Summer Holidays
19 January 2008
Two days after my last note we had a federal election and for the first time since 1996, a change of government. Many people took some satisfaction from seeing the Prime Minister lose his own seat after events which had made his government appear increasingly out-of-touch, opportunistic and racist. Elections are always held on a Saturday here but I was working all day at St Vincent’s as I was on call. The count started at 6pm and the result was largely determined by 11pm but I was too tired to stay up and watch the TV and went to bed instead. The new government is much more sympathetic to issues of equality and it will be interesting to see some new ideas get implemented.
Though I am only at St Vincent’s Hospital one day each week now, I was entrusted with a work experience student again this year. Thus another 16 year old got introduced to politics in the workplace after there were concerns raised by nursing staff about the suitability of the operating rooms for school students. Presumably he had been to see “Saw III” at the movies and he didn’t seem disturbed at all by anaesthesia work. Unfortunately it looks like this sort of work experience will not be approved in the future.
Jay and I both had almost two weeks off work over Christmas and New Year. Immediately before Christmas we went to the family holiday house at Sorrento. The weather was very changeable with heavy rain followed by sunshine. We spent some time getting the house a bit cleaner before the holiday period when it gets used a lot.
We were having my family to lunch for Christmas so we had to get a tree this year. As our track record with keeping plants alive for any length of time is not good, I bought a pre-lit folding tree made in China. It worked pretty well and I even managed to get it back into the box afterwards for next year. The blinds are closed in the picture partly to see the lights and partly because we have had a lot of days over 40C (105F).
Christmas itself was very low-key. My parents and sister and grandfather came for lunch. My aunts and uncles were all either out of town or with their in-laws for lunch so it was an easy introduction to hosting Christmas for us.
The following day we went to the cricket. It was the first day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India. This is usually the best-attended day of Test Cricket for the year. Jay has seen enough of the one-day cricket to know what was going on and if Test Cricket was ever going to be interesting, this was probably the best chance. We followed the remaining days of the game on the radio while driving to and from Sydney.
Between Christmas and New Year we went to Sydney. We drove up the Hume Highway which is a direct route but not picturesque and returned along the Princes Highway which follows the coast. In Sydney we visited friends and went to see Taronga Zoo.
The selection of animals to see at Taronga Zoo is similar to Melbourne Zoo, but there is the additional attraction of spectacular views across Sydney Harbour to the city. The Harbour Bridge is peeking above the trees behind the giraffe enclosure in the picture. It was school holidays so the place was teeming with children but we still enjoyed the trip. The primate exhibits and nocturnal animal exhibits were particularly good.
The drive back was along the coast and we spent three days doing it rather than the one-day drive up. We stopped at a few of the seaside towns including Bermagui where my grandparents went for game-fishing holidays fifty years ago. There has been substantial rain in this part of the country and it was a change to see areas that were green rather than dry and dusty.
We arrived back in Melbourne on New Years Eve. We went out to a party with friends but we had to get some rest on New Year’s Day as Jay started back at work the following day. Now we are entering the festival/party season as we are helping at Midsumma and the Asia-Pacific Outgames and then heading to Sydney again for Mardi Gras.
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Though I am only at St Vincent’s Hospital one day each week now, I was entrusted with a work experience student again this year. Thus another 16 year old got introduced to politics in the workplace after there were concerns raised by nursing staff about the suitability of the operating rooms for school students. Presumably he had been to see “Saw III” at the movies and he didn’t seem disturbed at all by anaesthesia work. Unfortunately it looks like this sort of work experience will not be approved in the future.
Jay and I both had almost two weeks off work over Christmas and New Year. Immediately before Christmas we went to the family holiday house at Sorrento. The weather was very changeable with heavy rain followed by sunshine. We spent some time getting the house a bit cleaner before the holiday period when it gets used a lot.
We were having my family to lunch for Christmas so we had to get a tree this year. As our track record with keeping plants alive for any length of time is not good, I bought a pre-lit folding tree made in China. It worked pretty well and I even managed to get it back into the box afterwards for next year. The blinds are closed in the picture partly to see the lights and partly because we have had a lot of days over 40C (105F).
Christmas itself was very low-key. My parents and sister and grandfather came for lunch. My aunts and uncles were all either out of town or with their in-laws for lunch so it was an easy introduction to hosting Christmas for us.
The following day we went to the cricket. It was the first day of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India. This is usually the best-attended day of Test Cricket for the year. Jay has seen enough of the one-day cricket to know what was going on and if Test Cricket was ever going to be interesting, this was probably the best chance. We followed the remaining days of the game on the radio while driving to and from Sydney.
Between Christmas and New Year we went to Sydney. We drove up the Hume Highway which is a direct route but not picturesque and returned along the Princes Highway which follows the coast. In Sydney we visited friends and went to see Taronga Zoo.
The selection of animals to see at Taronga Zoo is similar to Melbourne Zoo, but there is the additional attraction of spectacular views across Sydney Harbour to the city. The Harbour Bridge is peeking above the trees behind the giraffe enclosure in the picture. It was school holidays so the place was teeming with children but we still enjoyed the trip. The primate exhibits and nocturnal animal exhibits were particularly good.
The drive back was along the coast and we spent three days doing it rather than the one-day drive up. We stopped at a few of the seaside towns including Bermagui where my grandparents went for game-fishing holidays fifty years ago. There has been substantial rain in this part of the country and it was a change to see areas that were green rather than dry and dusty.
We arrived back in Melbourne on New Years Eve. We went out to a party with friends but we had to get some rest on New Year’s Day as Jay started back at work the following day. Now we are entering the festival/party season as we are helping at Midsumma and the Asia-Pacific Outgames and then heading to Sydney again for Mardi Gras.
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