Rocky floods - Aerial View

These photos are taken from the jumpseat of an Embraer 190. Catching a lift up to Rocky, I figured a few photos of the widespread wetness were in order!

The runway was surrounded by water a couple of days so that there was only tarmac in view and the runway was at reduced length, but that water has receded (temporarily, apparently).

The river is still rising... heeeehhhh... :-/

Oh and of course, a pic of the E190 flightdeck!

Okay, a quick follow up on Byron, since I promised.

We left Brisbane at 0600, and drove to Steve's house to pick up his boards an his car to put the boards on to, as my car with a board inside it can only take 2 people including myself.

However, Steve's car was less than perfect, to say the least, although he did try starting the engine and by the stink of petrol off it, it didn't seem like a good idea to drive 2 hours away in it! So we took Steve's strappy-oojit and put the boards on the roof of the Corolla! Yay!

The first beach we went to was Tallow, as the boys said the waves there were the best. Considering Marnix doesn't know anything about waves, and that Steve is pretty much a pro, didn't really make the choice all that wise. While Steve was easily able to paddle through the breakers, myself and Marnix got well and truly slaughtered and gave up pretty easily. As soon as you had stood up from one wave, the current was pulling you sideways and back towards the beach and another wave was breaking on your head and wrenching the surf board out of your grip.

After Tallow, we went back to the Main Beach which was much more stable. I slathered my face with neon pink zinc, and Steve managed to catch Marnix dozing off and put some large pink polka dots on his face - of which he remained unaware until we were back in Brisbane!!!

I tried to take some photos of the tree of us, but goofballs must be goofballs...


And then we ate subway and surfed and slept on the sand and surfed an slept some more.. and a great day was had by all!

Disclaimer, my face is pink from ZINC!!!

Today. Byron. Amazing.

The injuries are all worth it. No, I'm not going to die, but I am covered in bruises! Evil new surfboard - but I am TOTALLY in love with it!!

Pics etc to come, but dinner at Steve's comes first !!!

TTFN

Super Cooled Water

The Supercooled Water Experiment, courtesy of Extreme Boredom and the fact that there was Mount Franklin water sitting in my freezer all day and, undisturbed, it failed to freeze.  Interesting to see how pure Mount Franklin water actually is !!!  (this doesn't work with tap water)

I have a new friend, and I've decided to let her share my room with me.

I can't believe that I actually bought a surf board - and still not sure how I'll transport it! First choice is to buy a set of padded straps to go on the roof of the car, and worst case scenario invest in a roof rack. I haven't tried putting it in the car, but I have a feeling that a 7'5" board might be a struggle to fit in a tiny Corolla!

Unfortunately I managed to ding her on my first trip out, by bumping her nose on a rock, but the general consensus is that the damage is superficial, and that it won't affect the waterproofness of the board. Just to be safe, it's duct taped, and I'm bery disappointed that no one I have mentioned this fact to has been in the least bit concerned about whether I was damaged in the incident! - since you asked, I'm fine, thankyouverymuch.

Off to Sydney today, and running out of duty hours (I've been working a lot) so I get to come home tomorrow lunch time and spend Friday off, instead of a 3 day trip! Having just returned from a 5 day trip with one day off inbetween, this is greatly appreciated!!

I want to go surfing... but unfortunately the new roster was just published and I am going to Auckland on 1st Feb for the simulator on the 2nd. With my least favourite person. *stabs self with plastic fork*

So... I have to study. - and they keep changing the goal posts so not sure which procedures to adhere to!!

TTFN!!!

Well, that was an incredibly amazing awesomely epic morning. If Carlsberg did overnights, then it would probably be the best overnight in the world.

We got up at 0700 NSW time (0600 our time) and went forthe hotel breakfast. They have a special rate for us, so it was the full cooked & continental buffet, something that we dont usually bother doing. Then, at about 0800, we went for the train. The amazing train.

It cost about 13 dollars return to catch 2 trains and a bus, and took about 25 minutes, and then we were in Bondi! The famous, the amazing, and definitely worth it Bondi!

Because we arrived early, it wasn't busy, although it was already about 26 degrees. The sea was tinglingly cold, even with all of the hot weather Sydney has seen lately. Obviously not in the same 'cold league' as Ireland, though! We still managed to swim for a good while - twice, with a nice break to warm up in the sun inbetween!

Then it was a good opportunity to take lots of foolish photos, and buy Cold Rock icecream, and then unfortunately we had to make our way back to the hotel to get ready for work. And now, I am sitting onboard an airplane, and the flight deck thermometer only reads up to 32 degrees, and the needle is off the gauge. Aaaaaahhhhhhh... *melts*


Oh and - the sea was so unbelievably clear, and turquoise, and you could see all the way to the sand even when well out of your depth, and the waves were so ... so... wavey... aaaand the lifeguards were soo hot :P

Bondi Beach

Maybe I will find myself a rip, drown, get rescued, and have to have mouth to mouth resusitation (sp?) with one of these reeeally fit Bondi lifeguards!!!

Mmmmmm... more on Bondi to come, but right now I'm going back in the sea!

Brisbane airport, a CB over Maleny VOR, and the shadow of the 737 we paxed to Sydney on. Not necessarily in that order.

The whole house is vibrating.  The blinds are gently tap-tapping on the windowsill, the main light in the living room is swaying, and there's a loud rattling coming from the floor.  Wherever you go in the house, you can feel the vibration.  No, it's not an earthquake.  It's a daily occurrence - at least it is, when everyone is home.  In other words, the washing machine is spinning, and as it spins, the whole house moves.  It's so normal, it's not even annoying any more.

There are only three dining chairs at the dining room table.  Why?  Well, there's one in the garage, downstairs, minus two legs, and there are two out on the porch, that no one has bothered to bring back inside.  And WHY doesn't anyone unload the dishwasher?  The bins are due on Thursday... oh wait, it's Sunday, I think we forgot again - which reminds me, someone needs to dismantle the Christmas Tree at some stage.  It's not going to be me, because I'm far too busy blogging, drinking soda, and doing the least amount possible - although unfortunately that does involve ironing my uniform.  Now that S is working, I guess I can't really expect her to want to iron for money.

Here's another thing.  Australian ants do not like ant bait.  Neither does ant poison kill them for very long.  One minute they're dead, and the next minute they're running around again.  I'm convinced of this, because that ant over there looks exactly the same as the ant I sprayed five minutes ago.  And would someone PLEASE unload the dishwasher ?!!  On the subject of ants, I wonder whether macbooks overheat if ants are running around in their internal workings?  Mine seems to get quite warm, and if the ants which appear magically from under random keys are are anything to go by, there's probably an entire nest underneath.

People.  There are NO clean spoons.  Well, there are, but they're all in the dishwasher, and I'm not unloading it.  FINE, I'll unload One Spoon.  See?  I helped!

Two hours until I report.  That is one hour and fifteen minutes left before I need to leave the house.  That is forty-five minutes of youtube, ten minutes of lunch, five minutes of wondering-where-to-put-my-dirty-dishes-because-nobody-unloaded-the-dishwasher and fifteen minutes of frantic panicking because I didn't get ready for work yet.  Nice to be so organised, huh?

I don't have any photos.  I'm really sorry, folks, but when you spend two whole days watching movies, TV shows and random youtube clips, there isn't really anything to take a photo of.  Sorry, dangling preposition.  My bad.  Okay, I didn't just square-ify my eyes, I also went grocery shopping and bought ant bait stations and ant poison which the ants don't even like and they're STILL IN MY KEYBOARD!  No, I didn't put an ant bait station in my keyboard, but I did put one next to my laptop under the couch!  I know, it's weird.  Yes, I do keep my laptop under the couch.  This is mainly due to the fact that we don't often lock the front door, and I figure a neon pink laptop in full view is soo tempting to a wannabe burglar.

Right, well that's all for now, as now I have less than two hours until I report, and I need to go into the kitchen and Find A Spoon.  As you do.  Oh, and just so you know, the house isn't rattling any more, so the laundry must be finished!

TTFN!!!

Went to see The Hobbit today.  Not sure what to make of it - yes, it was good, but it was quite drawn out and quite a 'long sit', as they say.  I'm not convinced that they needed to split the book into 3 movies.  It also didn't help that there were people in the corner of the cinema taking photos constantly - mostly of themselves, rather than the movie, which was weird.  Also there was quite a lot of noise with people unwrapping candy, etc.  And it was very expensive, as movies are, over here.

Tomorrow I may go to see Les Mis, on my own, because nobody wants to watch it with me (ok I've asked 2 people and they both said no) and it's my day off so if I want to go to the cinema on my own, I can.  As you do.

Then it's off to Rocky!  WOOHOO!!!  I'd like to work my day off tomorrow (bit of extra cash!) but everything's crewed so it looks like it will be a quiet day :)

TTFN!!!