Our Fantastic Weekend - 29th February 2012

Hi All,

So I wanted to blog about the brilliant weekend that Phil and I just had. We have loads of fantastic experiences over here and we never seem to be short of things to do which is quite different to when we were back home.

On Friday night we made Steak and potato wedges - this part of the weekend wasn't so great as it resulted in me having a really deep cut at the top of my thumb. Lots of blood! Phil took an emergency trip to the chemist on the corner of the street and luckily we didn't have to do a trip to the hospital. Almost an hour after the incident and some butterfly stitches later and the crisis was over. Phew!

We got up early and went to Dee Why beach on Saturday which is in the North of Sydney. Phil tried surfing for the first time and managed to stand up on his third wave, despite the fact that he had a terrible foam board which he hired from a place just off the beach. He was having a whale of a time and I was pretty jealous sat on the sand with my bandaged thumb. I'll be good to try some paddle boarding or something in a couple of weeks though. The sea is much cleaner over here but still too dirty to go in if you have a cut. Plus, I might have attracted the sharks!! :o)

 Da da da daa daaaa daaaaaaa, da da da daa daaaaaaa.

 Sore thumbs up

Body surfing

After the beach we got the ferry back to Circular Quay (next to the Opera House) and headed to Hyde Park for the Cellar Door wine tasting festival. We tried wines from Hunter Valley, Orange County, Canberra and a couple of other places and they were all pretty amazing. Phil was "exceedingly" happy and relaxed, even though he had sunburn on his nose and his cheeks. 8 weeks in and he got his first sunburn. Not bad. We came back to the apartment and had burritos from the local mexican place with a few (ok, more than a few) glasses of lovely wine.

When Sunday came we went to see Soul II Soul at a club called Ivy. It was an amazing venue. We looked at the cocktail list and were dying to try them since they all looked impressive. I was intrigued by a cocktail that said it came in a white paper bag. I was bemused when it arrived and it was literally a beer glass inside a white paper bag - the kind that you used to get a 10p mix in. Whatever, the cocktail was delicious. Yum. We got a taxi home since it we were both a little drunk.

Unfortunately, the amount of alcohol we drank didn't bode well for my first day at my new job on Monday but I managed to get through it with a lovely cold bottle of Sprite. Thank goodness for Sprite!

Roll on next weekend!!

I'm Online!!!! 23rd February 2012

It's been a really long time since I've blogged but I'm happy to advise that Phil and I now have the internets at home so I'm actually online - woohooo!

So much has happened since I last blogged. I worked for 3 weeks with CBRE and then started working as an Office Manager for a small plumbing company. Both companies have asked me to work for them again so I'm doing 4 weeks with CBRE and then 6 months with the plumbing company. I've been so lucky.

Phil was advised that after working for 4 weeks at his new company, they would be signing off his 3 month probation period as they were happy with how he fits with the company and how well he is doing. Amazing news and definitely a confidence booster. He's had loads of good comments so I'm really proud of him.

The flat is starting to feel a bit more homely now that we've been there for 6 weeks. We've pretty much got everything we need so it looks like we won't be shipping the majority of the things that we planned on having sent over. Out of the 8 boxes and 4 cases I think we can get it down to 4 boxes plus Phil's bike. We don't really have the space for much anyway so it's seems pointless to get it all sent over.

Mardi Gras is coming up and since we are living in the middle of the gay district it's guaranteed to get wild. The town that we live in - Surry Hills - is really lovely. There are so many good places to eat, the streets are clean and the library is great. It's so nice to be able to walk into the city centre each day for work.

We took the bus to Bondi on Friday night to watch Sherlock Holmes 2 at the open air cinema. Armed with the trusty hip-flask, a couple of plastic cups and some Pepsi Max, we had a great time. On Sunday we went to Manly Beach and then went to The Domain, which is the main park for shows and festivals, to see Tropfest - Sydney's short film festival. The judges, along with a few others, were Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette (you're terrible Muriel!) and Nicole Kidman. Unfortunately, half way through, the heavens opened and we were "treated" to an amazing lightning show. We ended putting holes in the bin bags that they give out for rubbish, wearing them and walking home early.

That's all for now. I'll be blogging again very soon, loads to catch up on x

The Stolen Generations

Something that I hadn't heard of before reading up on Australian history was the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families between the 1890s and the 1970s, in many cases never to see their parents again. Children from as young as a couple of weeks old and up to the age of 5 were taken from their families and placed in girls and boys homes, foster families or missions. At the age of 18 they were 'released' into white society, often scarred for life by their experiences. They are now known as 'The Stolen Generations' as the period covered many decades.

It is well documented that when the Europeans settled, they did not want Aborigines to mix with white people as they were seen as an inferior race and wanted them to die out. Originally, the English were instructed to form a treaty with the Aborigines but since the vast number of colonies were small and each spoke a different language, this was difficult to do and so the land was classed as Terra Nullius (uninhabited). Captain Phillip estimated an Aboriginal population of 1,500 people living in the Sydney Region. The total Indigenous population is believed to be between 750,000 and 1 million speaking more than 250 different languages. The Aborigines were moved away to settlements far away from the European infrastructure where it was thought that they would cause less disruption.

The Europeans believed that the Aboriginal culture would die out within a short time if could not be passed along to the children. In three generations, they thought that the Aboriginal genes would have been 'bred' out' when Aboriginal people had children with white people. Adult Aboriginal people resisted efforts to be driven out of towns and simply returned. With the children away from their families, they were much easier to be controlled. Some of the children were told that their parents had died and most of the mixed race children with paler skin were never told that they were of Aboriginal descent and didn't find out until much later in life.

The children were raised on missions or by foster parents and were severely punished if caught talking their Aboriginal language. The girls were trained to be domestic servants and the boys as stockmen. Both were physically and sexually abused and many babies born to girls raped by white men were taken away from them, often as soon as they were born. The institutions have since been compared to concentration camps.

One source estimates that more than 6,200 children were stolen in NSW between 1883 and 1969 and the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that one in every ten Indigenous people aged over 25 had been removed from their families in childhood.

On 13th February 2008, the Australian Parliament apologises to the Stolen Generations Some Australians disagree that an apology was required in the first place, choosing to believe instead that the Stolen Generations didn't exist or were rescued as opposed to stolen. Only Tasmania is offering compensation to families affected by the actions of their predecessors.

Many Aborigines are still searching for their fathers, mothers and siblings.

 

 

 

 

Busy Busy Busy - 24th January 2012

24th January 2012

It's been such a busy week! There is so much going on at the moment and we're trying to fit in as much as possible without wearing ourselves out.

On Friday night we met up with Phil's friend Elizabeth and her boyfriend. We went out for dinner and then went to a club called The Beresford. They played some good pop music so I was happy but Phil wasn't loving it. He was fine though.

On Saturday we went to Symphony in the Park where The Sydney Symphony Orchestra played some classical pieces. It was a free festival which is really common in Sydney. Just as it started to get dark, hundreds of giant bats started to wake and fly from the trees. Not only were they huge, they also flew really low. I'm not afraid of bats but I know some people who would have been really freaked out. For the final piece of music there was an amazing firework display and it just ended the concert perfectly. The only downfall was that family and friends weren't there to experience it with us but then that just means that you will all need to save up as best you can and get your butts over here.

Sunday was spent with Phil's family friends Pam and Fred plus their Daughters, Husbands and Grandchild in North Sydney. We had a BBQ, some drinks and some delicious fruit for dessert. The fruit tastes amazing over here - it's almost like it drinks in the sun making it more juicy and sweet. The melon over here is amazing.

It is Australia Day on Thursday and we are planning on seeing the ferry boat racing and the 21 gun salute. After that we'll head to The Rocks for (another) free outdoor music festival. I've been told that there will be fireworks everywhere so maybe we'll head home and watch them from the roof terrace with a couple of beers.

The Chinese New Year Festival continues this weekend and on Sunday we are hoping to watch the parade and the building projections and then go to Cockle Bay to watch the firework display. You can't buy fireworks in Sydney - probably due to the risk of bush fires - so they have public displays all of the time. It's like my own little piece of paradise *sigh*.

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It's Been a While - 19th January 2012

19th January 2012

It's been a while since I've blogged as we moved house recently and we don't have internet access at our apartment yet. I'm using my work internet at the moment. Shhh, don't tell them.

We moved into the apartment on Tuesday and apart from having a nightmare with the pre-tenancy cleaning (you don't want to know), it's really nice. We'll put some pics on very soon but in the meantime, here is the website where it is listed:

Phil & Nicola's New Apartment

It has a nearly-new kitchen and bathroom and whilst it's small, it's big enough for the two of us. The apartment block has a pool, hot tub and a roof terrace that has amazing 360% views of Sydney. There is a BBQ up there and toilets so if we want to hang out with friends, we've got a really cool place to go.

I started my new job on Friday 13th and despite the date, everything went well. The people are nice and the work is fine. Phil has had to work late a few times so I'd better find something to keep me out of trouble in the evenings. He's settling in too though.

I've been hearing lots of stories about spiders which makes me none-too-pleased but I'm going to have to get over that I suppose. If you get a chance, put 'Huntsman Spider' into Google. These are one of the most common spiders in Australia and they are completely harmless. Still, you wouldn't want one running over your face in the middle of the night would you?!?! They are named after their speed and mode of hunting and they are pretty good jumpers. Can you think of anything worse? Whilst the Redback spider is quite rare in the centre of Sydney, Huntsmans are quite common. As soon as I see one, I may just be on the next flight home!

I'll do a proper update over the weekend when I'm not skiving :)

Working, Apartment Hunting and Chinese New Year - Wednesday 11th January

Wednesday 11th January

A lot has happened in the last couple of days. Phil started his new job and has been working long hours plus, he has loads of reading to do when he gets home in the evening. I've been playing Housewife whilst looking for work and sorting out a place to live. I went to Hays agency and they've offered me a 3 week contract starting tomorrow for CRBE in the heart of the city. They are going to look for a permanent position whilst I'm there.

We applied for an apartment on Boomerang Place. The place is small and cluttered but it's within our budget and has a good balcony and a nice view which is more than can be said for a lot of these places. We did look at one in Chinatown but the Chinese smell in the gym was a little overpowering - we should have expected that but still... Besides, how are you expected to concentrate on working out when you can smell delicious Chinese food? The apartment on Boomerang Place is on hold for us whilst they get approval from the landlord so hopefully we'll hear that we've got it today.

We're hoping to go and see a Dixieland band called Tuba Skinny at a place called The Basement tonight. We saw them at the Sydney Festival and they were great.

Have a listen here: Tuba Skinny. They have a guy playing the washboard - I'm thinking about learning to play it :)

I have to wait until tonight to find out if we're going though as it will depend on Phil's tiredness and stress levels. I've found out that Aretha Franklin is playing at the same place on 24th March so I'm going to speak with him tonight to see if he wants to go to that. That would just be amazing!

Sydney gearing up for Chinese New Year now. There is a free open-air movie in the park on Monday about the life of Bruce Lee as told by his brother. Then next weekend we'll be attending the parade with the Chinese Dragon and finishing it off with the firework display. I can't wait!!

Chinatown in Sydney

Sydney Opera House - Sunday 8th January

Sunday 8^th January

Today we went to see the Sydney Opera House and Phil won the competition of who could touch it first. We never agreed on the prize so I think I got off lightly. It was up about 40 steps so I never really stood a chance. We found out that Erykah Badu is playing a concert on 8^th and 9^th February and we’re going to see if we can get tickets. The only seats left are on the very back row of the highest tier and the tickets are 79 dollars each but since we both love Erykah Badu, and since it is the Opera House, we’re going to splash out. Besides, we’ll have been together for 5 years on 4^th February and it’s coming up to Valentines Day so we figure that it’ll be a good joint celebration.

In case you haven't heard of her, here is my favourite song featuring Erykah Badu:

Phil has found a comic shop around the corner that sells all of the DC comics that he usually reads so he’s gone back there with the regular reading list that his Farnborough comic shop, Dark Star, put together for him – he’s such a geek! I’m trying to rest my feet after the stupid amount of walking that we’ve done in the last 5 days. Without exaggeration, we’ve walked over 20 miles and my feet are killing me. I’ve told Phil that he has to give me a foot rub but he’s not really taking any notice. Sad face.

Tomorrow is Phil’s first day at work and I have to knuckle down and find myself a job. I’m amazed at how much money we have spent already and it’s starting to hit home that if we want a good lifestyle, I’m going to have to get out there and start working ASAP. They pay well out here but it’s all relative. I’d love to do something to do with writing but my experience doesn’t lie in that field. Looks like I may have to go back to FM which I really don’t want to do. I’d take any admin job if I had the opportunity. If all else fails, I know that KFC are hiring down the road ;o)