Merry Christmas 2021 everyone.
Let’s start with a very Australian story. I am writing this on Boxing Day from the floor on which I slept. I did have a bed to sleep in last night, but just before we went to bed, Rach saw a massive spider (tractor wheel-sized allegedly) and we failed to catch it so we had to debunk to a room with just one single bed and no visible spiders.
Australian Christmas has been great though. A big family do over at Rach’s parents house for dinner. We played a couple games of Egg Toss, and then Rach’s cousins insisted I batted a couple overs in backyard cricket, relentlessly sledging me (as in cricket abuse, as opposed to being pulled along on the snow by huskies). The match was called off for rain immediately after I was bowled.
It does rain a lot here in Queensland. That’s one thing omitted from all the Tourism Australia adverts. Whilst I know they can have long droughts etc., my experience has been solely of rain most days. And proper rain too. It’s no wonder that religion is so popular here in Australia when most days sees a biblical storm. It has been hot too - not great for hangovers, but ideal for drying washing.
A lot has happened since my last post. First of all the good people at Toohey’s sent me a wealth of Merch following my email to them, along with the reassurance that they were “extremely unlikely” to make Toohey’s Z. Their loss. As far as Beer is going, I am still broadening my Aussie beer tastes and have found Victorian Bitter. I think it tastes like Carling. And it’s about as popular as Carling here in Queensland. For the first time in my life, and this happens quite often, when ordering a VB at a bar, the person serving me will clearly question my order and then show their disgust.
Work wise things are going very well too. I have joined local talkback station 4BC as a producer on the Breakfast show. The team I work with a great. The 2.30am alarm I work with is not as great. It is great to be reunited with the people who ring speech radio shows - they are as interesting and eccentric as the ones back home. In fact, it could be the same ones from back home putting on accents, desperately scouring the world for a station that will put them to air.
Plus - and there’s only so much I can say - but a certain Broadcasting Company from back home have commissioned a brand new podcast series that I will be producing in the new year. It’s been a good few months of pitching and piloting, but it should be a fun one to do, and you’ll be hearing more about it (relentlessly) as we start to get towards a publish date.
Me and Rach have been camping a lot. We spent too much money on a lovely tent and have in turn be putting it to good use. I dealt with a massive spider there, saving the day. I’d say roughly the size of a Pizza Express Romana pizza base. Knocked it for six with a stick. Although I still had to sleep on the floor that night too... but that is the nature of camping.
In other stereotype news, we now have a BBQ and we do cook on it most nights. So that element of the Tourism Australia adverts is true. There is one thing I think omitted from their adverts which I think would have thousands of Brits packing their bags immediately to move here. Tourism Australia - you can have this one for free - mention what gives the Australian life a true taste of paradise…
Weekly Bin Collections.
...
Fast forward now to the day after Boxing Day, when I am now writing this bit and wondering whether anyone cares about the bin collecting schedule here.
We are now isolating after one of our guests from our Christmas Eve has tested positive for this thing called Coronavirus. If you haven't heard of it, look it up, I reckon it's going to have a big 2022.
As shame as the dessert I made on Christmas Eve was described as "to die for", which fingers crossed won't become a reality.
This morning me and Rach went to a local testing site, half an hour before it opened, to queue for two and half hours to then get turned away. So whether we have caught it is up in the air, as Covid so often likes to be. I had to do a lot of traffic marshalling at this shambles of a testing facility. The only time we saw a traffic marshall, was when he was delivering the news that the place was now "full". I may have shared some unfestive language with him.
So a short stint of isolation, our third time in total after being contact-traced - annoying - but also good evidence for the blog that I have made some friends out here.
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