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26 January 2010

Alive and Well in Brisbane

Hi Everybody,

I guess it's been a long time since the last posting.  It will be a week or two more until we get our internet connection hooked up, so communication may be spotty for the next while.

Well today is Australia Day, the national holiday.  We are planning to got to the festivities by Storey Bridge and then go to a friend of Barb's for a BBQ.

We made it to Brisbane after way too may hours of flying.  The new place is pretty much set up.   We have been stimulating the Australian economy by buy furniture, a fridge, washing machine, bicycle, computer and a car.



The "new" car is a 2003 Toyota Echo in British Racing Green.  His name is Nigel because it sounds very British and Racingish.  It is a bit odd getting used to shifting with the left hand though.

It has been very hot here, 30 or above everyday.  January is 'supposed' to be 40-60 degrees colder than that.  The apartment doesn't have air conditioning except for the bedroom, which does make sleeping comfortable.  Slowly getting used to the heat.

The last few weeks have been filled with surreal moments; we have palm trees outside our balcony, I see parrots flying around regularly, there are bats the size of  crows (fruit bats) andI have to remind myself to look to the right first when I cross the street.  I am enjoying the country and the people very much.  This all will take a bit of getting used to.

We are getting a pallet of household stuff being shipped down from Edmonton.  I has been more difficult than I thought to get everything arranged.  Right now the pallet is sitting in the warehouse of where I used to work taking up too much space.  Hopefully it will be out of there and on is way here very soon.



Happy Australia Day to everybody

12 January 2010

Alive in NZ

I'm writing this from the Auckland, New Zealand airport.  The flight went well.  On the Edmonton -> San Francisco leg I got an upgrade to Premium Economy, which means slightly more leg room.  I also had no one in the seat beside me either.  Again on the San Francisco -> Auckland flight there was no one beside me, so you get the wee bit extra room to stretch out in.  As luck would have it, both of my flights so far have been early which means less time in plane and more time in airports.  Barb's flight from Vancouver should be arriving here in about 15 minutes or so.

This morning I saw the moon rise over the south Pacific ocean.  It was a bright red sliver in the darkness. Very pretty.

One of the movies I saw last night had scenes from the San Fran airport.  It was a bit odd to see an airport onscreen that I was at a few hours earlier.

BTW, the laptop and camera both made it to SFO in one piece.  (Well actually four pieces, but the started off in four pieces so everything is OK)

11 January 2010

Our time in Edmonton is over

I am currently in transit Edmonton-Vancouver-Auckland-Brisbane. Rob is diverting through San Franscisco because it is $500 cheaper to do it that way. We will be meeting up in Auckland and arriving in Brisbane together. And staying together-YAY! Rob’s student visa (as my spouse) came through last week, at the last moment. So he will be allowed to stay as long as my student visa is valid (March 2013), but only allowed to work 20 hours per week. His PR visa remains up in the air until 2012, when they *might* look at it. GAH.
What I really dislike about the trip to Aus is not the time it takes or the cramped economy airplane seats. I really hate what a greaseball you feel like by the time you are done. Yuk! I can feel my face breaking out as we speak….
Because Rob is diverting through the States, he is victim of the American paranoia since the Christmas underwear bomber . He was told he could take a camera bag as carryon, and then forced to check it when we arrived at the united Airlines desk. I just reeeeeeally hope nothing gets broken, stolen or lost. Replacing the camera and 3 lenses and laptop would be a very disappointing expense.
Onto happier topics. We should be good to go with our new apartment by the time we land, and hopefully there will even be a container of stuff to unload. Our new address will be:
#4, 479 Hamilton Road
Chermside, QLD 4032
Australia
Feel free to drop us a line