Regulation Workshop

As soon as I arrived in Brisbane from Melbourne I was once again up the coast and sitting in class once again. As part of my final semester I had to attend a 3 day intensive workshop on regulation and Queensland legislation. It certainly was interesting, if not a little dull. Still, when I’m qualified that’s what I’ll be doing for the first couple of years at least. Applying the legislation to real life. First of all I’ve just got to learn the legislation!

Emergency?

Fire Engines, originally uploaded by Ryan McLean.

We were sitting around with a cup of tea this evening when I heard sirens outside. I went out onto the balcony to have a look and was surprised to see that they stopped right outside my sister's flat. The first fire engine turned up and the guys got out and ran into the building. Then the second engine arrived. By this time I was wondering if they knew something that we didn't. Either way I stayed outside watching. Then another engine turned up. This time they firemen didn't rush inside so I figured there was no need to worry and went back to my cup of tea.

Wet and windy Melbourne

My first day in Melbourne visiting my sister and her husband. And of course my new (or at least 6 month old) nephew, Max. This morning we left the house. It was a typical winter day, windy and overcast. We head to the Studley Park Boathouse for lunch. It was picturesque little house at one of the many bends of the Yarra River. Unfortunately just as we sat down it started to rain. With the wind as well, it was cold. Still, we had a nice lunch before we went for a drive around Melbourne in order to settle down max and put him to sleep. It seemed to work wonders. It rained for the rest of the day so we couldn't really get out and about.

The next day however, Laura, Max and I walked into the city (well, Max was in the pram). First of all we had breakfast at a place called the 'Auction Rooms'. I'm not used to all of these trendy cafes that are dotted around Melbourne. It's quite nice to just go for a wander and then being able to stop at a little cafe. After breakfast we went to a group called 'Songbirds'. In which all the adults in the group sang songs in order to entertain the babies and infants present. The kids seemed to enjoy it as they were clapping and singing away. I held Max during the session and he seemed to be enjoying it. Whether he understood it I'm not sure but he certainly enjoyed the music. After that we did a bit of shopping in the city before walking back home. We did a bit of walking. All up it must have been around 7 km and we had a breeze blowing at us from every angle as we walked down the streets. My feet are sore now but it was a nice day for walking. Tomorrow I'm heading back to Brisbane and back to a week of uni.

Heading to Melbourne

I've just arrived in Melbourne. I flew on Tiger Airways from Alice Springs arriving in Melbourne around 10 o'clock. The flight was alright. The Tiger staff were not unfriendly, but then again not as friendly as those on other airlines. They looked like they had all had a long day. Inside the plane everyone was crammed in like sardines. I was so glad to have a window seat that way I could have a bit more room as I leaned over to the window. I needed this extra room as there was a guy sitting in the middle who was built like a brick... outhouse. I could also see the lights of Melbourne twinkling below as we came closer to land. From my view above the city, the sprawling streets below went off into the distance until they were just a blur. Whether this was to do with the rain or the fact that I wasn't wearing my glasses I do not know. Either way, the city looked big. Streets of orange, yellow and white lights ranged off in every direction. We flew over this mass of light for about 20 minutes. Before getting gradually closer and closer to the ground. Before I knew it we were on the ground and taxiing to the terminal.

The terminal reminded me of cattle being loaded onto a truck. We were herded across the tarmac and down a walkway with fences on either side. There were security guards sanding on the other side of the fence (some even leaning on the fence) ushering us down towards the terminal. The terminal was itself a big shed where the passengers milled around, waiting for their bags. Having only hand luggage I walked straight out and in 5 minutes Paul had picked me up and I was on my way to Laura and Paul's house.

My first impression of Melbourne is that it is cold. There is a cool breeze blowing and my thin jacket wasn't much protection. I would have liked to have brought my big, thick, windproof one that I had in England but unfortunately I only had hand luggage and that was full with my computer, camera, papers and a few clothes. I should have had a bigger bag but by the time I'd packed in on the morning I was to leave, I didn't have enough time. As you can see, I was really prepared. I'll be in Melbourne a couple of days before heading off to Brisbane and then back up the Sunshine Coast to attend a regulation workshop as part of my uni course. Maybe I'll have to do a bit of shopping as well. Get myself another jumper.

Mixed results

Today the results for semester one of 2010 came out and I had both good and bad results. The good were very good, but the bad were quite perplexing. I really thought that I'd get a better make for the SRP. I'm phoned up the supervisor of the subject to ask where I went wrong. She didn't mark it so she didn't know. Instead it was marked by another teacher. I'm going to have to ask him as I'd really like to know. I'll just have to see what he says.

My results for the first semester 2010.

As for the rest, I can see why I didn't get a good mark for epidemiology as it was a tough subject. I had a great group for my Integrated Environmental Management class so getting a HD was not impossible and I'm totally amazed that I got a HD for GIS. Even now I only know the very basics and still am unsure as to what exactly metadata is. All up the results were okay and I'm quite pleased but I'm just amazed that I didn't do as well as I thought for the SRP, especially as each assignment took twice as long and had twice the amount of work than any of the others did. It's especially bad as I took my final report to the teacher to look over it in order to get the best mark that I could. Obviously that plan backfired.

What a racket!

I believe that everyone should have a smoke alarm in their house. However, I do believe that they should be easy to turn off and that people should not install them in places that are going to be in the path of steam rising when one opens the bathroom door. That’s what happened to me tonight. I’d just had a shower and came out of the door to the bathroom. I hadn’t wandered two metres down the hall way when I heard this deafening BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. I looked up at the ceiling searching for where the alarm was. I couldn’t find it. That’s a tip for when you move into a new house, find out where the alarms are. As the incessant beeping continued I spotted it and reached up to push the ‘hush’ button. Nothing happened. I pushed it again, and again, a little harder. I pushed it again yet still the beeping continued. I must point out here that I am fully blaming the beeping for jumbling my brain, for I continued to push the buttons for about thirty seconds more, fully expecting a different result! In the end I gave up and reached up to remove it. I couldn’t reach. BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEEEEEP! Still it went on. I ran down the stairs and grabbed a chair and raced up again. I climbed up and had a look at the alarm. ‘Slide to remove’ it said. That sounded simple enough. It wasn’t. It took me a full 2 minutes of cursing, threatening and pleading with the smoke alarm to stop, all the time tugging, twisting and tapping. At this time I was prepared to start hitting it with the chair to make it stop but with one last tug I wrenched the thing from its bindings. With in two seconds I’d removed the battery but still the sound continued. It took me a couple of seconds to realise that it was just the ringing in my ears. Now, 10 minutes later it is just subsiding. I might put the battery back before I go to bed. However, if it happens again I’m going to have the hammer ready!

A cold, wet day

Yesterday was rather cool. Actually to say it was rather cool is a bit of an understatement. It was cold and wet. The town of Alice Springs broke a record yesterday. It registered the coldest day ever recorded with a maximum of 6.4 degrees. I had to keep my jumper on all day, even when inside!

Splendid Central Australia

Yesterday I went for a wander around Alice Springs. I walked from my place in Hong Street up to the telegraph station taking the eastern route up and the western route back down into town. It was surprisingly quiet. I saw a few tourists at the telegraph station and a couple more on my walk back. However, as I was walking up to the station I saw no one. I remember noticing how quiet it was with only the birds and the wind to be heard. It was quite a pleasant walk. There was slight cool breeze blowing but the sun was warming in the morning air. There were quite a few animals that I found on my walk from kangaroos to grasshoppers. I found a tree with about eight crested pigeons sitting in it. I managed to get a couple of photos before they flew off.

A Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) watching me.

The Alice Springs Telegraph Station.

When I arrived at the telegraph station I was surprised to see that there was quite a bit of water up there, although I could still cross the river without getting my feet wet. From the telegraph station I climbed Trig Hill which is where they placed the first measurement marker when originally surveying the centre.

A Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) that was checking me out.

The trunk of a River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) that was growing beside the Todd River.

A Central Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps) that was sunning itself on a rock.

My white legs sitting on top of Trig Hill.

On my way back from the telegraph station I took the Bradshaw Walk which winds its way through the hills instead of following the river. Along here I was amazed to find a splendid fairy-wren. These are bright blue birds that flit around and are quite hard to get a photo of. I've been wanting to see one of them in the wild for quite a while but until yesterday only ever saw them in wildlife parks.

A male Splendid Fairy-wren (Malurus splendens musgravei).

It was a nice walk and good to get out and about in Alice Springs. Even though the surrounding area appears very dry, the recent rains have brought many animals out and have made the red centre a bit greener.

Firecracker Night

I'm sitting here listening to fireworks going off all around me. The smoke trails can be seen shooting up into the sky exploding into reds, greens, blues, golds and every other imaginable colour. The fireworks are a way of celebrating Territory Day which is tomorrow. I like fireworks. Didn't buy any this year instead I stood out in the street with the other neighbours who were watching the show.

The fireworks show from my door step.

I was surprised to find that fireworks are quite expensive. Especially for something that you are going to set alight, even if it does provide an impressive show. The cheapest set of fireworks that I found was $20 and contained a few rocket types and a twirly sparkler. At the moment I can still here them going off in the street and they have been going off for the past two hours so it seems that everyone here has plenty of money. It looks like I won't be getting much sleep tonight, but for once, I don't really mind.