Wet Sunday

I think it rained all night. Everything is soaked. The Lori's are a sight. Not their normal colorful selves.



Other birds are coming to the balcony for shelter. Here's a big magpie:



Tim

Two web sites

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/

Tim

Dust devils on Mars

This is very cool. Reminds me of the New Mexico - Mexico border around Deming in July. Seriously.

Tim

Smoking!

Big bush fires around Sydney today. Driving up to Newport this afternoon we could see the smoke from around West Head. Back at our house, the air is full of smoke. Here's the view from our balcony.



Update: It was probably a controlled burn. There's one today close to Thorneligh. Seems like snow but it's just ash.

Tim

...Able to carry off small children....

The gigantic spider, that is. The one on my bathroom wall yesterday morning. The spider who now resides in my vacuum (with very strong suction). The vacuum that is now residing in my bathtub with the hose hanging out the bathroom window (just in case!). I was comfortable thinking that the creepy crawlies were not going to emerge for at least another month or so, until I was informed otherwise at the dog park yesterday. The dog park (the place from where all knowledge comes). One woman said she almost stepped on the female funnelweb that was lounging on her kitchen floor. I understand they will appear to "lounge" only to rear up and expose their fangs when threatened (I'm not making this up folks!). Her spider now resides under a large vase.

The kitchen wreck crew are coming on Sept. 5th to take our old kitchen. The new kitchen arrives on the 7th and is installed on the 8th until.... well, a few days until it's completely finished. The last of our appliances have arrived; i.e., the rangehood and the dishwasher I found on eBay (that only uses 12 - 17 liters of water per wash!) arrived recently. I forgot to mention that I sold my first item on eBay. Our futon that we would have paid someone to take, captured 33 big ones.

I heard that Don Giovanni, the opera we went to, got rave reviews in the media. Special focus was on Mr. Don G, himself, a tall, sinewy man who appears almost naked as the curtain opens. I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed. Oh yes, he had an outstanding voice as well. The opera was incredible and too bad it was Zoë's first. Future operas are likely to pale in comparison.

Cheers, Judi

Book recommendation

Cormac McCarthy writes beautifully but his world is not for everyone. "No country for old men" is probably the best of his that I've read. It's a contemporary crime story set in the border country of west Texas, tremendously exciting and involving but also finally quite haunting. Quite unlike anything I've read for a long while. Recommended.

Tim

Missing New Mexico

It's the end of summer in New Mexico - beginning to be my favorite time of the year there. Labor Day (the traditional end of summer) is approaching. There's always lots of interesting stuff to do on Labor Day weekend - the Socorro County Fair and the Hillsboro Apple Festival being a couple of favorites. Actually now I think about it, that's two events in about 10,000 square miles but it is New Mexico after all.

The Hatch Chile Festival is an experience, though we've only been once. It seemed a cross between New Mexico and Old Mexico (about 100 miles away). Dust, pickups, loud music, lots of spicy food, strange religious items, hot sun...

Here's a picture of Judi and me at Lake Valley on a trip with our friends Sanjay and Urvashi:



Lake Valley is a ghost town near Hillsboro. In the early eighties I used to go dancing there with some friends. Once a month on a Saturday night, the local ranch families used to gather in the old school house for an old fashioned dance - guitar, fiddle, western two-step, pies and coffee at midnight. I can still hear the strains of "Faded Love".

Later in the fall, the smoke from the wood fires greets you in the morning, roasting green chile scents the air, and the nights are cold and crisp. Then at the end of October, the cottonwood leaves turn color. Here's an old photo from the Bosque del Apache
widelife refuge.





Tim

Zoë's Visit From Colorado USA

Hey all, Zoë here. I’ve been in Australia for a week now, and I leave on Saturday. It’s been a lot of fun.

Let’s see. On Saturday we went to Manly via the Manly Ferry. I didn’t get a postcard, which I’m still kicking myself for. I mean, a postcard from Manly? How cool is that? Anyway, despite the fact that I was jetlagged to hell, we still had fun. The harbor was beautiful, the Opera House even more amazing than its pictures, and the ocean itself was tres cool. On the way back from Manly, we sat with this Ozzie and his Kiwi friend. The Ozzie was drunk and extremely friendly, and his friend took some glorious pictures of the three of us in front of the bridge.

On Tuesday we saw Don Giovanni at the Opera House. It was my first opera, and it was glorious! The singing was wonderful, the music just perfect, and the singer playing Don Giovanni looked like a total cad. It was a perfect evening.

Then today, Judi-san and I went shopping. My god, Australian grocery stores are frigging amazing. The fruit! The cheese! The veggies! The fish counters! The sweets! The crappy bread is a minor annoyance, but one I could live with. Seriously, glorious stores.

And tomorrow it looks like I’ll be braving Sydney by myself to go to a museum. I’m quite looking forward to it, to tell the truth. I’m going by train, so I can spend as much time as I want. Yay!

Werewolf at the beach

London town was too hot for this werewolf so he hit the beach. It's true that his hair was perfect.

LIVING ON THE EDGE...

Have you ever seen a Spur-Winged Plover? Until this morning, I had seen these birds but didn't know much about them. Plovers are shore/wading birds, but for some reason you see them all around NSW - specifically our local dog park. The other day, one of the plovers swooped down at a dog and a dog buddy mentioned the name of the bird and the fact that they lay their eggs in the open grass. I've heard of women having babies in strange places (e.g., taxis, elevators), but on the lawn? It gets worse.

Well, this morning there were two plovers swooping down around one entrance to the park. A nice man and his dalmation, Julia, were unquestionably the object of the birds' fury. Once inside the park, "Julia's Dad" (I forget "his" name!) told us there was a plover nest right next to the gutter on the road -- on the pavement! He said that one of the chicks had already been killed by a passing car. At this point I was imagining a tiny, just-hatched chick in a nest. There was another man coming towards the park with his dog, so I warned him and mentioned why the birds were swooping and screeching. My information was not needed, because he told me about the black spurs on the wings that can hurt you if the plover feels you are too threatening. I think I was talking to a "plover expert". Anyway, while standing there watching the plovers swooping and walking around on the street, a plover chick starting running out into the street! Talk about cute .... and funny - all legs! It was clear now what happened to the dead chick, and it looked like it was going to be a likely ending to this little guy as well. The street isn't busy, but one car went directly over the chick - fortunately straddling the little guy. I couldn't watch anymore!!! You can't help without wearing anti-plover mother protective gear! And if you rescued the chick... then what?

And so it is... another example of "Life on the Edge."

--Judi

Possum comes calling

Our possum showed up early tonight. Sammy did some highly commendable growling to let us know something was going on so we looked out in the tree just by the balcony and saw this:

I managed to get within a couple of feet to get these pictures.

Tim

The Iliad

I finished the audio version of the Iliad a few weeks ago. The end came as rather a shock - Hector dies and is buried and then the story stops before the final battle in which the Greeks take Troy.

It's a curious story. Wonderfully entertaining in a way close to movies. Lots of blood and gore that must have excited and engaged listeners down the years but with elements of a comedy.

The strangest aspect about the Iliad is the lack of an interior voice - there's only one scene when a protagonist reflects on his actions. That's when Agamemnon reconsiders the bad way that he treated Achilles. Apart from that, stuff happens because the gods will it that way. There's a wonderful book call "The Origin of Conciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by a Harvard psychologist called Julian Jaynes putting forth the notion that the Greeks actually thought differently that we in the modern world do - that their actions were at the prompting of an internal voice which could be taken to be a god. Jaynes argues that the origin of language and metaphor in particular led to a breakdown of this bicameral mind. It's an interesting read even if you don't accept the thesis.

Leaving that aside, the reason to read or listen to the Iliad is that it's a great story - perhaps the first great story in the Western world. Recommended.

Tim

Possums and other cute critters

I forgot to tell you about our possum. Wellllll, she/he isn't necessarily "our" possum, but he visits us so that counts for something! "Our" possum, "Paul", realized that the "paw paws" that I put out for the lorikeets are much to his liking. Usually ten minutes after Tim and I go to bed, we will hear noises on the balcony. Of course, Sammy hears them too, which tends to make the possum's visit brief.

These guys are really cute -- sort of like a cat with a longer, bushy tail and pointy nose. I think this is a brushtail possum, which are the most common in NSW, but I'm not totally sure. If one of these cute guys takes residence in your attic, you are not allowed to "relocate him/her." It is actually against the law, since the little guys will die if moved elsewhere. You can find instructions on how to build your very own possum house as well as how to get the little guys to move out of your attic for good.

I'm amazed at how neat our little friend is. I don't think he would make any mess at all if Sammy didn't scare him off. Usually, the paw paw will stay right on the plate and have lots of claw/teeth marks in it. The seeds will be scattered - it seems no one likes the seeds. The little guy even got into the garbage bag in our carport. You would hardly know, except for the two items that had been licked clean and laid neatly aside.

Female possums usually bear their young in May - June each year. The young develop in the mother's pouch until they are robust enough to rough it on the outside - at their mother's tit. They will ride around with Mom for about 6 months before setting out on their own. I didn't see any "attached" baby, so I suspect our Paul is a male -- but you never know - it could be "Paula"!

Hugs, Judi

Catching Up...

Is it proper for a woman to fall in love with a bread machine? Welllll, I don't care - it happened. We told you about our frustration with the boring and unhealthy selection of bread here in Oz. Thanks to good ol' eBay (more about eBay later) we purchased a Breville Breadmaker. What a great machine. What a great invention. I've never been a "kneady" person, so a machine that will do it for me is a gift from above. All we do is add the ingredients - of which there are endless varieties - press a button - and voila!.... three hours later the bread that dreams are made of. Unhealthy bread problem solved.

You want to know how we are settling in? We have discovered the house has timber (read "wood") floors under all the "stuff." Slowly but surely things are getting put away wherever there might be an extra inch of space. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that we still have way too much "stuff." After four yard sales you might think we had whittled down to the bare necessities. Well, think again, my friends. It is embarrassing - I knew I had trouble getting rid of things, but this is ridiculous! Anyway - we are filling more boxes with unwanted and unneeded items. An interesting practice the Ozzie's have is to leave things on the street curbs in front of their homes. One person's junk is another person's treasure.

Freedom Kitchens is doing our kitchen renovation. Jelena, our designer, came up with the best price and the best plan so it's all systems go. She came up with a great and affordable appliance package for us, but I am having fun finding my own on the Ozzy eBay. So far I have found a high end wall oven and ceramic cooktop, a stainless steel sink and a tap/mixer that has a pull-out spray. Now if I can only find a great (read "cheap") dishwasher, we'll be all set. Collecting our eBay treasures allows us to visit areas in NSW that we might not otherwise get to. Yesterday we drove an hour to Caringbah (south of Sydney) for the cooktop. The oven is in another direction. I only used eBay once in the States, but Oz has very poor and limited on-line shopping, so eBay Oz is a great alternative - and the deals - let me tell you about the deals!! Just kidding - well, you really do get great deals. :)

Hugs, Judi

Dark night

I woke up at 4am the other night and looked out from the balcony. It was still dark but there was mist in between the trees. I tried to capture the scene with the camera but only ended up with this slightly spooky picture:



Tim

Judi and Tim at the Black Dog

I found this wonderful picture that I mentioned before - our wedding day at Martha's Black Dog.



Tim

Wow!

.... My word just now when a huge black crow or raven landed on the railing outside our living room window. I'm used to the Lorikeets and Starlings - but this was a bird of a different color. I still think that the cry of the Australian Raven proves that God (whatever that term means to you) has a sense of humor. The sound is a lot like someone yelling loudly - OH NOOOOOOO! ... in a whiny voice. How would you describe it?

Yesterday, in order to escape our still disorganized house, Tim and I drove up to Berowra Waters and took the Ferry. This ferry has to be the world's fastest. How fast is it you ask? It was so fast that I didn't even know we had crossed when we started unloading on the other side. It's a winch pulled ferry and obviously the crossing is not very wide. We stopped for fish n' chips on the other side and picnicked by the water. It was a beautiful day boasting the bluest of skies.

Last evening, we dined out with visiting friends, Juan and Rosa, at the Royal Oak Hotel in Balmain. The company was excellent, but the restaurant was definitely forgettable. Tim and I are "fishing-eating vegetarians" and the menu had a limited selection of entrees/mains we could eat. Tim selected the Salmon and my choice was the Barramundi - neither outstanding in any way. The antipasto appetizer and BBQ'd baby octopus (yes, I said "baby" :( ) were both delicious, and we should have made our meal of those items. The service was marginal at best and the staff lacked "personality." Furthermore, noone explained to us that a salad bar was included with our meal. For dessert, Tim and Juan had the Creme Brulee, which was tasteless and forgettable. My sticky fig pudding with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce, however, was hhhhmmmmmmmmmm good - definitely memorable! All in all, I wouldn't recommend the Royal Oak Hotel Restaurant and give it a C+.

Cheers, Judi

Martha's Black Dog is closing

The first coffee shop in Socorro is evidently closing, according to my old friend Brian. It's too bad. Martha's cafe was a big advance in the liveability of Socorro - somewhere to go for a capuccino. The coffee was of variable quality (her staff changed a fair amount) but just being there was good enough. And her desserts were usually excellent.

Before I knew Judi, I used to go there in the evening for a late night coffee and dessert (I was running a lot in those days and could afford the calories). I remember sitting there with Paul Harden discussing Comet Hale-Bopp. We cruelly told a nearby eavesdropper that we couldn'd discuss what we knew.

The day Judi and I got married we went there for our reception (the four of us). Gavin had a great vanilla shake, I remember. The photo of Judi and me is still on the wall - she looks just gorgeous.

Thanks Martha.

Tim

Mermaid Avenue

I just noticed that we don't write about music. Strange because we both listen all the time to various stuff. So... currently we're really enjoying Billy Bragg and Wilco, Mermaid Avenue. The lyrics were evidently written by Woody Guthrie and music provided by BB and Wilco (separately and together). So the sensibility of Woody with the beautiful music of Wilco.

A shoutout to my new friend Joel who introduced me to this great music.

Tim

One more thing....

Judi forgot to say that the beaches in Australia are really great. A few too many sunbathers, though.

Tim

The Good, The Bad, The OK

At the risk of incurring the wrath of our Australia friends, I would like to comment on some of our findings in this new home...

For example.... Like what's the deal with the bread here? The fanciest and healthiest bread we've found is white bread with some seeds on it. When I've been to the bakery and ask the worker what each kind is, the response is:

That's white bread in a round form. Oh, that one is white bread that is baked in a square pan. That one is white bread with a crispy top, and so on....and each shape has a different name (e.g., Tiger Bread, Farmer Bread, etc.). Even the whole grain bread here looks white.

Haven't they heard about bread that you can eat three bites from and the resulting nutrition will last you for the next three months? Actually, we found the same thing in France - sort of tasteless, white bread. Can someone tell me where we can find bread that'll put hair on your chest? One friend suggested a bakery near the CBD, but what about us folks in "Suburbia?"

Australia offers some wonderful things, but I miss The Great Harvest Bread Co. in Albuquerque, NM (and real robust bread!).

Speaking of eating, the restaurants here in OZ are wonderful - and we've been eating out mostly in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney. The restaurants tend to be intimate with excellent service. Very often you will find yourself being served by a member of the owner's family. And you want to talk about variety??? If you want to eat Gado Gado that might be the main dish from some obscure Indonesian Island, you could probably find it here. We have eaten Sri Lankan, Singapore food, Japanese, various types of Chinese - you name it - OH, and the gourmet pizzas! What they lack in bread here, they make up in varieties of pizza.

And on the road.... that is, roads that are narrow and not particularly efficient for a city the size of Sydney, are the drivers. Growing up in Boston, I remember that driving can be stressful - dangerous in fact. I thought Boston drivers were the meanest until I drove in New Jersey. New Jersey drivers aren't just mean - they actually try to kill you. I was almost run off a busy freeway by a crazed semi-truck driver. Then, if you drive in New Mexico you can witness another type of bad driver - NM drivers aren't mean - they're just dumb! They have no sense.

So far, I have found Australian drivers to be mostly proficient and polite drivers, unless you hesitate for a moment prior to entering a round-a-bout or making a turn - then you get the proverbial "BEEP!" Australian drivers like to use their car horns, so if you're new in the area or trying to learn how to drive on "the other" side of the road, you can expect to get beeped at a lot. I have beep marks all over!

I have probably bored you enough with my remarks, so I'll sign off for now. I will continue the pros and cons list in a later posting.

Judi
(PS: Tim and I really like it here - honest! An amazing experience we have had here is the deliveries are made on time by professional, efficient and polite workers who take pride in their jobs. It's great and something we weren't used to in NM! Oops, here I go again.... )

See the comet

As you probably know, NASA is going to crash a spacecraft into a comet tonight (July 4). You can see it live on the Charles Sturt University (Bathhurst, NSW) remote telescope:

http://black-hole-net.mit.csu.edu.au/telescope/resources/deepimpact.asp

Note also the archive of images of the comet taken on previous nights.

Tim

Evening in the northern woods

I was in the northern Netherlands last week for a scientific meeting. Our hotel and the meeting place were in the Dwingerveld - an old forest. We were fortunate to be able ride bicycles to and from the meeting. The cycle paths there are superb, of course. The ride in the morning was a good way to wake up, and that in the evening was a preparation for sleep - very peaceful with extraordinary dusk lighting even at 9 and 10 o'clock.

Compared to Australia, the woods in the Netherlands are quite boring - no strange trees losing their skin and no shrieking brightly coloured birds. But there were big mosquitos, quick to converge from all around.

I got back here on Sunday. The next day I went for a (mountain) bike ride along the fire trail. I couldn't find my helmet so I went without it - strictly illegal here. It wasn't a good idea, either, because I fell off my bike at the end of a steep ride down to a stream, falling most satisfyingly onto the ground and then down across a big slab of rock and into the stream. A nice welcome back to Australia :)

Tim

Goodbye to a Special Lady

Claire Hughes was in her late 80's I think and still very sharp. She died recently after a lengthy and painful illness. She had told me several times that she wanted to die - that it was time to die - that she was tired of living with pain.

I met Claire when I lived in Phoenix, Arizona (USA). She lived with her friend Marcy, another wonderful woman. Claire and Marcy were nuns for many years until they decided it was time to start a different kind of life. They started their new life with few belongings and little money because the Catholic church requires that you donate all of your personal belongings to the church. Claire had an MS in Library Science and Marcy was a teacher (mostly English as a second language). As nuns, they traveled and lived in interesting places that included Hawaii and Bolivia. They moved to Globe, Arizona and worked there, then moved to the Phoenix area and then up to Prescott, Arizona.

I met Claire at a vulnerable time in my life. I had just separated from my "ex-husband" and moved to Mesa, Arizona to start my new life. I met Claire because she was my second cousin (my mother's cousin). I loved her because she was warm, and caring, intelligent and wise. Despite her connection to the church, she was open to all kinds of ideas and beliefs. It truly surprised me; I didn't expect such openness. It was a comfort to me just to know that she and Marcy lived nearby.

I only lived in Phoenix for 2 1/2 years, so I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Claire and Marcy, and subsequent visits were from a long distance and brief. When Tim and I were getting ready for our move to Oz, I would liked to have driven over to Prescott to say goodbye. I talked to her by phone on several occasions in those last months, so at least we had some contact. However, my car was in the shop for hail damage for two months and the last couple of weeks were frantic to prepare for our move. I didn't say goodbye to Claire, even though I knew she was dying. I wish I had. I wish I had taken the time and the effort to go to Prescott.

I feel blessed that I got to know Claire. She was a cool old lady. I'm not sorry she died - I hate to think of her living with such pain and she said she was ready to go. I will miss her though. Even though I didn't see or talk to her very often, it felt good just to know she was there.

So goodbye Claire - I know you will keep them in line up there! My love to you.

Judi

Our home in the trees

P6190229.JPG
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

I want to show you the huge and beautiful trees that surround our new home. The tall trees are gum trees, but there are many other types I haven't been able to identify... yet.

Judi

Time for a vacation....

P6190211.JPG
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

I guess you can see here why I haven't posted for a while. Our house is filled with full boxes, empty boxes or "stuff". Too much stuff. It's an eye-opening experience to move from a home with two double garages, a large kitchen, three large closets and a walk-in to a home with one small closet, one small walk-in, a small kitchen and a carport for storage. This after four garage sales. Who says we're materialistic!? Actually, most of the "stuff" is like the thirty miscellaneous coffee mugs we couldn't bear to part with because of the memories associated with each.

I am taking action to combat the overload. I have bought garment racks to store/hang clothing, assembled various storage units, and I am even buying a huge wooden storage unit/wardrobe that I "won" on EBay. Don't ask how I expect to get this to our house - I haven't figured that out yet.

It's overwhelming, so I set small goals for myself each day. At least I can find one neat and clean corner - one.

Judi

Angels of Mercy

Angels of Mercy
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

This is Brian (left) and Glenn (the other side). They are removal experts from Ambrose and Sons and they are moving our things into our house as I type this. Bless their hearts. Now for the unpacking - YUCK!

Judi

Morning Mists on Delivery Day

It rained last night so we have some mist this morning. Here's a view from our balcony.



Tim

Angry Email Messages and Miracles

I'm almost afraid to say this, but.... but..... but.... the movers are coming tomorrow morning (Wednesday) with our stuff! Phew. (I really missed my little Fiskars manual drill.)

Judi

On the fire trail

Sydney has immense areas of undisturbed bush. In our neighbourhood, the houses form fingers into the bush. Fire is a real risk and so there are many fire access trails down which a truck can drive or people (and dogs) can walk. About 1/4 mile from our house is a trail heading north. We all four (12 legs in all) walked along it today. Here's the slideshow (21Mb so be patient). The music is from a very good friend of ours, Mark Holdaway.

Tim

You call that a dog? This is a dog...

Karma meets some sort of creature, perhaps a dog, maybe not.



Strangely, Sammy didn't try his usual humping trick.

Tim

Our furniture, different clothes, our nice comfy bed..

I had to wait a day before I wrote this or it would have had too many expletives to publish. You would think that since our container arrived in port on May 23rd, that we would have our belongings by now - even considering customs, quarantine, etc. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Now our local mover won't deliver our belongings until he receives payment from --- well, here's where lies the problem.

Elvis, our local guy, sends emails to Omega Shipping asking for his payment before he will deliver our container. For some reason, Omega does not respond to his inquiries. (BTW, this is the second time around for these particular actions). I forward a strongly worded email to our original contact/broker, TransLogisitics, attaching the email from Elvis that explains his predicament. TransLogistics forwards my email to Omega Shipping who says that every time they have contacted the Container Line, they are told that our belongings have been released. They send a strongly worded email saying that the current situation is not their fault. The bottom line is that Elvis will not deliver until he is paid.

While I am giving credit where credit is due to these organizations, I wouldn't want to leave out New Planet Movers located in Las Vegas Nevada. The original two packers they sent to Socorro (Vitali and Vitali) arrived on time and did a good job (or so we hope). Since the container never arrived from Phoenix, Vitali and Vitali had to leave for another job. New Planet told me they would send a replacement team right away, and don't worry, "I know these guys personally, They'll do a good job for you." Perhaps they would have done a good job for us if they had ever shown up - how many days did we wait for them? I also found out that my contact at New Planet didn't know "these guys" from Adam. On New Planet, LYING is an acceptable form of communication.

Now I haven't told you about the original estimate that Translogistics bid that was - ugh oh - $2k higher than what was originally thought. Hmmmmm. I haven't mentioned that Eli, my contact at Omega Shipping, went on vacation during the beginning of our move and left everyone hanging - even leaving a voice mail for me saying that we had to pay the packers ourselves (this was not the deal - this cost was included in the agreed upon cost). Of course, with our garage full of packed and ready household goods, the container never arrived, and when it finally did, it was twice the size of the original order.

I guess I could go on and on with the telling of this ridiculous saga, but why weary both of us? My suggestions to these companies.
1. Use the phone, not just emails to communicate.
2. Hire people and organizations that can be trusted and who have proven themselves before.
3. When a key contact goes on vacation, be sure they debrief the poor schmuck left to do the work.
4. Pick someone who will actually have the integrity and professionalism to take responsibility when things go wrong (i.e., not pass the buck (or email) from one person to another.
5. Remember that an international move will be stressful - and that a company's lack of competence will have deleterious effects on the "movees."
6. There are more suggestions, but these are a good start.

So, to date, we don't know when we will have our household goods to furnish our new house. We have found that living out of suitcases for two and a half months can develop character (if not holes in the shoes you wear day in and day out). We discovered that it is especially important to read the fine print on shipping contracts. We are hoping that an internet blog can be mightier that the sword. Perhaps we will have to hire a hostage negotiator to obtain our belongings. Stay tuned, that's not a bad idea.

A Pissed Off Judi

"I'm not a'scared of no stinkin' death adder!"

While my handsome and brilliant husband is reading, or rather listening to Homer, I research nature's instruments of death such as: the Death Adder, the Funnel-Web Spider, the Red-Bellied Black Snake, and killer Cone Shells. My interest was piqued on the day our house sale settled. I met a neighbor on the street who said he bought his land 33 years ago to the day. He mentioned that sometime in the last eight years, he has found both a red-bellied black snake and a six meter python in his back yard - remember, he lives right down the street from us!! I wish he hadn't told me about his reptile adventures, since I have only just recovered from my first close encounter with a huge Huntsman Spider in my kitchen. These spiders are large enough to carry you off, but fortunately they are considered low risk (non toxic to humans) and non-aggressive -- although if cornered can give you a painful bite.

Sammy, Karma and I still make daily visits to the local dog park (in Westleigh, NSW). It's a great place for me to socialize and meet new people and for the dogs to exercise without leashes. Unfortunately, during our last three visits, a Basenji attacked Sammy (she has also attacked other dogs in the past). Her "Mom" is good about grabbing her and taking her home right away -- her punishment is "time out" in the "Sin Bin." We hope this is a temporary attitude problem and that she will improve her manners. My two furry pacifists don't appreciate this kind of behavior, and Sammy has taken to staying close when "Bowie" the Basenji stops by.

Just a note: No word from the movers for several days. So close yet so far.

Judi

Fair Ilium

I've been listening to an audiobook of "The Iliad" when driving to and from work every day. It's the old Samuel Butler translation read by Robert Lescaut. Really, really excellent. It's so good, in fact, that I'm worried about not paying enough attention to the road.

Homer is one of my all time favorites. I've read both the Iliad and the Odyssey a couple of times (maybe more). It's an interesting question as to which is better. The Iliad is the ultimate war story full of passion, horror, blood, and great deeds. The Achaens come to Troy to reclaim Helen, hence the famed thousand ships. They lay siege to Troy (also known as Ilium) for nine years. The Iliad is the story of what happens in the tenth year. Most of the action takes place on the plains in front of Troy. The Odyssey has more subtle charms, being the story of Odysseus returning from the Trojan wars to his home and long lost wife and son in Ithaca.

So while I'm driving down the Beecroft road, I'm really back 3500 years or so in ancient Greece. The power of literature.

Tim

Progress

Yesterday we closed on the house on Nattai Close. So we are the legal owners. All of the money eventually transferred as it should. The Foreign Investment Review Board approved our purchase (very quickly). ANZ Bank (eventually) loaned us the money. We had a last minute "discussion" with various parties about the details of the contract (confusingly worded to those of us new to Australia) but we resolved that.

So we had a bottle of Asti last night. The bloke at the bottleshop asked me why we didn't choose Moey. Took a while to figure out he meant Moet et Chandon!

Tim

The Sydney Opera House and the Manly Ferry

The Sydney Opera House
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

The Sydney Opera House is probably the most photographed piece of architecture in the world. It truly is magnificent and extremely photogenic. (Click on this photo and see some other photos from the day.)

Last Saturday, Tim and I took the ferry to Manly, NSW. We had tried to take the Manly Ferry last October when we were visiting, but it was canceled due to rough seas (although the trip is all within the harbour). The ride over was lovely - a bit brisk, but blue skies and enough wind to encourage lots of sailors to take their boats out.

When we arrived at Manly, we were pleasantly surprised to find the annual Food and Wine Tasting Festival happening (I guess you could call this "People Heaven."). We chose some delicious cheese and fruit plates and a couple of nice red wines. Later we did some requisite shopping and headed back - although this ferry was inside seating only, too hot and packed.

We had a fun day, perfect weather, good food and wine - we were tired, but content... and pleased with our good luck and fine timing.

Judi

Duffle Dog

Duffle Dog
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

Since we still live out of suitcases until our household goods arrive (hopefully next week), Sammy decided to benefit from the situation.

Perhaps he didn't want to be sent in a pet carrier as on his trip to quarantine. In any case, he's a dog packed and ready!

Thornleigh

The litte suburb that we live in, Thornleigh, is about 30-40 minutes away from the CBD (Central Business District) of Sydney and about 20 minutes from Epping, where I work (if the roads are totally clear, which doesn't happen often). Most of the houses here are well kept up and pleasant, quite a change from Socorro where we had a reputed drug dealer living in a crappy trailer no more than 400 yards from our house.

Thornleigh is edged on the north and west by large areas of bush. The Great North Walk which goes through here on the way to Newcastle is a favorite of many people we know. We have yet to set foot on it.

Our house is in a steep sided valley down which a little stream runs, falling over one 10 foot waterfall and many smaller drops. The sides of the valley are very rocky. Many houses, like ours, are built on top of very substantial boulders.

There are trees all around. Our kitchen is at the level of the treetops so we see the crowns swaying in the wind, and birds perching in the most precarious places.

Every day, flocks of Sulphur Crested Cockatoos fly past, to the west in the morning and back east in the evening. The general effect is of an avian West Side Story. You can almost see the sneers on the beaks of these feathered hoodlums. They screak continuously in flight. I'm glad they don't live nearby. By comparison, my buddies the Lorikeets are delightful, friendly, happy, good company - always ready for a visit and a burbling, whistling chat.

Althought it is winter, evenings here are fine. It's very dry at the moment and so we see few clouds. The stars are surprisingly bright and clear. Summer evenings should be a real pleasure, especially from our gazebo at the back of the house. I can't wait.

Tim

Karma in Doggie Heaven

Dog in Doggie Heaven
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

I love this photo of Karma. With ears upright, he is practically flying over the grass at the beach front dog park. Tim thought the photo would be better with "all" of Karma, but there is something about the implied action - the front shadow - the pure joy ... I just like it (hope you do too).

Judi

Dog Pile

Dog Pile
Originally uploaded by Judi Blue.

This is a typical scene at the Rowland Reserve leash-free dog park. The park is on a beach in a northern suburb of Sydney - Bayview. Karma, Sammy, Tim and I had a wonderful time at this park which is located on the beach and in a small harbor. You can see all kinds of dogs there and every one of them looks to be totally enjoying him/herself.

This was the first salt water Karma and Sammy had ever been in - having grown up near the Rio Grande River in New Mexico. After an initial, "this doesn't taste like the stuff we usually drink look," Sammy and Karma continued to lap up the salt water when thirsty.

Rowland's Reserve is unquestionably doggie heaven for both dogs and their owners. We'll be back!

Judi

Update

The container is here in Sydney but magically shrunk from 40' to 20'. Seriously this might be a problem since it means that the container was opened and repacked somewhere. We'll have to check the contents carefully.

We also signed the loan documents today. We're on schedule to close sometime next week.

Finally we watched Liverpool vs AC Milan (recorded at 4:30am this morning) on the Foxtel IQ tonight. While not as well designed and altogether wonderful as TiVo, the IQ will do. However, we did miss the end of the game (it went to overtime). Liverpool won after coming back from three goals down. Very cool.

Tim

Speed, speed, speed...

Test run on 26/5/2005 @ 8:58 P.M.

Mirror: Bigpond
Test type: Cable

Your connection speed:

kbps: 4964.1
KB/s: 620.5125
Mbps: 4.84775390625

Glorious, especially after 33.6k.

Update: The download limit is 30GB. After that amount in a month, it slows down precipitously. However, I doubt that we'll reach that limit any time soon.

Tim

Ships and Dogs

After checking the tracking site for the ship that is carrying our precious cargo container, I have some concern that the ship appears to be somewhere in the Bering Sea. I could swear that the Conti Shanghai was just there a few weeks ago and why didn't it arrive in Sydney yesterday (May 23) like it was supposed to? When Tim refers to "smooth sailing," I don't think he is talking about the Conti Shanghai!

Despite daily walks and frequent trips to the leash free dog park, Sammy still feels the need to explore his new home. Each night, I let the dogs out the back door (so they can relieve themselves if needed). This was working well until Sammy decided that he can disappear into the darkness and wander the neighborhood. Wandering dogs are not something the local councils are very tolerant of, and I get terrified that he will get hit by a passing car (he's completely black, you know). The first night he disappeared, he came back near the house 30 minutes later and we brought him inside. Last night, Tim found him on the street where we have our daily walks - a street with speeding cars. Ugh! Needless to say - Sammy won't go out without a leash for a very long time!

Note: I'm learning to feel more comfortable driving on "the other" side of the road. It's only on roads with no other traffic that there is the risk of going back to old habits. Furthermore, I only turn on the windshield wipers a few times a day now (instead of the turning signal). This is a big improvement and should be good news to other drivers in our area.

Judi

More keets

One more great picture:



Tim

Mortgage

We got the mortgage approved today. Should be plain sailing from here on!

Tim

I for one welcome our new Lorikeet overlords

They are here:





All your beaks are belong to us!



Smuggle this movie out to the human resistance!

Tim

Sunday afternoon

I'm sitting out on the balcony, enoying the sun and the lorikeets. Two lorikeets are about two feet above my head, eating from the hanging basket. They are messy eaters and stuff keeps falling on my laptop as I type. One keeps hanging upside to look quizzically at me - he's saying something but I don't speak lorikeetian yet.

Progress - we have broadband and wireless now. Plus I got my car from CSIRO. We ordered a kitchen table. Still looking for a desk for the office and one of those propane heaters that you see at outdoor cafes. Our furniture is due to arrive in Sydney tomorrow but I doubt we'll actually see it for a couple of weeks.

It's getting quite chilly in the mornings now. The days are clear and warm with lots of blue sky so the fall is much like that in Socorro. I miss the smell of chile.

Judi's gone shopping but today is a quiet day for me. We drove a little too much yesterday. The traffic here is bad even on a Saturday, especially down by the shopping areas.

That's it for now.

Tim

My birthday

Nice day. I went to work as usual (no vacation time accrued yet). A lot of people congratulated me and a bunch of people signed a card. Made me very happy! Back at five to see my honey. For dinner, we went to eat at Sunil's in Thornleigh (recommended by one of my presents Sydney Eats.) It's Sri Lankan food, similar to my favorite cuisine, Indian.

No angst about turning the big Five-Oh. Forty was fine and I can't remember thirty so it couldn't have been too bad.

The bad side is that I miss Gavin and Zoe and my friends in Socorro. It would have been fun to celebrate with Andy, drinking tequila down at the Cap as we used to. Andy, bring a bottle when you come to visit.

Tim

Morning walk

It's Sunday morning. We took the dogs for their normal walk:



Beautiful sights all around:



Returning to our house in the trees:




Tim

A highwire act

Driving to work this morning I saw a remarkable tussle between a possum and a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos. The possum was on a telephone wire crossing above the road. The cockatoos were surrounding the possum on the the wires, shrieking and flapping wings. The possum was edging slowly and very gingerly along the wire. The cockatoos would back off as the possum advanced. One cockatoo was hanging upside down and beating its wings. Then the traffic moved on and I lost sight of the confrontation. My money was on the possum.

Update: Our friend, Mehr mas, from Iran, asks in her comment on this posting what does the last sentence mean? It means that if I was to bet on the outcome, I'd bet my money on the possum winning the confrontation.

Tim's Birthday - THE BIG 50

I bought Tim a few gifts and gave him two this morning. I'll give him the rest this evening. The first gift was a CD that I thought he might enjoy. It's an excellent soundtrack from "A Rabbit-Proof Fence," the Golden Globe-nominated score by Peter Gabriel. I highly recommend the movie. It's a true story of hope and survival. At a time when it was Australian government policy to train aboriginal children as domestic workers and integrate them into white society, young Molly Craig decides to lead her little sister and cousin in a daring escape from their internment camp. Molly and the girls, part of what would become known as Australia's "Stolen Generations," must then elude the authorities on a dangerous 1,500-mile adventure along the rabbit-proof fence that bisects the continent and will lead them home. The film is a beautiful testament to the undying strength of the human spirit.

Tim's second present was a book about Sydney (area) dining. We like to eat out, but it's difficult to know what's good in a new area. It will be fun to check out the recommendations.

FYI... Zoë received a medal of achievement with highest distinction for her honors research project in Psychology. (I hope I got that correct.)

Ramblings on settling in...

My new morning routine consists of walking the dogs in the neighborhood, alternating days with visits to the dog park. The walks have been good to get us in shape. The dogs were essentially inactive for one month while in quarantine, and I was... well, lazy.

Just now, Sammy barked at something down the street, and then I heard a loud squawk. I don't know what Sammy was upset about, but the two rainbow lorikeets feeding on the pawpaw rinds (that are in a hanging basket on the balcony) were irritated about the disturbance. Four feet away from a barking black furry thing and the birds did not budge. Surprisingly, Sammy doesn't seem at all interested in them either.

I might have seen a Satin Bowerbird this morning. (At least that is the only bird in our book that looks like the one I saw.) It was just meters away and since it didn't move I thought it might be hurt or sick, but it finally flew to a nearby bush. Even if this bird is not a Satin Bowerbird, they are interesting to read about - the males are so romantic - they bring courtship to a whole new level!

I was lamenting recently about how much I missed cold juice (no refrigerator). Then I thought about people who don't even have food. Then I decided not to whine anymore.

The dog park is interesting. It's a great place to meet people (and of course, dogs). However, I think that Sammy and Karma are the only non-pedigreed canines. Australians seem interested in Karma who is part Border Collie and part Australian Shepherd. Several Border Collies are regular visitors to the park; however, did you know that the Australian Shepherd is not even Australian? It appears to be an American "breed". Go figure! ... I introduce Sammy as a "Spoodle" (Poodle/Cocker Spaniel mix). There are many varieties of the "mixed poodle breed" such as: labradoodle, lahsadoodle, and so on.

Tim turns 50 in five days - May 18th. What do you get someone who has just bought a house, a home entertainment system, a wide screen TV, an incredible coffee maker, etc? Spiritual enlightenment? (Suggestions are welcome!)

Judi

Keeping up to date

For our regular readers, I can announce that the money finally made it from our bank in NY to our bank in Australia. We have sufficient Australian Dollars to pay the 20% on the house. In addition, the Foreign Investment Review Board decided that even though we are Foreign Devils (an official designation, I believe), we can buy the house, as long as once we leave we sell it back to an Australian.

We have a fridge. Hence salads, soy milk, and cool drinks. Interestingly few fridges here make ice automatically. The US mania for ice in drinks evidently has not travelled here.

Tomorrow we get cable and perhaps faster internet (currently dialup). The English Premier League will finish soon but there are interesting soccer games coming up after the season. In addition, the Tour de France will be on soon.

Big rain here tonight. The house gutters really need cleaning out. A lot of water overflowed onto the balcony. No leaks through the roof, happily.

Work is going well. Much interesting discussion this week centered around the South African equivalent to the xNTD, which they call KAT (short for Karoo Array Telescope).

That's it for now.

Our home - the movie

Here's a little movie about our new home (Quicktime format, 4.6MB).

Judi

Ten thousand desires

I didn't post last night because we watched a movie, Samsara. One always wonders about the Buddha's family who he left to seek enlightenment. In Samsara, a young Tibetan monk finds enlightenment but then finds his carnal desires coming to the forefront. He falls for a beautiful woman and chooses to leave the monastery. Memorable lines from the movie - "is it better to satisfy ten thousand desires than to conquer one?" - "how does one stop a single water drop from drying up?". The movie is set in Tibet but filmed in Ladakh. The landscape is startlingly beautiful and much like New Mexico: huge vistas and snowcapped mountains. The soundtrack is worth listening to just by itself. We give the movie two thumbs up.

We will continue to satisfy our own ten thousand desires today. We have yet to buy a fridge, washer and dryer, office furniture, etc. I'm not sure what desire we have conquered. Judi bought Karma a doggy bed which he is now using after spending some time sleeping next to it. The dogs seem to have survived Eastern Creek with the only apparent consequence being some loss of conditioning. They'll get this back in a few days of running with the dogs at the leash free park.

A kookabura has just started up his racket outside (it's 6am here). I'm off to make some coffee.

Tim

What I love about Oz

1. The crazy, noisy, beautiful birds...

From our balcony this morning, I watched 8 "Rainbow Lorikeets" arguing and fussing with each other in a nearby tree. The Lorikeet is a very noisy bird, with a lot to say and is often seen in large flocks making high pitch screeching and chattering, especially when feeding. Their name gives you an idea of their colorful beauty.

The "Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo," with its distinctive sulphur-yellow crest and loud raucous screech. About 25 of them flew overhead this morning - they are not just a sight to behold but a sound as well! Sammy almost jumped out of his skin!

One other bird that never ceases to make me laugh is so far just a sound to me. I don't know what bird it is, so bird lovers, please educate me. The sound is like a very loud, strange child who is whining or crying. It sounds quite human, but comically so. (I & out what the bird is - a Raven! It sounds like ##%^$**&%^.)

[Note: Right now, it sounds like the classical hollywood version of a tropical jungle just outside my door.]

Listen to more Aussie bird calls and definitely check out the kookaburra.

2. The Weather.... So far, our weather has been perfect - warm days and cool nights, with the occasional harmless cloud floating by.

3. The friendly and helpful people I have met so far. Almost everyone I have dealt with has been professional, polite and seems to care about how well they perform their jobs. They even laugh at my self deprecating jokes and don't seem to mind staying late at their jobs if it means helping out.

I also love the low key, friendly way people spend chatting with a total stranger. And I love the term: "No worries!"

Food. You name it, they got it - oh, and it's good.

Things I am sure I will learn to love about Oz:

1. The traffic - fast, faster and fastest on narrow streets. The streets are a bit like Boston's - designed by the cows walking through the young city. Streets are hilly and windy and can often have several different names depending on which section of the street you are driving on. I don't usually need an excuse to get lost, but this aspect doesn't help much.

[Note: I am having less trouble driving on the "wrong" side of the road than I expected, however, I did find myself toottling down a local street.... well, you get the picture. I am even almost cured of turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signals.]

2. The bugs - 'nuf said.

It's great to be in our new house. I'll be glad when our furniture arrives so that we can actually unpack our bags, and a refrigerator would come in handy for food storage - but hey - we're experienced campers!

Judi

We're in

The doggies were ecstatic to see us. No bad feelings, evidently. My worries about Sammy bearing a grudge may be ill-founded. They did some world-class sniffing and peeing outside the Quarantine Center and then we drove back to town. We checked a few things on the house and then decided to proceed. We handed over the 10% downpayment in exchange for the keys and then moved our small amount of belongings into the house.

For supper we had bread, cheese, chutney, fruit, and some Asti Spumante. We're both quite exhausted, and so are Sammy and Karma.

It's three weeks to the day since we arrived. Not bad!

More tomorrow.

Tim

The big day

Today we move into the new house and get the dogs. We'll have some Ikea furniture, including a bed, delivered this afternoon so hopefully we'll be able to sleep at the house tonight. Tomorrow the cable will be connected and we'll get the TV and stereo (the very foundation of the Maslow pyramid of needs). Perhaps I'll be able to watch the soccer this weekend.

We're both excited to get the dogs out of the slammer. I fear that Sammy will have become embittered and suspicious - think Bogart in "High Sierra". Karma will be fine as long as we find something white for him to confuse with a sheep.

Our money is coming across the electric wires slowly ("Across the electric wires/the message came/he is no better/he is much the same" - a famously bad poem from the Victorian era). We have about 40% of it and can make the down payment. The rest should be here before we get all the other paperwork done.

Tim

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Where do I start? We have a new house, I have a new car and I am picking up my beloved doggies on Wednesday. I have to admit I am most excited about seeing the dogs. I keep picturing those sad little faces behind bars and my heart breaks. I hope they remember me and more so, that they aren’t mad at me. They have not had any exercise for one month, so I need to scope out an area near the quarantine station where they can run and play like crazy!

Timing has worked out incredibly well for us. We not only found a house to buy, but the owners are allowing us to move in right away for rent and prior to closing. We are moving into the house the day before the dogs get “out of jail”, so they will be able to stay with us. In addition, our belongings should be arriving and delivered by the end of May – so no second moves are necessary. (Those movers are going to love the three flights of stairs to reach the main floor! Tim and I will just get in shape.) I also found the car I wanted right before our move which will help since we won’t be able to share anymore due to the distance to Tim’s work.

My new car is a 2001 silver Toyota Echo Three Door Hatchback.

It might remind you of those cars all the clowns fit into at the circus. It is very cute, but with plenty of room for me, the dogs and some groceries (or whatever). Best of all, it practically runs on air – so petrol costs should remain nominal. I wanted red or blue or some more exciting color, but this car has only 25K Kilometers on it (15,500K miles) – so it was too good a deal to turn down.

Tim mentioned our shopping spree this past weekend. Besides his “dream coffeemaker”, we had to replace many of the appliances that we sold before we left Socorro. That means items like toasters, vacuum cleaners, blenders and basic furniture to hold us over until our stuff arrives on the ship. I finally gave in on Tim’s big screen TV – you only turn 50 once in your life! Besides, how can you effectively watch soccer on anything smaller? Impossible! :)

Today I am going back to the Ikea store and buy a sofa bed for us to sleep on until our own bed arrives. The sofa bed will make a great addition to one of our guest rooms. I’m also going to buy a couple of comfy chairs and other items, so that staying in our new house won’t feel so much like a camping trip.

Remaining is the fencing contractor to erect a barrier to “maintain” the dogs, car insurance, paying the house deposit and other inescapable tasks. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

I am excited about our new house – it’s totally opposite from the house we sold in Socorro. I am concerned about funnel web spiders biting my dogs – particularly Sammy, the digger. I will probably have some restricted areas that are particularly high risk.

Thanks to all of you who are reading our blog. It is nice to be able to keep the important people in our lives up to date on the details of our great adventure. Be sure we get to hear from you as well!

--Judi

Coffee problem solved

When we left the US, we had to leave behind our beautiful Krups coffee maker - one that ground and drip-brewed on a timer. After a lot of searching here, we gave up on being able to simply get another. So in mourning, we bought a fabulous and fabulously expensive espresso machine, the Delonghi Magnificat. This grinds and brews espresso at the touch of a button.

The official rationalization is that it's my fiftieth birthday present.

Tim

Moving day

The current owners of our new house moved out in a couple of days - a heroic acheivement. We can move in once the downpayment is made. If all goes well, that will happen next Monday and so we will be able to move in on Tuesday which happens to be when Sammy and Karma, our dogs, get out of the slammer. Couldn't be better timed. It'll be twenty days from arriving in Australia to moving into a house which we will buy. That's pretty speedy by anyone's standards.

One caveat is that our money must transfer ok from our US bank to the Australian bank. That might happen but then again it might not.

We did get our visas stamped in our passports. I said to Judi as we entered the Government Center in Paramatta, "Abandon hope all ye who enter here". After that incantation we actually were in and out in 4, yes F-O-U-R, minutes.

Tim

Friday night idleness

English->Japanese->English via the translator widget in OS X Tiger:

The wind blows tonight
風は今夜吹く
Tonight you blow the wind
今夜風を吹く
The tonight wind is blown
今夜の風は吹く
You blow the wind of tonight
今夜の風を吹く
The wind of tonight is blown
今夜の風は吹く
You blow the wind of tonight
今夜の風を吹く
The wind of tonight is blown

Eventually it stabilizes. I'd like to find one that does more than just flip backwards and forwards.

As I said, idleness.

Tim

Spiders!

From J-P:



Tim

The Australian Economy

Forget the reports that the Australian economy is booming because China needs raw materials, of which Australia has plenty. Drawing on our extensive research in malls, bottle shops, and restaurants, we can report that the Australian economy is really based on:

• Wine - there's a glut of good wine. Horrible, horrible problem.
  
• Real estate - this is the home of the $600K ok-it-sucks-so-tear-it-down-and-build-something-you-like house listing.
  
• Cell phones - about half the stores in any mall seem to be concerned with selling you an even better cell phone plan. Surprisingly, cell phone rates still suck.Cell phone rates are a mystery. We can call the US for 50min/$1 whereas the intra-Sydney cell phone rate is much higher (it gives me a headache to calculate how much it really costs so take my word for it).
  
• Good food. Sadly, the once ubiquitous pie shops have been replaced by trendy Asian fusion cuisine restaurants. If either Judi or I actually ate pies (pass the HP sauce), we might be a bit more upset.

One day the Chinese will own Australia as well as the US.

Tim

Moving money

It's hard to move money around remotely. We have two choices:

1. Send our New Mexico bank a signed authorization to wire the money to Australia. This authorization has to be "FedExed" which we worry about for obvious reasons (read earlier entries!)
2. Transfer money to another US bank that will accept a faxed authorization to wire money to Australia.

Method 1 takes about 5 days - the time to FedEx a document to New Mexico from Sydney. Method 2 has to be done in 4 chunks, one per day, and the funds only become available on the third business day. AND the money has to be in Australia next Monday, which is Sunday in the US. Pop quiz - which do you choose?

Vicky pointed me to a firm that helps with some type of transfers and which may be useful in the future but which cannot help with this particular problem.

Our choice was 2, of course, not wanting to be traumatized again by FedEx. It's going ok so far.

Tim

We bought a house

Today we signed on the dotted line for the house on 1 Nattai Close.



Now all we have to do is get the mortgage. We'll need a cash down payment of 10% by Monday May 2. We have this in our US bank account but it'll be interesting to see how easy it is to get it here by then.

Tim

Lions, Tigers and Bears - Oh My!

No journal about moving to Australia would be complete without wildlife stories. I read that Aussies dislike newcomers who complain about various aspects of life in their country – my apologies to anyone who might find offence (Aussie spelling) in what I am about to write. The wildlife in this country is mighty strange… some of it in a charming way, some of it in a lethal way, and some just plain weird.

Wildlife encounter #1: My first encounter with Aussie wildlife was walking up the path to Tim’s work. We saw something cross the path ahead of us so we went to look. What looks like a snake that has been cut in half, has small legs and a head that looks like a cross between a snake and a lizard? A land mullet! A mullet is a smooth skinned reptile of the Skink family that lives in the tropical rainforest and grows up to two feet long. (Note: The park adjacent to Tim’s office is a piece of rainforest that is being lovingly “refurbushed” (get it?) by a group of local ecologists. This animal does not seem to be the least bit aggressive – but I am minding my steps just in case.

Wildlife encounter #2: The spider. When you stay as a guest in either the lodge or the guest cottage, you are provided with an information sheet about spiders (with photos). There are three categories: The friendly or “low risk” spiders; the toxic (poisonous) – painful bite spiders; and the deadly and dangerous ones. My spider was in the dresser walking across Tim’s t-shirt drawer. When it went out of sight, I pulled out the drawer (I had the bug spray by this time, of course – I couldn’t find a hammer!). I found the spider and sprayed it, but not before it dropped into my underwear drawer! Do I have to draw you a picture here? Imagine putting on your silk undies and …. well, you get it. By the way, I am convinced this was a white-tail spider described as: May cause horrific ulceration to skin of sensitive people found in the garden and indoors, and listed under the deadly and dangerous ones. Need I mention that I will be shaking out my skivvies before donning them in the future?

Wildlife encounter #3: This report is getting a bit lengthy, so I am going to add just one more story (I have others!). Tim and I were again walking along the path from his office when we came across the most amazing sight. I guess I will call it a “caterpillar train”. We watched as caterpillars (the fuzzy, 1 ½” kind) paraded across the path – nose to butt until the “train” reached about 3-4 feet! See photo below.



Even when a little guy looked like he/she might dart off, they never broke rank – incredible.

Judi

Update: Our buddy J-P, a Sydney native now resident in Socorro, says:

It's good to see the locals putting themselves out to meet you.

Somebody has probably told you this already, but creature #1 listed in the blog (the one about 1/2 the size of a snake with legs and mullet-head) was almost certainly a blue-tongue lizard. They eat ants and are completely harmless.

As for creature #2 (the White-Tail spider I assume)...I gather you have a sheet like the one attached to this email? In all my years in Sydney, I never saw a white-tail spider in the wild. I do understand that Funnelwebs are relatively common on the north shore. They have been known to kill dogs and they can be aggressive.


Judi is not convinced about the mullet/lizard, J-P, but she concedes you may be right about the spider. While we are talking about mullets, I should mention that the local weatherman, whose name I cannot recall, has invented dual side mullets, dyed blond. It's quite something to see.

See our household move!

The container is on a ship called the Conti Shanghai, callsign DNHS. Here's the tracking page showing the location. Currently it's west of Japan.

The estimated date of arrival in Sydney (probably Botany Bay) is 23 May.

Tim

Friday evening ramblings

I officially started work at the Australia Telescope yesterday. Very pleasant experience meeting lots of nice people. Had a few long scientific discussions already.

Tomorrow we take a second look at a house we like in Thornleigh. This one has an asking price in the $500K's which is considerably better than others we had looked at. It's a multi-level house built on a hillside, lots of wood floors and balconies. We'd need to fence in the land for the dogs. The area around is leafy and green with lots of bush within a short walk. The drive to work would be about 30 minutes.

I've been reading the sale contract for the house. This is pretty standard legalese but I enjoyed the following clause:

"The time for one thing to be done or happen does not extend the time for another thing to be done or happen"

Buddhists would recognize this as the opposite of the Law of Dependent Origination.

This weekend is a long one. Monday is a holiday in Australia - Anzac day. The date is the anniversary of Gallipoli. For those of you without a British Commonwealth history education, Gallipoli was an attempt by the Allies to aid Russia by taking the entrance into the Black Sea, the Dardenelles. By dint of bad planning and general ineptitude, the campaign failed and many people died. It wasn't the worst day of carnage in WWI but it was really bad for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). It's strange that Australia remembers its soldiers by commemorating such a disaster but on reflection it's probably more appropriate than to celebrate a victory.

We'll let you know how it goes with the house.

Tim

House hunting

Today was the fourth straight day of house hunting and we're both a little worn down. We've driven around many neighbourhoods and seen many houses, mostly from the outside. We saw inside a nice duplex today - modern, new, tastefully finished, but with too little backyard for us.

The area we really like is north of a big strip of the Lane Cove National Park. Some names are Pymble, West Pymble, Turramurra, South Turramurra. Fingers of housing extend into the park and benefit from the beautiful and peaceful greenery. There are many areas to walk, even with dogs (in reserve area outside of the national park). With some searching and patience, we might be able to find a house that fits us. Time is not on our side, of course. The dogs get out of quarantine 16 days from now and so we'll need a rental by then.

Anyway, as I keep telling Judi, "It will be fine".

Tim

Saturday

The Avenida Adelaida house sale closed today (2pm Friday afternoon in Socorro). So that's over. We should get the final settlement check deposited in our US bank the middle of next week. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes to transfer the money here.

We looked at houses today, mostly in Epping and North Epping. Open houses are held on Saturdays with staggered times. With some planning and luck, you can make it to a reasonable number of the ones you want to see. We saw quite a few but none that were (a) in our price range and (b) that we liked enough to consider buying. We did see a fabulous house for A$998K. Perhaps I could work two jobs....

Our plan is to head out to the coast tomorrow, for some sea breezes and to reconnoitre. The traffic here in Sydney is pretty bad so I'd prefer to live close to ATNF if possible but we should at least look at the coast.

Going out to dinner tonight with an old friend from India. We'll probably go to the excellent eclectic Asian restaurant, Kenny's, in Epping. Judi and I went there for our anniversary dinner last October.

Tim

Friday evening

We've been here for a couple of days now and have done quite a bit of organizational stuff.

• Checked into the ATNF cottage just down from Radiophysics. This is a nice two bedroom house, wood floors, lots of trees around.
• I had my first meeting, with Ron Ekers and Richard Schilizzi. I'll officially start work next Thursday but we had to do this before Ron went on a trip.
• Got cell phones. Kind of expensive compared to the USA but more capable. For example, we can do video person-to-person. Getting the phones was actually quite hard since we have no history here.
  
• Opened a bank account with ANZ. Compared to the cell phones, this was easy. Money talks!
  
• Bought a printer/fax/copier/scanner - we need this for house hunting.
• Hunted for a coffee maker that grinds and brews on a timer. Can't seem to find one like we one we had in the US anywhere - bummer.
  
• Started looking at neighborhoods. Short summary - Epping and Marsfield seem better than we'd thought and up north (Mount Kuring-gai, Mount Colah) look worse. We'll look more at houses tomorrow (Saturday is when the open houses are).
• Bought some good Australian wine cheap!
• Checked out the produce - fresh fish, veggies, fruit - at a local mall. The choice, quality, and price are simply amazing, compared to Socorro but even Albuquerque.
• But so far we have failed to find bread as good as that in Smiths in Socorro (which isn't a high standard!).

That's it for now.

Tim

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Tim and Judi

Last day on Kauai

Na Pali is at the westernmost end of Kauai. It's where the oldest rocks are and where the most beautiful cliffs are. It's the most important thing to see on Kauai. On Monday (our last day), we took a sunset cruise from Port Allen on the south coast round to Na Pali.



The cliffs are beyond spectacular - those shown here are about 1500 feet high. It's hard to grasp the size until you see something familiar. We saw a number of goats at various places along the cliffs but they don't show up well in our photographs. In the photo of me, note the white blob at the top of the cliff - that's a radar antenna of about 50 by 30 feet.

The best time to see Na Pali is probably in the late afternoon when the sunlight is low across the cliffs:



These valleys were evidently full of people about 600 years ago but are deserted now. In the thirties there was a school on a beach here accessible only from the sea. Children from the valleys around and from the two islands to the west were educated at the school house that still stands just yards from the sea.

This is the biggest valley - about two miles across.



Coming back we saw quite a few whales and some dolphins. Boats aren't allowed to go within 100 yards of whales so it's not so easy to see them but the the dolphins came up very close to the boat and swam along just in front of the bow. I was perched right above them and had a wonderful view:



We also saw a monkseal (from a long ways away), a couple of flying fish and a few different types of birds.

Finally, here is Judi with the sunset.



Tim

WE MADE IT!

Since our visit to Kauai, all has progressed well. We spent our last day on the island watching kids swing from ropes into a fresh water swimming hole (fed by a 15 foot waterfall). Some of the kids actually climbed a huge tree and jumped in - they were so high I got dizzy just watching. They were fearless! I admit this was an idyllic spot.



At 3 PM, we boarded a motorized, sailing catamaran (65 ft. long) for a sunset cruise along the Na Pali coast. Imagine huge cliffs covered with green lining the coastline and the occasional waterfall flowing peacefully down to the sea. Imagine sailing along and spotting several groups of Hawaiian Humpback Whales which we could spot by the occasional spout of water. Our captain told us that many of the whales we saw were mothers with babies (and a helper juvenile) followed by some amorous males (it was a "heat run") apparently. We didn't spot any sea turtles, however, we had seen one at the Queen's Bath. The Na Pali coast is quite desolate and only accessible by water or a very long and incredibly difficult hike. In one area we spotted some mountain goats enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

On the way home, we were served "adult" beverages and pupus (appetizers) and watched as the sun sank into the ocean. We were delighted to be joined by ten spinner dolphins who lined up in front of the boat and swam along with us. They were wonderful to watch, and Tim got one particularly spectacular photo looking right down on them. What a treat. This is certainly the way to "de-stress" and recharge for our adventure in Australia.

The flight was perfect and I watched "Sideways" and "The Aviator." Both are great movies and the ten hours passed quickly. We arrived on schedule, rented our car and drove to the cottage at Tim's new work location. The cottage is a small, pleasant three bedroom house stocked with everything we could possibly need (except wireless which is why I'm writing this from Tim's new office). We both woke up early this morning and decided to go check out the local real estate in Epping (near the office). We'll be looking elsewhere too - it's awfully tempting to live closer to the beach!

That's my news. As I mentioned, Tim will add his comments and our photos soon.

Judi

On the plane

Tuesday afternoon and we're on the plane from Honolulu to Sydney. It'll be Wednesday in a few minutes when we cross the International Date Line.

It's strange to be making such a sudden change in our lives. Usually change is slow and hard to notice, creeping by until half your life has gone by. Here we're making one big change all at once (though I guess it's taken 6 months!).

Feels good.

Tim

Queen's Bath

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook mentioned a good place for swimming - the Queen's Bath by Princeville. Princeville is one of those horrible planned communities that some Americans seem to like in exotic places - think of a military base crossed with Stepford and you have it. Anyway, after a very steep and slippery walk down the cliff side you traverse some old lava rock to come to a fine natural swimming area - the Queen's bath, fed by waves at high tide.



It's kind of hard to get in and out. Judi slipped and got a small abrasion.



The view along the coast is spectacular (of course):



After that we went on to Hanalei (the original for Hanalee in "Puff the Magic Dragon") and ate some fine roadside food at the Hanalei Mixed Plate. Judi had Swordfish Caesar Salad and I had Tofu in Coconut Pesto. Amazing.

Tim

Po`ipu

The day started with a rain shower which turned to brilliant sunshine within about twenty minutes. The weather here is strange - within about ten miles is the wettest place on the planet: 440 inches per year but close to the ocean there is blue sky much of the time.

We spent the day exploring the Po`ipu area on the south coast.



With the help of a good guide book, we found a beautiful beach. As you can see, we're having fun!





We hiked around for a bit hoping, in vain, to see monk seals on the beach. We did see some turtles swimming elsewhere later on.

After two nights of bread, cheese, and wine in the room, we're going out tonight to eat at Duke's on Kalapali beach. The main attraction at Duke's is the live Hawaiian music on Friday evenings.

We booked the flight to Sydney. We'll arrive next Wednesday evening. I have a meeting at the ATNF on Thursday morning but the main task for the first week or so will be to find somewhere to live. On Thursday afternoon, we'll be sure to visit Sammy and Karma at the quarantine station. It'll be good to see them!

Tim

Kilauea lighthouse

The Kilauea Lighthouse is now a wild life sanctuary. It's on a spur of land jutting out into the ocean to the northeast.



Here's the view to the south showing nesting areas.



The white birds are mostly red-footed boobies. Closer to us were red- and white-tailed tropic birds who do this most amazing backward flying mating flight, circling below and then above each other while drifting back in the strong winds - impossible to photograph.

Tim

From up in the clouds...

Tim

A chicken in every plot

Kauai is overrun with Moa's - junglefowl that came with the Polynesians when the islands were settled. They are now everywhere on Kauai. Here's a particularly handsome male.

Perhaps as a result of the arduous voyage to get to Kauai, the roosters seem to be confused about the local time zone and crow at random times.

While I'm showing photos, here is one of a fern, taken up high in the mountains where the clouds drift and boil all the time.

Tim

Here we are....

Google!

Try switching views.

Tim

On Kauai...

We just arrived in Kapa'a on Kauai. The hotel looks empty but very nice. Thanks to Judi charming the ladies at reception, we have a room overlooking the pool and with a good sight of the ocean. The hotel is in the midst of renovations so the rates are low, I guess.

Robyn says that we are the only homeless people she knows who go to Hawaii.

By the way, we got the visa. So now we can enjoy our time here without having to worry about that whole mess. It'll probably take a week for my blood pressure to go down anyway.

Tim

Visa update

I just heard from Sally, the HR person at CSIRO. Evidently Judi's Xrays were not accompanied by the necessary clearance papers - probably meaning that the radiologist did not fill the form out correctly. Hence the Immigration guy couldn't approve the Visa. Instead he had to send off the Xray to the Local Clearance Unit (LCU - see it all makes sense, right?) to be Clearance'd. There is a minimum 48 hour turnaround on that so we have to wait until Wednesday morning (Australian time) before any possible change could occur. I'm not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, we're off tomorrow to Kauai for a week's vacation. The best time to take a vacation is when you have no job and no home so off we go. We're staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Kauai at Waipouli Beach. We'd normally choose something more 'umble but we need the wireless internet.

Another advantage of this timeout/vacation is that it gives the Aussies more freedom to dick around without driving us crazy.

Tim

A whole lot of nothing...

That's what going on. There seems to be no action on our visa. My current theory is that they have lost the second set of Xrays. Our contact at the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs forwarded them somewhere else on Friday afternoon. Doesn't that seem an unwise step given the history of these particular Xrays?

We went down to Manhattan Beach today and walked out along the pier. Had a nice bottle of Malbec and some bread and cheese back at the room this evening.

The next step has to be in a radically different direction, I think, because we're not getting anywhere this way. I'm thinking we should move to Fiji instead - get a fast internet connection and do contract work. We'll keep you posted.

Tim

El Segundo, CA

There are times when some sort of action is needed, and this was one of those times. More nights at the Holiday Inn Express and meals at the Socorro Springs Brew Pub did not sound appealing to either Tim or me. It was time to make a move.

Unfortunately, Tim wasn't feeling well, but despite this we headed to the airport and onto Los Angeles. Tom and Robyn drove us to the airport in our old Rodeo (their new Rodeo). I don't think there is any way to thank two people who have done so much for us - i.e., accepted into their family my geriatric dog and long-time good friend (Mica), taken on the task of selling my Honda Element (since it didn't sell before we left), and a "multiple" of other kind and helpful actions. Thank you Robyn and Tom. We love you and will miss you dearly.

We are now at the Hilton Garden Inn Lax-El Segundo spending our Saturday in total vegetative states. Once we regain some energy, we'll explore the beach and other attractions, but for now, we are quite happy just lying around...

We have reservations for Monday night to fly on to Sydney. Will the Visa be approved? Stay tuned!

-Judi

Kangaroo Boxing and Other Amazing Things

I just spent 30 minutes composing a post, was in the process of reviewing in, hit the back button, and lost the whole thing. But alas, this is nothing.

Wednesday morning we went to meet the container guy at the house. Melvin, the driver, is the original "Fat Albert." He is a huge black man with a wonderful deep and gravely voice. Melvin had driven all night from Phoenix to get to our house by 8:00 AM, Wednesday morning. Tim and I arrived before 9:00 to meet the moving guys.... and then it was 10:00.... and then it was 11:00..... After many irate calls to the shipping company and lots of "they're on their way," they're 40 minutes north of town," "they are in "Sirocco" and 10 minutes from your house." (She didn't realize that any place in "Sirocco" is 10 minutes from our house.) The moving boss in Las Vegas, Nevada even told me they were just about to turn into our driveway.

THEY NEVER ARRIVED.

After providing Melvin with some sustenance from MacDonalds, and with much convincing from several "players" in this drama, he was convinced to spend the night at the Roadrunner truck stop in Lemitar. Melvin would arrive Thursday morning at 8:00 AM - which he did. We were told that another mover was being dispatched from somewhere, but noone seemed to know when they would arrive at the house. Melvin waited. Tim and I waited. And finally, in the early afternoon, the calvary arrived in the form of Richard Mora and two helpers from Duke City Movers in Albuquerque. Now these guys are pros. They packed that mammoth 40 foot container in less than two hours and arranged it so that nothing would shift in transit. (Note: one of the movers actually boxed a kangeroo in a circus!)

Finally, our belongings were on their way to Phoenix and then to Long Beach, California for a leisurely trip across the ocean to our new home (Austria is landlocked isn't it?).

So.... our belongings are on their way and the dogs made it to the quarantine station near Sydney (I doubt they are very happy with me). Mica is at Robyn and Tom's house and is doing as well as can be expected - a bit confused, but she likes Tom and Robyn a lot.

So... you would think, "COOL, Tim and Judi are on their way." We even got notice that the package with my x-rays had reached their destination. Wow, everything is finally coming together.

Think again.

Any guesses on what could go wrong now? We received an e-mail from Dan, our friendly immigration agent, who said that he would release our visas as soon as he received the x-rays - which he did, receive them I mean. He wrote that he was trying to release the visas, but the electronic system was down - and it was Friday afternoon with several hours to quitting time. He told us he would see what he could do.

Update, Friday morning Socorro time, Holiday Inn Express. We haven't heard from Dan.

Giblets, Fafnir, and the Medium Lobster

If you don't know these luminaries, start here.

Tim