Wasting bandwidth since 1996

Who knew? It occurs to me that it’s been a very long time since I posted anything that wasn’t to do with video games and it’s just wrong for nelefans to be unaware of all the wondrous things happening at Nelefa Towers. So here goes. We returned to Scotland from Australia in early January. Australia is a beautiful place, but I wouldn’t want to live there permanently. We’re too attached to our wind and rain We also like old stuff, and if there’s one thing Australia doesn’t have it’s old crumbliness. We’ve had a fantastic time and enjoyed experiencing a different culture, but we’re just too set in our ways to be adaptable.

We’ve moved to a different part of Scotland now, to be closer to our families and – well, you know – to get a bit of variety. Sometimes you have to go away to appreciate what you have at home and that’s what we’re doing now – appreciating.

So we got a holiday! No way! A very long one! Not only that, but we enjoyed it so much that we’re going to have MORE holidays! “What madness is this?” you cry – “holidays cost money and therefore prevent game purchasing!” Well, that’s as maybe, but I buy more games than I have time to play anyway, so it’s time to reign back a little and spend some time getting to know a country I didn’t know I loved until I left.

I’m getting a little lazy about updates, aren’t I? The fact is – I’m not sure where this myth about the laid-back Aussie lifestyle comes from – I’ve been run off my feet for weeks.

I start a new job on Wednesday, doing Network Support for a company in the Upper Hunter. Looking forward to starting – they seem like a nice bunch of clued up people. For once, the interview was actually quite fun with a rapid-fire geeky question and answer session which had me scratching my head at more than one point (what port *does* DHCP run on?? – I guess a quick peek in /etc/services wouldn’t go amiss).

The weather is hotting up – considerably so. We organised a second air conditioner to cover the back half of the house, so hopefully that will – if not make it fridge cool – take the edge of the heat. It does get a little sticky indoors when it’s in the 40s outside.

We have a tradition – on Friday nights we all sit down as a family and watch a movie together. Tonight was the first telly night in our new home and it was lovely (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone). It’s nice to get back to a sense of normality after the chaos of the past few months.

It’s gone all quiet, hasn’t it? It’s not cos we’ve not been doing anything – oh no, we’ve been as busy as busy beavers we have. Frankly – I’m knackered! I’m still applying for jobs left right and center and it’s only a matter of time before I wear the beggars down and force them to give me a job just to get me to stop nagging at them.

The launch of the Wii came and went without ceremony. The kids have been playing it non stop but other than a quick go on Rayman and Zelda, I’ve not looked at it – just too many other things to think about right now. Got an ADSL connection in, though, and managed to find a provider with decent european links so I’m getting yellow latency timings to the Euro-WoW servers, rather than red ones, so I can at least have a go with Trollbert from time to time.

One thing that’s a bit strange though – must be something to do with being upsides down. The days seem to be missing about eight hours here. We’re up at 6:30 and before we know it it’s 8pm. Of course, we still have so much to organise that we’re kept busy all day, but it’s strange nonetheless.

However – here I am – we’re all still alive, still having fun, and still being driven nuts by cackling birds.

It’s all happening in New South Wales – never mind the bushfires and tropical storms – Debbie made the tea tonight!

We’re all in shock!

Sorry for the lack of updates. Bandwidth, like water, is a little limited here. So is time, for that matter. We’ve been incredibly busy – rushing around like mad things. Lots to do and see. Today, though, it’s 38 degrees and we’re hiding inside (although I do have to venture out to pick the kids up from school shortly).

38 degrees is strange. It’s like standing in front of an open oven door, but with no wind movement. It’s temperature you hide from.

Anyway, our belongings from the UK arrived today. My guitar didn’t survive the journey, sadly – looks like something was dropped on the fretboard and has broken the poor thing’s neck. Other than that, though, it’s all well. We’re not dragging anything out yet because we’re waiting until we’ve organised our own place.

Overall, we’re settling in very nicely. The people are lovely, the beer is cold, and the school is fantastic. I’m also becoming a dab-hand at working a barbeque. One downside is that the connection to the European Warcraft servers is crap. But the Wii is out in a few weeks so HOORAY!

There’s just too much to do! By the time it gets to ten o clock (when I normally have a spot of gametime) I’m ready for my bed. The children started school yesterday and had a great time – they’ve all made some new friends, which is a great load off our mind. If you think about it, if we had all three of them saying “we hate it here and want to go home” we’d have a real problem.

Still, look at what they’ve done. How many wee boys from Scotland have spent time helping me wash pelican poo off the car? Last night, on the way home, Tristan casually pointed out the window and said “Oh, there’s a kangaroo” as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. Which I guess it is, now.

Anyhoo – the main focus now that they’re in school is job hunting. I have over a dozen applications in, but it’s now time to start hounding people.

Specially for MattS, this one We went for an expedition to Chichester Dam today and there was a whole gang of kookaburras staking out the picnic area. Here’s one of them, perched on the litter bin as if to say “don’t even think of chucking that away – the scraps are MINE!”

Sorry folks – pictures have been few and far between because we’ve been too busy rushing around to actually take many! Well, here’s a couple to get the ball rolling.

Woke up this morning to what sounded like fifty kookaburras having a comedy show in the yard. Starting to associate the sound with nice weather now – right enough, when I dragged myself out it’s glorious sunshine with the sky a deep cobalt blue as far as the eye can see.

Got about a dozen job applications in just now so just playing a bit of a waiting game. We’re going to pick up the car today, I think, which will get us a bit more mobile. Over here you need a car to do anything.  We’re staying in a place about 4km from Branxton (where we’re looking to live) which isn’t far, but you can’t walk it – there’s little in the way of shade and the humidity makes walking long distances quite difficult.

The kids have settled – much less bouncy than they were. They’re excited about getting to school on Monday, and by all accounts the school are just as excited about it. The school is lovely – it’s set in woodland with a little cluster of individual wooden classrooms around a shaded quadrangle. In the summer they hold assemblies in the quadrangle and in winter they have a covered assembly hall with only three walls. The boys will be wearing grey shorts and shirt and Dotty gets a little green-checked pinafore