Sunday, February 7, 2010
Running out of underwear
It's quite rare in Sydney to own a clothes dryer. Just about every house and apartment building I've seen has been equipped with some kind of clothes line in the backyard. Usually, not having a clothes dryer doesn't bother me one bit. In fact, I'm quite fond of hanging my clothes to dry, and used to do it in Ottawa in the summer months and love being able to do it here year round....except this past week, when it rained almost every day for the past week, and we are quickly running out of clean clothes. Luckily, today the sun finally burst through the clouds and tomorrow is looking like a good rain-free day to do some laundry...just. in. time.
Friday, January 29, 2010
They grow 'em big around here
We're smack in the middle of summer here, and the fruits and veg in our weekly organic basket are unbelievable, steroid-sized and delish. Definitely not the typical produce we were used to seeing in our local Ottawa grocery store.
Since we're planning to be here for a limited time (3yrs - the length of my scholarship), I have to admit that I spend too much time thinking in terms of "I'm not going to miss this one bit" (usually referring to the cost of living in Sydney, or the fact that my name seems to be unpronounceable to most aussies) or "How am I going to live without this when we go back home?". Being able to eat these amazing, fresh and delicious fruits and veggies year-round definitely falls in the category of something I'm going to really miss.
The lettuce in our basket this week:
Our fridge, after we've packed it full of this week's delivery....and yes we do eat more than just green stuff, yogurt and diet coke.
Since we're planning to be here for a limited time (3yrs - the length of my scholarship), I have to admit that I spend too much time thinking in terms of "I'm not going to miss this one bit" (usually referring to the cost of living in Sydney, or the fact that my name seems to be unpronounceable to most aussies) or "How am I going to live without this when we go back home?". Being able to eat these amazing, fresh and delicious fruits and veggies year-round definitely falls in the category of something I'm going to really miss.
The lettuce in our basket this week:
Our fridge, after we've packed it full of this week's delivery....and yes we do eat more than just green stuff, yogurt and diet coke.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Snow Day
No, of course we're not having a snow day, but today the temperature topped out at 35+, and although our ocean-side apartment usually keeps cool if we open the windows and patio doors wide to let the sea breezes in, today is the exception to the rule. It's like being inside a dryer outside, the wind is hot and strong. So, just like having a snow day in Canada, today we're hiding out in our apartment, leaving only for an occasional run to the beach to cool off.
Last week, Vic's parents headed back home and we're no longer spoiled by having family around. We had a great visit, and of course there's always the side benefit of having free babysitters! Gus is on summer holidays right now (school's starts again next Thursday...and I'm counting down the days!). So, since they left I've been splitting my time between dragging him around on study-related tasks and dropping him off at various parents' houses (with promises to provide child care for their kids on other as-yet unspecified days in the future) so that I can run downtown to survey people who inject drugs for my thesis. After making my own schedule for the past year and a half, being tied down to a more rigid schedule is making me crazy! It's also gotten me a little worried about having to go back to a 9 to 5 job at the end of all this. It will be a difficult transition, that's for sure.
Luckily my parents are coming in a week from now, so we'll once again have family around, plus there's also that free babysitter thing. We've already lined up one night out, where we're going to see Carus Thompson at the Vanguard. Can't wait!
Very exciting for us is that most recently, our little suburb was in the paper, this time for a good reason (usually it's mentioned because of an arrest of one or more members of an infamous surfie gang in our 'hood). The article was about how our suburb is being gentrified, and is becoming all about the lattes and organic veggies, but also about how many of the locals are nervous about the changes and are worried it will turn into a Coogee or Bondi (two of the more popular and very busy beachside suburbs in the area), and how they enjoy the feel of it, just as it is. One local described it as "a bit bohemian and a bit ghetto", which is an apt descriptor and I'm happy to be a part of it while we're here in Sydney.
Last week, Vic's parents headed back home and we're no longer spoiled by having family around. We had a great visit, and of course there's always the side benefit of having free babysitters! Gus is on summer holidays right now (school's starts again next Thursday...and I'm counting down the days!). So, since they left I've been splitting my time between dragging him around on study-related tasks and dropping him off at various parents' houses (with promises to provide child care for their kids on other as-yet unspecified days in the future) so that I can run downtown to survey people who inject drugs for my thesis. After making my own schedule for the past year and a half, being tied down to a more rigid schedule is making me crazy! It's also gotten me a little worried about having to go back to a 9 to 5 job at the end of all this. It will be a difficult transition, that's for sure.
Luckily my parents are coming in a week from now, so we'll once again have family around, plus there's also that free babysitter thing. We've already lined up one night out, where we're going to see Carus Thompson at the Vanguard. Can't wait!
Very exciting for us is that most recently, our little suburb was in the paper, this time for a good reason (usually it's mentioned because of an arrest of one or more members of an infamous surfie gang in our 'hood). The article was about how our suburb is being gentrified, and is becoming all about the lattes and organic veggies, but also about how many of the locals are nervous about the changes and are worried it will turn into a Coogee or Bondi (two of the more popular and very busy beachside suburbs in the area), and how they enjoy the feel of it, just as it is. One local described it as "a bit bohemian and a bit ghetto", which is an apt descriptor and I'm happy to be a part of it while we're here in Sydney.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
...and a Happy New Year!
It's been a busy couple of weeks. But not crazy-busy, it was definitely a nice busy. We had a great Christmas, very low key, involving the usual stuff (opening presents, a big yummy breakfast) along with a Christmas swim at our beach and a visit to Chinatown for supper. Christmas was followed by a little mini-holiday in the Blue Mountains with Vic's parents who are visiting from Canada.
Although we only spent a few days away, we fit a lot into that short trip. We started out with a stop in the Blue Mountains, then on to our cabin by the Jenolan caves, hit up some cave tours and went fossicking. During that little trip, I amassed over 100 pics of trees (I love the gum trees and can't stop snapping pictures of them), the mountains, kangaroos (there were kangaroos living outside our cabins) and caves. Here's a sampling of just some of those pictures.
Gus, sporting his spy glasses he got for Christmas:
Christmas supper in Chinatown.
The sign on the scary railcar that took us down into the valley in the Blue Mountains.
View from the valley:
A paper gum:
The kangaroos hopping and grazing outside our cabin.
The road to the Jenolan Caves.
Gus, trying his hand at fossicking. Fossicking involves panning for gold and/or digging for sapphires, opals or other gems, usually done on a recreational basis. In our state (NSW), you don't need a license to fossick, and there are nine areas where you can fossick without having to get prior permission by the landholder. Yesterday we were describing our first fossicking trip to an Australian friend and he told us about people that he went to school with that would spend their summers fossicking and apparently they were able to make a living at it. Based on our first go at it, it wouldn't be something I could (or would want to) make a living at (it was pretty mucky and sweaty), but Vic and Gus say they're keen to try it again. Keep your fingers crossed for gold.
Happy New Year all!
Although we only spent a few days away, we fit a lot into that short trip. We started out with a stop in the Blue Mountains, then on to our cabin by the Jenolan caves, hit up some cave tours and went fossicking. During that little trip, I amassed over 100 pics of trees (I love the gum trees and can't stop snapping pictures of them), the mountains, kangaroos (there were kangaroos living outside our cabins) and caves. Here's a sampling of just some of those pictures.
Gus, sporting his spy glasses he got for Christmas:
Christmas supper in Chinatown.
The sign on the scary railcar that took us down into the valley in the Blue Mountains.
View from the valley:
A paper gum:
The kangaroos hopping and grazing outside our cabin.
The road to the Jenolan Caves.
Gus, trying his hand at fossicking. Fossicking involves panning for gold and/or digging for sapphires, opals or other gems, usually done on a recreational basis. In our state (NSW), you don't need a license to fossick, and there are nine areas where you can fossick without having to get prior permission by the landholder. Yesterday we were describing our first fossicking trip to an Australian friend and he told us about people that he went to school with that would spend their summers fossicking and apparently they were able to make a living at it. Based on our first go at it, it wouldn't be something I could (or would want to) make a living at (it was pretty mucky and sweaty), but Vic and Gus say they're keen to try it again. Keep your fingers crossed for gold.
Happy New Year all!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas!!!
It's Christmas Eve in Sydney, and I think I've finally caught the Christmas spirit. This past Sunday night, we brought a picnic supper to Coogee beach to watch the Christmas carols, which may be what finally did it. It was great, we sang our hearts out to all the carols sung by local Sydney celebrities, a few of which I even recognized! (like Amanda Keller from Talkin 'Bout my Generation and hunky Chris Brown from Bondi Vet...although I still have a hard time forgiving him for the one time I watched a full episode, and the little joey he tried to rescue died during the night).
Christmas in Sydney is definitely not the same as a Canadian Christmas. That was made especially clear from attending boozed up auzzie carols at the beach: when we got there at 4pm-ish I wondered if I should have brought some sunblock, and during his brief appearance, Santa let everyone know that some of the kids in the crowd were "damn bad" and they should leave some beer out for him on Christmas eve. However, we're making our own Christmas here, adapted to our new southern-hemisphere life, and we're having fun doing it.
Merry Christmas everyone!!! For those of you back in Canada, throw a snowball, make a snow angel and drink some eggnog for us.
Waiting for the carols to start..
Still waiting....
Santa! ...and do you know what he's saying? well, he's asking the kids to leave beer out for him.
One of the many carolers and the choir
Christmas in Sydney is definitely not the same as a Canadian Christmas. That was made especially clear from attending boozed up auzzie carols at the beach: when we got there at 4pm-ish I wondered if I should have brought some sunblock, and during his brief appearance, Santa let everyone know that some of the kids in the crowd were "damn bad" and they should leave some beer out for him on Christmas eve. However, we're making our own Christmas here, adapted to our new southern-hemisphere life, and we're having fun doing it.
Merry Christmas everyone!!! For those of you back in Canada, throw a snowball, make a snow angel and drink some eggnog for us.
Waiting for the carols to start..
Still waiting....
Santa! ...and do you know what he's saying? well, he's asking the kids to leave beer out for him.
One of the many carolers and the choir
Friday, December 18, 2009
Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere
It's pretty hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it's hot and sunny outside and weekends are spent cooling off at the beach. As a result, we've done absolutely no Christmas shopping, and have made only a weak attempt at a Christmas tree (wrapped the branches of our balcony-sized frangipani with tin foil, then strung it with lights).
Tomorrow evening, we're planning to pack a picnic supper and enjoy some Christmas carols at Coogee beach. We're hoping that might help infuse us with the Christmas spirit. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, take a look at some pics of our recent trip to Clovelly beach for some snorkelling, where we saw lots of colourful fish, including some big groupers. I love that this place is just a few minutes drive away....is it any wonder Christmas is the farthest thing from our minds?
Walking into the water.
Vic and Gus in the water, if you look closely you can see that Vic is pointing something out to Gus.
Recovering from a big swim/snorkel.
Tomorrow evening, we're planning to pack a picnic supper and enjoy some Christmas carols at Coogee beach. We're hoping that might help infuse us with the Christmas spirit. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, take a look at some pics of our recent trip to Clovelly beach for some snorkelling, where we saw lots of colourful fish, including some big groupers. I love that this place is just a few minutes drive away....is it any wonder Christmas is the farthest thing from our minds?
Walking into the water.
Vic and Gus in the water, if you look closely you can see that Vic is pointing something out to Gus.
Recovering from a big swim/snorkel.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Happenings
Two weeks ago, I finally got away from my desk and started the meat of my thesis; a survey of people who inject drugs. So far I have a sample size of 15, with the goal of eventually getting 260 participants. After a year and a half into my PhD, which involved successfully defending my thesis proposal a few months ahead of schedule, only to go through a very messy divorce with my thesis advisor shortly after, followed by a change in thesis advisors and a change in thesis topics, it feels great to finally be at the point of data collection.
It's been a challenging start to the survey for many reasons, one of which is that I'm so used to having a flexible schedule, able to drop Gus off and pick him up from school on most days. So it's been difficult for the both us to get used to me starting this more rigid and more demanding schedule. Luckily, Vic's parents will be here on Monday and will be a huge help with picking Gus up and being at home with Gus while I'm out surveying people for my thesis.
Completely unrelated, but slightly related to my elevated stress levels, is that we now know for certain that flying foxes (the big bats that live here in the Sydney area) are nocturnal. A group of them recently settled into a macademia nut tree behind our apartment building and man are they loud. They sound sort of like a bunch of angry squirrels, and we've had a few nights of crazy bat sounds going on all night. aaargh! The tree grows right above our clothesline, and we quickly realized that you cannot leave your clothes out overnight or they will end up covered in bat poo by morning. Last night we came home shortly after dusk, and ran to the back to get our clothes off the line before the pooping started, and as they swooped around the tree, disturbed by my presence, Vic decided to stand back and watch, while letting me know that there was a bat right above my head that had a funny, scrunched up look on his face. But he must have misinterpreted the bat's look, because I (and our clothes) came out unscathed by bat poo.
For those of you who live in the area, we made a great little day trip last weekend to Bundeena that I highly recommend. It was one of those hot, hot days. So we packed up our swim stuff, drove to Cronulla (which we had never been to before, but always had negative connotations for me because of the whole race riot thing that happened there about 5 yrs ago - however, it looks lovely and hopefully we'll explore it a little more on another trip), and then took a little wooden ferry to Bundeena. Bundeena has some nice cafes, a great kids' playground and a few beaches within walking distance of the ferry. We went to one of the more deserted beaches, and it was beautiful. Lots of shells for collecting, and a short hike nearby where there were some aboriginal rock carvings to check out.
Here are some pics from the day:
Waiting for the ferry, eating cornettos.
On the ferry on the way to Bundeena.
Making pictures in the sand.
Beachcombing for shells and other assorted things, and on the way to the bushwalk, where we saw the aboriginal rock carvings. Very, very cool and definitely the highlight of our trip to Bundeena.
It's been a challenging start to the survey for many reasons, one of which is that I'm so used to having a flexible schedule, able to drop Gus off and pick him up from school on most days. So it's been difficult for the both us to get used to me starting this more rigid and more demanding schedule. Luckily, Vic's parents will be here on Monday and will be a huge help with picking Gus up and being at home with Gus while I'm out surveying people for my thesis.
Completely unrelated, but slightly related to my elevated stress levels, is that we now know for certain that flying foxes (the big bats that live here in the Sydney area) are nocturnal. A group of them recently settled into a macademia nut tree behind our apartment building and man are they loud. They sound sort of like a bunch of angry squirrels, and we've had a few nights of crazy bat sounds going on all night. aaargh! The tree grows right above our clothesline, and we quickly realized that you cannot leave your clothes out overnight or they will end up covered in bat poo by morning. Last night we came home shortly after dusk, and ran to the back to get our clothes off the line before the pooping started, and as they swooped around the tree, disturbed by my presence, Vic decided to stand back and watch, while letting me know that there was a bat right above my head that had a funny, scrunched up look on his face. But he must have misinterpreted the bat's look, because I (and our clothes) came out unscathed by bat poo.
For those of you who live in the area, we made a great little day trip last weekend to Bundeena that I highly recommend. It was one of those hot, hot days. So we packed up our swim stuff, drove to Cronulla (which we had never been to before, but always had negative connotations for me because of the whole race riot thing that happened there about 5 yrs ago - however, it looks lovely and hopefully we'll explore it a little more on another trip), and then took a little wooden ferry to Bundeena. Bundeena has some nice cafes, a great kids' playground and a few beaches within walking distance of the ferry. We went to one of the more deserted beaches, and it was beautiful. Lots of shells for collecting, and a short hike nearby where there were some aboriginal rock carvings to check out.
Here are some pics from the day:
Waiting for the ferry, eating cornettos.
On the ferry on the way to Bundeena.
Making pictures in the sand.
Beachcombing for shells and other assorted things, and on the way to the bushwalk, where we saw the aboriginal rock carvings. Very, very cool and definitely the highlight of our trip to Bundeena.
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