schwwwwiiiing

Well today is federal election day and by all accounts it does appear that the schwingers are out in force (where's Jon Snow and his swingometer when you need him) with swings from the coalition to Labor. I cannot say that I understand fully the electoral set up in Australia (their institution uses the English term - parliament - yet the two chambers use the American terms Senate and the House of Representatives. It is of interest as I am here in Australia as an economic migrant. Whilst the Howard government has overseen a strong economy driven by natural resources and linked to growth in the Chinese economy, it has come at some cost. Coupled with Australia being stricken by drought, causing crop failures and resulting in crop shortages, Howard's failure to be concerned about the environment - particularly ratifying Kyoto - may come back and haunt him. Howard's challenger is Kevin Rudd, a Queenslander who has run a campaign more about not purring a foot wrong than necessarily conveying his parties policies. One thing I will say for Rudd, as a Mandarin speaking ex-mandarin, if you'll excuse the pun, Rudd does strike me as more of a professional politician - if there is such a thing. Well not much else to say on this subject. We await the final outcome and see what flavour of government it provides us tomorrow.

and the reason for that title was.....

Well this weekend I decided to take the Mrs for a little treat. First off we went to an organic farmers' market (well a treat for both of us), then it was off to DFO - factory outlet place to buy the Doris some clothes as she has been banging on about having none, and then finally it was north to the Glass House Mountains. Fascinatingly beautiful. The GHM are in the same area as Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's place) about 60KMs north of Brisbane. The actual 'mountains' themselves are at most 500m high. They are in fact plugs of hardened lava that were plugs in volcanoes that have over time eroded away to leave just the plug. They are so called as James Cook (quite famous in Australian parts considering he's a Yorkshireman) saw them and thought they reminded him of glass furnaces from back home. They are very sacred to native Australians (you know the people who had been here for 40million years living a peaceful existence until the white fella showed up) and there is a legend about them, which, rather than paraphrase I will let you choose to read yourself.

People in Glass Houses.....

Since last time out I have been quite busy. First of all I passed the quite rubbish age of 31. However, the weekend of my birthday was quite impressive. The Friday before I went to see the Killers. Well almost see as we were quite possible about as far away as you can get. Brandon Flowers is teeny at the best of times. Nonetheless, they rocked and I enjoyed. The following day it was too the 'Gabba to see Australia take on Sri Lanka in the Warne/ Muralitharan cup. My first test, my first trip to the 'Gabba, my first meat pie at an Australian sporting event and - typically - an strong Aussie performance. I enjoyed, I will be back. Saturday night. The plan was to actually go home and rest/ have some tea. Never happened. Out it was, taking in some dinner at least at the Himalayan cafe in the Valley. The evening finished up in the P&W with the Brisbane Hammers, watching the mighty Irons take on Derby, result: 5-0 to the bastards in claret and blue. Thank you gents, 3 points for my birthday. So to Sunday. That day appeared to pass me by somehow. Nothing to do with the all day drink-a-thon. Excellent way to pass 31. Then this weekend just gone. I flew down to Melbourne on Thursday (15th November) for a training course. My previous visit to Melbourne left me feeling none too excited about going back. However this time I was with a colleague who had lived their for eight years previously and showed some of the more pleasant sides. It seemed that previously I was staying in a part of Melbourne the equivalent of Lambeth. I am sure those Londoners amongst you can understand why it wasn't too enamored. This time out we took in some nice restaurants, including Il Solito a lovely little Italian restaurant that actually had some Italian people in it! It was right opposite Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, it seems Mr O is looking to take on the world! After dinner my colleague took me to the Melbourne Supper Club, a venue that is quite possibly one of my world faves (and I don't do faves really). It oozes genteel charm with lovely old leather sofas, wood panelling, dim lights and a 100 page wine list. Heaven. Well potentially the road to ruin given my proclivity for the vinous liquid. And that was just Thursday night. Unusually for me I actually really enjoyed the training course. It was on facilitation techniques and itself was facilitated by an organisation called Maura Fay. It really was good, a balance between taught and participative styles kept me engaged. Hats off to you. Friday nights dinner saw me take my first sojourn to St Kilda. A place I had heard much about from friends who had either visited or indeed lived there. Thus I took the opportunity to send some text messages to invoke envy amongst those friends! An interesting place, effectively in two halves with a strip of 'nice' places to eat and drink and then further on a 'strip' of places more akin to what you'd see in any trashy beachside 18-30 destination. Dinner this night was at a delightful Malaysian influenced hawker bar called Chinta Blues, where I had a delightful Beef Rendang....yum yummmm washed down with a lovely little Tassy sparkling rose. Can it get any better? Well the only downside was the flies, however as the sun started setting they popped off leaving me to dine in relative peace. That's another thing I did like, and experiencing this has made me change my opinion on this subject, and that is daylight saving. Queensland doesn't observe daylight saving so you get the situation where NSW immediately south, and really only about 3 hours away max does observe daylight saving. So you could live somewhere like the south end of the Gold Coast and be able to gain and lose an hour just by hopping over the state border. The reason I have changed my mind on this subject is that it was so nice to be able to eat out and it still be light at approaching 8pm. In Queensland it's dark approaching 7, not really conducive for an outdoor lifestyle. The funny thing is, the reason oft stated that DST is not observed in Queensland is that it would upset the cows. Go figure!

Dare to be Different Brisbane

What I like about Brisbane is that, despite being a place called home for in excess of 1 million people, it hasn't succumbed to the urge most cities do, that is to line its waterways with faceless identikit architecture. It is rare in cities with a large waterside space that you actually seem able to enjoy that water without having to worry about access. However it does seem now that some part of South Bank is trying to be sold off to make way for....oooh...faceless office space and retail square footage. Inspired planning! I may run the risk of being labelled a NIMBY here, but there are plenty of brownfield sites in Brisbane that could be renovated to offer more office and retail space. Don't go sacrificing a fantastic municipal space that can be utilised by residents and visitors of all ages. If you don't agree with this potential development, register your protest here: Save Our South Bank

Back.....

It has been too long. Partly that is because I have been waiting for the Internet to be restored for four weeks. I just wanted to take the opportunity to express my feelings. What I Have Learned 1) Australians have a short memory when it comes to sporting defeat (Oh Rugby is only our third sport anyway....after losing 10-12 to England). 2) Brisbane has a pretty good integrated public transport network but it could with running a little later. 3) I never knew there were that many South Africans in Brisbane until Monday 22nd October 4) Cats and wives are very hairy and require constant sweeping/ hoovering. 5) BT aren't that bad after all..... 6) Charlotte Towers still have shocking administrative process despite moving to River City 7) Brisbane is hot 8) Murdering large endangered mammals ISN'T scientific research 9) John Howard and David Gray may be related Things I Miss 1) All of my friends - especially their milestone birthdays 2) Rain 3) Warm beer 4) Big brick houses 5) Knowing stuff..... Things I Plan to do as Soon as Possible 1) Help the Mrs find another job (too all employers out there, forcing your staff to take 65% of their annual leave entitlement at Christmas is not a progressive enlightened HR policy....) 2) See some of Australia (FNQ, South Australia, "The Top End" and the "Centre" 3) See some of places near Australia: Fiji, Vanuatu 4) Plan a road trip 5) Start a wine cellar 6) Build my map of wineries and their wines 7) Get hideously drunk Things I am Immediately Excited About 1) The Killers 2) My first test match 3) The Cunliffes at Xmas 4) The prospect of seeing friends "this way" in April 5) India