Saturday, December 26, 2009

Holiday in NZ (Abridged)

Right, I guess I need to post a new blog post, as I’m sure that everyone is absolutely sick of reading my ramblings.

Graduation: This was the sole purpose of my visit to New Zealand during December, and it went successfully. I got the photo’s that my parents had been hanging out for since I begun university a long four years since. Being as unphotogenic and disliking of photographs as I am, I think that putting up with cameras being pointed at me for hours while I looked like a complete tosser wearing a gown, hood and funny looking hat, was a good effort. The nerves started to flow through me as my parents dispersed prior to the parade – I did not want to be doing that walk alone, but I did find Rhonwyn to walk with (as I hoped I would). It was good to receive congratulations from friends who were both graduating and spectating: thanks Katie, McKillop, Chantelle, Amie, and all others; it was well appreciated. Sitting in the auditorium waiting for my number to be called is tough work, and incredibly boring. The longer the wait was the more the butterflies fluttered, and I was just glad to keep my gaze on my toes as I walked across the stage (which seemed to take longer than the parade), and my gaze did not lift until I had reached my seat. Dunedin has not changed: people still drink, people still ditch you in town, and you leave two-third filled bottles of spirits at friends houses. The best you can hope for is to find somewhere to sleep – which I did, thanks to Ali, Hadley and Stefan – your hospitality and couch were greatly appreciated.

I was bussed home on Monday, and worked on Tues, Wed, and Thursday. It was good to receive the call asking me to come in and earn a weeks worth of wages – everyone appreciates a few hundred dollars and a free lunch. Work was still the same as it always has been – doing menial tasks that help the full time workers out, and make their jobs just that tiny bit easier. I hope that my aid was appreciated, but if not well I couldn’t have done a better job.

Finally Christmas: my origin travel plans a few weeks prior to my visit did not actually include Christmas, as I assumed I would have a job by then and would not want to take the time off. I am not a huge Christmas fan, so would quite happily have not celebrated, but am always up for a well cooked roast lunch, and mum always obliges on Christmas day, so I am thankful for that. In addition, dad always puts on a decent spread for breakfast, so after two large meals within 5 hours of each other I enjoyed the siesta during the afternoon, only wished it was longer. I feel bad for those who were working on Christmas, and would have loved to have cooked them a Christmas eve dinner, had she allowed it. However, this was not to be the case. Christmas day is always a long day, but being woken at 6:30am, plus not getting a real sleep and seeing the dawn (as it is now), and still needing to catch a nigh four hour flight, 30 minute bus, and 45 minute train (plus waiting time) before I can have a sleep makes the journey seem daunting. There is still over an hour for boarding, but I think I shall end this post – as there is nothing more I could possibly add without repeating myself.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

My Musings at 14000 Feet

It doesn’t take much to understand the size of a town, city, or even a country. However, to put the globe into perspective you must either travel. For instance, Dunedin can be traversed in less than an hour – Mosgiel to Palmerston takes less than the full sixty, as does North East Valley to Milton. Christchurch; New Zealand’s second largest city takes longer, and to travel through it takes a while longer, but to fly over it? A few minutes. However, when you start getting into the largest cities in the world; even “small” large cities like Melbourne, it becomes painfully clear how small New Zealand is in comparison. You could spend an entire day driving from Frankston to Werribee, and an hour is not uncommon for a 20km commute to work, yet Victorian think of this as normal. In New Zealand, a trip of an hour to travel 20 kilometers – let me put that in perspective: an hour from The Octagon in Dunedin to Mosgiel; from Timaru to Pleasant Point, or from Belfast into the centre of Christchurch; is unacceptable. Perhaps that is why New Zealand drivers are so impatient: there is no precedent for “traffic jams”, and as such anyone going slightly slower than the speed limit of 100; or indeed 10km/h over the speed limit; deserves to be overtaken at huge risk to both parties. Perhaps us Kiwi’s need to be more focussed on taking our time when commuting as opposed to the “bullet-a-gate” mentality we have instilled in us from the moment we get our Restricted licence.

Returning to the original thesis of this post, as New Zealanders, we have no sense of scale. In less than one day, one could travel from Invercargil to Auckland (if the Ferry was when expected), yet where will 16 hours of travelling get you from Melbourne? Well, it would take one to two hours to actually get out of the city, then perhaps, depending on the time of year, time of day, etc, a few hours stuck in traffic, and sixteen hour would perhaps get you as far as the outskirts of Sydney, if you’re lucky. Scale is not something we any perception of: a trip from Melbourne to Cobram took 3 hours to drive on the freeway, yet three hours would get you close to Christchurch from Dunedin, close to Greymouth from Christchurch, or close to Queenstown from Dunedin – the ability to surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon is quite a possible reckoning in the south island of New Zealand. I am currently over the Tasman Sea – a small sea between New Zealand and Australia – less than 2cm on an atlas – where the globe stretches a couple of A4 pages – and this flight will take me three hours – the only place outside Australia whereby you can reach within such a small timeframe from a major airport (of course I don’t consider Darwin a major airport, what are you smoking?)

I have bought this up time and time again, but it seems to never get old, so I shall bring it up again: why is there no “decent” public transport in New Zealand? We have no metropolitan trains, no regional trains, a very poor bus system (and only in selected areas), and when you do find a piece of pubic transport to sink your teeth into, you find it infested with old people who take up 4 seats with their shopping, trolly, canes, mobility scooters, and the like. You then get on, and get asked to pay a large fare for the displeasure of travelling on such a craft – something which most people will forget – and go and buy a bomb of a car the very same day. The more people there are fed up with the public transport system there are, the more vehicles that are on the road, carrying people (usually just a singular person) to a destination just around the corner – simply because it’s too much effort to walk to McDonalds or the Fish and Chip shop – so not only are we becoming increasingly lazy, but also more and more unhealthy. Last night I had Fish and Chips for dinner – and for one piece of fish and a minimum helping (and I mean minimum – it was one handful (if that)), which cost me nearly $10. The same meal would cost me under $3 in Dunedin, and $4 i5 in a smaller NZ town (such as Timaru). Now, for $10, I could have purchased a more healthy meal – such as a subway sandwich or salad, a Turkish wrap or platter, or some Asian food – all of which price at $6-$9. However, they are priced at $12-$15 in NZ, and with the low cost of Fish and Chips – for a struggling family or individual, I know what I would buy – and then drive to pick up from 3 houses down the road.

Another quarrel I have is the insane price of “good for you” thirst quenchers: yes, water and fruit juice. Today, in the plane, I looked at the menu – water and fruit juice were $4.50, whereas coke/sprite and solo were $3, that is just poor – and quite possibly the reason why I am currently needing $9,000 worth of dental work. It goes without saying that aircraft are incredibly expensive for purchasing food and drink, but the story is the same wherever you go (with the exception of South Yarra train station, where they sell water for $1); water is more expensive than soda. In addition to this, the patronage of soda in cans (especially large cans) implores the consumption of the entire can at once. This just doesn’t follow with me, as, especially with sod, drinking the whole lot in one sitting is not possible – so you end up faced with a difficult decision: throw the rest of it away once you’ve had that first mouthful and tasted the sweetness and had your thirst quenched, or continue to drink it unnecessary, and put more sugar, acid, and caffeine into your body. I’m sure that Starvin’ Marvin from Ethiopia would love that choice, and would not throw it away, but share it among his brethren – an option we don’t have because of this “super disease” known as Meningitis.

When will us “first world “ country inhabitants stop worrying about such petty things? As soon as a bee stings little Johnny, he is instantly wrapped in bubble wrap, kept inside, and sprayed with “cooling” mist so he doesn’t hurt. From that moment on, Johnny is never allowed to go outside without appropriate footwear ever again – jandals are not considered appropriate, so you end up with a generation of children growing up never being stung by a bee, never breaking their bones (because it is un-PC to allow children to jump unsupervised on a trampoline, or to play on monkey bars), and fun activities such as diving and bombing into a pool are prohibited, for what? “Safety” it is more the divine rule of the courts – where injury is the responsibility of the person who owns the property. Like hell it is! If someone is running next to a pool, slips and breaks their arm, how the hell is that the fault of the pool companies fault? And even if it were (as if they allowed slippery moss and mildew to grow beside the pool and then had bullies pushing children onto the concrete), why should they be forced to pay such astronomical sums to the parents? If their son or daughter breaks an arm, or leg, it will heal! They do not deserve a multi-million dollar payout! The upshot to this is that clumsy (which is often synonymous with dumb) people get rich out of hurting themselves – what an unfair world we live in – what is next?

Anyway, enough ranting for now, I believe that we are about to descend into Christchurch. Until next time…

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Wheelings and Dealings

Ever wonder why no one ever goes to Frankston unless they live there? I always did, it never seemed like a bad place; sure the people seemed a little strange, but then so do people from South Dunedin. It wasn't until I witnessed a domestic on the main street that I realised what the fuss was all about. Full on arm flailing, screaming, crying - was an interesting scene - luckily there were police and whatnot around, enjoying the view, so I needed not actually care. Strange place, ended up back on the train and left that shit hole. Returned there today; alcohol was nearly cheaper than water at $4.50 a scotch (as opposed to $3 a water at the 7-11), so drank my fill, and returned home to some taco's, fairly drunk. Went to the blues club tonight, interesting experience, mostly cougars on the prowl, but then again what else do you expect in Mentone?

Karnivool was brilliant on Thursday, though I swear that Ian Kenny is strange; either on drugs, drunk, or extremely eccentric. Incredible performer though, whatever he is - perfect pitch and tone, didn't miss a note the entire concert; no dance move too crazy, no head bop too out of control, no look too strange. The concert encompassed most of the album Sound Awake, though also a few songs from Themata, so Rhonwyn you need not be too jealous - you wouldn't've known much!

The other quarrel I have this week is the switching of Connex to Metro trains; Metro promising more reliable, quick, and better services. So far, I swear there have been less trains, more late, and more cancelled. The funniest thing though, being on a train, and people who expect the train to stop at their station - and it doesn't because "it is running late" and doesn't want to be classified as "late" (i.e. more than 4:59 overdue to Flinders St.), so they just skip stations so they don't have to record it - bit retarded if you ask me (though noone has). However, no matter how bad the public transportation system is, I don't have a timeframe on anywhere I have to go, so it doesn't matter if I'm late (except when they don't run promised trains - and I have to catch a $60 taxi back to Mentone), and when you're used to NO transport, e.g. in NZ, then anything (even 15 mins late) is better!

Finally, I will leave you with the lyrics from my favourite Karnivool song: New Day - a song about new beginnings, a new life, and starting over (and listen at: http://www.myspace.com/karnivool):

How did they find me?
How did they know? This
misconception
of fate
I'm about to let go

Awake in a new light, I'm
Alone in this room
Heavy at heart, it
may be a lie
You will not see me

It's a new day
(Why did they
follow me home?)
it's a new day

One More
Step, it's
Here waiting for you, now Go
Slow, take your time

Leave No Mark
You lost your way
I hope you're watching me

One More
Step, it's
Here waiting for you, now Go
Slow, take your time

Celebrating
For the one so free
You lost your way
No-one held you
back from me

How do you all Speak
With a lying tongue?
How do we all Sleep
With a dying sun?

Sit down
Lighten your own
This storm is coming
You should stay home
But I feel warm

Hey, let's get
lost in the
crowd, while
searching for
something worth
holding
Hey, let's get
still lost in the crowd
I'll show you
so much more
Much more
So much more
So much more

Are we waiting?
For the savior?
Someone to heal this
Or erase us

How did they find me?
How did they know? This
misconception
of fate
I'm about to let go

Awake in a new light, I'm
Alone in this room
Heavy at heart, it
may be a lie
You will not see me

It's a new day
it's a new day
it's a new day

Are we waiting?
For the savior?
I'm so sick of waiting
I've been waiting
my whole life

This is a new day
This is a new day
This is a new day

Sunday, November 29, 2009

A Weekend in Northern Victoria

Sunday 29 November

Hi guys,
Just got back from Northern Victoria (or Southern NSW - depending on what time it was) spending the weekend with Chris Brady. Was a long trip on Saturday morning - left my place at 8:30am, and arrived in Lilydale just after 11 - then straight on to Chris' parents place in the country right at the top of Victoria. Had a few drinks - I bought some 42 below to the table, Chris bought some home-made Scotch - watched the cricket, played some darts, had some pizza from Tocumwal for dinner, and some more drinks. Chris's friends Michael and James came around, and we played killer darts for about 3 hours (it was really that fun) - to which somehow I managed to win 2/4 games and get 2nd the one of the others. Rained very heavily all night - a few inches of water carpeted the ground when I woke at 8... after spending the night on the couch - rather cramped, but didn't really want to go through the rain to go inside and use an actual bed... Who could be bothered, eh?

Was a great weekend - Chris is a good guy - thanks to my cousin for the introduction - and the stories I heard about her from his friends, was very entertaining.

Out.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Storms, Shows and Sunshine

Friday 27 November
Hi everyone,

As you may or may not have heard Victoria was hit by a brief and brutal storm yesterday afternoon. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen. Dad and I were having a coffee - was nice and sunny and warm outside, then went downstairs to JB Hi-Fi (which is in a cellar, so windowless). We would have been down there approx 20 mins, and when we came to the top of the escalator, it was dark; like darker than it was when Dad and I went to the airport at 6am this morning... and it was 2 in the afternoon. We took off back to the hotel, and couldn't go into our room (as housekeeping were fluffing our pillows, or some shit), so went upstairs and watched the storm from the pool/spa room. We noticed a sign in the elevator which told us of a fire drill occurring in a few minutes, so we decided to just get out of there - the rain had subsided. It wasn't until we got to Footscray, had been shopping (and ticket checked), that we noticed how destructive the storm had been. Train after train was cancelled, V-Lines were showing up everywhere, and we were hurried onto the next train and taken to the city - which was lucky since we had a show in an hour...

Strassman, a ventriloquist, was doing a live show last night, and we had tickets. Oh my it was funny, right from the outset. Ted-E and Chuck were funny as always, some of his other characters were a bit lame - especially his stupid female robot puppet thing, but there were so many laughs. If you happen to be able to go to this show in the future, I recommend it - totally worth the $50 or whatever it was.

As I eluded to earlier, I took dad to the airport this morning; early this morning. Since then, I have been alone in the big wide city. Its a strange feeling - both nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. I got a few things done, including picking up my Karnivool tickets from the city (which was a bad idea - as I also spent $100 on CDs...) I went to a laundromat around the corner and did my washing (which didn't cost all that much really). Had a really good chinese meal for lunch - never seen anything like it, and only $8 (will get a photo up soon).

Until next time, peace out.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Another Busy Day

Wednesday 25 November

Hi all, another really busy day. We started by having a big breakfast at one of the street brekkie bars on Swanston street, before heading off to deliver the rest of my stuff to my flat. Was a bit of a haul, but not as long as some of the other days! Dad had a little panic as he lost his passport this morning, was quite worrying as we couldn't find it anywhere in the room. Had a good long chat with my flatmate Elliot, who I had briefly met the other day, but was nice to get to know him a little better. I decided I needed a printer, so we went to southlands, and again, another carry of a large object, but I hope that it all was worth it.

For dinner, we decided to go out to Brighton, as dad wanted to see the changing boxes (as they're an icon). We found them, but didn't really want to eat anything out there - it all looked mighty expensive, so we got in a train and got off at South Yarra, and walked down the main street of Toorak (not much cheaper, I know!) We stumbled on this quaint authentic 60s diner, which served some amazing hamburgers and a Dr. Pepper. A good find. Another busy day, but the days of dad being here and all my connections are slowly slipping away. Will be an interesting weekend - Chris has asked me to come and drink with him in Lilydale - that will be interesting - especially since I have to train back to Richmond before going to the end of another line. Out.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Busiest Day so Far!

Tuesday 24 November

A lot was accomplished today. Went to Chadstone this morning, people always rave about how large this shopping centre is, but I just don't see it. I mean, it's big and everything, but it doesn't feel supersized. What was interesting (and disturbing) was the exhibition of handbags. Now, I know that us males aren't supposed to understand handbags, and I also know that we have no appreciation of style; but just what on earth do these Gucci and Louis Vuitton bags need four suited, armed, and scary-looking security guards defending them? After fighting a losing battle with Virgin Mobile in Swanston St, I decided to try the one in Chadstone whilst there. The guy who served me must've been new, as he didn't even ask me for ID (which was one of the main problems with the one in Swanston St.). That done, and no other shipping needs to be satisfied, we retired to the city, then onwards to St. Kilda for lunch.

And my, what a gorgeous day out on the waterfront. The place we chose to eat offered some fantastic meals, albeit slightly more expensive than was expected. We enjoyed a meal while watching a huge ship slowly float into Port Phillip, which I must say is an amazingly huge stretch of water. You look at it on the map, and it looks just like a small body of water. However, in practice (and I noticed this especially when travelling to Frankston the other day), you can't see across it!

After lunch, we headed off to find a desk for my room. Rhonwyn said that Ikea would be a good place to start, and oh my was she right. The place was mammoth. I haven't seen anything like it in my life. The showroom (unpictured) was a maze of little mock rooms: kitchens, lounges, studies, bedrooms, etc. We found a desk I wanted and proceeded to go and actually pick it up from the warehouse. And that was bigger again. It was just aisles and aisles of boxes with kitsets in them. After purchasing, we decided to carry (thats right, carry) it to a tram stop, then through Parliament station, onto a train, and through to Mentone, before carrying it further to my place. The arms and back hurt for a while after that!

Having received a phonecall from Virgin earlier in the day (stating that they are moronic, and I did need to bring in some ID), we hopped on a bus and headed for Chadstone once again. an 8km journey never seemed so long. There was no airconditioning in the bus, and it was sweltering. The "cool" air outside (of 28 degrees) was incredible when we finally stepped off at Chadstone 45 minutes later. The Virgin salesperson had also overcharged me, so I was told, so not only did they not even look at my ID (when they asked for 100 points, I gave them 2 of the same bank cards...), but I got my dinner for free too; which was some quite tasty nachos.

The best news came about lunchtime, however - I passed ACCT310. I now qualify forgraduation. I have my degree!

Overall, a very busy (and hot) day. Glad we filled it in though - and we got most of the things sorted that I needed to. Tomorrow we have to go to the flat and wait... and wait... and wait for the bed to show up. Here is hoping they won't be too late. Out.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

My First Few Days in Melbourne

Friday 20 November
After spending Thursday early morning hurrying around finding all my things and shoving them into a suitcase, I remained awake until the following morning when my Dad and I left Timaru for Christchurch to catch a 7am flight. Being prompt individuals, we ensured we were at the airport three and a half hours before departure. However, we were lucky enough to be able to check our bags in and go upstairs and get a coffee - if only to stay awake until 7. Just after 7 we left NZ, and into the air, the flight attendants called for assistance from any medical personnel on board. An hour into the flight, we were put on standby - and told we may be asked to return to Christchurch. After we crossed the halfway point, we breathed a sigh of relief as we knew we weren't returning to Christchurch.

We hopped on a train and spent the afternoon in Ormond, looking around the suburb where I had lined up a flat interview, but soon afterwards, we discovered that it would not occur. We sidled back into the city in a sweltering heat, had showers, and headed down to the docklands for a meal before Pearl Jam.
Pearl Jam was insane. It started with an impressive performance from Liam Finn, topped up with some incredible beats from Ben Harper, of whom I wasn't actually expecting much. When he invited Eddie out on stage during his set to perform a duet of Under Pressure, it boosted the expectations of the evening. As people poured into the stadium, Pearl Jam came on, and performed for nearly 1:45 before disappearing for a short (and I mean short) break. They returned and played for a further hour before concluding their set. As usual, the crowd begged for an encore, and back they came, bringing Ben Harper with, and performing a 4 song encore. By this time I was incredibly tired - been up for nearly 36 hours at this point. The cheeky sods in the mosh pit then demanded a second encore, which was adhered to, this time with Liam Finn accompanying them. They played an excellent version of Throw Your Arms Around Me. After this 6 song encore, we disappeared home and hit the hay.


Saturday 21 November:
Today we had arranged a meeting to look through a flat in Mentone, which is a good 45 minute train ride from the city. The suburb was very clean and pleasant, and automatically felt like a great place. The current tenant was a nice bloke who seems to be easy going and friendly; the flat was as expected, and fairly well priced. I paid a bond and took a set of keys, signing the accompanying documentation - I have somewhere to live! We went up a couple of stops and found an enormous mall (Southlands Shopping Centre), and had a poke around there, which filled in the day. Walking back to the train station, we came across a bed sales outlet, and went in to check it out. Found a comfortable queen sized bed, with a base, for $800 - down from $1600, and what would be worth over $2k in NZ. Ordered it on the spot, and will get it delivered next week. Went to see 2012 at the cinema at the Crown - quite disappointing - great SFX, but perhaps too much; made the story so unbelievable. Kate Roger from 3 News was right - if you see this movie, leave your brain at the door.

Sunday 22 November:
Didn't do too much today, just chilled out and went for a look around some clothes shops in Highpoint near Footscray. Good to get a bunch of new clothes, makes me feel like a new person. Pity the weather was so crap though, was pissing down - and it just so happened that I wasn't wearing very warm clothes. Luckily we caught our tram and connecting train without much delay. Spent the afternoon poking through Myers, JB Hi-Fi, and other assorted stores. Went to iMax to see a coral documentary narrated by Jim Carey on the humongosaurus 7 storey-high screen. Was insane.