Saturday 1st January 2005Happy New Year!
Sydney
was quiet on New Year's day - we wandered down to Darling
Harbour, winding our way down back streets to find the most convenient route
for a pushchair. We passed a string of bars which were hosing down their front
entrances and sweeping up broken glass.
We walked around the Sydney Aquarium
and stumbled upon a man who was asleep on the pavement - snoring loudly with
his mouth open. He had obviously found it too tiring to get back home last night.
We all went to the Aquarium, where Thomas enjoyed watching
the penguins swimming, and the seals in their pool. One thing that we were suprised
at was that Thomas was getting very excitied when he could see "Nemo"
and the other reef fish. Of course, because the film is set in Sydney Harbour,
the aquarium heavily leans towards the Clownfish
tank, and there were plenty of children getting very excited.
Thomas also enjoyed seeing the sharks from underneath and got very excited about
some of the other fish in the large aquariums. I took plenty of photos and video,
which we will show Thomas after he has seen the film 'Finding Nemo' to prove
to him that he has seen the fish in real life.
After the Aquarium, the crowds had started to build in Darling
Harbour (mostly because all the shops are closed in the city, so the tourists
had nowhere else to go), and so we dropped in on a restaurant for a quick lunch.
Thomas and Terry have been getting on really well, with Thomas letting Terry
put him on his shoulders, and Thomas letting Terry hold his hands whilst Thomas
starts to walk.
At the moment, Thomas can walk whilst both his hands are held, but as soon as
we let go of one hand, Thomas stops walking and starts trying to sit down. It's
just a matter of confidence, as Thomas has the strength and balance to walk
by himself now.
After a wander around Darling Harbour, we were all a bit tired, and I was feeling a little ill (maybe from the fish that I ate, or the Champagne, or the dehydration of the humid 27°C day), so we decided to try to catch the Monorail from Darling Harbour up to George Street to avoid walking too long. We climbed the steps to the Monorail, and then got in to the station. We decided not to get on the train that was in the station, as there were already people standing. The next train was going back to the depot so did not pick us up, and the next train was even more packed than the first. Terry was getting aggitated by this and so asked if we could go into the carriage with the driver, which had 5 seats but no passengers. Finally, they let Ann and Thomas into the front, and me and my parents had to cram in to the other carriages. At the next stations, there were even more people trying to get on, but we all managed to get off at the right station, which was right underneath the Sydney Tower Restaurant.
Once back in the Shangri-La Hotel, Thomas was not calming down and so Ann and I decided that we would not go to the Teppanyaki restaurant that we had booked, but instead make use of the room's facilities, by ordering room service and using the spa bath. Terry and Eleanor went to the Teppanyaki and had a great meal, and Ann and I stayed in, where Ann had a great Chicken Curry and I had one of the best steaks that I have ever had. It was great to relax in a bit of luxury and be together.
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This morning we had our breakfast on the 36th floor of the hotel, with views over the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. Thomas got a high-chair this time, and he had his Weetbix and warm milk whilst we had our breakfast and read the Sunday newspapers about the tsunami.
We went to the Queen Victoria Building to have a look around the shops. There were quite a few open, and there were many people in the ornate shopping centre. Again, Thomas and Terry did some walking, and Thomas had more energy than all of us - once Terry was tired, I took over, once I was tired, Ann took over, Terry did another two laps of the mezzanine floor with Thomas, and all this time Thomas was still walking.
We headed back to the hotel to catch our pre-booked Taxi, which did not turn up. We had to book a taxi with a baby seat, and so we could not just get into any car. Eventually the concierge managed to get a taxi with a baby seat, and we got to the airport and checked in, just with enough time to get to the plane without running. The check-in clerk was much better this time, letting us use the bungee cords to secure the push-chair, and even blocking out the seat next to us, so that we could again have the spare seat for Thomas.
I managed to get a window seat this time, and so took some photos of South Australia and the Adelaide region before we landed. It was great to see how clear the sea is, and how beautiful Adelaide is.
Once we got home, our plants had survived because Liam and Shirley had been coming up to water them. They needed a good drink as soon as I got in, but it looks like our crop of tomatoes is going to surpass all of our expectations. The temperature according to the car was 37°C in the airport car-park, and 27°C up in Golden Grove - the house was really hot, but luckily it was nearly evening so we could open the windows to get some breeze through. Thomas went down easily after the long day, and Ann started on the washing and cleaning. We then sat through a few hours of the video taken over the last few days, and looked at 270 photos. Sleep came easily last night.
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New Year's Day public holiday. All the washing went on and
then the rain came down. A thunderstorm broke, watering the garden and nearly
ruining the washing. Ann and I leapt outside to gather the drying in, just before
the torrents of rain came down.
Again, we got that lovely smell of fresh summer rain, and the hot breeze of
a thunderstorm.
I spent a few hours writing the blog and preparing the pictures, and Ann tidied the whole house - we are back to our old routine already.
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Back to work today. Ann drove me down to the University this morning, because we went out to dinner with Heather and Kyle this evening, and it was more convenient for Ann to pick me up on the way.
Work was good today, I am already "adding benefit" and helping resolve problems because of my experience. It's a great environment, where I am with equally skilled people who are all willing to share their own skills with everyone else. It's such a change from my previous role, at least here I can actually get on and DO some work and make a difference.
This evening Ann and I went to a curry with Kyle and Heather
in North Adelaide, where we had a great time. It's refreshingly good to spend
time with adults and no children, and talk about things other than the children.
We went to see "Meet the Fockers", and roared with laughter. We all
enjoyed it so much that we decided to try and do it again.
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Another good day at work. I got some progress and completed
some tasks, which gave me a warm glow inside ;)
I have now got a screen that is so big that I have to turn my head just to read
everything - I don't know it that is making me dizzy, or if something else is.
My parents returned from Sydney today. They had an argument on the plane, and arrived seperately at the house, but everything has settled down now. My father has got a hire car, which means that they are not tied to us any more, and they can explore Adelaide by themselves. They are planning to drive to Melbourne and back to see the countryside and drive on the Ocean Road.
The thunderstorms and wind have died down today. A few days ago, they recorded 100km winds down near where I work, and the rain has been very hard. When I first saw the big drain openings at the kerbs, I did not believe that there really would be enough rain to warrant a 7 inch by 5 foot opening, but over the last few days we have seen enough rain to turn the roads into rivers. Because of the big drains and the warm sun that comes out after the rain, the roads are normally dry after 10 minutes.
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After last night's barbeque, we had all gone to bed early (something in the air all made us tired), and I was the first awake at 7:45 (very late for us...). I was nearly out of the door on my way to work before everyone else got up.
I had such a successful day at work today that I nearly forgot to go home. I just glanced at my watch and thought that it was 4:30, but it was really 5:30. I dashed home because I was worried that everyone would be waiting for me to make dinner. Luckily my father was on his mobile to his office, and my mother was asleep. Thomas was very pleased to see me when I arrived, giving me big hugs and cuddles. We all went out to dinner instead, at another Hotel on Hancock Road - Blue Gums. The food was good, but not as good a selection as the Tea Tree Gully Hotel.
Today my parents went to Tea Tree Plaza and then the 
Central
Market. My father bought lots of fruit for their trip to Melbourne - Terry
eats fruit like most people eat chips/crisps or chocolate, and so he's always
snacking on something. Terry loved the Central Market for it's fresh fruit,
vegetables and fish - I'm just glad that the only food he brought back was fruit
and not a huge fish!
Whilst at the Tea Tree Plaza shopping centre, they dropped in to some toy shops
to buy more toys for Thomas. He now has a new tub for his toys (with his name
on it) and a wooden walker, to encourage him to walk by himself. Thomas was
very excited, but wanted to get into his tub, and then ended up falling
over when he tried to get out.
Ann took Thomas for his 3rd haircut today - his hair is growing so fast that we are having difficulty keeping up! Terry does not like the new haircut as Thomas has lost his curly hair at the back, but Terry does not have to wash the food out of Thomas' hair every other day!
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Work was again good today. I got given my own computer (instead
of using a 'spare' one that was in the office. It's great because it has two
flat panel screens like I asked - so now I have a Windows desktop that is over
two TFT monitors and I can move windows from one screen to the other.
I am also starting to get deeper into some projects that I have been assigned
to. I was taken over to another large datacentre for UniSA that is in the City,
and it was interesting to see the resources that are available to the students.
I thought I would try a different lunch today. I usually have a Subway sandwich,
but today I went to the Thai restaurant and had a Chinese. When I was in London,
I had a Chinese almost every day for lunch, I wonder what will happen here.
Terry and Eleanor have gone off to Melbourne today. They have started driving off along the Great Ocean Road, taking in some of the scenery on the way. My father loves driving, and he has enjoyed driving the Big Sur along the California coast, and the Garden Road in South Africa, and he even drove across the French Alps on a Vespa moped to go to the Rome Olympics in the 60's - so he loves scenic drives, and so he is going to have a great time...
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