Spring has sprung, at least in the shops.

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Weather

No posts for a month & then two in a day. Whatever next?

Anyway as an Englishman abroad it is traditional to mention the weather at regular intervals. "Blimey it is hot/cold/wet/dry etc" or more usually "So this 20 degree sunny day is Winter is it?"

Anyway in order to prove that it is not sunny here all the time, here are some views from the flat a couple of weeks ago. This is looking over to North Sydney.

Today however the weather is slightly different as can be seen from these pictures. August is still technically winter, but it is 23 degrees outside.

I suppose I should include a picture of the Opera House as well.

All for now, will return when I have something else to take pictures of.

Moving in

Well not really moving in, as we've been here for a while. Actually our stuff arriving from the UK.

The container that only just fitted up the drive was full to bursting with the 146 packages that had been shipped from the UK. This time I wasn't able to avoid helping due to being in a different country.

Step one was to get the stuff off the truck. The two blokes delivering the container were surprised that we helped get things into the space under the building. I think that says more about the area we live in than how helpful we are.

From here it was only 4 hours of carrying the boxes up 3 flights of stairs to the flat. It is comforting having our stuff with us now. The bedroom is much better now of course.

We have, since these pictures were taken, rented a storage unit to keep some of the bulkier stuff in. Putting the contents of the boxes in wardrobes & chests of drawers helps too.

Google Boobs

I've been playing cricket in Neutral Bay at Forsyth Park (among other places) but when I Googled the park I saw this on the map view:

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Does anyone know if the trees were intentionally planted for comic effect & what is under the circular man-made part of the park?

Vivid

A return to the better approach of less typing more pictures. We ventured south of the harbour (yes really) to see the Lighting The Sails displays.

There are 43 installations around Circular Quay, with the main one being the illumination of the Opera House. The Opera House bar was surprisingly quiet (and the same price as the Oaks) which was an excellent place to view the light shows from.

A swirly light thing

Some glowing people 

 The city skyline and Circular Quay were illuminated with some of the colours of the rainbow. And purple.

Opera House of many colours.

This was created by motion capture of people throwing virtual paint balloons.

Direct from the Ice Planet of Hoth - an Imperial Scanner Droid.

Driving & the North

No posts for a while - Mrs WorldOfDub has arrived, we've been to Newcastle for a work weekend away & less interestingly I've been at work.


This might be a bit rambling, but here goes...


I had my first experience of driving in Sydney a couple of Thursdays ago. I've joined GoGet a car hire scheme where you can hire cars by the hour. The cars (mainly small town cars) are parked at various locations in the city and you use a swipe card to get into them. It is cheaper than owning a car, especially as living 7 minutes walk from work & a short bus or ferry ride into the city makes using a car rather pointless.


Anyway, I successfully got myself to Sydney airport in the hired Hyundai without major incident. As usual I'd allowed too much contingency time so there was a degree of pacing until Mrs WoD pushed her huge pile of luggage through the arrivals channel.


I managed not to bend the car on the return journey in the rush hour traffic, and the rental flat is now much more full of semi unpacked luggage. It is so good that MRs WoD has arrived, the last 6 weeks have been lonely without her.


Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) our first weekend was a trip to Newcastle (surprisingly similar to the UK version) for a work conference.


The trip up was rather pleasant, past the Hunter Valley & the forests of the central coast (none of which I have pictures of). It was good to see/meet people from the other offices - especially the Melbourne guys who were in the pub by 1pm on the Friday...


The 'work' part of the weekend started at 8:15 on the Saturday, which meant that most people were somewhat struggling as a result of the Friday evening socialising. It seems that most of the 'other halves' used the Saturday to sleep, something I think the staff wished they could do as well.


Anyway, I think I have some pictures of shiny things to sort through for another post so will end the typing now.

World's greatest muffin

I've just had the worlds nicest muffin. Straight from the oven with melted white chocolate and jam.

Nom!

Lunch near Sydney

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I ventured out to see a customer today, we stopped off for lunch on the way back to the office.

I had the catch of the day, which may have come from the sea is the picture.

I am a bear

Well a North Sydney Bear. This arrived in the post this morning. My first game is tomorrow.

Winter cricket here will be like early season summer cricket in England.

Updates tomorrow (depending how I do).

North Sydney

Only a couple of pictures today, one of the view of the harbour from St Leonards Park in North Sydney.

After a wander round the park & some time watching the North Sydney vs Sydney Uni rugby I returned home to find these visitors on my balcony.

Toast down under

Well not really the toast, but more the things to go on said toast. I shall explain:

This is not Marmite, despite the rather bold claim on the tub. It is closer to Marmite that our next exhibit.

This is also not Marmite, and in fact has been best described to me as 'training Marmite'.

This, however is most definitely peanut butter.

This concludes our very limited toast covering post. Normal service will resume shortly.

Rustic Pizza and the other side of the road

Not much to report for the last few days. I started my new job this week. So far so good, and they seem to be very organised. The first day was unusual in that it was based around a agenda to ensure all of the new starter information was imparted to me.


Next week is my first full week after the Easter/Anzac Day holidays last week. Hopefully the good start will continue.


Today after going out for a very slow (hills!) run I wandered into Neutral Bay for some lunch. The pizza was half price & I also had my first West Australian beer. I'll be heading back to the Firefly again soon.

A post meal stroll round Cammeray down to Primrose Park helped digest the meal and gave me a chance to take some pictures of the other side of Military Road. 

There are some interesting newer houses and more hilly parkland.

Victorian Wildlife

This weekend I spent a rather nice time catching up with some friends I'd not seen for nearly 6 years. While I was there I saw a selection of local wildlife, some slightly tamer than others.

It was a somewhat more rural area than where I'm currently living....

More local things

Just a couple of pictures for this post. Yet another view of the bridge from near where I live. Also an old car & proof that when I say uphill that is exactly what I mean...

Bits of Sydney & a very large boat

Sydney is essentially worn out of rock & here is some of it.

I went for a wander around the eastern side of the CBD and ended up in Hyde Park.

After that I got the ferry back to the Lower North Shore, so here are the last of the Harbour Bridge pictures for a while.   

This P&O cruise liner barely fitted under the bridge & was being attended by a tug to ensure it didn't cause havoc in the harbour