Christmas Party

Tara's done classes and in a week an a half, she'll be done exams too.  In the meantime, she'll be studying hard.  Last night she took a break for my work Christmas party, which was a good time.  I've posted a few photos below.  My herb garden is coming along nicely, and I've managed to get a couple fresh strawberries out of it. Not too much else going on at the moment.  I'll post a more interesting blog later.

All Moved In

Our container of belongings finally arrived on Friday. I took the day off so I could be around to tell the movers where to put stuff. Considering that it took a whole day for the movers to pack us up and fill the container in Calgary, I was a bit surprised on Friday when they were in and out of our place in about 2 hours. But they left most of the unpacking to us. It's been a busy few days, but we're pretty much all unpacked. I can't believe how many books we have though. We're going to have to buy a second book shelf just to house all of our books (school books, work manuals, etc). Attached are a couple pictures. The folding chairs sitting at the desk is where Tara and I have been eating all of our meals and watching all of our shows on the computer until now. Very uncomfortable. And the second picture is what our place looks like now, with our furniture. So much better now.
 
 

Tara's been busy busting her hump at school 12 hours a day, and I've been busy working hard and playing hard. I try to make the most of my weekends by getting out for a surf in the morning and then inevitably have some errands to run in the afternoon. On Saturdays and Sundays I've been getting up between 6 and 7 am and heading down to Burleigh Heads with my longboard for a morning surf. I wish I didn't have to get up so early on weekends, but unfortunately that's the best time to surf because you get the best conditions before the wind starts to blow onshore (which usually happens after about 10 am). Also, you avoid the crowds a bit, although there are still a lot of people who get out that early. I've been meaning to try to get out before work during the week because I don't expect there to be nearly as many people in the water at 5 am on a Tuesday, but haven't been able to drag myself out of bed that early yet. Also the surf has been pretty bad, which is apparently normal for the spring time. I'm looking forward to getting out kiteboarding now that my equipment has arrived, but I need to find a good spot for beginners.

I spoke to my buddies on the phone this weekend. They are all in Phoenix on Steve's baby stag: an ingenious idea my friends have adopted which involves somewhat of a free pass for you and your buddies for all of life's major events. At your wedding you obviously have a stag party. You have a baby stag prior to when you have a baby (in response to your spouse's baby shower). I had a going away stag prior to moving to Australia. I'm sure there are a few other scenarios when we could get away with throwing ourselves these stag parties, but the key is to not overuse this free pass. Its strength lies in its infrequency. I miss my boys. I would have loved to have been there in Phoenix with them, or anywhere for that matter. Apparently they were pretty happy to be in Phoenix as well because it was -20 in Calgary today.  It was +28 in Gold Coast this weekend.

We had a few of her school mates over for a barbeque this evening, which was fun.  We just bought a nice new barbeque a couple weeks ago and I've been cooking pretty much everything on the barbeque.  I'm getting to be a pretty mean barbeque-er.  So it was nice to have some people over (for the first time) and break in the new home.  We need to get some patio furniture though.

Herb Garden: Day 1

I decided to plant a few herbs in pots and see if I can keep them alive long enough to reap their bounty.  Basil, oregano, parsley, coriander, mint, chives, roma tomatoes, strawberries, and of course red hot chili peppers.  I was too impatient to wait for seeds to grow, so I bought the kind that are already started for you.  It actually ended up costing a lot more than I thought it would, so I'm really going to have to try to keep them alive.  I'll keep you updated on the progress.

Tara is FINE

No need to worry anybody. I thought a title like "Tara and the 4 car pile-up" might be a bit alarming. I wanted Tara to write this blog but apparently she doesn't like to blog so I can only give you my perspective of today's events.

After watching Community the other day, there several "timelines" that I can imagine could have existed today. When the alarm rang at 5:45 am, I rolled over and asked Tara if she would be driving me to the train station at 6:30. She told me to take the car and she would walk to pick it up from the train station later. I reminded her to pick up our package that was awaiting us at the post office, and got ready for work. When it was time to leave I decided to be a good husband and walk to the train station, leaving the car at home for Tara.  I'm sure you can imagine how many potential timelines could have existed here.

We exchanged a few text messages around 8:30 regarding the whereabouts of the car. Between 8:30 and 9:00 I was playing a very annoying game of telephone tag with one of my coworkers who is in the field, during which I discovered that my Blackberry is broken and can't make or receive phone calls. I did however receive a very cryptic voicemail around 9:30 from some American named Virginia who was calling on behalf of Tara, and she asked me to call Tara back as soon as I could.

A phone call like this is everyone's nightmare, so I called Tara back right away. She answered the phone sobbing and in hysterics, but I was able to glean a bit of information from her before she said she had to go and hung up: basically just that she was in a car accident, she was fine, and the car was slightly damaged. I later learned the rest of the details: she was driving down the middle lane of a 3 lane street behind a large truck. The truck suddenly swerved, revealing a large box in the middle of Tara's lane. In a split second, she evaluated her options: there were cars on either side of her so she couldn't swerve. She slammed on the brakes and stopped short of the box. The car behind her was traveling at a safe distance and managed to stop in time. The two cars behind him were neither following at a safe distance nor obeying the speed limit so the next two cars piled into the guy behind Tara, pushing his car into ours.

Everybody exchanged information, Tara went to the police station to report the accident, and then went to school to carry on with her day. I advised that she should see a doctor to get herself checked out, just in case. She went to see the nurse on campus who told Tara to go to the hospital. Tara phoned me at about 1:30 asking me to meet her at the hospital. Not a good day for me to bail out of work early, as my boss is away and I've got his delegation of authority and a bunch of stuff to do. I told her I would come as soon as I could, and was able to wrap everything up in an hour and then jump on the train for the 1.5 hour trip to Gold Coast. I got here at 4:30 and it's 8:00 now and Tara's just now receiving a clean bill of health. 1 needle, 1 neck brace, 2 panadol, 2 codeine, and 1 CT scan later...

Oh, and I found another spider in the house.  Not nearly as big as the last one, and dead when I found him which made it easier to catch.

Fascinating....

Yesterday was Melbourne Cup day, which is pretty much the Australian equivalent of the combination of gold medal hockey game in the olympics and the prom. It's known as The Race that Stops the Nation. Part of it is because Australians are degenerate gamblers who will bet on anything for which odds can be calculated. But mostly, it is a reason to get cleaned up in your Sunday best and be seen.  Guys rock suits and girls get all dolled up in fancy dresses and crap in their hair. I'm referring of course to "fascinators" which are these contraptions usually made of feathers and lace that women feel compelled to attach to their heads. The clever name may be derived from the fact that you "fasten" these things to your head, or maybe because they are designed to catch the attention of males of the species and fascinate them in an effort to better their chances of reproducing. Or maybe I'm thinking about peacocks. 

In any case, I think it's fascinating to imagine that if a prominent Australian started wearing dog collars around her neck, all the birds would be wearing them by the new year. But I guess that's just fashion.  Speaking of birds, it is also fascinating to note that despite all the apparatuses resembling birds nests that women were so happily wearing in their hair, I never once saw a bird trying to make itself at home in one of them.  No to worry though; I hear fascinators are out and hats are in (I suppose we have the royal wedding to thank for that one), so next year they'll all be rocking trilby's, fedoras and pork pie hats.

Of course I had so much exposure to these fascinators (not a bare head as far as the eye could see) because I was right in the heart of the action at Brisbane's Eagle Farm Racecourse.  My company's social club took part in this lawn party that the racecourse was putting on which involved buffet lunch and all the booze you could consume. They had local races on, and of course screens showing the other races that were happening in the country, including the great Melbourne Cup which was a 3200 meter racwinn which 24 horses race for the prize of about $4 million.

Needless to say it was a fairly loose day full of piss (beer) and punting (gambling). I only bet on 3 races and didn't win anything but my boss picked the winner of the Cup and won some beans.   From there a few of us went out for dinner and I jumped on a train bound for Goldie around 9 pm. 

Unfortunately Tara wasn't able to come, as Tuesday is her busy day at school and she couldn't get out of it. The Race that Stops the Nation apparently doesn't stop academia. If Tara and I hadn't had supper with my boss and colleague when we first arrived, I think people would start to question whether or not I actually have a wife or if I just made it up. But we have a Christmas party coming up at the beginning of December that we can go to and I can show off my awesome wife to all my work mates. Everyone is dying to meet her. 

This next tidbit is more amazing than fascinating...Halloween was the other day. This fact may be obvious to you people in North America, but in a country like Australia where Halloween isn't really celebrated, I would have been surprised to see even a handful of trick- or-treaters. I was amazed to find TONNES of them!  And houses done up like haunted houses!  I haven't seen this much effort or participation in Halloween for a very long time. But I think this phenomenon may have been focused locally on the Gold Coast, or maybe even just to Azzurra Island, because my work mates said that they didn't see many trick-or-treaters in their neighborhoods in Brizzy.  And if they did, they would have turned the hose on them. 

The Epic Spider Battle

Last night (or rather, this morning) at 3:30 I was awoken by my lovely wife calling for me from down the hallway.  " Adam, there's a big spider out here and I need you to kill it."  Not exactly what you want to hear at 3:30 am.    For some reason Tara felt she needed to go downstairs to get her phone in the middle of the night and found her path blocked by this menacing figure.  

Now I know there are some big spiders here in Australia but maybe Tara and I had differing definitions of the term, "big spider."  We did not.   To give you an idea of what this spider looked like without any exaggeration, take your hand and hold it with all your fingers outstretched like you're making a number 5.   Then put a loonie in your palm. That would be an accurate representation of what was making its way up the wall towards me:  the spider's body was the size of a loonie and its legs were about the length of your fingers (but much skinnier of course).  Although Australia is home to several varieties of the deadliest spiders in the world, they are all quite small. The big ones are harmless and I assumed this guy was a Huntsman spider.

After a momentary freak-out, I collected my wits and decided how to handle this situation. Since we're not yet fully moved in, I was lacking the proper tools for the job. Baseball bat or tennis racket were the first things that popped into my head. I had to act fast or I would risk the spider making a move and I would never find him again. I quickly gathered a towel and garbage can, the best weapons I had available. At this point I wasn't sure if I would be using the garbage can to capture the spider or to bludgeon it with. I chose the latter. 

I got in close to where he was sitting on the stairway wall and smashed at him with the base of the garbage can. Not a direct hit so he fell onto the stairs and scurried around the corner. I was right behind him, taking mad swipes with the garbage can until he made it behind a box. At this point I knew I had him cornered so I prepared for the showdown.  I pulled the box away from the wall and the spider was sitting in the corner under an extension cord.   Pounding away with the garbage can, the spider succumbed to the beating and  I emerged victorious. 

What was most troubling was how this giant spider got into our house. When we moved into the house last weekend, I noticed that there is quite a large gap on the bottom and sides of our front door, possibly as large as 1 cm in places. I don't know why I didn't take care of this right away, but as a result this spider just waltzed right in the front door. Now I can't get some weatherstripping fast enough but it will probably have to wait until next weekend since all the stores close by 6 pm during the week.  Hopefully we don't get any more unwanted visitors before then

The Dope Ride

I should probably apologize to my loyal blog followers as I see it's been about a month since my last posting.  We've been busy. 

I now have 5 weeks of work under my belt and I managed to get out to the field for a few days to have a look around. I traveled through the exotic towns of Toowoomba, Chinchilla, and Roma to get to the coal seam gas fields where we are currently operating.  The field trip was worthwhile and  as a bonus I saw my first wallaby. 

Tara and I have been spending a lot of time looking for a house to rent and a car to buy, and as of yesterday we have accomplished both.  It took quite a while to find a house that was suitable. Most of the places we looked at were townhouses inside gated complexes. They pretty much all had the same layout and were usually quite rundown. We ended up finding a very nice townhouse that is close to Tara's university (driving distance) and probably about a 20 minute walk for me to get to the train station. Unfortunately the townhouse doesn't have access to a pool or gym like some of the gated places do, but it is a nice place on an island with views of the canal system that weaves through the various Gold Coast communities. Unfortunately this canal system is virtually useless because the water is unappealingly murky and teeming with bull sharks. 

We took possession of our place last weekend, moved our stuff over on Thursday night, and checked out of our furnished place on Saturday morning. We lined up deliveries of some necessities for that day as well: new bedroom set, mattress ( finally we have a king size!), fridge, washing machine, and dryer. I got started unpacking and awaited the deliveries while Tara went shopping for some of the other essentials: sheets, towels, a couple chairs. Our place is going to be quite empty and uncomfortable for the next month until we get the rest of our stuff delivered. 

After much deliberation on what to do about purchasing an overpriced Australian car, we decided our best move was to buy something we could get for a couple grand and not have a car payment. I have to give Tara credit for finding our car. I suggested that we should look for an older, single owner vehicle because chances are, it would be well maintained. Tara found the perfect car on the internet and we ended up buying it: a 2000 Hyundai Excel with about 211K on the clock. Certainly nothing to brag about but it was well taken care of and will hopefully prove to be a reliable vehicle for us.  The next thing I have to do is get a roof rack put on the car, buy a longboard, and spend my weekends at the beach! What do you think I'll be doing next weekend?

I hooked up with my best friends this weekend via FaceTime. They were having a bit of a party so it was a good opportunity to see them all at once. Almost made me feel as though I was right there eating cheese toast with them. 

Canadian thanksgiving came and went without much to note. I spoke with my parents on the Saturday, but Sunday and Monday went by without Tara and I doing anything to celebrate. I think i ruined our lasagne on Saturday (stupid Australian concection oven) and I don't think we even ate supper on Sunday. Christmas decorations are already in stores. Since Australia doesn't seem to make much of an event of Halloween, Christmas decorations end up in  stores in early October. I can't even imagine that it will feel like much of a Christmas when it's 30 degrees plus. Maybe we can finally get a Christmas tree since we don't have any cats to tear it down. 

Tara is lighting it up at school as per usual. She's had one exam so far which, although she hasn't gotten a mark back yet, everyone is supposed to have done pretty poorly on. But it sounds like her professors are impressed with her. Apparently professors like students who sit at the front of the class and engage them by answering questions, and asking them. Who knew?  I always preferred the anonymity of sitting at the back of the class, and especially enjoyed seeing the look on the prof's face when they handed back an "A" exam to a student they don't recall ever seeing before. 

Tea

The concept of "tea" is something that I think I've gotten the hang of. I'm not talking about the warm beverage, but rather the social and gastronomic experience of taking a moment to refrain from one's normal course of activities to relax and fraternize with one's peers. Often this seems to involve a fairly impressive, and unexpected, spread of food and some accompanying coffee and, yes, tea. Something tells me this is a trait Australians inherited from their ancestors, so any of you who are well versed in British lifestyle probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

My first experience was 2 weeks ago when my boss, whom I had yet to meet at the time, invited Tara and I to Brisbane for tea on Thursday evening after work so introductions could be made and we could get to known each other prior to my first day of work the following Monday. On this occasion "tea" meant a 3 course supper. In the office environment, morning tea usually means I scrounge together a sausage roll and/or meat pie, while at afternoon tea I'll manage to scarf down a cookie or other pastry. And there is almost always a cup of tea that accompanies these savory delights.

Just to emphasize how much tea these Aussies consume, my office building orientation went something like this when we got around to the kitchen: "These 3 fridges are for employees to use for their lunches...well, actually, these 2 fridges are for lunches. This fridge is the milk fridge." No matter what time of day or day of the week, this fridge seems to always contain about a dozen 2 L jugs of milk (of various varieties) for employees to use as required to lighten up their warm beverages.

Don't even get me started about coffee...

First Week Down (Under)

One week (of work and uni) down!  But we've officially been here for 2 weeks now.  Tara seems to be thoroughly enjoying her program so far and she's starting to get loaded up with work.  I can't say I did a lot of work in my first week on the job but I should start getting some actual tasks this week.  Work seems like it will be good.  Everyone seems really nice and layed back.  On Thursday morning before work I played nine holes with a few people from work.  Besides the obvious downside of getting out of bed at 4:15 am in order to make it to Brisbane for a 6:00 am tee time, driving to and from work from Gold Coast is no picnic either.  I was expecting pretty light traffic on the M1 between 5 and 6 am but even at that hour it was a pretty steady volume of traffic.  The drive home after work took just as long as the train ride due to the even heavier traffic.  After that I can definitely say I will not be driving to work on a regular basis.  Nor do I think I'll be golfing too many mornings before work.  I did, however, find out that in the summertime, the sun rises around 4:30 so I could easily fit a quick surf into my morning schedule before getting on the train at 6:40.  We'll see how that goes.

Because of my commitment to riding the train to work, I decided to buy an iPad.  So anyone with FaceTime can find me at adam.a.reilly@gmail.com.  Tara's already taken the liberty of installing her favorite Apps on it and she's encouraging me to get a Tap Zoo of my own but I am resisting.

The highlight of our week was today's trip to Byron Bay.  Tara has been studying pretty hard all week and the other day she suggested that we go to Byron Bay on Sunday.  I was all over the idea.  I've been wanting to get back to Byron Bay ever since I left, 13 years ago, but I was a bit concerned about rumors that it has changed and commercialized.  I was told the hippies have been exchanged with yuppies and the mom-and-pop shops traded in for franchise restaurants.  Upon pulling the car into Byron Bay today, I was pleasantly surprised to find the exact same Byron Bay that I once knew, only with way too many people in it.  Probably just because it was the weekend, but I never remember this many people in Byron Bay.  But everything was pretty much just how I left it:  Bay Action surf shop on the corner, the 23 hour bakery just down the street, and Cocomanga's bar somewhere in the middle.

I was hoping for some swell, since everywhere in Gold Coast has been flat for days, but Byron Bay had zero surf.  So Tara and I just hung out in our newly purchased beach tent (see the photos) and went for a few swims.  This beach tent will prove to be the best $60 we've ever spent!  On the way home, we stopped in Coolangatta to check out the famous Snapper Rocks point break and there were a few guys out catching some small, but decent, waves.  I guess we should have just stayed in Gold Coast today.  From the lookout at Pat Fagan Park we spotted some whales off in the distance as they were migrating south for the summer.  They were jumping and blowing and waving their fins at us and they must have been huge, because they were quite a long way out.

And, I forgot to mention, that Tara drove all the way to Byron Bay and back home again and did a spectacular job.  I think she's getting more confident behind the wheel of a right-hand-drive car now.   We only have one more week with our rental car and then we have to give it back, then it's the bus for a while until we get a car of our own.

Commuting

I've got 2 days of work under my belt now.  Well, not really work.  Like starting any new job, I've got about a week's worth of training, waiting for applications to be installed, and killing time.  It won't be until next week when I have some real engineering work to do.  2 days of work, and 2 days of commuting along with it.

I've always lived within 5 km of my office so I either walked to work (when I lived with Scott), took the bus or got a ride from Tara (when we lived in Mount Pleasant or Inglewood).  I've never had the faintest desire to spend any significant amount of time on a train or bus.  Now I don't really have much of a choice.  Well, we have 3 choices as I can see it. 

1:  Live in Gold Coast (exactly which suburb is irrelevant) and commute 1.5 hours to work each way.
Pros: 

• Awesome weekends--we'll already be near the beach.  
• Tara's close to Uni.
• The sun goes down at 6pm (and apparently sunset will not get much later once summer roles around), so what else do I have to do in the evenings?
• There are much nicer places to rent in Gold Coast than in Brisbane.

Cons: 

• I spend 3 hours on the train each day--about 4 hours of my life each day will be dedicated to getting myself to/from work.  The 3 hours on the train could be fairly productive and possibly some much needed me-time if I get myself that iPad I've been wanting.
• I'll miss out on 6am golf with work buddies in Brisbane.  Well, even if we lived in Brisbane, Tara would most likely take the car to Uni and I'd miss out on golf anyway.

2.  Live in Brisbane and have Tara commute 1.5 hours to Uni.
Pros: 

• Her class schedule is much lighter and more lax than my work schedule, but she'll no doubt get very busy very soon and end up spending a lot of time studying at the Uni.
• I can have 4 hours of my life back.
• Tara can listen to her taped lectures during her 3 hour drive. 

Cons:

• We'll have to buy a fairly reliable (read:  more expensive) car if Tara will be driving between Brisbane and Gold Coast daily.
• We would probably see less of each other because Tara wouldn't get home until late.

3.  Live somewhere in between the two cities, like Ormeau or Beenleigh.
Pros: 

• Equal commute.

Cons: 

• We'll still have to buy Tara that reliable car.
• Have you ever heard of Ormeau or Beenleigh?  Me neither.

I don't know.  Any suggestions are welcome.

I still haven't gone into the ocean past my ankles yet.  Not for any good reason really, I just haven't picked up a surfboard yet and my kiteboard gear won't be here for another couple months.  It didn't help that a couple days after we got here a surfer was half eaten (they recovered his top half) by a great white in Western Australia, and just today I read in the news that a kiteboarder claims to have been attacked by a tiger shark in Papua New Guinea. 

Apparently our air freight shipment has arrived in Brisbane and will take about a week to clear customs.  That will be a bit like Christmas when we get it, but I think most of the stuff is just boring household items.  And my recently acquired bass which I haven't had much time to get to know in Calgary.  I look forward to getting re-acquainted next week.

Tara got behind the wheel the other day to try it out.  Unfortunately, I don't think she's very comfortable yet so it may take another try until she's confident enough to drive by herself.  But she did great on Sunday and I'm sure she'll have it in no time.

It has been a crazy busy week! I was super home sick Monday/Tuesday, but after my Law School orientation on Wednesday/Thursday it seems a bit better. I was a little worried that many of the law students would be much younger (as you can enter the LLB program right out of high school in Australia), but most students starting this term are taking their JD, which requires at least an undergrad degree. Adam was less than impressed with all the 18/19-year-old exchange students hanging around the campus and bus stations, so we've been avoid those areas when possible.

We went to Brisbane on Thursday night to meet Adam's boss, Ben and a guy named Ken from Adam's team. Ben and Ken brought their girlfriends and we ate at this very high end seafood restaurant. It was amazing, but very over priced! They also have Entres, Sides, and Mains, which was very confusing for me, but in the end I had the most delicious dinner and WAY too much wine, as Ben made me finish off the bottle. A little drunk, Adam and I walked around downtown Brisbane making our way back to our hotel. Thank you Origin for a wonderful dinner and hotel in Brisbane!

We spent Friday afternoon, very hungover, driving around the little towns between Brisbane and Gold Coast trying to see where we would like to live. Nothing really seemed that great, but I'm not sure if that was the crappy weather, or the hangover.

Friday was also our Anniversary, so we had planned a nice dinner and a night out at Jupiter's Casino (which is across the street from our hotel in Broadbeach.) The casino has a wonderful buffet, which happens to have a seafood night on Friday, so we had another feast of seafood and drank too much wine again! I also ate my first Morten Bay Bug, which is a whole lobster that doesn't have any claws... it is really just a lobster tail, but very tasty. We hit the tables, but got cleaned out by a blackjack dealer. All-in-all it was a great Anniversary! I love my husband!

Saturday we did some running around and took the train into Brisbane to try to find Adam's office. The train ride was not as bad as I thought it would be and seemed to go by faster. It takes 1.5 hrs to get to Adam's office and I think he will need to invest in an Ipad if we live in the Gold Coast. He plans to take the train next week to see how it is during rush hour. We had dinner at a pub and then went to see The Change-Up, which was super funny and I would recommend it!

Thanks to all my friends and family for the kind emails and messages this week! It has really helped. I am still home sick, but it seems to be getting easier. I really just can't wait to start class!

xoxoxo

Driving on the other side

Tara and I picked up the rental car yesterday.  Halfway around the world and we end up with a Ford.  Driving on the left-hand side of the road is going to take some getting used to.  I turned on the wipers (instead of the turn signal) about 7 times by Tara's count and only drove on the wrong side of the road once, but that was in a parking lot.  Tara doesn't want to drive just yet, but I tried to tell her it's not so bad.  Thank goodness we got a GPS with the car so we can find our way around.  There are plenty of roundabouts here which make it easy to turn around if you need to.

I never understood "Jetlag" until moving here. The last 2 nights Adam and I have gone bed before 8 p.m. - Are we lame or just old? I can't decide. We also can't sleep in and are up at 6:30 a.m., which I guess is good practice for the weeks to come when he starts work and I start classes.

We went to visit Bond yesterday and it was amazing! I love the campus and the people were super friendly. The food was a bit lacking, but I guess that will save me money as I'll be forced to pack a lunch. I got my student card, gym membership, timetable, and then Adam got upset so we ditched the campus to tour to argue. We fought about where to live, what to drive, how to commute, who will commute, bills, budgets, and just about everything else you can think of. I think he was most upset that I wanted to live near school (which means he will need to commute 1.5 hrs each way) when my classes don't start until 10:00 a.m., and I only have class 4 days a week. I keep trying to tell him that I will be at school studying everyday, but he doesn't believe me, which I cant blame him- I've never been good at getting up in the mornings and going to school... I just hope I can prove him wrong. I also want to live in the Gold Coast because the places to rent are WAY better than in Brisbane. So after a good solid afternoon of arguing we left Bond and headed home via transit. I hate transit.

At home we didn't get an further ahead and realized that we are not on the same page with a lot of things. We agreed to leave it alone tonight and re-address in the morning, when we were both less stressed. I spent the evening unpacking and reading. Adam spent the evening on the computer. It was nice to know that we could disagree and take time away to reflect without having another pointless argument.

This morning we got up and agreed on a bank account and our plan for the day. It was nice to not argue about this and I think today will be more productive! I am a little homesick and missing my friends and life in Calgary. It's funny because I couldn't wait to leave Calgary and without me even realizing it, Calgary became our home. At Bond yesterday a lady told me it will take about a week to settle in. I hope she is right. xoxo

We have arrived

We met up with Scott and Ashley in the Vancouver airport.  Their flight was delayed so it was nice to catch up with them one last time before taking off.  Have a great time in New Zealand, Scott and Ashley!

When we boarded our plane and found our pods, we were treated to champagne and orange juice, instructed on how to operate our seats which fully reclined to lay flat and had a built in massage function.  Tara's pod was just across the aisle from mine.  I felt like a bit of a jerk reclining and drinking my champagne while everyone sitting in coach had to walk past us to their seats.  We were then presented with our menu for the flight which included various options for supper (including filet), dessert, snacks, breakfast, and various wines and spirits.  Once we were in the air I put on a movie, had my supper and then took a bit of a nap.  Tara was asleep before dessert came and slept  most of the flight.

Once we arrived in Sydney, they made us sit in the plane at the gate while they "sprayed the aircraft."  Tara and I were expecting them to spray the outside of the aircraft, but the flight attendants came through the cabin with aerosol cans and sprayed everything and everyone in the aircraft with some sort of chemical.  Going through customs was a piece of cake.  For two people who are moving to Australia for the next few years and have lots of other unaccompanied goods coming at a later date, I was expecting more than "How was your flight" from the customs officer.  Then we went on to the quarantine inspection station where they X-rayed our bags and made sure we weren't bringing anything into the country which may impact the Australian ecosystem.  The upside was that I got my golf clubs cleaned for me.

Then we went on to Virgin Airline's domestic check-in and had to re-check our 6 bags.  Tara and I have been trying to figure out what our baggage allowances were but were prepared to pay extra for our bags on this domestic flight.  The allowance was 69 kg each and we were under by 2 kg's, another great surprise!

The flight from Sydney to Gold Coast was quick, and we were met on arrival by the transfer that was arranged for us.  We were taken to our furnished apartment in Broadbeach which is a block from the beach in a very nice hotel.  We'll be staying here for up to 6 weeks, or until we find a place of our own.  We spent the afternoon unpacking and made a quick trip to the Apple Store for new power cords and I was pleasantly surprised when they threw in a free cord for my IMac.  We made supper, ate, and were in bed by 7pm.

This week, Tara has a bunch of things to do at Bond Uni for orientation, and I've got to contact work and the relocation company to work out a few things.  But I'll most likely be riding on Tara's coat tails this week and pretending to be a uni student along with her.  I also need to pick up a surf board and try to catch a few waves, although the water seems pretty cold right now and I don't have my wetsuit with me.

My turn...

I completely agree with Adam that Executive Class is amazing and I think that we are very lucky. I am still in awe that our baggage was not too heavy. Our limit was 70 lbs per bag and our heaviest bag was 69 lbs! It was a very stressful day leading up to that point. We've been so busy I didn't have time to be excited until now. Adam just poured us our last Caesars and I am just taking everything in. I am grateful for everything right now. I am looking forward to getting on the plane and sleeping in my sweet pod! I believe Scott and Ashley's flight to NZ is delayed/cancelled, so I went looking for them, but couldn't find them.

Scott & Ash - If you are around we are leaving from Gate 51. I went to Gate 53 to look for you. Text/message us if you can. It is 10:44 Vancouver time.

Kicking it in the Maple Leaf Lounge

I don't mean to sound spoiled, but after flying executive class, I'm not sure I can go back to coach.  And one of the benefits of executive class is access to the Maple Leaf Lounge.  After years of walking past those curious glass doors and wondering what lies beyond, I've finally found out:  a small, picked-over buffet that apparently doesn't get replenished very often, and an open bar with just about everything you would ever want to imbibe.  Might as well have one last Molson Canadian in my homeland before I'm in the land of Toohey's and Carlton Cold!

Homeless and exhausted

Tara and I spent the day visiting friends, unloading the last of our possessions we've bee trying to get rid of and tying up some loose ends with the bank.  Then we packed up the bags we're bringing on the plane and cleaned our house top to bottom so it could be inspected and handed over to our landlords.  We've been staying at the Hyatt in downtown Calgary for the past couple nights--not bad for a couple homeless people!  I've been taking advantage of the internet access and sending a bunch of documentation overseas for my work visa application.  We're traveling down on Tara's student visa and then applying for a work visa once we're there.

I feel as though I've been crazy busy consistently for the last month and I can't see it ending until I plop myself into my airplane seat in Vancouver and brace myself for the 15.5 hour flight to Sydney.   Then maybe I can relax.  One more sleep (and not nearly enough of it) until we're off.

Free at Last

The movers came yesterday and packed up all of our stuff.  96 pieces packed into a sea container.  Bye-bye stuff, see you in 3 months!  And 150 kg of essentials that will be traveling by air.  All we have with us is a few suitcases of the clothes we're bringing down there with us.  After all the work we've put in over the last few weeks organizing our stuff and getting ready for the move, it's finally over and it feels as though a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.  Now we just have a bit of time to kill and 3 more sleeps until we're off.

Behind the Scenes

How we came to move halfway around the world.....

A year ago, my wife Tara and I decided to leave Calgary in pursuit of a better climate.  We sold our house, downsized, and began preparing ourselves for a lifestyle change.  Tara was completing her degree in psychology and was determined to go on to higher education starting in September, 2011.  I wanted to live near the ocean and continue working in the oil and gas industry, which don't exactly go hand-in-hand. After looking around for an international location that would accommodate Tara's schooling and my career, we decided that Australia would be the best place for both of us.  I had spent 8 months traveling in Australia in 1998/1999, so I knew what I was getting myself into, but Tara has never been.

We initially decided that Perth would be the ideal location for us.  Tara was keen to attend Murdoch University and we thought there would be lots of jobs in oil and gas for me.  We also realized that Brisbane was a hotbed for oil and gas work, so in March 2011 Tara applied to Murdoch University in Perth and also Bond University in Gold Coast, just outside of Brisbane.

In April, 2011 Tara was accepted to the Juris Doctor (JD) program at both schools and she accepted the offer at Murdoch, paid her fees, got a student visa, and I started pounding the pavement to find a job in Perth.  3 weeks later, we attended an Australian career fair in Calgary and were informed by many people that there were no jobs in Perth, but plenty in Brisbane.  So I decided to look for a job in Brisbane, but this meant that Tara had to withdraw from Murdoch with only a 70% refund of the tuition already paid.  She also had to ensure Bond would still take her, as she already declined their offer of admission.

Once we switched our focus to Brisbane, everything fell into place.  Bond accepted Tara, our visas switched over, and I secured employment with Origin Energy.  To make this even sweeter, Origin provided a great relocation package which includes flights back home to Canada once a year!

Since receiving the offer of employment from Origin in July, it has been a very busy few weeks.  I've been corresponding with the relocation company to coordinate our move, speaking with Australian and Canadian tax advisers, wrapping up the loose ends with my current employer Encana, organizing our finances, sorting and organizing our household items for the movers, selling our electronics (they don't work on the 220 voltage in Australia), getting someone to take over the lease on our Toyota Rav4, and visiting friends and family before we leave.

We met Tara's parents in Las Vegas in July, went to Ontario at the beginning of August to visit my mom's side of the family, Toronto to visit our friend Sina, Winnipeg to visit our friends Tom and Nareesa, and Saskatoon to visit our friends Brendan and Kalah.  We had a going-away barbeque at our place the day after my last day of work at Encana, followed by lots of going away dinners with our friends here in Calgary.

Deciding what to do with our 2 cats, Flea and Mikka, was by far the toughest part of the whole experience.  Australia has the most strict pet importation laws out of any country in the world.  In order to import pets, you need to do lots of tests, file lots of paperwork, and the pets still need to be quarantined in Australia for at least 30 days.  Ideally, we would have found a friend or family member who would be willing to take our cats permanently and give them a good loving home but unfortunately this didn't happen.  Because we thought we might end up taking them with us, we performed all the necessary tests and got the ball rolling with the paperwork and importation process but because of the regulations, our cats would still have to spend  a few months in Canada after we left and a few months in quarantine in Australia.  In the end, we made the tough decision to surrender them to a no-kill shelter so that they could be placed in a good home here in Calgary and not have to go through the stress of an international move.  Flea and Mikka have been part of our family for the past 4 years, since they were 4 weeks old.  They are, and will continue to be, very missed by Tara and I, but the thought of them going to a loving home is comforting.  It's just too bad our paths will never cross again.