My businessman's belly-Down Under

The last post – Brain has left the building for good

2012-01-01T02:26:00.001Z

Today, I am writing the last post for 2011, which will also be my last post in My Businessman’s Bellyblog. Do I hear an out-pouring of grief, hordes of you wailing at the greatblog wall, readers thrashing themselves with nettles to lessen the pain of me stoppingthis blog? Probably not, which tells me it’s time to move on to something new.

This little ditty has been going for over five years and alot’s happened in that time. But the most important thing is what happened inthe last few months – I got rid of my belly Brian and his unwanted friends,which was the original purpose of the blog. I think it's time to go out on ahigh and make way for something new.

This will be the last post.

It’s been a blast, lots of ups and downs, life changingdecisions, laughs and tears – all the things that generally make up life. Thelast year in particular has been one of the most fulfilling, but alsochallenging ones I’ve had in a long time. I’m not going to go back through itall but if any of you remember at the beginning of the year I said it was theyear for me to Make My Mark (conveniently tied in to the 2010 New Year celebrations theme in Sydney). Well, I think I’ve at least made a fairly decentscribble on the page of life this year. Some of the highlights are:

Getting published with The Last Word, MixedMartial Arts. Get one (paper or digital), you know you want to!. It’s even inebook format now on Amazon!
Starting a great new job
Moving to a new apartment (twice)
Getting fit and finally losing my belly
Having Mum and Dad and Alice visit us here
Making some great new friends
Turning 50 and not letting it freak me out (wellnot too much)

There are lots more, but I’d bore you.

As this year draws to a close, I’ve been thinking about whatI want to do next year and beyond. This year’s theme in Sydney is Timeto Dream. Whilst I think that we should all take time to dream, we allneed to take time to live. I’ve been conscious that the pace of my life isgetting too fast (perhaps one of the reasons I took a walk through the closedglass door onto our new balcony last week and ended up in hospital with about50 stitches applied to various wounds), and I would love to slow down and smellthe roses. So that’s my plan, not to become lethargic or anything like that,but to stop rushing as though every last second counts and take time to savour thegood things.

Amongst my other general plans for world domination, I havea couple of exciting writing projects bubbling under that need some attention, oneof which will be a new blog. So you won’t be rid of me entirely, it’ll just bea different me.

I couldn’t have achieved any of this without the support andlove of Nadia. She always believes in me, supports me and pushes meon to do new things, big and small. I know she is loving life without Brian tagging along. Long may itcontinue.

And finally thank you to you. I know there are a few of youout there and it wouldn’t have been worth writing all this if you weren’t aroundto read it from time to time.

I hope you’ll look out for my sparkling, new blog early nextyear.

May 2010 bring you all that you wish for and dream of. Mayyou and your family enjoy health, wealth and good times. Have a great one and Ileave you with some pictures of the Sydney 2011/12 Fireworks and urge you allto take time to dream, and make those dreams come true.

Is it bye bye to Brian?

2011-10-03T02:18:00.000+01:00

As you know, for the last eight weeks I’ve been draggingmyself out of bed at an ungodly hour to take the battle with my belly, Brian,to fat loss bootcamp. I’ve given up eating all the things that Brian craves andthat made him the belly he was. I’ve hardly had an alcoholic drink. I’ve changed.

This week marks the end of my current stint at bootcamp onlybecause I’m starting my new job on Tuesday and I need to see how my workinghours can fit around the bootcamp times. In those eight weeks, I’ve not missedone morning session, I’ve also been going boxing on a Monday evening, and haverun most Saturdays. I reckon I’ve trained or done some sort of exercise fivedays out of every seven – that’s 40 sessions in the eight weeks. It sounds likea lot, and compared to what I was doing before (almost nothing) it is, butafter the first week it really hasn’t felt like a chore. I’ve actually enjoyedit.

What’s the outcome? Well in terms of statistics, I’ve lost 5kilos and a whopping 12cms have been sliced from Brian. My moobs, Brenda andBetty are also disappearing fast, and my twin chin Chris has pretty much losthis sibling. This is just as well because I’m going to have to put a tie on inthe new job and hopefully my shirt collars will no longer strangle me! These pictures show the results. The pair of jeans I am trying to wear were bought three weeks before I started bootcamp. They weren't a tight fit, but now they don't even come close to fitting, even with a belt! And the other change - my goatee has gone. A Facebook poll of my friends decided that I look 10 years younger without it and without the weight - who am I to argue!

Jeans for sale

I have to say, I’m really pleased with the results, and abig thank you goes to coach JohnD and my fellow boot campers (who also got somecracking results too) who kept up the banter and we shared the pain together. Iknow I’ve made fun of some of the exercises and John’s tendency to give us akiller drill just when we think we are done, but I couldn’t have done itwithout him. Brian hates him, but I want to say a big thank you!

So has Brian disappeared altogether? Well not quite, but Inow feel that I can reduce him to a simple B – the belly formerly known asBrian. I still want to lose a couple more centimetres from my waist and I’llkeep going with the exercise and healthy eating. No longer do I look for theburger and chips on the menu when we are out. I avoid fried food wherever Ican, and am happy to eat salad and veggies. That is a total turn around fromtwo months ago. It’s no secret that the west of Scotland diet is a recipe forobesity and health problems, and I was scared that my years of eating all thewrong things would start to come home to roost – after all I’m no springchicken now. But now I know it can be turned around, and it’s never too late tostart. I hope my efforts over the last few months will give anyone theconfidence to go and do something about it. You will enjoy it, and you willenjoy the results even more.

So what’s next? Well, I seem to respond best when I have putout my goal in public, and this one is a bit of a crazy one. It may soundsimple, but it’s not. It’s a challenge I’m sharing with my friend Valerie Khoo,who is quite frankly nuts (by her own admission) and it was her silly idea. In a moment of weakness on Twitter I agreed I would join her in this crazy challenge. What is it? Well, weare now training to do a one-arm push up (well hopefully more than one). I knowyou think it sounds easy, but to do it properly will actually take months oftraining and building up to it. Our inspiration came from this book – Convict Conditioning. It’s all about bodyweight training on six big core exercises, andbelieve me if I can get to master level in any of them I’ll be a very happyman! We will create a special blog to chronicle “Val and Al’s crazy challenge”so watch out for that in the next couple of weeks.

I’ll still be boxing, running and trying to master skipping(I have to say I did my best effort at skipping by far at Thursday morningclass). Brian will disappear, and when he does, the one-arm pushup will bewithin my grasp.

I'm a new man - honest!

‘I’ don’t want you round here no more

2011-09-20T04:52:00.002+01:00

I’ve been struggling with the title of this blog for thelast couple of weeks, and that one is still pretty lame. However, can you see abit of a pattern emerging? Yes, you clever things, ‘I’ is another letter thatI’ve lopped off my belly (formerly known as Brian). At this rate, Brian’s goingto want only to be known as a symbol – a bit like Prince, but he can’t singnearly as well.

I know it’s been two weeks since my last post about thegreat results I’ve seen from the first four weeks of Fat Loss Boot Camp, andI’m half way through the next four week block. It’s just as tough (if nottougher) as coach JohnD pushes us through the lazy, I mean pain, barrier in themornings to lift more weights and do more killer exercises. Some say thatvarying the exercises is good to keep us interested and motivated. Personally,I think he just likes to see us suffer by throwing a couple of curve balls inthe morning to see how we react. One particular exercise he introduced lastweek was particularly sadistic. Basically, you put your hands on a weightsbench, both feet to one side, then bunny hop over and back for a minute. Wellthis has been christened “The Swearie” because we all swore before, during andafter it. Brutal, but effective (the exercise, not the swearing).

There is one exercise that after six weeks still makes melook like a sissy. Well, actually that’s not true because the girls are verygood at it (as are the rest of the blokes). Yes, the humble old skipping rope(now with the more macho name of a jump rope – that’s what the boxers call itand who’s to argue?) still defeats me - hand/foot coordination at that time ofthe morning seems to elude me. I really shouldn’t be surprised, Nadia told me itprobably directly reflects my lack of dancing skills. There’s no way I’d becalled twinkle toes! So today I’m off to the sports shop to buy a rope andpractice. I’m going to do it if it’s the last think I do in the class!

But all this and my healthy eating and very little drinkinghas been paying off. My target for this four week block is to lose another 3cmfrom my waist (that would bring the total to 10cm) and 2kgs (bringing the totalto 5kg). I’m not sure about the weight, but I reckon I’ve hit my waist targetalready with two weeks to go. So it’s off with the “I” and all I’ve got left isnow is Br. Let’s see where I get to in the final two weeks!

This was our fridge after a shopping at the weekend - may have to open a fruit and veg shop!

I will be stopping after two weeks as I’ll be starting a newjob at the beginning of October. I’m going to be working for Allianz Insuranceas Group Communications Manager, which is a cracking job that I’m excitedabout. It also means I’ve got two weeks holiday before I start, and the weatheris picking up nicely. So I might be able to parade my new beach bod atBondi…okay, on second thoughts maybe I’ll keep my shirt on!

I was looking back through some old photo's and came across this one of Nadia and I in Edinburgh in 2002. I had been going to the gym a lot then, so was probably feeling quite fit and slim.

And then I took this one of me today...apart from the beard, not a lot of difference nearly ten years later. What do you think?

It's the photos in-between that will remain under wraps for a while yet - they don't paint a pretty picture!

Last week I was speaking to my mum who’sin Scotland, and she insisted that I Skype her so she could see the differenceis real, and I didn’t photoshop the picture in my last blog. Nice to see she trusts meimplicitly ;-). But she was suitably impressed, and hopefully when my folks gethere in November I’ll be the slim Al they used to know.

So I will continue to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 for the next couple of weeks, even though I'm on holiday, and fight the last battle with Brian. I may have to change the name of my blog soon - I've been wanting to do that for the last three years!

The Four ‘F’s

2011-09-01T10:04:00.000+01:00

Now there’s an out there headline! What on earth do I mean? Have I invented 3 other swear words that begin with 'F' to go with the famous one as Coach JohnD pushed us to the limit? Well, if I my brain (not Brian) was not so busy reminding my lungs to breathe and heart to stop beating itself out of my chest as we go through another ‘special’ boxing drill, I’m sure I could’ve come up with some choice new words. But no, my four ‘F’s are this:

I’ve gone from Fat to Fit at Fifty in Four weeks!

Yes, the four weeks of John’s fitness correctional institution have just about come to an end, and believe it or not, it actually worked, even on an old fart like me.

Now, before I go any further, it’s important to note that JohnD is not paying me, giving me free classes for my endorsement, but coming to think of it maybe I should negotiate a product placement fee!

This week has been tough. We had an extra class on Monday because John’s car had broken down the other week. Let me tell you, getting out of bed on Monday at 5:30 to go circuit training is definitely not on my bucket list. Add to that, I did the normal boxing on Monday evening as well, circuit on Tuesday, boxing on Wednesday (where I reckon we threw at least 3000 punches in 45 minutes – John was particularly grumpy because his lovely daughter had woken him up at some unearthly hour, so we paid for it in spades!), and rounded it all off with circuit on Thursday. But we’ve all lived to tell the tale, and even raise a smile between us from time to time. We don’t let Coach JohnD see us smile too much in case he interprets it as us being too comfortable and he comes up with another killer drill for us.

And Thursday was the big day; the big weigh in and waist measurement. Thankfully there were no TV cameras to record any belly wobble, triple chin jelly, or noisy farts from the healthy food we are eating. Nope, our happy band of campers all took off our training shoes, stepped on the scales and sucked in our tummies as John took the vital measurements.

Some of my colleagues at work had started a sweepstake to guess how much weight I’ve lost in the four weeks. So without any further ado, here’s the numbers you’ve all been waiting on…well, I have - you probably don’t give a toss.

In four weeks, I’ve lost 3kg and my waist is 7cms smaller. Did it win me the accolade of the biggest loser ever? Possibly not, but I don’t care. I think it’s fair to say I’m well chuffed (that means pleased) with that result. I’m fitter and stronger than I’ve been in a long time, and my fellow bootcampers all had pretty damned good results too!

To give you an idea what that looks like in reality, here’s a before and after picture. Please pay particular attention to my ex-friend Brian busting out my shirt in the first one. In the second one, which was taken on Sunday, ‘a’ and ‘n’ are nowhere to be seen.

Brian and friends busting out all over - two weeks before bootcamp

Taken last Sunday - Brian's shrunk to Bri!

I must confess that when I looked at these two pictures as I was putting this together, I got a bit emotional; mind you I get emotional watching Home and Away.

But let me warn you, success doesn’t come cheap. I spent thousands of dollars to hire the best trainers, nutritionists, sports psychologists, masseurs and physiotherapists to get me through this barrier. Okay, slight exaggeration on my part. The training session is very reasonably priced, but it’s the hidden costs that really hurt. Who’d have thought it would be so expensive to eat properly, but that has been offset by reduction in wine bill, restaurant bills, and general wastage of food we used to buy and throw out because we decided eating out was easier than cooking. And now I face a new cost – I have to get my suits and trousers adjusted because they are falling off me. Unwittingly I am becoming hip and down with the kids as my jeans slide down my arse and show off my best off-white Target y-fronts! Not a great look for a fifty year old (that’s my age, not the age of my y-fronts).

So what now? Well the battle continues. Bri will become B, Brenda and Betty will no longer attract admiring glances before guys look up and spot I’m a bloke (yes, I know where men look first), and Chris will be replaced by a Clooney-esque jaw line. I’ve signed up for four more weeks. The first battle is won, but the war continues.

And really, pound for pound, Coach JohnD is the best boxing padder on the North Shore (he did pay me to say that!). He’s not really the baddy I make him out to be on here, and we couldn’t have done it without him. If you're in Sydney, you will struggle to find a better trainer. Cheers John.

Human Design website.

Boom! (That’s John’s catchphrase by the way).

‘A’ – adios amigo

2011-08-25T10:50:00.000+01:00

Yes, he’s gone. The ‘a’ is out of here, adios, arrivederci, away you go you unwanted belly fat!

The challenge this week was to see if I could keep up the good progress to chop another letter off my belly, and I reckon I have. Not only that, but Brenda and Betty are nowhere near as voluptuous, and twin chin Chris is melting away slowly. I’ve had to find new shaving angles in the morning to get to parts of my jaw line that have been hiding for a few years.

Coach JohnD, as he is now known due to a guest blog spot for some other internet rag, is still as sadistic as ever. Our little class give it their all, and just as the clock gets teasingly close to 7:00am and we are hoping to be sent home to shower and eat our healthy breakfast, the famous “Nearly Done” phrase echoes round the room as we all give him the death stare. What is the last punishment this morning? Well, in a quiet moment, just try this little beauty. Lie on your back and do one sit up. Then turn over and do one push-up. Easy? Yep. Now turn over and do two sit ups, then two push-ups, then three sit ups, three push-ups, then four…you getting the picture now? The target is to get to 10. Let’s just say by number seven, I am already doing girlie push-ups on my knees (I have no pride at that time in the morning) and can hardly get my long lost abs to crunch. A piece of lettuce is crunchier than my crunches!

This morning's breakfast of champions - steak, eggs, tomato and avocado

But like I said last time, I love it. As well as the classes, I’m running 6km at the weekend and doing boxing class on a Monday night. Seriously, this was a man that was a perfect couch potato less than a month ago.

We have now done three weeks of our exercise boot camp. I am lifting weights I never thought I would, and keeping going at boxing class the whole way through. There is one more week to go until the big reveal. Next Thursday, we will get weighed and measured and the truth will be told. I know I’ve lost a fair bit already, and even my fellow bootcamp detainees have commented on my weightloss. I did say to Coach JohnD that I want to go for the record loss in four weeks, but let’s see what the reality is.

And despite all my complaining, in a moment of madness I’ve signed up for another four weeks. As a Scotsman, I rarely part with my money if I don’t feel I am getting good value, but I think this is really money well spent. I wonder if I will have any letters left in ‘Bri’ by the time I’m done? Hope not.

In other news, it’s been a big week. I’ve accepted a cracking new job and have resigned from my current place. I’ll be sad to leave my team and colleagues, but this is too good an opportunity to miss. The only trouble is I can’t go out and have a few wines to celebrate, well maybe I can have one, (Coach JohnD – stop reading here) or maybe a couple more. I’ll let people know what I’m up to closer to the start date in a month or so.

Come back next week to see if I am indeed The Biggest Loser. If I am, I will post some sort of picture of my new beach-ready bod. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Dropping the ‘n’ from Brian

2011-08-17T10:13:00.000+01:00

Well, one week of fat busting boot camp is done and I’m still alive. Which, given my great age and the amount of physical pain our trainer John puts us through, is a bit of a miracle in itself.

But it’s beginning to feel like it’s all going to be worth it, and I’ll tell you why in a minute. First, let me tell you about some of the strange things that have happened to me as a result of this new regime:

I’ve been out of bed and ready to exercise at 5:30 am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week. Separating me from my bed at that ungodly hour is a true test of my mettle, but I’ve done it.
We have not had a meal in a restaurant for a week and a half. I believe this may be a new world record.
When shopping for food last weekend in a major supermarket, I was wandering round reading my shopping list on my iPad, and asked out loud “Where’s the Tofu?” This is so wrong on so many levels.
For the first time in living memory I actually stood up from my desk at work and said out loud, “I’m just going down to get a salad for my lunch.”
I spent last Friday night in the pub nursing one drink – a sparkling mineral water. No stopping this party boy.
I’ve not eaten one piece of pasta or bread, had one crisp, or one alcoholic drink. Please save all these treats up for me at the end of the month.

But, and it is a big but, I feel great! The early mornings have continued this week (although John’s car breaking down yesterday morning causing the class to be cancelled, was a short reprieve) and I am eating all the right stuff. Already I have more energy throughout the day and I’ve not had any really bad cravings for the naughty stuff.

However, one side effect seems to be a heightening of my sense of smell. I can smell delicious cooking round every corner – curries, steaks (although I can eat steaks), beefburgers…you name it, I can smell it from a thousand yards. I really want to knock on my neighbours door or nip into the restaurant and ask for a plateful, but I just keep reminding myself of those damned pictures from the other week and I walk on by.

And other benefits? Well, Nadia bought me a pair of jeans when she was in Hawaii six months ago. I’ve never been able to get into them, but this weekend I got them on and they were actually comfortable. Shirts that have been stretching at the seams now hang well. Belts are being tightened a notch. All in all, one week in and I think I have lost a fair bit of weight and trimmed down my waist – result!

I’ve still got a long way to go and three more weeks to complete, but right now I reckon I’ve done enough to shave at least the ‘n’ off the end of my belly Brian. As more comes off my belly, more letters will come off Bria until all I’ve got left is B.

Bring it on, or as John the Punisher says – Boom!

My Businessman’s Belly – getting busted!

2011-08-11T12:28:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago we attended Matthew and Candace’s wedding, which you can read about in the last post. What you also saw in that were only a few pictures that were carefully chosen as the least embarrassing. Why were the others embarrassing? Well it doesn’t take much to realise my unwanted friends Brian, Betty, Brenda and twin chin Chris had also invited themselves to the wedding. And they weren’t in a shy and retiring mood. In fact, they pretty much put themselves out there for everyone to see. They did not behave, and were a total embarrassment to me. I knew things were going to be out of order when I tried on my kilt. Yes, I could get into it, but to be honest it was not a great fit (bear in mind I got this kilt made over 20 years ago). Then when I looked at the pictures, I realised my unwanted friends had photo-bombed every damned picture, ruining them – especially Brain and Chris. They were everywhere. Sticking themselves where they aren’t wanted. And if ever a Scotsman needed a challenge to stare him in the face (well his three faces by the way Chris was behaving), it was this. So action has been taken. Drastic action. Painful Action.

But just for some light relief:

Yes, that's me and my Bro-in-law Sam before the wedding. Bonding as our face masks set!

For friends who are relatively new to this blog, let me explain. I set this blog up far too many years ago to chronicle my battle with some unwanted additions to my physique. I called them pet names, just because it sounded right. So, My Businessman’s Belly is called Brian; my moobs are Brenda and Betty (I don’t care which one is left or right) and my twin chins have been christened Chris. Over the years, it’s been a constant battle. I’ve won some rounds, and they’ve fought back. So I found myself back where I started all those years ago. Feeling out of shape and actually feeling as unfit as I ever have. It was time for drastic action.

I have been going to a boxing boot camp on a Monday evening for a couple of months, but plainly doing 45 minutes of boxing every couple of weeks was not going to make any impression on my burgeoning belly. The guy that runs it is originally from Northern Ireland. Let’s call him John (‘cause that’s his name). John is a personal trainer who runs a number of group classes as well – one of which is called Fat Busting Boot Camp. I thought – the very dab, just the perfect thing for me and my next round of battle with the bulges.

So I signed up, and this has been the first week of the pain and torture that John euphemistically refers to as training. Let me explain how this works, just to give you an idea of the hell that I have signed up for.

Firstly, we are given an eating plan. Not a diet. Just plain and simple healthy eating. Lots of veg and proteins; little (well none) of my favourite crisps, bread, pasta, rice, chips, biscuits, chocolate (are you getting the picture?) or, heaven forbid – alcohol! Well, I never thought I would be able to stick to it, but I have religiously for nearly a week now (okay, 5 days, but it feels like a week!). Give him his due, the plan is easy to do and the recipes are pretty tasty. I hope it continues and I only have to look at the pictures to remind my why this will all be worth it.

Does it get any better? Prawns, Sweet Potato, Beans, Pumpkin...Yum!

So that’s the easy bit. There’s always a catch, and this catch is 6:00 am circuit and boxing classes every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And I’m still going to boxing on a Monday night. Brutal; sadistic; but effective.

The training is hard. John has this lovely turn of phrase just when you think the class is done. “Nearly there now.” I have come to recognise this as the point when he decides we haven’t worked hard enough and there is a killer exercise he’s been dying to try out on us. As an example, the boxing class is full on boxing or padding for your partner for 45 minutes. For those who aren’t familiar, the closest we get to hitting someone is if we miss the focus pads they are holding up for you to hit – this becomes a real hazard as you both tire. But just as you think you’ve done, and relief is in sight, the bold John after saying “Nearly there now,” announces the ‘Round of 1000’. Collective groans go around the ten of us. You start with 50 rapid uppercuts, then 50 jabs and crosses, then 100 of each, then 200, then 250. Going mano-a-mano with Muhammad Ali couldn’t have been this hard, Could it? By the end of it, my arms and shoulders were burning and I could hardly lift them high enough to hit the pad. I couldn’t have punched my way out a wet paper bag. But I tell you what, despite the pain it was bloody good fun! I was glad that I had been up early enough to shave before I went that morning, because my arms and hands were shaking so much I would probably have required a blood transfusion from all the cuts I would’ve inflicted on myself.

But I’m through the first week of classes, and yes, dear John has given us homework for the weekend – a 60 minute run. Well we’ll see about that!

But he guarantees results and I already feel the difference. He set me a target of losing 2kg and an inch from my waist in the four weeks. I hope to double that.

Here's John's website - Human Design

I really hope Brian, Betty, Brenda and Chris hate getting out of bed so early to be put through the pain barrier, and that they hate my new eating regime.

Watch this space (and diminishing waistline) for news of progress.

To have and to hold, from this day forward…

2011-08-01T12:33:00.001+01:00

What a great weekend we’ve just had. Firstly I would like to congratulate Matthew and Candace, who are now Mr & Mrs Lombardi. We took the short trip (three hours by plane, two further hours of driving) to Mission Beach in North Queensland to help them celebrate the beginning of their life together as man and wife.

Before you get the wrong impression of an Aussie wedding, it wasn’t all chucking shrimps on the barbie and skulling tinnies of Fosters Gold. It was a very civilised and beautiful affair.

A couple of weeks ago, Matthew asked me and my bro-in-law Dom to take on the MC duties at the reception. I could tell by the colour draining from Dom’s face that this wasn’t a task he was going to relish, so we came to a gentleman’s agreement (well he just told me he wasn’t doing it) that I would take the hot seat. I’ve never MC’d a wedding before, so it was all new territory and I was nervous that my shy, retiring demeanour, not to mention my Scottish accent, would make it a big challenge – but I was willing to give it a go as long as I had a microphone, special stage lighting, a Winnebago, and nubile serving girls to look after my every need. Okay, I made do with the microphone, the rest will need to wait until my next gig.

But more of the reception later.

As you may remember, North Queensland had been battered by Cyclone Yasi a few months ago, and Mission Beach was one of the communities that had been hit the hardest. I was interested to see how much damage had been done and how they were recovering. We were staying at Mission Beach Resort, which was a motel type set up that also houses the local casino (well, poker machines), bar and disco. It was also where we were having the reception. Calls had been going back and forth between the family about all the last minute challenges (like making 140 paper pompoms and having to take up the hems on all the groomsmen’s trousers), but when we arrived on Friday, all seemed relatively calm.

Saturday morning gave me the chance to take a run in the car with Nino and Paula to have a look at other bits of the area. The evidence of the devastation is everywhere. It looks like every second tree in the rainforest has been snapped or blown down. There are bits of corrugated iron still lying in paddocks, and there are obviously a lot of new roofs on houses. But it was great to see things are progressing, and we were all pleased to be able to support the local community with our business. They should be just about be able to afford a new school with the amount of money that the party spent on food and drink over the weekend!

By lunchtime, the sun was shining and it was off to the nearby (half an hour’s fast drive away) Chapel at Kurrimine Beach for the wedding ceremony. To be honest, it was a perfect picture postcard setting. However, the Chapel is not exactly on the roomy side, and we were squeezed in like sardines in a tin, getting hotter by the minute as we waited on the bride. And we got hotter, my bum cheek went numb, and we waited. And waited. I’m not sure how late is fashionably late, but we were heading towards the 30 minute mark before the bride and her entourage arrived.

Tradewinds Chapel, Kurrimine Beach

Yes, she looked lovely. Yes, the bridesmaids cried. Me, well I was getting hot in my kilt. Did I mention that I was wearing my kilt? I think it’s fair to say North Queenslanders don’t see men in kilts very often, and some of the cat calls I got later on from the locals at the pub were ‘interesting’, especially the ones from the guys!

The bridal party

Nadia and I kidding on we're departing in the wedding car

Now I haven’t had my kilt on for a while, and as you know Brian and his friends have been enjoying a bit too much of the Aussie good life recently. But a deep breath, and crunching my abs (which haven’t felt the crunch for far too long) meant I could get into it but I won’t kid you, it wasn’t the most comfortable 12 hours I have spent. So that’s just another reason I need to get the fight with Brian under my control again. That, and the shame of the video and pictures – my unwanted friend Twin Chin Chris had a starring role. Not a great look - but from a distance and in soft lighting, I scrub up okay!

MC AliBali

But I digress. After the ceremony (finished at 2pm) we all decanted to a local winery while the bridal party went for the photo shoot. All I will say is that the wine was made from various fruits, none of which had any resemblance to a grape, and was not to my taste. So we went back to the motel for a rest before the reception kicked off at 6:00 pm, which meant I was then on duty for most of the rest of the evening. Sobriety was the order of the day for me.

The function room was beautifully decorated. I’ve seen a few in my time, but this was really tasteful and looked perfect for the wedding. Most of the decoration had been done by the families, so big kudos to them.

Did I mention the 6:00pm start? Okay, we never thought it would start at 6:00, but I was thinking perhaps around 6:30 would’ve been a good bet. Well 6:30 came and went, and still no sign of the wedding party coming back from the photo shoot. At 6:45 we established a line of communication with the bridal party (text message - not great cellphone reception up there), but they were still 15 minutes away. By now, I’m trying to keep the guests up to date with when they might get something to eat, and worrying about the amount of drink they were knocking back before we even got started.

At 7:00, the Hummer drew up and we were ready to go, weren’t we? Well, not quite. One of the bridesmaids has a new baby girl and she had to go and feed her before we could get started, and of course they took the opportunity to freshen up hair and make up. Twenty minutes later, I announced them into the room.

From then on, the night went really well. My MC duties went off without a hitch and I think I even made them laugh once or twice, and not just at my hairy knees! I got through the evening with my dignity intact and the secret about what’s under a Scotsman’s kilt remains a secret for now.

This has been a bit of an epic post, but it was an epic weekend. There is more to tell and I will post some more in the next few days, but for now Matthew and Candace are enjoying their first few days as husband and wife and we wish them all the very best for their future together.

The very happy couple

Oldie, but goldie

2011-07-03T10:04:00.001+01:00

It’s been a couple of weeks since I turned the corner and jumped head first into the second half of my century on this planet.

That sentence alone opens up so many different avenues for discussion. Was I hiding behind a corner? Who says I’m only half way through when the stats say I’m more like two thirds through the average life expectancy? And who says we only have a life on this planet?

Fear not my faithful readers, I am not going to have a philosophical rant with you here, those that know me know that only happens when I’ve had a few drinks…maybe that’s why I’ve not been invited to many parties recently. I must learn a few jokes to keep me off the subject.

Do I feel older? Actually I do in a way. I seem to take longer to get moving in the morning, my knees are creaking after years of neglecting them, and I can spot more grey hair every time I look in the mirror.

Talking of mirrors, I spent an hour in front of one at the hairdresser yesterday. An hour? Yes folks, an hour. I’ve had many 15 minute crops in my time, but since I really don’t like getting my haircut I decided to find someone who cuts it to my specification (the fourteen pages of do’s and don’ts I present them with put a few hairdressers off). And I have found the said person (for just now anyway). She got it right the previous time and she got it right this time too. Haircut nirvana. The only thing is she does take her time – and while I’m happy for her to take her time to get it right, it means I have to look at myself in the mirror for an hour.

I spent that hour looking at my wrinkles, bags under the eyes, and my double chin, realising this is what I look like after 50 years. An hour to reflect on life as a 50 year old. Now I have been told on more than one occasion that I don’t look as old as I am. I put that down to clean living and a sheltered upbringing! Maybe it’s time to go a bit wild, but that reflection I looked at for an hour is quite alright by me.

Yes, there are things I would’ve done differently, there are opportunities in my life that I haven’t grasped, and there are a few regrets. But on the whole, I think I’ve done alright. The question is, what will alright look like in another five or ten years? There’s only one person that can answer that, and he was staring back at me from that mirror. There are plenty of well worn phrases about every day being a new day and all that, and this well worn blogger is going to do his best to live up to that chance.

I wonder if I’ll still have enough hair in five years to merit an hour in front of the hairdresser’s mirror to look back on the next five and be happy with my lot? I sincerely hope so.

I know this isn’t the normal theme I write about on here, but hey, I’m an old fart and sometimes we get to say what we want and not worry about it. No doubt normal service will be resumed next time.

And just to finish this one off, we bought a car today. After three years of being carless between Edinburgh and here, we decided that we no longer want to be constrained by public transport and all the fun and time that entails. So a second hand VW Golf will be ours at the end of the week. I resisted buying the soft-top BMW, I’m just a tiny bit too old to pull that look off!

P.S. To prove I can still make a fool of myself, have a look at this short video we made at work to show what one of my teams does. Randall and Petros are my partners in comedy crime. My attempts at Italian are pitiful, but hopefully will give you a laugh. A new career at 50? I'll let you decide!

Pipe and slippers please

2011-06-18T12:43:00.000+01:00

Man, I’m getting old. At least that’s what the stats say! This weekend is the last in my forties and as I notch up the half century, I’m wondering what it will be like on the other side.

I have never been one for big birthday celebrations. I’ve always just said it’s a number and the number doesn’t matter. But to be honest I’ve been thinking more about this one than any other. Why? I guess just because it’s a big number now.

I never really thought I would be celebrating my fiftieth on the other side of the world from the place I called home for just about all my life. It’s at times like these I do feel far away from family who would want to celebrate it with me. But the wonders of modern technology means my mum will be able to sing happy birthday to me (yes she still does it every year, usually over the phone when I’m at work for maximum embarrassment). It wouldn’t be the same without it.

I know Nadia has some “surprises” lined up for me over the next few days, and for the first time ever I’m taking a day off work on my birthday (which is on Monday, so any excuse for a Monday off is good in my book).

So will I be different after Monday? It’s true my body feels slower in the mornings, my knees ache, I can’t remember the last time I slept late, I get grumpy at silly things, take longer to recover from a hangover, shout at the telly, and have perfected the art of the silent fart in public; but I won’t be buying a rocking chair, smoking a pipe and have my feet cosy in a pair of slippers as I read the newspaper with my faithful hound waiting patiently by my side to be taken out for a walk.

This isn't me, honest!

No siree! As I said in my New Year post, this year is about making my mark. I think it’s fair to say I’ve started to scribble on the surface of my mark. I’ve written a book that is in the process of being published and I now lead a team at work and love that, but there is much more I want and need to do. More writing, more sport, more involvement in the community…there is plenty to keep a young 50 year old busy.

And just to prove that an old fart can still have fun, here’s a picture taken the other week with me, Mirella and Dom surfing down the dunes at Birubi Beach a couple of hours drive north of Sydney. We had fun, but the climb back to the top was a good workout.

Wheeeeeeeee

It’s only a number, so let’s see if I waken up on Tuesday feeling any different, although a hangover might be lingering around if Nadia has done her duty well.

And just in case I forget how lucky I am to live in the great city of Sydney, here's another view from the flat. Rainbows and pots of gold, the signs are all there, just need to follow them.

Business as usual

2011-05-22T11:55:00.001+01:00

Well I said a few posts ago that I was going to get back to the original purpose of this blog – my challenge to get rid of my belly (Brian) and all the accompanying wobbly bits (Brenda, Betty and Chris) that have attached themselves to me without being invited. I consider that to be very rude, but like house squatters they have proved hard to evict.

I have to say that in the last few months I have really been feeling the flab, and it hasn’t been making me happy. I have a big birthday coming up in a few weeks, so action has been taken not only for my own wellbeing, but so I can share some pictures where I’m not embarrassed by my rotundness!

Tomorrow night I join my first outdoor boxing bootcamp, which conveniently takes place in the park right outside my building. I need to get out and do something that is fun and can also get me moving again. I am really looking forward to it, although by nature I’m not a violent person. Have a look at my guest blog post for my publisher about the forthcoming MMA book to see what my normal reaction is to violence. I’ll let you know if I get hit by a girl…well I might keep that one to myself.

Meet the "Italian Stallion": a small-time guy with big-time guts who yearns to be a hero...just once!

In addition I’ve joined in a team from work doing the Global Corporate Challenge and have a pedometer attached to my hip at all times of day or night to get to the holy grail of 10,000 steps a day. It just started on Thursday, and my average step count for the last few days is 13,000. Which is all well and good, but the flip side is my knee has obviously been bribed by Brian and his friends and is giving me a deal of discomfort. But they will not win. I will work through this and once I get my fitness back up a bit I’ll start running again.

Entries opened today for City2Surf in August, and if my knee is in good shape I’m going to do it again and do it 10 minutes faster than I did last year. So there’s the challenge out there. My friend Jo Laidlaw has just cycled 200 miles across Scotland for charity – a great achievement and an inspiration to me to go for this again. Well done Jo!

Sydney Writers' Festival

Apart from the belly business, the Sydney Writers’ Festival has been on this week. It’s a bit different from the Edinburgh Book Festival, but has a great line up of Australian and international authors. I was only able to make a couple of sessions due to work (which is much better since you asked, thank you), one of which featured AA Gill and a past New South Wales Premier Bob Carr in a conversation about whether or not they had embraced the digital revolution, and social networking in particular. It was a very entertaining and thought provoking discussion, and I will write a bit more about it next time. I think it's safe to say that AA Gill won't be reading my blog!

The other session I attended was about the importance of research in the writing process. I wrote a guest blog post for my friends at the Sydney Writers’ Centre about that one - stop by and have a look.

Okay, I need to go. I’ve got to finish the beer and wine we have in the house tonight before my new healthy regime starts tomorrow…honest.

Buona Pasqua…

2011-04-25T14:53:00.000+01:00

…which, for the non-Italians amongst you, means Happy Easter.

Happy Easter, in a cake

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Easter weekend - we certainly have. I mentioned last time that Fake Daughter Alice is here for a couple of weeks. We haven’t seen her since we left Edinburgh and it’s great to have her around, even if it will only be for a couple of weeks.

It’s a crazy quirk of nature that since she arrived the weather in Sydney has decided to turn a bit Scottish and is damp and a bit dreich. But one thing about the weather here is that there will always be a nice day not too far away and we were lucky to have a super day for our Easter lunch. It was a lovely affair with family and friends, including a contingent from Townsville. We ate well, decorated eggs, had an egg and spoon race, and generally had a good time as you can see from the pictures.

Alice and Nadia, happy day

Bianca searching for eggs

Quick, there's another

A kilty egg

The Easter gang

The race is on

Not sure those ears are my colour

Lest we forget

Another crazy quirk is that this year Easter is late in the calendar and Easter Monday coincided with Anzac Day, the Remembrance Day for the Aussie Diggers (soldiers) who fought gallantly and lost their lives in World War 2, particularly those lost at Gallipoli. Anzac Day is quite rightly a public holiday here and there is deeply held respect and pride for those who laid down their lives for their country. Parades and services are held in the major cities, offices are closed and shops remain closed at least until lunchtime. The UK should take note on how to get a nation to pay proper respect to those who have served their country.

On a selfish note this means that Tuesday is actually Easter Monday this week, and that adds up to a five-day holiday weekend. It’s just a pity the weather has not been great, but I’m not complaining.

The grand opus…

Last week I completed the first draft of my manuscript for the Mixed Martial Arts book. It felt good to put the finishing touches to it, but it’s always a nervous time when you hand over your work to someone for critique – a bit like handing in your school homework! But the feedback from my publisher has been very good and although there is a bit of editing to do, it seems to have hit the mark. It's exciting to see the mock up of the cover and I've also written a blog post that will be on their site shortly. All things being equal it should be ready for sale in early July. I’m really excited and have thoroughly enjoyed the process of writing it so far. The plan now is to finish this one and get back to my novel.

Germinal Press website

Not quite the best blog…yet

Sadly My Businessman’s Belly didn’t make the short list of finalists in my category for the Best Aussie Blog competition, but the standard was very high and as I’m really only an occasional blogger I wasn’t really surprised. However, I do know the standard I have to achieve for next time so watch out for some improvements.

If you’re interested, have a look at the finalists

Best Aussie Blog Finalists

But don’t despair; you can still vote for me in the People’s Choice Award category (see last post). Thanks to everyone who has done so already.

And talking of my belly…

I think it is time to revert to the original purpose of my blog…the chronicle of getting rid of Brian, Betty, Brenda and Chris. I’ve been feeling particularly flabby recently, although probably not any heavier than I’ve been for a while. As I approach a big zero-number birthday I really feel that I want to get into shape. It would be very easy just to say that my advancing years are an excuse just to let it all go and accept I’ll never have that flat belly again. But I know I can do it with some self-discipline and belief, so once again I slap Brian across the face with my gauntlet in the age old sign of a challenge to the death… for surely one of us will be the death of the other. Pistols at dawn? Okay, running shoes at least. A strategy and plan is being formulated and I’m meeting with my war cabinet (otherwise known as Nadia) in the morning to verify plans. No doubt I’ll get the proverbial kick up the arse to get going with some pre-emptive strikes.

And finally…

Some of you may have seen this video clip before, but it was circulating round work this week. Apart from it being filmed in Glasgow (yes the damp pavements are a give away), it should make you think about what you say or write. It’s not always what you say, it’s how you say it. Just think about it.

Pick Me, Pick Me... pretty please

2011-04-18T12:16:00.002+01:00

You may have noticed my lovely little blog has been entered in the Best Aussie Blog Competition.

It's been entered in the Lifesytle section, but there is also a People's Choice Award.

So my dear readers (I'm hoping there is more than just one of you and my mum doesn't read this 50 times to get the visit counter up), if you have been royally entertained by my musings you can vote for me by clicking on the link below

Votes close on 5 May, so don't delay, vote today...

Thank you all so very, very much...I knew I could count on you.

Rejuvenation

2011-04-15T23:47:00.001+01:00

I’m sure we’ve all been through times in our lives where everything seems to conspire to drain you of your energy. I’ve been feeling pretty worn out in the last few months, and I needed a day that got my energy levels back on an upwards track, especially as I start my new job on Monday.

I’ve had a couple of days off this week that’s made it into a nice long weekend and I planned to take advantage of it.

Thursday was a cracking day and I decided to head to the icon that is Bondi Beach. The best time to enjoy Bondi is during the week when it’s not crowded, and I had a beautiful day wandering round, taking pictures and generally relaxing. It was just what the doctor ordered and topped off with dinner out with some friends.

Hopefully these pictures send some of the soothing energy to you as well.

Bondi in all its glory

Three of the Bondi Rescue Lifeguards doing a promotional shoot for Schizophrenia Awareness

Did this surfer learn his style from watching the Karate Kid?

Surfboard says: "This is so much easier without a dude standing on my back!"

Germinal Press – The Last Word

My publisher has launched their new website, and it’s a cracker. I’ve always wanted to write ‘my publisher’, sounds good and makes me feel like a proper writer. The first

Book off the press is about the forthcoming Rugby World Cup, and my book on Mixed Martial Arts is the next one off the stocks.

Writing is coming along well, and I’m getting near the pointy end now. This weekend I should have reached the agreed word count, but word count isn’t what it’s all about. Hopefully my dry Scottish look at this fast growing sport will hit the mark. It should be out in a couple of months.

In the meantime, check out the site and if you like it, buy the Rugby World Cup book.

Aussie Blog nominee

You might have noticed the nice logo on the right about the Best Aussie Blog competition. I’ve entered my blog in the Lifestyle section and in the next week or two you’ll be able to vote for me in the People’s Choice section too. It would be nice to get a few votes at least, so I'll be canvassing you all when the time comes.

Easter

It’s going to be a great Easter next week. Alice is coming for a few weeks and Nadia’s mum and her Aunt and Uncle will be in Sydney too. To say we are looking forward to seeing Alice would be the understatement of the year so far. Can’t wait!

Have a good week everyone, and since I haven't got a nice sunrise to show you, last Thursday's sunset taken from our flat will just have to do. If I ever wonder why we came to Australia, a day like last Thursday puts it all back in the right place.

The sun sets on a perfect day in Sydney

We apologise for the temporary interruption of service

2011-03-30T10:52:00.000+01:00

It’s been a long time friends, I hope you’re still with me and thank you for your patience – let’s just say that February and March have been interesting months.

It’s not that I’ve not wanted to write to you all, it’s just that sometimes you find all your energy is taken up with other things that life is throwing at you, good or bad.

Let’s start with the good. We have moved into our new flat (still rented), which is actually next door to the one we were in. It’s a two bedroom and has much more space and a proper kitchen. We still see the Bridge and Opera House out of two of the normal size windows – one of which is in the kitchen so Nadia has a great view while she is washing the dishes. The large picture windows face west, so we see up the Parramatta River which is good too. There were a few snagging things to get sorted out and it’s not quite as nicely furnished or as fresh as the last place but we are making it our home for the next little while at least. Did I mention it comes with a much prized parking space? No? Oh well, the next few weeks will be taken up looking for a car to park in it! Pictures will follow in the next post.

We now get great sunsets as well as sunrises

And now the not so good-with a bit of a decent ending. Work has been pretty rubbish for me in the last few weeks…well months. It was so bad at one point I was on the verge of resigning. I won’t go into the gory details here, but it has been very stressful. However, every cloud has a silver lining, one door closes another opens, etc. etc…, as just as I was on the verge of handing the envelope to my boss, I bumped into a colleague from a previous department who asked if I would be interested in a role he has vacant. Long story short, I got the job, and will be running a team who communicate change into the branch network and analyse the volume of change happening (which is an awful lot!). I really hope this one works out, as I have been quite disillusioned by the last few weeks. I am really looking forward to it though, so watch this space for updates.

And back to some good stuff again. I am working hard on the Mixed Martial Art book and it’s really fascinating delving into a world I would never have had an interest in. I have about 4 more weeks before the first draft is due, and the publisher is about to launch his first book on the Rugby World Cup. It is hard work, and the hourly rate for the commission will end up pretty paltry, but let’s face it, I’m not doing this one for the money. However, I have used my advance to buy a beautiful new iMac – which I love. It’s perfect for my writing exploits with a big screen that I can view my manuscript and have research alongside it. It pretty much completes my Mac collection that starts with an old iPod Touch, then the iPhone, iPad, 13 inch screen Macbook Pro, and now the 27 inch screen iMac. Yes, I am a true Apple geek, but happy.

And more good stuff to look forward to…less than a month before Alice gets here for a holiday. We are very excited.

That’s enough for just now. I don’t want to spoil you with too much stuff after such a long time, I've got to ease you back in gently. Normal service will be resumed shortly.

Go West

2011-02-13T09:02:00.000Z

A quick update this weekend with some good news.

New digs

It was never our intention to stay in our current flat for too long. Even though the view is amazing, it is quite small and we've been looking around for a two bedroom place. Well, we have a place, but it means we are moving west.

Okay, we are moving about 5 metres west! By chance I found out the flat next door was coming up for rent and we got in there before it went on the market. So we're very happy to be staying in the same building and in the same neighbourhood and it should be the easiest move ever, right next door - the total opposite of what we did this time last year. The view will be slightly different, but I'm sure we'll get used to it.

Aloha!

Nadia hasn't had much time for a holiday since we got here (actually neither have I), but a last minute opportunity came up for her to nip over to Hawaii (as you do) for a week with her sister. I'm sure she's enjoying it while I stay home and keep on working as usual! Hope she brings me back something nice. In the meantime, I get to watch the new Hawaii Five-O to see what I'm missing.

Old friends

This week, we had a visit from my old friend and colleague Kate who has also taken a big step in her life and moved to New Zealand. She was in Sydney with her partner Monty and it was really good to catch up with her. I think it's safe to say she's enjoying her new life, but still in holiday mode. Hopefully we can catch up again in the not too distant future.

Me and Kate, and some bridge

Kate and Monty

It's official - I'm a writer!

Finally, I can call myself a writer! I know I've always written stories and many of you have read some of them, but I've never been paid for it. This week, I got a paid commission to write a book about Mixed Martial Arts (Ultimate Fighting Challenge), which is very exciting. It isn't a big book and there is a fairly tight deadline, but I'm enjoying the research and banking the cheque! But it isn't enough to give up the day job yet, but a start's a start! I'll let you know about it in more detail in the coming weeks.

Pick me, pick me!

I heard about a competition where the prize is to win free stuff for a year, generally travel or food and drink related. If you are a winner you get given a free experience each month for a year, and all you have to do is write a blog about it. You had to write 100 words about an experience you’ve had and I wrote about the Fireworks. It’s not a scam, and you won’t get spam email if you don’t tick the box. So if you want to hear about even more great Australian adventures, vote for me please. I’ll need every vote I can get, so thanks to those who have already voted for me, and everyone else - please click the link and vote.

Free stuff for a year - vote for me!

Chinese New Year

And just for some local flavour, there have been some big celebrations for Chinese New Year in the past week, including some Dragon Boat racing in Darling Harbour. Here are a couple of pictures, but unfortunately the weather has taken a bit of a Scottish turn and is a bit grey and wet this weekend. At least this brought a bit of colour to the weekend.

Oh yes, one other advantage of being over here at this time of year is that I don't have to suffer through Scotland's abismal 6 Nations Rugby performances. Poor, very poor!

Have a great week everyone.

Where did January go?

2011-02-05T04:55:00.002Z

Wow, that was a quick month, so quick it passed by without me keeping you up to date with life in what has become the land of extreme weather this month.

A spectacular sunrise over the Harbour last week

The Weather

It's hard not to talk about the weather. You will all have seen the news about the crazy weather events that have happened, particularly in Queensland but also through Victoria and parts of New South Wales. We’ve had catastrophic floods that claimed the lives of around 35 people - countless more had their lives washed away. Then last week we had Tropical Cyclone Yasi. The Category 5 cyclone was scary, even though we were hundreds of miles away. It stretched over 500 km with winds in excess of 250km per hour - that's nearly as big as the whole of the UK and wind speeds I never want to be near!

Nadia’s mum and other members of the family live in Townsville and Ingham, both of which were in line for the potential landfall of this monster storm. Thankfully it hit land a bit north of them and they have all survived pretty much unscathed, but the stories of how frightening it was through the night are quite humbling. When Mother Nature decides it’s time for payback, she knows how to collect, with interest.

Some of the pictures taken during the storm and the resulting destruction of the towns of Tully, Cardwell and Mission Beach are heartbreaking.

Click on this gallery in The Australian - it gives you an idea of the aftermath.

The banana and sugar crops are destroyed, homes have been sliced in half, and boats lifted and dumped half a mile inland. People have lost everything, but the community spirit that is being shown all across the country to support the victims has been outstanding. The Aussies have really rallied together to help everyone with amazing generosity of money and their own time to help put things back together.

Of course the media coverage here has been full on, and probably fulfilled two purposes. Firstly, they kept everyone up to date (minute by minute in some cases) about the progress of the storm, which was a good thing. Secondly they did their damned best to scare the bejezus (apologies to my Irish readers) out of everyone before this thing even got near them.

To give you an example, one 86 year-old lady was interviewed by one of the TV channels. She has survived many cyclones in her lifetime, and she said she hadn’t been scared before, but she was really scared about what Yasi was going to do. Well, I’ll tell you why she was scared – the media coverage scared her!

However, the scare tactics worked. Everyone was ready for Yasi. Those in greatest danger were evacuated to safe areas; 250 patients in Carins hospitals were evacuated to Brisbane; and those that weren’t were given great advice about how to survive this impending and potentially apocalyptic event.

In the end, the loss of life has been surprisingly minimal. One man died in Ingham of asphyxiation from generator fumes, and at the moment there are two other people unaccounted for. This was a remarkable outcome and testament to the great crisis management capability of the Queensland government. The Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has been in charge of the flood and the cyclone disaster management. She and her team have had the January from hell, but they have come out with the deep respect and thanks of the people of Queensland. She told it like it was, no spin, no clichés – just the truth and managing expectations. She said what the government and emergency services were doing, but just as importantly she told them what they couldn’t do. She told people in no uncertain terms what they had to do. She did this every 2 hours throughout the crisis, and she has risen above the challenge. Whether it will be enough to save her embattled administration in the election next year will remain to be seen – but she should give up politics and become a crisis management consultant. She will be in high demand.

So hopefully that is the worst of the extreme weather over but at the other extreme I am sitting writing this in 40 degree heat today. The sun has been shining all week in Sydney, and it’s been beautiful if a little hot.

Enough about the weather - what have we been up to?

Well, I’m not going in too much detail because you'd be reading this for another hour, but here are a few reportage photos of life in sunny Sydney.

Fun times

Australia Day was a much bigger event than I thought it would be and we watched some of the many events on the Harbour from our vantage point in the flat. This one was a race round the Harbour by some of the ferries.

Race for the line

The winning ferry

I did a weekend feature writing course, so I’m working away on all the things I have to do to make that work for me, as well as continuing work on my deep and dark novel.

Rod, Nadia and Graham

We’ve had a busy social life, and had a lovely surprise meeting with Rod Macdonald and his son Graham from back home. Rod is the visual merchandiser from Nadia’s old work in Edinburgh and it was a great surprise to see them. We had a couple of good nights in town together.

And just to finish off we went to see Sting outdoors at the Opera House last week. It was a really good concert, if a bit ‘gentlemanly’. Not much dancing or singing until the end, but it was a beautiful night and he can still sing a pretty good tune.

There’s plenty happening in February too and I’ll update you on all that, and the battle with Brian in my next post – which I promise will be much more timely than this one.

Oh, and then there’s the first anniversary in Australia post to look forward to at the end of the month. I’ll need to start thinking about that one.

Right now I’m off to open another cold beer and stick my head in the freezer!

B is for blobby!

2011-01-05T09:40:00.000Z

A smiley start to the New Year

So have you started on the B for Bang?

I tell you what, my businessman’s belly Brian and his pals Brenda, Betty and Chris certainly did. They have gorged themselves on all the food and drink on offer and are B for bustin’ out all over! I don’t think I’m alone though. Walking round Sydney you can see a lot of people trying to suck it all in, me included, but I was shocked when I caught my reflection in shop window at lunchtime today.

My B seems to be about Bulges, which is not what I was hoping for, but I only have myself to blame. The only remedy is some sensible eating and exercise, and to cut out the alcohol for a while – which really means cutting it out until the weekend.

You see, just when you are feeling round and podgy and thinking about getting back in shape, Sydney goes and starts its Festival, with lots of tempting events - tempting because invariably there is more food and drink involved. It’s different from Edinburgh, not as crazy busy, but there is still plenty going on from theatre, music, comedy, and we even have a Spiegeltent! And did I mention food…and drink?

I don’t hear much sympathy coming my way. I know, I know, I can choose to eat properly and drink less – and that is what I’ll do.

Not surprisingly, the whole place seems very quiet and subdued this week. The crowds came, saw, and went (apparently Sydney Ferries took 45,000 people to Manly and back on Sunday, and another 45,000 to other parts of the Harbour), but it will all kick off again as Australia Day is just around the corner. In the meantime it's back to work and getting started back in to some sort of routine that will let me get some exercise.

What about the fireworks? Well, yes, the premium we pay for the view from the flat was worth every dollar. We had a great night and a box seat for it all. It’s hard to describe how impressive it was, you had to be there to feel the reverberations from the fireworks (some of which were set of from a barge right outside our window) and the blaze of light and colour was simply stunning. The pictures and the videos don’t do it justice. I know we thought we had good fireworks in Edinburgh, but these were in a league of their own. If you get the chance, you’ve got to be here to see them.

The pictures don't really do them justice, but here's a few and a link to the video of the last couple of minutes - which was stunning.

Pretty as a picture

A stunt plane kept us entertained before the fireworks began

In case you want some more, there is a collection in this gallery.

The video is in the post below - it didn't want to load into this one for some reason.

I don’t think we’ll be in the same flat again this time next year, but who knows, we might still have that priceless view.

Okay, time to stop blogging and get my blobby belly out and go for a run.

Happy New Year!

Sydney Fireworks Finale 2010

2011-01-05T09:39:00.000Z

Make Your Mark

2010-12-30T01:09:00.000Z

The end of the first decade* of the century is fast approaching, and what a decade it’s been!

Being born in the first year of a decade, I spent the vast majority of it in my forties, which means the next decade will be spent in my fifties. Does that worry me? Not in the slightest.

You see so much happened for me in the last decade, and has set up the next decade beautifully with our new life in Australia. It holds so much promise and opportunity. People often spend the end of the year looking back, reminiscing about good, bad, exciting, boring, scary, enthralling times. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you realise you can’t change a thing. All you can do is say goodbye to it, learn your lessons, and look forward. You don’t have to move to Australia, it just so happens we did and it has been the best thing for us.

The theme of the New Year celebrations in Sydney is Make Your Mark. I must admit that I do feel it is time to make my mark. There is nothing wrong with what I have achieved or experienced in my life so far, in fact some of it has been very good. But I have a feeling that going in to the next year and decade Nadia and I have some great opportunities ahead of us, and have dreams and desires that will come true. We're not expecting world domination or super hero status, but we don’t want to be left wondering, saying ‘if only’…

For my part, many of these dreams and opportunities are things I’m not going to share on here, but there are a few that it wont do any harm to put out there as a marker that I can aim for.

The battle against Brian and friends will be won - yes, you heard it here first. Okay, not for the first time since the battle is more than a year old, but it is being approached by a new zeal and vigour and I've bought the Sun Tzu's The Art of War to use as my tactical handbook - they don't stand a chance.
I will finish my novel in the next 3 months and that will be published. It's well underway, and it will be written. I've got to finish it for my own satisfaction and sanity if nothing else.
I will be earning money through a number of sources, not just my ‘normal’ job that will lead to our financial security. Lots of opportunities, just need to grasp the nettle and go for it.
Nadia and I will go dancing – salsa, tango, whatever. We will do lots of dancing because dancing is a great thing for the body and soul. I may not be good at it just yet, but that doesn’t mean to say I can’t get better.

There are lots more, but you get the gist of it. They are a bit like New Year resolutions, but let’s call them the decisions for the decade.

2011 is going to start with a bang, a very big bang with the fireworks. The sprinter Linford Christie used to say the reason he was such a quick starter in races was that he reacted on the ‘B’ of the Bang. I hope we all come out the starting blocks on the ‘B’ and make our marks. If we all make our mark, the world will be a better place for it.

My blog will continue, and will keep you up to date with life here, hopefully in a whimsical and humorous fashion – this post has been a bit of navel gazing and I hope it hasn’t bored you. I am sitting looking out at a blue sky, yachts passing the window, the city and all its opportunities out there ahead of us. There will be many more stories to tell.

I’m going to take some pictures and video of the fireworks, so I’ll post them on here as soon as I can to get you in the mood and get a head start on the celebrations, yes, that's the cheesy link to the B of the Bang!

Nadia and I wish you and yours a very happy, prosperous and healthy New Year and new decade.

*PS If you think the new decade started last year, then that's fine - you've had a head start on making your mark!

Christmas greetings from down under.

2010-12-23T06:16:00.000Z

It’s a strange time. The sun is shining brightly in a blue sky, I’m wearing shorts most of the time, and there are Christmas decorations around the place.

Although we’ve been here before at Christmas time, this is the first time we’ve been here in the month leading up to it, and it just doesn’t feel like Christmas.

It’s hard to put a finger on why, but I think I realised yesterday what has been missing from the build up. Sadly I’ve not once heard Slade’s ‘Here it is, Merry Christmas’, Band Aid ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’, or Wizard’s ‘ Rock’n’Roll Christmas’ . It was an epiphany. The shops aren’t pumping out cheesy Christmas tunes, and I’m not listening to the radio much so I’ve missed the tunes. Well, truth be told, I don’t care if I never hear them again. I’ve already heard them enough for anyone’s lifetime, but it does take something away from the time we know as Christmas.

The Christmas Tree in Martin Place, Sydney

There has been a very active Christmas social calendar. From big parties for 2000 plus guests at Luna Park, to lunches for 4 colleagues, and everything inbetween, its been one of the busiest social periods I can remember for many a year. I have drunk and eaten enough to last me well through next year, so weight loss will be high on the agenda again - I’m sure I won’t be alone there though.

The Aussie’s like to work hard and play hard, and they really get in to the spirit of things. Fancy dress is the order of the day, and some of the costumes I’ve seen are brilliant. The Group Executive for Technology was unrecognisable at the big party – maybe that was a cunning ploy on his part. From cuddly Koalas to Storm Troopers, and everything in between, my eyes have been opened to the true Aussie party spirit.

However, it still didn’t feel like Christmas. As a result, it has rushed up on us in the last few weeks and our flat is embarrassingly bare in terms of Christmas decorations. We’re not going to be there on Christmas day, but we haven’t got a tree or anything yet, and there’s only a day left.

Christmas cards are another embarrassing item. Only a handful have been written and sent, so apologies to everyone we should’ve sent cards to. We’ll do something different in the new year I hope.

The biggest thing is that we are going to miss family and friends we left back in the UK, especially as your weather couldn’t be more Christmassy!

The down side of that has been the travel disruption, and we have been hit hard too because Alice is not going to make it here now. It’s hard to believe how much disruption there has been and we now have to look forward to her coming at Easter time. It would’ve been lovely to see her but we want her to be safe. The wonder of Skype will need to come to our rescue on Christmas Day.

We’ll be heading up to Townsville for a few days over Christmas to see Nadia’s family. It’s hot and steamy up there and looks like a tropical storm is going to hit when we are there, but we’ve done it before and survived.

Then back down for New Year, which will be a big highlight for us. Can’t wait for that.

In the meantime, we would both like to send you our love and very best wishes for Christmas and may you have a great New Year.

If you’re in the cold, stay warm and safe, and if you’re in the heat, chuck another shrimp on the barby!

Merry Christmas from Al and Nadia

America comes to Sydney – right in time for Christmas.

2010-12-20T10:36:00.000Z

Sydney has been a hotbed for celebrity sighting in the last couple of weeks. Now we didn’t see them all, but we did see the ones that counted – well in Nadia’s eyes anyway.

Oprah time

Oprah Winfrey and her travelling circus were in town last week, and what a show it was. Never before have I seen so much hysteria around a talk show host coming to film a couple of shows in front of the Opera House. True, they are to be the final shows of her series ever, but you would not believe the Oprah-mania that overtook Australia and Sydney. It was like a royal visit but ten times bigger and better.

She arrived in Sydney after travelling round the country for a week or so, but Sydney laid out the red carpet and the blue skies. She had her trademark ‘O’ in lights on the Harbour Bridge, a garden party at the Botanics, fireworks to rival New Year, she joined her 300 American fans on a Harbour Bridge climb, sailing trips round the Harbour with Russell Crowe and the HMB Endeavour, and did some work when she recorded two shows on the Opera House forecourt in front of 6000 fans each time. The guest list was understandably Aussie dominated, but it was pretty damned impressive; Nicole Kidman and hubby Keith Urban, Russell Crowe, Olivia Newton-John, Hugh Jackman, The Irwin family (of Steve Irwin fame), and a few others to provide some entertainment too; Bon Jovi, Bono and U2, Jay-Z (Beyonce was in town somewhere too). A real celeb fest if that is your kind of thing.

We were swept along by the mania. I got to see her in the flesh after she had lunch at a restaurant close to my office. The speech she was giving to her American entourage was clearly audible through the PA system, and apart from her usual oratory, she did say one thing that will probably never make the press clippings – she said (twice) that this has been the best time of her life and it was- and I quote - “An adventure without assholes”. I think she likes the Aussies.

Here is a video clip on You Tube that I took as she was in front of us. The quality isn't great and it's probably only of interest to the Oprah faithful, but she is there in the white cap!

Oprah in Sydney

Nadia also got to see her after waiting patiently after the final show was filmed. Oprah drove past the crowds slowly, hanging out the window, waving and smiling. She knows how to play an audience.

As usual, the cynics were saying the country had spent far too much money brining her and 300 of her American audience, but never again will they have the opportunity to show the country in such a favourable light. Oprah loves Australia, and Australia loves Oprah, and the 40 million people who will see her show worldwide will love Australia - even the cynics were won over by the time she left. Money well spent I think.

Sydney was quieter when she left, but not for long!

Rockin around the Christmas tree

Last night I took Nadia to see Bon Jovi as part of her Christmas present. It was the first time we had been to the Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park, and before I talk about the concert, just a word about the parking and traffic arrangements. We had hitched a lift with Nadia’s sister Mirella and her husband Dom who were late additions to the 30,000 crowd.

They had warned us that traffic would be a nightmare and the parking even worse. They weren’t wrong. We arrived just in time for the start, but it was the end that was the problem. We were parked on the 5^th floor of a multi-storey car park, and the educated guess was that it was going to take more than 2 hours to get out.

At 11:15, an hour after the concert had finished there was no sign of movement in the car park. I could go on about the reasons, but the main one that I could see was lack of police directing traffic and leaving traffic lights around the complex working as though it was a normal day. There were 30,000 people trying to get home, so that clearly wasn’t going to work. Nadia and I bailed out and went to find a taxi. We got home around midnight and Mirella called at half past to say the van in front of them had finally moved a little – that was a whole 2 hours after the end of the concert. But the twist in the tale is that their car wouldn’t start! I don’t know the outcome or when they got home, or even if they are home yet. Next time, public transport for sure.

So enough whining, I sound like a Pom whose team has just been gubbed by Australia in the Ashes test. I’m not a cricket fan per se, but the Aussies beating England is the next best thing to Scotland doing the same (the Aussies do seem to have more of a chance of that at most sports!).

What of the man himself? Mr Jon Bon Jovi is a rock star. There can be no other more fitting description. For two and a half hours he rocked Sydney to its foundations with a mixture of sing-along anthems and some new material. I’ve never bought any of his music, but obviously the words to the big songs have planted themselves in the back of my subconscious mind to be unleashed at the appropriate time, and last night was the appropriate time. For 3 nights, 30,000 people sang their hearts out, and probably slightly more than half swooned at the sight of who I am told is ‘the hottest man alive” strutting his stuff.

Just to get you in the mood...here's a quick clip from early in the show

Half way through, he showed what a great showman he is, and how to get the audience spellbound. Rain that had stopped just before the show started came back with a vengeance. Those lucky enough had ponchos; the rest didn’t care, including the man himself. The enduring memory for me will be Jon (and I feel I can refer to him on first name terms now) on the runway that came out in to the audience, lit by a single spotlight, getting drenched by a torrential downpour and singing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. It was not the best vocal rendition of that song I have heard, but it was the most atmospheric and he relished it, each drop of rain glistening on his forehead as he looked to the heavens. It will be one of those moments I will remember forever…I know…but you had to be there.

Even during the rain, the band gave it their all, Richie Sambora milking his solos for all they were worth.

The night almost ended (and should’ve) on Living on a Prayer, but they were enjoying themselves so much they played another – just because they could.

It was a great night, and Nadia has the T-shirt to prove it.

Breaking news - Mirella and Dom got home at 1:45 am - they live 20 minutes from the stadium in normal traffic, but at least they got home.

I'll post an Aussie Christmas update in the next few days.

Long time no blog!

2010-12-07T10:21:00.000Z

My goodness! It’s been over a month since I last posted on my blog. I feel vaguely ashamed, but then again, absence makes the heart grow fonder so I’m taking the view that I’ve just been building the anticipation for you all. I bet you can’t wait to hear about all the sunshine, balmy evenings, and of course the occasional thunderstorm.

I know most of you who read this are in the UK and are currently suffering brass-monkey weather. My heart goes out to you, honest…. Oh, can you hear that? Yes, the sound of an ice cold beer being opened to quench my thirst on this beautiful evening.

Okay, I’ll stop the teasing now since I’m sure there are more interesting things to tell you.

It’s been a busy month, which is one of the reasons I’ve not been applying myself diligently to keeping my blog up to date.

I started November with great intentions. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month, where you are supposed to write a 50,000 novel in the month; I gave up eating crisps for 3 weeks; and of course I am trying to get rid of Brian and friends.

The progress report on these is somewhat mixed. The novel? Well it started off pretty well and I managed 10,000 words pretty quickly, but then various events got in the way and instead of having a month of evenings and weekends in front of my laptop, my evenings and weekends seem to have been spent mostly in restaurants and bars. All of a sudden, our social calendar went a bit crazy, and we had a few of our own ‘date nights’ and the result is that instead of writing, I have been eating and drinking. However, there is a bright side. I do have the start of the novel, and an idea of where it is going in terms of plot. All I have to do now is write the rest of it.

We’ve had a couple of cracking nights out as well. We went to see Robin Williams in his one-man show, which was hilarious. The only thing that annoyed me was that the following weekend we were flicking through the TV channels and came across the same show that had been recorded in America. All the bits that sounded like he was improvising had been ‘improvised’ many months before – it was almost word perfect! We could have saved ourselves a lot of money and watched it on TV – but it wouldn’t have been the same. I’m really glad we saw him, he is a class act.

Last Sunday we had our first outing to the Opera House to see the Gotan Project. For those not familiar with their music, it is probably best described as electro-tango, but the best description is that it was just superb. Check them out and play it loud!

Another ‘quiet’ night out got a bit messy we met up with Jo (Sulfaro) who has finally left the cold of Edinburgh behind and come home to Australia, and our friend Jan (Glen) who was here for a holiday. Not forgetting Jan’s pal Michelle who came over from Perth (WA) for a few days. It was just like being back in Edinburgh except for the surroundings and the nice weather. Five of us and six bottles of wine – on a school night! Just like the old days - was great to see them though.

Despite going on our own gastronomic adventure round Sydney for the past few weeks, I have actually been eating properly and not eating ‘bad’ food, like crisps (one packet at the weekend is allowed), which has meant Brian has been shrinking a bit. I have done a bit of exercise but it’s now going to be swimming at the North Sydney pool that will be my main exercise. It’s getting too hot to run unless I get up really early, and I’m not great at getting out of bed!

It’s not long until Christmas, and it is strange to see the decorations around when it is hot – it doesn’t feel right. However, I will be well into the spirit of things quite literally through the next few weeks as Christmas party season gets well underway. I have more dinners and drinks to go to this year than ever before, so not actually sure when I’ll get to write that novel. Ho Hum, it is only once a year!

The best bit is that Alice is coming out for Christmas and New Year – that is depending on how her arm is. Good old Edinburgh Council haven’t gritted the pavements so she had to walk on the road down Hume Street. That had iced over as well and before she knew it, slip, fall, broken wrist! Ouch! Big Ouch! So we are waiting on word to see if she will be okay to come over. Fingers crossed – well all fingers not at the end of a broken wrist.

I know everyone in the UK has been suffering with the weather. We really do feel for you, and we hope you are all safe and warm. All our best from down under - here are some pics to at least let you remember what good weather looks and feels like.

Get ahead, get a hat - much needed to keep the sun off
in Liechhardt one Sunday

An evening barbecue cruise on a
tall ship on the Harbour - great sunset

The natives are friendly - this Kookaburra was interested
on what was on the barbecue!

10 years on

2010-10-16T10:04:00.001+01:00

10 years ago I got my first taste of Sydney when I came to Australia with Nadia. Those of you who’ve known me that long will know I was smitten by this city that was basking in the glory of hosting the 2000 Olympics – still regarded by may as the best Games there has been. Okay, still regarded by Sydneysiders as the best Games there’s ever been. They celebrated the 10 year anniversary a few weeks ago – it’s still a big deal and an immense source of pride for the City and everyone involved.

It was a vibrant, clean, spectacular place and I was spoiled by wakening up on my first morning here to the blue skies and crashing surf of Bondi Beach.

10 years on and here I am, and yes although it’s only been a few months, I do consider myself an honorary Sydneysider. The city has changed, of that there is no doubt. It has a much faster pace than I remembered (which probably has a lot to do with the fact I was on holiday the first time), and it is expensive. As a tourist spending the Queen’s sterling shillings, it was a very cheap place to be back then. The exchange rate was around $2.50 to the £1. Now it is closer to $1.60. But once you are here a dollar’s a dollar, and to be fair I am earning much more than I was back in the UK. It’s still clean, it’s still friendly, it’s still vibrant and it has such a lot to offer.

I am sitting here on Saturday evening, looking at the dusk settle on the city; the lights in the CBD skyscrapers creating a multi-coloured silhouette of the city’s prosperity; the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge lights picking these icons out against the darkening sky; spying on the boats and ferries that provide a constantly moving canvas on this most picturesque Harbour; a glass of wine beside me just begging to be drunk; and looking forward to taking Nadia out for dinner and dining alfresco in one of the restaurants up the hill. What’s not to like? I do have to count my blessings and remember how lucky we are.

7:00pm on Saturday night - stunning

So am I happy we’ve made the move? Definitely! I just wish we had done it a bit sooner. It’s not all been plain sailing, but we never expected it to be and of course life throws things at you that you just have to deal with, wherever you are.

We do miss everyone we left behind, but you guys really have to get yourselves out here – no excuses!

Sainthood – no not me!

On Sunday at the Vatican, Mary MacKillop will be cannonised as a Saint, the first Australian saint. As you can guess by her name, she has roots in Scotland and no doubt if we look deep enough there will be some family connection. I do know we don't have a direct lineage, she is a Mac and I'm a Mc (which doesn't really matter) and I'm not Catholic either. Nonetheless, I am proud that a MacKillop will become a saint. The Mary MacKillop Centre with her tomb is only a mile from our house and I'll be going to visit to pay my respects.

I guess that’s why they call it the Blues!

Last weekend I mentioned we had a Blues Festival taking place below my flat. Since I live in Blues Point Tower on Blues Point Road, it does seem very appropriate to have a Blues Festival.

It was a very well put together affair, with a proper stage, sound and lighting rig (I know that because the roadies spent hours setting it up and testing the sound on Saturday night and Sunday morning). The local restaurants set up in stalls to provide the victuals (for my Glaswegian readers - that translates to ‘food’), and the people came to listen to the music. We could hear it all from the flat, and because it went on for several hours – well lots and lots of hours – we nipped down from time to time to get some food and check out what was going on. The weather was bright, but there was a chilly wind so we were quite happy to retreat to the comfort of the flat. It was a great thing to happen outside our door, and if we are still in this flat next year, we’ll definitely be back.

Right – enough blogging for now. Dinner awaits! Have a good week everyone.

Holiday time – well literally a single holi-day

2010-10-04T02:37:00.000+01:00

I’m writing this from home on a Monday and before you jump to conclusions - no I didn’t get the sack after my first week in the new job! It’s Labour Day here, and has spookily similar parallels to the UK May Day version. Yes, it falls on the first Monday of the first month of spring, and yes the weather is crap!

I know I have bleated on about how good the weather is here, and even the crap stuff is way better than the crap stuff in the UK, but I feel cheated that the sun is not shining and we are not hitting the beaches! That’s what holidays are for! Okay, rant over for now.

Big Sporting Weekend

This weekend has been a massive weekend in the sporting calendar for Aussies – well the spectators at least. My businessman’s belly is still resisting attempts to take part in any kind of sporting activity – going to have to give him a good pep talk. Actually there has been too much talking and not enough action – perhaps more of that next week.

There are four major sporting events happening this weekend: The Aussie Rules (AFL) Grand Final (which was actually a replay because last week ended in a draw); the NRL (Rugby League) Grand Final between two teams from Sydney; the Australia vs. India cricket test match (no, I’m not watching that!); and the opening of the Commonwealth Games.

So I could quite easily have been a couch potato this weekend, but I’ve tried not to be. I watched the NRL final, which was good, but that’s been about it.

Oh, apart from the Ryder Cup! I thought I had a great plan to see it with all the excitement and tension here because they don’t show it live, but it is on the next morning “as live”. So if the Welsh weather had been half decent I would be watching the climax to it now instead of writing this! But now it’s going to finish a day late and I’m going to be at work tomorrow. Not happy, but what can you do, but great performance from Monty’s boys so far.

Back briefly to the Commonwealth Games - they are such a big thing here. The build up on TV has been going on for months, and of course all the controversy has been hitting the headlines. But I particularly like the straight talking approach they have about winning. One of their leading swimmers in the trailers that have been played constantly for the last month candidly says “There are two unwritten rules about representing Australia – you don’t come last, and you don’t get beaten by the Poms!” Love it – I feel like I’m at home! The rivalry with the English is almost as fervent and passionate as the Scots! Bring it on!

Singin’ the Blues

Play it again Al...well maybe not!

Next weekend we will be attending the Blues Point Blues Festival – which is taking place right outside our front door. It should be a good day with free Blues bands and of course we’ll have a few drinks and throw a few shrimps on someone’s Barbie! They have been discreetly advertising it by placing some blue painted instruments around the place. A random piano was too good to resist – the only tune I can play is Scotland the Brave – but I played it in a suitably blue and patriotic fashion! No doubt there will be some photos of next weekends shenanigans in the next blog post.

Best place to play the piano in Sydney?

In other news…

Not a lot to report this week other than continuing progress with Nadia’s back. She is getting more mobile and will be going back to work for a few hours each day this week. Fingers crossed that the progress continues.

And now that I’ve done my duty and written this, we are going to head out to take in a Latin music festival at Darling Harbour. It’s not exactly salsa or samba weather, but that never stopped a Scotsman from enjoying himself before – and the sun is beginning to peek out from behind the clouds.

One last thing – thanks to Jo Laidlaw who gave my blog a ‘shout out’ in her own tremendously funny and well written blog. So in a mutual appreciation kind of way, please go and read it too – it is well worth it. And if you’re a new reader here, welcome and I hope you’ll keep coming back.

What a crazy week

2010-09-24T12:53:00.002+01:00

This has been one of those weeks that when I look back on it I wonder just how it all came together. But come together it did, and we’ve got a great weekend ahead.

Back to back

First, news on Nadia is better. At the end of last week her back wasn’t making much progress so we got an MRI scan done that would either confirm the doctor’s diagnosis of a tear in her disc, or uncover something else. Thankfully it pretty much confirmed the tear, but it also showed up a second tear in the same disc. No wonder she has been suffering! She has been popping pills (prescription of course) like there is no tomorrow but at last she is making progress. She can move about a good bit more now but still a long way from being fully mobile. She will try to get back to work part time at the end of next week.

One thing that cheered her up this week was going for physiotherapy. Nothing to do with the exercises, but the young man who was working on her, if you pardon the expression! Apparently he is ‘hot’. I’ve now booked her in to an alternative physio for next week who resembles Rosa Klebb from the Bond movie, From Russia with Love. Let’s see if she finds her ‘hot’!

Do your exercises, or else!

Dive, Dive, Dive

Anyone who has been to Darling Harbour may well remember the National Maritime Museum. There are a number of boats moored outside, including a Navy destroyer, a replica of the Endeavour (Captain Cook’s ship) and a submarine. By virtue of the wonders of modern technology (the Wikihood app on my iPad – highly recommended) I found out that the submarine was built in Greenock, the town of my birth. In fact there are two things that make that spooky. Firstly I might have seen it being built in Scotts Shipyard, and also my Grandad Archie was a plumber in the shipyards and could well have worked on it. It was launched in 1969, and has found its way all the way round the other side of the world as a museum piece.

HMAS Onslow heading to the berth in Darling Harbour

The plaque in the engine room confirming it's place of birth

Of course I couldn’t resist a visit. It’s not big, that’s for sure, and almost every square inch is taken up by pipes, valves, electronics (really primitive electronics), a few torpedoes, and the occasional bunk for the 70 crew. I think it is amazing that anyone could know how it all worked. It’s a miracle of ingenuity and engineering brilliance that people could design something that can operate effectively underwater for long periods of time. It was a very humbling but inspiring experience for me, realising how tough life is for people who chose to defend our shores (wherever they are) mixed with total admiration for the complexity of the design and build. I think I will be back to take in more because there is only one corridor from front to back (fore to aft for all pedants) and you have to keep moving or get trodden on by tourists who are getting claustrophobic. Next time, I’ll take a notebook, I think there may be a story or two in there.

Finished with engines Captain!

Work, work, and thankfully more work.

You will recall that I got a contract job with Westpac pretty quickly after we got here. That was initially for 3 months but it has just been rolling on until now. It’s been an interesting time with some senior management reshuffles, the usual programs on process improvement and all the fun that goes with that. The department that I joined was a casualty in the reshuffle, but at that point I was working mostly on the process improvement program for the Retail Bank. But it was becoming evident that to continue in that role I had to move to the core program level, which I preferred anyway. However, the position in there was not funded by anyone in particular and I came to the beginning of this week facing the prospect of leaving on Friday because my contract officially ended on that date and no one was willing to put their hands in their pockets to pay for me. Honestly, you’d think they were from Paisley!

I was actually strangely calm about it all, in fact looking forward to a break for a few weeks until I found something else. To complicate matters, I was out the office on a video shoot for a couple of days so couldn’t really do anything about getting the contract extended or look for other work. As an aside, we had a busy but fun time shooting video in branches as far apart as Adelaide and the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. And yes they are very far apart!

I got back to the office on Thursday and had an unscheduled meeting with someone from Group Change Management about a position for a senior communications manager they needed to fill quickly. Well to cut a long story short, I was offered the job pretty much on the spot and start on Monday – as a permanent employee of Westpac. It’s a cracking job, and I’ve got a good package to go with it.

So the roller coaster of a week has ended on a high and I’m having a glass or two of wine to celebrate and kick the weekend off in style (although dinner has been tinned salmon on toast, but who cares).

When I came here, I said I would do the corporate thing for a couple of years and then we can re-evaluate what we want to do. So having a permanent job and a regular pay cheque will give us some stability and let us plan the next 6 months at least.

I haven’t lost sight of our goals, and I still have a couple of opportunities bubbling under that might give us a different option in the longer run. More about them another time, but one certainly has to do with getting some of my writing published. Now that’s exciting!

Oh, one last thing, I will now have a window seat on the top floor of the Westpac building, not that I’ll have time to look at the view very much but hey, it’s a hell of a view.

Overdue

2010-09-12T09:20:00.000+01:00

Yes, my blog post is overdue, but also the lovely sunshine and warmth in Sydney is a little overdue as well. But fear not, the temperature is just nudging around 20 degrees, the sky is blue and I’ve got my shorts on! Are you jealous – or just scared at the thought of seeing my blue/white legs in shorts? Don't worry there are no pictures, but I do reserve the right to scare you all in future posts. Temperatures are set to climb in the next week - bring it on!

So what’s been happening?

Well the last couple of weeks have not been the best. Nadia’s back started hurting about 10 days ago, and now after a few visits to GPs, Osteopaths, and Acupuncturists, we have finally got to the root of the problem. She has a tear in the last disc at the bottom of her spine, and everything around it is badly inflamed. The pain has been excruciating for her but finally the medication seems to be giving her some relief. She is off work for another week, and can only go back once she has seen the GP later in the week. I’ve been the dutiful nurse, and yes, even clearing up he vomit from the night the painkillers upset her stomach – euch! It must be love – or something!

Understandably she has been very down, not least because the shop in Balmain has just opened and she was looking forward to getting stuck in to that after having helped open a few others in Sydney for the company. They have been good with her and will see how things work out in the next week. Fingers crossed she can get back to work soon.

The Balmain store - prior to back pain!

My work has also been ‘interesting’. Officially I only have two weeks left on my contract and the story seems to change every day as to whether or not I’ll get kept on a bit longer. As with all corporates, it is a time of change and I just have to go with the flow while communicating that change – strange times. But I do have some irons in other fires and one particular opportunity that is pretty exciting. Can’t let the cat out of the bag at the moment – I’ll let you know when it happens (note the positive thinking language!!!).

Other than that, life has been pretty standard fare. Until Nadia’s back problem, we were having fun exploring new restaurants and making some new friends. It’s just annoying that we’ve had to put things on hold for a couple of weeks until Nadia recovers.

The one other thing I forgot to mention is that I’ve started a 5 week creative writing course at Sydney Writers Centre. I need to get my creative juices (and my writing discipline) going again and felt that doing a course will give me a kick-start. I’ll fill you in on how its going over the next couple of weeks. You might even see the writing in this blog improve, but don’t get your hopes up.

Brian – the big belly is back!

Brian has gotten too big for his boots, or should I say too big for my shirts! It’s a choice between Buddha belly or Beach belly, and I’m not ready to be a Buddha yet.

I haven’t done any exercise since City2Surf a month ago, and it shows. So this weekend I got my belly out of bed and went for a run on both Saturday and Sunday. 7km both days, and even though it was a bit of a struggle I know it will get easier. So this week I have to make sure I get out through the week again and get back in to the habit.

I know I’ve been here before, and I’ve beaten Brian before (well almost) so the challenge is on again. Déjà vu – but in the sunshine!

37,357th…and proud of it!

2010-08-15T08:56:00.001+01:00

Yes, that’s where I came in the legendary 40^th running of Sydney’s City2Surf. It’s the biggest run in the world -more than 80,000 people lined up at the start at Hyde Park and raced their way up and down hills for 14 kilometres to Bondi Beach.

When we arrived here, I decided that I needed a challenge to get me out running again. Any long term readers of my blog will be familiar with Brian, my businessman’s belly, my man boobs Brenda and Betty, and my twin chin Chris, and my constant battle to be rid of them. To be honest, that battle has had as many ups and downs as the course on Sunday and at the moment my unwanted friends seem to have the better of me.

However, that was not going to stop me pounding the streets of Sydney along with Nadia and her brother Sam. We were determined to do it as it feels like a rite of passage for Sydneysiders, almost everyone you talk to has done it at least once so we decided to join the happy band.

It promised to be a great day and we weren’t disappointed. We were greeted at 5:30 by a beautiful Sydney dawn as we got ourselves ready to get in to the city for the 8:30 start. I know that sounds very early, and believe me it felt very early, but we had been advised to get there early to make sure our bags and outer gear was transported to Bondi.

I’ve mentioned before about our flat being on the harbourside, which means we had a pretty good warm up walk up the hill for a kilometre to get to the station – it was too early for the ferries – as an added bonus, public transport was free for anyone with an entry in the race.

We were amazed by the number of people on the train, all heading for the start line like us. It seemed like the whole of Sydney had woken up early.

We dropped our gear off and headed to our starting point. Because there are so many people, there are 6 different starting groups, and ours would be the third one to set off.

Looking slightly nervous before the start!

As the crowds gathered, so did the atmosphere. Tales of past races were shared amongst the starters and my accent was soon attracting some attention – I had to do something to stop them looking at my legs!!

The best laugh was a couple of ‘grannies’ who were beside us waiting in their dressing gowns. They have done the race 14 times and had travelled 100k that morning to be there. The conversation was quite jovial, but took an unexpected turn when the dressing gowns were opened to reveal…well, look for yourselves!

Before we knew it, the gun went and we made our way through the start and got in to a slow but steady jog. I ran alongside Sam, Nadia was walking so she was a bit behind us.

We're in there somewhere!

All was going well until Heartbreak Hill. This is a 1.5k climb that feels double that. I’m afraid my lack of proper training showed here and I joined a lot of people who opted to walk up it. Sam managed to keep going and got ahead of me at this point, but once we got to the top, it more or less flattened out and I was able to slowly get back in to my stride. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the thousands of others with me, I think I would probably have walked most of the rest of the way.

Soon Bondi was within touching distance – at that point I considered 4k to be touching distance as it was pretty much downhill all the way from there. I did notice that there seemed to be a lot more first aid stations now, and most of them were treating somebody for something – I was happy not to need their help!

The best sight of the day was as we turned a corner and Bondi came in to view; still a bit away but the end was definitely in sight. Spurred on, and trying to get close to the time I set myself as a goal, I managed to pick up the pace and before I knew it I was amongst the crowds in Campbell Parade alongside the beach. However, one last cruel twist is that you run most of the way along it before doubling back to the finish line, was it never going to end?

Crossing the finish line was truly a wonderful experience. Knowing I had run further than I ever have before, pulled along by the great people doing the same thing, was a beautiful feeling.

The many thousands arriving at Bondi

Coping with that amount of runners finishing was never going to be an easy task and there was an element of organised chaos at the finish, but we got our medals and once we managed to find each other in the crowd, we all felt elated at what we achieved.

The official times come out a couple of days later, so drum roll please….

In 32,238^th place, with a time of 1:34:19 – Sam Lombardi

In 37,357^th place with a time of 1:41:07 – Alistair McKillop

In 55,994^th place with a time of 2:26:05 – Nadia Lombardi

As you can see, Nadia was in the best shape of all of us crossing the line.

But most of all, we did it, and now we are planning for next time. Sam and I are looking to take 15 minutes off our times, and Nadia’s going to take 30 minutes off hers!

Back home with our medals

It was a great day, and we felt proud walking back through the city with our medals round our necks – we had won our own Olympic race.

On top of that, we were running in memory of Nadia and Sam’s dad, and we raised some money for Cancer Research – and if you feel inclined, there is still time to make a donation by clicking through to this page.

The three of us ran with a picture of Walter on our backs - he helped to push us along

It has inspired us all to take part in more races as well, and we are definitely going to keep training – after all, now Brian and his friends have had their tour of Sydney, they don’t need to come again and I have no intention of taking them!

A few million dollars later…

2010-08-01T11:38:00.002+01:00

Sydney is situated on one of the most picturesque natural harbours in the world, therefore it only seems natural that a lot of Sydneysiders’ activity revolves around water.

This weekend is the annual Sydney Boat Show, a gathering of many millions of dollars worth of tempting boats and boating equipment for those with a full wallet or no limit on their credit card. I’m not quite either of those categories yet, but that didn’t stop me going to have a look at the acres of wood, fibreglass, rope, canvass and everything else that goes to getting you afloat.

I used to go sailing many years ago and it is something we fully intend to take up when spring comes around, so what better way to get a feeling for it than to take a look at the latest offerings in nautical boys toys.

Cockle Bay is the inner part of Darling Harbour and it has been transformed from the site of the FIFA World Cup Fanfest, to a floating version of Harrods. The array of floating bling on show was quite overwhelming, from the largest 80 foot luxury motor yachts to aluminium skiffs. Everything and anything in-between was on show.

Cockle Bay at the Boat Show

However, to put things in perspective, one of the smallest boats on show was Ella’s Pink Lady, the yacht the Jessica Watson sailed round the world. If you can sail round the world in something that size, why do you need one of these behemoths?

Smallest boat - biggest adventure

You were allowed to step on board and view a few of the yachts, but the big fancy beasts were by invitation only, and even then there was a queue to get on. I’m not that voyeuristic and have seen plenty of them in fancy marinas around the world.

No shoes on board thank you - glad my socks didn't have a hole in them!

To be honest, I don’t really fancy having one of them anyway. I would rather have a lovely sailing boat that takes you back to being at one with the water and the wind. You can take it to many more places than these gin palaces and in my book that’s much more fun. There’s nothing to stop you enjoying a beer or gin and tonic on a yacht – I know because I’ve enjoyed plenty of them in my time when we sailed around the Firth of Clyde and up the west coast of Scotland.

I was attracted by the new design in Kayaks. Apart from being very affordable and a good bit of exercise thrown in, they come with all sorts of attachments and gizmos now. Anything from GPS, freezer compartments for beer (well they said this was for keeping the fish you catch, but who do they think they are kidding?), to sails and pedals (yes memories of Benidorm). We do see quite a few people out on the harbour around here paddling away so I think we might try that out.

This looks like lots of fun!

All in all, it was a great afternoon out in the Sydney sunshine. I’m going to dream about my ideal yacht moored right outside our ideal waterfront home – no harm in that and you never know what might come true.

In other news…

Nadia has popped up to Townsville for a couple of days to see her mum, who is making slow but sure progress. She has an appointment with the specialist this week and Nadia wants to be there to make sure things are going in the right direction.

For a special treat, I have a Monday off, a true Bank Holiday in NSW. It’s not a public holiday, only the Banks and some offices are closed but I’m happy to have the extra day on the weekend and it looks like the weather is set fair.

And as if I need reminding about next weekend’s big event, these banners are everywhere! Training is not going particularly well at the moment, but we’ll do it anyway and have a great time in the process.

Happy days.

Normal service is resumed

2010-07-24T13:41:00.000+01:00

Have you missed me? No? Well tough luck, you are in for a bumper blog since I’ve missed a couple of weeks. Get yourself a glass of wine, whisky or cup of tea and make yourself comfortable. We’ve got some talking to do.

5 months ago we stepped off an aeroplane and into a new life. It’s hard to believe as it’s gone so fast and so much has happened in that relatively short time.

There is no denying there have been some ups and downs along the way, but we would have been fooling ourselves if we thought it was all going to be plain sailing. You can see what I’m talking about from previous posts.

However, 5 months in and we are now getting settled in to what probably passes as a routine life with both of us working full time. But the question we have been asking ourselves in the last couple of weeks is whether or not we came here to settle in to a routine life? I would like to say the answer to that is no but with all the upheaval and stress we’ve had, a little bit of routine feels like it is the right thing at the moment. However, we are determined that routine or not, we are going to make the most of what Sydney has to offer, and there is a lot.

One of the reasons for the radio silence on the blog in the last couple of weeks was because I was extremely busy at work. Being on contract and not really knowing what the future holds in terms of work brings a certain degree of stress. Combine that with me now working on one of the biggest projects in the organisation (not dissimilar to what we were working on in RBS before I left), it has been hard to come home, relax and write anything coherent. Okay, I know it’s questionable as to whether or not I ever write anything coherent or interesting, but there have been bits of this blog post sitting unfinished on the computer for more than a few weeks.

But I’m feeling the love again as I’ve been told my contract is being extended for a while at least, which will give us a bit more stability and financial security. As well as that, I delivered on a big project milestone this week - three events to communicate and launch our project over two days. I hate preparing for events and this was made even more difficult because two of the directors were off work the week ahead of them. But I rose to the challenge and thankfully I seem to have pulled it off – well at least they are keeping me a bit longer so I must have done something right!

That all sounds depressingly familiar! Was I not saying that kind of thing a year ago? Probably was, but I know here there are opportunities ahead of us and we are treating this period almost as our rite of passage to get established in a new country. Let’s see what the next three months hold, things might be different by then!

Whatever the routine, work, weather and stresses, we are still loving it.

Taken last weekend from McMahons Point, just below our flat - what's not to love?

Greg and Dee

It really is a small world, especially when you can have a few bottles of wine and a bite to eat with folks from the old country. Greg and Dee are on their way around the world, also having left the trails and tribulations of Edinburgh and RBS behind. We had a great night with them, which was actually their last night in Oz. Funnily enough we spent a lot of time talking about quality of life, work and following your dream. As usual, I’m very good at talking about it and giving good advice that I don’t necessarily follow myself. (Note to self – maybe I should do something about that!)

We were all a little tipsy by the time we finished up and they headed off for their next adventure in South America. It was a good night that we won’t forget in a while. Hope they get to live the dream when they get back to Edinburgh.

News update

Let me quickly bring you up to date with a couple of bits of news since the last post.

Nadia is working for her new company, Flower Clothing, in Mosman at the moment until her store in Balmain is ready in a couple of weeks. It’s tough establishing a new store but she is doing well and they think very highly of her – who wouldn’t?

We also got great news that Alice has been accepted on the Midwifery course starting in September. We were hoping to see her out here in August but we are very, very happy that her dream has come true. She is going to be a fantastic Midwife!

But we also had more sad news this week. When Nadia came to Scotland 10 years ago she left her cat Rio with her mum and dad to look after. Sadly Rio passed away this week after a short illness, and of course we are all devastated. Nadia’s mum Connie, will miss him desperately as Rio was her company since Walter passed away. It’s been another tough thing for us to deal with, but we will and perhaps Connie will get another cat to keep her company, but for now we are all grieving for Rio.

Reflections

I thought it would be interesting to reflect on our time here so far and tell you what I like about Sydney and what I miss about Edinburgh and Scotland. Well, I thought it would be interesting, you’ve probably finished your drink by now and are about to flip to a dilbert cartoon on the web – I'm sure it will be much more entertaining!

If you’re with me for the long haul, it was easy to come up with 10 things about Sydney that I love, and yes I know that's because it's still all bright and shiny and new. It was not so easy to come up with 10 things I miss from back home. If I do this exercise again in 6 months, we’ll see if my views have changed.

For what it’s worth, here they are:

Ten things I like about Sydney

The harbour and the ferries – on Wednesday night after a long and stressful day at work, sitting outside on the ferry at 9:00 pm, a mild breeze in my face and taking in the view reminded me why we are here. My worries just slipped overboard and I felt good again. My favourite thing so far.
Darling Harbour – there is always so much going on and next weekend there is the Sydney Boat Show, right on my doorstep. How good is that?
Our flat – never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be sitting writing this looking at this view.
The friendly people in our tower block – if you get in the lift with someone else they will talk to you, without fail!
MyMulti travel ticket. For $41 a week I can get on as many busses and ferries as I like, and trains within a boundary line. Yesterday I was on two trains and six ferries and a bus – excellent value!
The busses are scheduled to coincide with the ferry timetable – simple but makes such a difference.
The weather – even though it is winter it’s still beautiful at some point most days.
The beaches – easy to get to and looking forward to enjoying them more in the summer.
The markets – real, regular markets with lots of quality goods, both fresh food and arts & crafts.
Blues Point Road – a lovely little community where everyone is friendly and there is just the right balance of restaurants and shops.

Eveleigh Market

Ten things I miss about Scotland

Our Family – even with Skype, we do miss everyone. Can’t wait for some visitors; when are you coming over?
Our cats Lucy and Leo, even though we know they are in a good home and doing well (we got a lovely email about them this week), we miss not having them to come home to.
Our friends – we wonder how everyone is getting on, is life still the same?
Sport – yes I have missed watching the World Cup, Wimbledon and the Open Golf. It’s on here, but it’s in the middle of the night!
Our favourite restaurants and coffee shops – we are finding some good ones here, but miss places that became our favourites like Qua in Glasgow and Cento Tre in Edinburgh
Italian and French wines – as you would expect, the wine market here is skewed very much to Australian and New Zealand wines. These are good, but it is very expensive to get the European wines we came to know and love. We have found some Aussie wines we do like, but it would be nice to have a good Bordeaux or Amarone from time to time without it breaking the bank
….. and there I got stuck. I’m sure there are lots of other things that will come to me in the fullness of time!

Scary fact of the week

City to Surf is only 2 weeks away. I have not run for 2 weeks, better get my skates on! 14k is a long way.

I have just set up a charity giving page for the run, so anything you can contribute would be wonderful – the exchange rate is pretty good! Nadia, Sam (Nadia's brother) and I are running for the Australian Cancer Research Foundation and putting all contributions on my page.

I’ll let you know how all that is going on, but suffice to say Brian is still bouncing along with me and I think he is looking forward to the tour. I'm not looking forward to carrying him round.

Well done

And so ends the War and Peace edition of the blog, and I haven't even mentioned our new iPad yet - I'll save that for another day. I promise I will keep up more frequent, shorter entries in the future – I do know that people’s attention span on the internet is of goldfish proportions. If you made it this far, thank you for sticking with it – go and treat yourself to a chocolate biscuit. That’s what I’m going to do.

Art for Art’s sake

2010-06-27T10:18:00.000+01:00

Another week has flown by, but it has culminated in a lovely weekend once again. The weather has been lovely, and we’ve been out exploring more of Sydeny.

Gainfully employed

Before I get to the context of the headline, there is some great news to share. Nadia has got herself a job, and a great job at that! She is going to be store manager for a boutique fashion store that is opening in Balmain in a couple of weeks. The company is called Flower Clothing – check out their website if that kind of thing floats your boat. It was her first interview since beginning to look for work, and she nailed the job there and then. To say we are happy is slightly understating the case, and it was a great excuse to do some celebrating this weekend.

Market time

Markets are much more a part of Sydney life than they ever were in Edinburgh and Glasgow. On Saturday we managed to get to three in the day. We started at Kirribilli, where there is a nice mixed market of clothes, arts, crafts etc. Then we took the train to Redfern and went to the Eveleigh produce market, which was fantastic! There was such a range of real farm grown produce we didn’t quite know what to buy. But buy we did and the eggs we had on toast this morning for breakfast were superb.

Now, I remember many years ago my Gran had a little tartan shopping trolley that went everywhere with her. Well like all good things, they have come back in to fashion here and since we don’t have a car yet we thought we would invest in one. Already I am glad we did, there is no way we could have carried all our purchases home from the market. It’s funny how you start to notice other trolleys and since we bought a budget version to start with, we now have a bit of trolley jealousy going on! It’s just as well Apple don’t make them otherwise I would be first in the queue for the latest model.

After some lunch at Darling Harbour, we headed to Balmain to see if we could find Nadia’s new shop. We didn’t find it because Nadia didn’t ask the address, but we had a lovely stroll up and down Darling Street, and found another small craft market. It is a great suburb and Nadia is really going to enjoy being there.

Did they get paid for that?

And so to art. Every two years Sydney puts on a great big free art festival that runs for three months. The biggest collection this year is on Cockatoo Island on the Harbour. The island used to be a naval shipyard and all the art installations and displays are in the old buildings.

There were a couple of really cool things, the best of which is a series of cars hung from the ceiling in different stages of rotation as though it was doing a somersault. They have spectacular neon lights bursting out of them and it looks great. Another good one was built like tin rooftops that you could walk over – I wish they had been playing Walk Across The Rooftops by Blue Nile; that would have made it really special!

A lot of the other pieces didn’t do it for me, but hey, that’s what art is all about.

But for me, a lot of the old machinery and the big sheds were just as impressive as the art. It’s a superb venue and I want to go back and spend more time exploring the industrial history of it.

Here's Nadia dancing on the rooftops.

Moonlight and roses

Well maybe not roses, but the moonlight has been spectacular on the harbour for the last couple of nights. I posted a pic on Facebook the other day, but this is a better one.

City to Surf – 6 weeks to go

Got a bit of a wake up call this week when I realised that City to Surf is only 6 weeks away. My vest number and timing tag popped in through the post this week, which was a timely reminder. So I went out this morning for a decent run (well a jog if I’m honest) and managed to run up the hill and over the Harbour Bridge and back. 6.5 Km, but my legs are feeling it now. Of course, if I wasn’t wobbling about with Brian and his friends it would be a lot easier.

Nadia and her brother Sam have also signed up and it’s going to be a great day. I am aiming to do it in 90 minutes; Sam might also be around that time as he has got in to training recently and Nadia will power walk it. She has been out training this week too. We just need to keep it up and we’ll be fine.

The trick for me now is to make sure I get training through the week.

Have a good one everyone.

A Whale of a time

2010-06-20T10:24:00.001+01:00

Another year older, another year wiser? Well at least one of those statements it true, we’ll need to see if the other holds up as well!

Yes, it’s my birthday today, but I’m not one for big celebrations. That said, I am still celebrating that Nadia is here in Sydney with me and looks like she will be here for a while. So that alone has made it a great birthday.

We decided to do something a bit different today and went on a whale watching trip this afternoon. It was a stunning day with clear blue sky and only a little wind, which the guys on the boat said was about as good as it’s going to get to go looking for whales – and they didn’t disappoint.

On our way out of the Harbour

This time of year sees the main migration of Humpback Whales up the coast from south to north as they head up to warmer waters to give birth to the little whales. At the moment you are almost guaranteed to spot them and it wasn’t long after we cleared the heads of the Harbour before we spotted our first ‘blow’. In the couple of hours we were out there, we saw three pods, with two or three whales in each. It is a beautiful sight, and made even more special by the fact they are so close to the boat.

We had tail flukes, a full breach (when the whale lifts itself straight up out the water) and a pectoral fin flap. Probably doesn’t mean a lot to most folk, but to whale aficionados that is pretty much the complete repertoire of tricks. The guys who run the tour were pretty pleased we got to see it all. My only gripe is I don’t have a really good camera to capture it all, so I’m afraid these were the best our little digital could do at distance (between 100 and 200 metres – close enough for us humans, but not really for my camera).

Tail Fluke

Pectoral Flap - I think he/she was just waving to me for my birthday!

Coming up for a 'blow'

Even though it was a quiet day weather wise, there was still a good swell running and some poor people didn’t get to see much except the inside of a sick bag. Thankfully I don’t suffer that affliction, and Nadia took some tablets just in case.

I now have a red face from the wind and sun, but I’ve also got a big smile on. Work tomorrow though; no doubt I’ll be back to earth and questioning the second part of my opening phrase!!

Happy Birthday Your Majesty!

2010-06-14T08:33:00.000+01:00

Don’t you just love the monarchy! Yes, a statement rather than a question and whatever you think back in the motherland, us colonial sorts think any kind of a birthday calls for a celebration. So since dear old Lizzie clocks up another year, we have a Monday holiday. This is what monarchy is all about, letting the serfs have a day off toil and grind to help celebrate a birthday. Tie that in to a little matter of Australia vs Germany in a footy tournament in South Africa and you have the makings of a great weekend! I’ve no idea when Charles or William’s birthday is, but when one of them finally takes the reins (or reign) then the better have a birthday at a good time of year when everyone really needs a day off work, especially of the footy team are playing at 4:30 in the morning!

Australia has gone soccer mad, and really in a good way. There is no casting up of 1966, there is no desperate longing for other nation to be embarrassed by goalkeeping errors. It is beautifully ironic that the England goalie makes a total ‘cock up’ (as it was reported on the news here) after all the years of mocking Scottish goalies. Sydney has been designated one of the FIFA fan cities and Darling Harbour has been transformed into a mini World Cup venue. All the matches are being screened live, and then repeated during the day, even though the kick-off times begin at 9:30 pm and go through to 4:30 am. However, I am writing this the morning after the Socceroos have just been trounced 4-0 by Germany. I wonder what the mood will be like today.

The other big celebration this weekend is Nadia’s return to Sydney. She came back on Saturday with no flight dramas and she is here for a good while we hope. She will still have to go back up the road occasionally but at least we can start to sort our lives out together instead of leading separate lives. I’m sure there’s a cue for a song in there somewhere.

So we’ve had a great weekend so far. Saturday night we met up with Martyn and Rosy at what was effectively their leaving party as they head up to the Gold Coast to live. It was good fun, but also slightly surreal as we were in the Lowenbrau bar/bistro at the Rocks which was very, well very how do you say… German. Lots of sausages, steins of beer and oompah music. I think there were a few sore heads the next day! Hope it’s not too long before we see them again.

As it turns out, in this city of many millions of people, Friday wasn’t the last time we saw Martyn and Rosy. We were waiting to get the ferry to Darling Harbour on Sunday from Luna Park and Nadia got a text from Rosy. After a few texts it became clear they were are the same wharf waiting on the ferry to Circular Quay. We hadn’t seen them as it was so busy, but we caught them just before they got on the ferry for more goodbye hugs and kisses. Of all the wharfs in all the cities, they just had turn up on ours at the same time - very spooky. We got this photo of Rosy, her Dad and brother Michael as they headed off to Circular Quay before they walked back across the Harbour Bridge.

Sunday lunchtime was spent at Kirribilli market, and then over to Darling Harbour to meet my long lost 2^nd or 3^rd cousin Derek (we couldn’t quite work it out) and his wife Catherine who live in the Gold Coast and are in Sydney for the weekend. We had a great chat and more than one bottle of wine – a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The bar was very busy with an eclectic mix of patrons. Cousin Derek and I did well not to get in trouble for ogling the girls who were dressed up as schoolies and about to go on a harbour cruise! They never dressed like that when I was at school. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a picture that is publishable!! This is one is us with no schoolies in sight and sober...honest guv!

And at the same time, there was a ‘gathering’ of the Australia/NZ Irish Celtic Supporters Association who, surprise, surprise, were all wearing Celtic shirts. They were also going on a harbour cruise, but unfortunately for them not the same one as the schoolies!

We were tempted to blag our way on the boats official SHAG reporter and photographer (Scottish Homes and Gardens of course, what were you thinking??) but we thought better of it.

And our Monday holiday? Well we had hoped to visit the art exhibition on Cockatoo Island which is part of the Sydney Biennial but it seemed that half of Sydney had thought the same thing. The queue for the free ferry was far too long, so we decided to go and get some lunch and toast the Queen’s birthday with a bottle of nice Chardonnay from the Commonwealth – and very nice it was too.

So a quiet night in with Nadia now, and the excitement of ironing shirts for work this week lies ahead. I’ll leave you with this nice picture of the sun beginning to set in Sydney this evening. It’s been a great weekend.

The Big Wet

2010-06-05T13:25:00.002+01:00

After all my gloating about the great weather we had since we arrived here at the end of February, Winter seems to have arrived in Sydney. Not the kind of winter weather we are used to in Scotland, but Sydneysiders seem to be feeling the cold. And by cold they mean about 14 degrees in the morning only rising to about 18 through the day. Now I’m sure maybe next year I will feel the contrast in temperature a bit more once I’ve experienced a full summer here, but I still go to work without an overcoat – with a couple of notable exceptions.

When it rains in Sydney, it really rains! The last week has drenched Sydney twice with a good couple of inches of rain giving everything a good soaking – me included. There’s been a tornado or two and a couple of thunderstorms for good measure. Friday was probably the wettest day I have ever seen from morning to night. It threw it down with a few short respites as the showers gathered themselves together to throw down another deluge. But it didn’t feel miserable like it is when it rains in Scotland. Maybe that is down to the intensity of it, but probably more around the fact you are not getting chilled to the bone.

This poor couple may not have the wedding pictures they were dreaming of, but they definitely will have pretty unique ones. This was taken at Hyde Park in the city centre yesterday.

But what I really like about this type of weather is that when it is finished, you can have a really lovely day the next day. Today (Saturday) has been just that. Blue sky, temperature around 20 degrees and everything is bright again. There was a beautiful sunset as I came back across the Harbour tonight. That's my block in silhouette.

Funnily enough, I woke up early this morning (7:00am is early in anyone’s book for a Saturday morning) and got up for a glass of water. I checked out what was happening with the weather and of course was pleased that it had all settled down. They were doing the live weather forecast broadcast from the bay beside my flat this morning for Channel 7 news. I stood and watched them for a while, one eye on the TV, the other watching it live beneath me. I resisted the temptation to shout out “Hey Jimmy! Is that you, you know, you off the telly!” I don’t think they would have appreciated it, and probably not even understood it!

Vivid Sydney

For most of June, Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed have been given carte blanche to light up/project images on to some of the historic buildings in Sydney. Okay, I know in relative terms there is nothing historic by UK measures, but at least most of the buildings can officially now be classed as being built in the last century! Every night I get treated to a light show on the Opera House. They have a light show projecting on to the sails and it is an ever-changing vista from my window. I took the pic below from the ferry one night.

On the water.

There’s been a couple of dramas on the water in the last couple of weeks. Well one of them wasn’t really a drama, but the Police launch chased a speedboat up the harbour from under the bridge and managed to stop it right in front of my flats the other night. I had a good view of all the goings on, watching them breathalise the skipper, but he must have been sober as they then let him go. I think he was probably done for speeding! It felt like having a reality TV show right outside my window

The other incident was when I was at the Jazz and Blues Festival in Darling Harbour. One of the tourist jet-boats came in to the wharf and immediately most of the passengers were taken off and made to lie down on the wharf. Very quickly there was an emergency paramedic on scene closely followed by six ambulances and a squad of police. These poor people had back and neck injuries when the boat ‘hit a rogue wave’ and were stretchered off to hospital. It was a horrible thing to see, they had gone out for what they thought was going to be a thrill ride, and suddenly end up spending the night in hospital. The news reports thankfully indicated that there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries, but the picture shows the drama unfolding in front of me.

The pics are not great quality as they are from my iphone – my camera is still in Townsville with Nadia. Yes, she’s still there, but hopefully she can get down here for a long weekend soon and we can get to spend sometime together. It was her birthday this week (Happy Birthday again hon) and ironically this is the first time we have been apart for her birthday, and it will probably be the same for mine at the end of the month. That wasn’t in the plan, but it can’t be helped. We’ll just have to celebrate them both when we are together.

Work!

Well work is work, but this week I actually managed to demonstrate some of my value on a piece of work that they were blown away with! When you get a very senior manager sending you an email that simply said ‘Awesome Job’, I think I can take it that they liked it. Made me feel good.

Brian and friends.

Well, not sure what to say about how this has been going. I went for a run early this morning and will do again tomorrow, but I’ve not managed to run at all midweek. Partly because of the weather and I’ve just not felt like it, but also the street lighting around here is pretty poor and I would be in danger of tripping or twisting an ankle in some of the places if I go running at night when I get home. So I need to get a torch and that will stop that excuse - I wonder what other ones I’ll come up with? But on the upside, I think I mentioned before about this Corporate Global challenge thing, where a team of us are counting our daily steps as part of the challenge to see how far we can walk in the 16 weeks it runs for. They say you should do 10,000 steps a day and I’ve been pretty close to that most days, and some days I’ve blown that out the water. Last weekend I managed 33,000 steps between Saturday and Sunday. So far I’ve walked 118k in the two weeks (according to their calculations) which does seem a lot but I’m happy to take their word for it! My daily average is 11,490, which can’t be bad.

So when I’m not running, I’m definitely walking so at least doing something about it. I don’t think I’ve made any real difference in real terms to Brian and Co. yet, but like last time nothing seemed to shift for the first couple of weeks then the weight started to disappear. Here’s hoping.

And just to make the view from my desk more interesting tonight, there is a lightning storm flashing across the sky - Awesome :-)

City to Surf – Belly Brain’s tour of the Eastern suburbs

2010-05-22T01:21:00.002+01:00

One unfortunate side effect of the move to Australia is that despite my best efforts before Christmas, the lure of the Aussie lifestyle has been too good to resist for Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris. Regular readers will recognise them as my unwanted body parts that I was trying to leave behind before we came here. I had made a pretty good attempt early on, but the round of going away parties, welcoming parties and just a generally good lifestyle has meant that my suitcases seem not to be the only things I unpacked last week.

A shock look in a mirror - okay a shock reflection in a shop window- confirmed my greatest fear. The belly is back – and he’s brought his friends too!

I know I could make lots of excuses, but that is all in the past. I managed to get rid of most of them when I had the challenge of the Cancer Research10k last September. So now I have a new challenge to inspire and motivate me.

The City to Surf run is an institution in Sydney. It is the biggest ‘timed’ race in the world with over 75,000 people running from the city centre, along a route that takes in the suburbs of the south shore of the harbour before heading up the gruesome but aptly named Heartbreak Hill (Watsons Bay, Vaucluse) and then on to finish at Bondi. It is 14k and my target time will be 90 minutes. I’ve got until 8 August, 11 weeks to get fit and consequently banish the belly again!

I did get out early this morning for a run, just 4.5K, but it is a start. The only ‘challenge’ with living close to the water is that it is uphill to anywhere! So it wasn’t an easy run, but after my disaster coping with the hill in the 10k last year, I am going to make sure I train on the hills.

As well as the running, I am close to one of the best swimming pools in Sydney, right beside Luna Park. I’m not a great swimmer, but I am going to start going there as well to alternate my training.

Another challenge that has come my way is called the Global Corporate Challenge, were teams of work colleagues aim to walk as far as they can in a 16 week period. You are provided with a pedometer and at the end of each week you input the number of steps you have done to the website and it calculates how far you have walked, run, swim or cycled and rounds that up as a team (7 in a team). The more steps, the further you travel, so the winners are the ones who get furthest away from their workplace at the end of the 16 weeks - now there's an incentive. The idea behind it is to get the world moving and being healthier and fitter, so I reckon it is a good fit with the training for City to Surf. It will also be good to have some peer pressure and competition to drive me on. I’m in a pretty active and fit team, so that will surely spur me on.

The other thing I need to do this week is get my eating habits sorted to support my goal. The crisp addiction has returned, and that glass of wine every night all adds up pretty quickly. Today, I am going to plan my evening meal menus and make sure I stick to it. Of course, I will still have to enjoy my time here, so it will include the odd night eating out! When I get the ferry home from Darling Harbour, the smell of Hurricane’s BBQ steaks and ribs wafts over to the boat as we pass the restaurant. It is probably just as well I can’t jump off the ferry otherwise I would be there every night.

For any of you interested, I hear that the weather back in the UK has taken a turn for the better, which is the opposite of here. It is a pretty grey and damp weekend in prospect, but I still haven’t had to put on a coat to go out - maybe today though! In fact as I look out I can see the clouds breaking and blue skies on the horizon. Beautiful.

If the weather picks up I’ll head over to Darling Harbour where there is a free blues and jazz festival on this weekend. Should be fun.

Right, off to look at healthy recipes and wash my running gear to be ready for tomorrow.

Wherever I lay my hat…that’s my home

2010-05-15T12:21:00.000+01:00

I know it is a cheesy line from an old Paul Young song, but it is particularly apt for me today. I am sitting with my computer at a desk in our new apartment (rented of course) looking out across the beautiful Sydney skyline. If I look left, the Harbour Bridge and Opera House are half a mile away, and beyond that I can see the Harbour opening out before it melts in to Watsons’s Bay and Manly.

Straight ahead I have the skyscrapers of the CBD (Central Business District) and all the gliteratti apartments on the wharfs round from the Rocks.

Then I glance further to the right and I can see Darling Harbour, Pyrmont and East Balmain, all waiting to welcome me as their neighbour.

The river is a calm blue carpet only disturbed by the white streaks of the wash from the ferries and yachts already out to play. The first ferry of the morning is making its way across from McMahon’s Point (which will be my bus stop) to Darling Harbour and I can see my office building peeking out amongst the other skyscrapers across the river.

Here comes my bus!

Does it sound like I’ve already fallen in love with the vista from our modest but nicely appointed flat? Well, yes, I have!

I woke up early today (Saturday) and decided to get up and sit at the desk and take it all in. The river is starting to come to life as a flotilla of yachts and boats head towards the ocean to welcome home Jessica Watson, a 16 year old girl who has just sailed round the world. They will all accompany her up to the Opera House for her to receive a hero’s welcome. There is no doubt that the Sydneysiders love to celebrate great achievements. Roads have been closed, stages set up, two hour live TV specials hastily arranged, and the sun is shining to welcome her home. I will have a grandstand view and be able to watch the detail on TV and look out the window to see it live at the same time. Loving life in Sydney.

Before I go any further and you all stop reading because you are either jealous or sick of me going on about the view, I have to say a big thank you to Mirella and Dom who have put up with us (well mostly me) for a lot longer than I though we would be there. You made us feel very much at home and we will always be full of gratitude for your generous hospitality, thank you.

In other news…

The only downside is that Nadia is not here to enjoy this with me at the moment. She did a great job of finding the apartment when she was here, but can't enjoy it as she is back in Townsville for a while longer. The good news is her mum is out of hospital, but her leg is in a splint and she needs a fair bit of help until she can adjust and we can see when Nadia will get back down here. I know she is desperate to get our plans back on track, but she is needed elsewhere at the moment. Next week, it will have been 3 months since we arrived.

And in late evening news…

I started writing this post when I got up, but I couldn’t post it as I didn’t have internet. But I now have bought 3G mobile internet and it seems to be working pretty well. The downside is that after sailing all the way round the world, Jessica ended up a couple of hours late for her own party! I ask you, did she not realise there were tens of thousands of people waiting on her - women are always late for parties!!! I had to go out to organise the internet stuff, which meant I missed the flotilla coming up to the Opera House. Quite annoyed at that, but I saw it on TV anyway.

Tonight, I explored my new neighbourhood and it is pretty nice. There are some nice restaurants that seem busy enough and a couple of pubs. So after a very quick Thai meal (20 minutes from sitting down to paying the bill – but it is healthy fast food!) I went for a beer in one of the pubs just up the road from the flat. Seems nice and I reckon it will become my local - there were even a couple of Glasgow accents in there somewhere.

So I’m now just chilling out with a glass of wine, watching the world go past me below. Just missing Nadia to make it perfect, but whoever said it was going to be perfect.

Have a great weekend.

Nadia's here!

2010-05-01T12:26:00.000+01:00

At long last, Nadia’s back in Sydney with me, although it might only be for a couple of weeks before she heads back to Townsville to look after her mum again.

News about Connie (Nadia’s mum) is encouraging. She is still in hospital but is recovering now and should be getting home in a week or two. This will only be an interim measure, as she will still have to go back in to get her knee replacement done in full. At the moment she will not be able to bend it, and until the replacement happens in six months she is going to need some assistance at home. We’ll need to see if that needs Nadia to be there or not – watch this space!

Flamin’ galahs!

For those that aren’t familiar with the phrase, it is a mild Aussie expletive (one of the few mild ones) and refers to a very noisy member of the parrot family, the galah. Well last week I was cursing the flamin’ galahs to the heavens! Nadia was due to fly down on Friday lunchtime but on take-off there was a bird strike on one of the engines. So the plane returned to Townsville and they waited, and waited, and waited…you get the picture! The flight was eventually cancelled and everyone queued up to see what the alternative arrangements were. Well Nadia was on a staff standby ticket (courtesy of Guido), which effectively meant she was the lowest priority to get rebooked. To cut a very long story short, she didn’t get on a flight on Friday, didn’t get on the 8:45 on Saturday morning, didn’t get on the 11:30 on Saturday, but did get on the 2:45 to Brisbane and then on to Sydney. She eventually got here on Saturday night at 7:30. Who needs a bloody Icelandic volcano when you’ve got Nadia on a flight? Let me tell you, I hope it was a bloody galah that hit that engine so my cursing and foul language was not without merit! But she is here safe and sound and I’m pleased to have her around for a couple of weeks at least.

A flamin' galah! Cocky little thing!

Home… and Away

On Anzac Day last Monday we took the opportunity to take a drive up to the Northern Beaches, specifically Palm Beach, which is better know as Summer Bay to those of you who watch Home and Away. It is a really lovely spot, but just too far away from the city to contemplate living there at the moment. However, we can always dream. We didn’t spot any of the TV characters, but the guy serving at the Surf Club Kiosk could well have been the real life character Alf has been modelled on. We had a lovely relaxing afternoon in the sun, just what was needed after the flight dramas!

Here I am with jeans rolled up ready to go for a paddle in true Brit style! The Surf Club's in the background.

Home…well a flat maybe

Nadia has been very busy this week looking around for a flat for us to move in to. Well, mostly for me to move in to as she will be back in Townsville. It is not an easy task, finding somewhere that has good transport, not too expensive (it is bloody expensive to rent here!) and will do a short lease so we can re-evaluate the situation in 3 months.

We have a couple of favoured options and will need to make a decision on Monday. One of the favourites is at Bondi – yes I know it is clichéd, but honestly, although it is smallish, it has the best view of Bondi you could get and is in the heart of the most iconic Australian beach. I might have to do it just to say I’ve lived there at least once in my life. What do you think?

Bondi Apartment Link

Another option is in the Harbour at McMahon’s Point, with an equally impressive view and probably a nicer flat, but with less going on in the locality. I could get the ferry to work almost from my front door. If we are still there at the New Year, we’ll do a live webcast of the fireworks because we will have the best view in Sydney – check it out!

McMahon’s Point Link

Decisions, decisions! It’s tough and I’m going to have to do a pros and cons list to help me decide. Let me know your preferred option…can’t guarantee it will sway my decision though.

Home….where’s that?

Other than that, life has been getting on much as normal. One thing I’ve noticed myself doing is now looking at the Aussie newspaper online sites before I check out the UK ones. Am I finally beginning to feel like it is really home here and I’m not so bothered about what is happening in the UK? I tell you what, I am so happy not to have to put up with all the Election rubbish!

Hopefully my next update will tell you where I have decided to live for a while (that is if they accept my application!)

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and watch out for those flamin’ galahs!

The 60-day report

2010-04-17T03:36:00.000+01:00

It’s been almost 2 months since we arrived in Australia, and what a couple of months we’ve had.

On the whole, it’s been a great experience so far. As you will have seen from my previous posts, job has been found, admin pretty much all done, weather has been great and we’ve been having fun riding and exploring the countryside on the back of Dom’s Harley! That plus some good food and good company have made it a very easy transition so far.

Of course we miss family and friends back home. I’m calling my mum and dad every week just to keep them up to date and to let them know I have not run away and gone in to hiding!

However, we have had one hiccup. Nadia has been home in Townsville for the past 4 weeks (I went up for Easter before I started work) and she was due to come back to Sydney last weekend. Unfortunately her mum has had to go in to hospital unexpectedly for an operation on her knee, and to be honest it was just as well Nadia was there otherwise things could have got nasty for her mum. But the upshot is that her mum is going to be pretty immobile for a while and it looks like Nadia will need to stay up there longer to look after and support her.

That means I will be looking for a place for myself in Sydney until we see what the future holds in a couple of months. That was not really in our plan, but we just have to work through it as we get a better idea of the situation. I’m not complaining, in fact I am relieved that we were here to help out, even if it means we have to change our plans.

Hopefully things will work out in the next few weeks and her mum can get home from hospital and get on the road to recovery.

Six degrees of separation

In other news (as they say on the TV), ‘small world’ syndrome has well and truly kicked in at work. Firstly, one of my colleagues told me his wife is Scottish. That’s all well and good, but it turns out she is from Paisley and went to my old school, Paisley Grammar! Is that spooky enough? No? Well, this is even more ridiculous!

An hour after hearing that I was standing in the office chatting to someone when a guy came up to me and accosted me: “Bloody hell, you used to work in Drummond House!” (My previous hovel of employment in Edinburgh). I sure did and I kind of recognised him too. His name is Toby Wragg (worked in OS&D for Kevin Bishop if anyone remembers him) and he sat about 50 feet away from me! It turns out he emigrated the week before me (he is following his Aussie girlfriend who came back to Sydney) and started at Westpac the day before me! How ridiculous, but it is good to have someone to share experiences with! However, we have agreed that we are not the scouting party for an RBS takeover bid – we would both leave if that was the case!

And finally…

I spoke to my mum and dad on Skype last night – video included. That is only the second time we have managed to get the timing right to set it up since we arrived. The first thing my mum said to me was “You’ve been eating well!” – I love you too mum!!!!!

But she was not wrong, even though I am convinced webcams make you look 10lbs heavier – just like being on TV does. Well I believe it!

To be honest, she was not wrong. My belly Brian and his friends have been enjoying the Aussie hospitality a little too much and I’ve had very little concerted exercise. So I went out for a run this morning, and it was a struggle. Managed about 3k’s but it was not easy. I hope the fitness levels come back quickly – it has been too long!

Since the last time I got in to the running properly I had the goal of the Cancer Research 10k, this time my goal is going to do the famous City to Surf race in August. It is about 14k and more than 75,000 people do it! It goes from the city to Bondi, and includes a bit called Heartbreak Hill, which really is a killer! It’s on 8 August, so I have some time to train – better get started!

Enjoy your weekend.

Belated Happy Easter

2010-04-11T12:20:00.000+01:00

It's been a few weeks since my last update, and there has been plenty happening, including starting my new job and heading up to Townsville for the Easter holiday.

Let me tell you about Easter here. It is quite different from what I was used to in the UK. Yes, they have public holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday, but it is really a public holiday - particularly on Good Friday. Everything closes, including the shops and supermarkets! It's a closedown like Christmas time and that doesn't happen in the UK. I think it is great that people have the opportunity to spend time with each other, without the distraction of shops looking to take their hard earned dollars from them. I know that it wouldn't suit everyone, but it was a refreshing change from the shopping obsessed UK. We had a lovely Easter feast (yes, on a par with Christmas lunch) with the family in Townsville, and it really feels like a special holiday - and so it should!

I had originally planned to stay up there for most of the following week, but work got in the way! I had to start my new job on Wednesday so had to high tail it back down to Sydney and iron my shirts! One benefit of that is that I have proper internet access back again, it wasn't easy getting logged on in Townsville (although thanks go to Nino and Paula for helping me out in a time of essential need for internet access), hence the lack of blog for a little while.

For those who don't know, I am now working with Westpac (one of the big banks here) as a Senior Communications Manager in their Retail and Business Banking Division. It is quite spooky being back in that environment to hear everyone talking about all the same issues I left back at RBS. It just goes to show it is a truly global economy now, and the corporate world is pretty much facing the same issues wherever they are.

The people are really good, and they have a fantastic new building close to Darling Harbour. My desk is on the 31st floor with panoramic views of Sydney. If I have to work, then it would be hard to beat this location! Meetings are held on one of the outdoor terraces (23rd floor) and it has been quite hard not to act like a tourist and take pictures all the time, but here are a few anyway:

The view from the meeting room!

The view from Darling Harbour - Wespac is the tall black building. It's tough at the top :-)

Lunch can be anywhere in the city, but instead of the staff canteen there is an outdoor food court at ground level - just a little better than the tent we had a Drummond House for a year!

Anything from Sandwiches to Sushi!

I am about to start week 2, which will include a day out at a branch so should be exciting - I even get to wear a red Westpac T-shirt as it is part of a Back the Banker initiative. I might post a picture later in the week.

On other matters, a slight hitch to our settling-in plan is that Nadia has had to stay up in Townsville longer than we hoped. Her mum has a very bad knee and is in hospital at the moment to see what they are going to do about it. We will need to wait to see what the outcome of that is before she can get back to Sydney, but I think we are both feeling she will be up there for quite a few more weeks. Fingers crossed they get Connie sorted out properly and she is back on her feet soon. Not what we planned, but actually one of the reasons we came here was to be closer to help her mum in times like this - so I am happy she is there to help look after her.

My belly Brian and his friends unfortunately also seem to be liking life in Sydney! I haven't got in to a proper running routine yet and been eating and drinking too much. I am envious of the slim toned guys on the beach, but I do have to remember I am probably 25 years older than them! However, I do need to get my arse in gear and get out running again. We are heading in to Autumn now and the temperature is perfectly acceptable for running - around the mid 20s most days.

So once I get my routine for work and commuting engrained this week, I'll make sure I get the legs moving again and bounce Brian, Betty, Brenda and Chris back to where they came from!

I hear the weather is picking up at last in the UK - hope it keeps going, you need it after that winter!

Happy belated Easter! Hope you had as lovely a time as I did.

Phew - what a scorcher!

2010-03-19T05:04:00.000Z

At the risk of our friends back in the UK stopping immediately they read this line through sheer jelousy, I have to record the fact that as we enter the Australian autumn, it is currently 3:00 pm on Friday, the sky is a pure azure blue and the temperature is 29 Degrees. But please don't stop reading, I promise I won't keep bleating on about the weather - it's just that after coming from the freezing cold and snow of December and January, it is such a change it is still a novelty to us.

And before you spit and curse, I also have to let you know that Nadia is now up in Townsville at her mums, and they are expecting a cylcone on Sunday! So it is not always wall to wall sunshine, just feels like that at the moment.

The downside of the lovely weather this week has been I've had to get the suit, shirt and tie on most days this week as the job hunting hots up (if you'll excuse the pun). Without wanting to get ahead of myself, things have gone pretty well this week, with a couple of good contract opportunities coming up. I am just waiting to get the time of second interviews for one company (two jobs and they think I can do both - well one or the other, I'm not that good!!!!). Surprise, surprise, it's with one of the big banks here. I had a really good chat with the Head of Communications, and it is heartening to find out that they do the same kind of things, have the same frustrations and challenges that I we had back home. I think I will fit in rather quickly. That plus the view from their brand new offices is over Darling Harbour - it beats the hell out of the Gyle!

Dom and Mirella have continued to be great hosts, but as soon as I get a job we will crack on with the house search. The biggest challenge will be to narrow it down to the areas we want to stay in - then the next challenge will be not to get carried away and spend too much on rent for one of the beautiful places. Well not at first anyway.

As I mentioned before, Nadia is now up in Townsville for a few weeks and I'll head up around Easter time - all depending on work.

I have started running again, but my ankle is still bothering me. I ran down to the beach this morning and was heading back when it began to niggle. I had to stop at an intersection and wait on the traffic light, and when I started to try to run again it was damned sore. So I had to walk the rest of the way back. I think I might have to take up swimming for a while. I think Brian and friends are also enjoying life in Australia a bit too much, so I will need to keep doing something to shrink them away.

I hope my ankle settles down, because the scenery is pretty damned good.

Maroubra beach - the turning point of my run

Last night, we went to one of my favourite places in Sydney. Hurricanes' at Bondi. This is the best steak and ribs place I have ever encountered and the steak and ribs combo was well worth the 30 minute wait for a table. It's not a classy joint, but it is perfect dining on a warm night in Sydney. I can only offer up this picture as evidence of the remains of two racks of ribs. I didn't eat them all myself though.

The weekend beckons and the weather is set fair. I might go and find an outdoor swimming pool that doesn't have a no white whale policy and sneak in!

If you haven't seen our latest photos, you can access them on this link:

Al and Nadia's first couple of weeks

I am thinking about starting another blog with a daily picture from down under - but my banishment of Brian will continue here for a while yet I think.

Catch ya late mates.

A week in to our new lives

2010-03-03T04:09:00.000Z

Wow, a week already. It feels like we have packed quite a lot in to a short space of time, but knowing that we don't have to rush round to see everything and everyone like we are on holiday does make it feel that we are living at a pace we can dictate.

So what of Sydney? There is no doubt it is a superb city, but like any other big cities now it has its faults - mainly the traffic. It is of London proportions and there seem to be jams or at least slow traffic at any time of the day. That said though, the public transport is pretty easy to use and we've been managing to find our way by bus to the places we need to be.

The weather has been fine, although a little cloudy for a couple of days, but it is blue skies all the way today.

Dom and Nadia about to go out on the Harley - it was my turn soon!

As if to reinforce our new lives, I have done something today that I have never done before - I rode pillion on a motorbike! Now that might not sound like much to a lot of people, but it is a big deal for me. I have never trusted them since one of our neighbours nearly lost his leg in a motorcycle accident when I was about 12. I never had the desire to try it, but today Domenic took me out on the back of his Harley and showed me round part of the city. Oh how I wish I had done it before! It was a great feeling and a great way to see the sights. True, it is a nice comfortable touring bike, but it still gives you the thrill of speed but feeling safe at the same time. A big thank you to Dom for letting me experience this.

At Coogee beach on our first day here with Nadia's sister Mirella, Nino and Paula before they went on their holiday to America

I don't have a job yet, which also means we don't have a permanent place to stay - or even know where we might stay. I know it will happen soon and I've been chasing down my contacts today to see if anything is happening. I'm still getting positive noises and one of them reminded me it has only been 3 working days since I spoke to them initially - but I am impatient and after so much time out of work I really want to get going again.

We have managed to do just about all the admin type things we need to, except change our drivers licences which we will do this week. I now have a Medicare card, bank card and phone. All done with relatively little hassle.

The next thing we are going to treat ourselves to is an i-phone. We can get them on contract at very reasonable rates and the phone companies don't need to take a blood sample, bone marrow, or a guarantee on any house, car or spouse to get it! Makes life a lot simpler!

However, things are not cheap over here any more. When I came here back in 2000, you almost paid in Aussie Dollars the same amount we paid in Pounds in the UK. At that time the exchange rate meant we could get $2.75 AUD for every pound, which made it very cheap. Now, the prices have gone up and the exchange rate is, quite frankly, pants - $1.65AUD to the Pound today! But the salaries are much higher and once I am earning, a dollar is a dollar and we will forget about what the equivalent is back home.

We need to think about a little trip to Melbourne to see what life is like down there in the next week or so, and then Nadia is going to head up to Townsville to see her mum.

Oh yes, my quest to banish Brian was continuing this morning until my ankle decided that it was going to get sore again. So I'll need to rest it for a few days before venturing out again. I really want to take part in the City to Surf run in Sydney (14k or thereabouts) in August and I'll need to get training for that. I'm hoping a few days rest will sort it out and it won't take as long to heal as last time. I think I stopped in time before I did too much damage. Might have to resort to the Wii Fit thingy now!

One week in, and lots more weeks ahead of us! Good times.

I came to a land down under

2010-02-27T22:45:00.000Z

Hello from the other side of the world (unless you are already in Australia of course).

After months of planning and preparation, we have finally made it to Sydney Australia to begin our new lives in a new country. It has been hard leaving home, particularly friends and family. Of course we will miss them all but the wonders of technology do make it a lot easier to keep in touch these days.

But I must say we do feel far away when there are hard things happening with some of our family back home. I am not going in to detail here but they know our thoughts and prayers are with them and their loved ones at such difficult times.

We are currently staying with Nadia's sister Mirella and her husband Domenic in their lovely house in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. We last saw it a couple of years ago as they were still renovating, and I am pleased to say that they have done a fantastic job. We both wish we could just walk in to a house like this!

But we are just at the beginning of our Australian adventure and it will be a little while before we can expect to be living in a place like this.

But what of our first couple of days? Well, there are lots of things to do like open bank accounts, register for tax numbers, get mobile phones etc. But it has been a breeze. The bank account was set up in a half an hour, a new SIM card for the phone purchased (although will have to get my phone unlocked) and tax file number applied for online.

I also had an appointment with a recruitment and selection agency on the day after we arrived, and they have been great so far and already have set up an interview for me with the head of communications for one of the major banks here. Hopefully something will turn up soon. I feel like I've not been working for ages and although I am quite used to being a lazy slob, I need to earn a crust. The good news is that they are saying it will not merely be a crust that I can earn, but a whole damn loaf!

The trip over was pain free - if any 24 hour journey can ever be pain free. Although we did have a moment at Edinburgh airport where it looked like we were going to be charged a whopping £680 for excess baggage - yes £680! We could have bought another seat for that amount! But thankfully it was all sorted out and a big thank you to Singapore Airlines for having a proper baggage allowance for people who are emigrating.

The jet lag has been a bit of a pain, but we are getting there.

I guess the question that you want answered is whether or not Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris have made the big journey with us. Well, the truth is that a part of all of them still managed to get on the plane with me. Not nearly as much of them as a while ago, and it has been nice when people here have noticed a difference since the last time I was here.

But they will not have much chance to rest and enjoy the scenery! I was out for my first run in Australia at 8.00 am today in 20 degree heat. I did just over 4k, but it was lovely to be running with the sun on my face and to see so many other people out at that time getting ready to play sports. I think I'm going to like it here.

I am also trying hard to change my eating habits - I've not had a packet of crisps since I got here and already eating more fruit. It is much tastier here!

So all in all, it's been a great first few days and we are enjoying being here. I know there will be some tough times like everywhere else, but we are really looking forward to everything. Living the dream!

I'll keep the updates coming, and post a few photos in the coming days.

Bonzer mate!

A New Year - in every way

2010-01-21T18:55:00.003Z

Friends, it has been more than a month since I last updated you on my quest to banish Brian. A lot has happened since then, and rather than bore you with all the details, suffice to say that I am now unemployed and homeless! But before there is an outpouring of sympathy in my direction (you were going to do that, weren't you?????...surely you were...) these are the necessary and welcome steps on our big adventure for 2010 and our new life in Australia.

I had hoped that we would be on our way shortly, but we have been delayed slightly and it looks like it will be the end of February before we can fly out. An opportunity came up for Nadia that was too good to pass, so we have decided to wait until the end of Feb to let her take advantage of that.

So now we are living out of suitcases, currently at my parents in Erskine for a couple of weeks then we will be back in Edinburgh for our last few weeks. I know we have already had farewell drinks with friends, but maybe we can do it all again!

We are both still really excited and looking forward to getting to Sydney or Melbourne and getting ourselves settled and working in Australia.

So what of Brian, Betty, Brenda and Chris. Let's just say they enjoyed the Christmas and New Year holidays. A combination of nights out and fantastic Christmas and New Year parties meant that Brian in particular has bitten back in a last effort to get on that plane with me. The snow meant that I didn't get out for any exercise, which was quickly followed by all the stress and effort required to move out the flat. So I haven't had any exercise worth talking about for a month now.

But I started to put that right today. Even though the weather is not great, I made it out for a 5k run today from my parent's house. I ran through Bishopton, which is where I was brought up and went to primary school. It felt very strange running along roads that I thought were so long and far from home but really not that far at all. It did bring back some memories of the things we used to do and places we used to play as mere whippersnappers. It doesn't look much different now, but we had some great fun in the park and racing home bogeys down the hill in to the swing park. I hope no-one recognised me!

Now that I have the first run of the year out the way, I will get back in the swing of it and use this extra time I have here to hone my beach bod - I wish!

Even after sending our belongings off on the long journey in a container on a ship, we still have too much stuff and I can't afford to take Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris with me.

A challenge for the next couple of weeks will be to resist all the food temptations that mum and dad have for us. I need to learn to say no to wine with dinner and lots of tasty treats. Not completely of course, all things in moderation!

But it is a new year, an exciting one. I hope you all are looking forward to it as much as we are.

Why having a car makes me run!

2009-12-09T10:52:00.004Z

My mum has kindly let me use her car for a few weeks as we get things organised for the move - you know the kind of thing, trips to the dump, car boot sale, trips to charity shops. However, living in the centre of Edinburgh poses a fairly major problem with parking. It's not worth applying for a resident's permit for the few weeks I will have the car, so I have two choices - take out a loan to pay the extortionate on street parking charges, or park the car a mile and a half away from the house.

So being a typical scrooge, I have taken the second option. I can park the car overnight outside the flat, so I get up with Nadia, take her to work then take the car and park it in the dim and distant western regions of Edinburgh. But the upside of this is that I have decided that I will run back to the house from where the car is parked. But I don't run straight home - that would be too easy.

This morning I headed out further west, uphill and into the wind, until I realised I was nearly half-way to my old work place! Too close for comfort so I turned and headed back home. It all came to 7.5 k and I did it in 45 mins - bang on 10k in an hour pace.

Not saying I will do this every day, but it is a good way of making sure I don't become a couch potato. I also need to make sure I don't start eating too much rubbish just because I can - defeats the purpose.

Roseburn - Clermiston Drive - Home
Find more Runs in Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Tomorrow evening I'm off to meet up with some old friends in Glasgow. My mum was asking if I needed a bed for the night since I will be out for a big night with the boys. All very kind, but when I reminded her that the 'boys' are all aged around 50 (or getting close to it) I think she realised we are not likely to be rocking in from the clubs at 3:00 am - or will we?...now there's a thought!

Looking forward to it - not seen the guys for far too long. Don't think I'll need to introduce them to Brian, Betty, Brenda and Chris - they are not quite as noticeable now and I'll be able to disguise them under suitable dark clothing!

I feel different!

2009-12-08T11:44:00.004Z

Day 5 of 'resting' between jobs, and it is only now beginning to feel different. The last few days have just felt like a guilty holiday, but having no blackberry to check is blissful. I am only now not worrying about the things I may have left behind - did I remember to do this, tell them that?? Thankfully all that kind of stuff is beginning to melt away.

I've not been struggling to fill my days either. They have flown by with preparations for the move. Still a fair bit to do, but getting there now. We did a car boot sale on Sunday, which was a bit of a drama! We got up early, and filled the car with our worldly goods (by the way, I was up and down the stairs to the flat 10 times that day!). We headed off to the sale that is in the town centre at Greenside. As we got closer it became apparent that the whole of Edinburgh had got out of bed early as well. We queued for 45 minutes and got within 100 yards of the entrance only to be told it was full and we were turned away. I won't tell you what I said, but it wasn't nice!

But not to be beaten (and I wasn't taking all that stuff back up the stairs!) we headed off to another one I knew was happening in the west of the city. It wasn't as big, and let's say the clientele were perhaps not the most well off people in town. However, we shifted a lot of stuff which was good.

So now we still have a good few clothes, books, CDs and other bits and pieces that will need to go soon. I think Gumtree will be the sales channel now - I'm not getting out of bed at that time again on the weekend! And yes, it is still a weekend even though I'm not working!

But one reason I feel different is that I have been going through my clothes to see what we are taking, what we are selling, what's for Charity, and what is going in the bin (work suit!!!). A while ago I said I wasn't going to buy any new shirts because I had a whole load that didn't fit me since the growth of Brian. Well, I am pleased to say I can button them all up now, and reasonably comfortably too! A pair of designer jeans I bought in America just over a year ago are way to loose now - the belt is three notches tighter! Result!

I'm not going to bore you all with my running exploits every day, but suffice to say I am keeping it going and I will report on that again in a couple of weeks. I think I am looking different ( a bit) and long may it continue. On my off days, I'm going to do some yoga too - I can touch my toes now!!!!

End of an era, beginning of a new life

2009-12-05T13:03:00.003Z

It's been a helluva few weeks, which is why I've not had the time or inspiration to update you on things.

So the most important thing is that my last day at work was Thursday 3 December. I am actually on holiday until I officially leave on the 21st, but I don't have a badge, blackberry, laptop or phone and it now feels liberating. I felt very tired yesterday, which I think was just a release of tension and knowing that it is a major milestone in the plans for Australia.

We are planning to head out in January, but it now might be towards the end of the month rather than the middle, but things are falling in to place. I had the removals company in yesterday and we have a date for our worldly goods and shackles to be put in a container and sail the seas to our new home. Got some things to sort out this week and a few more people to meet up with to say goodbye to - I'll try not to cry!

I guess one of the things that I didn't mention on here is that our lovely cats went to their new home in November. It was heartbreaking and I still get emotional when I think about them but we know they are settled and happy and it was the right thing - just very hard for both of us to deal with.

It was a strange last day at work, mostly because I was working right up to the last minute! I know I will miss everyone, but there are a couple more opportunities to catch up before I go - so it didn't feel like the big goodbye.

But what of Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris - my unwanted fat friends. Well I have been running a bit, not as much as I would like to. I went out today and managed over 7k, which is not bad at all. People have been noticing the shrinking Brian, and to be honest my work suit trousers have been falling off me. So the inches are going, but still a few to get rid of in time for Christmas. I don't have any excuses not to go out and run now. I'm going to try to do 5 days out of 7 for the next few weeks and see how I get on with that.

Since I have time on my hands now, I promise i'll write more often on here and keep you up to date with the plans and the belly shrinkage!

Have a good weekend!

The world is not flat

2009-11-12T21:53:00.002Z

Good old Christopher Columbus set sail all those years ago to prove the world is not flat. To be honest, he could just have joined me on my run tonight to prove that it is actually very hilly. Not flat at all.

I took a new route tonight, and I knew it was going to be a bit hilly, but having looked at the elevation profile on map my walk, it seems I was running uphill for 80 % of the 3.5 miles (5.5k). Which is definitely a good workout. I wasn't fast, but now I know why!

And it started to rain when I was about half a mile from home. I have said it before, but I'll say it again. I love running in the rain!

Legs and body feel pretty tired now so early bed and hope that i can still walk in the morning. The battle against Brian continues, and my challenge now is to turn Brain in to a beach bod! 9 weeks to go. Phew!

Feeling like a runner

2009-11-09T19:58:00.003Z

Feeling proud of myself today. Despite the cold weather and it being dark (I'm not scared of the dark, honest!) I put on my Max Wall leggings, silly looking beanie, and headed out for a run after work tonight. That makes it two days in a row.

And tonight, I actually felt like I was running at a respectable pace instead of my usual jog. I couldn't quite see my time when I came home because it was dark (is there a theme here?) but I think I ran for 34 minutes covering 5.3k. It felt fast (well faster than my normal) and I was hoping that I was going to cover the 5k in 30 minutes or so, but maybe not quite yet.

But I at least I got out there. The fightback against Brian continues.

One thing I will miss about running in Edinburgh is when I come down from Greyfriar's Bobby into Grassmarket and seeing the castle lit up - it is a splendid site soaring above you in the night sky.

So maybe a rest day tomorrow, but I am going to run 4 days out of 7 this week and get back in the habit in a proper way.

Feeling good.

Back in the saddle - or on the pavements

2009-11-08T11:03:00.007Z

Forgive me blog readers for it has been many weeks since my last blog confession. Time is flying by and Brian has been trying to bounce back out in protest at his previously shrinking girth.

That's not to say he has got any bigger, but he certainly hasn't got any smaller. It's been a tough couple of weeks at work - you only have to read the news this week to see what it was all about, and to steal the title of a great TV comedy, I have been in the thick of it. But only three and a half weeks to go, and I'm determined to lose another 7 lbs by the time Christmas gets here. There will be lots of photos taken at our last Christmas here for a while and I don't want to look like a porker in them!

I did run about 6k last Saturday, and today I have just come in from a 7.3 k this morning. I decided it was time for a new route, so I set off in a different direction from normal. It was a lovely crisp clear morning and it felt really good to be out there again. I did it in 46 minutes, without stopping.

Murrayfield, Balgreen, Haymarket
Find more Runs in Edinburgh, United Kingdom

So now I have to get myself out during the week as well. I am going to look to run at least 4 days a week for about the 45 minute mark.

We have been clearing out old files and papers this weekend in preparation for the big move to Australia and I came across a couple of things that made me smile.

The first is a great book on running that I bought about 25 years ago. The picture at the top of the blog is of James F. Fixx's Complete Book of Running.

It is generally accepted as one of the best books ever written about the sport and it has renewed my motivation. Go get it if you have any ambitions at all to get out there and join the happy band of runners.

The second thing was a notebook from 2002 with a list of goals I had written for myself at the time. One of those was to run 10k! Ok, so it took me seven years to do it, but funnily enough it made the list complete except for two of them (which were a bit crazy anyway). I obviously hadn't looked at the list since I wrote it, but it's funny how having written them down most of them have been achieved.

I need to write a new list for our new life in Australia.

Thanks to Julia and Andy for a lovely evening and dinner last night. We had a great time talking about running! Who'd have believed it!

More regular blog posts to come, I promise

Keeping Brian at bay!

2009-10-11T15:07:00.002+01:00

It's been two whole weeks since the 10K run - doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself!

It has felt like I have been very naughty on the exercise front (basically not doing any) and just as naughty on the food and drink front (too much of both). It has felt like Brain was fighting back in protest at having been hauled round the 10k course and trying to re-assert his authority over my waistline.

But I'm having none of it. It was a lovely morning in Edinburgh this morning, so there was no excuse to stop me getting back out and pounding the pavements once again. After my tough so called 'recovery run', I was a bit concerned that I would struggle again. But I needn't have worried. I did a 5.29k route in 32 minutes, which I am more than happy with.

The only thing now is that it is getting cold, and it is certainly dark by the time I get home from work. I need to get myself some proper winter gear if I am going to keep this up.

I have a new goal as well. Today, it was the Melbourne fun run, with 5k, 10k, half-marathon and full marathon courses. Over 23,000 people took part, and next year I'm going to be one of them! A half-marathon at least.

Now I have my new goal I can work out my training to make sure I can do it this time next year. One advantage is that I'll be training in the summer over there! How good is that.

But, I won't be wanting to start from scratch so got to keep it going and keep Brian's greed at bay!

Just like starting over...

2009-10-03T12:31:00.002+01:00

The week after the run and I'm not sure I have fully recovered yet. There has been a bug going round the office and I think I got a bit of it during the week. But it was such a lovely evening on Wednesday I got the running shoes on again and went out thinking that doing 5k would be a piece of cake compared to the 10k from Sunday.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but it took my legs a while to actually feel like they could run properly. And even then, I was struggling with energy and breathing early on. I think the 10k took more out of me than I care to admit. I have never been so happy for every traffic light to be against me so I could get a rest! I did have to walk a bit from time to time, but eventually I got back in a rhythm and managed to keep up some semblance of form for the run home. It did feel a bit like I was starting training all over again.

So is it just post-race stresses and strains? I hope so, because I am going to go out again tomorrow and try again.

Having looked at the photos, I actually can see a difference from the summer in how I look. My face is a bit thinner and Brian is certainly not as pronounced. I have to keep it up though. He is still there and ready to bounce back if I'm not careful. It will be a bit more difficult with winter seemingly just round the corner, but I have some vouchers to buy some winter gear so no excuses.

And then, of course, I will be disappearing to get a proper summer - really looking forward to getting to Australia in January and getting some sun on my back. I want to look good on the beach - Brian, Brenda and Betty have no place there!

I'll let you know how I go!

...but Australia's even further!

2009-09-28T20:37:00.004+01:00

Yes, the big news today is that we can finally confirm that we are moving to Australia.

The last piece of the jigsaw was put in to place today when I got confirmation that I am getting made redundant from work - which may seem a strange sentiment, but it means we can go with a few pennies in our pocket to get us started.

We have been planning this for a while, and certainly seriously since the turn of the year. I have my permanent residency visa (which arrived after much hard work in August) and now we have a little money to get us there.

The planned departure date is in January. I won't be finished work until 21 December so we will spend Christmas here and then head out for our new lives in January.

It will be good to see Nadia's family again and I know my family and friends will be over to visit as soon as they can.

I hope that we will end up in Melbourne, but will all depend on the job situation.

So I need to keep up the running to make sure I'm not paying excess baggage to take Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris with us. I really want to get in shape so that I can hit the beach as soon as I get there! My next 10k, or maybe even a half marathon, will probably be down under!

The legs are sore after yesterday, but I still feel good that I did it. I'll keep you up to date with progress and dates, and of course to see who is going to adopt my unwanted 'B' friends!

10k - it's a helluva long way!

2009-09-27T16:03:00.005+01:00

It's done.

I completed the 10k course this morning along with my friends and colleagues from work to collectively raise £2000 for Cancer Research. As you probably know, I was running in memory of Nadia's dad, Walter, who passed away last year.

Well done to Thom Kenrick, Lizzie Kenrick, Andy Bruce, Allan Maclean, Richard (Lyn's hubby) ,Rebecca Moore and Sheryl Porteous who all made it round in a quicker time than me.

At least I put on a strong finish for the camera!

The successful team: Andy, Sheryl, Allan, Richard, Thom, Lizzie and Me. Rebecca from work was there somewhere as well, but we lost her somewhere. We had Lauren as our lucky mascot!

I had hoped to do it in 60 minutes, but ultimately it was 67. My defense, it was a brute of a course with two particularly long and steep hills that put me right off my rhythm and I really struggled after the first 3K. We had been given false intelligence that it was a relatively flat course, but the truth was it was over different surfaces, up and down hills and generally just bloody hard! I got a stitch in my side after the first hill (which was around the 3 k mark) but managed to get rid of that and keep going. But my lack of training in the last month or so meant that I didn't have the hard miles in my legs and by the time I got to 7k I was pretty much empty of energy.

But I kept going, although I did have to have some short walks to get there, and I'm pleased I did it, especially considering that 3 weeks ago I didn't even think I would be able to walk it never mind run it.

So although disappointed with the time, I have my medal and we have all done a good thing.

The time gives me something to aim at next time as well, and there will be a next time. I will definitely keep on running as one of the main objectives is to get rid of Brian, Brenda, Betty and Chris. They are getting smaller, but not small enough yet!

Oh, come back tomorrow for another exciting installment! It is worth waiting on, I promise!

'Twas the night before...

2009-09-26T17:59:00.003+01:00

...no not Christmas, but the Cancer Research Hopetoun House 10k run! What do you mean you didn't know? Have you not been following the story so far?

It is almost here. Tomorrow morning I'll be having a light breakfast, getting myself ready and heading off to punish my body beyond anything it has ever experienced before. Ok, so slightly melodramatic, but I just want you to realise the effort and pain I am likely to go through, but I am really looking forward to it now. The weather forecast says it will be a lovely day, the team from work are ready and willing to run it too, and we look as thought we are going to raise £2000 between the six of us (well, we raise £1000 and the company will match it), which is a great result.

So I hear you asking how my training has gone this week? Well, truth be told, all my good intentions went out the window due to work and social commitments. There has been no running since last Saturday, and I have had a least one glass of wine every night this week. We've been out for dinner three nights in a row! But it had to be done, and maybe the rest is the right thing.

We were delighted that our brother-in- law Domenic came to see us for a few days. He is Cabin Service Director for Quantas on the A380 Airbus (the big one) and is doing the London-Singapore route for a couple of months. We haven't seen him since last June (he lives in Sydney), so it was great to have him here - but if I fail to make it round the course, he is going to take half the blame for ruining my training and nutrition plan!

The other half of the blame lies fairly and squarely at the feet of my mum and dad. It was their Golden Wedding anniversary yesterday and of course we had a fantastic party to celebrate. It was a wonderful night, but could they not have got married on a different day all those years ago? They must have known I would be doing the run 50 years later. Inconsiderate or what?

Well, no blame is going to be needed because I will make it. The ankle feels fine, I am drinking lots of water and it is Nadia's special pasta al forno for dinner tonight.

Check back tomorrow to see how I got on. Wish me luck and remember you can still sponsor me!

The Saturday Shuffle

2009-09-19T11:38:00.003+01:00

I learned a bit of a lesson about running this morning. You can't skip dinner (well a proper dinner) the night before and expect to be full of energy for your run the next morning!

I woke up early as usual today and lay there for while thinking about whether or not I should get my ass out of bed and go for a run, or try to get back to sleep. My mind was too active about lots of things (mostly work related), but I was also planning out a route in my head. It was a long route, probably close to 10k and I was trying to convince myself that I should do it.

So I got up, had half a banana and some water and headed out to the Edinburgh morning. It was a really strange sky this morning, low cloud, but not really rain cloud, which gave a very weird effect to the light. It felt quite surreal, reminded me of Salvador Dali paintings. However, it didn't matter what was above me, what mattered was what my body was telling me.

It started off fine, took a mile to get in to the zone and for the legs turning over without me thinking too much about them. But it was clear that I did not have the energy to push myself for a long run. Only having a plate of soup and a sandwich for dinner last night is not really running fodder.

The more I thought about it anyway, it would have been stupid to run 10k or anywhere near it today. Only a week to go to the big run, I just need to keep things ticking over and injury free. So I turned for home with my legs telling me that it was by far the best decision. Okay, i would have loved to go in to work on Monday and tell them I did 10k, but it would then be stupid if I had got an injury or my ankle flared up again. As it is, I think I may have a blister coming on one of my feet.

I still did just over 5k though!

So this week, it is about eating the right things and some reasonable training without being stupid.

And on something totally different, I just downloaded i-tunes 9.0 - really loving their genius playlist feature!

So the rest of the day is mine, safe in the knowledge I have done my training. I'm going to go out and perv at Apple laptops (in shops, not in people's houses) in the vain hope the lottery comes up trumps and I can buy one!

Have a good weekend all!

You can't keep an old man down!

2009-09-17T20:24:00.004+01:00

I have just spent the last 45 minutes trying to think up a witty or appropriate headline for this post. But the difference is I didn't spend it sitting on my backside contemplating my navel - I was actually running!

So this proves two things:

1. The ankle problems seem to be behind me, and fingers crossed, I am going to be fit for the run a week on Sunday.

2. I am rubbish at thinking up witty headlines when I am running.

I was coming up with all sorts of things, all corny. There were some big hills in my run as well, so I was going to go with "What goes down, must come up" but that could have meant you thought I had spewed up my dinner (which I didn't). Starting at the house and going in the direction I did meant that I was pretty much going downhill (not all the time of course) and the only way back was up a steep hill at the end! Tough, and I nearly ran it all. I don't know what the accepted technique is for running up hills, mine is to keep the head down and concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, only looking up occasionally. I will either be pleasantly surprised and find I am near the top, or gutted that I still have a long way to go. I nearly made it to the top, but I had to walk the last 20 yards. I did get going again and ran the last half mile home.

"Run Forrest, Run" was another one, because I hadn't set out to run for so long or so far, but instead of turning for home when I had a few chances, I just turned the other way.

"The nights are fair drawing in..." was another lame attempt, but I was out there for so long that it was almost dark when I got back. I'll need to think about my clothing in a few weeks to make sure I am safe.

But all in all, the corny headlines don't matter. What matters is I ran 4.25 miles (6.83 Km) in 45 mins. Not far short of the 10k, and there were some tough hills in there so feeling pretty good about it.

Water of Leith, Sainsburys, Comley Bank
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My belly, Brian, and his friends Brenda and Betty are feeling like they are slowly fading away. Got to get it all together for next week.

Still time to sponsor me - check the Just Giving link on the right.

It's alright...

2009-09-14T21:20:00.002+01:00

No reaction from the ankle today, so looking good.

Going to go out tomorrow night and see how it goes. Feeling like I can actually get to the 10k mark in 2 weeks. Even if I can manage to do 7k by the middle of next week I'm sure I can go the extra mile.

Actually looking forward to it now. Happy days.

Back on the road, hopefully not the road to ruin!

2009-09-13T19:36:00.003+01:00

Firstly, apologies for not posting for two weeks. You may have been wondering what has been going on with my training. Well to tell the truth, I have been wondering too.

After the last post, my ankle felt fine for a day or so but then it got sore again. Not quite as bad as it was before, but certainly not in great shape. Last Sunday I decided to try to run again. I only took half a dozen steps and realised there was no way I could run on it. I was gutted. Knowing that the run is so close and feeling like I was going to struggle to even walk it, I was way down in the dumps. Between that and various stresses at work, I thought my race was over before I even got started.

But since Thursday, the ankle has been feeling fine. So I took a chance and went out for a run today. It was such a lovely evening here, I didn't want to miss the chance. Who knows when the sun will shine for us in Edinburgh again this year.

So I made it, and there is no pain at the moment - long may it continue. I did just over 3 miles, and although my lung and stomach were struggling (yes Brian swilling about with all the rubbish I have eaten at the weekend), I did it in just over 30 minutes.

I wasn't far from home when i got a bit of a shock as two teenage girls in jeans and high heels ran past me. Bloody hell, I thought I must have been going really slow! But they had just started to run for the bus from just behind me - I had done the thick end of 3 miles - and they stopped running 10 yards in front of me. I still made it to the bus stop ahead of them, pride intact!

So there are two weeks to go to the run. I am not sure if I'm going to be fit enough to run it all, but if the ankle doesn't give me any more trouble, I will make it to the end and make sure I do a sensible amount of training in these two weeks.

My belly, Brian has diminished a bit, even with these weeks off training. I really want to continue after the run.

The race weekend is going to be a big weekend. It's my mum and dad's Golden Wedding anniversary on the Friday night (50 years - tremendous) but we are also hoping for another bit of news that I will tell you about then.

Just got to get through these next couple of weeks. Wish me luck, and if you haven't done so yet, there is still plenty of time to sponsor me. Click the Just Giving link on the right of the page.

Dodging the pavement pizzas

2009-08-30T10:59:00.003+01:00

Day 2 of the second half of my training. The ankle seemed ok this morning so I thought I would go out and push things a little harder and further than yesterday.

So off I went, heading on the route round the Meadows, which is a little over 3 miles. Early on, the route takes me over a pedestrian bridge, but when I got to it there was fencing up across it - closed. So a detour was required. Not a long one, but it took me past the Caledonian Hilton hotel on Lothian Road. Which is fine, except the lovely smell of freshly made toast was wafting out all the windows. I was so tempted to turn in and nab a piece, but I had my mission for the day so I kept on going.

The next part of the route takes me past Tollcross, which is a bit of a busy and rowdy place on the weekend nights. The thought of a nice piece of toast was quickly driven from my mind as I had to dodge past the pavement pizzas left by last night's revellers. No, that is not discarded pieces of margherita, but the regurgitated cocktail of drinks, food and bile that the drunks decide to leave as a calling card. It was disgusting!

But I made it up to the Meadows, and ran round as per my plan. The good news is that no-one overtook me, but it looked like everyone was going in the other direction! And to be honest, I was not going fast.

On the way back, I made sure I ran on the other side of the road, but that only meant I was dodging a different colour of spew!

Might need to change my weekend route to avoid all that in future.

The legs were heavy and I definitely need to step up the training if I am going to be able to do the 10K. The ankle is still not quite right, but I think it will survive. Only time will tell.

So Sunday will now be a mix of TV and movies I hope.

Have a good one.

I'm still standing

2009-08-29T11:33:00.003+01:00

Nearly three weeks after my last run, I ventured out this morning in the bright Edinburgh sunshine to see if my injured ankle could cope with running. Just over 2 miles and 20 minutes later, I am pleased to say, with a doff of the cap to Elton John, that I'm still standing. ( the link takes you to a cool site that you can listen to any music for free!)

The ankle is not perfect, and I could feel it with every step, but not in a painful way that was going to stop me. I had put on an ankle strap to see if that helps, and I iced it when I finished. So I'll need to see if there is a reaction to it overnight, and if not I'll get out there and get the fitness levels back up.

It felt tough this morning, even just doing two miles, but that is to be expected. I hope the stamina will come back quickly. There are only four weeks until the 10k, so I need to crack on. There have been times when I have thought I won't be able to do it at the end of September, but I hope that won't be the case now.

The other bit of good news is that I seem to have kept Brian from expanding during my lay off -despite his best efforts to get me to eat rubbish food and drink a bit more. Belts are being tightened a further notch, and the few pounds I had shed have stayed off.

My colleagues at work who read this know what a stressful time we've all been having and I am really looking forward to getting out to run and see if that helps as a stressbuster.

I'll be back tomorrow with an update on the ankle, and hopefully an update on another run!

Have a great weekend everyone.