London

I flew into london on tuesday morning and John arrived in the evening.
I'll be catching the tunnel train to paris in a couple of hours.

London was how I expected it to be:
Pubs with character on every second corner.
Room temperature beer.
Red double decker buses and black taxis.
Amazing old buildings.
The sky is overcast.

Some unexpected things:
Beer really cheep.
Police constables everywhere.
Seeing the queen drive into Buckingham Palace.
It hasn't rained much.

I'm love the history.
We're staying in a backpackers that used to be a courthouse where Charles Dickens once worked.
Visited a war museum which had the ship gun that fired the first allied salvo in World War One.

Blogging update

I haven't blogged in a while and my main blog page is currently bust, but since I'm currently travelling europe I will resurrect this one to share my adventures.

Enjoy

Permanent blog now ready

My permanent blog has finally been set up!
Find it at www.sachqua.com/blog

Viking, um, ship?

Sounds like fun?

A viking ship made out of 15 million ice cream sticks, stuck together with 6 tons of glue, is seeking crew members to sail across the Atlantic from Holland to Canada (via Greenland).

Touted on the web page as the world's only "Full Size Recycled Ship".

Snow report

More snow last night!
Covering the hills on the way to work, and very icy roads. No accidents, though, everyone driving at 60-80kph. Took lots of photos.
No snow in town, but long icicles on everything and our sloped driveway was slick with ice. Just about went arse up getting into the car.

Edit: There were accidents. The local paper reported 10 crashes in an hour. And everyone I talked to had a few fun fishtails while getting to work.

G. I. John

Though he is actually "Private Chow"























John is back after surviving four weeks of basic training for the army reserves.

I went down to Kapooka (in Wagga Wagga) this weekend to see his matching out parade.

And then went out drinking with about 40 people who hadn't seen a beer, and been going non-stop, for four weeks. Good fun was had by all.

He's survived, and I think somewhat enjoyed, his time a Kapooka, despite being yelled at, never having 5 min to himself, and gaining a cold/flu and twisted ankle.

At the marching out parade, the Chief of the Defence Force was attending. Apparently this is quite a treat, because he hardly visits Kapooka, let alone for "lowly" reserves.


















There were some surprised reactions from people at the mine about John being in the army reserves. Some reactions:

"He's doing WHAT?"
"The thought of John with a gun is scary"
"He's mad"
























I'm glad he's back, even though he is having to learning again how to sit still.

Bad drivers

No more snow yet, but did have frozen dew on the lawn this morning.......

I couldn't open the car door because the rubber seal was frozen to the car frame. And no wiper water, cos it was also frozen in the tubes.

This blog is somewhat in response to Jad's comment about road conditions.

NSW roads are almost always in bad condition. For everyone in Western Australia, don't complain about the extra few cents you pay on fuel for road tax, it is very much worth it. The only good roads are the toll highways in Sydney, so you have to pay extra to use them anyway.

The speed limit on the road out to work is a 100km/h, but in WA it would probably be 80km/h. It's narrow, winding and potholed.

I have occasionally heard Perth drivers been accused of being bad, and having driven in Sydney I can understand why. In Sydney, there are so many cars, close together, going fast that you have to be continually alert, and take even the smallest opportunity to turn or change lanes. There is no margin of error.

In Perth, you have the luxury to hesitate, wait for a better opportunity and become rather lazy about driving.

But this also means that NSW drivers, especially Sydney drivers, are extremely bad country drivers. Driving too fast, or very close to cars in front, and overtaking dangerously.

And then you add ice.........

There are always a few bad accidents every winter. But there are also lots of accidents even on dry summer roads just from people being dickheads.

They don't salt the roads as they don't usually get too icy. I haven't experenced any icy roads yet *cross fingers*.