Busy bees

Sorry for the lack of blog action over the last couple of weeks, things have been a bit full on, both at work and at the weekend. Rella managed to do her first full week at work since arriving in Australia and my job role has changed quite a bit meaning that basically I have got a lot more to do.


The weekend of the 16th was relatively quiet. On the Friday night we found a nice pub - the oldest in Melbourne on our way to the footy which had a free sausage sizzle. Our team Carlton got thumped, but we were rewarded for leaving early by stumbling across a boozer selling Guinness for $3.50 a pint (1.40 sterling).


On the Sunday Rella and I went to see Cirque Du Solei. It wasn't cheap, but was an amazing show, with acrobatics, juggling and awesome costumes. If you ever get to see these guys perform you won't be disappointed - never knew that the human body could actually do some of the things they were showing. WOW!


After a busy week, a few of us headed down to Philip Island south of Melbourne for the weekend. We stayed in a beach house with an open log fire. It was very pleasant.

The main reason for visiting was to see the little (very little - only 30cm high!) penguins which come in like clockwork every evening at sundown. Hundreds of the little buggers arrive on mass at the shore then waddle up the beach and into the dunes for the night, no photos to show as the poor little things get too startled by the flashes of the hundreds of people who come to visit them every day. To keep the wildlife hunting thing going Rella and I also spent a little bit of time at the koala conservation park - can't get bored of the little critters!


Still not having held a koala, Rella settled for a cuddle from this beast instead!

Fun on Smith's Beach, Philip Island

Much alcohol was consumed by all, having over done it completely on the Friday, most fell asleep by the fire before 10. Not to be out done, Paul and I headed to a local Irish bar on Sunday night for further cheap guinness and sore heads on Monday.

Another Quiet One

Not much to report this week...little can compare with our weekend in the snow. Our long weekend (Monday off due to Queenie's Birthday) consisted of beer, sausages and kebabs and a follow up of Sunday recovering! We managed to drag our sorry arses out of bed to make it to the football on Monday, once again at the 'G' and followed up with a curry. Not very exciting I am afraid. The money is tight and we need to sandwich the fun with a few quiet ones!

Tuesday was fun for Rella though, another paid day at the zoo, in the guise of an induction day. The hair looked bad (hating the transition from short back to long!!!!) but touching the elephant and watching the tigers made up for it.

An exciting moment!

Loving the animal stuff!

Can't ever get bored of these guys!

Busy Weekend!

Ed and I began our fun packed weekend with a trip into the city for the opening of the Melbourne Art's Festival. A packed laneway for local movers and shakers...free entry...free drinks...freezing cold and just an example of the randomn events happening here!

The highlight had to be a visit from Melbourne's Mayor. We only managed to picture the back of his head though!

Saturday morning brought with it an early, early start with a long drive to the mountains. We stopped half way to check out the work of a local artist that we'd heard good things about. Weird! Certainly would not have liked to have been in his garden after dark. Hiding in every nook and cranny were examples of his work. Some thought provoking and other just down right strange! Here are just a couple of examples...

Check out this dude's tap!

A favourite...

This one too.

Couldn't resist a quick canoodle with this chappy!

After a couple of hours of driving we thought the snow we'd heard about on the news was all hype...

The long and winding road...

We were soon proved wrong and arrived in the winter wonderland of Mount Buller, Victoria's ski resort. Struggling to climb the hill with its six passengers the Bongo finally made it and gave us a quick hour of fun in the snow before dark.

Ed...very excited!

Paul

Simon

Routine snow ball fight

The obligatory snowman...

and of course, angel.

We made it back to our cabin just after an incredible sunset, where we settled in to port, stew and many pots of beer.

What a great weekend! Can't believe that in the last few months we have manged to sun bathe on a beach and also play in the snow!!!

Just a quick reminder of what we look like these days...minus the healthy tanned glow!

It's All About the Animals!

Another weekend...more drunken tales. It seems to be birthday season here with a gathering of peeps on Thursday for Paul's and a house party on Friday for James'. Both of which were enjoyed greatly by us both.

Having had enough of the evil drink, Ed and I abstained (well mostly) on Saturday and instead caught up with Mark who has returned to Melbourne on the hunt for employment and of course the much needed cash! Lovely to catch up.

I musn't however, forget to mention the other visitors to our flat that night...

Every night there seems to be a gathering of these little critters - possums - outside our balcony window. As you can see I was of course trying not to encourage it with a little gift of apple!

Sunday morning came and for once no hangover, grabbing the chance with both hands, we headed to the Botanical Gardens, or the "Tan", for a romantic picnic and much needed exercise.

This week we do not get to enjoy the bank holiday that is being appreciated by you all, but instead have to return to work. The zoo work seems to have dried up for the time being and thus I am back on the phones. Hope you all enjoyed your long weekend and we look forward to hearing what you got up to.

The Gentleman Thief

I promised last week that there would be more interesting info this week...here goes.

On Tuesday I went down to start my drive to Werribee, little did I know, someone had already taken the old Bongie for a ride of their own. It wasn't there! Police, tow yards contacted etc I headed off to work regardless. Couldn't miss the induction day...just another trip to the zoo. Lush!

Had to meet Leroy afterall!

Thankfully a couple of days later Bongo van was located a few suburbs away, such a relief as I was not looking forward to catching the train and cycling to work - turning an hour commute into near on two hours. Turns out that the thief could not have taken better care of it. It is in full working order, with no dents or scratches. In fact before nicking the bottle of oil, the thief kindly topped up the Bongo first. What a gentleman!

This weekend has been a busy one. Pizza at Bimbos on Thursday, a BBQ on Friday, movies and party on Saturday and curry on Sunday night. Heads are sore, eyes are tired and we are looking forward to the rest work will bring this week.

Could not fail to mention of another familiar face! Sunday brought Dave (those Sefton Parkers should recognise!) to Melbourne. Spent a lovely afternoon catching up and going around the old Melbourne Gaeol - glad I managed to fit some culture into the weekend!

Dave - colleague from Sefton Park

This one's for mum...meet Wattle the Wombat!

Take care of yourselves xxxx

Not Much To Say!

Another week and another blog entry...not much to say! Things are moving along swimmingly. I am settling nicely in to my new job and Ed is setting the world of ANZ on fire (well...maybe!). I had forgotten how tiring it is working a full teaching day and then trying to play hard as well. Shattered!

The week was spent in the usual way at 6am start, a trip on the tram for Ed and an hour commute in the beloved Bongo for me. More snakes, wombats, possums, and credit card issues. All in a good week's work!

Friday soon came around again though and we headed out each on our own for a 'Boys' night and a 'Girls' night out. Sadly my outfit wasn't as interesting as this one...

Fantastic fun had by both girls and boys at a variety of different cool Melbourne establishments, including this rather classy joint...Madame Brussels - an ex brothel. Had to steal a piccie off of the internet as it was far too cool to take your own! Champagne all round. Lovely.

Clutching our aching heads, determined not to spend the day in bed we headed for town...after a bit of jazz in Federation Square we gave up the fight and returned to our much loved, tiny home, did the proper thing and grabbed a DVD.

Sunday was a bit more of a success with a trip to the St Kilda beach where we lay on the beach wrapped in scarves and jumpers. The tans have now completly faded with no hope of returning anytime soon!

I will leave you with the promise of something a little more exciting next week!! xxx

The Working Life

Sorry it's taken a while for us to get an update to you. Life has turned pretty crazy with both of us working full time and not having a computer, it's been tricky.

I started my new job last week - wow! I have now been employed by Werribee Open Range Zoo and Melbourne Zoo as a CRT (Casual Relief Teacher). Werribee is about a 1 hour comute from our city dwelling and I have started to see hours in the early morning that I had forgotten existed. Still, it is lovely to drive out of the city and find yourself in the middle of the countryside and away from all the city smog and noise.

Just down the road from the safari park

My first day (Friday) at Werribee Open Range Zoo was one of wonder as I drove up the drive to the staff carpark, passing Zebras, Wilderbeast and Wild Horses. Not something you expect to see on your way to work!

The day started with an introduction to the animals I would be handling during classes - Snakes, Possums, Lizards and Frogs, a couple of lesson observations, then a trip around the safari park in one of their buses, and finally a walk to see the Lions and Cheetahs. The best news was that I was actually being paid to do it!

It soon became clear however, that I was being broken in gently, as this week has been a whirl of trying to get to know the animals, the people, the lessons and learning some A-Level Biology. I have now taught about 8 classes, 2 of which were A-Level Biology. Eeeek! For those of you who know that I only did the 'simple' award science at GSCE will understand the hugeness of this. Thankfully I managed to blag my way through it and teach a good lesson.

My next challenge is to get my head around the snakes - the Madagascan Ground Boa Constrictors being the ones giving me the most trouble!

Haven't managed to get a piccie of me with any of the animals yet, but will put them on when I get the chance!

I start my training at Melbourne Zoo on Monday, so another place to get my head around. Lots all at once, but an amazing experience!

Ed's e-mail address

Hello one and all. I thought I'd put a very quick blog on to let you know my e-mail address.

ed.knight@anz.com

This weekend the plans entail exploring Melbourne's 'laneways'. There are quite a lot of tiny little lanes in the city, many with no names, all with lots of funky cafe's and bars, mostly with no names!

Then on Sunday, a short walk to our local fruit and veg market for 'A market within a market'. From what I can gather as well as the usual bananas, mangoes and tomatoes, plus the odd snapper and lamb, there will also be a carnival type affair going on in the market with international cuisine, dancing and jolliness.

As you can see - it's all about the food!

Next week is another short week as on Wednesday the Aussies remember ANZAC day (a memorial for the Australian and NZ soldiers that lost their lives in the first battle at Gallipoli in WW1). There is a huge Aussie rules game we are going to - a 100,000 plus affair at the 'G', and it is the only day of the year that 2up can be played in the pubs, which essentially is gambling on heads and tails of two coins.

Have great weekends everybody - I see from the BBC website things are starting to warm up in the UK now. No sign of a cool down here yet, still a balmy 25.

The Zoo

Just wanted to let you know how everything went at the Zoo Interview...

When I arrived there were 20 people there who were also being interviewed for the same position. Felt lucky though as we were told that they had had over 100 applications for the job. The morning was filled with group activities where we had to show our team working skills, plan lessons in 5 minutes and present to the whole group...very scary and full on! After lunch we were split into two groups - very Pop Idol/Fame Academy, where one group was told they were going home and the other remaining for individual interviews in the afternoon...I got to stay! Yeah, down to the final 10. Yesterday I received a phone call where I was asked to provide names of people for references...if these go alright then I have GOT THE JOB!!! I was the only person to be wanted both my Melbourne Zoo and the safari park a little bit out of town. Fingers crossed I will start my training in about a week's time...this will involve learning how to handle small mammals and reptiles. I am very excited!!! It will be a supply teaching job, so I won't be doing it everyday but am thrilled with the oppotunity it has given me to embrace Australia and its wildlife. WOOO HOOOO!!