I need a holiday…

A writing holiday to be more specific. I haven’t written any fiction for over a year. That’s the last time that inspiration hit me so hard I had to ignore the world to get the story out. Unfortunately, that burst of creativity lasted for only a few chapters and right when I reached the point where I would need to put some sweat into it, I looked up and Wham! The real world took me back. I hate when that happens.

It’s okay to say, set aside some time each day in a set space (or any space) and dedicate it to writing. I’ve tried. It doesn’t work that way for me. I need a few hours to work my way back into the story, to research and learn about my characters, to figure out how they will react in different situations and which of those situations are plausible, cliche or just plain laughable (or should I say, groanable?).

I also need quiet. No people wandering past, stopping for a chat or calling out (as they hook the refrigerator door open and stare in all forlorn), “mum, I’m hungry!”. No TV either, not even music; mine or anyone else’s in the background. No phone calls – someone always rings at pivotal moments. It drives me crazy.

If I could get away for a few days and get away from work, family, home, and study, I’m sure that I would be able to move past chapter 3 in my new work-in-progress, perhaps even progress on the WIP I started a year before that. Then the new story hovering in the background of my currently stunted creative brain could grow the way it’s patiently waiting to grow.

It’s a great little idea based on the coming together of… well, I’ll keep the rest of it to myself for now. I have to finish this post, organise lunches for tomorrow, attend to the leaning pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, and raid the obviously well-hidden stash of food in the back of the refrigerator.

 

 

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Milano to the Med

Milano to the Med.

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Go to the Mountain

Go to the Mountain.

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London Calling (and some other places calling not quite as loud)

London Calling (and some other places calling not quite as loud).

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ANZAC Day at Shore Bird Reserve

On Anzac Day, we went for a drive down to Taren Point (south of Sydney), which is about 15 minutes from where we live, looking for a new place to go for a walk. It was cool and windy in the morning, but we found a lovely sheltered foreshore area to explore. Taren Point is where Georges River comes out in to Botany Bay. It’s connected to the opposite side of the river by the Captain Cook’s Bridge. I suppose you could describe the suburb has semi-industrialised – it’s a very busy area.

Just a couple of blocks away from the bustle is the Taren Point Shorebird Reserve. The Reserve was upgraded by Sutherland Shire Council and turned from a grassy flat with a bit of sand to a protected peaceful area for some of the endangered shore birds in the area and any people who happened to wander through.

You can get more info on the upgrade including some before and after shots from council’s website. Below are the photos I took on Wednesday.

 

 

This grassy area is between the footpath and the beach, and looks ideal for birds on the hunt for some prime nesting space. The clumps of grass are well established and look durable – birds, wandering crustaceans, high tide, weather. Just what any bird would want!

 

 

 

The beach is narrow and the water shallow. I don’t know if I would bother going for a swim here but if you live close by and it was a hot hot day…. There’s a semi private boat ramp at the distant end so from here you could take your boat either up the Georges River or out into the bay for a few hours of fishing or crabbing.

 

 

 

The posts sticking out of the mud here are actually the foundations for a viewing platform the local council are installing. You can see how clumpy the grass is here too, much more preferable for nesting in than the flat unprotected lawn that was here previously.

 

 

 

Council call this a passive reserve for walking and bike-riding. Signs state that you can walk or ride to Sans Souci from here, which is on the other side of the river so I presume that the path links to the bridge. Perhaps we’ll walk the bridge next time we’re feeling energetic.

 

 

A short walk away from the Shorebird Reserve (away from the bridge) are the remains of an Oyster Farm. The shoreline here is at least a foot deep in oyster shells so I suppose it could be considered a modern-day midden.

I found out the other day that middens can be identified by the fact that only short grass grows over them so they quite often look like mowed patches perfect for picnicking on.

 

I was looking into the sun on this shot – a bit too much light for my phone to handle. The only structure left of this old oyster farm is a few cement slabs, a rusty gate, an assortment of poles in the water, and, hidden in the mangroves, a pile of rusted oyster trays.

 

 

This spot is a little further along again and is part of the St George & Sutherland Shire Anglers Club land. The mangroves along here were full of birds, but they were mostly crows who have obviously found a nice safe place to hang out. They looked a little put out when I wandered underneath them.

The sand in among the mangrove trees was actually white while out in the open area it is more like mud and is full of broken oyster shells, rocks, and mangrove roots.

 

Just behind this tiny mangrove beach is the start of the foreshore industrial area. It’s all fenced off but not at all pretty so we weren’t tempted to try and walk further anyway. There is a disused paddock of bitumen just here as well, which we suspect may one day be turned into either a modern industrial complex (very common in the area) or a retirement village.

It was a lovely way to stretch the legs after watching the Anzac March on telly (I’m too lazy to go to a dawn service or head into the city and watch the march in person). We headed home again after this and watched the Gallipolli Dawn Service.

A day of thought and reflection of what was and what we have to be thankful for.

For non-Australians, ANZAC day is held every April 25th and is a day of commemoration for the armed forces and support services.

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Career Nosedive or clearing the air for new opportunities?

If one has to work, one at least wants to have some kind of career satisfaction. Am I right? You bet your buttons, I am.

So how do I predict whether my career is about to take a nosedive or not? Should I stay eternally optimistic and repeat to myself that change is good, new opportunities await, and be patient it will all turn out well in the end? Or should I start looking around for a replacement position (anyone want to pay me to travel and write?)?

Let’s look at the facts (my version of them, of course).

1. I’ve spent several months developing a certain line of planning and strategy, working on policy, asking questions and providing a choice of solutions, etc, etc and so forth. I’ve done such a job of it that instead of being given the work officially as part of my job description, the company is planning to employ someone to do the job. I could apply for the job, but the company chooses qualifications over experience and I don’t like to waste my time.

2. I have been working on, developing/improving marketing campaigns for our events and doing a good job of it. My work in that area now seems to be shared out among other people, which wouldn’t be so bad if I was going to be able to continue developing point number 1… It appears that due to an overlap in job descriptions in the area I now work in, I’m going to be the “fall-guy”. I won’t be out of a job, but I won’t be doing a whole lot either.

3. I’ve been filling in in other areas while we were short-staffed. We will soon not be short-staffed and that work also will be taken out of my hands. Even, apparently, those parts I been asked to, and am willing to, continue with because no one else wants them.

So, if I’m not doing what I was working toward and I’m not doing what I was working on or helping out with, what will I be doing exactly?

I have an answer for that but I do not wish to sound bitter…

I already know what I’m going to do, of course (and this little vent has cleared at least that up for me). I’m going to bide my time (as I always do), and concentrate on the two most important things, career-wise. They are, a) negotiate a full-time position, which has been my basic request for the last six months and b) work on my TAFE course so I will have qualifications at last. Experience counts for nothing without a bit of paper to sit it on.

After that, I’m going to find someone to pay me to travel and I’m nicking off to the Outer Hebrides and similar locales, to write about it.

It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

 

 

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Brisbane Best Bits

I’ve just come back from Brisbane, capital city of Queensland and about 1:15 north of Sydney as the crow flies (if its fluttering around in a Qantas jet). It’s been a great week. No doubt this was supported by the fact that I wasn’t at work and could sleep in if I wanted, hang around our rented apartment if I wanted, and even more importantly messy real life interruptions were greatly reduced!

But even without the usual reasons for taking a holiday, Brisbane is a great and easy destination to head for.

Here is my list of Best Bits.

Motorways and major roads – great and most in good condition, lots of big signs to tell you which direction to head, and highways all over the place. We, and our Tom Tom, loved driving around.

Public transport. We caught a train from Yeerongpilly and for the next 2 hours could go anywhere we liked within certain zones. Our allowed zones happened to include ferry travel from Southbank to the city. Once we reached the other side of the river, we caught the free bus that travels around the city centre – much cheaper than a tour bus and it goes past most of the notable spots like Government House and the main shopping strip.

The Brisbane River. We had a  riverside apartment with nothing (apparently) between us and Mt Coot-tha but the river, a golf course and lots of bush. The river is a winding strip of fast moving brown water that changes character with the passage of sun, clouds, moon and time. In the early morning, it brought rowers down on training runs like schools of noisy fish. At night time, we watched party boats move up and down. When it rained it became misty and mysterious. When the sun shone, it glittered.

The trees – flat topped with tropical flowers dripping off them in puddles of red and orange. I don’t know what they’re called, but I wish I could grow them at home. I’d plant a comfy bench seat underneath and spend hours contemplating life and daydreaming.

Our apartment was wonderful – modern, spacious, all mod-cons kitchen, and free wifi! What else could a person ask for?

If you know what any of these plants/trees are called, please let me know. These particular ones were pictured at the University of Qld – St Lucia.

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Ordinary you… on holiday

If you think about it, any holiday or journey to places elsewhere is really just taking the ordinary you, with all your everyday thoughts, habits and expectations, to a different location. For most of the time, you will still be the same old you. But, if you think of your trip in parts, you will experience it differently and the ordinary you, for that little part, will be extra-ordinary.

For instance, the ordinary you doesn’t ordinarily experience the lift-off of an aeroplane; the roar of engines as they power-up, the lurch of the aircraft as it leaves earth and your stomach as your body re-configures its place in the world. Your ordinary self does not usually let out just a little, slightly embarrassed sigh of relief as the plane goes from ungainly grounded vehicle to smooth-flying jet: that tiny moment when it feels as if the plane is deciding whether or not to fly or crash. I love this part of a trip. Up until these minutes, the routine of checking in, getting through security and then waiting for your flight to be called, feels like drudge rather than going on holiday. Take-off lets ordinary me know that, at this point in time, I am something more. I am no longer in my ordinary life.

And then there’s the clouds. During my usual week/life, I often forget to look up to see what’s happening in the sky. Even when I do, while the cloud formations and sky colour are often awe-inspiring, seeing them from above is something completely apart from the real world. Last week, I drove toward a sunset in which the clouds appeared to have been dipped in liquid gold. It was glorious! But from a plane, where you can see all the dips and curves, the mountains and valleys that are only hinted at from earth, that is truly heaven.

The next part is arriving at your accommodation. Finally, you will find out if ordinary you was able to choose something out of the usual. Is the hotel room as good as the pictures or better than the pictures, or a dismal failure. I’ve just arrived in Brisbane having chosen our holiday apartment from stayz.com.au. The photos and description all sounded great. The reality was way better. Spotlessly clean, modern, lovely views of the Brisbane River (we’re waterfront), a pool downstairs and nice area to wander around in. We enjoy looking at all the houses wherever we go. Architecture changes so much from region to region and some of the “Queenslanders” here are amazing. We’re in Tennyson Reach (even sounds good) about 20 mins or so from the city.

When we travelled to New Zealand a few months ago, I used lastminute.com and found some so-so and some wonderful accommodation. Queenstown was amazing. Invercargill okay. Te Anau very so-so (don’t get me wrong, beautiful town, wonderful views and lots of great accommodation – just not the place we stayed at).

As usual, I’ve digressed. The part of the holiday where you walk in to the room/apartment/cabin that you’ve booked (almost sight unseen) and it’s great, that part takes you out of the ordinary and into someplace new.

I’m still sitting in my first full day of Queensland. The heat after the cool of Sydney is much appreciated. Our stretch of river changes with the light and, right now, has disappeared into blackest night broken only by the city lights in the distance. It’s wonderful and every step we take as we move around our lovely apartment keeps us out of the ordinary, at least, for these precious parts of our holiday.

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Race around The Rocks: birthday fun in Sydney

What better way to spend your birthday than in Sydney’s birthplace, The Rocks, with your friends. There’s several great pubs and lots of nightlife – if you’re over 18, that is. But if you’ve just turned 15, just as fun is running around completing silly tasks, finding the hard to find (even when they’re right in front of you), and trying to beat your friends to the end of your very own “Amazing Race”!

Given three days notice of my daughter’s intentions, I came up with a series of tasks based around the heritage area The Rocks. There’s a heritage building, spot or musuem on every second street corner so it wasn’t too hard. Figuring out the timing and planning enough to do to last three hours and still be fun was another thing all together.

The plan was that I would be the “Race Chief”. My daughter, Toni, and her three friends would make up two teams of Racers. My other two daughters (unknown to Toni) were the Pit Stop Chiefs. The girls had to complete a set of tasks to earn points. These included compulsory tasks and were based on visiting museums etc, bonus tasks (silly things like singing in public to earn extra points), and secret tasks given by the Pit Stop Chiefs. Easy peasy!

We caught the 8am train and arrived at Circular Quay just before 9am. I gave the girls a map of The Rocks area and sent them off to First Fleet Park to await the Race Chief. I quickly then rang my Pit Stop Chiefs to make sure they had not only gotten out of bed but were in fact already on their way in. So far so good. They were on the very next train and would arrive in half an hour.

I donned my special Safari Helmet and strode across the park to the Racers. Time to organise the teams and send them on their way. Each team had the same tasks but in different order so that they weren’t following each other around and would end up at the first Pit Stop at roughly the same time (around 10am). That done the girls went running off in opposite directions while I walked up to check on the final task of the competition, which included finding a copy of a certain book in a specific bookshop. Once they had completed that they would then go on to meet me for lunch at my favourite bakery/cafe that I always stop at when I’m visiting The Rocks. I just needed to check that the store actually had the book. I came across my first little problem of the day as I reached the Bakery a few doors down from the bookshop (Ariel by the way – good store). The bakery was closed for renovations!

Most inconvenient, but not insurmountable. There’s plenty of cafes and eateries at The Rocks.

Next problem hit. The Rocks Discovery Museum, Toni’s team’s first task, was not open and there was no opening time advertised at or near the door. Just go on to the next task, I told her, it’ll open soon.

No worries!

I returned to the park to meet my other daughters and go over what they had to do as all they had was a list of hastily typed instructions that had only been printed out that morning. Have I mentioned the “only three days” to organise this yet? They looked a little dazed as I laid it all out for them but I had every faith in their ability. I sent them off (I was getting good at the whole sending off thing) in time to get a worried telephone call from Toni and the third small problem of the day – the museum was still not open, it was nearly ten and she would be late for the pit stop.

Reaching the pit stop exactly at ten wasn’t a requirement. Luckily, as they were all going to be late. I raced up there and found Toni and her friend dejected and hungry on the sidewalk. All was not lost. Staff were moving around inside the museum preparing for opening, which (we read on the sign one of them popped out on the narrow footpath) would be at 10am. The girls rang the other team to get them back to the museum so everyone could finish their tasks before racing off to the first Pit Stop. I left to go find coffee.

They finally made it to the first stop (after running right past the “mysterious girl” they were on hunt for). Daughter number two moved to a more obvious spot and was finally found. She gave them something silly to do then handed over the second lot of tasks to complete.

Each team managed the tasks with no problem. Finding the second pit stop was a little harder. One team got a little lost. I was confused. The stop was across the road from where their last task was. The truth is that The Rocks are easy to get lost in – lots of narrow allies, staircases and winding paths. According to the map, they were roughly in the right spot. In reality, the right spot was several feet upward. They were in the Argyle Cut and needed to be somewhat higher up at the Australian Heritage Hotel.

I took them in hand and back to the pub where they had to “find a young couple sitting outside with a soft toy turtle named Wendell on the table between them”. Toni’s eldest sister and her boyfriend had a good laugh and then went to buy them some lemonade as they were quite hot and bothered.

I had managed to get a coffee by this time. Daughter number 2 and I shared a Devonshire Tea at the Swagman’s Cafe, Rocks Markets. Very nice. Much needed.

The first team rang me as I was leaving the pub. They had found the bookstore and the book and needed the next instructions. Very mysterious instructions too! “Meet me in the Captain Tench Arcade. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I was and they did. About 15 minutes later, Toni and her teammate contacted us and we told them were to come as well. We spent the next ten minutes laughing over everyone’s silly antics (proof of dancing and singing in the street came via the cameraphones).

We were all exhausted. In three hours, we had combed The Rocks; stopped at the Discovery Museum, The Big Dig, the Susannah Place Museum, Sydney Visitor’s Centre, The Rock’s Markets, Australian Heritage Hotel, Cadman Cottage, various historical staircases, and the First Fleet Park.

Phew!

Here’s what I brought away from the experience:

First and most importantly, you need more than three days to organise something like this properly. At least one full week that includes a weekend or day that you can go and personally visit the area.

Second – double check opening hours of places. Do not assume that they might operate under normal business hours.

Thirdly. Always remember that it’s a game. The point of it is to have fun with your friends. Both teams were winners (I bought prizes for everyone) and we had a day we won’t forget in a long time.

Oh, and one last tip. When dealing with 15 year olds, perhaps remind them to look up occasionally and look around them even more.

Tasks included photobombing a tourist taking a photo and pictures of partners outside specified Heritage buildings in the area.

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A happy birthday breakfast in Cronulla

It’s my birthday in a couple of days and, because we can’t get time off work and do enjoy a good breakfast, my family took me off  for breakfast at The Nun’s Pool opposite Shelly Beach, South Cronulla this morning (this morning being Sunday). We showed up at 10am and… it was packed full of similarly inclined people. A good sign though disappointing. Not to worry though, they put us on the waiting list and suggested 15 minutes was all that was needed.

With a park and a beach just across the road, waiting wasn’t a problem (though we were all hungry – 10am is a late breakfast after all). Shelly Beach is one of several in Cronulla, is south of the main Cronulla Beach and helps to form the landfall side of Bate Bay. There’s a busy footpath, The Esplanade, that stretches from Cronulla Beach around to Bass & Flinder’s point at the opening of Port Hacking. It’s full of walkers, joggers, pram-pushers and bicycle riders any day of the week and in any weather.

My hubby and I had stopped at The Nun’s Pool for take-away coffee two weeks ago and drank it while watching wild surf roll in and over the rock pool. Today it was much calmer and the sun was starting to peek out. There were even people swimming in the pool. Two! And one small family on the beach. We ventured a toe into the water and found that, while not icey, it was too cool for a swim in our opinion. Just as well, really, we hadn’t brought our swimmers with us.

So the water was lovely, clear and cool with two swimmers. A few straggly waves broke the wall and further out was enough surf to maintain the odd surfer or two. Boats with fishing rods prickling across their sterns lined the bay. I could see my hubby’s fingers itch (he hasn’t taken his boat out for a fish in months). Obviously, the fish must be running with everything from tinny runabouts to fully-decked out “recreational” fishing boats from Boat Harbour (Kurnell) to Jibbon Point (Bundeena). Nothing for it but to go for a stroll in the park.

We duly filled in 15 minutes and headed back to the restaurant, deciding on the way that we’d head back into Cronulla central for breakfast if we couldn’t get in. Happily, we were sat down in a corner while a recently vacated table was cleared and then ushered to a position on the covered deck. A good spot as it was still crowded and fairly noisy further in. We ordered coffee, tea and freshly squeezed orange juice to get us started and Eggs Benedict and The Nun’s Breakfast to keep us going. The Nun’s Breakfast consisted of sweet corn fritters, sauteed spinach, avocado, smoked salmon, grilled tomato topped with sour cream.  Devine! So good, in fact, that I ate a little too fast. Hubby had the eggs. He managed to control himself a little better than me but assured me they were the best eggs he’d eaten. My daughter had the Nun’s Brekky too and was just as happy.

Great food. Pretty good coffee. Opposite the beach. Also, nice beachy atmosphere that’s modern and trendy without being too modern and trendy.  And I just love being in Cronulla. It’s one of the best beach suburbs in Sydney if not the whole of the state. Lots of beaches, rock pools, walks, parks and, of course, cafes. I actually also spent Saturday afternoon in Cronulla as well; visiting all the gift shops and boutiques in the Plaza with a friend.

After breakfast, we did a little more shopping in the Plaza then wandered home for a well-deserved after-birthday breakfast nap.

Overall, a pretty darn good weekend! And it’s not even my birthday yet

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