Edinburgh Festival

Check out the link on the right of the page to a great Edinburgh festival review site - not that I will be going this year!

Our new appartment

Hall

living room

This is a short photo piece cos Im tired and there has been too many words of late. Here is our new pad in Mosman, its all looking a bit biege right now.

Main Bedroom

Kitchen (doh)
Laundry



Bathroom Guest bedroom - with patio doors

Robes in guest bedroom

First day flat hunting

I did make a big list of flats to go see in Glebe today - but then we walked up there last night and thought, nah. Its fine, its just a bit studenty and more of a Portobello vibe than the Stockbridge one we were looking for. So this morning, we did a quick review of the places to rent in Mosman,flew down to QVB to catch a bus and headed over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Mosman.
From the moment we got off the bus at the Spit Junction I felt right at home. There is a proper main street with lots and lots of shops, cinema, doctors, library - in fact it felt more like a little town than a suburb. There was a fantastic selection of shops - from clothes and furniture to butchers, bakers, fish shops and deli's. The fish shop also did fish and chips - with fish right off the counter, you could even get octopus and chips!
The area was mostly older people and a lot of families. The number of toy shops and kiddlies clothes shops was testament to the number of kids about, mostly pre-schoolers. It had a nice vibe though and I think we have kind of set our hearts on there.
The first place we saw was down the Raglan Road and was a two bed with balcony - it was ok but was a bit disappointing. The second was a much older property right down the Mossman ferry terminal and was really nice. It had a huge main bedroom with built in wardrobes (or just built ins here) with a small room off it which would have made a good study. The living room was a good size with the kitchen and second bedroom (small but adequate) of it. There was a little outside area and an outhouse to put your washing machine in. It was about 5 mins walk from the ferry and not too far from the bus stop either.
We couldn't go into see our most favoured choice. Its right down on the tip of the land at Mosman - just about hanging into the sea. It has 2 bedrooms and a study and a shared bit of garden. It is spitting distance to the ferry terminal and has a bus terminus nearly outside the front door - its not open to viewings yet so we will keep our eyes peeled on that one.
We got the ferry back to the city and grabbed some lunch at the food hall under Myers (Turkish today, felafel wrap) and then wandered back. I was trying to find a little bead shop but we ended up finding a great bar which brews its own beer. Its called Redoak Boutique beer cafe www.redoak.com.au and sells great British and European style beers (like Porter, Pale Ale and Wheat Beers). They also do tasting glasses and food matching which I think we will be back to give a try.
Was going to go to Coles on the way home but it was so busy on the street that we couldn't be bothered so we just headed back to read the papers and chill out.

First day at work

Yesterday was my first day at work. It only takes me 20mins to walk there which is great. Nice to start the day without the hassle of driving your car to work.
The office is at Australia Square, sitting at one end of a courtyard area, which has seating and a food court (more later). I work on the 9th floor with the rest of the RGA Australia guys, RGA South East Asia sit on the 8th floor. The office is modern and bright and I have a nice big desk (but no window...booo). As usual the first day was made up of introductions, meetings, HR stuff and getting to know the people and my way around. Everyone is lovely and friendly and judging by the cheeky emails flying around a good laugh.
We have a kitchen which contains a fridge, coffee machine, toastie maker, dishwasher, vending machine and a seating area to have your lunch. Twice a week we get a huge basket of fruit delivered which is great.
After lunch (when I nipped up to the NAB to open my bank account and grabbed some sushi) I had to go over to the main building on the other side of the quad to get my picture done for my pass. I was a bit early so took a turn around the food court - well, I won't go hungry or get bored. There was Japanese, Vietnamese, Salad Bar, Italian, Sandwich bar, Mexican, Juice Bar, Hot meat rolls (roast beef and the like), a pub, Indian, Fish and Seafood, Coffee, plus a hairdresser, post office and newsagent.
Other lovely little perks are dress down Fridays, fairly flexible working hours (within reason) and the option of an at desk massage twice a week! How good is that. And that's on top of all your usual benefits. I think I am going to like it there....

First Weekend

Friday, the day we arrived, was quite a wash out. We were both tired and it rained all day, sometimes it was more a deluge than a shower. We walked around the bridge, the opera house and the botanic gardens before giving up and heading home to watch some tv.

Saturday we headed up to Kings Cross, they were having a Farmers Market and it was lovely. We got fresh organic mango and peach juice, organic lamb (which is now a curry), loads of veggies and a roo burger. It was really lovely up there, sun shining, girl playing the accordion and lots of lovely smells. After we had headed back and dropped off the shopping we split up. Keith headed off to the Botanics again and I headed off to the shops. I started at the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) which is a Victorian building (yes, amazing isn't it) full of lovey little shops. I then headed on to David Jones (a very posh version of John Lewis) were I minced around, bought some Mac makeup and a lovely pair of Chloe shoes (Black patent, round toes, little heels) and checked out the food hall. By that time I was fading again so I headed back, via Lush at QVB for a bath bomb and a very early bed.

Sunday morning was spent at The rocks at the Aroma coffee festival - which oddly enough was just loads of stalls with coffee, some tea, cakes, spices and such like. It was absolutely packed, probably because it was nice and sunny and warm. After our fill of coffee we headed off to Circular Quay and caught a ferry to Manly. It takes 30 mins to get there (as opposed to 15 on the fast cat) and it is a lovely chug across the harbour. You arrive into a small seaside village with a pedestrianised town centre full of lovely little shops and pavement cafes. The other side of the precinct is the pacific ocean, and there were plenty of kids taking advantage of the surf - despite the "cold" weather - it was glorious sunshine. We walked along the headland to "Cabbage Cove", a protected bay for sealife and Keith went in for a paddle. Ambling up the cliffs we got a great view over the Atlantic and back to the bay at Manly and then headed back round the road to the town centre. Before catching the ferry we stopped for a beer at the Loenbraugh Beer cafe (with a roaring fire and gluhwein if you wanted a heat) and then oddly (for a winter treat) a Gellato at Gellatisimo (where they have 16 different chocolate flavours, never mind the non choccie ones) before hopping on a ferry back and a short walk back to the apartment for dinner and another early night!

Its still feeling a bit odd. Don't feel like I live here yet - I think that will be better when we get our own place and I won't feel quite so temporary as I do here. Oh, and I spoke to Owen on the phone last night. I asked him how he was and he said "I've been good!", bless. Then he asked if I was coming around, I said no, I was in Australia now and he said "well you could come on a plane" - bless, that brought a wee tear to my eye. I do miss the little terror.

The Road to Sydney

The road to sydney started at Edinburgh airport. My brother dropped me off and Helen (his wife) and Owen came along too. The cars suspension took a bit of a hammering from the suitcases and rucksacks but we got there in plenty of time. All was fine until I made my move to go through security and started giving out hugs - that's when I started crying. Then Helen started - the boys stood impassively and by brother commented "she's my sister, why are you crying?" which is about typical!
Anyway we headed through security and it was only yesterday that I realised that I never turned around to wave to them - not sure if that was deliberate or not - certainly not a conscious decision I had made. I felt a bit bad about that later.

The flight was late leaving in Edinburgh by about 90 mins (isn't it always) and so we had less time to mess about in Heathrow We came in at Terminal 5 (no idea what all the fuss was about, it wasn't anything special) and then transferred to Terminal 4 - where we bought books and magazines and what not before boarding the 747.

I had managed to get two seats at the back, in a row with only two seats - so no climbing over people, which was good. It was reasonably cramped and far too hot but at least the movie and TV were on demand. The flight to Bangkok was reasonably uneventful expect a few bits of turbulence and a dizzy air stewardess. Dinner was fish pie, hmmm.

We had 4 hours to mince around in Bangkok airport - which looked nice but didn't have much in it. You aren't allowed to bring in duty free to Oz anyway - have to buy it when you get there (crafty devils) so shopping wasn't even a pastime to indulge in. Eventually we hauled ourselves back on board and settled down for another 8 hours of overheated torture. Dinner this time was Thai Beef and the oddest cheesecake type thing I have ever seen. Hmmm. I managed to get a few hours of fitful sleep and at 5 am was woken up for breakfast of a yogurt and stale croissant (really does it need to be this bad?)before our landing at 6am.

You cleverly have to pass through Australian duty free before you get your bags back so we decided to make use of it and got a bottle of Laphroig, one of Bowmore, and one each of Frangelico and Chambord (need a cocktail shaker now). As well as some perfume for me. We then headed through passport control, got our bags and cleared customs with no more questions than what we had in our bags of value (laptop, jewelry) and did we have any food (yes, t-bags) to which we were fast tracked out without a customs search.

We got in the taxi q and pretty quickly we were heading towards our apartment on Kent Street, which turned out to be on the 50th Floor with a very nice view of Darling Harbour. More of that and our first day in sydney on my next post.

The best Fish and Chips in the world?

We headed up the coast road of fife today - destination the Anstruther Fish and Chip restaurant. We drove up along the fife tourist route. I think someone somewhere is having a laugh. It takes you through some of the most downtrodden, grey, grotty and grimy towns and villages in Fife. They all look like every last job, except the ones in the pie shop and the bookies, left about 15 years ago. The men are fat, the kids are schemie and the shops all have their shutters down. What exactly are tourists meant to be touring? Yuck.
Anyway then you get to Anstruther. A beautiful, bustling little fishing village. Busy even on an overcast Monday afternoon. We head straight for lunch, cos at three o'clock we are starving. We sit in and get haddock and chips x2, bread and butter and two strong cups of tea. Its not a glamorous place but as sson as those fish and chips arrive Keith and I fall into a self satisfied silence. Nothing comes between us and the golden, crisp, miost and succulent fish and chips - unless you count salt, vinegar or mushy peas. We decide to top it off with an ice cream and got a couple of tubs to sit outside with. I had pineapple and rum & raisin. Keith got vanilla (yaaawn) and toffee.
We took a stroll up to the harbour at Craill and Keith had a little paddle - it was too cold for me, I'm a woosy! It was gone 5 by now so we decided to head home, and promptly got stuck behind an old duffer He braked for every corner - even when only going 25mph, he braked when someone came the other direction and my personal fave when he entered a 30 zone he carried on merrily at 40 mph. I HATE that.
Anyway - a good day was had by all. So we are now back in the flop house. Counting off another day before the off. You don't count the day you go so that leaves one.......aaarrrgghh!

Day out in Edinburgh

We decided to be total tourists today. Inspired by a very odd tv show called Reichenbach Falls we decided to climb Calton Hill, go to Mary king's Close and generally mosey about.
We parked at the park and ride and got the bus the rest of the way - so much easier. We started with Calton Hill, which the council had done everything they could to put you off going up. the steps we headed for were closed and appeared to have suffered from a rockfall, or more likely lazy workmen who had just dumped the aggregate everywhere. There was no sign telling you another route or anything so we just sneaked past the closed sign and up the hill.
It is so worth the short climb up there. Lovely views of the firth of forth, the pentlands and the classic "princes street" shot that you always see in the news. We had a look at all the follies and bits up there and then headed down for something to eat. As we had taken the "proper route" down we ended up near Elm row. So we headed to "The Street" and had a gorgeous apple martini (Zybrowka, apple sours and elderflower) which supped down far too fast. We then really needed food and I saw a man walk up Broughton Street with a fab looking roll so we headed down there. I ended up in a nice little bakery and got a goats cheeses, roast veg and tapanade and Keith found a Polish deli and got chicken mayo with smoked cheese on white and he just about died from sandwich ecstasy!
Anyway, enough about rolls.
We then headed up the High Street and bought tickets for Mary King's close - which gave us a bit of time to kill which we filled with Coffee at the Elephant Sufficiency, a look around the Museum on Chamber Street, a quick pit stop at the comic shop and then off to the Bow Bar for a swift half and then off to The Real Mary King's Close experience.
It takes about an hour to go around, led by a very perky little tour guide who was really good at bringing the place to life. You wander around lots of little rooms, houses and streets, all below the main streets of Edinburgh, when you look up their are a good three stories above your head, buried beneath the streets of Edinburgh. Pretty cool.
After all that tourist led excitement we walked over to the bottom of Dalry and met Martin and Lisa at Sushirya for some farewell Japanese food. As usual the service was dead slow and stop but the food lovely ( really, really quickly, rainbow sushi, veg tempura, seafood yakiudon and green tea ice cream). We sat and chatted for about 2 hours and finally, after hugs and goodbyes headed off.
Lovely end to a lovely day....