Australia Day '08

26th January brought along our 2nd Australia Day – and another glorious day of sunshine. Having had a long & tiring week we decided against making it to the Aborigine ceremony that starts the day (will aim to make it one year!) and made it to the CBD for the passing of the ‘ship-parade’. Amazed by the crowds we wandered around the Rocks, stopping at times to sample the live music on offer and particularly enjoying ‘The Bottleman’ – a guy who plays a wide range of tunes on a selection of beer bottles (although the end of his session was drowned out by fighter jets flying overhead).

Most disappointing aspect of the day was the fact that the Museums charged $5 each - rather than the free entry of last year. A real shame as it is the only day of the year with free entry (unlike London which has free entry throughout the year) and I see it as a great way of encouraging people to experience some culture & history.

Making our way up Macquarie Street we passed a huge selection of vintage cars – although it seemed Lucy was most taken by the caravans – and popped into the Royal Mint (one of Sydney’s oldest buildings). Our original aim was to make it to the Triple J countdown in the domain, but the size of the queue put us off somewhat and so we wandered through the grounds of the hospital and ended up in the RBA building viewing an amusing 60’s video of it’s creation. Interesting to see the Sydney skyline of the 60’s, the half-built Opera House and a building that was seen then as a ‘grand & modern’ building but would now be considered a bit of a ‘concrete monstrosity’.

We ended up spending much of the afternoon taking in the live music provided by the ABC stage in Hyde Park. Sampled a couple of Bluetongue Ginger Beers, caught some sun & listened to a wide selection of music – jazz, samba & Australian Indie! – before heading over to Darling Harbour for the end of day fireworks celebrations.

If I was amazed at the number of people in Circular Quay earlier in the day, I was dumbfounded by the mass of people in Darling Harbour. We fought our way through to the bar in Tumbalong Park and had a drink with Arjun (from my MBA course) and his wife (Kiran) before heading back to watch the firework display – impressive but not on the same scale as NYE. We then had the misfortune of struggling through the throng of people in order to leave the harbour and make it for a drink somewhere. After close to 45 mins of struggle we eventually made it to the Shelburne Hotel for a drink or two.

Lucy & I then headed off to Hyde Park Barracks to enjoy a DJ session from Moodyman. Whilst the music was top notch – if a little more ‘retro’ than I expected – it was becoming a struggle to stay awake. A long day in the sun after a long week at Uni was taking its toll and the beers weren’t helping! Decided to leave around 1am and try our luck at the Spiegel Tent….where unfortunately we found it’s fame had spread and the length of the queue clinched our decision to head home. Whilst not quite living up to the standards of our 1st Australia Day in 2007 it was still an excellent day, one that really brings out the best in the Australian psyche – I only wish we could have a similar day of national pride & reflection in England.

Becoming a student again

Well, I’ve just completed my first couple of weeks back at Uni – as part of my MBA - and I have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised with the way things have gone so far. Having had the obvious concerns about leaving the workplace and returning back to study I have been relieved with the pace of things at the AGSM.

Whilst I do still harbour some anxieties - my biggest fear, that of turning-up to find a class full of people with whom I had little / nothing in common has proved to be far from the case. Most importantly, the “make-up” of the group has impressed me with a strong contingent from Australia, UK, India & North America. However, I feel the male:female ratio (currently 6:1) could be improved somewhat.

There is plenty of hard-work to come but so far we have had a gentle introduction. The first week (“O-week”) brought a series of presentations on the course structure, an introduction to the campus & city and plenty of ‘networking’ opportunities – otherwise known as beer drinking! Unfortunately, the City Challenge (a treasure hunt around the CBD) was timed to coincide with the wettest day of the year so far – not the most pleasurable experience.

Week 2 – the start of our Foundations of Management - has brought a number of sessions on reflective practice and although I would admit to not been the most reflective or self-aware person on the planet I have thoroughly enjoyed the week and hope to put some of my learning into practice during the rest of my career. Most enjoyable was a session where the group came together to ‘make music’ – West African music at that. Awesome.

The next couple of weeks bring more focus on general management skills before we start the first of our core modules in Economics, Accounting, and Organisational Behaviour. Looking forward to it all.

Also pleased to report that I passed Level I of the CFA professional exams – encouraging since my study period was spent travelling around NZ & SE Asia and only 39% of people passed!

Festive Season '07 / '08

Having had a superb time in the run up to Xmas – sorting out a new place to live & spending some time travelling around Australia – we looked forward to the Festive Season with relish.

Christmas Day was spent with Mike & Roxy (who we met in Thailand) and their friend Kenny. First, we headed to Bronte to spend a ‘traditional’ Aussie Xmas at the beach – launching our celebrations with a glass of wine and some snacks. Plenty of people dressed as Santa, some crashed out on the beach and even a few adults partaking in the mini-railway! Thankfully, the police were keeping a low profile and not stopping people from enjoying a festive drink. For lunch, we headed to Kenny’s place in Bondi – wading past the people streaming from the Catholic church in their gaelic football shirts! A mighty feast with plenty of ‘pop’ to wash it down awaited us & we had a really good day. Interesting that as we walked home 99% of the people we met were Irish! I sometimes wonder how many people there would be in Ireland should everyone return home!

On Boxing Day we headed into the CBD to watch the start of the Sydney – Hobart yacht race. An impressive sight, but we had unfortunately taken the wrong option in heading to Lady Macquarie’s chair as the start was more towards the mouth of the harbour. We made it back to our apartment just in time to catch the main-field cruise past Coogee. Spent the afternoon driving to Canberra – on our way to Melbourne – and stopped over in a campsite on the outskirts of the City. Had a lovely Thai meal in a place we’ve visited a couple of times before & still amazed at how quiet the City is on an evening.

Drove the remaining 600km+ to Melbourne on the 27th and arrived at the hostel around 3pm – plenty of time to make an initial excursion into the CBD. First impressions of Melbourne were of a more ‘European’ feel than Sydney – prompted by the style of buildings and the trams circulating. I liked the place immediately. Caught the tail-end of the day’s play in the cricket on a big-screen in the funky designed Federation Square. And then watched a documentary – Wattstax- accompanied by some awesome music.

The 28th brought an early start – breakfast by the river, then a walk around the Botanical Gardens before a stroll over to the MCG. What an impressive stadium! Lacking the historical architecture of the member’s pavilions at the SCG, but a truly modern stadium with a 90,000+ capacity. A crowd of 35,000 managed to generate a decent amount of noise & I would love to go back there for the AFL Grand Final when it is full to the brink. Had a lovely day sat in the sun – but worried at some points about getting burnt – fortunately we were ok despite the 40 degree heat. Had lunch in the nearby area of Richmond & after the game met up with Simon (who we had met in Thailand) and had a few drinks and an amazingly hot bowl of Thai noodles!

Pleased to get a good-nights sleep after a day sat in the baking sun, we made another early start on the 29th on our main day of sight-seeing. First stop was the Victoria Markets and then after a look at the museum of immigration – I’m fascinated by the story of immigration and what causes a person to ‘up-sticks’ and move half-way around the world – we conducted a walking tour of the City. Most disappointing aspect of the day was Captain Cook’s Cottage – uprooted from his home (near my birth-place) and shipped brick by brick to Melbourne. It’s not even certain that he lived there & I didn’t appreciate having to pay $5 to look around a small cottage! With the heat getting back up towards the 40’s we had a walk along Brunswick St – checking out some of the many interesting stores & scoping out places for the evening before having a lovely glass of home-made lemonade. Had a cool down and shower before heading back out to the Brunswick St area – surprised by how few people were around & how many places closed for the Xmas break – we found a lovely little tapas place for dinner, complete with a full-range of Mountain Goat beer & live music. Followed that up with a few drinks on Brunswick St – impressed by the character of the bars & the drummer situated outside the bar! – before the tram-journey home.

Managed to drive the full 900km+ back to Sydney in one 10 hour stint. I was sorry to leave Melbourne behind, but I’m sure it’s a place I will spend more time in at some point.

NYE was the next real point of interest & we spent that at Taronga Zoo. The $100 tickets gave us access to fantastic views of the Harbour, some great live entertainment (Lucy & I were even up and jiving at a few points), a sample of animals to view and the opportunity to bring our own food & wine rather than paying the extortionate prices in the CBD’s bars. It was hard to take ourselves away from the Vanilla Ice show in Coogee, but we coped! The views from the zoo were superb, everything well organized (apart from animal access) and the fireworks themselves just amazing!

Our next major point of call was the SCG for the opening day of the Australia v India Test. An easy journey from our new home in Randwick and another glorious day in the sun. The only disappointment for me was not having the opportunity to see Tendulkar bat, however, I was greatly encouraged by the reception he did receive as I watched on TV. He really is ‘the little master’ and it will be a sad day when he leaves the game. A few drinks with Sanchia & friends on the way home (yet another person we met in Thailand!) and a great end to the Festive Season ’07!