Life has been so busy that the Blog has been on the backburner for a while! Damn those backburners – too convenient. Opps, that reminds me - I have garlic bread in the oven (I really do!)
We are now back in good ol’ Yulara. Good ol’ strange Yulara. We left Victoria on a Sunday morning, flew to Alice Springs and did a BIG grocery shop. I then had a little mini breakdown (Kristy will say that it was a BIG breakdown) because I had forgotten that the cheaper liquor stores (i.e. Coles Liquor, Woolworths Liquor) are not open on a Sunday due to the strict Alice Springs Liquor Laws, and, you know, I really, really needed some wine to take back to good ol’ strange Yulara. So, I was forced to go and buy my wine at the more expensive drive-through bottle-o’s (I am not kidding, there are only 2 bottle-shops open in all of Alice Springs on Sundays). However, while it was not all that cheap, it was still cheaper than buying alcohol in Yulara.
Once we got back to good ol' strange Yulara, Kristy very quickly (and very kindly) arranged for wine to be delivered here via internet ordering (I think she wanted to avoid dealing with me having another breakdown. Who can blame her?).
After the afore mentioned breakdown, and the grocery shopping, we drove 4 and ½ hours back to Yulara. I had to start back at work the next day, and we didn’t want to be driving at Kangaroo hour (which begins at approx 4pm), so we left as soon as possible. I had been hoping for some Pad Thai from Thongs (or maybe it is called Tongs) in Alice Springs before we left (there are no such Thai eateries at Yulara and I miss Asian food a lot), but of course Thongs (or Tongs)was closed. More tears from me --- remember, I WAS tired from being up before dawn to fly back to N.T.(that is my excuse and I’m sticking to it).
On the drive back to good ol’ strange Yulara, two exciting-ish events occurred. 1: I saw a baby camel (wild one) eating the leaves from a burnt tree on the side of the road, and 2: An eagle pooped on the van (it was kinda yellow in colour, just in case you were wondering). In the 4 and ½ hours of driving, the exciting events accounted for under 5 minutes. The rest of the drive was listening to Lady Gaga (love it), listening to K D Lang (very soothing), and listening (reluctantly on my part) to some screechy music that Kristy had newly purchased.
It was great to have been back in Victoria and see the family. Mel and Mick’s wedding was lovely. Mel looked beautiful, as did little Elle. It was a night of celebration and fun, with lots of laughing and dancing. My mum and Kristy and I then looked after Elle while Mel and Mick went on their honeymoon. Elle is such a beautiful little girl - she is pretty, curious, cheeky and very intelligent. It was lovely to spend a good amount of time getting to know Elle and enjoying her company. My mum and I loved it, not to mention Kristy (she is very clucky at the moment!)
While we were in Melbourne, we also did manage to catch up with a few people on Friday night at Jody’s house (thank you so much Jody for opening up your house for a group of rowdy women + Ryan). And thank you to Tara, Dustey, Ronnie, Debbie, Jodi, Fee, Caroline, Lisa, Casey, Karen, Nardie and Ryan for coming out to see us in Newport on a very cold and rainy Melbourne evening. Vik... next time! Jake ... next time!
Oh, and we saw The Twins! Debbie and Kylie have just brought little twinnies into the world – Georgie and Ryder! OMG! They are just the cutest little bubbies! Congratulations girls! Well done on such beautiful babies. And you know it made Kristy even more clucky!
Was also wonderful to catch up with the jestsetter – Ronnie. What luck that we were in Melbourne at the same time that you were Ronnie! And Ronnie... when are you and the kids coming to the Rock???? We are waiting...
Kristy also went to see her Nan whilst in Melbourne – her Nan is 90 years old, can you imagine everything that she has seen happen to the world in 90 years? PS: Hi Uncle Charlie, it was really nice to hear that you like reading the blog!!
We are having visitors come to Yulara while we are here. Woooo Hoooo!!!! Rachel and her children are coming up, and Karen and Nardie are coming up also. Remember everyone, if you have ever wanted to see Uluru or Kata Tjutua – now is the time... because of the discounts on accommodation that I can get you. Kristy and I miss our friends and family so come see us!!!!
My job at the day Spa is going well. I am still expanding my skills and now can include anti-aging facials (they really do make a difference) and full body scrubs as well as Hot Stone Massage and Cool Hot Stone Massage (this is basically massaging with hot stones over a dencorub type substance). The first hot stone massage I gave to a client, the feedback he gave to my manager was, “That was something else!” and he then gave me a $30 tip (I think the wine he had consumed before entering the spa helped get me the tip, but I am not saying that too loudly. Shhhh).
I am also selling lots of product at the Spa - moisturizers, scrubs, exfoliants, face masks, etc. Who knew I was so good at selling??! I am even amazing myself! The staff member that sells the most product each month gets a free dinner. Kristy REALLY wants me to win the dinner (ahhh, she loves a freebie!). But I am having trouble with the whole concept of competing against my colleagues. I am going to try and sell enough products so that all of us at the Spa can get a free dinner, not just me.
Speaking of food, yesterday Kristy said to me that she felt like a Red Rooster meal. I said no, because it is a 4 and ½ hour drive, one way, to any fast food outlets, and there just wasn’t enough time to drive there and back before starting work the next day. I know, I know, how unreasonable of me. If I could have ordered it online, I would have.
The weather is great here, lovely and warm. Even when we had the rain and thunder storms the other night, it was still warm. Thunder storms in the desert – very exciting (although Kristy once nearly got struck by lightening - when she was little - so she is not as keen on the storms as I am). On the topic of weather, one of Kristy’s biggest hobbies is googling what the weather is at Yulara. Seriously, if I am home, she tells me 4 times a day all about the maximum temperatures, rain fronts, wind velocity, cloudiness, etc that are happening and that we can expect. Personally, I find it so much simpler to just open the door and see if it is raining, or feel if it is hot!
Oh, I also have a hobby, which is bordering on obsession, like all good hobbies should (like Anita and her garden - come on Anita, admit that you are obsessed with the garden!!! I mean, it is looking gorgeous, but is totally your current obsession!). My hobby/obsession, however, is that I am addicted to competitions, like That’s Life, Take 5 and other Puzzle Books that have cash prizes (my brain is clearly seeking stimulation and exercise). I religiously complete any puzzles that I can and send them off. Now, I am waiting for the prizes to start rolling in. Everyone, cross your fingers and toes for Kristy and me, because the more money I win, the quicker we can resume our travels ( I am now HANGING OUT to do the West Coast, because I saw the photos that Gen and Trent sent through --- OMG!! Sooooo beautiful!!!!)
In the meantime, Kristy has got us another pot plant (and by this I mean a "plant in a pot" not a "pot" plant). That makes three now. The newest arrival is a bucket of mud in which Kristy has put in parsley seeds. We are hoping to grow some before we leave, but I have a feeling we will be feeding the rabbits, instead of us. The rabbits come out at night and eat the plants and flowers that people try to grow. I have seen rabbits, at midnight, stretching up on hind legs to reach the tastiest leaves on a pot plant.
The ants are something else out here! As we walk along the path from our van to our home, the ants crawl quickly up the feet and legs and then nip at the skin. The ants are really fast here. If there was an Olympic event for ants, these ants would win! Perhaps I should enquire about ant races. Someone, somewhere in the world must race ants. I could get some Yulara ants and save them, and put them in a world-wide ant race! And win! I wonder how long ants live. I wonder what ants eat? Bread crumbs? Ummm, I have just read back through this paragraph and have realized how much I digressed. JeeeeeeSUS! I HAVE become a strange Yulura person! (some people will argue that I was strange before I got here, but that's just mean!!). Anyhoo, as we walk along the path from our van to our home (yes, I AM continuing on with the story) Kristy spends most of the time jumping up and down, smacking the ants off her calf muscles, and swearing --- too funny!
Kristy is sooooo over her job at the moment. It is very physically demanding, and she does not like working nights. She is going to ask about her “options”, and see if she can do something else, or perhaps lessen the hours she does at night. Poor Kristy, she really thought this job would be a good one.
I, on the other hand, am about to take on a 2nd job. The other 2nd job I had, I ended up leaving and now I have been offered another one. It is doing something similar, serving champagne and canapés at sunset at the Rock, but this time I will be working exclusively with the Japanese tourist. So... konnichiwa. (That is “Good afternoon” in Japanese). With this job, I get to wear a Akubra hat - very Aussie, and you would think, very good. But no. I am not a hat person. Unfortunately when I put on a hat, my forehead looks huge (and do NOT tell me that is because I have a huge forehead, because I DON'T want to hear it). No, let's just say, for no particular reason, I am just not a hat person.
On a more serious, and political, note, today was the 25th anniversary of the handback of Uluru to the traditional aboriginal owners. This was quite a monumental event, but I couldn’t go to the celebrations as I was working. Still, it was good to be close to this event, even if I couldn’t attend.
Moving away from the serious note... two nights ago, I dreamt I kissed Oprah, and she was dressed as a man. I am not going anywhere near analysing this dream.
To finish, a little saying.... "everyday can be confetti day".
PS The garlic bread was burnt to a cinder and unable to be eaten. So I ate chocolate instead.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Beaming back to Victoria
The errant (I wish! – We have been working waaay too much to be errant!) travellers return to sunny (?) Melbourne tomorrow. Our journey back begins at 4.45am tomorrow morning, with a four and half hour drive from Yulara to Alice Springs. We will then pass the van over to Amanda (God bless her) and hop onto a shuttle bus which takes us to the airport. We board the plane to Melbourne at approximately 11.00 am. We arrive Melbourne at 3.05 pm. My mumma is picking Kristy and I up from the airport and taking us back to her place, where, after travelling for over ten hours, we will be able to relax. I am assured by my mother that wine is chilling in the refrigerator (I will need it). She has chocolate for Kristy (I may have some of that too). Please explain to me again WHY we are not flying directly from Yulara to Melbourne???
There was an amazing storm here today. I was massaging a guest, and was looking outside as the storm raced through. Lightening, thunder, wind whipping the trees, torrents falling from the sky, the works! That guest had a very memorable experience – getting a one hour massage while a storm raged through the desert!
Ummm... have just thought... hope there is road access to Alice Springs, so we make our flight. Perhaps we won’t be beaming back to Vic tomorrow after all! Nah, it IS the desert! The rain on the road will dry up quickly. All will be fine.
I am soooooo excited about Mel’s wedding. And seeing little Elle! It is going to be the best!
It will also be good to spend some time with Kristy, well I hope I can anyway. Between us, with our jobs, we are just not seeing each other. We leave notes to communicate now! Although K did come in and have lunch with me today, and it was great to see her, if only for half an hour. Both of us, though, have a lot to do when in Victoria, so even then we may not spend heaps of time together. Perhaps after the ten hours of travelling together, this will be a good thing??? Just kidding – Kristy and I actually travel really well together. We sing, play cards (sometimes both together!), do puzzles, eat, chat and drink lots of diet coke!
Oh I am back in Melbourne tomorrow! I get to see shops! Lot’s of shops! I get to eat Thai food! I get to order a pizza and have it delivered! I get to walk down the street and no-one will know me, or will wonder who I am! I get to see tame dogs and cats! I get to watch a BIG TV screen! I know I will miss the heat and quietness of Yulara, but it will be good to see civilisation again, even if it only for a short time.
There was an amazing storm here today. I was massaging a guest, and was looking outside as the storm raced through. Lightening, thunder, wind whipping the trees, torrents falling from the sky, the works! That guest had a very memorable experience – getting a one hour massage while a storm raged through the desert!
Ummm... have just thought... hope there is road access to Alice Springs, so we make our flight. Perhaps we won’t be beaming back to Vic tomorrow after all! Nah, it IS the desert! The rain on the road will dry up quickly. All will be fine.
I am soooooo excited about Mel’s wedding. And seeing little Elle! It is going to be the best!
It will also be good to spend some time with Kristy, well I hope I can anyway. Between us, with our jobs, we are just not seeing each other. We leave notes to communicate now! Although K did come in and have lunch with me today, and it was great to see her, if only for half an hour. Both of us, though, have a lot to do when in Victoria, so even then we may not spend heaps of time together. Perhaps after the ten hours of travelling together, this will be a good thing??? Just kidding – Kristy and I actually travel really well together. We sing, play cards (sometimes both together!), do puzzles, eat, chat and drink lots of diet coke!
Oh I am back in Melbourne tomorrow! I get to see shops! Lot’s of shops! I get to eat Thai food! I get to order a pizza and have it delivered! I get to walk down the street and no-one will know me, or will wonder who I am! I get to see tame dogs and cats! I get to watch a BIG TV screen! I know I will miss the heat and quietness of Yulara, but it will be good to see civilisation again, even if it only for a short time.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Disposable underwear and other stuff
Q: Where do we now live??? A: It is Manta Walk, Yulara!!!
Kristy and I have moved from our “share-share” accommodation to “Manta Walk” accommodation. “Share-share” means that we have to share half of our accommodation with another person (the kitchen and bathroom), but Manta Walk means we have a whole one-bedroom unit to ourselves! And, it is the same rent as “share-share”!! We were up-graded with our accommodation because of my new job at the Resort Spa, and while our new unit is small, we like it because it is all ours. Moving to this new unit wasn’t hard - our new place is literally 10 seconds walk from our old place. The distance for the move was easy, but the rain on the day was a bit of a bummer, why does it always rain on moving day??????? We just did the ‘grab and throw’ move, we had to... the rain!! I have set up our new home as well as I can, given what I had to work with. And I have drawn some new pictures and blue tac-ed them up, draped blankets where I could (towels in some cases) and put desert flowers in empty wine bottles (plenty of those empty bottles, let me tell ya!!!) and spread the “vases” throughout the unit.
I miss Lizzie though, Lizzie is the blue tongue lizard that would sunbake out the front of our previous unit. We still see the family of rabbits, they hop everywhere at sunset! Bunnies!!!! Cute!!!
So, I have now officially started working at the Resort Spa. The first massage I gave, I was given a $25 tip! (Kristy was so proud – it was very cute!!) $25.00 is quite a big tip in this business – it is more than a Spa masseur makes in an hour! Masseurs who work for organisations/businesses (anyone who doesn’t work for themselves basically) get paid pretty low money, and this is incongruous considering that, for example, a one hour massage at the resort Spa that I work at costs a client $125.00!!! Yes, the mark up is huge. Once the Trip-Around-Australia (or as I like to say, the T.A.R), is over, I am thinking of starting up my own Spa, but of course I will be paying the masseurs and beauticians a very decent amount (like DOUBLE the current market rate!). I think well paid workers are more likely to be loyal and committed. Plus, they deserve to be paid for the work that they do!!!!!!
Anyhoo, despite the hourly wage, I am enjoying working at the Spa. Aside from providing Deep Tissue Massage, which I am already experienced and qualified in, I have now also learnt to do:
• 30 minute facials (called the “taster facial” - gives people a chance to experience the products)
• Aroma Stone Therapy (hot rock massage)
• Body Scrubs (great all-over- the- body exfoliation)
• Foot treatments (which include foot exfoliation and foot massage/reflexology) .
I have learnt new skills and I am glad for this (my list of quals and experience is growing evermore diverse and eclectic!) Although in the massage/beauty business, I am finding that my brain is HANGING OUT to be challenged. There is not a lot of brain work required for what I do, well... in comparison to my previous jobs in Melbourne, writing up units of competency for the DHS Diploma of Management. However, this is a short-term job, and while I am doing it, it can teach me to “get into the zone” and to meditate while I am massaging, exfoliating, scrubbing, ect (maybe the Universe is telling me to rest my brain?) . All of my clients say that I have great “energy” (or things along those lines), which is a good thing, because it would be pretty hard to give a client a relaxing experience if I had crap energy!
I have to say though, that while I am not being mentally challenged, I do like making people feel good, and I make sure that every client that steps into my treatment room is given the best experience I can possibly give them. I figure, they are paying so much money that they deserve to feel good. It is sometimes a bit harder with the arrogant clients, the ones that think they are “too cool for school” and treat me like a plebe, but I remind myself that they are paying a lot of money for the service, and it is not their fault if they don’t realise that I am being paid lowly wages, and it is not their fault if they haven’t learnt to be respectful and gracious to everyone, despite job or position. I work on being very kind and gentle to these people as I figure they deserve it (lots of people must really dislike them for their attitude!). But, on the other side of the coin, OMG – I had the most cutest of clients the other day – she was 84 years old! How awesome is that! She is 84 and she flew from the USA to see Uluru! I so admired her, and I made sure I gave her an extra good treatment! I love old people!
Oh, a slightly funny thing happened at the Spa the other day. I had just shown a lovely German couple into the change rooms (they were booked in for a double massage) and after a little while, the man comes out and calls to me, and says that he is not sure how to put on the disposable underwear (his girlfriend/wife is giggling behind him and he is beetroot red with embarrassment). Well... I wasn’t going to show him or help him, (aside from, ahhhhh...no! I couldn’t even if I wanted to because even I am not sure with the boy’s disposable underwear – it is some weird, paper g-string for the boys). I just handed him a new lot of the women’s disposable underwear, which is a very simple pair of black, high-waisted, crepe, strange leg-shaped panties (veeeeerrrry attractive! Must get a number of pairs to wear every day... oh yeah... right), and told him that these were “uni-sex”. While they are not appealing in a catwalk type of way (any type of way really), it is very easy to work out how to wear the women’s disposable underwear. Footnote: we mostly use the men’s g-string underwear as hair scrunchie’s for women who have come for a treatment but haven’t tied their hair back (they never know this, we tie their hair back when they are on the table!). And yes... of course they are clean ones! It is DISPOSABLE underwear people! Once we use it, we throw it away!!!!!
Oh, and the uniform that I wear – it is dark blue scrubs. Picture an operating theatre – I wear something similar to that (without the hat and foot covers). I love the Spa uniform so much that I am considering adopting it as my usual attire. Yes, it is very flattering... not.
I have now also started with my Certificate IV in Fitness (this is helping my brain to not atrophy completely). Have my first exam tomorrow, not sure if I am prepared, but will give it a go. Undergoing my fitness qualification means that I am virtually forced to go to the gym (one of the reasons I enrolled), so while I don’t go as much as I would like (working two jobs, and studying, cuts down on my time at the gym a little), I am still motivated to work out at least 3 times a week. I should have lost stacks of weight, yet, no, I have not. I blame Kristy. She keeps buying chocolate and leaving it in the fridge. What can I do but eat it??
With my two jobs, and Kristy working 5 nights out of 7 (note: she starts at 5.30pm and finishes anywhere between 1.00am and 3.00am), we can go days without really seeing each other (aside from a few hours from when she crawls into bed, and then I crawl out of bed when my alarm goes off for me to get up for work). Kristy leaves for work before I get home, and then I leave for work before she gets up in the morning! But we do manage to get a few days to spend together, not many, but some. Anyway, we are only stopping here at Yulara for a while, to re-energise, experience carpet (was surprised at how much I missed carpet!!), sleep in a bed without wheels, and to save some money before travelling the next leg of the journey.
I have to change my Victorian drivers licence! If residing in the NT for over 3 months, it is law to change your licence (and car rego) over to NT. I suppose it is about time I got myself another licence, considering how Kristy snapped my current licence in half (how embarrassing, and yet fun(!) it has been to hand over my licence in 2 pieces whenever I am asked for ID!). K broke it because she was trying to fix it (God I love irony!) To explain - my licence had a bend in it and so she decided to straighten it, and instead she broke it into 2 pieces.
I have now made a few additional new friends - my circle is extending! There is Darren (assistant manager of Sails in the Desert) and Mike (the star talker for the Sounds of Silence dinners). The Sounds of Silence is an activity where guests pay an extraordinary amount of money to eat a buffet, at night, in the desert, and while they eat, be told about the star constellations above their heads. Kristy and I are definitely going to do this (because we are here, and because we love a buffet, and because it would be fun, and because we might get a discount, and because we now know a star talker, and because there isn’t a lot of choice about what to do here, and because... well... why not!?) I just have to talk to Kristy about our schedules to see if we can synchronize our watches enough to make the dinner booking. Of course, I have also made friends with my co-workers at the Spa (Julie, Karen and Kerrie) who are just lovely and working with lovely people makes the day go by so pleasantly.
Kristy has been HANGING OUT for a bath (we have only been showering for over 4 months now), and today (on my day off from the spa) I made an appointment for Kristy and I to go and have a VERY flasho bath at the spa. We sat in the huge (big enough for 6 people easily), black (once you’ve had black....), roman-type, square bath, filled with luxurious, skin-softening products, looking up at the sky and gum trees, and soaking up the serenity. Ahhhh, this is the life. This bath normally costs $80 for couples, but because I work there, we got a bit of a discount. It was so bloody lovely to have a decent soak, and we are planning to do it more often!
If anyone is ever planning to come and see Uluru, then seriously guys, NOW is the time to do it. I can get you major discount on rooms at any of the hotels here. And I mean MAJOR discounts (100’s and 100’s and 100’s of dollars off the usual price). Kristy and I are planning to be here until at least the end of January 2011. Of course anyone who comes is welcome to stay with us if you want to pay nothing for accommodation, but if you want privacy or more room, I can get heavily discounted rates on the hotels here. Tomorrow I am finding out exactly the discounts I can get, so stay tuned to this bat channel and I will advise. If you are even vaguely planning, considering, contemplating, hoping for, imaging or reflecting on a trip to the centre of Australia, then email/text/call me and we can start working out the details of when and where. Come on... I know there is a number of you out there that are wanting to come to Uluru... don’t be shy... don’t be hesitate... just do it! (you know who I am talking about!!!). Is one life (that we remember anyway) so at least make sure that you see, in this lifetime, the iconic Australian rock!
BTW – how funny is The Big Bang Theory? We have just finished watching the first and second seasons on DVD! Hysterical!
Kristy and I have moved from our “share-share” accommodation to “Manta Walk” accommodation. “Share-share” means that we have to share half of our accommodation with another person (the kitchen and bathroom), but Manta Walk means we have a whole one-bedroom unit to ourselves! And, it is the same rent as “share-share”!! We were up-graded with our accommodation because of my new job at the Resort Spa, and while our new unit is small, we like it because it is all ours. Moving to this new unit wasn’t hard - our new place is literally 10 seconds walk from our old place. The distance for the move was easy, but the rain on the day was a bit of a bummer, why does it always rain on moving day??????? We just did the ‘grab and throw’ move, we had to... the rain!! I have set up our new home as well as I can, given what I had to work with. And I have drawn some new pictures and blue tac-ed them up, draped blankets where I could (towels in some cases) and put desert flowers in empty wine bottles (plenty of those empty bottles, let me tell ya!!!) and spread the “vases” throughout the unit.
I miss Lizzie though, Lizzie is the blue tongue lizard that would sunbake out the front of our previous unit. We still see the family of rabbits, they hop everywhere at sunset! Bunnies!!!! Cute!!!
So, I have now officially started working at the Resort Spa. The first massage I gave, I was given a $25 tip! (Kristy was so proud – it was very cute!!) $25.00 is quite a big tip in this business – it is more than a Spa masseur makes in an hour! Masseurs who work for organisations/businesses (anyone who doesn’t work for themselves basically) get paid pretty low money, and this is incongruous considering that, for example, a one hour massage at the resort Spa that I work at costs a client $125.00!!! Yes, the mark up is huge. Once the Trip-Around-Australia (or as I like to say, the T.A.R), is over, I am thinking of starting up my own Spa, but of course I will be paying the masseurs and beauticians a very decent amount (like DOUBLE the current market rate!). I think well paid workers are more likely to be loyal and committed. Plus, they deserve to be paid for the work that they do!!!!!!
Anyhoo, despite the hourly wage, I am enjoying working at the Spa. Aside from providing Deep Tissue Massage, which I am already experienced and qualified in, I have now also learnt to do:
• 30 minute facials (called the “taster facial” - gives people a chance to experience the products)
• Aroma Stone Therapy (hot rock massage)
• Body Scrubs (great all-over- the- body exfoliation)
• Foot treatments (which include foot exfoliation and foot massage/reflexology) .
I have learnt new skills and I am glad for this (my list of quals and experience is growing evermore diverse and eclectic!) Although in the massage/beauty business, I am finding that my brain is HANGING OUT to be challenged. There is not a lot of brain work required for what I do, well... in comparison to my previous jobs in Melbourne, writing up units of competency for the DHS Diploma of Management. However, this is a short-term job, and while I am doing it, it can teach me to “get into the zone” and to meditate while I am massaging, exfoliating, scrubbing, ect (maybe the Universe is telling me to rest my brain?) . All of my clients say that I have great “energy” (or things along those lines), which is a good thing, because it would be pretty hard to give a client a relaxing experience if I had crap energy!
I have to say though, that while I am not being mentally challenged, I do like making people feel good, and I make sure that every client that steps into my treatment room is given the best experience I can possibly give them. I figure, they are paying so much money that they deserve to feel good. It is sometimes a bit harder with the arrogant clients, the ones that think they are “too cool for school” and treat me like a plebe, but I remind myself that they are paying a lot of money for the service, and it is not their fault if they don’t realise that I am being paid lowly wages, and it is not their fault if they haven’t learnt to be respectful and gracious to everyone, despite job or position. I work on being very kind and gentle to these people as I figure they deserve it (lots of people must really dislike them for their attitude!). But, on the other side of the coin, OMG – I had the most cutest of clients the other day – she was 84 years old! How awesome is that! She is 84 and she flew from the USA to see Uluru! I so admired her, and I made sure I gave her an extra good treatment! I love old people!
Oh, a slightly funny thing happened at the Spa the other day. I had just shown a lovely German couple into the change rooms (they were booked in for a double massage) and after a little while, the man comes out and calls to me, and says that he is not sure how to put on the disposable underwear (his girlfriend/wife is giggling behind him and he is beetroot red with embarrassment). Well... I wasn’t going to show him or help him, (aside from, ahhhhh...no! I couldn’t even if I wanted to because even I am not sure with the boy’s disposable underwear – it is some weird, paper g-string for the boys). I just handed him a new lot of the women’s disposable underwear, which is a very simple pair of black, high-waisted, crepe, strange leg-shaped panties (veeeeerrrry attractive! Must get a number of pairs to wear every day... oh yeah... right), and told him that these were “uni-sex”. While they are not appealing in a catwalk type of way (any type of way really), it is very easy to work out how to wear the women’s disposable underwear. Footnote: we mostly use the men’s g-string underwear as hair scrunchie’s for women who have come for a treatment but haven’t tied their hair back (they never know this, we tie their hair back when they are on the table!). And yes... of course they are clean ones! It is DISPOSABLE underwear people! Once we use it, we throw it away!!!!!
Oh, and the uniform that I wear – it is dark blue scrubs. Picture an operating theatre – I wear something similar to that (without the hat and foot covers). I love the Spa uniform so much that I am considering adopting it as my usual attire. Yes, it is very flattering... not.
I have now also started with my Certificate IV in Fitness (this is helping my brain to not atrophy completely). Have my first exam tomorrow, not sure if I am prepared, but will give it a go. Undergoing my fitness qualification means that I am virtually forced to go to the gym (one of the reasons I enrolled), so while I don’t go as much as I would like (working two jobs, and studying, cuts down on my time at the gym a little), I am still motivated to work out at least 3 times a week. I should have lost stacks of weight, yet, no, I have not. I blame Kristy. She keeps buying chocolate and leaving it in the fridge. What can I do but eat it??
With my two jobs, and Kristy working 5 nights out of 7 (note: she starts at 5.30pm and finishes anywhere between 1.00am and 3.00am), we can go days without really seeing each other (aside from a few hours from when she crawls into bed, and then I crawl out of bed when my alarm goes off for me to get up for work). Kristy leaves for work before I get home, and then I leave for work before she gets up in the morning! But we do manage to get a few days to spend together, not many, but some. Anyway, we are only stopping here at Yulara for a while, to re-energise, experience carpet (was surprised at how much I missed carpet!!), sleep in a bed without wheels, and to save some money before travelling the next leg of the journey.
I have to change my Victorian drivers licence! If residing in the NT for over 3 months, it is law to change your licence (and car rego) over to NT. I suppose it is about time I got myself another licence, considering how Kristy snapped my current licence in half (how embarrassing, and yet fun(!) it has been to hand over my licence in 2 pieces whenever I am asked for ID!). K broke it because she was trying to fix it (God I love irony!) To explain - my licence had a bend in it and so she decided to straighten it, and instead she broke it into 2 pieces.
I have now made a few additional new friends - my circle is extending! There is Darren (assistant manager of Sails in the Desert) and Mike (the star talker for the Sounds of Silence dinners). The Sounds of Silence is an activity where guests pay an extraordinary amount of money to eat a buffet, at night, in the desert, and while they eat, be told about the star constellations above their heads. Kristy and I are definitely going to do this (because we are here, and because we love a buffet, and because it would be fun, and because we might get a discount, and because we now know a star talker, and because there isn’t a lot of choice about what to do here, and because... well... why not!?) I just have to talk to Kristy about our schedules to see if we can synchronize our watches enough to make the dinner booking. Of course, I have also made friends with my co-workers at the Spa (Julie, Karen and Kerrie) who are just lovely and working with lovely people makes the day go by so pleasantly.
Kristy has been HANGING OUT for a bath (we have only been showering for over 4 months now), and today (on my day off from the spa) I made an appointment for Kristy and I to go and have a VERY flasho bath at the spa. We sat in the huge (big enough for 6 people easily), black (once you’ve had black....), roman-type, square bath, filled with luxurious, skin-softening products, looking up at the sky and gum trees, and soaking up the serenity. Ahhhh, this is the life. This bath normally costs $80 for couples, but because I work there, we got a bit of a discount. It was so bloody lovely to have a decent soak, and we are planning to do it more often!
If anyone is ever planning to come and see Uluru, then seriously guys, NOW is the time to do it. I can get you major discount on rooms at any of the hotels here. And I mean MAJOR discounts (100’s and 100’s and 100’s of dollars off the usual price). Kristy and I are planning to be here until at least the end of January 2011. Of course anyone who comes is welcome to stay with us if you want to pay nothing for accommodation, but if you want privacy or more room, I can get heavily discounted rates on the hotels here. Tomorrow I am finding out exactly the discounts I can get, so stay tuned to this bat channel and I will advise. If you are even vaguely planning, considering, contemplating, hoping for, imaging or reflecting on a trip to the centre of Australia, then email/text/call me and we can start working out the details of when and where. Come on... I know there is a number of you out there that are wanting to come to Uluru... don’t be shy... don’t be hesitate... just do it! (you know who I am talking about!!!). Is one life (that we remember anyway) so at least make sure that you see, in this lifetime, the iconic Australian rock!
BTW – how funny is The Big Bang Theory? We have just finished watching the first and second seasons on DVD! Hysterical!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Yulara... Week Two... What Did We Do???
Kristy is still working away like a crazy gal - washing zillions of buses - as she waits for her Police Check to be finalised so she can gain her H endorsement, which will enable her to drive buses (though she will probably keep washing the buses, as well as do some bus driving, because the money is very good as a bus washer!) Opps, I made a big, big, big, HUGE faux pas in the world of AAT Kings (who Kristy works for)... they get very annoyed if we call them “buses” – they are “coaches”! Apparently anything that has wheels AND a toilet is called a “coach”.
Yulara (our new home) is broken into 3 primary factions:
1. Tourists: Other than interacting on a working/professional level, the workers/residents of Yulara don’t have much to do with the tourists (note: the tourists appear to be broken into 3 sub categories – the campers, the backpackers and the ones that stay in the hotels).
2. Short-term residents: This is Kristy and I. Short-termers are anyone that resides and works here for no longer than 6 months (note: short-term residents can often unintentionally extend into the following 3rd faction).
3. Long-term residents: The long-termers are those that have been here at Yulara for more than 12 months. I have spoken to long-termers that have been here for 5 years, and even one guy who has been here for 10 years!!!!! I didn’t even know that the Ayers Rock resort had been opened for that long! You can always tell a long-termer – they have pretty fancy gardens (short-termers don’t bother with a garden).
Both the short-termers and long-termers (actually all the residents!) are so friendly. Everyone seems to know everyone, and the residents wave to each other, smile, call out, beep horns, whistle, invite you for drinks, etc. If anyone is likely to be rude, it will be a tourist. Of course, most of the tourists, are great, just some of them are obviously a bit stressed, and well... it shows sometimes. But us residents (or ressies as we are called) cannot afford to be rude to each other – we have to live and work with each other, and a lot of the time it is in very close quarters! For eg, Kristy and I live in “share-share” accommodation, which means we share a kitchen and bathroom with someone else (they haven’t moved in yet, so K and I have had the whole place to ourselves, and I must say, I have really spread out my stuff! Will have to pull it all back in again when the new guy arrives.
The majority of “ressies” have 2 or 3 jobs. Kristy is seen as strange as she only has one job! The guy I worked with last night, he has 5 part-time jobs! I don’t think he sleeps much.
I started my casual catering job on Friday. Was meant to start next week, but they rang me on Friday at 11.30am and asked if I could come in at 2.30pm (they were desperate). I said yes, because, hey, why not? So I had my first shift catering for 7 groups of tourists (this equates to over 100 guests) who had champagne and canapés as they watched Ayers Rock at sunset (this is called the “sunny” shift). The first night I had a really bad time – just felt like so much to remember and it was so busy and people and things everywhere and how would I ever know what to do? But then I worked again last night (Saturday) and it was fine! And I did remember everything, and I had fun! And now I know how to properly pour a glass of champagne (I did not know there was a proper way until 2 days ago!)
The BEST tourists are the Japanese and the Americans! While these are very different tourist groups, total opposites actually, they are both groups so friendly and appreciative. The Japanese groups always give the catering crew a round of applause when they are leaving. The Americans always say thank you.
The first night I worked the “sunny” shift, the Rock looked glorious as the sun set. Last night, it was total clouds and spitting rain. The Rock just looked rock-like. Oh, but the first night – excitement! Someone had hidden up the top of the Rock during the day and as the sun was setting, he parachuted off the Rock ! So there I am, pouring drinks and being socialiable and friendly to the tourists (“Of course I am happy to take your photo” and “Oh it’s your honeymoon, how lovely” and “would you rather red wine, or white wine?” and “no you cannot take the rest of the champagne on the bus with you!”) when suddenly, everyone is going ohhhh, and ahhh, and we are watching parachute man flying over and off the Rock. Apparently he will get a mega fine if the rangers catch him. I kinda hope he runs (or flys) free.
I have met new people now that I have started working (not just meeting Kristy’s work mates, which I have been doing until now). There is Erin who I worked with on the first night, who earlier this year was airlifted out of Yulara because a blood vessel in her brain exploded and she nearly died, and after being put in an induced coma, she had her head shaved and the blood vessel removed and the fluid on the brain was drained. She showed me pics of her head with the massive scars (she has hair now, so you can’t see the scars). It is strange, because Garry (Kristy’s boss) also had brain surgery (to remove a tumour) and he has a massive scar on his head (he has a shaved head, so it is easy to see his scars!) The next woman I met (Tara, I worked with her the next night) told me how she had been airlifted out of Yulara (sound familiar!?) with a woman named Erin (who she has actually never met, yet has shared a medical helicopter with – isn’t that strange!)! Tara was airlifted out because she had severe concussion, because when she was cleaning under a sink, the sink was loose and it fell onto her head and she was knocked out. Ummm, as I write this, I am sensing a theme... head injuries. I think I should invest in a helmet while I am here at Yulara, or at least take out some sort of medical insurance!
Kristy and I went out last Wednesday night and we partied (remember that Wednesday is the new Saturday). I drank a teensy, tiny, weeny bit too much and ended up with a teensy, tiny, weeny hangover the next day (translated, this mean I didn’t stop consuming wine when I should have, and I ended up with severe nausea and a massive headache the next day).
Many people drink hard here, and I should not try to keep up with them. I know I need to be stronger and sterner when I tell people, “NO... Do NOT buy me another drink!” Is hard, because we are trying to fit in here, and drinking is the way to do that, (and I don’t want to look soft either), but equally, I don’t want to feel sick the next day either. I will find the balance, I WILL!
Although a lot of people like a decent drink in Yulara, there are hardly any problems or fights. That is because if anyone messes up, or carries on, or causes trouble, they will be “48-ed“ by the resort. If you are “48-ed” it means that you must leave the resort within 48 hours. As no-one wants to leave (they have jobs, homes, partners, friends, etc) most people are pretty darn careful about their behaviour.
I went to the gym again today. I have now officially joined, I have had a program written up for me, and I go religiously every 2nd day. Today Kristy came with me, and we set up the table-tennis table and played table-tennis after we had finished the workout. It was fun. I lost, but that’s because I let Kristy win. We all know how she gets if she loses (omg, she is not going to like that I wrote that!).
I have officially enrolled in the Certificate IV in Fitness now, and I start the work on the course tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting stuck into it, and am hoping it will inspire me even more to be fit. I am already getting muscles, and like to look at my own guns in the mirror (yes, I have become THAT sort of gym person).
Thank you Anita, for putting together some DVD’s for us and sending them over. We haven’t got them yet, but we know they are on their way. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
If anyone else feels the urge to send us something (we accept all DVDs, books, cards, money, lotto tickets, jewellery, gold bullion, etc) the address is:
Linda & Kristy
C/- Yulara Post Office
Yulara, NT, 0872
Talking about DVD’s, they are selling them at the Yulara IGA for $2.00 each. Kristy couldn’t believe her eyes! But the DVD’s were all “who-the-hell-is-this-actor” movies. Still... we purchased 2 of them... well, they were only $2.00!! I think I was lucky to get out of the supermarket without Kristy buying the whole box (she likes a bargain).
The AFL grand final is coming up!!! Kristy has swapped one of her days so she can sit and watch it (and perhaps drink copious amounts of beer). I predict a Bulldogs/Pies grand Finale. Kristy tells me I am dreaming, but let’s just see!
Yulara (our new home) is broken into 3 primary factions:
1. Tourists: Other than interacting on a working/professional level, the workers/residents of Yulara don’t have much to do with the tourists (note: the tourists appear to be broken into 3 sub categories – the campers, the backpackers and the ones that stay in the hotels).
2. Short-term residents: This is Kristy and I. Short-termers are anyone that resides and works here for no longer than 6 months (note: short-term residents can often unintentionally extend into the following 3rd faction).
3. Long-term residents: The long-termers are those that have been here at Yulara for more than 12 months. I have spoken to long-termers that have been here for 5 years, and even one guy who has been here for 10 years!!!!! I didn’t even know that the Ayers Rock resort had been opened for that long! You can always tell a long-termer – they have pretty fancy gardens (short-termers don’t bother with a garden).
Both the short-termers and long-termers (actually all the residents!) are so friendly. Everyone seems to know everyone, and the residents wave to each other, smile, call out, beep horns, whistle, invite you for drinks, etc. If anyone is likely to be rude, it will be a tourist. Of course, most of the tourists, are great, just some of them are obviously a bit stressed, and well... it shows sometimes. But us residents (or ressies as we are called) cannot afford to be rude to each other – we have to live and work with each other, and a lot of the time it is in very close quarters! For eg, Kristy and I live in “share-share” accommodation, which means we share a kitchen and bathroom with someone else (they haven’t moved in yet, so K and I have had the whole place to ourselves, and I must say, I have really spread out my stuff! Will have to pull it all back in again when the new guy arrives.
The majority of “ressies” have 2 or 3 jobs. Kristy is seen as strange as she only has one job! The guy I worked with last night, he has 5 part-time jobs! I don’t think he sleeps much.
I started my casual catering job on Friday. Was meant to start next week, but they rang me on Friday at 11.30am and asked if I could come in at 2.30pm (they were desperate). I said yes, because, hey, why not? So I had my first shift catering for 7 groups of tourists (this equates to over 100 guests) who had champagne and canapés as they watched Ayers Rock at sunset (this is called the “sunny” shift). The first night I had a really bad time – just felt like so much to remember and it was so busy and people and things everywhere and how would I ever know what to do? But then I worked again last night (Saturday) and it was fine! And I did remember everything, and I had fun! And now I know how to properly pour a glass of champagne (I did not know there was a proper way until 2 days ago!)
The BEST tourists are the Japanese and the Americans! While these are very different tourist groups, total opposites actually, they are both groups so friendly and appreciative. The Japanese groups always give the catering crew a round of applause when they are leaving. The Americans always say thank you.
The first night I worked the “sunny” shift, the Rock looked glorious as the sun set. Last night, it was total clouds and spitting rain. The Rock just looked rock-like. Oh, but the first night – excitement! Someone had hidden up the top of the Rock during the day and as the sun was setting, he parachuted off the Rock ! So there I am, pouring drinks and being socialiable and friendly to the tourists (“Of course I am happy to take your photo” and “Oh it’s your honeymoon, how lovely” and “would you rather red wine, or white wine?” and “no you cannot take the rest of the champagne on the bus with you!”) when suddenly, everyone is going ohhhh, and ahhh, and we are watching parachute man flying over and off the Rock. Apparently he will get a mega fine if the rangers catch him. I kinda hope he runs (or flys) free.
I have met new people now that I have started working (not just meeting Kristy’s work mates, which I have been doing until now). There is Erin who I worked with on the first night, who earlier this year was airlifted out of Yulara because a blood vessel in her brain exploded and she nearly died, and after being put in an induced coma, she had her head shaved and the blood vessel removed and the fluid on the brain was drained. She showed me pics of her head with the massive scars (she has hair now, so you can’t see the scars). It is strange, because Garry (Kristy’s boss) also had brain surgery (to remove a tumour) and he has a massive scar on his head (he has a shaved head, so it is easy to see his scars!) The next woman I met (Tara, I worked with her the next night) told me how she had been airlifted out of Yulara (sound familiar!?) with a woman named Erin (who she has actually never met, yet has shared a medical helicopter with – isn’t that strange!)! Tara was airlifted out because she had severe concussion, because when she was cleaning under a sink, the sink was loose and it fell onto her head and she was knocked out. Ummm, as I write this, I am sensing a theme... head injuries. I think I should invest in a helmet while I am here at Yulara, or at least take out some sort of medical insurance!
Kristy and I went out last Wednesday night and we partied (remember that Wednesday is the new Saturday). I drank a teensy, tiny, weeny bit too much and ended up with a teensy, tiny, weeny hangover the next day (translated, this mean I didn’t stop consuming wine when I should have, and I ended up with severe nausea and a massive headache the next day).
Many people drink hard here, and I should not try to keep up with them. I know I need to be stronger and sterner when I tell people, “NO... Do NOT buy me another drink!” Is hard, because we are trying to fit in here, and drinking is the way to do that, (and I don’t want to look soft either), but equally, I don’t want to feel sick the next day either. I will find the balance, I WILL!
Although a lot of people like a decent drink in Yulara, there are hardly any problems or fights. That is because if anyone messes up, or carries on, or causes trouble, they will be “48-ed“ by the resort. If you are “48-ed” it means that you must leave the resort within 48 hours. As no-one wants to leave (they have jobs, homes, partners, friends, etc) most people are pretty darn careful about their behaviour.
I went to the gym again today. I have now officially joined, I have had a program written up for me, and I go religiously every 2nd day. Today Kristy came with me, and we set up the table-tennis table and played table-tennis after we had finished the workout. It was fun. I lost, but that’s because I let Kristy win. We all know how she gets if she loses (omg, she is not going to like that I wrote that!).
I have officially enrolled in the Certificate IV in Fitness now, and I start the work on the course tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting stuck into it, and am hoping it will inspire me even more to be fit. I am already getting muscles, and like to look at my own guns in the mirror (yes, I have become THAT sort of gym person).
Thank you Anita, for putting together some DVD’s for us and sending them over. We haven’t got them yet, but we know they are on their way. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
If anyone else feels the urge to send us something (we accept all DVDs, books, cards, money, lotto tickets, jewellery, gold bullion, etc) the address is:
Linda & Kristy
C/- Yulara Post Office
Yulara, NT, 0872
Talking about DVD’s, they are selling them at the Yulara IGA for $2.00 each. Kristy couldn’t believe her eyes! But the DVD’s were all “who-the-hell-is-this-actor” movies. Still... we purchased 2 of them... well, they were only $2.00!! I think I was lucky to get out of the supermarket without Kristy buying the whole box (she likes a bargain).
The AFL grand final is coming up!!! Kristy has swapped one of her days so she can sit and watch it (and perhaps drink copious amounts of beer). I predict a Bulldogs/Pies grand Finale. Kristy tells me I am dreaming, but let’s just see!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Week One ... living at Yulara
We are settling into life as a resident of Yulara. Funny place Yulara.
It is strange the things that become sort after and important, depending where you are living. For example, milk crates are like gold here. Even I was excited when I found one! If you are asking why milk crates are so important, here is the answer... Milk crates can be used as book shelves, clothes holders, pot plant holders, seats, coffee tables, etc. Living in an area where the nearest furniture store is over four hours away, means that a milk crates are almost a currency. Of course we are not supposed to use them, which of course makes them all the more valuable!
Alcohol is another interesting thing here at Yulara. Despite alcohol being outrageously overpriced here, even with a resident discount card, (for eg, a 2 litre cask of wine costing over $24.00), people seem to be continually drinking. To combat the cost of alcohol, there appears to be ‘Alcohol Runs’ into Alice Springs, which are semi-regular drives to Alice (remember it is over 4 hours away, and that is one way!) which are for the sole purpose of stocking up on a number of peoples’ beer, wine and spirits - people put in their orders, pay their money, and then collect it a day or so later!
Weekends in Yulara are not on the usual Saturday and Sunday. It appears that Wednesday is the new Saturday, with a disco occurring every Wednesday night at the residents club (yes... a disco – please note that I have not attended this disco yet, although I am looking forward to remembering the 80’s). Most of the residents up here are busy working for the tourists on Saturday and Sunday, so I suppose that is why Wednesday has become the big night to go out!
It is very social here in Yulara. Kristy and I have been welcomed and embraced by the community here. They all want to help and they all want to chat. Everyone is very open and friendly. We have been out visiting quite a lot. Everyone is chat chat chat, so you can imagine how Kristy totally fits into this place! She is soooo not shy, just converses with everyone immediately and is talking with everyone about everything. I find I am not talking about myself as much as everyone else. Perhaps people think I am being dark and mysterious, but the truth is that I find it hard to get a word in edgeways! I think I am just going to have to take the plunge and just start yakking on!
Ohhh, and I had an adventure! I was at Garry’s and Sue’s. They live about 10 minutes walk from where Kristy and I live. Kristy had gone to work and I had dropped into Garry’s for a little bit, which turned into a long bit, where I was given food and wine. It was late when I left. They gave me a loaf of homemade bread for the road (as you do!). I was actually quite grateful for that loaf of warm, just-out-of-the-bread-maker bread because the desert at night is very f%#@ing cold and I was only in a singlet and shorts. I hugged that damn loaf of bread to me all the walk home. However, I got a teeny, tiny, little bit lost going home! I am not good with directions at the best of times, let alone in the desert, in a strange new place, at night, in the dark! I thought, “At least I won’t be hungry,” and then I realised that the loaf of bread (which was keeping me warm and assuring me of a meal) was also a beacon for any dingos in the area! I rang my mother, who spoke to me as I worked out how to get back home. I was not attacked by any wild dogs, and the loaf of bread was there for Kristy when she got home from work (and I am not kidding, she cut a slice that equated to a quarter of the loaf, covered that with jam and ate in within 3 seconds!)
Because I saw how much Kristy liked that home-made bread I decided to go all earth-mother on myself last night and I made my own bread (and I didn’t even use a bread maker!). It was good bread!
Kristy is liking most aspects of her job. She is still getting used to working nights. Although she has adjusted to sleeping-in in the mornings quite well! She just had 2 nights off work (her weekend is Wed and Thurs) and we kinda partied one of her nights off and then the other night, we stayed home and watched DVDs (mostly because Kristy was hung over and recovering from the first night off she had!).
I am doing the cooking at the moment. Last night I made Pad Thai, and it was an extremely chilli Pad Thai! Kristy is loving the chilli in the cooking at the moment, which is lucky because this one was a burn-your-face-off Pad Thai. We are now waiting for the burning ring of fire at the other end. To add to it, I made a curry tonight. Yep, we will sure be feeling that warm glow soon as those meals depart from our bodies.
It looks like I have two jobs up here – one a casual position and one a part-time position. The part-time position is working at the Resort Spa – yes, it is Linda Wilson, beautician (as Mel pointed out to me – it rhymes). I will initially be doing massage there, and the manager, Julie, is going to teach me how to do facials – HOW EXCITING!!! I have paid out many dollars over the years to get facials, and now I will be able to do them myself! Oh YAY!! I am also going to learn how to do body wraps, and maybe some other things. I am very, very much looking forward to this job (cross fingers it is as good as it sounds). Looks like I will have 3 days a week working at the Spa.
The other job that I will be doing is catering. I will be doing the catering for the sunset tours at the Rock, when tourist pay a lot of money to see the sunset and get drunk on champagne that I serve to them. I am quite looking forward to doing this job, even though the money is crappolla. It will be social, and I can chat to people I will never see again, and I can smoozz up to the Americans who may give me big tips!!!
I have struggles with iTunes tonight – it is driving me a bit demented. Not the iTunes itself, but the syncing it onto to my iPhone. Why won’t it play the game???!!! Grrrrrrr. I am, however, determined to have music on the damn thing. So I will post this blog and keep working on the iPhone/music situation.
It is strange the things that become sort after and important, depending where you are living. For example, milk crates are like gold here. Even I was excited when I found one! If you are asking why milk crates are so important, here is the answer... Milk crates can be used as book shelves, clothes holders, pot plant holders, seats, coffee tables, etc. Living in an area where the nearest furniture store is over four hours away, means that a milk crates are almost a currency. Of course we are not supposed to use them, which of course makes them all the more valuable!
Alcohol is another interesting thing here at Yulara. Despite alcohol being outrageously overpriced here, even with a resident discount card, (for eg, a 2 litre cask of wine costing over $24.00), people seem to be continually drinking. To combat the cost of alcohol, there appears to be ‘Alcohol Runs’ into Alice Springs, which are semi-regular drives to Alice (remember it is over 4 hours away, and that is one way!) which are for the sole purpose of stocking up on a number of peoples’ beer, wine and spirits - people put in their orders, pay their money, and then collect it a day or so later!
Weekends in Yulara are not on the usual Saturday and Sunday. It appears that Wednesday is the new Saturday, with a disco occurring every Wednesday night at the residents club (yes... a disco – please note that I have not attended this disco yet, although I am looking forward to remembering the 80’s). Most of the residents up here are busy working for the tourists on Saturday and Sunday, so I suppose that is why Wednesday has become the big night to go out!
It is very social here in Yulara. Kristy and I have been welcomed and embraced by the community here. They all want to help and they all want to chat. Everyone is very open and friendly. We have been out visiting quite a lot. Everyone is chat chat chat, so you can imagine how Kristy totally fits into this place! She is soooo not shy, just converses with everyone immediately and is talking with everyone about everything. I find I am not talking about myself as much as everyone else. Perhaps people think I am being dark and mysterious, but the truth is that I find it hard to get a word in edgeways! I think I am just going to have to take the plunge and just start yakking on!
Ohhh, and I had an adventure! I was at Garry’s and Sue’s. They live about 10 minutes walk from where Kristy and I live. Kristy had gone to work and I had dropped into Garry’s for a little bit, which turned into a long bit, where I was given food and wine. It was late when I left. They gave me a loaf of homemade bread for the road (as you do!). I was actually quite grateful for that loaf of warm, just-out-of-the-bread-maker bread because the desert at night is very f%#@ing cold and I was only in a singlet and shorts. I hugged that damn loaf of bread to me all the walk home. However, I got a teeny, tiny, little bit lost going home! I am not good with directions at the best of times, let alone in the desert, in a strange new place, at night, in the dark! I thought, “At least I won’t be hungry,” and then I realised that the loaf of bread (which was keeping me warm and assuring me of a meal) was also a beacon for any dingos in the area! I rang my mother, who spoke to me as I worked out how to get back home. I was not attacked by any wild dogs, and the loaf of bread was there for Kristy when she got home from work (and I am not kidding, she cut a slice that equated to a quarter of the loaf, covered that with jam and ate in within 3 seconds!)
Because I saw how much Kristy liked that home-made bread I decided to go all earth-mother on myself last night and I made my own bread (and I didn’t even use a bread maker!). It was good bread!
Kristy is liking most aspects of her job. She is still getting used to working nights. Although she has adjusted to sleeping-in in the mornings quite well! She just had 2 nights off work (her weekend is Wed and Thurs) and we kinda partied one of her nights off and then the other night, we stayed home and watched DVDs (mostly because Kristy was hung over and recovering from the first night off she had!).
I am doing the cooking at the moment. Last night I made Pad Thai, and it was an extremely chilli Pad Thai! Kristy is loving the chilli in the cooking at the moment, which is lucky because this one was a burn-your-face-off Pad Thai. We are now waiting for the burning ring of fire at the other end. To add to it, I made a curry tonight. Yep, we will sure be feeling that warm glow soon as those meals depart from our bodies.
It looks like I have two jobs up here – one a casual position and one a part-time position. The part-time position is working at the Resort Spa – yes, it is Linda Wilson, beautician (as Mel pointed out to me – it rhymes). I will initially be doing massage there, and the manager, Julie, is going to teach me how to do facials – HOW EXCITING!!! I have paid out many dollars over the years to get facials, and now I will be able to do them myself! Oh YAY!! I am also going to learn how to do body wraps, and maybe some other things. I am very, very much looking forward to this job (cross fingers it is as good as it sounds). Looks like I will have 3 days a week working at the Spa.
The other job that I will be doing is catering. I will be doing the catering for the sunset tours at the Rock, when tourist pay a lot of money to see the sunset and get drunk on champagne that I serve to them. I am quite looking forward to doing this job, even though the money is crappolla. It will be social, and I can chat to people I will never see again, and I can smoozz up to the Americans who may give me big tips!!!
I have struggles with iTunes tonight – it is driving me a bit demented. Not the iTunes itself, but the syncing it onto to my iPhone. Why won’t it play the game???!!! Grrrrrrr. I am, however, determined to have music on the damn thing. So I will post this blog and keep working on the iPhone/music situation.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Living next door to Alice... if you can call over 400km’s next door (and up here... you can!)
Right now I am living in the shadow of the Rock – Uluru. And I mean literally, not figuratively! I step outside and see Ayers Rock! How many people actually do this?? Excitement plus!
Mel and Elle came to visit us in Alice Springs for 5 days... and it rained... for 4 days out of the 5 that they were here. DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to show Mel and Elle such a good time, and it rained and rained and rained. At least (and this is a very minimal ‘at least’) Mel got to see the Rock as only 9% of people get to see it – with waterfalls on it! Little Elle, so cute, she so totally looks like Shiloh (Brad and Angelina’s daughter!)
The day after Mel left, we were staying at Amanda’s place as I was feeding her cat and Amanda said we could stay at her place (she was in Melb for a week) and that her housemate would not be home until the 28th. Kristy and I had settled in for a good, comfortable night. Picture this... I had done a few loads of washing, wet clothes spread all over the place to dry, some clothes still in the washing machine, a roast chicken (and vegies) were cooking nicely in the oven, a DVD was ready to go in the DVD player, the little heater was on, we had a soggy, soaking wet tent under the carport, our cold food was in the fridge, our breakfast shakes were ready on the counter for tomorrow, Kristy and I in our flannelette PJ’s (mine have blue owls on them!), my hair very fluffy (from a recent shower and I hadn’t bothered to use hair product), our stuff was spread out throughout the unit (as we thought we had a few days to sort through it), I am sipping a wine (of course), listening to the rain pouring down outside, when... all of a sudden... the housemate comes home. Aside from renting a room to Amanda, he used to be (I think) her boss. He also seemed quite arrogant, but he could have been just very tired from being on the road for ages.
To cut a long story short – he did not make us feel very comfortable for being in the unit. He had arrived home early from a tour, with friends, who were going to stay in Amanda’s room (where we were staying!!), and there was really nothing else to do but for us to leave. I was most unimpressed and put out that we had to pack up everything within 30 minutes, tote it all out to the car (in the rain) and drive off into the night, with no fixed idea of where to go! I was very tired, so I did what any self-respecting, tired, cold, hungry (the roast chicken had been thrown in a bowl and put in the back of the van) Leo woman would do – yes, that’s right, I burst into tears. Kristy was really nice to me (as always). She pulled the van over, patted my hand, and we searched on the internet for a cheap place to stay, but there was nothing available.
In the end, i telephoned the caravan park (G’Day Mate Caravan park) where we had previously stayed and they were soooooo nice, and even though they were packed out, they squeezed us in (when we arrived at the caravan park, David – the owner – came out to meet us, and he took one look at me and said, “So, you’ve had a hard night sweetie”). David set us up on a really good site, but still, we spent another hour sorting out the stuff we had thrown in the van (we had to sort it out so we could sleep on the bed in the van!) and then we ate the chicken and vegies, and they cold and not very nice. But at least we were not sleeping on the side of the road (thank you David and Allen at G’Day Mate)!
Did I make that whole story sound fun??? I hope so, because in reality, it wasn’t very fun at all! However it is fun to think about days later!
Finally, the next day, it stopped raining, and so we were able to dry off the tent and really get ourselves organised to head to Yulara, because KRISTY GOT A JOB! Yes, Kristy is working for AAT Kings, with the tour buses. We arrived here yesterday and she started work tonight. It appears that she will be home about 3am this morning! She has texted me, and she sounds like she likes the job, but oh my, she will be tired when she gets back here.
So... what is ‘home’ now? Well, when you work at Yulara, you are given accommodation. We are paying rent, which works out to be $80 per week each, and that includes water and electricity. We are renting in what is called ‘share-share’, as we share a kitchen and bathroom with one other person. We have a small lounge room and bedroom to ourselves – which gives us a good amount of privacy. We have a heater in here, and an airconditioner – essential in the desert! We purchased for ourselves a little TV which has a built in DVD player. Kristy has watched a lot of football since we got here.
Being a resident here (and I am classed as a resident because my partner works here) means we have other entitlements, for eg, the gym is $6.00 a week to join, we get free medical AND free medication, and because it is classed as a remote area, we get free university (I am looking into this tomorrow!). We also get 5% off the cost of groceries at the supermarket (this is not really a big deal, but it is something). There is also the ‘Residents Club’ which offers cheap alcohol and meals (eg, $10 roast on a Sunday).
Last night, we went over to Garry’s apartment. Garry is Kristy’s boss. He invited a number of other people over to meet Kristy and myself, and it became a bit of a party. Garry made home-made bread, and kept dishing out the wine and beer, it was fun to meet people! Everyone was so nice (especially the woman that had stabbed someone 10 years ago, I just looooove stories like that!!). Garry has been living in Yulara for about 9 months, he moved here because he had a brain tumour removed and because of that he realised that he wanted more from his life rather than work work work. He is still working (obviously) up here, but he is no longer running a huge business. It was a big wake up call for him, and though I didn’t know him before the brain tumour, I can honestly say that he looks pretty happy and relaxed now.
Kristy and I went for a walk this morning, I am trying to lose weight before Mel’s wedding in October, so I am gonna walk my ass off. We had the Rock in our view for 90% of the walk. We walked past a couple of guys who were walking their dogs – two dingo’s which were hand-raised from puppies. We came back and Bugs Bunny was sitting on the red earth out the front of our apartment. I have put on two lots of sunscreen today. Is fun being in the desert! I think I will like Yulara, for a while at least, until the next segment of the travels.
Mel and Elle came to visit us in Alice Springs for 5 days... and it rained... for 4 days out of the 5 that they were here. DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to show Mel and Elle such a good time, and it rained and rained and rained. At least (and this is a very minimal ‘at least’) Mel got to see the Rock as only 9% of people get to see it – with waterfalls on it! Little Elle, so cute, she so totally looks like Shiloh (Brad and Angelina’s daughter!)
The day after Mel left, we were staying at Amanda’s place as I was feeding her cat and Amanda said we could stay at her place (she was in Melb for a week) and that her housemate would not be home until the 28th. Kristy and I had settled in for a good, comfortable night. Picture this... I had done a few loads of washing, wet clothes spread all over the place to dry, some clothes still in the washing machine, a roast chicken (and vegies) were cooking nicely in the oven, a DVD was ready to go in the DVD player, the little heater was on, we had a soggy, soaking wet tent under the carport, our cold food was in the fridge, our breakfast shakes were ready on the counter for tomorrow, Kristy and I in our flannelette PJ’s (mine have blue owls on them!), my hair very fluffy (from a recent shower and I hadn’t bothered to use hair product), our stuff was spread out throughout the unit (as we thought we had a few days to sort through it), I am sipping a wine (of course), listening to the rain pouring down outside, when... all of a sudden... the housemate comes home. Aside from renting a room to Amanda, he used to be (I think) her boss. He also seemed quite arrogant, but he could have been just very tired from being on the road for ages.
To cut a long story short – he did not make us feel very comfortable for being in the unit. He had arrived home early from a tour, with friends, who were going to stay in Amanda’s room (where we were staying!!), and there was really nothing else to do but for us to leave. I was most unimpressed and put out that we had to pack up everything within 30 minutes, tote it all out to the car (in the rain) and drive off into the night, with no fixed idea of where to go! I was very tired, so I did what any self-respecting, tired, cold, hungry (the roast chicken had been thrown in a bowl and put in the back of the van) Leo woman would do – yes, that’s right, I burst into tears. Kristy was really nice to me (as always). She pulled the van over, patted my hand, and we searched on the internet for a cheap place to stay, but there was nothing available.
In the end, i telephoned the caravan park (G’Day Mate Caravan park) where we had previously stayed and they were soooooo nice, and even though they were packed out, they squeezed us in (when we arrived at the caravan park, David – the owner – came out to meet us, and he took one look at me and said, “So, you’ve had a hard night sweetie”). David set us up on a really good site, but still, we spent another hour sorting out the stuff we had thrown in the van (we had to sort it out so we could sleep on the bed in the van!) and then we ate the chicken and vegies, and they cold and not very nice. But at least we were not sleeping on the side of the road (thank you David and Allen at G’Day Mate)!
Did I make that whole story sound fun??? I hope so, because in reality, it wasn’t very fun at all! However it is fun to think about days later!
Finally, the next day, it stopped raining, and so we were able to dry off the tent and really get ourselves organised to head to Yulara, because KRISTY GOT A JOB! Yes, Kristy is working for AAT Kings, with the tour buses. We arrived here yesterday and she started work tonight. It appears that she will be home about 3am this morning! She has texted me, and she sounds like she likes the job, but oh my, she will be tired when she gets back here.
So... what is ‘home’ now? Well, when you work at Yulara, you are given accommodation. We are paying rent, which works out to be $80 per week each, and that includes water and electricity. We are renting in what is called ‘share-share’, as we share a kitchen and bathroom with one other person. We have a small lounge room and bedroom to ourselves – which gives us a good amount of privacy. We have a heater in here, and an airconditioner – essential in the desert! We purchased for ourselves a little TV which has a built in DVD player. Kristy has watched a lot of football since we got here.
Being a resident here (and I am classed as a resident because my partner works here) means we have other entitlements, for eg, the gym is $6.00 a week to join, we get free medical AND free medication, and because it is classed as a remote area, we get free university (I am looking into this tomorrow!). We also get 5% off the cost of groceries at the supermarket (this is not really a big deal, but it is something). There is also the ‘Residents Club’ which offers cheap alcohol and meals (eg, $10 roast on a Sunday).
Last night, we went over to Garry’s apartment. Garry is Kristy’s boss. He invited a number of other people over to meet Kristy and myself, and it became a bit of a party. Garry made home-made bread, and kept dishing out the wine and beer, it was fun to meet people! Everyone was so nice (especially the woman that had stabbed someone 10 years ago, I just looooove stories like that!!). Garry has been living in Yulara for about 9 months, he moved here because he had a brain tumour removed and because of that he realised that he wanted more from his life rather than work work work. He is still working (obviously) up here, but he is no longer running a huge business. It was a big wake up call for him, and though I didn’t know him before the brain tumour, I can honestly say that he looks pretty happy and relaxed now.
Kristy and I went for a walk this morning, I am trying to lose weight before Mel’s wedding in October, so I am gonna walk my ass off. We had the Rock in our view for 90% of the walk. We walked past a couple of guys who were walking their dogs – two dingo’s which were hand-raised from puppies. We came back and Bugs Bunny was sitting on the red earth out the front of our apartment. I have put on two lots of sunscreen today. Is fun being in the desert! I think I will like Yulara, for a while at least, until the next segment of the travels.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to... yet... I don’t want to... so I won’t! (That song is now stuck in my mind – damn it!)
Is my birthday - has been fab!!!!
Some of you know that it has been a bit stressful this last week, and I thank my dear friends that replied to my ‘venting’ email, or telephoned me to make sure I was okay (just all got on top of me for a bit there). I felt so down, and your kind words and understanding really cheered me up. Sometimes it just all gets too much hey.
This birthday morning started with PRESENTS from Kristy. She is so lovely. I now have a brand new pair of Ray Bans (sunnies), a new bracelet and many pairs of new Bonds underwear (Kristy is obsessed with Bonds undies – at last count she had over 70 pairs. She is banned from buying anymore for herself for at least a month, so she bought me some instead!). Kristy also organised me to have a facial – my first for a really long time! It was sooooooo good! Kristy has gone to a lot of trouble to make sure my birthday has been a good one. What would I do without her??!! She even purchased an additional bracelet, in case I didn’t like the original one she had got for me – how nice is that!!??
Thank you Anita and Mark for the excellent singing card (“Cant touch this) and the money (Yay – the money is going towards a new (and flash and comfortable and back supporting) camp chair (anything will be better than the $7.00 chair I am currently using). Donna, what was that camping chair that you recommend?
Thank you Mumma for the funny card, kind words and Powerball ticket (everyone cross your fingers, and if you really do cross your fingers, and I win, I may just share with you!). Mumma’s card read, “Looking great! Just goes to show that years of clean living...” (and now on the inside of the card) “aren’t really necessary!” Karen, Jake, Peter – you will relate to this!
Thank you Mel for the Snake Venom for my birthday (just to clarify – it is a new type of face moisturizer.. well.. a pre-moisturizer... supposedly very good on wrinkles – I will keep you all updated on if it really does work). For those that know me, yes, any face cream is an excellent present. The snake venom cream may kill me, but at least I will be looking good!
In addition, thank you to the following people for the happy birthday phone calls, text messages and Facebook messages:
• Sharon A – who also sent a card to me via Alice Springs post office – OMG you are a LEGEND!! Thank you thank you thank you!
• Karen – yes, I am the birthday princess!
• Jake –thanks for singing Happy Birthday on my voice mail. I luv you to bits too. Soon it is your day, you big Virgo you!!
• Amanda – and you rang with a job opportunity (perhaps) too! You are def my Alice Springs angel! I hope I get the job!
• Fiona & Karen – you 2 love birds were the first with birthday wishes!
• Ursula – loved the exhibition. Hope your flu gets better. I will remember to breathe deep.
• Josie – you sang Happy Birthday via text – so cute! Can’t believe you remembered!
• Vik – ahh girl, what can I say? You are such an inspiration.
• Wayne & Richard – you guys are the best! Yes, I got very spoilt today.
• Liv & Kim – hope you are enjoying living together, ta for the birthday wishes.
• Jodi – we have a powerful friendship. Talk soon. xx
• Virginia (Ginny) – definitely going to have you cook for me next time we are in town!
Lisa – I am not feeling old, so all ok. Lol.
• Gayle – yes, I feel warm and happy today. TY darl. Would be good to chat soon!
• Sue – loved your birthday wishes, all the way from Hawaii!
• Mandy – I did have a good day. TY again for the chat the other night.
• Margaret & Mark – thanks so much for remembering!! Was lovely to hear from you. See you in October for the wedding!
• Kellie – ta for FB message. Hope the kids are well!
• Suzie & Theo – thanks for singing Happy Birthday via email! When are we seeing you guys up here??? Come on Theo – let’s get organising!
• Craig – I promise I won’t do anything that you wouldn’t (don’t think it leaves me much!!)
• Carole (Dizzy) – it’s been ages, thanks for the birthday message on FB!
• Ra – you are a doll!
• Pete and Trisse – two of my most fav straight people! Well, two of my most fav people in fact! Love that you two are about to get married - can't think of a better, more in-love couple!
• Jodie – Thanks for FB message, and yes, it is a fantastic day.
• Elana – awwww, you lovely woman!
• Morag – so great to hear from you, hope you are well.
• Tony & Holly – all the way over in the UK – lots of hugs.
Also, Laura A (Was LOVELY to meet you - wish you were going to the wedding!!), Deb (such a nice message you left for me on FB!!!! I have touched your life in good way - so much thank you's for that!!), Simon and Michelle - you guys.... OMG - thanks for thinking of me today!
I also have to acknowledge Tania (spinnychick)- you and I have some memories and I am so glad to have you reading the blog. Thank you for your continued comments and good wishes. Big big hugs to you. Am so glad that your life is so full. xxxx
If I have forgotten to acknowledge anyone, I beg your forgiveness. xxxx
It was so bloody lovely to hear from so many people! I love travelling, but sometimes I can feel a bit separated from everyone so thank you all for remembering my birthday. It was like having an electronic birthday party, without presents, food or alcohol. Well... without alcohol for you (I am currently having a glass of vino).
Mel arrives in Alice Springs tomorrow, with Elle, and so have hired a campervan and we are all driving to the rock once they fly in. I want to show them both Uluru and Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon (if there is time) and a little bit of Alice. Unfortunately, the weather predicts rain and thunderstorms for the next few days – ahhhh, what do the weather forecasters know??!! Anyway, whatever, coz we will make the most of it, rain hail or shine (just like the postmen).
News Flash: Kristy passed her H Endorsement Test!! She is almost ready to drive a tourist bus. Just waiting on the Police Check – is taking a while, as these things do.
We will now probably be in Alice Springs, or Uluru (depending where we get work) until December. It will be good to settle here for a while. We will be back in October though, so for those that really, desperately, are-hanging, to catch up with us, now is the time to seriously book it in. I am so sorry to everyone that I didn’t catch up with last time we were in Melbourne, things just got hectic! Kristy and I are very open to comfortable overnight beds, beer/wine and good meals being cooked for us. In return, we will provide scintillating company, and will bore you with photos (did I say ‘bored’, I meant ‘enthral’). Also, we will be minding Elle for about 5 days, so if you don’t mind us arriving with a gorgeous and cute one-year-old, we will be doubly open and happy to seeing you ( Loving kids is a MUST if you want to see us in Oct!).
Can't think of anything else to write, although as soon as I log off I know I will remember something else I should have written!!!
Some of you know that it has been a bit stressful this last week, and I thank my dear friends that replied to my ‘venting’ email, or telephoned me to make sure I was okay (just all got on top of me for a bit there). I felt so down, and your kind words and understanding really cheered me up. Sometimes it just all gets too much hey.
This birthday morning started with PRESENTS from Kristy. She is so lovely. I now have a brand new pair of Ray Bans (sunnies), a new bracelet and many pairs of new Bonds underwear (Kristy is obsessed with Bonds undies – at last count she had over 70 pairs. She is banned from buying anymore for herself for at least a month, so she bought me some instead!). Kristy also organised me to have a facial – my first for a really long time! It was sooooooo good! Kristy has gone to a lot of trouble to make sure my birthday has been a good one. What would I do without her??!! She even purchased an additional bracelet, in case I didn’t like the original one she had got for me – how nice is that!!??
Thank you Anita and Mark for the excellent singing card (“Cant touch this) and the money (Yay – the money is going towards a new (and flash and comfortable and back supporting) camp chair (anything will be better than the $7.00 chair I am currently using). Donna, what was that camping chair that you recommend?
Thank you Mumma for the funny card, kind words and Powerball ticket (everyone cross your fingers, and if you really do cross your fingers, and I win, I may just share with you!). Mumma’s card read, “Looking great! Just goes to show that years of clean living...” (and now on the inside of the card) “aren’t really necessary!” Karen, Jake, Peter – you will relate to this!
Thank you Mel for the Snake Venom for my birthday (just to clarify – it is a new type of face moisturizer.. well.. a pre-moisturizer... supposedly very good on wrinkles – I will keep you all updated on if it really does work). For those that know me, yes, any face cream is an excellent present. The snake venom cream may kill me, but at least I will be looking good!
In addition, thank you to the following people for the happy birthday phone calls, text messages and Facebook messages:
• Sharon A – who also sent a card to me via Alice Springs post office – OMG you are a LEGEND!! Thank you thank you thank you!
• Karen – yes, I am the birthday princess!
• Jake –thanks for singing Happy Birthday on my voice mail. I luv you to bits too. Soon it is your day, you big Virgo you!!
• Amanda – and you rang with a job opportunity (perhaps) too! You are def my Alice Springs angel! I hope I get the job!
• Fiona & Karen – you 2 love birds were the first with birthday wishes!
• Ursula – loved the exhibition. Hope your flu gets better. I will remember to breathe deep.
• Josie – you sang Happy Birthday via text – so cute! Can’t believe you remembered!
• Vik – ahh girl, what can I say? You are such an inspiration.
• Wayne & Richard – you guys are the best! Yes, I got very spoilt today.
• Liv & Kim – hope you are enjoying living together, ta for the birthday wishes.
• Jodi – we have a powerful friendship. Talk soon. xx
• Virginia (Ginny) – definitely going to have you cook for me next time we are in town!
Lisa – I am not feeling old, so all ok. Lol.
• Gayle – yes, I feel warm and happy today. TY darl. Would be good to chat soon!
• Sue – loved your birthday wishes, all the way from Hawaii!
• Mandy – I did have a good day. TY again for the chat the other night.
• Margaret & Mark – thanks so much for remembering!! Was lovely to hear from you. See you in October for the wedding!
• Kellie – ta for FB message. Hope the kids are well!
• Suzie & Theo – thanks for singing Happy Birthday via email! When are we seeing you guys up here??? Come on Theo – let’s get organising!
• Craig – I promise I won’t do anything that you wouldn’t (don’t think it leaves me much!!)
• Carole (Dizzy) – it’s been ages, thanks for the birthday message on FB!
• Ra – you are a doll!
• Pete and Trisse – two of my most fav straight people! Well, two of my most fav people in fact! Love that you two are about to get married - can't think of a better, more in-love couple!
• Jodie – Thanks for FB message, and yes, it is a fantastic day.
• Elana – awwww, you lovely woman!
• Morag – so great to hear from you, hope you are well.
• Tony & Holly – all the way over in the UK – lots of hugs.
Also, Laura A (Was LOVELY to meet you - wish you were going to the wedding!!), Deb (such a nice message you left for me on FB!!!! I have touched your life in good way - so much thank you's for that!!), Simon and Michelle - you guys.... OMG - thanks for thinking of me today!
I also have to acknowledge Tania (spinnychick)- you and I have some memories and I am so glad to have you reading the blog. Thank you for your continued comments and good wishes. Big big hugs to you. Am so glad that your life is so full. xxxx
If I have forgotten to acknowledge anyone, I beg your forgiveness. xxxx
It was so bloody lovely to hear from so many people! I love travelling, but sometimes I can feel a bit separated from everyone so thank you all for remembering my birthday. It was like having an electronic birthday party, without presents, food or alcohol. Well... without alcohol for you (I am currently having a glass of vino).
Mel arrives in Alice Springs tomorrow, with Elle, and so have hired a campervan and we are all driving to the rock once they fly in. I want to show them both Uluru and Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon (if there is time) and a little bit of Alice. Unfortunately, the weather predicts rain and thunderstorms for the next few days – ahhhh, what do the weather forecasters know??!! Anyway, whatever, coz we will make the most of it, rain hail or shine (just like the postmen).
News Flash: Kristy passed her H Endorsement Test!! She is almost ready to drive a tourist bus. Just waiting on the Police Check – is taking a while, as these things do.
We will now probably be in Alice Springs, or Uluru (depending where we get work) until December. It will be good to settle here for a while. We will be back in October though, so for those that really, desperately, are-hanging, to catch up with us, now is the time to seriously book it in. I am so sorry to everyone that I didn’t catch up with last time we were in Melbourne, things just got hectic! Kristy and I are very open to comfortable overnight beds, beer/wine and good meals being cooked for us. In return, we will provide scintillating company, and will bore you with photos (did I say ‘bored’, I meant ‘enthral’). Also, we will be minding Elle for about 5 days, so if you don’t mind us arriving with a gorgeous and cute one-year-old, we will be doubly open and happy to seeing you ( Loving kids is a MUST if you want to see us in Oct!).
Can't think of anything else to write, although as soon as I log off I know I will remember something else I should have written!!!
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