Merry Christmas

It's Christmas!!

Only just here in the Uk but very much so in Oz :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone :)

What to write....

I'm not really sure what to write at the moment. Obviously we have been back nearly 2 weeks; 2 weeks that have flown far more quickly than the last 12 months. LOF has been ill with Man Flu which has prevented us from visiting many people and has ensured that I have made many Christmas shopping trips - SOLO. IN fact, I am convinced that the "flu" began with the shopping trip in B'ham and ended when I announced all the shopping was complete. LOL No... to be honest he has actually been ill and didn't even get out of bed for 2 days. I knew he was better when today we engaged in a sword fight (Well I say swords but actually they were the inside rolls of some wrapping paper) and I was gutted to discover that I had the weaker weapon when mine broke in 2 in about 5 secs!

LOF has been better at logging onto WOW than me as he has been around in the morning with nothing to entertain him whilst I get busy at the shops or with chores of one description or another. So, I apologise to those who might be wondering what happened to any of an array of characters beginning with "sel.." lol ;) I will be on soon and hopefully you'll be on too!! :) I just need to get Christmas over and done with.

In a moment of some inexplicable madness I volunteered to cook Christmas Dinner. As we speak, in preparation for the mad day, a Veggie Christmas Roast is in the oven the smell of which is making me very hungry (and unfortunately it's not dinner time!). I've got all of the ingredients including fresh herbs (two of which will be harvested from a plant on Christmas Day much to mother's shock). Dad was disappointed that he didn't get his Honey roasted M+S parsnips but I have explained that I will make them from fresh for him and I believe he is now pacified! lol In truth I love cooking and I haven't cooked a meal in weeks now what with us always being one place or another or stuck in the air being fed out of small plastic containers. So it will be lovely to cook for 6 on Tuesday.

I am sure that some of you are curious as to whether I have had any sudden urges to book myself (along with LOF) on a return flight to Adelaide. I have to admit that I am missing it a little now. The icy weather is not the problem though. In fact I am quite enjoying feeling chilly and think the icy mornings and fresh days are very festive indeed. I am sure that I wouldn't feel anything near as geared up for Christmas had we still been in OZ. Instead it's the lifestyle that I am missing. I am enjoying having all of my friends in close proximity and am getting used to calling them and meeting up for drinks, dinner, cinemas etc. (Believe me it is strange that I can do that!) I am a little worried about work though as I have spent the last year evaluating a great many things and I know that, before I left, work really had taken over. I love my job but I will be really angry with myself if all I have in my life is school and the occasional trip to borders. As usual that sounds a little dramatic and I don't mean any disrespect to all of my wonderful friends. I just know that all I ever talked about was school and watching my sister, who is also a teacher, terrifies me. She even puts being at school or marking above sorting out the damp in her house!!! Apparently she just doesn't have time. I don't think I was ever quite that bad but I am aware that in Adelaide, for the past 6 months or so I was never stressed out or panicky and on several occasions over the last week and a half some strange and unwelcome negative gut feelings have begun to emerge. Having said that, I have moved from another country again and I have to get used to it ! A few wobbles are, I am sure, to be expected It took me 6 months not to want to get a flight home the other end and I am aware that I have to give it a good go! I am sure that we won't be returning to Oz in the next few years but I do have a feeling that we'll find our way back again. Perhaps with a couple of children in tow. We'll have to see! I have realised that nothing is forever ( Well apart from LOF and Moch! :) and that it's OK to bugger off for a few years and see what happens. Nothing really changes in the UK and everyone is very happy to see you when you get back ;) lol!

I just have to convince some special people to come with me next time so I have someone to have BBQs with on the beach and I don't feel so lonely. We'll see :)

My goodness for a post in which I didn't know what to write I seem to have written a small novella!! lol It's always the way.

In case I don't get chance to see you all before Christmas (Fryer Rd gang I do have cards and I will drop them around to you I promise) make sure you have a good one. Relax and remember what's important. Each other.

(God now I am in danger of sounding like Jerry Springer!! )

"He's Bum Man"

On my second visit this week to my workplace i heard this immortal phrase and knew instantly that I was back on familiar ground. I haven't heard that phrase for a long time. For those of you who don't speak the native teenage tongue.

"He's bum" means that some guys she fancies is good looking.

LMAO

Next time you find yourself looking in the mirror after hours of preparation to look good; perhaps for your xmas do, you can now look at yourself confidently and say. "Iam 100% BUM"

The Wagstaffs

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Wagstaff who treated us to a fabulous celebration yesterday at Plas Talgarth, Wales. It was a great day and everyone had such a fabulous time with a marvellous and lovely couple :)

The priest was great and coped very well with the late arrival of the bride (45 mins!!!) lol. He made us all laugh and had a tremendous singing voice to boot. As you would expect it was a very musical affair with string quartets, singers and even a Caleigh band. My most favourite instrument was the bells that the bride and groom were invited to ring at the end of the isle to signify their union. Sarah has a great booming bell and Adi? Well a little "ting" was all he could muster with his higher one! ;) Bless

We met some fab people last night. Adi and Sarah's mates were great! Big it up to Gaz and Chris as we spent a lot of time chatting to them along with Ang and her other half :) It was great for LOF to see everyone and wonderful to watch to of our mates getting married on such a happy, chilled out and fun day. Congratulations guys! You are going to be soooo happy together ! :)

xxx

Bangkok

The stop over was an excellent idea. It always makes the enormous flight from one hemisphere to another go so much smoother if you get the opportunity to stop and rest along the way. Obviously you also get the opportunity to explore somewhere interesting and for me this was my introduction to Asia.

Bangkok is a very busy, husseling, busseling city with a huge population who live in what seems to be relative poverty. It felt very strange to go on the river barge cruise to see where the locals of the city lived to be told that the metal shaks on the water were owned by the educated middle classes.

Shopping is obviously one of the things that Bangkok is most famous for and the boys made for the tailors straight away. We all ended up having something made and it was good fun to choose the fabrics and be measured for suits, tuxes, dresses and shirts.
LOF walked away with 2 suits and four shirts, LOM with a suit, a tux and 4 shirts, Span a beautiful dress and a lovely Cashmere coat and I came away a pretty blouse Conscious of the price of an impending wedding dress I tried to keep my share of the cost down. Having said that I have been assured that the £2000 dress that I really like (I haven't tried it on yet - it's too expensive!!) can be made for £200 by Harry and the gang at Thai Square so that's exciting and will lead to a very interesting trip to a bridal shop :)

The hotel we stayed in was absolutely stunning. It was a resort and spa and of course we had to have a Thai massage. When you realise that the woman is holding you feet up in the air and then you feel pressure from 2 more limbs it is amusing to discover that you are in fact being walked upon. A Thai massage HURTS but it's all worth it. I know that LOM may feel differently having walked away with some rather large red marks on his back and having experience more pain than one man can muster. Both Span and I enjoyed our Thai experience very much and were amused at LOF who took the easy option of a Swedish massage.

We also enjoyed a tour around the Grand Palace and Temple (where the Jade Buddha lives. He's tiny (30cm!))Everything really is paved with gold! Amazing. There were also some brilliant tapestry style paintings. A story in art of a giant monkey who helps battle the underground demons to rescue the first king's queen. Anyone in the painting who is wearing gold armour is actually painted in 18 carat gold!! Opulence at it's best - whilst the locals live in shacks along the river. :S

Needless to say that Bangkok was a lovely stop over and although it's a little smoggy and very humid it was a valuable experience that was well worth adding to the list of things LOF and I have discovered on our year long adventure.

It was strange leaving Adelaide behind. I was expecting some rather huge feelings of regret or excitement and instead I found my self sitting on the beach just outside the caravan site (which is down the rd from here my house once was) writing bye bye Adelaide in the sand as the sun set on our final day in Australia. Both LOF and I were anxious about how the other one was feeling; this was a big move - AGAIN. The prospect of returning to the UK and having the instant gut feeling that we should never have come back was rather daunting. I think the fact that we had friends with us and that we were planning to pop into Bangkok softened the blow and made it feel more like we were simply popping out for a holiday than leaving the sunny shores of Adelaide for what might be forever.

The main priority has been to get the house rented so that we don't need to pay $3000 on a house we are not going to be living in for the next two months. We thought that we had it all sorted but the Italian man who's been living in a very expensive hotel for the last 3 months didn't turn up to the appointment he has made to sign up for the house; not exactly the best way to reassure a landlord that you are a reliable tennant! :) So, instead we are left with the prospect of paying a lot of dollars while we rely on the skills and advertising ower of a real estate agent who has so far failed to produce the goods. Ah well! It'll get sorted when it gets sorted I guess.

The packing up of all our remaining worldly goods was also a little harrowing as we realised that the baggage allowance was a measly 20Kgs! Impossible! We ended up placing some of our lovely possessions in to the cases of Span and LOM. It was a good job they were there!
We had a great time with them over the last week or so too. It was really nice to have my Bessie mate back and we did laugh at the fact that at times we had forgotten that we were no longer speaking on the phone and that instead we were in the same location simultaneously! We knew things were a little crazy when we were in Melbourne and discussing wedding gowns. Span suggested that she should try the dress on that I had in mind and take a picture to email me. I then gently reminded her that we could just fly back to London together and I could try it on whilst she gave me her opinion! lol. It's crazy how quickly you can get used to having to do things via the medium of the Internet. :)

Make like a steam train...

That's what happens when you breathe out there... steam! :)

I'm home... and I've been awake for at least a day (lol) so I won't make this a long one just wanted to make a small nod in the direction of any one who might be reading to let you know that we've landed safely with lots of wonderful stories of Bangkok to share :)

Can't beleive that it is dark at 4:25 OH MY GOD!! How am I going to stay awake??

ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So it's farewell Adelaide

This is the last post I will be writing from the comfort of the dinning room table in my little house by the sea. :( I'm about to be asked to pack up the router and the telephone and place them in the suitcase which is already 10KGs over the limit (eik!)

It is very sad and more than a little bit stressful to try and fit everything that is left into a suitcase that must not weigh more than 20KG. In fact I've already managed to fail quite miserably on that count ;)

At least I have LOM and SPAN here, and that's cool :) We've had a great few days in Melbourne and LOF and I really enjoyed Hobart - although I was quite upset to discover that the Cadbury's factory isn't open at the weekends and I failed miserably at my mission to visit the factory on the other side of the world. He was, however, more than happy to walk down the main high street and into the annual Beer fest. Mummy Cow.. got you the coolest little gift ;) They have Moo beer!!! LMAO!!! and the beer mat was more than adequate as a tea holder at work - the catchphrase will make you smile :)

So... here I am signing off in lil' 'ol Adelaide... I might be chatting in Bangkok or may be silenced until I arrive in the UK on the 10th... I'll try and keep a travel diary again and I will be taking my laptop with me so fingers crossed. To those of you in Oz, a sad farewell; it's been awesome and we'll miss you and your beautiful country. To those of you in the UK... See you soon you poor buggers! Put the kettle on, find as many jumpers and blankets as you can and make sure the heating's on ;)

A thought for the future...

The video above can be played by clicking on it. A little video of me will appear first to say hello and introduce it. You can rewind, play and pause the vid with the controls at the bottom of the video screen. You can also click on the sign up box so you can join in with the thread. Once you have a FREE account you can record or type a message and if you have a webcam you can even leave a video message!!! It's ace!

Once the video has stopped playing you will hear everyone else's comments. LOF's already made one so you can either wait until the end of the video or click on his picture to see him say hi :)

xx

Selling up

We've been working hard this week to get everything in order and ready for our trip back to ol' blighty. The car has been sold and LOF has been working hard showing a wide range of people around the house. Obviously, we have both finished working now so that we can get the final bits and bobs sorted before we head off on our final Australian adventure and then our eventual return to London Eng - er - land.

Span and LOM have obviously arrived on this side of the hemisphere and it was great to hear a very happy and bouncy Span telling me about the wonders of Hong Kong the other day. They're in Sydney now and are still coming to grips with the ol when do I sleep and eat problem that jet lag causes. Poor things. They'll be cool though and I am sure that Sydney is right up Span's street. She did tell me the other day that after being in Hong Kong her and LOM first thought of the word "QUAINT" when they got there! LMAO I think most Aussies think it's the biggest most sprawling metropolitan place ever! ;) They're right though, they are staying in the older bit and it is lovely and 'quaint' in it's own way :)

We're off to join them in Melbourne this coming Wednesday and then when they coach of down the Ocean rd. we're heading to Tasmania for 2 days to see what's over in Hobart. I have been told by several locals that Tassie is ace and that 2 days isn't going to show us very much at all but I say a quick visit is better than no visit at all and I am looking forward to seeing it. It's supposed to be more untouched. I do hope it has more going on that Kangaroo Island though!! lol

Of course, it was always my plan to make sure that, one way or another, we got to Tassie. It is the home of Cadbury world Australia!!! As a resident of B'ham it is my duty to go and check that out and have a word about the ingredients that they are putting into their cadburys here!!! tut tut tut! :)

We're back to Adelaide on the Monday where we'll meet up with Span and LOF at the end of the Ocean Rd, Adelaide :). We'll stay in the house for two days and then we have to hand the keys over on Wednesday. We leave on Thursday the 6th on route to Bangkok. Please don't be suprised if you receive a christmas present from their! - if at all!! Chirstmas has been far from both of our minds lol. We'll explore Bangkok for a couple of days and then get back on the plane to London; arriving in London in the early hours of the 10th of December.

Not long now folks!

I have mixed feelings about returning:
What if it's not the same in the UK now?
What if I 've changed soo much that I don't like it anymore!!?
What on earth is it going to be like to work in a fulltime position again and will I resent it if I don't get chance to carry on what i've been doing here???
How will we cope with the cold again?
How cool will it be to see the cats, my breath in the air, the snow, my family and friends......!!! ;)

I've finished working in Aus...

So I've now finished my final week at Thebby. The couple of months are over and I left on Friday with champagne and the usual friday night chocolates. It has been great working there and I have really enjoyed working with a lovely bunch of people who have been more than keen to take part in this new initiative I brought with me from Blighty.

The 12 champs have been working really hard and most of them have managed to use the board and the software in several lessons. Some of them have created some pretty impressive stuff and deserve a big pat on the back. I just wish that they would believe in themselves a bit more! They've only had about 10 weeks and they have got more skills than those who have had the board for 2 years!! I guess it has all be crammed in in such a short time that more time is needed to feel comfortable with the new skills that they have acquired. I have no doubt whatsoever however that they will go on to create some fabulous resources and I hope that they will choose to share these with the rest of us on the teachertechnologies Moodle :P

As an aside for Mummy Cow and DF; I have particularly enjoyed the fact that the Principal has a cellar (which contains champagne and a variety of whites and reds) and that he has allowed us to raid it every Friday night for our Whiteboards and Wine sessions! The trick has always been to get me to answer as many questions as possible before I finish the first glass. Obviously, on my last day I had more than one glass and as a result was getting louder and sillier! ;) I was heard to tell them i would email the Immersive team in England to say "oi tart! I want a network install!" Which amused them greatly and made them want to ply me with more alcohol to see what happened next :) IN short... I am sure that what we need to do is have DF get a cellar, which he can stock with the governors permission and we can raid every week at our meetings :) It makes us all far more productive!! ;)

Working with the refugees at the college has been an unforgettable experience and I have learnt so much from them. I can not believe some of the hardships that they have had to face and the next time a student can't come to school because their hamster died I will be reminded of the student who found out her family had been murdered over the weekend and turned up to lessons. I guess the school is a solice and place to find friends and support and I hope that's the way the students at my other place of work see school too.

I was given many generous gifts; Koalas in cuddly, chocolate and keyring form, a cat/pig keyring, a kangaroo fridge magnet and a clock. I'm not sure how I'm going to get that one home but all of these gifts were more than appreciated and I am very grateful for the thought that has gone into them. :) Thank you .. All of you for letting me be a part of your fabulous team :)

I know we said we'd come home but...

VS



Would you???!!!!!! OMG!!!!! How are you even still alive????
:)

It's been a good week.

It's been busy too!

On Thursday i did a seminar at Flinders University and (I am told) 250 people turned up!!! OMG. I like an audience but I'm not used to having that many people listen to me for an hour and a half ;) It was good fun though and I think everyone enjoyed it.

November the 10th also saw the start of the christmas celebrations here in Adelaide. The Xmas Pageant was on on Saturday and is the day that Santa officially comes to Adelaide, he's the last float in the parade! Once we'd got over the problems of translation (I thought an xmas pagent would be a private party involving Miss World type competitions vaguely related to santa until I realised it's just a carnival!) we had a great time and I'm glad we went.


It was the busiest I've ever seen Adelaide. Amusingly, it was the first time in a year it's felt a little like being back in the uk (or B'ham city center) as we had to walk through torrents of people on the high street) I'd forgotten how crowded it can get there (bham)- especially before xmas! We haven't thought about xmas at all. I mean it's 30 degrees and my weekends are spent on the beach... nothing chirstmassy about that at all! I'm a litte sun burnt though ;)

It was strange indeed to see all the usual snowy scenes on a hot spring morning! lol
I am told by the locals that Xmas is far more laid back here. The kids get a few pressies then it's down to the beach for the rest of the day. Apparently they don't spend nearly as much monety or time on it as they have plenty of other things to be doing out in the sunshine! I don't blame them! If it was 30 odd degrees outside I don't think I'd be sat inside watching another re-run of a popular elf movie either!
;)

remember remember the 5th of november

Unless you're in Australia where it's just another day :( Can't even buy fireworks!! Too dangerous what with bushfires and all... Can you call make my name with a sparkler on my behalf please??

:)

The week that was....

So the light is fixed now (The landlord just bought a bigger light to cover the hole in the ceiling and patched up the hole in the roof). We once more have a light to use in the loo and all is well.

This week has also seen the sale of two important items: The motorbike and the Keyboard. If you look at the blog from this time last year you will see a picture of the beloved bug and a sad face announcing its placement on Ebay. Well it's a case of Dejavu now as we do exactly the same thing this end. The motorbike and keyboard are gone. We just have to sell the car and find a new tenant for the house. Its all go, with only 4.5 weeks left in the land down under. The next time I complain about a 7 weeks half term feeling long I give you permission to slap me. It really is no time at all! ;)

This weekend has been pretty eventful though. On Saturday we had to go to the Marion Shopping center to see Natalie Blair and Sam Clark. Two very important people who I am sure you all know the names of??? NO?? You do know them I assure you...
Here they are...That's right Carmella and Ringo :) Thank fully for Matt the food court was just above them so he went to feed his face whilst I took pictures! lol
I didn't cue for an autograph, the line was very, very long! I did feel sorry for them though as they had to sit and sign their name repeatedly over and over for nearly 2 hours! Poor chickens and I bet they were put straight back on a plane to Melbourne afterwards.

We walked past Natalie Blair as she left the Mall. Well at least Matt says we did. I didn't even notice! fun fun fun


We also got invited out last night to a dinner party. Woo hoo! WE LEAVE in 4.5 weeks but we're getting there! lol. Never mind! It was very kind of the host to invite us and we had a really nice time. I was amused to discover the reason why Aussie's don't know LOFs name. To them it sounds like Mutt which apparently (in there culture is a dysfunctional donkey) so they are surprised. It's all to do with the manner in which vowels are pronounced in the English and Australian accents apparently. We need to get LOF to change the middle letter to and E and they should know what he's called lol.

This morning we went out to a Bridal Expo too. A very small one but it was handy. I managed to convince one of the photographic stands to let us video the Photo album style that we're after. it's like a "photobook" and the photos are printed on to glossy car so it looks like a really heavy magazine. It's ace and we like the style very much. I have failed on numerous occasions to explain this to mum so here's a video of what they look like. :)

There's a hole in my ceiling dear liza, dear liza...

I went upstairs yesterday to be greeted with the smell of TCP. Then I noticed that the landing light wouldn't work, or the bathroom or the office. Doh! Fuse gone i thought. Matt was on the phone to his mum so i left him to it for a bit.

When he'd finished on the phone I let him know and we went to look. We could hear dripping but thought it was the tap. We didn't know where the fuse box was so Matt went looking. In the meantime I thought i'd turn off the dripping tap... then my feet were wet... and then my head was wet... Arghh...

We used a table lamp from the bedroom and discovered that the lampshade in the bathroom was full of water!! EIk! Water was coming along the electrical cables and dripping in to the light! Not so good.

By this point it was 11pm but we called the landlord and I made Matt turn off the electricity. He said he'd send someone out in the morning.

I was a little concerned that if the lamp got any heavier it would pull the ceiling with it but I wasn't going to let Matt unwire it with the water still there... so we left it. The landlord seemed to think it could wait until morning so I put a bucket under the dripping lamp and we went to bed with a candle.

An hour later Matt sent me to look to see how the bucket was doing. It had about 1/4 inch of water in so not too bad - should be ok until the morning. For some reason I decided to turn back and go into the bathroom (torch in tow) and then the light gave way and the water crashed to the ground. I screamed and went running into the bedroom shouting "it's happened! It's happened!" (After the event Matt thought this was hilarious me screaming and waving a torch hysterically in circles "It's happened!!!") lol.

Anyway the long and short of it is... we have a nice dripping hole in our ceiling now... where there was once a light a light. No one came today to sort it as the electrician got tied up so we're waiting until tomorrow. We've managed to isolate the lights circuit so we at least have the sockets but no lights. lol We'll be seeing by the power of bed side tables this evening :)

Fun Fun Fun ! All because we need to find a new tenant! lol

The weather has been particularly violent this weekend so I image that is what has caused it. The sand was being blasted all over the place and the garage roof sounded like it was about to take off at some points lol.

Here's hoping it's sorted soon though. What spiders lurk above that hole and how long will it take them to discover the bathroom??? eik!

The clocks have fallen and sprun again...

And that means the usual bought of confusion for all concerned ;p

Ok so here it is.

There is now a 10.5 hour time difference between Adealaide and London. This means that as long as you call before 12(lunchtime) we'll be awake. It also mean that if we get up early enough we'll be able to catch you in your evening time. So... Mr Bogus.. when I get to work and I see you on GMail it won't be 1am anymore it'll be a much more reasonable hour so I probably can't shout "Go to bed" at you anymore :(

If you want to know what time it is with us use this simple formula:

Take away 1.5 hours from your current time and then go opposite. So... if it's 4pm with you then it's 2:30am with us.
We're not just 2 hours behind we're 10.5 so you have to swap am for pm and vice versa.

Take 1.5 off and then if it's am with you its pm with us.

If all else fails you can check the time on here or left click on us in Skype (when we're on) and it will tell you our time there too) ;)

The House is up for grabs...

Anyone want to rent a house by the sea?

The world is full of HDs

I decided to be curious and instead of googling people I thought i'd conduct and experiment to see who had the most of them on facebook

LOf was confident that he was king when we found 95 people baring his name. Then we typed in Spans.... 285 of them!!! No Dunks (which is odd as he's in my friends list - so he currently seems to have the most exclusive name. Only one LOm (double NN and then as in weight)No Span LOm crosses either lmao (Although there are 180 LOM Span crosses) One Moch -LOF cross lol

All fun! ;)
What a waste of time!!! LMAO!!

Facelift

Don't panic mother! Yes this is my Blog.. and yes it does look different ;)

I've updated it and changed it's appearance a little that's all! ;)Believe it or not the blog is not in it's 3rd year and I hadn't yet taken the plunge to upgrade it to the new blogger. Now I have and I've also edited the template a bit more (now I know a bit more about the code) so that it's a bit more me :)

So bye bye old blog style and hello pink and black :)

Mr Dzeryn's trip to Australia.

When we picked him up from the airport 10 days ago he walked straight past us in a daze. His eyes were hazy and he looked like he hadn't slept for days. He hadn't! After trying to stay awake and failing by lunchtime, and after having 10 days to finally get used to the time difference and sleep through the night he's just got back onto the plane to jet back off towards England again; poor bugger!

We've had a busy 10 days and have sailed, driven and walked all over the place in order to get a real sense of Australia. lol You've already seen the extensive photo collection from Kangaroo Island and have suffered the 20min commentary on the pictures that goes along with it. Needless to say we did have a good time. However, it was FREEZING! No one told me that the island was so cold! It must be about 5/6 degrees lower. I only took my flipflops and I seriously regretted it! I did get to see some cool penquins at last and it was good fun :)


Mr Bogus and Lof really enjoyed their random 'conversations' which meant absolutly nothing to me - or anyone else for that matter. For example, If one of them said "Captain" it would make the other burst into fits of hysterical giggles for ages... mmmm crazy.

Apart from Kangaroo Island Mr Bogus also got to visit Cleelands Wildlife Park where we made sure that he got up close and personal to a Koala and some Kangas. A visit to Australia isn't complete without looking at the wildlife which Mr Bogus proclaimed to be "strange".





We also took him to Harndorf where, of course, it is OCKTOBER FEST! This led to all sorts of hilarious consequences as the gents hit the pub before lunch and began sampling the beers. I almost convinced Bogus to by a Digeridoo for Dunk but didn't quite manage it :( Was really funny though. I am certain that LOM will be itching to visit and sample some of the Schnitzle (How ever that's spelt)


After drinking the beer and visiting the knife shop - I know... why?
We then decided to go and visit the local chocolate factory. I was told it was really exciting.. Perhaps I've been spoilt by cadbury's world but a large warhouse full of sweets on sale with rooms to the side where someone might be making something but weren't on that day isn't anywhere near what any of us expected to find. I was amused by their signature chocolates though. For example, the chocolate cowpat - one of which Bogus devoured in the car on the way home. There was even a "Hereford"
cowpat. It was milk chocolate with a dollop of white chocolate ontop lol.

He also got to experience Australian cinema and "frozen coke" and a "spider" when we went to the SA museum to see the live redback. A spider of course is also a drink...
Here's a yummy one I ate. Lemonade, lime syrup and a dollop of icecream :)




We got some really ace pictures on our travels. Especially of the spring animals and babies. You can check out the kangaroo Island ones here and the others from Ants visit here :)

Opportunity

It seems to have been sometime since I sat down and wrote a lengthy blog entry that might be worth reading. I don't know what that is but I now have the urge to talk. lol ;)

Things have been really busy here for me. Teacher technologies and my training courses have been a big hit. I've been running courses all over the shop and have even started to work with the local university. I've just been asked to do a lecture/workshop in the lecture theatre at Flinders uni! and I'm writing a book for teachers too Crikey! Seriously though, this year has been really good for me in many ways.

Before I Left Birmingham I could never see anything else that I'd like to do for a living other than teaching. Things have changed a lot this year and although it was very hard to be pulled away from a job that had clearly become a rather large part of my life, I am glad that it happened and that i didn't simply subsitute my UK classroom with an Australian one. From what I have seen and learnt so far about the Aussie Education System that wouldn't have been all that happy a situation for me anyway - I would have been most confused with the lack of structure and planning that I seem to thrive on in the UK. To hear that you can ask a teacher what they are aiming to achieve in a lesson and they have no idea is rather terrifying to me and raises all sorts of questions!

Having had the opportunity to develop my professional skills and confidence has done me the world of good. I now understand that I have a lot to offer where as before i was always suspicious that I wasn't good enough and that people were seeing things that simply weren't there. I have learnt so much about new technologies and my IWB skills must have sky rocketted - When i look at flipcharts I used to use in the classroom I now see lots of holes and plenty of potential where I used to see a completed activity - It will be very interesting to see how this new knowledge presents itself when I return to full time work in my old position. Perhaps I have simply lost track of what it's 'really like'. I do know that I have to be careful about my time upon my return.

The interesting thing is that now I can see me doing lots of different things. There are far more doors open to me. I'm not just talking about a door to Australia from the UK. That is a decision that is yet to be made but I actually mean a much smaller one. What will I do for a living in the future? Don't get me wrong, I love teaching and it is very important to me. I will always be a teacher. I hope I will always be teaching students too but I have to admit that I also enjoy teaching the teachers and sharing my knowledge and expertise.

I recently recieved two emails - both from good friends - one informing me of an opportunity to earn £500 a day consulting for a large organisation and one informing me that 16 people need to be cut from the workforce of my UK school due to falling roles. In the past these emails would have afforded a rather different response to the one I felt. Instead of seeing the consultancy option as an immediate dead-end ( How would I get time off from teaching to do that?) and fearing the idea that I might lose my job with cutbacks, although I am pretty sure that my job will be secure for as long as I need it, i saw opportunity.

I have realised that I actually capable of a lot more than I thought and i am curious that the opportunities that have opened up for me here might also open up in the UK. With a gentle knock who knows what might happen?

Kangaroo Island

There's a reason why Photostory should be kept away from people with beer...

We have the wedding bands...!!!

Here they are! The actual wedding bands that LOF and I will be wearing as of August 22nd 2008 :)

We picked them up today and they are beautiful and lovely :)



How very exciting!

The Heir Of Adelaide

Question is which is the rightful heir...

Or...

International Peace Day

I arrived to work on Friday to be greated with tribal drums, hundred of cranes hanging from trees and people everywhere. Somehow I had managed to forget that over 250 students from local schools were coming to the college for International Peace Day! It was ace!! I've never seen anything like it and if we could do it at Shenley it would be so wonderful!!!

There was a free BBQ (with over 600 sausages, burgers etc to cook) free coffee, tea and water. Free music - which the students provided... workshops in dances from all over the world. The Save the Children Foundation were there running workshops with the local primary kids and there was a whole section of the hall dedicated to making hundreds of cranes for peace.

It sounds strange but it had exactly the kind of atmosphere I would hope Matt and I's wedding would have. There were Balanese flags blowing in the wind. Everyone was outside enjoying the sun and the music wandering arounf with food in the hands or sitting and enjoying the view! Brilliant.

It's amazing when you think about what some of our students have been through. One poor woman who came to Oz recently from Sudan with her 2 chidlren found out that soldiers visited her village over the weekend (last weekend) and slit the throat of her mother, father and husband. How terrible and shocking that that can happen?? There are so many of the pupils who have witnessed things they should never had to have seen and it makes me very thankful that I am safe and that they are too. One things for sure: they certainly don't take peace for granted and enjoy the fact that they can celebrate it where they are now.

A case of Deja vu

It's here already. The time to pack up and leave is upon us. Granted we have to ship stuff a couple of months in advance but I am certain that the remaining 10 weeks will fly (they did the other end) We arrived with only 2 boxes, 2 suitcases and 2 guitars and are leaving with 4 boxes, 4 cases of wine, 2 suitcases, 2 guitars and 1 office chair (That's 13 items eik! 13!!! it's a good job i'm not superstitous! ;)
The boxes are packe d now anyway and the man is coming tommorrow to put it all in a container and then onto a boat. It will then spend the next couple of months at sea until it lands at my parents' house - at which point, no doubt Mum and Dad may have some valid concerns about where they are going to put all that stuff whilst we travel back! lol I'm afraid I have counted the wine though! Infact I have to list it all with alochol content for the Tax people who are charging us £3 a bottle to bring it into the UK! Cheeky buggers! Either way it'll still save us money in the long run. I think that make the celebratory bubbles for our weddding £9 each! lmao! Woo hoo! and it's soooooooooo tasty good! ;)

You will also note from the pictures here in that LOF still has not cut his hair. I believe he has left his Bon Jovi phase now and is entering an altogether different phase. I do have it on good authority that his first hair cut since last October will occur soon however. It's getting too hot! lol As soon as we find him underneath the fluff I'll send you a picture :)

Anyway time to label the boxes - Erasing the words Destination 'Brisbane, Australia' and replacing them with 'Worcs. UK'.
mmmm...

I love these songs at the moment...

I'm developing a lot of respect for Pink... At least she has the guts to mak political comments with her music and without making that comment ambiguous! I always wonder what Bush must feel when he hears it.

Australian Driving Vs UK

This was on a post on the Expats forum and it made me smile

The Royal Adelaide Show

LOF and I have had a really good day today. We spent it at the Royal Adelaide show. Imagine the Kings Norton Plant Show, the Three Counties Show, The May Day fair, a Fashion show, a bit of crufts and the equivalanet Cat shows and mix them all together and you'll have an idea of what the Adelaide Show consists of.

We got to see countless animals - which of course included lots of pigs, some dogs at the dog show, Cats and Kittens, some beautiful flowers and gardens that were on display and we heard and watched the fair ground rides going round and round!

The highlight of the day for me was the access to all those pigs!
They even have pig racing and pig diving on three times a day! How COOOoool! Check out the videos ...








There were of course some unusual farm animals on display likes these silkies... (the yellow and pink one)

They're like really fluffy chickens and are very cute! I don't think they're supposed to be that colour though. Something tells me that the farmer has died them. LOF told me that they used food colouring and then promptly added that this was so when you ate them the meat was also that colour! Tut tut!

There were also some baby emus and, much to LOF's delight, some Collies and Siberean Huskies to talk too! :) LOF was also very happy to discover that corn dogs are called "dagwood dogs" in these parts. He promptly ate one dipped in sauce whilst i tucked into a plate of "danish pancakes" mmmm tasty!


It was also really cool to wander around the horticultural bit and see what an Aussie spring garden might look like. There were some sensational flowers on show.








It was a lovely, sunny and blummin warm day!
Here's some Piglets to prove how wonderful it all was!

A warm feeling..

That's partly because today it is 24 degree and hot hot hot! lMAO and I've been stuck in various classrooms and offices all day instead of being outside enjoying it :)
But also because I have had a slight feeling of achievement today... something I haven't felt for a little while! lol
I've been asked to work with a college to train their staff in the ways of the IWB. Today, for the first time... instead of boards in corners I saw several instances of boards infront of rooms and had staff asking me to help them modify resources they'd found for their students! Yay!

I even managed to convinve one important member of staff that we should get rid of the data projector in the room as we had the IWB in their and enlited their help to rearrange the room. It felt right then! The IWB at the front with the PC attached and computers all around the edge of the room! (LS1!!!! LMAO) yay!
;)

No one is making the mistake of using the board to just project either.. they're all using it interactively!! WOO HOO! straight off! YAY! and i think i had something to do with that ;)

it's a nice feeling :)

And now my head is too big to fit out of this door! LMAO

By the way... PROMETHEAN RULE!
LMAO

A note or two

Well... we all know I love to sing.
Some of us know I pay money quarterly to a website so I can sing along..
Now they've created a new site called ww.YooSing.com!! and it's great fun. You stream the audio as on ww.singtotheworld.com but you can also record yourself on your webcam and enter online comps LMAO! ACE!

Look at this loser to start with!


LMAO ;)

How to have your own pig farm...

With thanks to Dunk :)

LOFs evidence for the purchase of a Husky

So, we've been talking about dogs and we all know he wants a wolf! lol
So we decided to use blinx tp find videos about huskies.
Check these out!

The Fearless Kitten and the Soft Dog



Howl!!

Otto, my Siberian Husky

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Someone to write songs with

Skye the Singing Siberian Husky

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Well it's been a busy week. I seem to be in demand. Head teachers emailing me asking me for my opinions on IWBs, running courses in the late afternoon and working at the college in the day (3 days) It's been a bit more like what my life used to be like!
I like being busy but i am clearly not used to it!! lol At least when I work from home I can work the hours I choose; i.e. don't get out of bed before 9am etc. Ah well it's all good preparation for my return in 14 weeks. MY GOD the year has flown by hasn't it!

As for the blog, well that's been documenting for over 2 years now. For example, this time last year we went to Cadbury world and Alton Towers for the bank holiday weekend. Dunk had recently returned from Egypt with his new girlfriend ni ni and I was enjoying the school summer holidays, relishing the fact that everyone else was available to play on a work day! Now i have to wait for visitors to bring the "proper" cadburys! Ah you don't appreciate it until it's soooo far away!

I can't believe that no on felt the need to comment on LOFs illicit affair with that toad. I was sure that it might wake you guys up and get a rise out of you! lol You are all silent readers these days aren't you! I know that that a certain Miss Souris is reading - I was informed by MINI.

I've been getting a bit addicted, as I am sure the rest of the world is, with Facebook at the moment. I seem to have a growing number of friends, a flourishing fish tank and a steady flow of drinks being given to me; which of course is all good.
If you're not involved in all of this then you should be! It's a great way to catch up with people and to share information (without having to pay like you do on friends reunited) I like to see what everyone's up to - gives me another connection with ol' blighty you see!

Anyway the sun is setting an it's time to think about cooking some dinner!
catch you later
Comment if you're out there! Comment about anything you like! LMAO

Port Douglas Part 3 - The WOW factor

Whilst up in the Northern regions of Queensland we also had the pleasure of catching up with some people that LOF and I talk to all the time on WOW.



So here's Faraday and Darkaos in all their fabulous glory!

Thanks for driving up to meet us! It was good fun :)

Cane Toad Racing - Port Douglas Part 2

So we got as far as the story of LOF, a whip and a toad.
We went to a local bar where, for a small sum of money, you can watch Cane Toad racing. You are given a ticket on the door with a number on it. We didn't realise until later that that Cane toads needed jokeys to kiss and cajoul them into participating. It was with even more glee that we smiled when Dad's number was pulled out of the hat. Surprisingly, Dad refused to take part!! SHOCKING! so LOF, being the brave and wonderful man he is, kindly stepped up.

The first thing that had to happen was that he had to have toad assigned to him. He ended up with the only lady toad. Then he had to kiss her before he put her into a pot to start the race.




All jockeys were equipt with a whip (a party style pokey whistle thingy)and were told to get ready. Now the following video has a bit of a blank moment. That's when I had to look down because one of the toads had raced off and was hopping around my feet!!!





Yes, they are real and yes they are poking them with loud paper things to make them move. The idea is that you get them to hop off the table into your hands and then you place them, gently, into a bucket. You can see that the lady toad did not like her male jokey! and LOF came last... Poor thing!


LMAO

Port Douglas

First of all you need to know that Port Douglas is lovely. It's sunny, and beautiful with long beaches with sand so fine it's like talc. The beaches are lined with coconut trees and the sea is turquoise and inviting. We stayed at the Central Plaza, which was lovely. A three bedroom apartment with a shared pool and everything you need to cook a jacket potato and salad (much to mum's relief)

We managed to squeeze so much into the 7 days we were there that I think the Clarke's have decided that they may need to take a further rest to recuperate from their holiday. Well, what's the point in flying all that way to just sit on a beach the whole time? Having said that, the messages the lifeguards left on the chalk board which every Aussie is taught to read before entering the sea - having the need to know whether there are any marine stingers about, whether there were any dangerous rips and where the nearest life guard were - were highly amusing. I was informed on one bright sunny day that today's lifeguard was Pamela Anderson - i think several of the men were disappointed when they couldn't locate the busty blonde bouncing towards them in slow motion, phallic, orange object in hand.


Once we managed to get Mini C out of her cave each morning, the holiday entailed several interesting activities.
- Taking the SKY RAIL over the rain forest
- Visiting a butterfly park at the other end (in Karanda)
- Going to the Great Barrier Reef
- Taking long walks down 4 Mile beach
- Visiting a Crocodile Park (Which turned out to be a farm, they even took mum to visit the Crocs destined to be hand bags - she was of course appalled)
- Going to the local markets
- Having BBqs and
- visiting the city of Cairns

There is much to say on each of these delightful activities so sit back relax and try to stay awake! ;)

The Sky rail takes you up over the mountains and the rainforest and along the way you stop off at various locations. Mother amused herself by spotting Cockateils in trees and by repeatedly stating that she was sure that there had to be an undiscovered dinosaur or other such beasty in that rainforest! " Well you just couldn't know could you! Look at it! I bet there is!".

It was a lovely day and we got to see lots of things, the most fun but I guess was the butterfly park. One actually decided to sit on my hand (Disney princess style) and everything.

The highlight of the whole of our trip to the North was the Barrier Reef. I've always wanted to dive there. I've dived in Europe 3 times before and really enjoyed it but there have never been as many interesting fish as you would like! lol I signed up for the dive and then was prompty told I could not go because I had had ashma in the past 10 years!! Apparently they don't care about this in Greece! lol Instead Matt and I went on an underwater Ocean Walk with helmets on. We thought that the Ocean walk would entail more than simply walking down some stairs but Hey ho! it was nice to be down there amongst the fishie, even if the scubba diving instructors were a but mean with their sense of humour.
Whilst standing down there, surrounded by fishies (not little ones either!) we were passed various objects that the scuba instructors thought were of interest. He handed us a Sea Cucumber and start putting his finger inside it's mouth to show us how it worked, sucking up the debris from the bottom of the sea. He then passed it to LOF and showed him the same thing. LOF, I am certain, put his little finger in it's MOUTH, so, when it came to my turn I did the same thing. It was then that the scuba diver laughed pointed at his posterior, made a gesture to indicated sniffing his finger, waved his hand to suggest his finger stank and then pointed at me and the sea cucumber! Mortified, I quickly passed the creature to the next in line whilst trying not to laugh myself stupid and shouting NO! NO! even though i know the scuba man can not hear me.

I then went snorkeling with my underwater camera whilst LOF went on a semi submersible in search of a sea turtle. We never did see one :( Although the others did not opt to dive I think they had fun too. Mum swears blind she saw 3 sea turtles on her trip on the semi-submersible boat. Lunch was lovely anyway! and they suggested that anyone who was going in the water wear lycra skin tight suits to protect against the sun's rays and the stingers which were completely non existent due to the cold. it was worth hiring one though so that you didn't feel out of place with the other blue, Pentium 4 men on board. The suits, were not very forgiving though! lol



Four Mile beach was the nearest beach to where we were staying and, as the name suggests, is a very long stretch of sand. One morning, after breakfast at the delightful beaches cafe, we decided to go for a short walk along said beach. It was a cloudy day so conditions seemed ideal for a nice walk. LOF, Mini and I were amused as we paddled by what appeared to be worms made of sand. We mused for several miles over what might have been creating them. The major clue came when Mini had to jump around screaming after having discovered the many tiny - large crabs that were pushing up the sand from their little burrows on the beach.

The walk was long, however, and in my opinion there is only soo much beach that you can look at before you go stir crazy - even if Mother was convinced that the beach was paradise and the ideal location for a film. We chose to leave the beach about 3/4 along and instead began to trek the road back into Port Douglas. We grabbed a bottle of water from a local video shop - marathon run style. Then decided that it was a very long road and so we might be better served walking along the beach in any case. Lof then decided that it would be an even greater idea to jog the rest of the way - proof if ever you needed it that he is completely insane. He jogged off into the distance, leaving me with his stinky flip flops and forgetting completely to separate house keys and expensive sunglasses into different pockets. By the time we had got back to the apartments he'd been in the pool and was lying on the sun deck relaxing!
Once we had all joined him and cooled down a little we realised just how foolish it had been to assume that cloud cover meant sun screen. We had all gone a lovely shade of red! ooops.

Now.. what else was there?
Oh yeah... Crocs...


We went to Hartley's Crocodile Adventures. We enjoyed looking at the many Crocologs, and laughed at "Paul" who was an enormous, sleepy ol' croc who lived in his own private pool with his tiny tiny girlfriend croc. This of course gave mum the excuse to call Dad an old croc for the remainder of the day.

The day included a tour on a little boat around a lake full of crocodiles. During this tour the crocs were fed from large poles and we were reminded of the film "Rogue" which is about to be released out here soon.
LMAO

All was going swimmingly until we decided to visit "the farm" at this point faces were being pulled and only the Koalas in the trees made the mood happy again lol. Then we had to go an watch "crocodiles ATTACK!" in which we were shown a rather sleepy croc and told how to not get eaten by him or his mates.... A little late i think... we'd already done the boat thing!

All in all the North Queensland is lovely and is well worth a visit. There's plenty to see and there's a beach on which you can lie and ignore it all if you wish! lol
They will even do you a bowl of vegetables and mash if you ask won't they mum? She was so impressed that she announced that every restaurant should serve such meals! LOL.


1,500 words! oh dear! I think it's time for a rest ;) Plus, Neighbours is on! woo hoo! I'll be back with more soon including the tale of LOF, a whip and a Cane Toad. In the meantime... don't forget that all the piccies are on FLICKR. :)