Back to work...and not even grumpy

I'm back at work today so I thought I should use that return to routine to slip back into the blogging saddle again.

Surprisingly, going back to work after about 11 days off did not put me in a bad mood. That's what happens when you like you job and your boss and co-workers, I suppose. I think it also has something to do with the fact Luke and I didn't go on our annual New Year road trip this year so my time off was less exciting, but more relaxing. (We do plan to to hit the road at some stage soonish). Perhaps my unusually upbeat mood is also related to only having to work two days this week. I might pull on the cranky pants next Monday.

As I walked to the tram stop this morning part of me thought it was actually nice to get back into a routine. It feels boring to say it - oh god, I'm not freewheeling and spontaneous! - but it's true. Being back at work at least forces me to get out of bed at a decent hour, leave the house and stay awake all day! I eat at regular times and I plan ahead for my snacks and lunches on workdays.

My break

I had a lovely six days with my mum. The sun shone, there was pavlova and gin n tonics, and we had a nice mix of relaxing and getting out and about.

We spent Christmas day with a group of mum's friends. It was the first time I'd met them and they were great fun. The afternoon featured games and singing. Pam, who hosted the lunch, has the cutest dog ever, Pippa. 

During the night times, Mum and I played three games of Scrabble and three games of cards (rummy, to be precise), but I only managed to win one of each, and then only just (I won the Scrabble game by two points!). I love Scrabble but I only ever play it with mum. Luke won't play with me because he thinks he's no good at it. 

Flowering eucalyptus in mum's garden

 We had scones at the quaint Tea and 

Treasures in Port Macquarie

On my final full day we drove up to the Wild Bull picnic ground in the Cobrabald State Forest, which was a picturesque (but bumpy) drive through farmland and forest. It was a hot day, so we cooled off in the swimming hole. It was fantastic. I swam right across the (not very wide river) and didn't let my mind wander to what might be in the depths where I couldn't see the bottom.

 Swimming hole selfie

 Down river (Wilson River)

 River views

 More river views

 On the way home

 Country road

 Country mail boxes

 Golden hour on the Hastings River at Wauchope

 Over mum's back fence

I ended having longer with mum than planned because we arrived at the airport for my flight home after check in had closed. Whoops. I managed to get a seat on a flight three hours later at no extra cost. We went killed the time by having breakfast beside the harbor. We sat on the balcony and I was thrilled with all the fish in the water below.

Fish!

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

Tiny yoyo biscuit (part of dessert at my work party) 

I won a door prize at my work Christmas party on Friday. Of all the 100+ people there, my name came out first! I scored a $150 voucher for one of George Calombaris' restaurants. I don't watch Masterchef, but I like Greek food. Food in general, really. Especially free food.  

I have only six or seven working days left in 2016! It's hard to believe it will be over so soon. It would be eight days, but I'm going into hospital on Wednesday to have my abnormal brain veiny thing treated and I'll be off work Thursday as well to recover (I might go in Friday if I'm able). Hopefully I will only be in hospital one night, for obvious reasons, but also because the food is abominable. Not just bad. Abominable. On the upside, more reading time for me! Oh, and possibly fewer migraines. 

We had cheese kranskies for dinner. SO cheesy. Yum.  

NaBloPoMo: day 28

I can't wear my earphones in my left ear at the moment because my piercing is tender. The left ear bud must have known it was going to be out of a job because it stopped working a few days ago. 

I walked half way home after work and the tram arrived just as I got to the tram stop. Perfect timing.

I have only 15 working days left for the year. I'm flying up to mum's for Christmas on 24 December and coming back on the 30th to spend New Year's Eve with Luke before returning to work on 4 January. We'll do our annual road trip later in January or February when he can take leave. We want to go back to the Blue Mountains since it was cold and wet with almost zero visibility when we passed through in January.  

   

Christmas countdown

McKillop Lane in the city

Threeeeee working days until the holidaaaaaays! It's been pretty crazy at work in the lead up to Christmas, so my time off will be well-earned. I'm pretty happy I won't be there on the last day for the worst of the insanity. 

I had a very pleasant picnic in the Treasury Gardens with my gal pals last night. Tasty treats, bubbles and lovely company on a nice balmy evening.  I walked home afterwards. 

Taken from the footbridge across the train tracks near the MCG

  

November: day 27

Big tree (and little tree)

I stood behind a young woman at traffic lights today and she had such a luxuriously thick plait that I wanted to reach out and run it through my hand. I didn't of course. #creepy

A saw a dog and his owner playing fetch in the park one my way to work and the dog was SO excited.  If I had to pick an image that captures the joy of anticipation, a dog waiting for his owner to throw a ball would be it.  

I thought I forgot my iPod this morning, but I found it in the inside pocket of my bag when I was on the tram (which is when I need it most).

It's the weekend and there's only 17 working days until I'm on holidays. 

November: day 6

My boss approved my Christmas leave today. I'm off work from 23 December and go back on January 11 - almost THREE WHOLE WEEKS! I can't wait. Luke and I are combining Christmas at my Mum's near Port Macquarie with our annual New Year's road trip. 

We'll take two days to get to Mum's travelling the major highways - it's about 12 hours away, although holiday traffic might slow us down. After spending some time with Mum, we'll meander our way back home taking the road less travelled. I don't know about Luke, but I haven't seen much of the country between Sydney and Port Macquarie - only what I saw zipping through it on the train once years ago and I remember it being very picturesque, so I'm keen for a closer look.  

Now that my leave has been approved, we can start thinking about which places to visit, but as is our usual way, we'll make most of it up as we go along.  Forty-eight days to go! 

Road trip: Day 1 - Melbourne to Warrnambool

I've taken my time getting around to writing about our road trip in early January. It's a long weekend for Australia Day, so I thought I should get off my butt (or, rather, on my butt) and blog. 

On our first day Luke and I drove along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) to Warrnambool. 

Iconic Bells Beach near Torquay. Not a great day for the beach 

(for us, I mean, not surfers) - it was very windy and a bit chilly

The Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet

It's a pretty little lighthouse

Although the sky was mostly grey, there were some sunny

 breaks which turned the shallows a beautiful aqua blue 

The lush rural hinterland near Apollo Bay...a dramatic

contrast to what was to come later in our trip

That's the ocean at Apollo Bay in the distance

Our next stop was at Cape Otway. There's a lighthouse there, but we thought the admission fee was a bit steep, so we walked to the little historic cemetery nearby instead.  In the late 1800s it was the burial place for about a dozen people mostly connected with the lighthouse (including several infants) and victims of drownings at sea. 

One of the graves is for a seaman who died in the Eric The Red shipwreck in 1880. The ship had sailed from New York en route to Melbourne carrying exhibits for the International Exhibition.

Another is for Thomas Monk who died in the Blanket Bay disaster. 

It reads: In memory of Albert Griffiths Chief Officer aged 33 years * Thomas Monks aged 34 years * Alexander Mathieson aged 23 years * Who lost their lives in the Blanket Bay disaster 21st March  1896 * Erected on the grave of Thomas Monk by their shipmates and friends

There were tracts of skeletal trees on the road between the GOR and Cape Otway. They were eerily beautiful and reminded me of the trees we saw on top of Lake Mountain in 2012. I don't think they were dead as some were sprouting leaves. I'm not sure what was going on with them. 

Some - the ones with more leaves - had koalas in them! 

 This was the first of several wildlife encounters on our trip

Mmmmm... gum leaves...munch munch munch

We stopped at the little town of Lavers Hill for sustenance and I was thrilled to find a packet of homestyle gluten-free melting moments biscuits. They were delicious too - far superior to ones I bought recently from the gourmet mecca of the David Jones food hall. 

Next up was Melba Gully, a patch of mossy, ferny, licheny, fungusy rainforest with some superb trees. 

 This one has a face, a spooky face

 Moss-covered tree

 Above tree, with tree fern

Fungus on a fallen log

Next up was the best-known stretch of the GOR - the bit with the Twelve Apostles and the other rock formations beyond.

 The Twelve Apostles

 The Apostles again

 The Loch Ard Gorge. The open wild Southern Ocean lies 
through that gap in the rocks 

The Loch Ard Gorge is my favourite. It's a secluded cove bound by high cliffs, with a little beach and a cave at the back with stalactites and stalacmites (below).  I like it because it doesn't attract anywhere near as many tourists as the Twelve Apostles and because when I was in grade six I won an essay competition in which I had to imagine I was one of the two survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck. My story was published in the local paper. I always think about that when I visit. 

The gorge is named after the ship because the survivors came ashore there. The rugged coast in this part of Victoria is known as the Shipwreck Coast because of the more than 600 sailing ships that came to grief there in the 1800s to early 1900s. 

The cave

 Further alone, the Bay of Martyrs in the golden hour

The sun setting over the Bay of Martyrs 

We continued on to Warrnambool, checked into our motel, managed to get a restaurant meal at 9.30 on a Monday night (Warrnambool is quite large, but still a country town). The restaurant also offered gluten-free options. I was impressed...even though I then chose to eat gluten because bread is delicious.  It's nice to have the option, y'know?

We both slept very well. 

Road tripping fun

Luke and I got home from our road trip yesterday. We had a fantastic time taking in the sights of Victoria and South Australia and communing with nature. We covered a lot of ground in our little hire car and had a lot of fun. I feel very relaxed and happy. 

I was a little sad when we pulled up in front of our flat Sunday afternoon, but oddly I didn't feel downhearted when I returned to work today. That's a good thing. 

I have many things to tell you and many photos to share, but I'm too weary to start writing now. Until I return, here's a photo of a snoozing koala at Cape Otway along the Great Ocean Road.  

Nine years ago today...

I've lived in my beloved South Yarra flat for nine years today. Nine years! It's the longest I've lived anywhere in my adult life. In some ways it feels as if the time has passed quickly, but when I think about all that's happened in that time - I've had four jobs and four relationships (counting the current ones); I lost my dad (four years ago next April); plus I finally went overseas and I've been again since then. 

This flat - our fabulous sunny flat, so close to the city and the Botanic gardens, with its lovely views and free heating - has been one of the few constants in my life and one of the key sources of my happiness over the years. I love this flat. I love living here. 

I found this on Pinterest today: 

I've clearly been unconsciously abiding by this rule. For Christmas I bought TJ - the boy who loves The Octopuppy - a book called The Boring Book. It's about something else I love - words.  

Three working days until holidays...

Not destroyed after all!

Happy news! The Bournville Cocoa sign in Armadale hasn't been destroyed! Turns out I was there before High Riser and the bit I thought was the ruined sign is actually part of the wall of the building that's been demolished. Hooray! The partial has knocked down after my visit, revealing the whole sign. I'm SO relieved! I will go back to take a photo of the complete sign soon...hopefully they don't actually destroy it or build the new wall before I get there.

The Octopuppy

I bought my quasi-nephew TJ a book called The Octopuppy for his birthday in September. I spent ages choosing the right one, and it's no surprise that I thought a book about an octopus was the right one. I chose well because his mum told me yesterday he loves it and gets his brother to read it to him "all the time". 

I was so taken with The Octopuppy that I later bought a copy for myself. It's cute and makes me chuckle, plus it has a lovely message. It's about a boy called Edgar who wants a dog, but he gets a very clever octopus called Jarvis instead. He tries to train Jarvis to be a dog, but things don't go to plan. When he commands Jarvis to play dead, this is what happens:

When Edgar tells Jarvis to sit...

...he thinks things are looking up (that's him jumping for joy with his head chopped off), but it's all to no avail... If you have a 3-5 year old (or a 40-something who likes octopuses) in your life, I recommend The Octopuppy. 

Only five working days until holidays. If this week so far is any indication, it's going to be a very busy five days. I smashed my to-do list today and left the office feeling pleased with myself. That doesn't happen as often as I'd like. 

A shop assistant at Dangerfield said my boots (the ones I bought recently on ASOS) were awesome. 

Day 21: An extra long holiday?

I'm quite possibly going to get more time off over Christmas than I originally expected - close to three weeks. THREE WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKS! 

As you can probably tell, I'm rather pleased about that, but I shouldn't book any holidays just yet in case it doesn't actually happen. My office was originally planning to close from 25 December to 5 January, giving me about 10 days off, but now the plan is to shut up shop from 20 December to 12 January. I'm hoping I'll be able to work up to 24 December because I don't have enough annual leave accrued to take paid leave for the entire period. I'll now have to sit tight for a bit while the partners review everyone's annual leave preferences to see if I get my three weeks. 

I'm going to be in Melbourne for Christmas Day this year, for the first time in more than 10 years. It will be my first Christmas Day with Luke and his family. 

Luke and I have vague plans for a road trip along the Great Ocean Road, and continuing along the coast to Adelaide, although given our plan is still only vague and other people have already booked their holiday accommodation, we might have to road trip to a less popular destination, or acquire a tent. 

I'm also excited about having plenty of free time in Melbourne. I love a staycation. I'm going to start writing a list of all the things I want to see and do.  

Sydney glee

Hello from Sydney!  Guess what l can see from my hotel room? A very large old sign on the neighbouring building! I'll take a photo tomorrow when the light is better.

I'm getting a little excited about going on a sign-spotting jaunt in the next few days.

I had a very pleasant taxi ride to the airport this morning. I was only going to go as far as Southern Cross station to catch the Skybus, but the taxi driver was having a slow day, and offered to take me the whole way for $40 - only a little more than l would have paid for taxi and Skybus, but waaaay less hassle.

The driver was chatty and polite. He's from Bangladesh and has lived in Australia 27 years. He kept calling me ma'am, which made me laugh, and when he dropped me off he apologised for talking too much.

I had almost an hour to spare after checking in. I wandered about the shops...so many bookshops... l told myself l wouldn't go in because l had enough reading material with me. And then l went in and bought a book. It's called Embracing the Ordinary: Lessons from the Champions  Every Day Life by Michael Foley.  Not prizes for guessing why that appealed to me.

I started reading Wild, Cheryl Strayed's memoir of her solo trek along the Pacific Crest Trail on the US west coast. So far, so good, though her account of her mother's death nearly had me blubbering on the plane,  because l've been through a similar experience and it brought back sad memories.

It's good to see my mum again. I last saw her in July, but didn't get to spend a lot of quality time together.

Off to bed for me. (I'm posting this from my phone, so the formatting will be sloppy.)

Below is Sydney Town Hall all tizzed up with a light show.

Hooray for holidays

Oh, frabjous joy! I'm on holidayeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! I was even able to leave work a couple of hours early after rushing like a madwoman to get everything done.  Sixteen blissful days of no work, here I come! 

What's that Skip? A plate, figs and bread

I was wandering around Chapel Street Bazaar yesterday afternoon when this caught my eye:

A SKIPPY PLATE! My brother and I had these exact melamine plates with Sonny and Skippy the Bush Kangaroo on them when we were young uns. I'm not sure what happened to them, but I'd long forgotten about them. There were two plates at the bazaar, in pretty good condition considering they're more than 30 years old.  Yes, I bought one.

According to the Skippy Wiki (hehe), Skippy was banned in Sweden because psychologists thought it would fool kids into believing animals could do things they can't actually do! It also says Skippy is still being aired in Iran. How delightfully odd. (Click here for a collection of Skippy-related videos, including the opening titles and a Fast Forward spoof.)

I bought two fresh figs at the green grocer yesterday. Yay! It's fig season again. I'm going to have them for dessert tonight. 

We bought a slab of Turkish bread from the kebab shop on Swan Street yesterday. It's so soft and light and delicious...and I might not have eaten anything else today apart from the rest of the slab. Oops.  

Only FIVE DAYS of work to go before I'm on holidays - or only 4.5 days if I'm lucky enough to leave early on Friday. Of course I have a packing list of stuff to take with me to Sydney and a rapidly expanding list of things to do when I'm back in Melbourne. 

Rest day, ice cream, counting down

I went to the gym yesterday, so I don't have to go today. Wooh. 

I stopped at Trampoline on the way home and had ice cream. Jaffa Smasher and Banoffie Pie. It's like having a little bit of the weekend during the week. 

There's 23 working days until I'm on holidays. 

Something to look forward to

I'm a giant!

I'm not sure of the original source, but a smart cookie once said happiness is having someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to.  

I have many somethings to look forward to at the moment. Luke and I are going to see The Black Keys at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on 25 October.  We had tickets to see them a couple of years ago, but the show was cancelled, so I feel like I have a double dose of anticipation building. It better not be a rainy night (it's an outdoor venue). 

Then I have an extra long weekend at the start of November. Luke and I are going to a wedding on the Friday and it's a public holiday in Melbourne on Tuesday for the Melbourne Cup, so I'm having Friday to Tuesday off work. On the Monday night, we're going to see Henry Wagons and the Unwelcome Company at the lovely Thornbury Theatre. Other than that, I will potter about at home. 

Then as I mentioned in a previous blog, I'm off to Sydney for Christmas and New Year's Eve with Mum. I've got a full two weeks off work, and will spend the rest of my break in Melbourne. I love a staycation. 

And then! My friend Bertie is getting married in February and just before that I'm off to the seaside at Sorrento for her hen's weekend. 

Oh, and The Horologicon by Mark Forsyth (the author of my beloved Etymologicon) comes out on 1 November. The start of November is going to be gleeful indeed.

Right now,  I'm looking forward to going to bed.