Matilda the Musical

Matilda the Musical was great! Man oh man were we tired though. We slept through the interval. I have no idea how long it was. We had 25 pound seats. We originally bought Chicago tickets but then walked to the Matilda theatre and they had two tickets for the night, so we went and returned out Chicago tickets and bought the Matilda ones. We had seats in the very back row RIGHT up the top. We were practically looking directly down on them. It was pretty tricky to see, but we got most of it.

The purple is the stage.

We went on the Big Bus, which is one of the tour companies that take you around in a bus. We didn't get far before we bought tickets for Matilda. And went to M&M world. And had a look around. Today we'll go and do the bus the whole way round, properly.

me checking out the amazing array of different coloured M&M's

Ebony and an M&M

Me and an M&M

Ebony outside the spaghetti house -we had dinner here before we saw Matilda

Tomorrow we're off to the Czech Republic, where we'll stay for 3 nights and then move on to somewhere else. It's all a bit crammed in because we only have 2 weeks before Tegan gets here (less then 2 weeks actually). We'll prioritise. And we'll have internet in our next destination, which will make things much easier - going to McDonalds every time you need to do something is annoying. BUT very handy - without it, we'd have no internet! Okay, we could pay 15pounds PER DAY for internet access in our room - but geez, who wants to do that???

It's overcast today, not so nice. But we're doing the Big Bus look around town thing again, the whole way round (not on the open top today I'd say, it's rainy outside!). We'll go up on a rivercruise. And go to Harrods when we get back mid-January.

Happy anniversary mum and dad!! xoxoxox

Don't blow your nose while crossing the road

My flight from Sydney to Hong Kong wasn’t too bad except for some major turbulence and a weird person next to me on the plane. She had a hole in the bum of the seam of her pants, was pretty smelly and rang the help bell about 10 times to get really silly things. Someone was opening their window which annoyed her.

The next flight was a longer one – about 12.5hours. I was next to the window and a 3 year old boy whose name was a mixture of ‘rascal’ and ‘Oscar’ that started with V. Something like ‘Varscarl’. He was a pretty good kid, but that long on a plane is enough for anyone let alone a 3 year old. When he slept, he’d kick me incessantly because his little feet couldn’t find somewhere to go. So then I got his legs on my lap, and the kicking continued. When I did get to nap, he’d wake me up to talk to me and show me his plane. I don’t think it really mattered in the grand scheme of things– I’d be tired anyway!

London is so pretty at night! We arrived at about 5am and the sun didn’t come up til much later. Ebony got in at the same time and we organised ourselves with SIM cards and an Oyster card. We changed terminals to find a shower – they were a bit dodgy but made us feel so much better! We got on the train, then got on the wrong train and got back on the right one. Made our way to the hotel, dumped our bags and went out. Found some beautiful dresses, a great BIG supermarket filled with pre packaged foods and Hyde Park.

There are bikes for hire in the park – it’s so cool! We hired a couple of rode around for a while, stopped at the winter wonderland and then rode around again. I blew my nose while I was crossing the road and managed to get a jetstream of a bleeding nose. Annoying! And very unsafe! Blood spurting from your nose while navigating traffic….. Oops.

Our room was ready at 3pm and we crashed. Totally crashed. We managed to get out to buy some stuff for dinner but that was it. I’m going to have to go to sleep, it’s about 6pm. Ebony’s almost passed out on her bed.

Above is a photo of a super cool merry-go-round bar and the ice rink at the winter wonderland.

In HK airport

Quick update. I didn’t get the hydrogeo job. I wasn’t technical enough. I would have been hired on the spot for a community liaison position. Unfortunately that’s not what they’re after. Whatever, I didn’t want it anyway – it was just in Sydney.

Packing packing, visiting family in Mudgee – more packing.

Now we’re in Hong Kong airport, it’s 2am – I’m sleepy already and I’ve got the long leg of the journey to go. Ebony’s on a different flight but she’s loving doing it alone. We’ll get to London at 5am, can’t check in til 2pm. Bah. It’s going to suck. Nevermind.

Lots of people around. The last time I was in this airport was when the Bangkok airport was closed and Tegan, Nikki and I were on our way to Kenya. I’m glad Ebony and I are going somewhere a bit easier. Kenya was a total nightmare, even from the beginning.

I’ve drunk a few bottles of water since my arrival, must make a last pee stop before the plane – I made the mistake of drinking lots on the last flight and ended up standing in someone else’s piss and sitting on the toilet rim instead of the seat because I just assumed it was down. Which explains why it was covered in piss too. YUK. Haha. I don’t even think that’s funny. Sorry. It’s what happened. I’m more organised this time.

Will update more IN LONDON. Hells yes. I know I am fortunate because I make most things happen, but this one just kind of rained down on me – and it’s GREAT!

excuse me; I’m tired. Sorry. xxoxox

Job decisions

Since the last time I wrote, I’ve been to Sydney and back again for another job interview, we’ve had a really nice party on the back verandah, I’ve done a lot and not much at all. I’ve been to Gulgong to visit an old friend who’s got the most adorable little shop and made pork dumplings.

The interview was for a consultancy firm as a hydrogeologist. I was 40min late for the interview. Under different circumstances I would have been mortified. I only found out about the interview the day before. I left Mudgee at 11am and didn’t get to Sydney til 3:30pm. I was stuck in heavy rain, heavy fog and heavy traffic as well as road delays for roadworks. The interview went well. They all seem lovely and it would be really interesting to learn about hydrogeology. The office is in Chatswood, right above a gym which is perfect.

The interview was Friday afternoon so I stayed in Sydney so I didn’t have to battle Friday afternoon traffic as well as the rain and fog. I had delicious pizza and watched an interesting TV show called Suits. I will probably have to watch it all now because I am wondering what happens next.. stupid television shows. I hardly watch movies, but TV shows have me hooked.

I was up at 5:30am to drive back to Mudgee to help prepare for our party. All went well and we had a great night. There was some excessive drinking and throwing up towards the end of the night. Fortunately I was in bed by then.

Today I had to call another person about a job. That job that started the ball rolling on everything (finding new jobs, leaving Mongolia, going to Europe, finding a different career path) – in geology recruitment, based in Brisbane. I procrastinated all week because I knew I’d get talked in to doing it again. It is beyond a compliment when the owner/director contacts you after you’ve rejected their formal offer of employment, to offer a sweeter deal and tell you how much they want you.

So it’s back on the cards. An extra $20,000 and a formal NSW/QLD arrangement where I can spend some time north and some time south. Which then got me thinking. Maybe a car and a gym membership and rent too? Where do you start or stop? And then, why not take up the HR lady in Sydney of her offer to work full time in Sydney city in a similar role?

Tomorrow I’ll get a ‘spiced up’ job offer. To be honest, the first one was more drab than anything I could imagine so they won’t have to do much to jazz it up a little. I have to decide before I leave on Wednesday if I want it or not. It would also mean I couldn’t go to Sri Lanka in January. Mind you, by then I’m probably pushing my luck – having been to South Korea, Mongolia, Russia and Europe in one year.

I could go one step further and take a crazy geology role in the middle of no where on a fifo roster, earning a bazillion dollars to do gold exploration. There’s a lot of those jobs around at the moment. Geologists are very wanted people. Hopefully it lasts my career lifetime, because it’s a lot of fun, being this wanted. Though it makes decision making virtually impossible and no amount of listmaking helps the situation.

Photo time.

Taking Nate for a walk with Ebony	Picking flowers along Bells Line of Road with Ebony
Nate having his first swim with Nikki	Pissing down in our front yard
Party time on the back verandah
	Freshly baled hay
Dad and Nate	Pink Balloons (derh)