House Hunting

The house prices in Alice Springs are ridiculous. It was good to hear someone else voicing my views. I was standing in line at the real estate office listening to the rental manager explain why it wasn't the fault of the real estate agents (even though they 'value' the properties and give their prices to the owners) but instead it was the property owners who thought they could get what ever they asked for. It made me smile. Everyone appears blameless. When I left Alice Springs I though that prices were expensive. It might have just been my wage making everything look out of reach but now I've returned I realise that now things are ridiciously expensive.

I'm house hunting at the moment. To share, or not to share. That is the question. But what is the answer. I don't know. Sharing has its benifits. Instead of paying full price for a rental plus utilities you only pay a part of it. Most of the share places are around $200 a week where you share with 2 or 3 others (including the bathroom). The cheapest one bedroom rental property is $250 plus utilities. I don't know which I should choose. On one hand you get everything included but you have to share with 3 strangers. On the other you have to pay out even more money which drastically reduces your savings. In the end it came down to 'eenie, meenie, minee, mo! With that I'd chosen to get my own place and not share. That is the plan at the moment. I'm supposed to be spending a bit of my time out bush as part of my job so it might be a lot to spend if it turns out I'm not there much. For the next few months though I'll be in Alice learning the ropes so I'm sure it will be nice to have my own place and be able to do what I want when I want. We'll have to see how it all goes. It's so hard to see if the right decision has been made when you don't know what the future holds. I guess I've just got to wait and see.

Finishing uni and continuing work

Last week was exam week. My last exam was all about Health Promoting Settings. Stewart was kind enough to 'invigilate' my exam for me. As I pushed my chair back from the desk after writing my final paragraph, my had was aching and my head was spinning. If all went well, I told myself, that was the last exam of my degree. It was a sobering thought. I only had one assignment to complete before it would all be over. That assignment took me the rest of the week and most of the weekend to finish but when it was over, it was over. It didn't feel it though. When I was at uni and finished an exam or assignment there was great relief. Not this time though. This time it didn't really feel as if I had finished. Of course my evenings were a lot more relaxing afterwards. I could sit down and watch telly and let my mind just fade away into oblivion. Before I'd be up until the wee hours (or at least around 10 or 11 o'clock) doing my readings, writing notes or drafting assignments, or at the very least thinking about what I needed to do. But it didn't feel like I'd finished. I guess that's because I'm now working full time (and have been over the last semester). Uni took a bit of a back seat in things as work took over. Now I've got to wait until my results. Then I'll see if I can get the bit of paper to make me and EHO. In the meantime, I start work as an EHO on the first of December. No relief, just fear.

Taking Procrastination to a new level

I just bought a new vaccum cleaner in order to clean my house better the next time I procrastinate. As it's coming up to exams it's needless to say that my house is the cleanest it has ever been!

The mystery of the missing wheelie bin

It was about 1:30 in the morning when I awoke to a loud banging sound. It took me a few minutes to realise what it was. As I looked outside I saw a group of around 7 or 8 kids milling about outside the front of the flats. I say kids but they were probably around 15 or 16 years old. The banging continued. It sounded like they were trying to break down the fence that stood at the end of the row. Why? Who knows. I'm sure they didn't even know, it was just something to do. I was just wondering if I should tell them to leave when one of the neighbours yelled out of her bedroom window that they should move along. After a short argument (with lots of short four letter words) the boys departed into the street with my neighbours wheelie bin where they proceeded to make a racket for the next 15 minutes or so giving each other rides and chasing each other up the street. When they got tired of that, they went on their way. When I first moved into this flat my wheelie bin was missing. I'm pretty sure I know what happened to it now. Lucky my replacement was full of stinky rubbish otherwise I think they would have taken mine as well. Lucky I forgot to put it out to be emptied this week.

The Floating City and Sydney

Floating City, originally uploaded by Ryan McLean.

Overnight this ship docked at Circular Quay. It dwarfed the ferries below and even stood it's own against the skyscrapers. You can see why they are called floating cities.

Visiting my new Niece

The next morning before the city had started to rise (it was about 8 o’clock but it was a Saturday bear in mind), I was sat on a train heading for Newcastle, to visit my new little niece (and of course Lewis and Naomi). It was a nice train ride up there. You leave Sydney through the back end before turning north. Before you know it you’re travelling through forest and along the Hawkesbury River. I arrived at the station and, with the help of my iPhone map application, found my way to Lewis and Naomi’s door. Inside Edie was just waking up and before I knew it I was holding her. She certainly was small. She just sat in my lap and stared up at me. I thought I was facinating her but it turns out that it was just the light she was looking at. At the moment to her, I'm just a blur. I’d arrived early so Lewis was out on a bike ride. He returned before long and we went out for lunch at one of the local cafés.

After lunch Lewis and Naomi took me out to the local wetlands centre. They'd been past it many times but as I was there they thought that they'd go in and have a look. The wetlands were filled with birds. There were sacred ibis, splendid fairy-wrens, welcome swallows, many other species of bird all living in the wetlands. I took lots of photos as we walked around. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

Lewis and Edie

A Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)

Lewis and Naomi with Edie


Lewis and Naomi going for a stroll

We left the park when it started to rain and headed back home. After gorging myself on many mulberries from the tree in their backyard, I headed back down to Sydney.

To the Zoo

The next day I went to Taronga Zoo. Taronga Zoo is perched on the hill on the banks of Sydney Harbour. The zoo had everything that one would expect in a zoo. Lions, tigers, giraffes, elephants, seals, penguins, kangaroos, birds and reptiles. What I really enjoyed was the setup that they have for the platypus. There was a massive tank set up like a creek bed. It was well put together and the platypus was swimming up and down. The Australian Nocturnal house was good although it made me wonder. They had the sounds of the night being piped in to the background. I think that they must have been going for show rather than realism as on several occasions the wail of a coyote came through the speakers as I stared at ring-tailed possums and phascogales. A coyote is not something you expect in the Australian bush. By the end of the day I was exhausted. Another day of walking, but well worth seeing (again).

A cormorant sunning itself in the aviary

An Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis) outside the Zebra enclosure

A Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata) sitting on a rock

A Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii)

A Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)

The view of Sydney Harbour from the zoo's amphitheatre

To Sydney

After nearly a week on the Sunshine Coast I flew off down to Sydney. I arrived in the morning and took the train into town. From there I found my hostel, dumped my stuff and went for a wander around the town. And wander I did. From the hostel near central station I walked to Circular Quay then through the botanical gardens and back along the waterfront to all the way to Darling Harbour and then back up to the Observatory before heading back to the hostel via The Rocks. It was a big walk!

Sydney Harbour Bridge from the Observatory

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House


Bridge climbers

The hostel itself was like any other hostel. Big, noisy and full of strangers. I was sharing the room with seven others. I think that I’ve just about reach the age when I’m over hostels. I’m over sharing a room with seven flatulent, snoring strangers. Still they’re cheap, I guess that’s the main thing.

Presenting at Uni

I left Alice Springs around lunch time today bound for Brisbane. This was one of my trips back in order to give presentations as part of my continuing uni course. As I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight I listened to the people getting called for their flight that had already boarded. It seemed there were quite a few. The calls kept coming until the boarding gates were empty, yet still all of the passengers hadn’t arrived. The plane ride was uneventful as was the lunch that was offered onboard the aircraft. The plan was for Stewart to pick me up from the airport and then I’d head up the coast and start preparing the presentation which would take place the following day.

That’s why on a sunny afternoon I found myself inside a cavernous lecture theatre in front of 40 bored faces as I began to give my presentation on the Photovoice community engagement strategy in practice in Alice Springs. I talked about the project, my group, the photographs taken and finally how the practice went and what the conclusions were. After saying “the participants used photovoice” seven times on the one slide and “basically” 38 times throughout the presentation, I sat down amongst the audience and tried to melt into the seat as the next presentation started.

Freezing in Alice Springs

It's just past six o'clock on a wet and windy Saturday afternoon. The sun is still out yet you wouldn't know it. Sitting in my flat I can hear the wind whistling through, under the doors, through windows and anywhere else through which the wind can flow. It's 11 degrees here at the moment and has hovered around there for the the past couple of days. We had a bright and sunny spell a couple of weeks ago and I really thought that spring had arrived. Now, as I'm sitting here wearing two jumpers, it seems like that was just a dream. I've been sitting here listening to the rain and watching it splashing against my window as I try and work on my assignments. My mind keeps wandering onto other things leaving me with a blank page after an hour sitting in front of the computer. I'm blaming the weather.