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.