Chers famille et amis francophones,
voila l'explication, en francais, de ce qui vient de se passer dans notre petite vie, de l'autre cote de l'equateur (et du tropique du capricorne).
Philip et moi avons pris une decision qui va chambouler la suite de notre voyage. Nous avons decide que finalement, nous n'allons pas rester vivre et travailler a Sydney pendant quelques mois. On va partir voyager a la place, pendant plusieurs mois. Cela va nous permettre de vraiment visiter l'Australie a fond, et la Nouvelle-Zelande ensuite.
Devenus accros a la photographie et allergiques aux jupes et cravates (respectivement), il a fallu qu'on change la direction que prenait notre aventure.
On s'est dit qu'il valait mieux en profiter maintenant, avant de rentrer en GB et d'entamer notre vie de sedentaires endurcis.
Voila, pour le moment, on n'est pas encore trop sur de notre itineraire, mais on pense acheter une voiture, qui nous permettra de voyager librement, et de se loger a moindre cout (dans le coffre!)
On ne pense pas aller si loin que la cote Ouest, mais on ira surement dans le desert. On m'a dit qu'il n'y avait pas de cafards la-bas. Ca c'est une bonne nouvelle (oui, je vous entends d'ici: 'D'accord, mais il y a des fourmis mangeuses d'hommes et des araignees de la taille de mon pied'. Mais comme je n'ai pas encore ete confontee a ces especes, je ne panique pas encore).
Et puis pour le reste de l'itineraire, on vous tient au courant.
On espere avoir acces a internet regulierment, pour pouvoir mettre a jour notre blog.
La suite de l'episode 'Ju & Phi partent a l'eventure' des qu'il y a du nouveau.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
A Change of Direction 2
Well, thank you Phil for this post, it is now out in the open. I feel I should give my own version of the facts though, I mean how it really happened :) Sorry for our absence on your screens recently. But it was because we were at a turning point in our journey, it has been a time of reflexion rather than sun-tanning.
A few days ago, we had the written confirmation that it would take a minimum of 4 months before Phil can start working. Administration here is very close to Communist Poland in the 80's. I was luckier than my husband, as I was offered a job after an interview at a bilingual school, north of Sydney. But as you know from Phil's post, I turned it down, as we have decided not to stay in Sydney and work, but to go travelling instead.
There are many reasons for that. When we found out about how long it would take for Philip before he can start working, we decided to write a list of the 5 most important things we want to bring back from our voyage. We wrote a list each, without consulting each other.
I'm gonna be truthful and 'publish' these 2 lists, so you can see why we have decided to change our plans. I havem't adultered them.
A few days ago, we had the written confirmation that it would take a minimum of 4 months before Phil can start working. Administration here is very close to Communist Poland in the 80's. I was luckier than my husband, as I was offered a job after an interview at a bilingual school, north of Sydney. But as you know from Phil's post, I turned it down, as we have decided not to stay in Sydney and work, but to go travelling instead.
There are many reasons for that. When we found out about how long it would take for Philip before he can start working, we decided to write a list of the 5 most important things we want to bring back from our voyage. We wrote a list each, without consulting each other.
I'm gonna be truthful and 'publish' these 2 lists, so you can see why we have decided to change our plans. I havem't adultered them.
Julie
- Great memories of quality time with my loving husband
- 2-The feeling of freedom for a year, before life starts becoming a ‘tartine de merde’
- 3-Work experience
- 4-Travels around Oz and NZ
- 5-Discover a side of nature I don’t know
Philip
- Beachside Activities
- Travelling
- Food
- Quality/worry free time with Ju
- Going for it and not looking back ... let all my hair down... so to speak
When comparing the 2 lists, we came to the realisation that what we had in common was quality time with our spouse, and a certain feeling of freedom. Work was not so important for Phil, and I surprised myself by putting it only in third position.
It helped us reset our priorities and decide to shilf of plans. This is why we decided that we were going to go travelling around Australia, take our time to do so, and then visit New Zealand, before we come home and settle. This plan will also allow us to come back home earlier than expected (although we don't know how long we'll be on our trip for, remember, we are free:)) which is a good thing because we already miss our families.
So this is it. It has been difficult to take this decision, as I know I will be missing out on a few things I really wanted to experience, like working in an Australian school and living the life of a real Sydneysider. But as my Moz wisely says: To make a choice is to say no to something. And I'm saying no to these things, but I'm also saying yes to so many great things, which will bring back fantastic memories (and photographs...)
Phil and I are delighted to have made that decision, it was maturely thought through, and now, we are ready for it.
A Change of Direction
Well, some of you have put in a few official complaints about our lack of updates. A few others have not even noticed the slow down, while a minority have petitioned for an immediate cessation to our blogging.
The truth is though, my wife and I have been in voluntary cyber exile until such a time that we felt as though we had something to say. Well, now we do. Ju was offered a job as a French Teacher and then reality hit ... we would have to work. Naturally, this put the fear of God into us and we were left with the only sensible option of turning down the offer. Just in case we are hit with another wave of an apparent Protestant work ethic, we feel as though we have no choice but to leave Sydney.
Those who know me will have already deciphered my above rambling, for the rest of you, what I am getting at is that we have had a change of heart, our targets have shifted, our tides have turned, our bearings have been altered, our ship has changed course etcaetera, etcaetera. We have decided not to work while down under. Instead, we shall meander our way around and across Australia. We shall go on wine tours in the South, eat in gastro-pubs when hungry, surf on the East coast, scuba dive on the Barrier, go overland in the Outback, sail on the Whitsundays and perhaps even 4X4 the dune of Fraser island.
So all that remains to do in Sydney is to buy our chariot. We have decided that we will buy a 4X4 of some description. I favour a 1940 Land Rover with a mounted Twin Vickers .303 caliber machine gun and 20 days of MOD ration packs. However, I can appreciate that this may not be Ju's cup of tea so we may go for a more conventional motor. We will buy some camping gear and sleep in the back of it and have a jolly good time of it.
Just thought you lot should be advised.
So here are some random photos we have taken ...
The above two are the Opera House.
The view from our balcony and the first one is obscured by a blind.
The above two are taken from the roof of our building.
The truth is though, my wife and I have been in voluntary cyber exile until such a time that we felt as though we had something to say. Well, now we do. Ju was offered a job as a French Teacher and then reality hit ... we would have to work. Naturally, this put the fear of God into us and we were left with the only sensible option of turning down the offer. Just in case we are hit with another wave of an apparent Protestant work ethic, we feel as though we have no choice but to leave Sydney.
Those who know me will have already deciphered my above rambling, for the rest of you, what I am getting at is that we have had a change of heart, our targets have shifted, our tides have turned, our bearings have been altered, our ship has changed course etcaetera, etcaetera. We have decided not to work while down under. Instead, we shall meander our way around and across Australia. We shall go on wine tours in the South, eat in gastro-pubs when hungry, surf on the East coast, scuba dive on the Barrier, go overland in the Outback, sail on the Whitsundays and perhaps even 4X4 the dune of Fraser island.
So all that remains to do in Sydney is to buy our chariot. We have decided that we will buy a 4X4 of some description. I favour a 1940 Land Rover with a mounted Twin Vickers .303 caliber machine gun and 20 days of MOD ration packs. However, I can appreciate that this may not be Ju's cup of tea so we may go for a more conventional motor. We will buy some camping gear and sleep in the back of it and have a jolly good time of it.
Just thought you lot should be advised.
So here are some random photos we have taken ...
The above two are the Opera House.
The view from our balcony and the first one is obscured by a blind.
The above two are taken from the roof of our building.Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Bad news ...
We went to a lovely beach today, called Shark Island. In fairness, with a name like this, we should have known it wasn't a good idea to go and swim there. But, hey, you know my wife, she is fearless. But today, I think she should have listened to my advice. While taking photos of my wife swimming in the sea ...
The unexpected happened ...
Sorry Rose and Hubert ...
The unexpected happened ...
Sorry Rose and Hubert ...
Happy April Fool's Day folks
Monday, March 31, 2008
yet more sunshine and beaches ...
While our job application forms are being processed, muled over and regurgitated by seemingly lethargic pen pushers, my wife and I are left with the simple and daily decision of 'what now'. I prefer to do as little as possible, but contractual obligations (as stipulated in my marriage vows) compel/encourage me to accompany my beautiful wife to wherever she pleases. Fortunately for me, her recent choices have been to my liking and you will now see why. For some of you, the next photo may be familiar ...
If any of you actually recognised the above beach, then it is a sure indicator that you were not doing your homework after school as you should have been (tut tut). It is, of course, 'Summer Bay' from Aussie soap 'Home and Away'.
This is one of me proudly standing by Alf's Bait Shop and the Surf Club. We even managed to see some of the filming for Home and Away and that was jolly exciting and proved rather entertaining. We did not, however, take any photos of the filming as that would have made us feel more pathetic and sad than we did already. We were, by far, the oldest of the onlookers.
As an aside, I feel that some of you have not understood the true and malicious nature of the cats we live with. Indeed, several readers of this blog seem to think they are friendly. I can assure you that despite their cute and cuddly persona, this is not the case. After allowing Lucky to sit on my lap, it launched an unprovoked (and possibly calculated) attack and savaged my hand with its razor sharp fangs. Not content with this, it proceeded to sink its claws deep into my flesh. My dutiful wife decided not to mount a rescue and instead chose to capture this moment on our camera. In response to some of you feline lovers who have marvelled at how 'cute' our cohabiting cats are, let the next picture act as a warning: Cats are bastards and would kill you in a heartbeat if it knew how to use a tin opener.
As an aside from an aside, take a look at the next two photos we took of a Sydney advertising campaign. It would appear that the natives (the ones who all descend from law-breakers, philanderers and swines) have become complacent and are forgetting their debt of gratitude...
Remember you can click on the photo to make it larger ... this next one is alright though:
On Sunday, we went for a splendid stroll around a wonderful cove called La Perouse. The path snaked along the coast and gave a taste of how rugged and savage Australia can be. The dry heat was intense and the sun's rays descended unabstructed upon the dry soil underfoot. We observed the dangers of the outback first hand. The trail was alive with gargantuan spiders with multicoloured legs, lizards with terrifically long tails and a whole host of spine tingling creepy crawlies. Despite my concern that I would be imminently assaulted by a hoard of jumping spiders and rampaging lizards, I was able to enjoy the walk under the canopy of fragrant eucalyptus trees.
Just as well there was shelter as earlier in the day my hat was left on a train. While for those of you with heads full of hair this may be of no consequence, for my unprotected dome this meant disaster. The sun is particularly unkind to bald men and direct heat on the skull boils the blood around the brain. The ramifications of this can be unpredictable but for me it usually leads to bouts of extreme and insatiable hunger. My wife was kind enough to lend me her sarong and this combined with my newly acquired skill of turban tying provided a satisfactory outcome ..
I must now buy another hat. I am thinking a Trilbey over the Panama ... any suggestions? The walk also took us past some Australian Mimosa trees. My mum was given one by Steph for mother's day and this fragile plant has caused my mother perpetual distress and anxiety ever since. Mum, is it still alive?
If any of you actually recognised the above beach, then it is a sure indicator that you were not doing your homework after school as you should have been (tut tut). It is, of course, 'Summer Bay' from Aussie soap 'Home and Away'.
This is one of me proudly standing by Alf's Bait Shop and the Surf Club. We even managed to see some of the filming for Home and Away and that was jolly exciting and proved rather entertaining. We did not, however, take any photos of the filming as that would have made us feel more pathetic and sad than we did already. We were, by far, the oldest of the onlookers.
As an aside, I feel that some of you have not understood the true and malicious nature of the cats we live with. Indeed, several readers of this blog seem to think they are friendly. I can assure you that despite their cute and cuddly persona, this is not the case. After allowing Lucky to sit on my lap, it launched an unprovoked (and possibly calculated) attack and savaged my hand with its razor sharp fangs. Not content with this, it proceeded to sink its claws deep into my flesh. My dutiful wife decided not to mount a rescue and instead chose to capture this moment on our camera. In response to some of you feline lovers who have marvelled at how 'cute' our cohabiting cats are, let the next picture act as a warning: Cats are bastards and would kill you in a heartbeat if it knew how to use a tin opener.
As an aside from an aside, take a look at the next two photos we took of a Sydney advertising campaign. It would appear that the natives (the ones who all descend from law-breakers, philanderers and swines) have become complacent and are forgetting their debt of gratitude...
Remember you can click on the photo to make it larger ... this next one is alright though:
On Sunday, we went for a splendid stroll around a wonderful cove called La Perouse. The path snaked along the coast and gave a taste of how rugged and savage Australia can be. The dry heat was intense and the sun's rays descended unabstructed upon the dry soil underfoot. We observed the dangers of the outback first hand. The trail was alive with gargantuan spiders with multicoloured legs, lizards with terrifically long tails and a whole host of spine tingling creepy crawlies. Despite my concern that I would be imminently assaulted by a hoard of jumping spiders and rampaging lizards, I was able to enjoy the walk under the canopy of fragrant eucalyptus trees.
Just as well there was shelter as earlier in the day my hat was left on a train. While for those of you with heads full of hair this may be of no consequence, for my unprotected dome this meant disaster. The sun is particularly unkind to bald men and direct heat on the skull boils the blood around the brain. The ramifications of this can be unpredictable but for me it usually leads to bouts of extreme and insatiable hunger. My wife was kind enough to lend me her sarong and this combined with my newly acquired skill of turban tying provided a satisfactory outcome ..
I must now buy another hat. I am thinking a Trilbey over the Panama ... any suggestions? The walk also took us past some Australian Mimosa trees. My mum was given one by Steph for mother's day and this fragile plant has caused my mother perpetual distress and anxiety ever since. Mum, is it still alive?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Encore des journees bien remplies
En attendant que toutes les administrations concernees se demenent pour valider nos competences en temps qu'assistant social et enseignante, on passe pas mal de temps a visiter le coin, et absorber la culture locale. C'est comme ca qu'on est partit avec des copains faire une balade qui nous a menee jusqu'a la jolie plage de Coogee, en partant de Bondi Beach et en passant par quelques jolies plages dont je ne me souviens plus des noms. Voici une photo de la plage Bondi, dont on parle beaucoup. C'est la seule plage a Sydney qui est surveillee toute l'annee par les Surf Life Guards. Toutes les autres ne sont pas surveillees en hiver, il fait trop frois apparement. (C'est quand j'entends des choses comme ca que j'ai peur de l'hiver qui approche. Mais je me rassure en me disant que je n'ai pas encore vu de manteaux dans les magasins de vetements!) 
Donc voici la plage de Bondi. Quand on voit le monde qu'il y a la-bas, on comprend pourquoi il y a un grand fillet par-requins dans l'eau. Donc, pas d'inquietude. Fait divers: Notre coloc nous a dit qu'une fois, ils ont decide de changer le filet par-requins. En sortant le filet, ils ont decouvert un requin coince dedans, mais le requin etait dans le sens inverse, il essayait de s'echapper de la plage.... Hmmm, interessant. Voila quelques jolis paysages que nous avons pris en photo sur le chemin. 
Les rochers et la couleur de l'eau nous rappelaient la belle cote Corse. 
Voila la preuve que l'eau n'est pas froide, loin de la, et que mon cher mari est un petit frileux :)
Apres pres de 2 heures de marches en tongs, nos pieds etaient bien contents de s'arreter. Pour feter ca, nous avons mange dans un boui-boui ou le plat etait a $5 (l'equivalent de 4 euros). Qui dit mieux. Une photo de mon mari qui se prepare a entamer le plat de spaghetti del mare le moins cher de son existence.
Hier, malheureusement, il ne faisait pas aussi beau que d'habitude. Nous avons donc decide de visiter un musee. Mon guide parlait d'un excellent Museum of History, le Musuem of Sydney. Mais le guide ne precisait pas de quelle histoire il s'agissait, c'est quand meme un bien grand mot, l'Histoire. Pour clarifier le doute, nous y sommes quand meme alles. Et c'est apres quelques minutes dans le musee qu'on s'est rendu compte qu'il s'agissait en effet de toute l'Histoire de la region, et que cette Histoire se repend sur 2 etages seuleument. Un peu sur l'arrivee de anglais, un peu sur les aborigenes et le sort qu'ils leurs etaient reserves par les anglais civilises, un peu sur les manifestations des annees '70, un peu sur les Jeux Olympiques, et le tour est joue, c'est dans la poche! Je me suis dit que mes notes d'histoire auraient peut-etre ete plus elevees si j'avais ete australienne.... Voila pour la petite histoire.
Photo prise a l'exterieur du musee, les noms graves sur le poteau sont des noms des clans aborigenes literalement decimes par l'arrivess des blancs sur leur territoire.
Bisous a tout le monde
Ju
PS: j'ai vu un film excellent l'autre soir a la tele que je conseille a tout le monde de voir. Le film est intitule Jame's Journey to Jerusalem. Je n'en dit pas plus.
Donc voici la plage de Bondi. Quand on voit le monde qu'il y a la-bas, on comprend pourquoi il y a un grand fillet par-requins dans l'eau. Donc, pas d'inquietude. Fait divers: Notre coloc nous a dit qu'une fois, ils ont decide de changer le filet par-requins. En sortant le filet, ils ont decouvert un requin coince dedans, mais le requin etait dans le sens inverse, il essayait de s'echapper de la plage.... Hmmm, interessant. Voila quelques jolis paysages que nous avons pris en photo sur le chemin. 
Les rochers et la couleur de l'eau nous rappelaient la belle cote Corse. 
Voila la preuve que l'eau n'est pas froide, loin de la, et que mon cher mari est un petit frileux :)
Apres pres de 2 heures de marches en tongs, nos pieds etaient bien contents de s'arreter. Pour feter ca, nous avons mange dans un boui-boui ou le plat etait a $5 (l'equivalent de 4 euros). Qui dit mieux. Une photo de mon mari qui se prepare a entamer le plat de spaghetti del mare le moins cher de son existence.
Hier, malheureusement, il ne faisait pas aussi beau que d'habitude. Nous avons donc decide de visiter un musee. Mon guide parlait d'un excellent Museum of History, le Musuem of Sydney. Mais le guide ne precisait pas de quelle histoire il s'agissait, c'est quand meme un bien grand mot, l'Histoire. Pour clarifier le doute, nous y sommes quand meme alles. Et c'est apres quelques minutes dans le musee qu'on s'est rendu compte qu'il s'agissait en effet de toute l'Histoire de la region, et que cette Histoire se repend sur 2 etages seuleument. Un peu sur l'arrivee de anglais, un peu sur les aborigenes et le sort qu'ils leurs etaient reserves par les anglais civilises, un peu sur les manifestations des annees '70, un peu sur les Jeux Olympiques, et le tour est joue, c'est dans la poche! Je me suis dit que mes notes d'histoire auraient peut-etre ete plus elevees si j'avais ete australienne.... Voila pour la petite histoire.
Photo prise a l'exterieur du musee, les noms graves sur le poteau sont des noms des clans aborigenes literalement decimes par l'arrivess des blancs sur leur territoire.Bisous a tout le monde
Ju
PS: j'ai vu un film excellent l'autre soir a la tele que je conseille a tout le monde de voir. Le film est intitule Jame's Journey to Jerusalem. Je n'en dit pas plus.
Strawberry cheesecake, come on!
I can't believe no one has voted for Strawberry Cheesecake, this is by far the most fantastic flavour, out of all the the flavours of ice cream!
Unfortunately, I can't vote! Phil's explained to me about 100 times (and I still don't get it!) that it's because there can only be one vote per IP address...
Yeah, whatever! I still feel like a second-class citizen whose voice about Strawberry Cheesecake is not listened to.
Love to you all, Pistachio and Vanilla lovers
Ju
PS: Celia, have you been caught by your boss? Has he banned you from reading the blog? Is that why we haven't heard from you for such a long time?
Unfortunately, I can't vote! Phil's explained to me about 100 times (and I still don't get it!) that it's because there can only be one vote per IP address...
Yeah, whatever! I still feel like a second-class citizen whose voice about Strawberry Cheesecake is not listened to.
Love to you all, Pistachio and Vanilla lovers
Ju
PS: Celia, have you been caught by your boss? Has he banned you from reading the blog? Is that why we haven't heard from you for such a long time?
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