this long to get the Hong Kong images on line. Click to view if you're interested. Early Sydney photo's to follow soon (sooner or later that is!)

First impressions of Sydney

We've been in Sydney for 6 days now and today was the first we've seen a cloud in the sky - kind of what you might expect (not that it's going to last forever). But we are reminded that it's still early spring here by the cool nights! We had a meal out on the first evening with Kirsty, Derek and friends. It was drawing in dark by the time we got there and a cool breeze was blowing from the bay stretched out below us so the restaurant set up outdoor heaters as we ate - seemed a little surreal to be sat out in Australia relying on heaters but we've needed them a couple of evenings since. Just about our false expectations really.

We've spent most of our time north of the city. On the northern beaches and in the suburbs further inland. Everywhere is green, with exotic trees and bushes in abundance. Houses are spacious and well appointed and the roads are wide and fairly free from congestion (on a par with Leeds rather than London). All this in a warm climate!

We have been a little underwhelmed by what we've seen of the city centre however. We've crossed over the harbour bridge a couple of times and been disappointed by the view. Perhaps we just haven't seen it from the right angle as yet or maybe it's because we're now comparing all cityscapes to that of Hong Kong. We'll see - we're keeping an open mind.

To Sydney

Spent our last day in Hong Kong on one of the outlying Islands, Chaung Chau. An island devoted to bikes! No cars allowed. If only all islands were made this way. 

And so we find ourselves in Sydney with Kirsty, Derek and Bob who are kindly putting us up while we find a place for ourselves. The emphasis has been on sorting the basic logistics out: bank, phones, medicare etc. etc. Each is a major achievement in itself and cause for celebration when done and ticked off. 
We're going house hunting tomorrow. Saturdays are the day when all the house-views are open, you get half an hour in each house - jostling with all the other punters. Should be interesting! 

The day after the typhoon

Seems like the typhoon came and went during the night!  It was still raining first thing this morning so we set off with umbrella's, within 5 minutes we were returning to the hotel room for sunglasses and sun screen. So it all felt like an anti-climax in the end. At least we were able to have an unhindered day.

Highlight of the day? Sitting on the quayside by the Staff Ferry landing on Hong Kong island drinking a beer after the day's activities. We were looking out over Victoria Bay at the light show on the 490m high ICC building. So flashing lights in the shape of various objects were beamed across the sea from a building half a kilometre high! Quote of the day (QOTD) - from Ros, at the end of the said light show: "So was that it!"

Day 2 - in Hong Kong

Mmm, looking back on my last post.... seems I was getting a bit carried away with the grandeur of the place, sorry to wax lyrical! 

Carrying on from where I left off, we've now been to a couple of local, non touristy, restaurants. We're learning fast, the first night the owner / manager welcomed us with open arms and promptly recommended what turned out to be a veritable feast of all the most expensive dishes. We struggled! To be fair it was still a cheap meal and he did seem genuinely friendly and concerned that we enjoyed the food. The second night we ordered a single noodle dish each! Again we were the only westerners in the place so we came away satisfied that we had experienced the real deal.

We spent yesterday madly fitting in as many of the tourist destinations as it's possible to do in one day, conscious that we had limited time here.  Or so we thought! We finished the day with news that the biggest typhoon of the year was headed our way and that all flights out of Hong Kong have been cancelled on Monday. Guess when our flight was scheduled for? Seems like we've got a couple more days here. What we can do with the extra time in torrential rain and 50 mile an hour winds who knows? But we're just about to find out. 

First leg of the trip - to Hong Kong

The journey didn't get off to the best of starts. We spent two hours waiting on the tarmac at Manchester while a dent to the fuselage was checked out! So we missed our flight out of Heathrow complicating all arrangements thereafter. Ce la vie - could have been worse, some poor sods had to wait till the next day for their onward journeys. It was like being stuck in an episode of "Airport" at the airline desks, complaints galore!

The experience of flying is akin to enforced rest. A pleasant contrast to the chaos of the last few days at home. I finished reading The Life of Pi on my new Kindle (a leaving present from work). Then started Ian Bank's penultimate novel. Bliss!! 

We arrived in Hong Kong airport, marvelling at the apparent efficiency of the place - in stark contrast to Heathrow. I guess that's the benefit of starting an airport from scratch without the complications of a more organic development. Think the airport was built in the late nineties if my memory serves. Very impressive building in itself built on reclaimed land to the west of the city. 

We were wisked away from the airport in a big black merc. It was hot and still with a slight haze to the sky. Dusk was just starting to come on adding to a slightly surreal atmosphere. Our hotel is on the eastern fringe of Hong Kong island so the trip here took us through Kowloom and then through the central District of Hong Kong. It's one long highway the whole way, no traffic jams. We cruised at 80 miles an hour over several suspension bridges and through tunnels as we zig zagged from island to island. Past 50 storey residential sky scrapers lined up against the backdrop of the mountains. And then into the city itself with staggeringly high sky scrapers with company names lit up in contrast to the  dusky sky. A fantastic start to our break. 

We're resting up in the hotel now. The in house restaurants look rather expensive so we'll be going native,  sure they'll be a genuine eatery nearby. 

One week and counting.

Just one more week before our flights out to Oz. We're stopping off in Hong Kong for three nights on the way out - starting as we mean to go on and making the most of every opportunity. Then it's on to Sydney, landing on the 23rd in time to start work on the 25th. At the moment we're busy saying our goodbyes - never had such an active social life, something happening every day. Here's just one example, courtesy of Sam Mann

It's all very exciting but I do find myself lapsing into reflective moments. I've been getting all sentimental about what we're leaving behind. Not just friends and family but also inanimate objects (bikes, car, stereo) and places (the Dales, Whitby) I won't be seeing for a while! Sad I know!

Soon be there.