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.

My first day at work

I've just finished my first day at work. As soon as 4:21 pm came around I shut down my computer and made my merry way out the door. Well it wasn't exactly like that but it wasn't exactly a tough day. It's scary how I was able to slot back into my old role as soon as I arrived back and even scarier how easy it was. Nothing seems to change. Not in Alice or the way the government runs. When I arrived I turned on my computer and found I had not been given access to the databases that had been requested the week before when they were setting up my computer account. It was for that reason that I didn't really have a stressful day. Instead I just had to try and get my head around the filing system of the person I was replacing and trying to make it suit me. The rest of the day I spent filling in forms. Forms for ID cards, forms for keys, forms for swipe cards, forms for pay, forms for superanuation, forms to fill in forms. I wonder what my second day will hold. If the past is anything to go by, much of the same.

Arriving in Alice Springs

I'm now back in Alice Springs once again. I arrived about 1:30 this afternoon and was picked up by Julie, one of the EHOs in the office, and taken the the flat that I'll be staying in for the next couple of weeks. It's hard to know if Alice Springs has really changed that much since I left. It seems a lot busier and the housing prices are amazingly high but apart from that I don't really know. I dropped my stuff off at the flat and immediately headed into town to pick up a few essentials (cleaning products as the flat was a mess).

The Hong Street flat where I am staying.

After that I walked back into town and bought myself a pillow. Since I arrived back in Alice Springs I've been thinking that it would be nice to have something like a home comfort to make my stay easier. Also while I'll gladly use the sheets, a pillow is more personal. I'd rather not have my head pressed against someone else's dried dribble as I sleep. I'm glad I did. I used the voucher that Laura and Paul bought for me. At the moment I'm just thinking of my time here will hold however long that will be.

The plane that I arrived on being unloaded at Alice Springs airport.

Walking around town I can see that the social problems around Alice have not improved at all over the previous three years. I saw a lot of broken glass around and a lot of indigenous people just sitting around with nothing to do. One thing that I also remembered which hit me as soon arrived. The smell. It's not so much smell of Alice but more of the smell of some of the residents. It's a mixture of dirt, wood smoke and weeks of built up sweat. It was obvious. As I say, on the surface, it appears that nothing has really changed even with the intervention that started before I left and is still continuing. At the moment I really don't know whether or not it is good to be back. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

I'm leaving, on a jet plane

Don't know when I'll be back again. Hopefully thought it won't be too far away. I've been thinking and although I quite liked Alice the last time I was out there I would like to try somewhere different. Of course I know what is out there so it's much easier for me to go out there in the first place. I think if I was going to head somewhere different then I probably would have just stayed up the coast. Either way tomorrow at 5 am Mum and Dad will be taking me to the airport for me to catch my flight. I've spent the day packing and wasn't able to pack anywhere near what I wanted to. Lucky I'm coming back in three weeks, I'll be able to pick up everything (or a bit of it) next time. That's another thing. Now I'm getting a nice collection of stuff. Alice is kind of far away for me to take it all out there unless I either drive it out myself or pay someone to take it out there. That being the case. For the next six months it looks like I'll be living out of a suitcase.

Heading to Alice Springs

The time has come for me once again to leave the east coast and head into the centre of Australia. On Monday I'll be catching the 7 o'clock flight to Cairns and from there to Alice Springs. If all goes to plan I should arrive in Alice around 1:30 in the afternoon. At the moment I'm packing. I don't really know what to pack as I can't really take that much out with me as I'll be flying out there. At the moment I've just filled up a suitcase with clothes. I want to take a lot more but can't seem to find the room to put it all. I'm kind of sorry to be going, I think I'm getting to the stage in my life where I want a bit of stability and not to keep moving around. I'd like to find a place to make my own. Still, that's a long way off. First I have to get a job and earn money. Unfortunately that needs to take precedence over everything else at the moment.