So I have been due a post and the past three or four weeks have been pretty significant which will make for a busy one.
Hang on, that first paragraph makes it sound like I’ve moved to Kyiv. I have not. But whilst on the matter, I feel desperately for everyone directly involved in that saga and from afar have found it both interesting and sad to feel the anxiety back in the UK when speaking to friends and family. It’s difficult for me to fathom really how close it feels for the UK but it’s so evident when talking to everyone.
Mum and Dad were going to visit Brisbane in December for my 30th and Christmas but have now moved their trip forward to next week just in case international travel is stopped or there's a nuclear catastrophe. Y’know - just two of the classic 2022 possible outcomes.
Speaking of turning 30, last month Rach reached that milestone. I’ve been dating Rach for her last four birthdays (or a couple more actually if you happen to work at the Australian Home Office). The first birthday I spent with her was her 27th. It was just as we started dating, I went to her birthday party and her cousins grilled me with questions which are still talked about to this day - “Who was your last girlfriend and what was the reason you split up?” - not quite the small talk I was expecting.
For Rach’s 28th and 29th birthdays were separated by the Australian border closures, so it felt even more a privilege to be with her for the big 3-0. Myself and Rach’s family threw her a big party at her parent’s house with a music festival theme - ‘Rachella’. It was big and fun. We had a live band - The Smashing Bumpkins, two slush puppy machines to bring those hangovers forward by a good few hours and I also DJ’d. It was my second ever booking under my pseudonym ‘Carpe EDM’ - which is funny if you’re one of those people who both enjoy Dance Music and Latin... so very few people.
(The second stage was supposed to be called The Tree Dome, but I ran out of space)
The following week, I surprised Rach with a short trip to Sydney. The main aim was to see Hamilton which - hot take - is really good. We also had one of the best restaurant dinners I’ve ever had. The pre-theatre menu at Jounieh, was sensational and frankly an absolutely steal, like definitely priced too low, to the point where I’m discussing overheads over a romantic meal. Fingers crossed they don’t read this blog so the deal remains reasonable, but if they do, I hope they are a fan of both dance music and Latin.
Our trip in Sydney was extended by a day due to a flight being cancelled because of what the Aussies call a Rain Bomb hitting Brisbane. South-east Queensland and parts of New South Wales has been hit with some pretty horrible floods in the past week or so. On top of that we’ve had a couple more Biblicals to top up the receding waters. Brisbane River itself looked like it was having Flotilla for the Queen’s jubilee, except as well as boats (that had come away from their moorings) there was also assorted debris including dead livestock. Although *checks notes* the royal family does seem to like dead animals.
Fortunately our flat isn’t really at risk, however our friends Scott and Lauren’s lower floor took about a metre of water, sadly just hours after finishing some renovations down there. Scenes reminiscent to when a Bake Off creation collapses just before the judges look at it. Anyway their house ended up with a soggy bottom.
Once we got back from Sydney, I joined the ‘Mud Army’ and went round to help them with the cleam-up. Brisbane is clearly and unfortunately quite well-versed to reacting to floods. The community was there straight away to help. In fact I almost felt bad for helping someone I know. There were strangers piling into homes and asking “what needs doing?”. A lady called Rhonda beat me to my friend's house to start the clear up, a late 50s / early 60s lady from up the road unaffected, who was spending her birthday helping complete strangers. And she bought lunch. Just one of the free lunches on offer. And there was more from the street - free coffees (purchased by Ray White) and free ice creams courtesy of Softy and Frosty.
In my head Softy and Frosty is co-owned by two ice-cream entrepreneurs with opposing personalities and it was Softy who got his wish for the business to do some pro-bono work that day.
Panic-buying is back here following the floods. They panic-buy for most reasons here, covid lockdowns, mask mandates, the Brisbane Broncos winning two games on the trott. It's quite frustrating. Things like bottled water have sold out quicker than Francis Bourgeois.
Anyway, I wish the blog post ended here as it’s getting quite long and frankly after all that I could have done with a lie-down. Well after getting home from flood clean-up, Rach was complaining of a scratchy throat, so a COVID-19 test was taken and a positive result wrote off the next week and a half.
I caught the bug a day or two later and fortunately we our now both through the worst of it. Although in good news, now I can say I did give Rhonda something on her birthday. (I really hope I didn’t, she was so lovely).
Anyway isolation means that I will be going into a driving test on Saturday without having had a lesson for about a month and only having driven on the motorway once. But I cleaned my car today to try an score some points with the assessor. At least they will spend their last moments in a fairly tidy 1999 Honda Civic. Wish me (and definitely them) luck.
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