SAN to BNE

Perhaps if I just start blogging again and don't say anything, no one will notice it's been almost five months since my last post.  Lots has happened.  I made it through another semester, which puts me half-way through my degree.  I did a really cool project with the Queensland Department of Emergency Services, and got a part-time job out of it.  I also got a job at Woolworths doing night fill, but that's not nearly as glamorous as the gig at DES and, well, I'm not really doing it any more anyway.  And I celebrated ONE YEAR IN AUSTRALIA, which fell really close to the Fourth of July.  Here are the pics.

Alright, maybe I was a little premature in saying that the holiday season was over, because Grant and I got a sort of bonus trip to Cairns last week.  Cairns seems to be a sort of jumping off point to explore all that Far Northern Queensland has to offer.  The city has a nice esplanade, but there's really not a whole lot to do.  Just make sure you heed the crocodile warnings and stay out of the water!  There are plenty of places to see in the surrounding country if you're willing to drive an hour or two to get there.  (Or take a boat to get to the Great Barrier Reef.)  I got to see Cairns, Port Douglas, Kuranda, and Mossman Gorge.

The holiday season seems to be almost over.  Almost, because Australia Day is coming up next week, and it's an official holiday here.  After that, I think we're pretty much finished with the holidays for a while.  I know I am, anyway.  It's been fun, but it's also been expensive.  Time to settle down, find a job, make some money, and get ready for my next semester at uni.  It's also time to (finally) update the blog and post some more pictures.

It's been quite a rush since the end of last semester.  First, there was the huge holiday to Hamilton Island.  Just a few weeks later, I got to travel up to Noosa for a long weekend.  Then, before I knew it, Christmas was already here.  I think the warm summer weather kept me in denial about it actually being Christmas time.  The day after Christmas, my friend Ryan from San Diego came to visit for a few weeks.  Now here I am in the middle of January wondering where the last two months have gone, or at least how they managed to go by so quickly.

Following is a list of websites for several of the places I visited over the last month or so.  There are also descriptions under many of the photos I uploaded, so check them out.  I only posted pictures of new things this time, so you don't have to endure fifity more pictures of the Sydney Opera House.  Well, one more maybe, but not fifity.

1. The Christmas lights seem to be a pretty big deal around here on Christmas.  You can find out in the newspaper and on websites like this one where the best lights are.  De, Grant, and I went out one evening to have a look.  Kinda weird walking around in shorts and tee looking at Christmas lights.
2. Q1
3. You can watch a cool Noosa video here.  We spent our "water time" on the river, and it was cloudy and rainy after the first day, but you get the idea...  This is the website for the townhouse we rented: http://www.coralbeach.com.au/
4. The Big Pineapple's website is under construction, so I had to wiki this: The Big Pineapple
5. One of the highlights of our visit to Melbourne was the Old Melbourne Gaol.
6. We had a day of wine tasting on the Mornington Peninsula.
7. There was also a day trip to Canberra.
   
8. And finally, Sydney Tower..  Well worth the price of the lift ticket once you're up there.
   

These are my favorites.  I put them up just for fun..... and inspiration!

I ended up taking a long walk along the river last Saturday evening.  Walking up the stairs from the river to the top of Kangaroo Point, panting and sweating by the time I reached the top, it was hard to imagine, still, that it's the Christmas season.  Her Excellency Ms. Quentin Bryce, AC Governor of Queensland, put it best when she wrote, "Christmas in Queensland is a far cry from those familiar images of Yule logs, snow and mistletoe.  For us it's jacarandas in full bloom, watermelon, pineapple and stone fruit; sandcastles instead of snowmen, and lightning instead of log fires."

It’s hard to believe I’ve already made it a third of the way through my degree.  I really knuckled down for swotvac (study without teaching vacation) and did the best I could on my final exams.  They were difficult, and I was really stressed, but it’s all over now.  Results will be out Monday, 3 December.

 

To help unwind from the stress and celebrate putting one semester behind me, I took a nine day holiday to Hamilton Island with Zane.  We spent the first five days at a five-star resort right on the beach.  Basically, all I did for five days was lie around at the beach or by the pool drinking cocktails, listening to music, reading and swimming.  We also managed to do a sunset kayak trip, as well as a day of sailing that included snorkelling and a stop at a pristine, white sand beach.

 

On Friday, we had two more friends show up (Jane and Grant), and moved to a different hotel so that we could all room together.  While Zane and Jane got certified for scuba, Grant and I went for a nature hike.  We shared some great dinners together, and took in as much of the scenery and relaxation that we could over the last several days.  I also got out to the Great Barrier Reef for a day of snorkelling.  It was awesome!

 

I’m taking a different approach with the pictures this time.  Instead of describing them as part of this entry, I’ll write descriptions for each picture.  Just click on the gallery and scroll through.

 

I had another chance to get away this weekend.  I was gone for just a little over 24 hours, but I had a really good time...

 

Peter and Bruce are two friends of Brian that live in Yeppoon.  Bruce works as a pharmacist, and over the last several years has become part owner in three local pharmacies.  When Peter and Bruce moved to Yeppoon, there was no Chamber of Commerce, so Bruce decided to create one.  Four years ago, he had the idea to run an “Employee of the Year” competition through the Chamber of Commerce in order to bring the business community together and honor the hard working employees.  What started out with a handful of people in the back of a local tavern has now become large event, with over 250 people in attendance.

 

This year’s celebration took place at the Rydges Capricorn Resort.  (For a little more juicy account of the resort, read here.)  As I mentioned before, there were about 250 people present.  There were speeches, games, awards, dinner, and even a drag show!  It was very entertaining, and everyone (myself included) seemed to have a really good time.  I felt especially proud of Bruce, since he was responsible for all of it.  What an accomplishment!

 

Not so bright and early Saturday morning Brian, Peter, and I jumped in the car for a driving tour of the surrounding area.  We started out with a very nice breakfast by the bay, spent several hours sightseeing, then ended up with a visit to Bruce at the pharmacy.  Back to the house for lunch and a nap, and before long it was time to go back to the airport.

Here's a quick post about the farm.  Brian took me up to meet Doug and Wayne last weekend on Sunday 14.  Doug and Wayne have a crayfish farm that is located about 40 minutes north of Brisbane, very close to Australia Zoo.  In fact, it might as well be a zoo, because they have so many animals living on their property.  Apart from thousands of crayfish living in the ponds, they have a dog, a cat, a bunch of geese, a turkey, and some chickens.  Wayne was kind enough to give me a tour of the farm and show me how they care for the crayfish, what their plans are for expansion, etc.  The boys rounded out the afternoon by barbecuing some chicken and sausages.  We also had salad, bread, beer and wine.  Nice. 

Hmm.... Well, I'm not a very responsible blogger, but I am a very responsible student.  Between uni, work, and the normal day-to-day responsibilities, I’ve had no time to call or email, let alone update this blog.  And although I’m not very fond on the idea of mass mailings, I've been doing that in lieu of updating the blog.  In fact, this posting is just an edited version of a mass mailing.  So this sounds familiar and/or you've already seen the pics, it's better to wait for the next post.

 

Things here are still good, but I’m moving into somewhat of a “reality” phase now, where I’m really starting to miss people and things from America.  On the one hand, I’m sure that’s an indication that I’ve adjusted to life here.  That’s a good thing.  On the other hand, the newness of it is gone now.  That can be somewhat disenchanting.  I’m still glad I moved here, and I have no regrets about what I’ve done, but at the same time I’m really appreciating what I left behind.  And I miss everyone.

 

Uni is a little more difficult and boring than I thought it would be. I realize now that I’m a good teacher, but not such a good student.  Don’t get me wrong:  I’m doing exactly what I wanted to do, and I worked really hard and sacrificed to get here.  I’m just a little disillusioned with the whole university experience.  I mean, why can’t I just spend my days at the beach and earn my degree that way?  Seriously, though, once I get these “foundation” units out of the way this semester, I will be able to concentrate more on the things that interest me.  In fact, I might even change Masters courses beginning 2008.  Once approved, the Master degree will be something like this: http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/news/news-event.jsp?news-event-id=14182. I’d also like to round it out with another database unit or two.  I actually like databases, and there is a need for data consultants right now.

 

I found out this week that Aussie immigration has changed its rules for permanent residency.  Used to be, a degree from a qualified university could get you residency.  Starting September 1, it has to be a two-year degree.  My degree runs only 18 months, so I will have to find another way if I plan to stay here after I’m finished.  I can change my Masters course to add a semester, but that will be another $10,000, and I really loathe the idea of studying for an additional semester.  The other option I have is to find a company that will offer me a job and a sponsorship.  There are more options than just these two, but these are the two most likely.  I have a meeting with an advisor at uni next week, and he should be able to help me sort things out a bit more.  Of course, in another 17 months when my visa expires, I might be really keen on moving back to the States.  Who knows?

 

I finally got to have some Mexican food three Friday nights ago.  Jane, the corporate lawyer where I work, and Sarah, who is something kind of like my supervisor, had an idea to take me out to Mexican food since, besides my friends, it’s the thing I miss most.  Zane came along, and we had a really good night.  We started off at the Royal Exchange Hotel, which is across the street from work, and is not a hotel at all.  (They have all these “hotels” all over the place that are really just bars/beer gardens.  I guess a long time ago you used to be able to stay there, but now they’re just a place to drink.  Took me a while to figure that one out.)  We had some beers, then headed to the Mexican restaurant, where we drank a pitcher of margaritas and dined on some surprisingly good Mexican food.  In San Diego, it would be unremarkable, but after not having any Mexican food for three months, it tasted pretty darn good.  There was also an appearance by Tortilla Man (?), which was kind of interesting.  In one of the attached pictures you will see Sarah on the left and Jane on the right.

 

My birthday was really something special.  Apart from the calls and messages from overseas, I was surprised by my mate Brian on Friday.  Sometime mid-week Brian sent me a very mysterious email that said he was going to take the day off and spend it with me.  He said he would pick me up about a quarter to 6:00 am, because our flight left the airport at 6:30.  I was to bring my togs (swimsuit) and a camera.  That’s all the information I got, but it was certainly enough to get me excited.

 

Sure enough, bright and early Friday morning, Brian showed up at my place and whisked me away to the airport in a taxi.  Since Brian just happens to be a Qantas life member, we got to go into the Qantas lounge and have free breakfast.  Then we boarded a plane and headed for Hervey Bay.

 

Hervey Bay is about a 45 min flight north of Brisbane.  Mind you, when we arrived there, I still had no idea what we were going to do.  And the airport wasn’t much help.  It was really small, no gates or anything.  In fact, when the plane landed and stopped, it just turned around and taxied back up the runway to the “terminal”.  A short walk down the road from the terminal led us to Air Fraser Island where we were greeted by a lady who started talking about planes and rental cars, that whoever was driving would need to sign here and there, and that we had to watch a video before we left.  It wasn’t long before I surmised that we were flying from Hervey Bay to Fraser Island, where we were going to rent a 4x4 and drive around the island.  And that is exactly what we did!

 

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ve included several with this email so that you can see what we got up to.  From landing on a beach, to four-wheeling through the rain forest, to swimming in a crystal clear lake, it was one of the most fun days I ever had.  Take a look!  I’ve also uploaded a few videos to the blog.  You can access them here:  http://raxetsd.vox.com/library/videos/.  You can also learn more about Fraser island here http://www.hervey.com.au/FraserIsland/default.htm and here http://www.fraserisland.net/.

 

So that’s about it for now.  Tomorrow I’m headed off for the crayfish farm with Brian.  That should be worthy of another email.  Speaking of, if you write to me now I should be able to answer you personally and, hopefully, without much delay.  My contract with TechnologyOne ended today, so I’m officially unemployed for the time being.  Also, the semester at uni will be ending here in the next couple of weeks. Then I’ll have PLENTY of time to write emails.

JT

I took some pictures of my unit and the surrounding suburb, as well as a few pictures from the CBD (Central Business District), or as we like to call it, "downtown."  As usual, click on the pics and read the accompanying descriptions below each one.  Enjoy.