Monthly Archives: May 2010

can’t beat ‘em….

Posted on May 23, 2010 by | Leave a comment

People will know that I am often aghast at the behaviour of the Brits when the sun comes out. They strip off in every open space, regardless of their shape or size, there is glorious white flesh everywhere.

Today I joined them! It was glorious and sunny, balmy even. I slipped into my bathers, grabbed a towel and went off to Hampstead Heath where there are some swimming ponds. For the Aussies they are just giant dams but they are surrounded by green as far as you can see. Believing this could be as hot as it will get this year off I went.

And it was absolutely divine.

The only small disaster was when I dived into the chilly water, the bottoms of my bathers slipped from there intended spot! So a little more white flesh was exposed to the sun rays than intended. Fortunately the water is a bit murkey – so I am hoping it was not too shocking for the those waiting to jump in! The water was chilly but once you went comfortably numb it was divine to splash about.

It must be one of my favourite things to lie by water, in the sun, with a book and pretend that life can be so wonderfully lovely.

So I guess… if you can’t beat ‘em you may as well join ‘em

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speed demon

Posted on May 22, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Friday nights….. some weeks they feel like they will not quite ever arrive and then when they do…. well …. more often than not you are so knackered you don’t make the most of it. Last night was a glorious exception.

A friend and I zipped and zoomed along the Thames in a really, really, really fast boat. It was the absolutely perfect thing to do at the end of the week. It leaves from near the London Eye and whizzes down to Canary Wharf at a great rate. The wind whips through your hair, and you can’t help but smile and laugh as the boat hurtles along. God it was good fun! The rest of the evening was also lovely – many of my favourite things: champagne, a warm evening, delicious food and a charming partner in crime.

So I guess it is only 7 more days till the next Friday!

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survival

Posted on May 19, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Why is it that the first few weeks of a new job feels so defensive?

You don’t want to commit to an opinion,  just in case you meet the next person and hear a completely reasonable, super rational alternative argument on the same issue. It is a complete mine field of political disasters just waiting for the new employee!

It has been pretty full on, lots of jumping on and off tubes, trains to Essex and random buildings around the East end of London.

On a brighter note I have only had one night where I had to plunge into a bubble bath, with a glass of wine and a chick-lit book! So I guess the over riding message for readers is that I am surviving and I am hoping to move on to actually doing something in the next week………

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naked button

Posted on May 19, 2010 by | 1 Comment

I feel like I have grown up with the Birthday past, sort of transitioned into grown-up-ness. May be the impending 4-0 or truly believing I am in my late-gulp-thirties.

This thinking is all supported by my proper job, living in my little flat all by myself (remains divine) and the removal of my belly button ring. Momentous and worthy of a blog I am sure!

I did get my belly button pierced when I moved from Sydney to Melbourne, coincided with the cutting off all my hair and breaking up with a boy. So maybe the removal signals another transition in life.

Either way it is gone and my belly button is back to its natural unaccessorised state!

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the things you see

Posted on May 9, 2010 by | 3 Comments

Went for a little run today. It was the first time in a long time that I have pulled on the running shoes. I would like to say that I ran like a gazelle, grace personified in my lycra.

The reality sadly was quite a long way from this. A lot more huffy-puffy wobbliness but hey best to be out there than not?

As I have been swimming rather than running I had forgotten was how great it is to run about Westminster. Swimming is good – low impact, whole body blah blah but that black line at the bottom of the pool gets really boring after a while!  Westminster at the moment is pretty buzzy. There are helicopters in the sky and just about every news channel is camped somewhere nearby. I panted past the Tory camp on Milbank, the BBC tents in front of the Houses of Parliament, and took a little rest in front of 10 Downing Street. The only famous person I saw was someone in a flashy sports car with an orange tie….. However, in some way these sights were all a little bit expected.

The surprise was the 3 little Elephants sitting in the garden near the Queens Entrance into Parliament.

Sadly they weren’t of the real variety but they were quite sweet. It would seem that like the Cows and Kangaroos that have graced this metropolis, this month there is an invasion of Elephants. I believe highlighting the plight of Asian Elephant. So now that I am home (smelling slightly better and looking less like a crazy-panty lady),  I shall be looking for more of the 250 quadrupeds that are scattered about central London.

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ready-set-go

Posted on May 9, 2010 by | 1 Comment

Well…. it is all about to start. And I am really, really, really nervous!

Tomorrow I will get up and head to my new and whizzy job that will hopefully be fascinating, interesting and useful in terms of population health.

There is so much to think about in terms of preparation, all those emails I just scanned over the past few weeks need to be read. Not a good plan to screw up on the first day.

And as always there are all the other things to consider which are just major distractions but somehow easier to tackle. You know them – What should I wear? How long will it take on the District Line? Will people be friendly? Am I meant to have all the answers already? How do I make sure I don’t have an ugly ID badge for the next year?

Essential and great thoughts are occupying my mind.

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election fascination

Posted on May 7, 2010 by | Leave a comment

I have to confess to generally find Political Elections a bit dire. It always feels like a competition between middle aged men, who spend most of their time noting loudly, to anyone who will listen, why their opponents are just no good. Largely the 2010 UK Election has followed this pattern…… but suddenly…. it has become so much more interesting.

There is no clear winner. There is no definite loser. 

Politics just became really interesting. The leaders of all of the parties are going to have to develop skills of persuasion, negotiation and actually show some credibility in their leadership claims. Anyway, they are still counting and honestly it is quite gripping.

So fingers crossed that at some point there will be a winner declared and not wanting to be to melodramatic – hopefully it is the British population!

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talking turkey

Posted on May 4, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Just had a wonderful week dabbling in the delights of Turkey. It was only a dabble – a few days in Istanbul and a few on the Gallipoli Peninsula – but it was on the whole delightful!

Well, once you get over the men. Goodness. To have gone from a city where everyone ignores you, it is a major shock to find yourself somewhere that you are viewed as a target for carpet purchasing, scarf buying or even just for a little bit of ogling. Grim really.

Getting over this, though, Istanbul is quite amazing. A history that extends across many wars and a variety of people as diverse as the Arabs, Asians and Russians at one time of another. I have never actually been to an Islamic Country and so had not until last week slipped into a Mosque. The two famous sites in Istanbul are the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. Both are quite extraordinary. The decoration inside are mosaics which contribute to the airiness of the huge domes and arch ways. Quite unlike the austerity and heavy grey stone of the likes of Notre Dame or even St Pauls here in London.

Gallipoli was also amazing. It is about 5 hours out of Istanbul by bus. As an aside the buses in Turkey are also quite the experience – really plush, allocated seats and come equipped with a ‘host’ who trundles down the aisle with a nifty coffee cart! Not really what I was expecting and had to do my best nodding, pointing and smiling to get a cup of coffee. However, back to the Gallipoli peninsula. The Gallipoli battle in 1915 is the one that sits heavily in the history of Australians and New Zealanders. While it only lasted for 9months the fatalities were outrageous. One of the fallen was one of my cousins, so it felt important to visit his little patch of earth. As with many others his grave looks across a crystal blue sea, in a lawn edged by flowers. Completely impossible to imagine that the hills were covered in blood and deep in trenches and tunnels.

So I guess to sum it up. Turkey is quite the place of extremes and for this reason alone is a pretty cool place to visit!

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