Exquisiteness

The trees and plants in the whole area where I'm working are too unbelievable. The fragrance in the air is so intense, so heady, so tropical. The heat and humidity must be intensifying the pollen, and even the lemon myrtle trees seem to just ooze their awesome citrussy smell. It's like being out of it on the air itself - and you just can't get enough of it. I just kept finding excuses today to do errands so I could be outside absorbing all of that sensual luscious perfect perfume. Another day in paradise.

7

The sun wakes you up before 5am. It's as hot on waking as it was when you went to bed last night. The sun bites into your skin and your sunglasses don't seem to absorb the UV at all anymore. The beach is nicely crowded and the water hasn't got that crisp edge to it anymore. You run into many people you know at the beach, village life is intact. Summer is here everyone.



But the next morning you awake to the sound of rain on the roof? And it pretty much doesn't stop all day. This is real rain. Rain that gets in, soaks into the earth, fills up our dams, feeds our plants and makes everything look so green again. Forces you to drive at 60kmph on the highway and turn your fog lights on at midday.



We couldn't have had 2 more different days this weekend. And both of them were perfect.

Daylight savings has started and weirdly I was awake earlier than usual even though I went to bed late and lost an hour. Something has changed for me over the past few weeks. I think I've trained myself into becoming an early waker regardless of how much sleep I've had. This is a major breakthrough. I don't think I need as much sleep as I thought I needed. This is all due to the time difference between here and Germany and speaking together with JD at the beginning/end of each other's day. 7 hrs - my new magic number.

Weeks' End

I'm so not used to working full time that this week I feel like I've done nothing but work. Not true of course but not far from it. I've had so little time for surfing the net and catching up with everyone online, and right now I don't even have the energy for it.

Here's a mini slice of my life since last time.

Self Portrait Tuesday - Doco Series - Week 4

I love the Maya restaurant on Cleveland Street, Surry Hills. It's vegetarian, it does extraordinary sweets, and the Punjabi Thali is my favourite. It used to be much more real, it was grungy, had really bad photos of the owners standing beside red sportscars looking like Bollywood stars and stinky loos. They did a renovation a couple of years ago and now the charm of the place has gone, but the food is still good. I like to get take-away for that reason. Now they've got fluoro lighting, air-conditioning and 2 huge flat screen tv's blaring the latest Bollywood releases (great eye candy while you wait). Sounds good huh? Anyway this is my contribution this week, go here and here for more SPT'ers.

I don't like Mondays

Only when I have to work. Which is a rarity for me I know, but after a weekend of so much fun in the sun it was the last thing I felt like doing today. For the next 2 weeks I'll be working at a recording studio for a friend. Which gives me little time for thinking, doing and preparing for leaving for 2 months. I also found out from JD today that we only have basic dial-up in the hotel and the hotel will charge their normal over the top timed call rates- so I think my internet usage is going to have to be rather limited. I'll have to save up for all my normal blog reading and flickring until I get to JD's parent's house every weekend or so. I suppose the fact that this bothers me is an indication that I've become a slight bit addicted to the internet's offerings and so maybe an enforced cut back / break might be healthy.





Here are some pics from the commute. Way too many cars on the road - that's Sydney.

Too Much Sunshine is Never Enough

After a beautiful morning at the beach with my favourite girls, I met up with some of the Sydney Photobloggers at a nearby street festival. Had an amusing time, and most importantly defined the difference between geeks, dorks and nerds. I took just 1 photo, but if you want to see what we got up to check out these sites at flickr because these guys were non stop shooting:

Tracey, James, Amanda, Sean, Talsit DC, Sam, Yankinoz & Gadgetgirl.

Goodness

Had my first mango of the season. I'm going to gorge myself on them before I leave.



Had a perfect afternoon chai with a friend at a newly revamped local cafe. The owners have done a fine job of transforming the once grimy poky space. The best bit was drinking out of these beautiful cups. I once hated this sort of stuff, finding it too ugly and old ladyish and daggy - I don't know when I changed my mind, but now I need to have some of these of my own.





Ended the evening with a walk and dinner in Bondi.


A very enjoyable day.

Not Happy John!

Our government are proposing massive changes that will affect workers and the workplace for ever more. Changes to how we will get paid, entitlements, coffee breaks, sick leave - you name it - if these changes become the norm, life in Australia is about to get a whole lot harder. I feel very scared about what's going on.

Travelling

A friend called late last night from Germany, all jittery and just about to take off to Hong Kong. She was feeling nervous about the long flight. And getting DVT. I wasn't giving her the sympathetic ear she was hoping for. Her flight will be 10 hours long. When I asked her if she'd like to pop down and see me for a few days after her business, and told her it's only 12 hours she freaked out. My coming trip will be 22 hours, with a 4 hour train ride (unless I can somehow find a domestic flight to Berlin that doesn't cost the earth). Alone. Now that freaks me out.

The last 2 European trips I've done have left me nauseas & vomiting. I'm not sure why this is happening because for the past 20 years I'd flown with ease. One theory is that my sinus problems lead to the inner ear not being able to clear properly which gives me the nausea. Or it could have just been a bit of bad luck and low blood sugar because I don't eat much when I fly. The thought of flying cattle class, and having to use that little paper bag made to look like a film deposit bag, whilst sitting next to a perfect stranger, arriving all stinky and strung out and then sitting on a train for 4 hours where most seats are designed to face other people is like a nightmare. Maybe I should just get myself some quality sleeping tablets to blot everything out.

Self Portrait Tuesday - Doco Series III

I grew up in 2 inner city suburbs of Sydney and have lived a completely urban existence. Today I'm showing you an event that was a first timer for me. Last year visiting the in-laws in Germany, before the real true cold nights started, JD and I picked the apple tree clean and stored away the ever diminishing harvest in the cellar for the year. JD grew up with a forest at his back door, and a grandmother who had a garden the size of a park full of fruit trees and vegetables and herbs, while I played cricket and soccer in the street until dark and rode my skateboard and bike through the hippy crowd that used to gather at the Paddo Bazaar - which is now called the Paddington markets. We could not have had more different roots.

Germany is a bit of a fairytale land for me. Somehow everything is so safe, and clean and perfect. It's very rural and the seasons are so dominating that you feel quite connected to nature because it's all encompassing with the extremes that each season brings.

When I see these photos, I can smell the apples and feel the cold humid air and remember how doing something as simple as picking apples off a tree made me very happy.

8 Years Ago Today....

....at 12pm, I stood on a clifftop at Nielsen Park surrounded by family and friends and married the man I love.

Today

I had 15cm cut off my hair, and as you can see from the photo, it's still long, which is an indication of just how ridiculously long it was. This is just the beginning of a long list of things I have to do before I head off.

An old woman backed into my car. I had just driven into a space behind her. She didn't bother to look in the mirror before reversing. I could see this happening and started tooting my horn but she still didn't twig. No damage to me and only a bit to her.

Didn't buy enough sushi for lunch and after searching my empty cupboards and fridge realise I need to do some shopping pronto.

And the Aussies just beat the World XI by 210 runs.

This time last year.....

..we had a quick 3 week trip back to JD's homeland. We caught up with most of our friends, saw lots of family, and this was probably the last time we had true recognition from his Dad who is suffering from the hideous disease Alzheimers. These shots are so typically German and bring back nice memories for me.

No Camera

I rarely leave the house without a camera. And today was one of those days you don't want to be without one. I was meeting family to go for a walk at Bondi. Even though it was pretty blustery, after a delicious Chai from Kelvin had warmed us up we headed off. And then we saw the whales. At least 2 separate pods of at least 2 in each, hanging in the bay not far offshore and playing, breaching, frolicking. I never tire of seeing whales. It was beautiful!

Only 90% to go....

create your own visited countries map
How depressing. I always feel like I've been almost nowhere and seen almost nothing but this just proves it. And 10% isn't really even accurate. I put down countries where I've touched down on route to Europe because technically I have been there for a couple of hours (U.A.E and Bahrain), but didn't put down Hong Kong because China would have been over the top. The world isn't divided into each and every single place or country yet. To see how much of the world you've visited, go here.

Spring

Today was glorious. Spring is everywhere. It was hot. I stripped down to my cossie for the first time this season. I kissed this little girls' cheeks off. I am happy.

Self Portrait Tuesday: Doco Series Part II

I'm taking the easy option this week and using some photos that were taken by my husband on a recent holiday. This is one of our favourite places to go. The motel we often end up staying at has not changed since I first went there about 18 years ago. It is so daggy and kitschy, but usually it's the only place available when we think about booking something. The umbrella shot is there because it's an old family umbrella from the 60's, still functioning and a necessary prop for a day at the beach.

Go here and here for more self portraits.

-8 hours Away

JD & Deutschland are only a 26 hour plane trip away or 8 hours in the past away or an entire opposite season away. It could feel so far and he could feel so removed from me but luckily none of that is happening. Connecting via voice, image and word is a beautiful thing and doesn't diminish or hinder conveying any of the feelings we are experiencing. I suppose we're old hands at that - but that's another story. Here are some photos of where I'll be in roughly 1 month and what's happening here right now.





Both beautiful but how different are they from each other.