Saturday, August 13, 2005

Have You No Shame?

Big score tonight on the way back from watching the Aussies vs. New Zealand in the rugby match, watched at Coogee Bay Hotel. A functioning Dell Dimension with cordless mouse and keyboard. External speakers with subwoofer as well. Hard to compare the sense of reward between a dollar well earned and an item well scrounged.

This makes a fridge (300 dollar value if it were able to keep things cold - minor detail), a sofa bed (returned to the curb from whence it came - too crappy in good light), a bed frame (also returned - odd dimensions were somewhere between a queen and a double - a quobble); all found curbside, baby.

I'm conviced that with enough patience and a big enough station wagon, total nirvana is waiting to be recycled.

You should all expect 'slightly worn' Australian presents this year. It's not that we are hard up on cash, it just is a helluv a lot more fun. Is the dump still open?

posted by ncawthon at 10:04 PM

Qu... Qu... Qantas. Definitely Qantas.

As newly anointed residents of the Eastern Suburbs (or eBurbs as I call it) we've noticed the consistent amount of air traffic flying overhead. The largest airport in Oz is Kingsford Int'l, which is only a few suburbs Southwest of us. A vast majority of these plans are various shapes and sizes of the Qantas fleet (why the missing U in that name?) and occur from about 6am to 11pm. Surprisingly, there is not much noise (at least to someone with hearing aids) and it isn't very disturbing for the most part.

Another cool quirk is the way the Southern distributor freeway goes directly under the main runway of the airport. We've experienced this once and hope to get a pic of it next time, but when you're driving along and a 747 rolls above you on the overpass is a pretty surreal experience.

Being in the flight path does, however, remind us how far away we are. We hope that we will be know someone on an incoming flight soon.

Waves in Bronte looked fantastic this morning.

posted by ncawthon at 2:03 PM

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Put Your Hands Together For... Parliament!

Now that life has dipped its toe into somewhat more stable waters, we are able to wax philosophical about increasingly minute details, as if the presence (or lack thereof) of Horchata is a vital issue. Here's hoping that the little things help give you a better picture of Australian society as a whole.

Over the past few days, Australian parilament has been broadcast live on the radio. At times, there have been some good catfights (complete with a vocal 'meeee-oow' by one of the senior statesmen) over important issues such as the petrol-sniffing scourge that has affected thousands of Aboriginal youth in central oz. The stuffed shirts start getting all riled up and start grumbling at each other belligerently, followed by PM John Howard banging a gavel (presumed - could be a shoe, not sure) and yelling in thick Aussie, 'Ordah...Ordah!'. But by and large, it is a pretty monotonous experience. Listening to the Ayes vs. the Neahs over what occasion to break for lunch and the specialized merits of Irish Cream Liquer tariffs (at 3% currently) is not very compelling radio. Tear the roof off the sucka.

posted by ncawthon at 9:45 AM

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

It's A Long Way to the Shop, If You Wanna Sausage Roll

Well, the first night in our apartment was absolutely frigid. Being an old brick building, this place is going to be fantastic when the temperature climbs, but for now it is a meat locker. Hopefully, some furniture and TLC will warm it up. Sleeping on an inflatable (but increasingly deflated) camping mattress that reeked of processed plastic didn't help matters any.

Bronte itself is quaint, we picked one of several cafés this morning to give us our fix of Flat Whites (Latte) and Long Blacks (Espresso and water - closest you'll get to a cuppa joe). There is a 2-for-1 meal scheme at a café tonight that we're likely to hit up.

Other than the beach, cafés and bus stop, there is not much else to this little nook of coastline. The stores and market are up the road a few blocks, with the main shopping to be down in neighboring Bondi Junction or in the CBD (Central Business District).

I am currently on the 378 bus, my lifeline to school each morning, about an hour door-to-door. Living in paradise does has its' costs, but we'll get a much better exchange rate when it becomes beach weather - just as you are coming to stay!

Got some pictures of the flat to show you, but all of our computer gear is buried under a month's worth of dirty laundry. Judging by the festering sock fumes index, it might be a few days before a rescue attempt can be made.

posted by ncawthon at 9:00 AM