Ozztraaaaaalyah

Basil and Bonkers

2009-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

We have our BBQ this weekend with the neighbours....thanks England....which we're really looking forward to. Our homestay students are driving us Bonkers, so it will be nice to get away from them. Got to just keep grinning and bearing it, and think about the extra cash.

Had my birthday, turned 34, now feeling old, well oldish. Next year I'll be half-way to 70. Nice. Megan took Basil and me up to Peregian Beach on the Sunshine coast for a nice weekend away. We all loved it and had a wonderful relaxing time, except maybe the time I had to chase Basil down the beach with a small jellyfish in his mouth. Needless to say he's starting to get very quick - not as quick as Usain Bolt mind you, but I give him another couple of weeks until he's making me look like a 90 year old marathon runner. Oh, and also got some lovely cards and pressies from everyone, so thank you, and even managed to get a light tan.

Megan's conviced we should both chuck in our jobs and open up a cafe somewhere up the sunshine coast to escape from the endless grind and monotony of slaving away all day every day to line someone else's pockets; am tempted to agree but somehow feel that this would be swapping one type of grind for another that comes in a mug. Decisions decisions.

Off to Byron Bay with Basil and MC and possibly also Carls and Matt at the start of October. Really looking forward to that. In the meantime we'll just be getting on with things, trying to plan our return to the UK and generally just enjoying the great weather we've been having.

Basil & The Ashes

2009-09-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Since I last wrote, apologies for any keen readers out there (though I do get the feeling I am mostly writing for myself), Basil has arrived, August has come and gone, and almost most importantly England have won the Ashes. What fun I've had consoling my Strayian work colleagues. At least they're still good at the pole vault, or one of them is anyway.

Naturally England's win meant i won my bet with the neighbour, so thay are very kindly hosting a huge slap-up bbq for us in a couple of weeks. So jolly kind of them!

Basil....hmmm....Basil is a little monkey with piranha-sharp teeth. He is unbelievably cute and good-natured, when he's not trying to chew the backs of your legs. We've now had him for just over 5 weeks and he has doubled in size, eats like a horse, and craps like an elephant. but he's still cute. The picture is of him on his first visit to the beach down the Gold Coast. He loved it. Since then he tries to go swimming at every opportunity, which includes in his water bowl and under the garden hose. More of Basil later.

Having had a 3 week break from the homestay students we're now back up to full capacity with two swiss girls staying with us. It turns out that one is a sous-chef in real life so we're looking forward to some tasty meals in the next few weeks. In fact, we've got a pretty full-house at the moment with a couple of Megan's friends from the UK also staying, as they journey round the world.

Sadly megan and I have had to forego our honeymoon plans for October, owing to my work. We've been informed that we all 'have' to take 3 weeks off over xmas which basically means we can't take time off at any other time. So it looks like we may well be coming back to the UK and Hungary for xmas and New Year, and then will try to fit in our honeymoon on the way back out to Oz. Looks like we'll try to go to Thailand or somewhere similar. We shall see.

Thought I'd start putting in an Albertism every time I blog - in essence, a comment/deed/action or lack thereof, made by the father-in-law which should never have been made or contemplated in the first instance. At his daughter's graduation (yes the other one!), he was somewhat taken aback by the number of people of Asian extraction going up to collect their degrees and queried rather too loudly whether in fact they were getting their degrees in English.

Basil

2009-07-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

Since I last wrote a fair amount has happened. I've been to the UK and Hungary on a lightening visit. Got horrifically jetlagged and caught some pretty manky flu. Our resident Colombian and Swiss students have moved out to be replaced by a Taiwanese and another Swiss student. I'm convinced one of them is a botter, a hamrider, a teapot man, a doughnut puncher, bats for the other side, whatever you want to call it. Hey-ho, that's his choice.

Anyway, the most important news, aside from England winning the Lords test, is that we went out to Toowoomba (or T-bar as the locals call it) to see the little fella in the picture.....Basil. Megan will be picking him up next Friday, and then bringing him home. Can't wait, he's so cute. He starts puppy pre-school on the 12th.

Oh, and it was Megan's birthday on Monday, so one lucky (young) lady got very spoiled. We went down to the Gold Coast on Saturday for lunch with some of the family, and then came back up to Brisvegas in the pm to be visited by the rest of the family. Needless to say it was a fun day.

Almost forgot - And then there were.....

2009-05-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

....about 360! It finally happened, the powers that be (the 'little one'!) said 'roll over', so one rolled over and 40 fell out. The global economic downturn has hit E&Y Brisbane. Last week about 1/10 (about 40) of our staff were 'let go', including 11 from my tax group. I think a further 60 or so in total were also let go from our Melbourne and Sydney offices. The little one has so far neither confirmed nor denied that there will be any more.

That said, we have been told that everything should be ok for the next few months (hmmm!), however it does look likely that enforced unpaid leave and 4 day weeks/9 day fortnights will be coming into the equation fairly soon.

It's like a whole series of 'Survivor' here, not just one episode. Better start honing my 'hunter-gatherer' skills, and learn how to spear fish!

Homestay

2009-05-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

We're now over a week into our first ever homestay experience. Taiki, a 20 year old English language student from just outside Yokohoma, at one of the language colleges here in Brisvegas, is our proverbial guineau-pig. Despite moments of incomprehension on both sides, my dreadful attempts to simplify things by using pigeon-english with a japanese accent and his inability to make a sandwich in under 30 minutes, everything seems to be going pretty smoothly.

In fact, being an ardent Man Utd supporter his arrival has given me a 2/3 majority for watching sport on the big screen. Shame the season's nearly over; guess, i'll just try to convert him into a cricket and rugby union fan for the rest of his 3 week stay with us.

Taiki (pronounced Tacky) unbeknown to him has already accumulated a couple of nicknames - Tic-tac to MC and the girls and Turkey to one unspecified individual (Mat!). Oh, and before you ask, he does have an incredible amount of gadgets for just about everything. Sadly, though, not one for making a sandwich in under 30 minutes.

As I've said everything seems to be working out, so we've agreed to take on another homestay student for 8 weeks from the 23rd May. This one is from Switzerland I think....language hopefully shouldn't be as much of a problem, as it sometimes is with Taiki. Poor chap took two days to work out that when the new chap arrives he doesn't have to share his bed, we'll be turning the study into a second spare room with a little help from Ikea. Yes, they have that here too, only it's not half as decent as it is in the UK.

Bank Holiday Weekend

2009-04-29T18:26:00.000-07:00

Almost the weekend, and a 3 day weekend too on account of Labor Day up here in Qld. It would be made so much better if they could actually spell labour properly. Maybe I let things like that get to me a bit too much!

All of Megan's nieces are coming up to stay for a pyjama party on Friday night, as they have a big dance competition on Saturday morning up here in Brisvegas. The girls have been so excited, especially Soraya who is now my email pen-pal!

Then on either Sunday or Monday we will be welcoming our first homestay student, who'll be living with us for the next 4 weeks or so. In between all of that we'll probably be popping down to the northern end of the gold coast to check out some places, and I expect I'll probably be up late on Saturday night watching the 2000 Guineas live. It's got to be between Delegator and Mastercraftsman, with preference for Delegator after his thumping win in the Craven.....7/2 odds may be a bit short though, with not much value in that.

All in all, chcuk in a few beers and it should be a fun weekend, especially if the weather stays this nice. Hope you all have a great bank holiday weekend back in the UK too.

Oh to be in England

2009-04-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

Autumn is slowly fading into winter out here. We've just had our coldest morning yet - a chilly 15 degrees - and everyone is moaning, apart from me. Many thanks also to those of you that have been emailing me descriptions of the sights, smells and sounds of England in Spring; it's making me feel very jealous (you know who you are!).

The weather today reminded me of a beautiful Spring morning in the UK, and evoked Robert Browning's poem 'Home thoughts from abroad' - quite apt really. It was also one of dad's favourite poems. I remember him quoting it to me every springtime when i was younger:

Oh to be in England
Now that April's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England - now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark! where my blossomed pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops - at the bent spray's edge -
That's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower-
Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower

Now i feel really homesick. Better go have a beer under the palm tree I think!

Easter puppy

2009-04-08T22:30:00.001-07:00

So, Easter is almost upon us and the Easter bunny is on his way. What's he going to bring us, I hear you say?

For Easter this year the easter bunny was going to bring us a little springer spaniel puppy....yes, the little chap in the picture. Sadly, we have had to put his arrival on hold and will be waiting for one of his cousins from a litter later this year. Little 'Basil' as he will be known is still just a glint in his father's eye at present. But, soon once we've got 'Basil' we will get him a little mate called 'Manuel' to keep him company and carry the luggage!

Megan and I are off to the gabba on Saturday to watch my first ever game of Strine rules football (or AFL as they call it here) with Chook and Albert. Apparently the Lions are playing the Swans - should be pretty one-sided I would have thought.

We'll also be getting the dvd of the wedding which we will be watching over the weekend. I'll be counting the number of times I mop up my sweat during the ceremony, and having a shot each time. I reckon I'll be hammered by the second reading! Off to a bar tonight called 'the Lark' for MC's birthday - they have grilled camembert with sour dough dipping soldiers. Can't wait! Happy Birthday MC.

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter weekend and heaps of chocolate. Whilst I remember I've also got to give a big shout out to Henry for his birthday on Easter Sunday. Happy Birthday Henry!!

Wedding pictures & back to reality

2009-03-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

There are about 100 or so photos from the wedding at: www.justphotography.com.au/calderbank for those of you that are interested. Carly has very kindly uploaded these in a format so that they are easy to burn on to disc and be printed out.

Hope you like them. More soon.

As I mentioned previously we had an incredible couple of weeks. Megan and I keep remembering amusing stories that cause us to have a little giggle when neither is expecting it.....Yes Albert, everybody was leaving, but no, no-one farted! Ladies don't necessarily get to go through a door first, and when Monza's playing pool ' back off Borat!' Interestingly whilst up in Noosa, Nik, Kullervo and I managed to create a version of texas hold'em using only 5 dice (thanks to poker shark Kullervo for allowing Nik and I to clean him out on day 1, but then rob us off our shirts on day 2!). It's amazing what 3 guys with 5 dice can get up to when it's raining. Anyone interested in the rights to the game please apply here; we're thinking about syndicating the game to Sky sports.

It was a strange and long first week back at work, feeeling kind of empty and flat; oh, and tired too. It's so strange thinking that so many of my friends and family were mostly out here a couple of weeks ago celebrating, and now everyone is gone and getting on with their lives. Anyhow, it won't be too long before i'm back in the UK for my best man's (Henry) wedding at the end of June, and I can't wait to catch up with as many of you as I can. To the UK and back again in 6 days...jetlag will be fun.

Thanks to all of you again.

An English Austrayian Hungarian Wedding

2009-03-22T23:33:00.001-07:00

Port Douglas will have to wait. Wow - done it, married to Mrs C! What an amazing day (not a bogun in sight, though there may have been one or two CUBs!), in fact what an amazing couple of weeks we've had. Thank you so much to all of you who made it out and also all of you who were unable to come to Oz. We have had the most incredible two weeks of our lives, and that's all down to you.

We're still floating high on the memories and returning to work was made all the easier for these amazing memories. In fact I invite you all to let me know what yours were. Whether it be the appearance of 'Jane' at the bridal shower, an anecdote about Sean Connery and Petula Clark going 'downtown', a night out in Newquay, hearing how deafness can cause colour-blindness, a favourite uncle Albert comment (believe me there were many, and I expect there won't be too many more visitors to Sydney as a result), 'Crikey', seeing the bride play pool in her wedding dress at 2am, seeing Batman, or even just watching the groom sweat it out at the altar - quite literally!

There will be more very soon, but I just wanted to express our thanks and send our love and best wishes to you all wherever you now are. Life goes on, and I've got some billing to do!

Back to the Beginning but ambushed by boguns

2009-01-02T17:49:00.000-08:00

So here we are, another year has come and gone, and 2009 brings with it a year of change. New country, new job, new home, new marital status, and new challenges. Thankfully, though, 2009 has not brought with it the freezing conditions in the UK. Whilst it's been freezing in the 30's fahrenheit back at home, we've been chilling in the 30's celsius out here and making good use of our air-con.

One quick point before I begin again; it has been pointed out to me (thank you best man) that Ozztraaaaaalyah should not have an L in it. Whilst trying to discover what a 'bogun' was earlier today I learnt that my best man was right - much to my own chagrin. There is no L in Austrayia, if you are an Austrayian. You, as I was, may be interested to learn that a bogun is a specific type of Austrayian that is usually caucasian, of uncouth and lower class background, residing on the edge of civilisation. Characteristics of a bogun include, proudly sporting a mullet hair cut (now pronounced Mool-eh), extremely small shorts (religion-defining), a grease stained t-shirt underneath a flanelette shirt of some description. A bogun's natural habitat is any suburb of Austrayia with low property values, in a house that generally has 2 or 3 cars up on bricks in the front yard with no wheels or missing vital mechanical parts. One of the cars must be a ute. Boguns are generally spotted with a stubbie (screw top beer bottle) or bong (pot smoking paraphernalia) in hand.

So then, we arrived in Oz back at the beginning of September - not a bogun in sight - and headed straight up to Port Douglas, up in the tropical north-east of Queensland, for a week's holiday as we had not been able to fly out via Thailand owing to the civil unrest there at the time.....tbc

Merry New Year

2008-12-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

Merry New Year to you all from us both.

Just a quick picture of me on 4 mile beach up in Port Douglas (part of tropical northern Queensland) when we were up there back in September. Port Douglas, along with Cairns, being inthe Tropics is one of the most humid parts of Oz; so humid that mould will grow on your furniture during these times. December to March (normally Oz summer) is rainy season, and for much of the year you cannot even swim in the ocean on account of the stingers (jelly-fish). having said that it truly is beautiful up there and has very easy access to the Barrier Reef.

Yes, the beach really is about 4 miles long (I'v e run it and was well and truly knackered) and yes the temperature is even hotter now than it was back then. Today it hit about 35 degrees down here in BrisVegas, but thankfully the humidity was down on the last couple of days. We're are loving our air-con!

We're off to celebrate the New Year with some friends, Benita & Brenden and their retriever Oscar, who happen to live round the corner from us. Chin-chin and enjoy!

Have a great New Year and see you in 2009.

Santa Lives or Any Takers?

2008-12-28T05:19:00.000-08:00

Santa Claus is real, or so a 6 year old living on the Gold Coast gets to believe for yet another year. His sister is now counting the cash...one can only imagine what the going rate will be next year!! Maybe the elder brother will get in on the scam...heck, the way the world's financial markets are falling apart maybe i need to get in on the scam. In fact, maybe i need a magician...a special magician?

That said, whilst Santa lives, we hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, and all got what you hoped for. We certainly had an enjoyable and relaxing time. Christmas was, from past experience, remarkably unhectic, fun, and when not playing cricket in the garden or baseball on the wii, not painful either (the shoulder!!).
It should be pointed out here that generally you do not have a big roast dinner at Christmas; it is simply too hot. Cold meats and seafood, bbq's sometimes and just heaps of cold beer and white wine are the norm.
A few days of that and soon the home instincts start kicking in......curry! It just can't be helped.
Thank the curry king of Miami (also known as Abe Froman, though not as well known for his sausages...or Chicago for that matter) for his Tandoor Palace. It's been found. Finally, a fantastic curry house round the corner from Chook and Albert's place (that is the future in-law's place, Sandra and Alan to some, Chook and Albert to others, and to a few Madge and Harold!!). I'll just end this now by saying i did not have the heart to try either the 'Vindaloo Roo' or the 'Kangaroo Korma'. Those dishes are being saved for someone far braver than the both of us. Any takers?

By Way of Explanation...

2008-12-22T16:46:00.000-08:00

....the title of this blog, you may have realised, bears a slight resemblance to a recently released film. Thankfully on this site there will be no pictures of Hugh Jackman and/or Nicole Kidman, and this one time aside no mention of Baz Luhrmann! There might however be pictures of stunning beaches, dramatic backdrops, beautiful sunsets, bottles of beer (or bubbles in this case), shrimps on the barbie, and our almost-houstrained gecko - he knows that he's not supposed to go into the house or else we throw things at him.
It also sounds a bit like what natives of this country call their homeland. Well, to me anyway!
I thought that by calling it Ozztraaaaaalyah (got to get the right amount of a's in there) I could present a Bill Brysonesque insight or view into what Megan and I get up to, where we go and what Australia is like from an English (well, half-English) point of view. It also seems like a great, but more fun way to keep a diary, that everyone can see. We'll see.

In the meantime I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you don't have to go through the ethical dilemma that one of Megan's nieces is going through at the moment. She has just worked out that Santa (shhh!) isn't real, and that her parents have lied to her, her entire life....should she or should she not tell her younger brother the truth....all will be revealed !!
Merry Christmas.

Katch Up

2008-12-21T01:32:00.001-08:00

Well here we are. We made it out here in one piece, sanity intact and raring to go...well, that was 3 months ago. It's now coming up to Christmas, we've been in our new place and new jobs for about 3 months and there's just under 3 months to go until the wedding - life is moving pretty damn quick.
I've got to apologise to so many people who might read this - it was promised so long ago and i've only just got it up (no pun intended) and running!
I'll revisit lots of what we've done so far in the coming weeks, but suffice to say that so far we have worked out why australians have 'watch out for the kangaroo' roadsigns, why it's good to carry a spare fuel can in your car, why it's also good to put suncream on before lying by the pool for 2 hours, how not to cook kangaroo, named our friendly garden gecko, seen a possum, hidden from the hailstones, been confounded by people's kindness, and whilst living life at 100 miles an hour being busy, managed to relax a bit too. We've also found the best pie-shop next to the craziest-looking pub in the world!
OH, and summer is just arriving!