Three months already - almost

Time is absolutely flying past and our arrival almost three months ago is now just a distant memory and there has been quite a lot of water flowing under the proverbial bridge.

In the last update I promised a bit of information on the project. Rather than regurgitating what is already out there it is perhaps the easiest to just refer you to the following which gives you a flyover.

Almond tree in full bloom

The following is time lapsed video from two cameras which we have setup on the northern and southern abutments of the viaduct.

A good write up on the project can be found on our Client’s website page here

The pace of work is slowly starting to ramp up and over the next few months towards the year end it will be undergoing quite a change with work then progressing on all fronts and in all areas.

A month ago we went to the local Almond Blossom Festival which is held annually in August when the almond trees start to blossom. It is held in the picturesque little village of Willunga which is about a 30 minute drive from Seaford and well settled within the wine growing area.

Almond Festival

The festival takes place over three days with a big float parade on the Saturday morning (which we missed) and then a carnival on Saturday and Sunday. Generally some good family entertainment and quite interesting to see how the Aussies do it compared to other farm festivals that I have been at around the world. Nothing has yet beaten the Peruvian one in Huallamayo which went on for a whole week during which many litres of Pisco Sour was consumed.

I digress. The weather the past few weeks has been absolutely brilliant with horizon to horizon blue skies almost every day and all day. Spring is most definitely in the air and our garden is starting it’s transformation with the first rose blooms already open and the daffodils have gone. I think we just had a barmy weather bout which got nature all confused.

Willunga Main Street

Well we have almost settled in with only a few boxes left to be unpacked. Mainly all the junk which I continue to drag all over the world and then seriously contributed towards by my decision to build some decent book cases. The next time a mention building anything, will somebody please remind me that it takes time and that the timber faeries don’t do it. Anyway almost there and this weekend that should be done and then we can start to play tourist proper. Just in time for summer I think.

Victor Harbour Beach Boardwalk

It has not just been all work and no play. We have taken a day trip out; or should I say down, to Victor Harbour which is about an hour from us. Victor Harbour is steep in the whaling history of South Australia and is a real holiday town. We a great time wander about the ‘village’ and it will most definitely require numerous visits back. There is just too much to see in one day and the list currently contains (in no particular order);

• ·       Visit to local brewery
• ·         Train ride on the heritage line between Victor Harbour and Goolwa
• ·         Horse Drawn tram ride across the causeway across to Granite island with a walk around to see the magical little penguins which inhabit the island.
• ·         The Big Duck Boat Tour along rugged coastline.

Causeway to Granite Island

Hotel Victor Harbour Town Centre

We have seen our first herd of kangaroos and subsequently seen them quite close. The project cuts through a nature reserve and they are often seen when out on site and Karin has to be careful in the morning bringing me to work as they just suddenly decide to cross the road. Not much of an effort for them and the other morning a big red decided to cut across and it was 3 jumps and he was over the road and the fences on either side. Koalas, not yet and although one does see signs everywhere along the roads asking one to be careful; they being mainly active at night so we may have to go out on a more organised trip to see them in the wild.

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Clicking on the photograph should give you a larger view

Well that is all for now so take care and be safe.

The First Six Weeks

Hi folks.

Well six weeks have now passed since we first put our feet onto Australian soil. My how time has flown and it seems like just the other day we first touched down in Sydney before taking the connection across to Adelaide.

Apologies for getting an update placed sooner but it has been rather hectic. We spent the first three weeks in a local hotel (motor inn) while Karin did the big search for a suitable house. There is quite a bit on the market but being two very fussy old fogies it took some serious searching to find a place which we feel could live in and within which our two furry children would be happy. With the two “children” being boarded time was also quite important and we found a place with the planned three weeks. It is a nice little 3 bedroom with the sea 500m down the road and a comfortable 20 minute walk to site.

No walking at the moment as the mornings remain a bit nippy; although the days are giving us some brilliant sunshine and the most fantastic blue skies, but once the ‘real’ sunshine starts I can see that happening. Although with a seven o'clock start on site it would mean getting up that bit earlier, so perhaps it is going to end up with just the walk home and the local taxi service (Karin) will take me to work in the morning.

It is probably a bit early to make any real comments about living in Australia and we still have to make up our minds about what suits us. We have 2 major supermarket chains close being Coles and Woolworths. As per the rest of the world one does get the feeling the Woolworths is that touch more pricey although trolley for trolley the prices are probably the same and it really boils down to where you prefer to shop. For the last while we have been going to Coles in the Collonnades shopping centre which actually has both. The Collonnades is about twice the size of the Albany Mall and is quite hike around it. We did it one our first Saturday outing and it took about 2 hours to get from one end to the other and no we were not doing shoe shopping en-route.

Australia most definitely it not as green as NZ and it is taking some getting used to. Also the variety of scenery along a motorway is not quite what one is used to, although that said it does remind me a lot of Africa, just a lot cleaner, in that one minute you will be travelling some very well maintained sidewalks and next thing you will have the natural vegetation growing right up to the side of the road. I think of it as a countryside in the making and there is still some time to go.

Roads otherwise are fantastic and the arterials around the city are just that; arterials. You will not find a traffic light every 100m and traffic flows along at the post speed and you must be very careful if you are not doing the posted speed as this will get you some nasty looks. But that does making travelling into Adelaide an absolute pleasure and even though we are some 27 kilometres from the city centre it only takes about 40 minutes and the other night coming back from Ikea; which is near the airport, I timed my travelling beautifully and only had to stop once the whole way.

The furniture arrived after 4 weeks as promised and cleared through Bio-diversity quite smoothly except for a refurbished table which they considered had wood borer; I think that the kid that did the inspection wood not recognise a wood borer if it bit him in the backside. But you cannot fight bureaucracy and the cost of having it treated was about four times it value so that was just a right off. They did open every single box which was labelled garage, tools, garden, shoes and wood. So it very much depends on the packers as to how they label things as some wooden items came through easily simply because they were within boxes labels kitchen. Does make one think though! Anyway it all went well and even though we did receive some rubbish advice on what one could bring in, we could have brought a lot mores tuff across, it had all found a home somewhere. Although one or two items still need to be made and thankfully Adelaide has an Ikea so some of it has been quite easy. Why don’t people build houses with built in cupboards? We all need them.

On the job front all is going well and I have now got my feet properly settled in under the desk and have a mental picture of the project from north to south, and next time I will tell you a bit more about that and also about our 2 trips out. For obvious reasons, like moving; we have not yet done that much sightseeing.

Until a next time, take care.

Pictures in order;
1) The Beach at Port Noarlunga South. Estuary for the Onkaparinga River and close to where we live and the view we had from the hotel.
2) Our local beach which is just a 5 minute walk away
3) Beach at Glenelg which is a lovely little shopping precinct close to Adelaide CBD and it is famous for its Tram line down the main street.

Crossing the Tasman

On the Queen’s New Zealand Birthday I received the news that my work visa for Australia had been approved and that put a whole new set of wheels in motion.

These last two weeks in New Zealand has been absolutely hectic with trying to make arrangements movers, getting the children (two cats) boarded and prepped, selling off those things which cannot go to Australia and last but not least working my time out with NZTA.

As it usual, my new employer; Theiss Pty Ltd wanted me to start yesterday and thus one just had to go with the flow and fair play to them, they have arranged flights and temporary accommodation with a dash of speed as well, which meant that we could concentrate on getting the personal side sorted.

I must make some comment as to how smooth the visa process went. The whole process was done from the comfort of my desk chair except for a quick sojourn across to the radiologist for some chest x-rays, otherwise I had very little to do and it all happened electronically and they kept to the six weeks as being the forecasted period. A kudo for the Australian Immigration Authorities.

Going to Adelaide cold has something quite exciting about it and what we know of the place is what has been gained from scouting through websites and various blogs and forums. Notwithstanding the crazy nature by which this has all happened it would seem that Adelaide is quite an interesting place to live and we have some new and exciting adventures to undertake.

And then of course there is a small matter of language. Now having been across many continents I have experienced a wide variety of cultural colloquialisms or slang and there are some new ones which will have to be added to the personal dictionary;

Arvo

This is short for afternoon. 'Drop by this arvo,' means please come and visit this afternoon.

Snag

The raw type sausages usually cooked at a BBQ. They can be made of pork, beef or chicken.

Chook

The term chook means a chicken, usually a hen.

Loo or dunny

These are slang terms for toilet. Although I don’t see one using that in polite company

Fair dinkum

Honest, the truth. 'Fair dinkum?' when used as a question means, 'is it really true?'

To be crook

To be sick or ill. I wonder where the origin of this lies?

So it is off across the Ditch and a whole new adventure begins. 

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Take care wherever you are