Almost 4 Years In...

Ok.. so my blogging on this site came to somewhat of a halt. Oops, I've even made it a New Years Resolution for the last 2 years. Clearly, I need more motivation to do that. 

I fully live in Australia now. I am constantly plagued by the internal battle of 'Will I stay or will I go'. 

A wise woman down my gym in Lane Cove spoke to me about it one day. I loved talking to this lady - she was a total amateaur dramatic enthusiast, had wild hair like Leo Sayer, always wore shiny spandex in the gym and 2 different coloured socks. Very well spoken, always reading a classic script on the treadmill at a high walking pace. 

She is an Aussue and told me she had lived in London many moons ago. Just a few weeks before we spoke, her daughters had moved over to find their fortune in the big smoke. 

Her advice is there is no right answer of where to stay. She is still torn by her decision to move back to Australia, but at the same time loves it and loves being near her family. If she didn't have her son and mother to look after, she would have moved over with her daughters and stayed again.

So I am still battling with trying to make Australia home. There are so many people I love on the other side of the world but there are benefits of being here. 

So for the moment, I am just going to type the amusing differences/facts I find between both places.

1: Tea. Aussies cannot do tea like the Irish and Brits. They do some great flavoured tea, but not black tea like Barrys, Yorkshire, Lyons, PG tips... One of the things that I crave is a big mug of tea in my parents kitchen, listening to Radio 2. 

2. Coffee. Brits CANNOT do coffee like the Aussies. I am a coffee snob now. I love a flat white - if you put me in front of a coffee machine and told me to make one, I would make a total pigs ear of it, but then I'm not a barista. I love the experience of going for a good take away coffee, sitting on a grassy verge and over looking the ocean. 

3. Sausages. Beef sausage? Chicken sausage? Are you on crack Australia?

4. Morning Tea. In most work places in Australia, there is a set time to stop for a break for 'morning tea'. Apparently it's from a British tradition..?!
5. Only in Australia (a country less effected by the GLC) would you find a water bottle for yoga that costs $50.
6. Risoles in Australia - like meatballs, but put on a BBQ - yum!
7. Indian food in England is the best (apart from India obvisouly)
8. Thai and Vietnamese food in Australia is amazing
9. In Manchester is is common to greet one another with, 'Hiya, 'alright?' and in Australia people in shops ask you 'Hello, how are you?' - am I actually supposed to answer either or is it just a greeting??
10. Horse Racing is a big thing in Australia. Like, BIG. While I was home last month I was discussing this with a friend who thought most Aussies just live at the beach wearing loungy cut off beach wear. Not so much.. she was quite surprised by the glamourous description of the big hair, high heels, facinators and apparel that is very common when the race season begins. It's big business here.
11. Vegimite and avocado (together) is a thing.
12. Europeans do clothes better. Sorry, but it's true.
13. Yoga is everywhere you go here. That's a good thing. 
14. There are some great Australian TV series that don't make it to UK: The Slap, The Glitch, The Moodies Do Christmas, Would Like to Date, Offspring..
15. Australians are in total denial of winter. Homes are not built with insulation or double  glazing. If I'm cold, my boyfriend frequently tells me to put more layers on. I end up looking like the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. OK, it's not -2, but 5 degrees in the rain with no heating and vents that go straight to the outdoors is COLD! 

That's all for the moment. I think I don't write this much any more because I write so much in one go. So I will try and start again with small tips and comments about me being an 'expat'/ economic migrant in Aus. x

2 Years in Australia..

Sydney Swans vs Carlton!

My pledge of writing this blog more frequently fell flat on it's arse when I got a new job. 

I had grand plans of micro blogging about world events and random thoughts, but then I moved to a house over an hour from where I worked.
Plus I moved to a home without the internet.
I LOVE my new home. I'm blissfully happy, living near Curl Curl Beach. It's gorgeous.

Blink and you'll miss it, it's nearly the end of my 2 years in Australia - I can't believe how much time has flown, it feels like yesterday I flew into Sydney.. I'm going home to Manchester for Christmas in 2 weeks.

But just for Christmas, as after months of determination and hundreds of applications, I managed to get a job that will sponsor me to stay in Australia.
The sponsorship itself was a bit like wrestling a crocodile and after months of trying to organise all kinds of paperwork and a failed application, I was kindly given the number of an immigration lawyer who sorted it all out in 3 weeks.

Phew!

I don't really know how to sum up the last year, but it's been brilliant. It's late, it's nearly Christmas and I fly out to the Philippines next week so I don't know when I'll get another chance to sit and write anything before the end of the year.
So, I will add the following photos and you can see what I've been up to..

Southern Right Whale. Wow!

Hump Back Whale in Narooma! Dream come true!

Pointing at seal colony, Montague Island

Montague Island, Narooma, NSW

Tugboat Man, Central Coast, NSW

Vivid Sydney

Vivid Sydney

Cockatoo Island with Tor

Supporting Manly with Tor in some Grand Final, 2013

Open Top Bus Tour with Cat (and a chicken on her head), Sydney

Port Arthur, Tasmania

Wine Glass Bay, Tasmania

Price Harry, Fleet Review

Camping by Nora Heads

Sydney Harbour, Fleet Review

Nora Heads, Central Coast, NSW

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!

Tonight we have had our first rain storm. And there was no fannying about- this was huge thunder claps and lightning flashes. The Von Trapp children would have gone mental. However, the storm is fine as we were all indoors and it made things a little cooler.

Yes,  this week while people are slowly returning to work after Christmas with all the wicked weather and wind in the northern hemisphere, my unemployed bum has rolled out into glorious hot (sometimes too hot!) sunshine and onto the beach (and other nice destinations).

Me on Forresters Beach, New Years Day

Last week of course was New Years Eve. We headed out to the Blue Mountains to have lunch with some friends, one of whom recently had a very cute baby called Leila (she couldn’t be anything else with such a name!) and is married to one of the band members of Cloud Control. You should listen to them, they are awesome!

 The Blue Mountains are absolutely stunning – as quoted from Wikipedia, ‘Volatile terpenoids emitted in large quantities by the abundant eucalyptus trees in the Blue Mountains may cause mie scattering and thus the blue haze for which the mountains were named.’

The back ‘garden’ of where we had lunch is the side of a rocky hill, with a dramatic drop to the valley at the back. Apparently there are also lots of snakes there, but gladly we did not see any..!

Josh and Elise in the 'back garden' 

Initial plans were to celebrate NYE on the beach, but instead we stayed in Parramatta, got a bit giddy on tequila, Loz and Josh showed me how to dance ‘skanking’ (no, that is NOT a pseudonym, it’s a mad way of dancing) and then we headed out for fireworks. There were local Parra fireworks on the river at 9pm –  and then we headed to Ashfield park with bubbly and sparklers for a full (albeit, distant) view of the Sydney harbour fireworks. Amazing!

Lauren and myself on the way to Ashfield Park

Josh showing up the 'historical' convict built drain in Parramatta, NYE

Instead of the traditional New Years Day spent in a 7.5 tonne truck with Paddy Wagon driving back from Newcastle feeling happy but slightly worse for wear (go Team Truck!) or feeling hungover as hell holding onto the couch for dear life while Julie Andrews sings ‘A Spoonful Of Sugar’ on the telly, this year I went to the beach. And it was bloody lovely. Loz and Josh have a friend who owns a holiday house on Forresters Beach, north of Sydney on the Central Coast. Even when we got to beach at 4.00pm it was warm enough to head down to the sand and have a quick swim. Crystal clear waters and soft sand.

That night we ate kangaroo bolognaise. Yum.

Forresters Beach

My Feet, Forresters Beach, 1st January 2012

Alix, Lauren and me on Forresters Beach

Next day, headed off to a party on the rooftop of a flat on Bronte beach. Bronte is just down from Bondi beach and has a huge cemetery! We struggled to find parking so had to walk across it to get to the party. There was some tall wall climbing to get through it and various body part were accidently exposed in the wind..

Me, rooftop garden, Bronte

 Bronte Beach, 2nd January 2012

 Met some really lovely people, sipped cold beer and had a BBQ before heading to the beach for a quick dip. I scooted off early to head into central Sydney, where (with the Opera House in full view in the background) I had reunion with the lovely Cat Dillon who I know from South Manchester Operatics. We laughed and talked crudely for hours over dinner. I’d started to feel a little homesick but she totally brought me back up.

If you ever get the chance to see the work of Rafael Lozano Hemmer – jump at it. He uses modern technology to engage the viewer into his work. The Museum of Contemporary Art currently has a collection of his work called ‘Recorders’. It explores the use of surveillance technology which can be entertaining, but has a darker background in an Orwellian sense of being watched and traced. It basically records all your patterns as you roam around the exhibition. One large room is full of hanging light bulbs – there is a device that you hold onto for 15 seconds which measures your heartbeat- once you let go the entire room goes dark except for one bulb, which them mimics your heart rate. Another room has tape measures which grow as more people walk in, another has microphones you speaks into which then repeat the message the previous person said.. maybe you have to be there to enjoy it, but I thought it was fascinating.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Interesting street art, Sydney

That was the start of my tourist day out in Sydney. I sipped iced coffee, ate fresh sushi and just wandered around, strolling into the occasional shop.. we were down the coast yesterday in Woollongong and hanging out in Parra today, but I plan to head into Sydney again tomorrow. 

Typical tourist photo of Circular Quay

Other less touristy activities include drinking G&T and becoming hooked to the TV series 'Big Love'. About polygamist Mormons. Lot's of sister wife jokes made in the household.

 I also went to the bank today to get all my money stuff sorted. The man serving me was like Daniel from ‘The Angry Boys’. I kid you not.. he is not doing himself any favours to get away from stereotypes (see video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuU_v0P-q2c 

And I killed a big cockroach (..but I did not shoot the deputy..).

This weekend, I have a day of work marshalling for a show called ‘As The World Tipped’ by Wired Aerial Theatre (from Liverpool) as part of The Sydney Festival. http://www.astheworldtipped.com/ There’s a real buzz in the city with the opening of the festival, so I’m really looking forward to working on it!

Next stop, try and find a job.. (and have a birthday)