FrenChic Has The Travel Bug

Taking it easy

2011-10-27T17:57:00.000+11:00

I was happy to have a go in the hammock - very peaceful swaying in the breeze but you don't want to get out too fast!


Who'd want to be anywhere else???

We also had told the kids that the last time we were here (more than 20 years ago - really???) our bure was inhabited by geckos on the walls and frogs in the bathroom (and a constant colony of ants proceeding through daily). They believed us when Caitlin found one on the phone in our room - what a cute little guy!

The kids also wanted to try scuba diving - there were free lessons in the pool . . .

while I decided to try the spa for a French (of course) manicure :-D

So you have to get your hair beaded don't you?

And you HAVE to have pina colada in the pool??? Aw - really? Actually this one was in the bar while I was quietly reading and enjoying the breeze. Tough huh? Oh by the way - the one I had in the jet pool (spa) was not as fancy as this. And the experience was marred by some uncouth Aussies who didn't want the jets on in the spa (why not go in the regular pool knuckle-heads!)and had their under 6yo in there who was splashing and being a typical 6yo (NB sign on the jet pool - no children under 6yo allowed in jet pool). And there was not an adult male without tattoos by the swim up pool bar. I do not admit to being an Aussie these days!!!

Resort Living

2011-10-25T13:22:00.002+11:00

Most of us slept quite a bit through the trip over from LAX to Nadi airport so we didn't feel really too washed out on arrival. After a quick trip through customs (we didn't have fruit in our luggage this time) our driver was ready and waiting for us. Harry drove quite slowly for the whole 90 minutes (national maximum speed is 80km/hr) as the Queen's Highway obviously had not seen HM visit recently and so was in quite bad shape.

The roads were lined by people waiting for buses to go to school or to work and some of them waved and smiled which was true to the descriptions we had read and heard that Fijians are amongst the most friendly in the world. Unfortunately being friendly does not mean you have road sense - several times people just stepped into the road without looking (a bit like sacred cows I guess) but drivers didn't seem to be overly worried, just tooting and going around or slowing down.

Upon arrival at the resort (which was surrounded on three sides by jungle and small free-holdings and the fourth by the sea) we were greeted by the jovial Charlie who directed us to the Reception area. I love hotels that have no doors or windows, but are open to the elements - mostly warm ones though :)

After some argy-bargy about who was sleeping in which bed/room, we went off to have second breakfast and explore.

Somehow we got an upgrade to an "oceanview" - not too shabby

the kids enjoyed pools of both kinds!

The down-side to staying in a resort is that you are dependent on them for all food drink and activities - and most don't seem to be complimentary. Luckily there were several little entrepreneurial shack-stores either side of the boundary on the beach where we could pick up water and snacks for a smaller cost. They offer a diversity of items, from hair-beading to horse-riding, bottled water to massage but the resort clearly states demarcation and denies all affiliation with them - just in case.

Walking Amongst The Stars

2011-10-24T15:07:00.000+11:00

So of course I had totake daggy photos of the Hollywood sign, and the stars on the pavement. Whatwas quite cool to me was the Hollywood& Vine sign on the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Vine St (I believe). Iam glad I will never see any of those people again – it’s embarrassing takingtouristy photos!

Bob Hope - RIP

I played Zelda until 2am one morning - it's very addictive!

Would you believe thatthe tunes and music from the N64 game Legendof Zelda (something I was hooked on years ago) has now been transposed intoa symphony??? That is something very bizarre. It was playing at a very ornatelyceilinged theatre (quite old from what I could see) that I can’t remember thename of. Will do some more homework to jog my memory.

We decided to drive upthrough Griffith Park to get a bird’s eye view of Downtown LA; we could see theobservatory but the morning smog/fog was hanging heavy over the skyline and itwas only in ghostly evidence.

We rounded the day offwith adrive around the Hollywood Hills (woo hoo), Pasadena (wow) and finishedoff with dinner with Mike, Margie, Mark and Sandy in an Argentinian restaurantcalled 1810 – sangria – uh huh! Oooh, LA is not the only thing that's a bit foggy . . .

Off to the airport forour overnight flight to Fiji – bring the sunshine on.

Midway

2011-10-24T15:01:00.001+11:00

Yes – I braved drivingon the wrong side of the road – the right side that is . . . and not a big dealreally, it’s a bit like putting mascara on with your left hand (when you’reright-handed). I did however, restrict my driving expeditions to the town of Temecula& environs – population approximately 300,000 – baby steps.

We attended a dinnerand dance at ‘The Stone House’ attached to the golf club/resort and it was agreat setting, outside under the stars with some patio heaters to keep us warmif we got too far from the dance floor. I am sorry I didn’t capture a photo ofthe lady wearing her scootin’ boots flashing occasionally from under her longred dress – she came prepared to be comfortable and was able to get down whenothers were literally tottering about on VERY high heels!

Tony & I took aday to go to San Diego and he was so excited to find without any trouble atall, the aircraft carrier Midway moored permanently there as a museum. It goeswithout saying we did the tour of the ship (but not until after I was fortifiedwith peanut butter pretzels – we had skipped/missed lunch). I think if I hadbeen the captain or the admiral I may have survived – their quarters werealmost habitable. I am sure regular sailors had an uncomfortable time of it asthere were no exhibits of crew quarters. The best statistic we found out wasthat the plans and drawings alone, took seven months to complete and weighednine tonnes!!! (I thought he said 90 tonnes, but Tony assures me it was onlynine). Oh, the other stat was that there are four acres of decking. It was big.

Walk Ten Paces

2011-10-19T02:57:00.002+11:00

On Sunday lst, I visited Old Town Temecula (est 1859) with Vicki - and it had the feel that instead of cars - or chopper bikes - there should have been two cowboys facing off down the street.

We started with lunch in Rosita's Cafe (top photo), which served fast meals and very sweet margaritas but there was no end of embarrassment when one of us tried to negotiate two trays, stairs and a door blowing in the wind. Yup - meal slid off the tray and splooshed right to the bottom of the stairs, followed by one of the margaritas. The establishment were very kind and replaced both at no charge, and cleaned up the mess real fast.

You can see in the photo above in the bottom right area, what looks like smoke - it's actually very fine mist being sprayed out from the eaves of this corner cafe/restaurant. There were several and it made for a very refreshing walk down the street as it's quite warm still in these parts.

So apparently there is some French heritage in the area, and the obsession with all things a la francais has encroached even into this little enclave. My favourite shop there (well there were two) was Vintage Begonia (and which blog I am now a follower of) and the ladies in there are just lovely! The other store bills itself as 'outrageously feminine' and is right "Up Your Alley"! It was - for proof, see bottom photo. I could not leave it in the store - it had to come home with me :)

I never saw a truer truism

Yes - really.

It's the Wine Talking . . .

2011-10-18T02:18:00.001+11:00

Our first foray into the wine country was to Leonesse Winery with Shane and Michelle (sans enfants) where we enjoyed some delicious light lunch and a white merlot (???) which was pink. But it was light and refreshing too, so it went down a treat as the day was quite warm (as all days have been - between 80-100F).

My only suggestion for improvement was that they put the wine in a cooler so we're not tempted to drink it like water before it goes warm (yuck). However, I am not ashamed to admit that I had to fish an ice cube out of my water glass for the second glass of wine.

They were obviously happy to cash in on any weddings that might occur in the vicinity and had strategically placed a white pergola on the edge of a bluff framing part of the spectacular Santa Rosa Mountains.

We should have framed the picture better for a view of how a wedding would look, but you get the idea.

Please Take Your Shoes Off!

2011-10-18T01:47:00.000+11:00

The sign on the door says "Upon entry, please take your shoes off" so we have the typical-of-home scenario of 20 shoes gracing the front entry. I think they're worried the timber-look floors will be damaged by stiletto heels or something. But Tony left those at home, and brought only flat shoes this time. Just kidding.

Our accommodation is quite nice, quite spacious and has a plasma TV in every room, including the garage where the pool table lives. Oh, the little room with the baby grand does not have a TV. . .

Tony says we're in different time zones in our bed. My only complaint is there are no shutters/blinds or blockout curtains on our bedroom window - we have to put our jammies on in the dark, or sprint from the bathroom (which is quite palatial) and leap under the covers, although our neighbours have not been caught once peeking over the fence yet.

Cody is not sure if the living room is comfortable?!

The kitchen is not quite big enough either . . .

No TV in the music room - oh no!


Er, not really my style, but at least it's comfy.

Actually, the yellow colour is not my thing either. But it works in this house overall I guess. The owners have three guesthouses and they bounce between the three depending on which one is occupied. This house (called The Firehouse) has a casita (1) which they stay in if they need to do upkeep or yard work here while it's occupied by visitors like us.

It's quite disconcerting however, when you're sitting around the outside table having a meal or drinks, and you finish up and go inside, and instantly there's a man mowing the lawn out there - like he's got a security camera watching what's going on.

(1) From Yahoo- Top answer: It's most likely a small guest house - probably with a bathroom but no kitchen. Lots of people use them for home offices.

Say That Again!?!

2011-10-18T01:31:00.001+11:00

You have to do what???

Yep, you have to water your lawn or the HOA (Home Owners Association (don't ask me if there should be an apostrophe in Owners, or where it should go) will fine you. You MUST have a green lawn.

You have to ask who???

Yep, you also have to ask the HOA what colour you can paint your house on the outside.

No I'm not kidding.

But for USD80/month you get access to the community gym, pool, walking path system and children's' play equipment. I have remarked that if you only visited this area of California, you'd think that you were in the Trueman Story (staffing Jim Carey). Everything (except the Old Town and the Indian Reservation of Pechanga - yet to be visited) is only about 10 years old and is so neat, symmetrical, orderly, easy to find and perfect.

Especially the lawns :) (picture pending)

You are reminded if you look up into the hills surrounding the Temecula valley, or indeed, drive out to one of the many small 'ranches'' or wineries in the area (it's known as wine country), that it's actually an oasis in the middle of desert.

One of the reasons I am not keen to go into the Yellowstone or Yosemite parks is bears. A friend who has recently visited this country was doing her research in advance, and was advised by one of those esteemed institution's websites, that if you see a bear (presuming you are accompanied by a male or other person with a very deep voice) that you have to growl really deeply and say

"GO AWAY BEAR'.

Apparently it works, but I'm not about to find out.

And last night someone reminded me about tarantulas. Now I'm on the look out for those although we're staying in true suburbia and they're probably extinct where we are. Although Freddy was confronted by a coyote on the walking path one time in the 'burbs, and was saved by a nice man working on a public garden who stood between her and the 'mangy, rabid-looking' creature, so she came to no harm.

I'm also sure we saw a black mountain lion last night after visiting friends staying out in the less built up area where it's quite scrubby and 'natural'.

And the Americans are worried about our Australian possums!

On The Road Again - to Temecula (Where???)

2011-10-18T01:15:00.005+11:00

So we're driving on the right (wrong) side of the road and it's kind of fun to see the quintessential cute yellow school buses I thought were only in the movies. Mustangs and pickup trucks are a dime a dozen (well the pickups seem to be outnumbering all other vehicles about 20:1).

The other surreal element of driving on the Interstate 15 is seeing the signs to Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Monica - we're really here and not watching it on the silver screen. There's a bit of traffic and nobody likes to use indicators/blinkers/whatever to let you know where they're going, but Jane (the GPS - thank you Brendon & Sam) kept us on the straight and narrow way southeast. We finally figured out how to get into the transit lane on the far left (it saved us a lot of time) but were quite concerned we'd miss our off-ramps. Not to worry, true to the legendary freeway system of LA, there were off ramps to just about anywhere, from anywhere and the signage was pretty good.

And running through my head is the famous song "Funiculi, Funicula" because it rhymes with Temeculi, Temecula - get it?

Awww, forget it.

California, Here We Come

2011-10-16T02:52:00.000+11:00

The tight flight schedule we had to get to LAX on time stressed me out a little. Just a little.

Why do we need to fly out of Sydney - why would Air Pacific only give us 30 minutes in Sydney to get from domestic to international, get through customs and to the gate??? It took several phone calls to straighten that out, but it actually all went very smoothly. And we qualified for the Qantas bus from T1 to T2 or something instead of walking miles with our cabin baggage etc. And the best news was that our Qantas flight was not affected at all by the strike action! And I didn't forget the passports . . .

Airport glamour

A short hop to Sydney, a short wait and a longer hop to Nadi, Fiji (we're stopping for four nights on the way back), where we where instantly subjected to 'Fiji time' getting through passport control to collect our bags before checking in again for the long hop to Los Angeles - and boy, that last hour or so just drags doesn't it?

So a short wait in LAX passport control (biting nails hoping we didn't have anything in our luggage they could throw us in the slammer for), and we were out and through and there was Son#1 waiting from his earlier flight (which had been delayed luckily for him as he didn't wait so long in LAX for our arrival). Smooth.

We took a short bus ride to the rental car depot where we chatted cheerfully (if sleepily) with the assistant - she directed us out to the yard where we chose a deep cherry-red coloured Jeep something-or-other.

Plug in the GPS (pre-programed with our friend's address - aren't we clever???), and off we go - WE MADE IT!

Earth, No Wind and Fire

2010-07-08T08:22:00.006+10:00

From where I sit, there is something to be said for staying at a different place each night when you travel. This morning I can see mountains and sea in the same frame! Today we're in Swansea on the east-south-east coast of Tasmania.

A cursory drive-through last night showed a couple of charming shops I will poke my nose into today. The last few days I've enjoyed seascapes and countryside, but the retail therapy has been seriously lacking. Having said that, I did manage to buy a shell pendant set in silver which I thought (silly me) was made here- apparently the craftspeople in Indonesia do very fine work!

And I'm still after a pair of Aussie made Ugg boots - a must-have fabulous pair are back in Evandale which we will swing past on Friday to ensure they come home with me. And they're cheaper than buying in a store on the mainland too! The storekeeper assures me they're made from the best Border Leicester sheep's wool which is springy and thicker than other breeds.

The Bay of Fires was as unusual as the write-ups made out with the orange lichen on the rocks. But the articles I read didn't say how wondrously beautiful it was. The waters are shaded opal green and blue varietals and clear crystalline - I'd be happy to swim in it if it was above single figures in temperature not being one to enjoy seaweed entangling my legs, or stepping on unknown spiky things in the water.

The only big thing is keeping warm down here. Our car is a block of ice this morning, it was -1c last night. We had a couple of doonas and my trusty alpaca rug plus my hottie (water bottle!!) to keep warm so we made it through quite comfortably. I didn't think it could get that cold at the seaside. It's a good thing the wind is almost non-existent down here so far! The wind-chill factor would reduce the already cool crisp sunny days to Arctic conditions methinks.

So we'll take in the lovely Richmond area today and take in that bridge with our own eyes.

Up the hill

2009-12-01T13:05:00.001+11:00

Puccini’s Madame Butterfly serenades me while the common brown butterflies shiver and dance around me in the patchy sunlight.

When I reach the top of an incline to rest a moment, I am almost breathless and so is the air – not a leaf or a blade of grass moves, everything is completely still.

For a moment.

Then a gentle zephyr parts the treetops, but doesn’t reach down below the canopy, to where I am waiting for a movement.

A kookaburra laughs some distance away and I can no longer hear the sound of the traffic winding up the hilly roads near the entrance to the National Park.

A wallaby hears me padding softly on the stony path and bounds noiselessly down the hill.

I have succumbed to the world of the iPod – in one ear only – so I can still catch the bird song and the ‘Good mornings’ from fellow walkers.

Kokoda Memorial Track (Again)

2009-11-19T11:30:00.002+11:00

Well, it's not quite travel, but it's satiating my appetite for new sights anyway.

And I've moved up the toughness level to the next level +1. Meaning, I thought I'd up the ante by one, in fact it's now by two - by accident!

Last episode I was taking the stairs. But, I kept looking at the steeper longer Lyrebird Track and figured I'd work my way up to doing the stairs twice, then the move on to the Lyrebird Track. On impulse I found my feet going up the LT a few weeks ago just to see if I could do it.

And of course, there's a young'un running up, and an older man walking down - with a stick. How proud do I feel?

But after encouraging the man with the stick, I was taken by surprise when he came right up close and just stared at me for an uncomfortable length of time. There was a hint of a smile, but he still stared, and finally said, "you don't know who I am do you?"

Oh that old line!

I was embarrassed now, because I could see this older man was quite fit and healthy looking, and the stick was one of those professional walking poles with suspension! "Er, no, I didn't mean to be rude, I thought you might need the stick because of dodgy knees like I have..." I replied weakly, really regretting having said anything at all. Maybe my eyesight is going too.

Turns out he's a professional mountain climber - heard of Everest? - and he's just training up after a nasty accident that nearly resulted in him falling to his death. Urgh. Well he went on to give me some advice about training to get fit (I told him I was trying to lose a little weight, at which point he stood back and said "Nah, nothing wrong there, you're nice and solid!" - wow thanks.)

The end result of our encounter is that I've lengthened my weekly walk to about 1 1/2 hours of undulating bush/hill walking which gets me nice and sweaty and feeling all virtuous! And the bonus is getting to see the cockatoos, rosellas, wallabies and hearing all the other birds.

Day 8 Stratford-Upon-Avon

2009-10-08T08:04:00.006+11:00

Shakespeare country. It’s a shame that many places exploit a famous local to a nauseating extreme.

We decided on a rowboat for half an hour on the Avon River and argued over who would be with the oldest son – we all worried we’d be in the boat that turned over. I had all the passports still in my handbag and was totally phobified that I’d be in the one in the water trying to swim with my handbag hanging round my neck.

I tried rowing but was totally disoriented after not even sitting facing the right way and finding the oars behind me…go left, goes right, um, one paddle to the right makes you go left, uh-huh. Wanna swap? We did manage to swap over without tipping us in.

Bonus – free chestnuts in the gutters – we collected nearly a kilo and planned to toast them on our last night over our little open fire in the cottage. Using an old frying pan with a cake pan on top to toast them was not the smartest thing we've ever done. They began to pop, then the lid popped off and bits of searing chestnut shot all over the floor. And they were pretty bitter, I think we had cooked horse chestnuts not sweet ones. Erk. They got tossed.

The free wi-fi in Maccas (yes we stooped to eating lunch there, and even then it cost A$40) was so slow, I was able to eat my meal comfortably, write bits of this blog and do other things while each page was loading. In half an hour, all I managed to do was reply to two messages and delete the first page of my inbox. Forget Facebook.

I was the only one interested in checking out Miss Anne Hathaway’s (no, not the actress) cottage, so the others went off while I did my own tour. It was amazing – people in the 1400-1500s slept sitting mostly upright in short beds with a bonnet tied tightly under their chins to stop the devil stealing their souls, and the canopies/testers over the beds were to stop insects falling out of the thatch roof while they slept.

They also kept adding bits and pieces to the stew over the fire every day up until nine days – pease porridge in the pot nine days old. Yuk. I’m paranoid about anything out of the fridge more than three hours. No wonder they had a low life expectancy.

My favourite anecdote is the one about how they cleaned their chimneys. It was (obviously and naturally) the boys’ job:

Step 1: Take one chicken

Step 2: Tie a rope around its neck

Step 3: Get up on roof

Step 4: Lower chicken down chimney

Step 5: Get brother catch chicken at the bottom of the chimney and tie rope around chicken’s feet

Step 6: Pull chicken up and down chimney with wings flapping till soot cleared.

Step 7: If chicken survives, put it back in the yard. If chicken doesn’t survive, put it in the pot!

I then spent quite a bit of time on the ‘New Woodlands Walk for 2009’ and did a spot of Squirrel Stalking on the way. I have some cute photos – same kind of dorky fascination the

English and Americans have for our own koalas and kangaroos I suppose. But squirrel are vermin. But they are SO cute! See, Rocky even smiled for me.

Movie night – after borrowing one from the ‘Stow’ library and buying another at the £1 shop we decided to eat in pasta and pizza an flop in front of the telly. Nice.

Day 7 Windy Ridge Cottage, Glos.

2009-10-08T00:41:00.006+11:00

We all (except the youngest of course – he takes after me) slept in till about 9am. Which was 11am, or 5pm depending on which time zone we wanted to pick.

Today we hung around the house and explored everything to find we actually had access to a pool, pool house, games room, croquet court, tennis court as well as the privately owned woodland. The pool was covered over, and felt cold, so I felt no inclination at all whatsoever to swim. Even the kids weren’t keen.

A quick visit to Stow-on-the-Wold (only the prettiest village in the Cotswolds I think) and Tesco of all places to stock up on essentials. Contrary to advice we found plenty of organic

and natural foods at very good prices. We did a week’s shopping for A$125 which is fabulous (we didn’t buy meat admittedly). And it boasts the oldest inn in Britain built in 964AD...I thought I may have to wait a while for the beer. I just had to buy a tea towel with some of the Cotswolds villages hand drawn on it.

We took a walk to the nearest village and Tony found a peaceful resting place!

In the closest village (Longborough) each house had its own name on an old plaque (although some looked suspiciously recent) and they were all Cotswold stone with mostly slate roofs, sometimes covered in moss. We were an interesting sight for the local school children…who are reputedly no longer allowed to run in the playground. The Nanny State.

Day 6 Onward and westward

2009-10-06T03:44:00.006+11:00

Our trip back to the UK was quite uneventful thankfully. After the usual interrogation and showing of gifts to pass on etc getting on the flight at Ben Gurion airport, we didn’t have long to wait to take our flight, which was 40 minutes early arriving at Heathrow. Unfortunately this slack was taken up by having to stretch our legs and patience in a very long queue at immigration – how insulting that Aussies are lumped into foreigners when it comes to passport control! I still believe the Queen is our queen – so how come we have to wait with the rest of the world to kiss the hallowed turf???

We found our hire car eventually at a drop off point on the departures level (?) as it was actually dropped off by a young chappie, who completed the whole transaction on the bonnet instead of behind a desk. Hmmm. I guess he was going to cadge a lift somehow back to their depot? (By the way, I learned the history of the word ‘cadge’ at Warwick Castle and it relates to the method of transporting falcons during hunting – up to six of them cadge a lift on a mobile perch until they’re chosen to go on a chase.)

Since we had less than two hours to meet friends for an early dinner in Windsor by the time we arrived there, we decided to give the castle tour a miss and strolled the streets instead. Beautiful town on a fairly typically un-English (or so I’m told) sunny day! That’s the second sunny delightful day I’ve spent in England out of two.

We found the restaurant our friends had chosen, quite easily – literally across the street from one of the castle walls and enjoyed a quiet dinner with them before they set off east, and us west.

The trip to our accommodation took longer than expected after slowing on the M4 (for nothing we could see) and then finding our way through the winding A and B roads of the Cotswolds which would have

been charming had it been daylight. As it was my eyes were getting so heavy I could barely keep them open and found myself nodding off many times in the very blackness of the night. As navigator, that’s not a good thing to do.

We eventually found the pillar (letter) box on the corner of an unmarked lane (handy not to have a name huh?) opposite the Coach and Horse pub (there are several of these in the area, no not a chain) and to our relief found our cottage quite easily.

The housekeeper had kindly left a light or two on and the heating on made it all very cosy. I read the brief (and consequently unhelpful) instructions on how to get/keep the heating going and decided to give it a miss till morning.

I think the mattress was actually a rock with a rug over it.

Day 5 Haifa

2009-10-04T08:28:00.008+11:00

After a sleep in and very late start (about lunch time) we left the house and set out for Haifa and the Ba’Hai Gardens which was going to be a restful afternoon enjoying the scenery after a spot of lunch.

The restaurant was interesting – there was a man smoking a bong in the middle of the outside eating area (what’s that smell?) behind a tree thankfully so the kids couldn’t stare.

After waiting nearly an hour to be served our lunch (sorry sir, there is no chicken schnitzel would you care for something different?) it was delicious – baked mushrooms with some kind of soft cheese on top, chicken kiev (or similar) pasta with mushroom sauce and a very fresh salad – yum.

This time the temple was being renovated. And the inside gardens (which is most of what you can see from the street above or below) closed at 12pm. Doh.

The Ba’Hai gardens/temple are so beautiful and from the Louis Promenade at the top give you a fantastic view over the Haifa harbour and the gardens.

We then called in on the way home to see a relative’s relative for a cool drink and fresh guava off their tree in Caesarea (pronounced Kaysaria) which weren’t quite ripe (uuurrggghh).

Day 4 Masada, Dead Sea and Ein Gedi

2009-10-02T19:37:00.015+10:00

There was no way I was hiking up the Snake Path – last time I walked down and literally collapsed on the cool floor of the visitor centre at the bottom it was THAT hot.

But of course the boys wanted to walk/hike up AND down. I was so against it, you know snakes, scorpions, heat, rockfalls. ‘Nothing to worry about’, says hubby, ‘they’ll be fine’.

And what does he base this useless but typically Australian observation on? Not a lot. Well I guess, the temperatures were probably about 10degrees less, it was earlyish, they are young, fit, and strong. And I gave them a bottle of water each to walk up with, just in case. The military train up and down this path in the middle of summer which gives you some idea of what it’s like (and a photo here may help).

But of course, he was right, they were only 5 minutes behind us in the cable car – I was amazed. I wish I had the guts to do it myself. But, the cable car tickets were now paid for…

Masada is completely awesome in the true sense. The historical and symbolic significance is very sobering. If you want to know the history, go to wikipedia.

Our next stop was the Dead Sea. There was much laughter and enjoyment as our family formed different water ballet type formations for the photographer. I was able to master keeping myself upright this time – I don’t do well trying to swim, as my legs just want to flip over my head. You can actually stand upright in the water and be out of it up to your chest without any effort at all. Weird. And the water is so oily and salty, you can’t get it in your eyes or it burns (as the boys found out the hard way…boys! We did warn them.

On to Ein Gedi for a refreshing swim/paddle in the waterfall pools. Again, this is an amazing place, there are ibex (type of gazelle/antelope) and rock hyrax (combination of rabbit, beaver without tail and guinea pig) lolling around and a waterfall from the top of the hills/mountains down to the bottom with natural pools at each level We tried out a few. The boys (will be boys) collected the long green mossy weed and created new looks for themselves!

Day 3 Jerusalem

2009-09-25T13:58:00.007+10:00

We started our visit to Jerusalem with a walk through the market - souvenirs to fresh food. We sampled some figs, nectarines, pomegranate (which crushed and blended tastes nice with orange juice) and they offered halva tasting which looked to have a variety of additional ingredients, mostly nuts and fruits. But the hands holding the tasting - not sure about that, so I politely declined. But the colours, the smells, spices, olives, fruit and vegies, rams horn shofars (horns), wonderful!From a little-used viewing balcony we saw the wailing wall (built on the ruins of the western wall of the original temple I think), where the mostly empty men's section was four times the size of the more than half-full women's section. My mother-in-law observed that it is symbolic of how women are treated. The Dome of the Rock was just beyond the wall and was our next target, but we were too late (again) to go inside. Armed guards barred our way (again). Apparently it is open at different times on different days.

We wandered through the bazaar where the men say to women of any age 'Young lady, come in and look, just look at my shop!', which is very offputting - if they only knew how much I would buy if they would leave me alone!!! My daughter pleaded with me (in a half-joking way) to save her from them!

It would apparently have helped to have my brother-in-law assist in the bargaining negotiations as he is reputedly 'brutal'. He shook his head in disgust when we met up with him later in the coffee shop when he heard how much we paid for a sterling silver chain with the Star of David cross on it. 'You should have come with us!' I chided with him, 'We're not much good at haggling.'

Similar to Jaffa/Joppa/Yafo, there are countless winding stairways and narrow cobbled streets in the old city and it's fully inhabited which is amazing. From the Jewish and Armenian quarters (beautifully neat and tidy) to the sometimes suffocatingly crowded bazaar it's a fascinating walk. On the way are below 'ground' level excavations of millenia old ruins-Jerusalem goes back a long way (ah, duh).

We were refreshed with pomegranate and orange juice, then coffee after this - fresh juice is usually about A$3 or so, but we paid a bit more for this one near David's citadel - A$5.

I have decided that a coffee shop makes everything level again - everyone's happy and sore feet are revived (I wore my white wedge heels against everyone's advice because flats make me look short and fat - no comments required thank you). The coffee was good - dense foamy cappuccino - yum.

I was so taken by surprise when a man stepped in front of us, spat on the ground and then turned to us and said I was so taken by surprise when a man stepped in front of us, spat on the ground and then turned to us and said in a very thick (?) accent 'Hello, and how arrrr hew?' What do you say? All prejudice aside, I think it may have just been very poor timing.

Day 2 Jaffa

2009-09-24T15:48:00.011+10:00

I've found my new home. It's a national trust style home in a restored building in Old Jaffa city on the port of Jaffa. Just beautiful. Apparently friends of our relatives live here. I'm sure they will let me move in with them - it's the top floor and they are only two. Must be room for one more!

I love the narrow winding stairways, and lovely artisan stores built into

the restored buildings. Beautiful handmade jewellery, paintings, antiquities (licensed to sell ancient artifacts and no I didn't buy any) and other tourist items. I wish I'd taken more photos of the stores themselves, they are open late and the artists work onsite.

We then drove to Tel Aviv port to eat pizza (or puttanescha yum) at a relative's boyfriend's pizza place - Beta Pizza. I don't know if it's better, but it's bigger!

Day 1 Herzliya

2009-09-23T16:32:00.002+10:00

The nice thing about the Hebrew language when you're English, is that it doesn't matter how you spell names, place names and words! For example, we are staying in Herzliya, or Herzelia, or Herzliyya or Herzeliya. Take your pick! It's less than 5 minutes from the Mediterranean, a marina and a mall.

So the temperature is a comfortable 30 degrees or so, and about 21 degrees at night. And there are clouds! And it rained last week for 20 minutes - the first time for the year - they have two rains per year.

Tomorrow afternoon we are going to old Jaffa city and pizza at Tel Aviv port.

For The Longest Time

2009-09-23T14:03:00.004+10:00

3.15pm Sunday 20/9 Melbourne time - get on plane

10.30pm Sunday 20/9 HK time - get off plane Hong Kong (12.30am 21/9 Melbourne time)

12.30am Monday 21/9 HK time (yep time is going backwards) - get on plane Hong Kong (2.30am Melbourne time) still awake cat naps for just over 11 hours).

6.30am Monday 21/9 UK time - get off plane Heathrow (3.30pm Melbourne time - 24 hours later). Train to Paddington station (very expensive as we took the 2nd most expensive option silly us) and walk around (literally) London CBD via ring road :{ with hurting feet - forgot this bit when planning wardrobe and v.hot as lovely and sunny 23degrees) for four hours. We did eventually see Big Ben, The Eye, Nelson's Column, the outside of the National Gallery and many other iconic landmarks. (Look kids, you can see Wetminster Abbey through the trees!) Light lunch and collapsed on a park bench (move on please) before jumping on the tube and then changing for Heathrow again. Still awake (just).

3.35pm Monday 21/9 UK time (1.35am Tuesday 22/2 Melbourne time and mostly awake) - try to get on plane (after being interrogated as usual by El Al staff who then insisted on me searching my luggage in the bowels of the airport gate 64 (the last, the oldest and literally the furthest gate away for hopefully obvious reasons and why there isn't a shuttle to get there I'll never know) for a DVD, baby's jacket and shirt in case I was concealing a bomb on the plane my family and I were just about to travel on. Yes really. Trust me I was sweating and not just from the heat of the seemingly un-airconditioned airport gate.

4pm Monday 21/9 UK time - get on the plane. Begin take-off. Abort take-off. What now? 'Ladies & gentleman due to a fault indicator in the reversing [thingie] in engine four which we didn't like the look of we have aborted take off and will return to the bay to have technicians look into the problem. We thank you for your patience.' OK. I'd rather get there in one piece.

4.30pm Monday 21/9 UK time - 'Ladies & gentlemen, the technicians have assured us they can fix the problem within 90 minutes. In the meantime, we will begin our drinks service, and the hot meal service, and the movie service and thank you for your patience.' Great hot meals. Just what we feel like cooped up in this tin can that hasn't had time to cool from sitting on the tarmac for hours with the doors closed.

5pm Monday 21/9 UK time- air stewards open the plane doors and let cool breezes in and we can breathe again. Unheard of! Cool water served along with hot chicken and rice. And paracetamol!

6.30pmish Monday 21/9 UK time (4.30am Tuesday 22/9 Melbourne time)- 'Ladies & Gentlemen, we would like to advise you the repairs are complete and will be taking off within 20 minutes.' Loud clapping. Meanwhile, the youngest had face-planted on his dinner tray and gone to sleep without eating. Unheard of! I slept pretty much the whole way - about 4 hours.

1.30am Tuesday 22/9 TelAviv time (11.30am Wednesday 23/9 Melbourne time) Go straight through Customs (usual questions) pretty much without stopping! Unheard of. Straight to the cars - chauffeur driven by father-in-law. Straight to bed (after crossing the date line the and all travel time, that's 67 hours 'later') and slept like logs until about 9.30am Tuesday 22/9 TelAviv time (7.30pm Tuesday 22/9 Melbourne time).

Ready, set, go!

One Sleep To Go!

2009-09-19T22:42:00.001+10:00

So I've decided to wear a change of clothes so I'll be fresher when we arrive at our final destination. Yep, and it saves on packing and space and the weight allowance!

Two underwear, two pairs of socks (also helps reduce swelling - but not smelling - feet), two t-shirts, two pants - one cotton and one pair of jeans - but just one jacket. So when we're halfway, I can swap the layers over. There's no weight restrictions on passengers, so voila! An extra kilo of baggage without the airline knowing!

Luckily the jacket is reversible, so I can just turn that inside out!

It's all good. ;D

2 Sleeps To Go!

2009-09-18T17:45:00.005+10:00

And the challenge is on to squeeze clothing for a week in a hot climate and two in a cold climate, plus gifts given to me to pass on, plus hair implements (can't go anywhere without the straightening iron), plus shoes, plus a coat (or two), plus my laptop, a book to read, my pillow, my homework assignment, toiletries and probably many things I haven't thought of forgetting yet, into roughly 2/3rds of a suitcase.

I need a tardis not a suitcase! And it can only weigh 1/3 of my own weight (well a bit less actually).

What's a girl to do?

Walk all over it!

Kokoda Trail Memorial Track

2009-09-06T07:20:00.003+10:00

I walked up the so-called 'Kokoda Trail Memorial Track' and 1000 steps today at FernTree Gully National Park. I'm not sure if there are 1000 stairs, but it sure felt like it. It didn't disturb me that most people passed me, but I was amazed to see a young woman with little one on her back in a backpack coming down.

What did disturb me (about my own fitness) was that I saw her coming back up, again - with toddler in backpack - on my own way down. My sense of accomplishment deflated immediately. Yes, I am twice her age, but I also have half her fitness.

That makes her twice as fit as me? Or are we equal in fitness given our ages and not taking the backback into account? But then I probably weigh as much as her and her backpack and contents together. So how do we compare now?

I'm calling it even!

Ma Cachette - Bed & Breakfast

2009-06-13T18:32:00.006+10:00

While surfing the other night, I found the bed & breakfast we stayed at in Arlanc in the Auvergne, France. Apparently this area is magnifique in terms of cuisin! We were in a tearing hurry to get back to Paris in time to hook up with family, so didn't get time to enjoy the area. Next time.

Ma Cachette, or My Hideaway. Give it a go, the food is yummy (apparently the chef has a green Michelin hat - no that doesn't make him Irish because he's actually South African), the garden sublime (our room overlooked it, and I could sit on the windowsill and feel part of the it), and the rooms are spacious and very comfortable if not luxurious.

The company is interesting too - very knowledgeable about (what else but) cheese!

Looking forward to staying there again very soon.

More on the Pecking Order

2009-06-13T09:23:00.010+10:00

So we have two new chickens. Caramel & Pecan. The pecking order is Salt, Pepper, Henrietta, Caramel, Pecan.

It's really fascinating to me that humans can have similar characteristics to animals at times.

Observe chickens. The original two - Salt & Pepper - we had, pecked and chased the new one (Henrietta, who is a tenant only, not a permanent) consistently and frequently whenever she was too close. After some time they now tolerate her and allow her to be near them, except at feeding time.

Now we have two more hens - Caramel & Pecan - the same colour, breed and size as Henrietta who are in turn pecked and chased away by Henrietta. Especially at feeding time.

The more senior hens will run with their funny tick-tock waddle, wings a-flap, to chase any bird that is near some prospective new food item. They are very inquisitive, so check all frenzied activity out for themselves, giving a chest bump and perhaps flying kick to the bird unfortunate enough to have discovered something interesting.

I'm sure you have seen this scenario played out in the human realm. In the school ground, the work place, in the supermarket or at Dimmey's - may they rest in peace.

Little children show these traits most obviously, and we laugh, but when it happens at work, we sue. Go figure.

Don't Stand Out

2009-05-28T09:18:00.002+10:00

My hubby was reading a book (presumably fiction as the only non-fiction he reads is sport) and read an interesting excerpt to me about animal prey and what makes one animal susceptible to being the next target.

Some guy did an experiment (ok, I'm not citing any experts necessarily) and splodged a paint spot on a pack animal and let it back into the wild. It was the first one to become another animal's dinner. I'm sure there's other factors, such as age, sickness, youth or lameness that label an animal as easy prey.

But the message I took away was ... don't try to stand out coz there's always somebody/something waiting to get you.

Movie Review - Easy Virtue

2009-05-26T21:47:00.001+10:00

Great little movie! (Even if the ending was a little twisted)

I love historical movies even if they're not based on fact. Costume, manners and location, location, location.

Recommended!

Movie Review - Knowing

2009-05-26T21:43:00.002+10:00

What a load of rubbish!

I only watched it because I was a fan of Nicholas Cage about 25 years ago (Valley Girl).

I left the movie theatre totally shattered and depressed.

Space ships, weird associations, confused and corrupt versions of biblical prophecy.

I'm still in recovery.

Listening

2009-05-26T21:33:00.002+10:00

Why do we have to pay people to listen to us? There are bucket-loads of psychoanalysts, thousands of psychologists, millions of psychiatrists and zillions of counsellors all waiting to take your bucks by the hour - and they don't care if you're interesting or not!!! You can drone on for hours as long as you pay them for their time.

Have you ever tuned out when someone is telling you something? Have you noticed when someone is tuning you out (hint - their eyes glaze over)? Or when they straight away talk about their version or news, or just as bad, just talk over the top of you with their story?

Where's the sympathy, the comiserations? Where are the questions, the urgings to go on? The shared excitement and celebration? Nobody is interested in anybody else these days.

It's all about ME, MY and MINE (read YOU, YOUR and YOURS).

Goodbye Molly

2009-05-26T21:22:00.003+10:00

Our lovely dog Molly has died. She never recovered from having her tail amputated - she was sick from the day she came home. Antibiotics staved off the infections for a while, then nothing worked and in the end she wouldn't eat, drink or take her liver-flavoured medicine.

She was such a good dog. Partly trained (fully house-trained) and a friendlier dog you wouldn't meet I'm sure. This photo obviously taken in happier times with her two besties.

We miss her.

Listening so kids will talk...

2009-04-15T21:15:00.005+10:00

Our 17yo son has been overseas for a week and a half and I've had 3 very short text messages.

Is it too much to let your mother, the person who enabled you (to do everything you do), know how you're going?

I hear through my daughter (IMS) that the GBP50 note he was given to spend by his grandmother is allegedly a counterfeit! Huh? I reckon they looked at this kid and assumed he couldn't possibly have THAT much money to spend!

On the upside, his room has never been tidier!

Fooling Myself

2009-04-06T21:47:00.004+10:00

I went to the hairdresser today for a long overdue trim and a colour update - 10 foils. I figure that now with grey sneaking in, I can hide it with some creamy blonde streaks.

But who am I kidding? I'm sure everyone who knows me has seen the grey - so why do it? A snatch at my fading youth, vanity...

It's like sucking it in when you see yourself in the mirror (ugh).

Is it like lying?

Viruses

2009-04-01T06:45:00.002+11:00

My son sent me an email warning me about an April Fool's virus which will circulate today. Personally I think these things can be like the stock market - an investor sneezes and Wall Street catches bird flu.

There are recommendations to download some program or other as a precaution, and email all your contacts to warn them. It's pretty plain to me that these can be kind of self-fulfilling and self-inflicting.

Remember the Y2K bug? No, I don't either.

My Inner Self

2009-03-28T08:53:00.004+11:00

We did an interesting exercise this week in my writing & editing class. We were told to go out of the room, then clear our minds (not easy), go back through the doorway, imagine we can see ourselves in the room, take a good look and start writing for 3o minutes about what we saw.

I kept my writing surface focussed - on what I was wearing, what I physically looked like and making a guess about what character traits they may indicate. It was really interesting. I was pretty open & honest about it - I know I have some grey hair, and wrinkles, and the backs of my hands do look like orange peel! (This means large pores and some fine wrinkles).

We then had to hand our pieces in (anonymously) to the teacher, who then handed them around for each of us to do a short critique (not anonymously) with some guidelines. The exercise was more to do with editing than the writing itself.

Upon reading the comments written by my critic (noun, not adjective), I first thought he was doing more of a psychoanalysis of me rather than my writing in a way. He asked me why I felt a certain way about my appearance etc and not to judge myself harshly etc and commented that he would like to read more about my inner self. But what he was saying was that he thought I should have been more descriptive of the inner workings rather than the outward appearance.

He tackled the exercise from a different angle - from inside knowledge. I took the angle that assumed that if I observed myself from the outside, I wouldn't know what was going on in the head - you know, looks can be deceiving, don't judge a book by it's cover etc. So that's where I was coming from, not that I didn't want to reveal my inner thoughts etc.

Or was it?

An interesting thought - but do I really want to go there?

Mice Do Like Peanut Butte!

2009-03-28T08:34:00.006+11:00

I'm surrounded by wildlife. There's a mouse caught in the trap I set in the pantry. There are two chickens outside on the back decking. There are possums prancing in the roof space. There's a dog on the front doorstep growling viciously at me because she found a bone Nanna left outside for the magpies. And the cat is sunning herself in this early morning autumn sunshine.

Where would we be without our pets? Better off financially that's where.

Molly (the spaniel) has cost us near $1000 in the last 2 months - she has become ATOPIC. Severely allergic to something. Pinning down that something is the challenge. The vets say because beef is in nearly all dog food as the main ingredient, it's probably that.

So I'm cooking for the family dog now too. Pet's chicken mince (looks much darker than you would think, but I don't want to think about it too much) and rice, mmm,mmm. (Not).

And why isn't Simmy (the siamese) doing her job and catching the mice before they get in the pantry? I think it's because all the mice she has so far brought me (dead and alive) have been much smaller than the one I caught. She is obviously fussy about the size of her playmates. I actually had to grab one very tiny one that escaped from her clutches a few weeks ago. I could see her playing with something and chased her to grab her. She ran under the table and under the Jacobean style couch stored behind the table. I got under the table and she let the mouse go. It ran towards me and stopped. I looked at it and thought - it's either me or the cat. So I grabbed it and took it outside where it ran for shelter.

I don't go in for gratuitous violence.

Except when it comes to possums and rats playing in the roof at 2am...

2009-03-26T21:28:00.003+11:00

I am sure I passed my presentation at school! I wrote it out longways, then short point form but decided I really needed to use full notes as I was sure my nerves would make me tongue tied - and they did - I kept referring to them the entire time, but I did have a picture for people to look at and 3 slides (yes powerpoint, sad aren't I?).

My stomach didn't churn quite so much as it would normally, I did some practice, and really tried to relax. I also took some of that rescue remedy (3x) which I think did the trick. And I had positive comments afterwards (unsolicited of course).

After that we got the results of our first test and my mark was 97.5 - not bad for an old girl huh?

Je n'aime pas parler l'en public! (I don't like speaking in public!)

BTW, the French lessons are going well - but I do make myself laugh practising that growling 'rrr' sound in my throat on the way home in the car!

It's Raining...

2009-03-03T21:48:00.003+11:00

cats and dogs! No really! We are having some rain today that is the first in at least a month! So refreshing and it means we don't have to water the vegies in the morning! I'm watching the BOM radar loop for rain/lightning and it's fascinating. It's at http://www.weatherzone.com.au/radar.jsp?lt=radar&lc=002 if you're interested!

So conjugating french verbs is getting easier. Il est/Elle est/Tu est/Je ? Hmm, better go do some homework.

Yep, checked babelfish and it is Je suis....

I thought so.

Oh yes, and il pleut des chats et des chiens! (It's raining the cats and the dogs!)

I Have Glossophobia

2009-02-19T20:18:00.003+11:00

Don't worry it's not catching, but it's extremely common.

Fear of public speaking.

My boss has been trying to get me to do presentations in front of sales staff - I'm in an accounts role; yes I know, boring - and I have vehemently refused again and again in no uncertain terms!

I'm employed on a contract basis and I maintain it was never part of the job spec.

BUT, now I'm in school and the teacher is making us give 10 minute talks to the class. And we're not getting paid to do it. And it makes up 15% of our assessment.

Hmmmm, what to do?

Since I'm between a rock and a hard place, damned if I do and damned if I don't, I'm going to bite the bullet, take the bull by the horns and go out on a limb because it'll be a piece of cake, and we're all in the same boat after all!

Now, for a topic...

What Wakes You Up?

2009-02-14T11:37:00.002+11:00

Sunday - oldest Son's alarm going off early at full volume because he's off to work early.

Monday - the Dog whining and scratching on her bedroom door.

Tuesday - wattle birds singing outside our window, open to the (smoky) cool air.

Wednesday - kookaburra's laughing in the trees next door waiting for breakfast fed to them by our neighbour.

Thursday - Possums playing football in the roof space before retiring for the day's sleep.

Friday - the Cat scratching at our door to come for a cuddle.

Saturday - the chain rattling on the factory door opening across the street.

Who needs an alarm clock?

Loving School

2009-02-11T22:13:00.002+11:00

Yes, it's sad but true. I Love School!

I've had my first Beginners French lesson (comment ca va?) and two Writing & Editing lessons. So nerdy, I'm taking notes and doing homework I don't need to do. I have my special notebook with 5 subject dividers and pockets to hold handouts...

My Fabric Frolic Find

2009-02-05T21:29:00.006+11:00

I just love this fun fabric - there are nine patchwork stores around who have a two week frolic with sales, and passport stamping for a prize...I couldn't resist this...pity it's a mirror image!

Don't ask me silly questions like "What are you going to do with THAT?" That is not the point at all.

As H and I agreed today,

"She who dies with the most fabric wins", and "What's NEED got to do with it?"

In case you can't work it out, it says "Eiffel Tower" and "Hotel de Ville".

I've been to both places.

Are you jealous?

And After...

2009-02-05T10:39:00.005+11:00

Who are you and what have you done with my dog???

Unfortunately the shearing revealed that the pea sized lump on her tail proved to have grown to very ugly proportions, so an urgent trip to the vet resulted in TAIL AMPUTATION!!!

Excerpts from the 2007 Travel Diary

2009-02-02T07:02:00.004+11:00

Just to make you all jealous (or bored).

Wed 2nd May 2007
After a stunning mental blank where I left son's ticket at home for his trip, some weeks ago, I was so prepared for my own trip – tickets, check, passports-check, money & cards – check. Leave in plenty of time, kiss kids goodbye. No-one at check-in, unusual. Go thru passport control straight away – unusual. Nah, let’s have coffee with family first. So better go now. We get to the doors to passport control – why isn’t our flight listed??? Momentary panic, eeek it’s 10.50 not 11.50. We literally run through the doors and are 2nd-last on the plane - Phew we won't be lynched. First leg of flight goes smoothly other than wearing someone else’s meal while eating my own!!! Flight attendant so apologetic he gave us 2x $50 duty free vouchers….worth it. Later the hot towel was dropped on me too, so that helped clean the leftovers!

Poor Dog

2009-01-31T09:55:00.006+11:00

Stay tuned for a before and after photo of our Cavalier/Cocker Spaniel in the heat. I have decided I'm sick of her dragging in half the garden in her beautiful shaggy coat.

No kidding, I have to sweep or vac the tiles about 5 times a day (maybe if I sweep the back porch she won't bring so much in???....let me think about that a bit).

She's gorgeous now, but just wait....tomorrow is S-Day (Shearing Day).

Maybe we'll change her name to "Shaun"...

It's Too Darn Hot!

2009-01-31T09:41:00.006+11:00

I'm sick of this heat, Today is the first day it will be under 40C for about 4 days. The heat inside the house, is only just lower than the heat outside. It's so hot, I leave a wet imprint of myself on the sheet and it's not flattering I can assure you.

Even the chillers in the supermarket had had enough - they were completely empty but for some token milk, butter, dip and yoghurt, much like when we visit my Dad at the beach on a hot day and try to buy cold stuff for dinner - the locusts have been through! I don't know if people think there's a war coming, or management just don't order enough to cater for the hordes.

That's it, I'm moving to Tasmania, or New Zealand. Airfares were really low yesterday - $279 return to Wellington - that'll do, now where's my credit card? Gotta get those frequent flyer miles up and balance out that NZ economy!

One More Thing For Today...

2009-01-27T22:55:00.003+11:00

I'm now officially a student again after nearly 20 years - and I can now get concession prices at the movies! YAY ME! At least I'm at the younger end of the concession price bracket!!!

Yep, joining the "mature-age student" category, although they assure me that anyone who's been out of school longer than 1 year is "mature-age"...rrright.

Do you think ponytails will look good on me?

Then There's Ironic Customer Service

2009-01-27T22:51:00.003+11:00

Has your internet service been down for a length of time, so you call the provider for help.

You wait so long in the queue, that you hear all the self-helpful hints they can think of.

The best one is "Many of your questions can be answered by accessing our website at www........"!!! If only.

Customer Service - Redefining Service

2009-01-27T22:44:00.002+11:00

This is 2nd-hand, but totally true nonetheless.

A friend was in a major city hospital for tests, and happened to be staying across the street at a hotel for a few days during that time.

During one of her times at the hospital she needed to ring her friend also staying at the same hotel.

Not owning a mobile, she used the hospital phone and rang the phone company directory assistance for the number.

"I'm sorry but that hotel doesn't exist in that location. There is a listing for X, Y and Z...."

My friend told the person on the other end, that it DOES exist, she has been staying there a few days - could the operator look again.

"I'm sorry but that hotel doesn't exist in that location, are you sure?"

"Yes, yes" says my friend "I'm at the hospital right across the road from it right now, of course I'm sure".

"Well, then, why don't you go across the street instead of calling them?"

Smooth operator!

Our New Slave

2009-01-24T09:51:00.002+11:00

Friends are going away for week and leaving their 14yo son with us. Boy he doesn't know what he's in for. I have a list sooooo long of chores for him to do.

I've already told him about this list, so he cheerfully says that he'll pay me back when he brings his electric guitar over to practice while he's here.

I then told him I'd "confiscate that noisy box thingie". He just dissolved into laughter.

I think we'll get along just fine!

My New Yorker Evil Twin

2009-01-24T09:24:00.003+11:00

So I'm sitting in McDonalds eating a quick lunch between errands (low fat if you must know... well ok so it was fries and salad) when a woman sitting near me asked me to mind her things while she went out to the car.

I looked up from reading the newspaper and looked her squarely in the eye. Without even hesitating I said

"So what do you want me to do if someone tries to take them?"

Excuse me? What did I just say? Was that me? Who said that? My evil twin had taken over. The one who wears the purple hat.

To soften my tartar reply I then smiled (thinly) and said

"You'd better just take your purse with you, it will be fine".

Noooooooo.......I'm too young to wear a purple hat.........

Don't Count Your Chickens....

2009-01-20T20:26:00.003+11:00

More on the chicken front. I thought one of them had disappeared (read "eaten by Mr Fox") for several days, when my neighbour peered over the fence one afternoon and asked if I was missing a chicken.

She handed the chicken over, who is an absolute Houdini and a beast for getting into the vegie patch, and through the smallest fence holes.

She is also the only one of the three laying right now. That would have been typical if Mr Fox had eaten the only one that is useful but I'm so glad he hadn't.

I then couldn't find where she was laying her eggs. This morning a particularly loud cackle alerted me to her new nesting place - there nestled together in a tiny nest near the newly blocked hole, were 11 eggs!

Scrambled eggs anyone?

The Clan Has Been...and Gone

2009-01-11T21:28:00.007+11:00

Today was a rest day! They all left on the plane yesterday - we decided it would be cheaper to do that than two families travelling 1000km each with one night stopovers and food. Better still, I sent one of mine with them! How good's that? After they went through the doors to the plane, I contemplated doing the hamster dance, but I would have fallen off my high heels, so settled for a big sigh of relief.

I'm off to work tomorrow for a rest. Aaahhh, hear that? Exactly - nothing.

Quote of the Day

2008-12-09T22:04:00.002+11:00

"Older people shouldn't say things like 'dude' and stuff - it doesn't sound right". He means over 18's. Right.

Son, 17.

Chickens...

2008-12-09T21:52:00.002+11:00

are the funniest things.

Mine are like twins (they probably are since they came from the same home at the same time, have the same parents etc) and don't let each other out of their sight. If one finds something interesting, the other dashes over to take it. If one lays an egg, the other does too. When one went clucky, sure as eggs (?) the other did too. It was great, they were a year old, laid for a month, then went clucky for 3 weeks. They have finally started laying again.

Just as well, they're fine looking and would make at least 3 meals - roast chicken, cream of chicken soup, chicken fried rice,chicken sandwiches...

I am going to try to video them when they get a fright - it's hilarious.

For now, here's a photo but they look even better right now, as they're head thingies are bright red...

Waiting for the clan...

2008-12-08T22:12:00.005+11:00

I was kind (stupid) enough to offer to have my three nieces and one nephew for a week over the summer - I already have three delightful cherubs of my own. I say cherubs, but one is learning to drive right now, so he's pretty much graduated from cherub status to "pre-Uni progeny".

Anyhow, they live on a farm. I live in the burbs. They have dogs and horses, motorbikes and quadbikes and a pool. I have two chickens, a dog & a cat, some trees and two half grassed over tennis courts.

What am I gonna do with them?

Day 1: Come home, unpack, make sleeping arrangements

Day 2: Recover and rearrange sleeping arrangements

Day 3: Send them off to the park and rearrange sleeping arrangements again

Day 4: Leave-Aunty-Alone-Day and they can sleep wherever

Day 5: Start washing all clothes for return home and rearrange sleeping arrangements

Day 6: Pack ready for going home tomorrow!!! (YAY a 5 hour drive with 7 kids in the 4WD!)

Day 7: Take them home, come home and collapse

Why? Not really sure, but I hope their parents got some rest!

What cheeses me off...this week.

2008-12-08T22:02:00.003+11:00

"Because you're worth it..." states a well known cosmetic manufacturer's ad. How would they know? Really.

What cheeses me off...this week.

2008-12-08T21:25:00.007+11:00

You know those signs they have in stores above a counter that say "Customer Service"? Ignore them.

The Customer Service species is so rare, it's almost extinct.

I wanted to buy an item on sale at one of my favourite stores (ok, it was a lightbox, at Sxxxxxxxt at $40 off the price - happy now?) but of course they only had one left, and the box was open, with packaging torn. I took it to the "Customer Service" counter at the front of the store which is a hike. I asked the person if she could tell me if the item was complete and in good order or did they have another one?

Now, I had also heard the "Service" advice given to the person ahead of me. I was sure I'd heard wrong.

Anyway, the person took a cursory peek into the box and replied "I don't know, I'm looking at it same as you"!

Years ago, I'm sure I would have slapped her for being cheeky. But my anger management training took over so I politely smiled and blinked. You know the blink, the one that says, "I'm not sure you really said that" with eyebrows slightly raised.

After a bit of a poke into the box, and a phone call to someone, she told me I could take the box back the way I had come and "they" would plug it in to see if it worked. Wow, 2 out of 10 for service.

I decided to take the chance, take it home, plug it in and keep the receipt for just in case.

Now that I've used it twice, I think I'll put the torn wrapping back on, shove it back in the box, and take it back for a refund.

Nah, just kidding, it works fine (lucky for her).