Our trip home was eventful, action packed and highly enjoyable in the main but we’re acting a little spoilt these days as we resent the great travel-unpack-pack-travel routine in the space of a few weeks. It all goes with the territory I suppose. Within a day of getting home I was already organizing payments for our next trip, this time to Bangkok in March. The mind numbing hours at airports, in hire cars, waiting, on planes, waiting, in cars and waiting (in Taipei traffic!) gets a bit tedious, but all in all, the joys of a mild Aussie summer outweighed the hassles.
Apart from catching up with family and friends, another attraction was the cricket. The Ashes series, even if viewed on TV was a major drawcard. Cass was a little taken aback when I was invited to the first day of the Sydney test by our friend Michael, who lives in the unit next door: she would have loved to come too! I had one of the most memorable days I’ve had for a very long time, being ensconced in the member’s stand and partaking of all the side benefits afforded to SCG members. I rubbed shoulders with lots of the rich and famous and took some great photos of the players and other interesting sights. I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
The great day at the cricket was complemented by the viewing of same on TV. Cass and I loved watching the Pommies getting carved up day after day, game after game. We both managed to catch up with our families and friends, but perhaps not to the extent that we could have. We’re taking the approach more these days that we need a holiday; especially in this short summer break and that we’ll just relax and bum around. If we’re specifically asked to go somewhere or join in some activity, we’re usually delighted to do so, but organizing events ourselves is just too much hard work in a short period. Suffice to say, we did our big walk up the hill most days, I surfed lots when the conditions allowed and the Harley got a few airings, going on long meandering trips through the hinterland of the valley, exploring lots of backwater roads and connections!
This week back at work has felt a bit like the Long March. The alarm rang at the crack of dawn each morning in pitch blackness and, often, we found ourselves getting home in the quickly fading light as well. A far cry from getting up when we felt like it, and reading the paper till our walk beckoned mid-morning! The days seemed interminable and even though we both slipped back into routine quickly enough, Friday always felt a long way away. I went with Josh to support Wal’s girlfriend Tina, as she gave her final grading concert for her Master’s degree in classical music composition this Wednesday evening. We went out to Neihu where Tina played and conducted orchestras and sextets through a range of her original compositions. It was quite entertaining and we were all very impressed with her talent (even if we were not sure what was really happening!!). On the opposite end of the cultural spectrum, Josh and Wal and I went to see the new Rocky movie in between catching a bit of cricket at the Green Bar on Friday night: we loved the movie and shared our horror at how long the week had felt! We’d managed to have 3 boxing sessions through the week and we were all feeling a bit bloated and out-of-touch after our 3 week lay off: nothing like a bit of Balboa to get the adrenalin pumping again, I’m sure our sessions this week will have just a little more zest!
Cass and I fired up the “Auburgino” for a drive out to the wind and rain-swept northern coast on Saturday with the vague idea that I would have a surf if we found anything rideable. This didn’t happen, because apart from the 12 degree temperatures, the wind had taken its toll on the waves and most spots looked more like the insides of a churning washing machine. Later that evening we discovered that there was a tsunami warning for the Taiwan north coast after the big earthquake out to sea, a fact we were blissfully unaware of as we drove along the flats right next to the ocean for mile after mile! We watched “Crash” on DVD on Saturday night at home and were most impressed: somehow, in all our movie viewing, we’d managed to miss this one, a Best Picture winner at that!
Sunday was very quiet…we watched the one day cricket from Hobart (7am start here!) then wandered out for a walk to Takashimaya to get a few supplies and “some air”. Wow, I’d forgotten what a pain writing this blog can be too…maybe I’m just getting really lazy!
Apart from catching up with family and friends, another attraction was the cricket. The Ashes series, even if viewed on TV was a major drawcard. Cass was a little taken aback when I was invited to the first day of the Sydney test by our friend Michael, who lives in the unit next door: she would have loved to come too! I had one of the most memorable days I’ve had for a very long time, being ensconced in the member’s stand and partaking of all the side benefits afforded to SCG members. I rubbed shoulders with lots of the rich and famous and took some great photos of the players and other interesting sights. I thoroughly enjoyed the day.
The great day at the cricket was complemented by the viewing of same on TV. Cass and I loved watching the Pommies getting carved up day after day, game after game. We both managed to catch up with our families and friends, but perhaps not to the extent that we could have. We’re taking the approach more these days that we need a holiday; especially in this short summer break and that we’ll just relax and bum around. If we’re specifically asked to go somewhere or join in some activity, we’re usually delighted to do so, but organizing events ourselves is just too much hard work in a short period. Suffice to say, we did our big walk up the hill most days, I surfed lots when the conditions allowed and the Harley got a few airings, going on long meandering trips through the hinterland of the valley, exploring lots of backwater roads and connections!
This week back at work has felt a bit like the Long March. The alarm rang at the crack of dawn each morning in pitch blackness and, often, we found ourselves getting home in the quickly fading light as well. A far cry from getting up when we felt like it, and reading the paper till our walk beckoned mid-morning! The days seemed interminable and even though we both slipped back into routine quickly enough, Friday always felt a long way away. I went with Josh to support Wal’s girlfriend Tina, as she gave her final grading concert for her Master’s degree in classical music composition this Wednesday evening. We went out to Neihu where Tina played and conducted orchestras and sextets through a range of her original compositions. It was quite entertaining and we were all very impressed with her talent (even if we were not sure what was really happening!!). On the opposite end of the cultural spectrum, Josh and Wal and I went to see the new Rocky movie in between catching a bit of cricket at the Green Bar on Friday night: we loved the movie and shared our horror at how long the week had felt! We’d managed to have 3 boxing sessions through the week and we were all feeling a bit bloated and out-of-touch after our 3 week lay off: nothing like a bit of Balboa to get the adrenalin pumping again, I’m sure our sessions this week will have just a little more zest!
Cass and I fired up the “Auburgino” for a drive out to the wind and rain-swept northern coast on Saturday with the vague idea that I would have a surf if we found anything rideable. This didn’t happen, because apart from the 12 degree temperatures, the wind had taken its toll on the waves and most spots looked more like the insides of a churning washing machine. Later that evening we discovered that there was a tsunami warning for the Taiwan north coast after the big earthquake out to sea, a fact we were blissfully unaware of as we drove along the flats right next to the ocean for mile after mile! We watched “Crash” on DVD on Saturday night at home and were most impressed: somehow, in all our movie viewing, we’d managed to miss this one, a Best Picture winner at that!
Sunday was very quiet…we watched the one day cricket from Hobart (7am start here!) then wandered out for a walk to Takashimaya to get a few supplies and “some air”. Wow, I’d forgotten what a pain writing this blog can be too…maybe I’m just getting really lazy!