It's only a shortie this week due to all my packing, prepping and general headless-chook behaviour considering there's only TWO WEEKS until I fly far, far away! Happy Birthday!Happy, happy birthday to my Daddy Dearest this week! Along with some new snazzy duds and a leather jacket I have my eye on, we organised for him to drive a V8 Superlaps car around next Saturday! If you couldn't tell from the photo, he's a little bit excited about it. Surface Pro Headache RantSo, I've spent the entire week trying to fix my lovely Surface Pro and save it from its white screen death. After taking it into J-B, where I bought it from, ensuring it was still under warranty, I was told that, without evidence they couldn't do anything for me but send it away with the hopes of getting it returned in four-to-six weeks. Never mind that I leave for London in a little over 2 weeks. They were kind enough, at least to give me the number for Microsoft who, apparently, have a 1-2 day turn around when replacing items. There started the never ending phonecalls. I think I've been on the same line for about five hours this week and although it doesn't sound like much, my ears disagree. Some people have been helpful, some have been painful but the problem is still not entirely fixed. Now, I'm just waiting for them to call me back on Monday to reconfigure my Surface as a last ditch effort before they have to admit that its a hardware problem and replace my device. Hopefully, it doesn't get that far but I won't be holding my breath. It has been three days already of trying to fix it via software. Rant over...
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So... less than 3 weeks to London!I received my Visa back and I have officially been accepted as a temporary UK Citizen! I have been introduced (online) to my room mate, a woman from Canada who is also going over to teach about the same time as me. We will start looking for somewhere to live just after I get back from Ireland and once she arrives in London. I can't wait to start searching for places and being able to check them out in person. London isn't something I'm really allowed to mention in my house at the moment. Mum gets a little touchy on the subject! I keep getting reminded (warned, shouted at- same thing) by other mothers to contact home regularly, set a day and time to Skype and don't forget to specifically mention your mother in any and every correspondence home. I have to say, I really am going to miss seeing her every day, sharing every stray (and random thought) I have with her and just generally vying for her attention. Obviously, I am going to get home sick and miss everyone but I'm starting to think that leaving home is probably hardest on your parents and for that, I apologise. It's not like I'm never returning, of course, you can't get rid of me that easily! Just don't trade my room in or rent it out while I'm gone. Visitors- welcome of course, but long term tenants are so not required here.
Blog OverhaulYou may (or may not) have noticed that my little bog has had an image revamp. They say that a change is as good as a holiday and seeing as I will be working for most of my next 'holiday' experience, I thought I'd switch things up here. Beware, this may happen quite often, it's a genetic thing from our mums side- ask anyone who works in Vanessa's shop, things change there on the daily! Book LoveSo, bookworm that I am, I received my much awaited new novel this week and read it within literally, seven hours. Yes, I am That Girl. I ordered it the day it was released in the US, hard cover, direct from the supplier and after two months of waiting for the Australian release date, it showed up on my doorstep and I have to say, it was SO worth the wait. As always, I read it too quickly because I just couldn't stop myself but it was worth it. I got my answers and a bucket load more questions. I was so happy with it that I just have to share. If you are interested in a full review and run-down of the series so far, head over to my Bookshelf tab and read away. This is one I would definitely recommend to all my #booklovers.
V-Day!In honour of the mushy red mess that is Valentine's Day, I'd like to take a moment to think about this high pressure romance-inducing day. I don't know how reliable 'Huffington Post' is but the button abover will send you to an interesting article that is echoed elsewhere online and in literature (yes, I have looked) about the origins of Valentine's Day. It isn't as gooey and wonderful as everyone might think. Almost typically of nationally recognised days, this Day was based in Christianity and, almost typically of the time it (supposedly) originated, it was for morbid reasons to do, mostly, with death. There are a few different versions but my favourite two are; (1) V-Day was for sending or leaving gifts for your illicit or occasional lovers and (2) the day before a hanged man was due to face the gallows, he would send a note to their lady-love or a woman they possessed a fondness for singed 'Your Valentine'. Of course, there are other reasons Valentine's Day came into being, including that wonderfully successful 'Hallmark' company, but a lot of people these days are super dissatisfied by the super commercial bent on the whole day. I can understand that, flowers, chocolates and bears all go up a ridiculous percentage for one day. Restaurants are completely booked out months in advance and there is this huge pressure to be with 'the one' on that special day. Admittedly, it is sweet to see these big, boofy guys going in and out of the florist down the road from work, carrying out big bouquets and boxes of flowers- good job guys! I won't say no that kind of attention. My only hope is that people make sure to treat their other halves just as special on any other day. A man came into the café the other day to get his wife a coffee. V-Day came up and he laughed. He said that he had bought his wife of fifty years a bouquet of flowers because he had been for a walk, seen them and thought of her. She thanked him, surprised he had remembered that Valentine's Day was coming up. He took the credit, of course, but admitted to us that he hadn't realised at all, he had just bought her flowers because he loved her. I hope that there are more marriages like that out there. Big gestures are nice but it is the little things that are best. So, to all my boys, girls, ladies, gents and everyone in between, I hope you have another lovely day spent with the ones you love. If you are far away, I hope you know that whoever loves you is thinking of you and loving you right back. Sydney ExplorerAfter getting back from Adelaide on Monday, two hours flying and two on the train, I decided (*cough*) to train it back into Sydney on Tuesday to... go apply for my UK Visa!!! So, after another two hours on the tracks, it took roughly fifteen minutes to get through questions, fingerprints, signatures and photos... fifteen minutes when they warned it could be a half hour to an hours wait (yay me!). Rather than sit back on another train, I decided to explore a little portion of Sydney- I realised I had never adventured to Town Hall, so off I went. Lucky for tourist-me, they were prepping for Chinese New Year! There was a giant happy cat for luck and the Queen Victoria Building was all dressed up in her festive best. It was actually really good fun wandering around playing tourist and I mustn't have looked too out of my depth because a couple of people stopped and talked to me about CNY. Plus, sushi for lunch! Win! **Just a note, I never knew there was a private school under/in Town Hall Square, above the train station. I was wondering where all these button-up man-children were coming from. Apparently the dark and fluorescent lighting in the square centre creates tall, lanky children who like to lug around enormous backpacks bigger than my head. Just For a Laugh...I have recently discovered this funny, gorgeous, ridiculous girl on FB. She kind of reminds me of Emma Stone. Beware, language and gestures can be a little obscene :)
New Addition to the Blog-a-sphereI have a couple of book-loving friends like myself and I do like to share, so I've added a new page to the blog. Check out 'On my bookshelf' to see what I have been perusing recently and my thoughts on them. These are just from the last few months. If you want to see part of my full reading collection (lol) have a look at 'Goodreads' via Facebook. I'll chuck the link underneath. Add me if you've got the feels!
Our Week in Adelaide...ThursdayDay 1We got to spend the day exploring Marion Westfield, which is about three times as large as Westfield Tuggerah, which meant I got doubly lost. Luckily, Step was there to remind me which way was out. T. G. I. Friday, Adelaide Steph's first visit the American chain, where she started her chicken schnitzel chain eating. From there we venture out to Glenelg to visit the beach and the pier, think The Entrance without the water fountains. Pretty little strip with some interesting shops off to the side and heaps to eat. We were going to go swimming but by the time we made it, the wind was up and the sun was going down. We got to meet with Steph's friend and local SA resident Penna. I've always heard excellent things about this young man from both my parents, who met him through hockey in South Africa and I can say that they are completely true. It was great to meet such a genuine, positive guy. Will definitely have to lure him to NSW at some stage. FridayDay 2Our day started at the Central Bus Station about 8.30am. Allie was sweet enough to drop us off and we were her lucky charm, making sure traffic was light so she could get to work early (haha!). The trip was filled with some interesting commentary from the bus driver and a particularly vocal passenger, who wanted to know why we had to wear seatbelts, why the churches around town were called 'churches' when they didn't have crosses on top like the ones in Europe (they did, by the way) and why the Adelaide mosque was made to look 'so funny' and who was in charge of its construction and architecture. One interesting point: apparently, Adelaide city is surrounded by a lot of vegetation not only to support the environment and because of forward thinking city planning, but because the distance from one side to the other is further than a musket ball or cannon could reach- therefore preventing the upstanding citizens who established Adelaide from being overrun by the convicts in the rest of the country. After the cathedral, we stopped at Haigh's Chocolate Factory and got to see how everything is hand made. They are int he process of making all the easter eggs for April. Each egg has two to three layers of wrapping and every egg is hand wrapped. Our tour guide was saying that each staff member has multiple dutis per day and changes their task every forty-five minutes to prevent boredom, mistakes and RSI-type injuries. At the end of our tour, we hopped off at Rundle Mall to explore. It isn't what I imagined- it's like an outdoor shopping centre, or a city block full of shopping and eating. Again, we got lost but eventually found a few places to look around. Adelaide Zoo, Adelaide (lions, tigers and bears, oh my!) After our tour and Rundle Mall, we walked to the zoo, not that far despite what the maps all say. We got to see the famous panda couple that have recently been trying for little panda babies- they're just waiting to see if Mrs Panda has a belly full. Not surprisingly, they weren't very active in the middle of the day and mostly scratched and snored their time away. We arrived just in time to see the bird show with a bright blue macaw that swooped so low we had to duck while sitting- so worth it though! We also saw the end of the tiger feed show with a very happy cat with a large rack of ribs. Botanic Gardens, Adelaide On our way back from the zoo, we accidentally found the Botanic Gardens which, apparently, are right next door. We skimmed around the edges, considering it was close to thirty-four degrees out in the sun, but the gardens were beautiful. If we had extra time we could have spent all day there. Steph was extra impressed with the huge trees in the parks. Z-Ward, Adelaide (Ex-jail for the mentally insane) After our long day out walking around (and around and around) we checked out the Adelaide Casino and tried their buffet full of seafood and amazing deserts for a late lunch. Steph was over the moon with the chocolate mousse pots and I was just happy we got there early enough that other people hadn't put their fingers in the food. We caught one of the many, many Adelaide buses to an obscure address in the middle of a suburb that looked a little bit suspicious. Worry not, we were in the right place for our ghost tour. I've done a couple of ghost tours around the country and overseas, all of which were through different streets, pointing out different 'haunted' spots for a bit of fun. This one was a little different, it was based in one old facility that was once used as a jail for the criminally insane (already sounding good, huh?!) . Once 7.30 came around, we were locked inside with about ten other people and two tour guides. It was still light out, so all was good, until we started walking around and realised that there was very little electricity involved. As it got darker, the high ceilings and tiny rooms got increasingly less well lit. We heard a few different stories about the different in-mates over time, which were interesting and largely disturbing (considering they were mentally insane, not surprising, really). The ghost stories were pretty good with a few new ones thrown in there along with the usual 'back scratching ghosts' and angry spirits I've heard about before. At the end of the tour, there was the option of a 'lock-in' where the guides put you in a cell by yourself, in the dark for ten minutes. No moving, no noises, no phone or torch. Me, being the big chicken I am, and after the stories- history and ghostly- chose to sit in the hallway with the guide. Admittedly, it was dark and spooky enough there and I flinched every time a car went past outside but no way was I shutting myself in a tiny room where angry people were trapped (even if it was years ago) after attacking other people in unnatural and horrendous ways. Super bad juu-juu in that place! If you're really into good ghost stories and you aren't part chicken (like me) I would definitely recommend you make a stop at Adelaide's Z-Ward before June. They are hoping to release the building but council is looking at closing it down. SaturdayDay 3We got to spend the day with most of the family who took us on a road trip to the famous (and delicious) Melba's Chocolate Factory where we ate too much and bought gifts for everyone. Hopefully they make it back through the airport okay! From there, we went to the German-style tourist town of Handorf where we had lunch. A very cool place, if a little pricey. Afterwards, we went up to the Mt. Lofty lookout, a must-see Adelaide attraction where all of Adelaide is spread out and looking very shiny! Mount Lofty, Adelaide After all of that (and a cat nap in the cool of the house) Steve was good enough to drive us an hour-twenty to a town called Mannum on the Murray River where I got to catch up with the crazy, wonderful legends I travelled the U.S. with. Everyone was so lovely and just as great as I remember. Steph had a great time meeting everyone and Mannum was a wonderful place to say, very beautiful with some very friendly people. Acknowledgement: Jess, the local town hero and wonder-woman, was kind enough to find us accommodation AND feed us. She is a beautiful person inside and out. Thankyou lovely lady!
These crazy, wonderful people came from all over Australia, America, Wales and New Zealand to catch up and I am so glad that they did. I already miss you. Those people who couldn't make it, we missed your presence but all had a drink for you anyway. Much love to all and thanks for a great Mannum visit! Allie and SteveOverall, we have been lucky enough to have a wonderful, sunny week in Adelaide, spending time with a lot of incredible people: none more so than Allie and Steve who have let us couch crash for a solid few days, put up with us complaining about the heat, rocking in at odd hours, driving us to strange places and teaching their kids some Biviano bad habits. We wouldn't have been able to do half the things we have without you. Thankyou again. Much love, Niki and Steph xxoo Check out my home page for some newly added count-downs, including the usual big one (London's Calling).
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AuthorMy home is Australia, with my family and their many, many animals. I have travelled all around the world with my family and by myself where I have made too many friends to count. |