Xmas Wildlife

Hello all, apologies again for the prolonged break in transmission from S&N but rural Australia has barely come to grips with the cappuccino revolution let alone high speed internet. I have been coping with my cold turkey withdrawal by climbing trees to get a good enough signal and sneaking glimpses of my gmail account from my mobile phone. Its amazing what lengths an email addict will go to. Anyway, back in Sydney now but still none of my friends have the bandwidth that I crave. I have to resort to dingy internet cafes with the rest of the plebs. Resizing photos becomes an issue and uploading more than 1Mb is apparently illegal in this state, but we got there in the end.

Jeff and I drove 3 hours south of Sydney to Lake Conjola where Meg and her twin sister Gen have a holiday house. We undertook the 4 hour mammoth expedition to stock up at the supermarket in Nowra on Xmas eve... bad idea I know... but we had no choice... and then bunkered down for the next few days of bbqing and drinking.

There are lots of surrounding areas and track to walk, beaches to explore (and pick up rubbish) and the lake to paddle about in with the kayaks from the garage. The weather wasnt baking hot but thats OK for a pasty white boy like me and the torrential rain held off until the 27th.

Meg and Gen on the ocean side beach at Conjola

If one of these babies lands on you you'd certainly know about it. Although it looks like something out of a bad 80's film it is actually a cicada which spend most of their time either underground or in trees. They are very noisy buggers too and really symbolise the 'sound of the jungle' to me. They obviously don't swim too well as we found this one washed up on the beach.

There we were just minding our business on the balconio and along pop some Rainbow Lorikeet and Crimson Rosella. These are a favourite of mine as they are such inquisitive and brash little birds. They came right up to us for our food but luckily we had bird seed close at hand for them to munch on. Then as quickly as they appeared they seemed to all know that the fun was over and moved onto the next lucky people.

Our final guest in the wildlife theme was Mr Huntsman. Jeff found it hilarious to tell me on the way down that last time he was there, he found a spider so big that it could be barely contained by the colander which is specially reserved for containment and relocation of these furry friends. The one in this shot is only a baby really and had decided that under the toilet seat was going to be his hidey-hole. Thankfully Meg and Gen discovered him before I did, but after that my bravado for simply sailing in an out of the bathroom like a true Aussie had disappeared.

Xmas Day

Xmas day was a quiet affair. Moet first thing to line our stomachs (Meg and Gen don't drink either), then Santa presents from everyone with a limit of $20. This was actually pretty difficult to do, especially with my shopping handicap and limited time. The star present was from Gen to Jeff in the shape of a mini radio controlled helicopter. I think there may have been some $20 rule breaking going on, but without receipts and credit card statements being produced we all just had to agree that the fun outweighed the rules.

Spot the helicopter

...and again.

After the mornings frivolities we ventured out to the next beach along from Conjola where there are regularly large fevers of stingrays. They feed off the fish guts thrown back into the ocean by the fishing boats that come in up the boat ramp on the beach. Unfortunately we missed feeding time at the zoo so had to do with a quick walk around the rock pools and back along the beach.

Jeffrey sporting some of the glow sticks I got from Santa whilst enjoying our Xmas dinner which consisted of BBQ marinaded spatchcock and lamb with roasted veggies and salad, followed by Xmas pud with cold brandy custard. And a gallon of wine.

Pebbly Beach - Boxing Day

Boxing day was spent at one of my favourite beaches, Pebbly. It is only a short drive from Conjola and with a simple BBQ lunch in the boot we were set for a great sunny.

Jeff in the surf... he was the only one brave enough to take a full dip... the ocean is still a bit cold after Australia's dubious summer so far.

More grad photos... will it ever end?

Hello all you lucky people... I have more graduation day piccies for you to enjoy. These were taken my PhD buddy Jenn who snapped a load of pictures after everyone else had gone and the campus was quite empty. This central area of the campus is built on a big steep hill with a nice new 'winged' building at the top called the Scientia. Ever since I started doing my degree at UNSW I always imagined taking graduation photos here and luckily the sun was shining and sky was blue...

Party

The night after my graduation there was the work Xmas party. The theme was red carpet glamour / come as your favourite movie star... ugg... i hate themes... but a tux was easy and if anyone asked I wanted a martini... "shaken not stirred" ;-)

Post doc Emma who has been a great friend and mentor throughout

Jenn

Aldo and Jenn

Graphic design boys Shane and Baz with Jenn

Jenn and "Phd-er" Shamila

Jenn and "Phd-er Ulli"

Postgraduate administrator Viv and current Postgrad director Eric

Out and About and TM people

The first few shots here are taken from the ferry that goes from Darling Harbour round to Cirular Quay in Sydney. We were making our way from the new Sydney Wildlife World round to the main area where the Opera House is for a drink.

Random... Kelly's new bike. It was a Christmas present from her friends, but causes such a stir when she goes down to the shops on it that she has only taken it out of the house twice!

The same night I had arranged a get together with all of our old Ticketmaster friends. Many of them had worked on the Lion King with me when I was working part time.

Rick (Box office manager), Simon (now box office manager somewhere else), Vanessa (now trolley dolly for Qantas) and me.

Gerrard (Annie's BF), Annie (now ticketing manager somewhere else)