sw’as

Hi to everyone! Thanks for the great news from home. Sarah and Pat, your emails are great and my RSHS staffroom pals, thanks for keeping me posted.

We now find ourselves in June, quite certain that our nephew or niece will be born this month. Jiselle has now finished up work and hopefully will have a bit of time to herself until she is a mum. We managed to catch a replay of the first, albeit disappointing State of Origin at a Walkabout pub. The UEFA cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow was on the same night and it ended in a most painful penalty shoot-out (at least for those who were interested). Let’s hope the second Origin is more worthwhile.

The second long weekend in May was last weekend and we managed to take advantage of the three days off. We decided with Bec and Aaron, two friends from Brisbane, to head north. After realising that our first preference, the Peak District was completely booked out, we suggested a trip to York, which had been one of our favourite places on our trip in 2004. Again, we borrowed the red beast, complete with Janet the Sat Nav, and drove north on the Saturday, stopping at a cute town called Southwell on the way.

We had a brief look around York on the evening – it wasn’t completely dark until 10:20pm – before heading to our hotel late that night. Aaron had spent Friday night flying back from Russia of all places, and was pretty well ready to get some shut eye. Unfortunately, we were greeted at our lovely converted manor house of a hotel with a lot of key cupboard opening and shutting – they had overbooked the hotel. Bec and Aaron found themselves in unfamiliar territory when the key they were given to “try out” opened the door to a room with other people’s things in it. There were a few more mishaps (getting charged twice for one room probably counts as a mishap. Simon leaving his mobile there would be another.) Overall though, it was a very good base to explore Yorkshire.

We were the lucky ones that weekend; for once the north had far better weather than London. On the Sunday we drove to Castle Howard, a very impressive home set amongst even more stunning gardens. It had a real ‘let’s go for a stroll unchaperoned while you court me’ feel to it. Acres of green lawns, several lakes, manicured gardens as well as a dense wood are all there to be explored. The castle remains in the Howard family, with not one but two of their ancestors having married Henry VIII. The current offspring are two little cherubs names Octavia and Merlin, so we’ll see how that goes. There was a fantastic local food fair on and we spent a sunny afternoon picnicking on the grounds eating cheese and bread and drinking Pimms.

After all that dairy and grog, I had a little snooze in the car and woke up as we began driving through the Yorkshire Moors, the setting for Wuthering Heights. It was amazing to wake up to, because it is so vastly different from the English countryside I’m used to. The Moors are breathtaking. They are black, high ridges, with steep cliffs and valleys below. They really are windswept and barren and threatening. The tourism officer told us to return in August when all the black we could see would be bright purple heather. It is tempting.

Whitby, birthplace of James Cook, on the north-eastern coast of England was a great find. We had heard there was a famous abbey there and decided to take a look. We really liked Whitby; it is a gorgeous seaside fishing town with winding streets and a typically alleged British beach. The abbey was superb, an ancient shell of a place with a green-grassed interior. We then drove back down the coast through Scarborough, which has the UK’s largest hotel from Scarborough’s 1950s heyday.

York the next day was excellent. It’s such a beautiful city. We climbed the three hundred steps to the top of York Minster, which is one of the largest Gothic churches in Europe. There were so many people about for the long weekend and the sunshine was glorious. It wouldn’t be a long weekend without a couple of trips to the pub. At the Guy Fawkes, we enjoyed one of the best pub meals ever as well as some friendly service with that brilliant Yorkshire accent.

Early in the week, I booked two tickets to a classical music concert at St Martins in the Field on Trafalgar Square. Simon’s dad used to go to concerts there all the time and we’ve been wanting to do the same for a long time. Unfortunately I got my nights wrong, and was invited with a group of a dozen girls to dinner and then to go see the Sex and the City movie. As much as I wanted to go to both, Simon was a trooper and went to Mozart by himself. Sex and the City is absolutely brilliant. The cinema was full and the atmosphere was really fun; there were heels and fancy dress everywhere. Loved it, loved it.

On Thursday, my friend Margaret messaged me to ask if I was a fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I told her I hadn’t much thought about it, but she certainly had and was super keen to see Bruce for her birthday. I’ve decided to be up for a variety of things and we both had a terrific night at the concert. It was at Emirates stadium, the new Arsenal ground, which is very impressive. Bruce is nuts; he is fifty-eight and played for two-and-a-half hours straight. The crowd was very different from what I’d expected; more uncle than aunty and lots of young people. A highlight was walking home with the other, oh, 60 thousand people to the tube station and noticing a drunken yob cradling a beer in one hand and a speaker out the window in the other. He managed to lead the amused crowd in a wobbly rendition of Born in the USA.

Back to work today to keep paying for our lifestyle. We have a couple of parties next weekend, and then we’ve booked the following Saturday and Sunday in Denmark. We’re starting to plan what we’ll get up to when the Elverys arrive in the first week of July. Love to all. To the Dowricks among you, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a Digest more; it was wonderful to read and have a giggle at my desk.

Love, Laura and Simon.

A few random observations this week: 1. There are a lot of young people being stabbed in this country. A lot. 2. Brits use the word ‘bespoke.’ A lot. 3. To all my soon-to-be-wed friends, there is a website being advertised over here: youbuymywedding.com. Really want a 20 thousand pound wedding? Can’t afford it? Oh, you still want one? Get your guests to fork out for the privilege. Classy.

Well, the year long adventure has officially begun. We’re on our first five hour stop over after an eight hour flight into Taipei. It was awesome to discover the free^[1] availability of internet, now all I need is power and I’ve got these five hours totally covered.

So…back to the waiting.

Update: 5:07 PM 29 December 2007 GMT

Frankfurt wasn’t as free flowing as Taipei with the Wi-Fi so it’s had to wait until now. We finally made it to London a mere 36 hours after we left Brisbane. I am oh, so tired and Laura has already crashed. She thinks I’m waking her up to go get some dinner, but I’m just going to let it slide and crawl into bed too.

I’m going to do my best to make it to a reasonable bed time type time, like 7 or 8 pm. This little update has taken all of 5 minutes, so I’ve now got to find something else that will take at least 1:55. I don’t think it will take that long, but I think Jailbreaking my iPod Touch is going to be next on the “Keep Simon Awake” menu.

Gone…

1. Well, kinda free. I’m about to have a search and see if I can find any sites that have been blocked by the local powers that be. [↩]

This afternoon^[1] was one of those afternoons when you step out of the office and everything is gorgeous. It’s as though that little box chock full of beautiful stuff which the world usually keeps mostly hidden away has just exploded and there’s beauty just dripping from everything.

Looking out my window and watching the clouds roll in from the south-west it strikes me that I don’t have an umbrella at work and I don’t particularly feel like getting wet. Normally storms make me very excited, but this isn’t really a storm, more just an afternoon shower. As the rain eased, I take my opportunity and dash out the door for my trip across the Goodwill Bridge to the bus station^[2].

The second I open the door I’m hit by the smell. The smell of rain on a warm afternoon has little comparison; I’m almost sure it’s my favourite smell. As I’m moving down the stairs as fast as I can I catch little glimpses of the outside world which is producing this wonderful smell. A couple walking down the stairs on their way home from a stressful day at uni (not likely); a few bike riders cruising along and quickly acquiring a soggy feeling between their arse cheeks and a trail of water up their backs; the paving, now illuminated by the water; the light spots of rain still falling on to the glass roof above; and the guy who hasn’t noticed any of this because he’s too engrossed in the music coming from his headphones and the magazine in his hands. I hit the bottom of the stairs and I’m now definitely free of the office and on my way home. The scene is glorious. The sky is light but filled with deep grey clouds and the trees and grass are a saturated green that only seems to appear after summer rain.

I already know that this is one of those days where it’s simply impossible to miss noticing the joys of life, and just as I’m nearing the start of the bridge my MP3 player on random spits out Hotel Song^[3] by Regina Spektor. I don’t think I could have chosen a song to better suit the scene^[4]. The river looks great this afternoon, much better than it often does. The bright sky is being reflected, and as I move out from under the freeway I look toward Southbank to see the sun, just hiding behind one of the deep clouds that are scattered around the sky. It giving the cloud a spectacular outer glow. Beams of sunlight can be seen descending on parts of south Brisbane and West End behind the lager office blocks and apartment buildings that now define the Southbank skyline and mostly obscure Mt Coot-tha.

Having taken in the view to the south-west I turn to my left to take a peek toward the Captain Cook Bridge^[5]. An intermittent, but vibrant, rainbow stretches across the sky from somewhere near the Story Bridge right over the river to somewhere south of The Gabba.

As I continue my journey across the bridge with the rain lightly falling on my face I start to take in some of the people in the scene. There are still bike riders cruising past with wet backs; people stopped to take photos of the sky; and a group of Asian tourists taking photos of themselves under the rainbow. Coming toward me I notice a girl from a distance who is wearing bunny ears. Thinking it unusual, I take a little more notice of her as she passes than I do with most. She seems kind of distracted and maybe a little sad or angry. She passes by without leaving me any clue as to why she wears the ears. It’s a strange encounter, but somehow it adds to the scene, makes it feel more dynamic, if that’s even possible.

Nearing the end of the bridge there is a wedding party having photos and it makes me think of Laura, who I’m hoping I catch in a half hour or so at the bus stop where she’s leaving me the car and heading into the city on the same bus I’ll be catching out. I get to Southbank and immediately notice the deep purple of the bougainvillea in full flower. Trying to take in as much of the scene as possible I almost run into part of it. She looks at me as though I’m a little crazy, but that’s ok, because I probably do look that way.

As I walk up the hill toward the end of Southbank, I’m getting close to the end of my stroll, where the beauty of the scene gives way to the overcrowded and polluted bus station. What the scene loses in beauty, it usually gains in interest as I get the chance to observe the many and varied people who call this city home. But there are still a couple more good feelings to help wind up this part of my journey home. As I wait to cross the road I look up just in time to see a kid jump right in the middle of a huge puddle, much to the disgust of his mother. The musical accompaniment to my journey is being nicely rounded out by The Panda Band with Fools ‘n’ Sharks. Just after crossing the road I catch a whiff of the jacaranda flowers and they look wonderful too. It makes me think of exams.

This is a quick profile of a tiny part of my city, Brisbane, on one of its better days. But most days are good in Brisbane, it’s just that the beauty doesn’t always hit you in the face, sometimes you have to remember to notice it.

1. Ok, so the clock has ticked over midnight, so it was actually yesterday afternoon. [↩]
2. Walking across the bridge in the morning is usually my favourite part of the day, and this morning was no exception. [↩]
3. I’ve just noticed people are tagging the song as ‘anti-folk’ whatever that is. [↩]
4. Except potentially, Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues [↩]
5. The north-east view isn’t usually quite as interesting, but from certain spots you can see the Kangaroo Point Cliffs. [↩]

Which means I totally forgot to wish two important people a happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Aidan and Happy Birthday Nathan!

Here is a picture I took in celebration:

Since I’m talking about birthdays I might as well do a wrap up of my birthday. The actual day was a pretty low key affair (I went to work) but I did play soccer (always a highlight) and I had the Easter long weekend to look forward to. We absolutely killed the opposition at soccer. Coming of the previous week where we knocked off the two top teams^[1]in mens we had another mens double header (back to back) as well as a mixed game. We are now well clear of the top of the table in mens.

Laura and Jiselle took it upon themselves to organise me a birthday party at the very last minute and got the grand total of six people there (including themselves) after buying food for 20. The six also included my Mum. I think they had hoped for a bit better turnout, but thanks anyway for trying, girls.

On Saturday evening my immediate family climbed the Story Bridge as part of my birthday present, which was pretty damn cool.

Sunday and Monday saw various activities mostly involving the computer from what I recall.

1. That is, aside from ourselves obviously. [↩]