Handing in my licence

The other day I had to hand in my licence in order to get a QLD licence in order to get my passport. To move forward I have to hand in the past. The whole thing was really difficult, just because up here nothing has the same rhyme or reason as the other Eastern states. It was just hard to work out what exactly to do and hard to find the time to do it. When I had finally got it all changed over I was in tears.

Why, and why tell you, whoever is out there? It was seeing that girl at the dept of transport throw my licence under her computer screen, like it did not matter, that really got to me. I would never have had such a link to my VIC licence if it wasn't the last thing I had that reminds me of Marysville on a daily basis. It never meant that much when I got it. I remember having to drive for over an hour to the nearest office to get it sorted out and I thought Victorians were backwards.

The picture on it was fairly crap. It was the address, the last place we lived in Marysville before it burnt down two months later. Even though we werem't living there when it happened it was still a huge shock, and came at a time when we realised how much we hated our new jobs and situation. We hadn't even finished our mail rediversion, it actually expired on the same day as the fires went through and I had been seriously contemplating just extending it as we were being lazy. It was nice to feel connected still to our past where at least things made sense. All our friends were there and we were talking every few days like we were just on holiday and due back 'next week'.

After the fires everything felt very strange and there was nothing to connect us to anywhere anymore and our friends were all adrift as well. When we all came to QLD it was like being back in VIC again, but hotter.

The licence change saga began when Michael had to change his rego a few months agao. We had all been driving around with our VIC plates, as a reminder that we are not from this loopy place and have a past where we were all in it together. When Michael changed his plates, I looked for every way possible to avoid it, but the passport wins out.

It is a way forward, and discarding the past is the only way for me to get there.

MOOOOO

This afternoon we got home from our very long day of getting my rego and licence in order to have phot ID with my current addres on it so that I can apply for my passport so I can go to France. It also involved a safety check and a new tyre. Queensland is 10 years behind every other state in their rego and licencing, including the laminated plastic licence compared to every other state's hard card. We went to three government departments before I finally got to the right person who then had an argument with me. It was a disaster and I was very low by midday.

One of Michael's work friends had told him about a special at Bunnings for an outdoor table, as we are lacking one since our last move. He heard it was only $49 so he took me to take a look at it as some retail 'therapy'. When we got to Bunnings it was just as stated, except that there were also some great foldinh chairs that matched the table and we just decided to rest our weary legs for a moment.

Before we knew it, we'd paid for 4 chairs and a table and 2 cushions (we will have to wait until next pay to splurge on the other 2 for our imaginary friends). We got to the loading bay to pick them up and found out that they'd only charged us for 1 chair. The guy told us we had to go back to the counter and buy four as thats what was in the box. When I got back to the check out the lady asked "did you want 4 chairs?" like duh!!!

Here is one of our fabulous comfy indoor / outdoor chairs. We are currently using them indoors as the kitchen table was just begging to be sat at and yahtzee-d on.

When we got home we were unpacking the car and Michael was getting up close and personal with the cows. He decided to unpack our new table on the ground instead of trying to carry the box up the stairs. The cows spread the word around that we were home and there was lots of foot stamping and long loud mooing and before we knew it the whole herd was gathered around to watch the spectacle.

Little did we know but cows like to lick cardboard boxes. They like it alot.

This cow had so much fun licking the box that his friends came over for a munch as well. You would have thought it was a big bar of chocolate the way they were having a go at it. Maybe its that pregnant cow craving thing?

We almost felt bad when we had to take the box away but we figured it was time when they got to the sticky tape and one got it stuck to its snout.

A very good weekend

Last weekend (or was it the one before?) my parents came up for the weekend. I went into work early on the morning of their arrival to try and get some things done so that I could enjoy my weekend. When I came home it was a mere 7:30am. The cows were out getting the best early morning sun. I so rarely see our house in the morning light these days as it is usually wrapped up in fog. However when I got home I found this magnificent cow waiting for me. His colours were just so rich and patterened that he reminded me of a marble chocolate. I just had to snap him.

Mum and Dad arrived late on the Friday night and as you would know if you read mum's blog, we had pizza, homemade on the BBQ. The weather has been so balmy for winter that a few days before we'd enjoyed a wood smoked pizza at Michael's mother's on the Sunshine Coast and actually ate outside for dinner. Michael made the dough from hand and it gave us all a chance to indulge in that bad stuff that you're not supposed to eat too much of.

The next morning we were all awake early except Michael (what a total surprise), so we went for a walk. It was quite chilly and I think mum was hoping we would come across a good swamp or something to get her gumboots stuck in. All we came across was the herd of cows who were mooing like mad mothers because one was separated by her dawdling calf.

The next day we went to Spicers Peak, which is my number one favourite place to go for lunch (super duper indulgent). We kept it a secret from dad as a belated birthday present. The drive is fairly changeable, with barren flat countryside for a long distance close to Ipswich, then the country becomes more green as you pass the vege farms.
At the same time you become aware of a significant mountain range to the left hand side of the car, which turns out to be the cross country way to get to work (and our house) but comnpletely inaccessible by road unless you want to do it Sound of Music style. As you get closer to the far end of the range you start to climb and signs say lots of things about low gears, big trucks and steep grades.
Cunningham's Gap is pretty spectacular the first time you see it. Its also pretty amazing on the 9th and 10th time, which is about what it was for Michael and I. The road overlooks the whole valley that sweeps back towards Ipswich. In front, the peak looms overhead with a rough triangle on top that often disappears into the clouds. You can see it from work on a clear day.
When you get to the top of the range the vegetation almost instantly becomes alot denser and darker. The plants are rainforest like and the whole pass is enclosed by these huge old trees covered in vines and super green plants. In another instant it is gone and replaced with the gum trees from lower on the slopes and before you know it you are wondering whether it was a fabulous dream. (Once in feb we were travelling through the gap to go to Peak Lodge and a huge boulder had just fallen on the road, breaking through a guard rail and closing the road. It was the size of a small car and luckily missed all of the traffic).

At Spicers Peak we enjoyed a 3 course lunch with wine and a tour to the look out, which is the view in this picture. A long drive for lunch and a rather winding steep climb at the end up the 12km of dirt mountain road but it was well worth it.


The next day we ventured over the electric fence onto part of the property that Michael and I had never gone. Partly because we were worried about turning off the fence in case the cows got through, partly because the grass has been so long we were worried about snakes. The other day we watched a whole herd walk straight through the fence so we figured it wasn't working and decided to venture across.

Our property is known to locals as Bubbling Springs. We figured we found the actual source of the name, with a pretty section of the creek winding through the trees.

Heres mum looking for a way forward with Charlotte. The kitties like to come for

walks with us whenever we venture somewhere on the property. They are like two puppies, constantly stalking and playing with each other, and occasionally meooowing when they cant see us through the grass. They have taken to following us everywhere.


White kitty (Charlotte) is usually the worst and sits down whenever she's too scared to go on, but this time it was big kitty who got tired and needed to be picked up, having plonked herself down in the long grass. We got a pretty nice view of the property from a different angle and decided it would be a good shady place to build a house.



Later that same afternoon, emboldened by the trek over the fence (which gave us no new discoveries except what the past tennants did with their garbage), we took mum and dad to the hidden dam. We found the source of the cow vs electric fence issue. The cows had ripped the fence right off the posts near the dam and it was not working. They'd created a path through the long grass that had not been accessible last time I was up that way. This time we had the urge to follow the path 'just round the next bend' until we found ourselves in an even more hidden valley, cool and shady and quiet. I dont know whether we'd go there in summer, given the snakes (a guest saw another one today - its winter for gosh sakes), but it looked like a nice place for a picnic. Mum and Dad enjoyed the rest of their stay and we indulged yet again in something scrumptious for dinner with a pork and chorizo cassoulet.

I just realised that I forgot to talk about the Laidley street parade. for the Laidley show that we were lucky enough to see. Wait for it, wait for it, oops, you missed it.

More visitors

This week I had several visitors. I had Nana, who saw our house for the first time, though she seems more familiar with my local area than Michael and I. I also had G.

Its been bit of a big few weeks really. Nana came to visit and has been staying with friends in Ipswich. I met her friends on her second day and they came for dinner at the hotel. I took Nan home that afternoon and we spent the afternoon watching the cows. She was overwhelmed to be in such a peaceful place, and I dont think she's ever come so close to a cow in her life.

We surmised whether the 'tank on legs' was pregnant or just fat. It seems a long time since all the other cows had calves.

When I brought it up with Peter, the Farmer the other day, I said "Our cows are terribly noisy at the moment." "Really?" (in typical Peter monotone). " Yes," I said, "I think there are a few pregnant ones"
"I should hope so, " he said "I hope there are about 400 pregnant ones."
"Oh," I said, (ignoring the fact that the 'tank on legs' is really obviously really pregnant). "How long are they pregnant for?"
"10 months" he said.

Hmm, if this is true then these poor 'housemates' of ours have one on the boob and another on the way. Poor single mothers. Our whole paddock must be a big single cow mothers support group.


The second visitor I had was G. We had had, as I said, a pretty hard week.

I decided it was time for a wine night at home. Our house is bit of an adventure for our friends. At first, we established the precedent by having the padlock on the gate, which meant that every visitor had to be let in and then locked out again. After the rains in Feb March and our padlocks (both of them - we are double locked due to the energy company who needs to read our meter) the padlocks both rusted. After that we no longer bothered, but friends still did not come. We stopped having events after G rolled the work 4WD car on our road after a BBQ dinner at our house in November.

Any way, G decided to come out and I had prepared dinner for us both. She was going to drive her car out, which was a major event as the $60000 car 'does not go off road'.

I was standing in the kitchen making spag bol while I wondered how she would get up the driveway in the dark as she had mentioned she would park at the gate and walk in. I kept thinking of the huge herd of cows that had been sitting in front of the house when I got home (like little dark islands with shiny eyes) and the poop that they has been created in the 3-4 weeks since we've had them back. I thought about G's nice shoes and the darkness and the poop. I did the right thing and picked her up from the gate in the car.

Its something I've never had to consider before - usually I just wash up or vaccum the couch or make sure there are no undies on the bathroom floor. I've never had to do 'gate transfers' before - as if we live on a grande estate with large luxurious gates.

Dinner went well by the way. I have not cooked for anyone else in such a long time that I had stage fright about spaghetti. It was topped off by a great bottle of Coriole Shiraz that our group GM insisted we try again because he did not like it very much and thought it mifght have something wrong with it. Ahh, the things we do for work.

A visitor

Tonight I was about to leave work and one of the waitstaff came and and said "you have to come and see this snake." Its about 10 degrees right now and its been fairly chilly most of the day, mostly overcast, not at all appealing weather for snakes. So I went out not believing there would actually be a snake, and we come across this whopper in the middle of the driveway, just having a cruisy lay about in the dark. The only reason he was found is because the waitstaff almost ran over him in their golf buggy. One of our conference guests actually decided to pick it up so he could show his friends. It was the guy standing behind's birthday and he is from Ireland or somewhere and he had never come across one of these before. I certainly had never seen one this big in the wild. Just after this picture was taken they decided to take it into the lounge so they could show everyone else. I left before the hysteria started.

When knowledge becomes habit

Late Spring skies over the Yarra Valley in 2007 during my semester research project in NMIT vineyards.

I've started revising this week, all the things I learnt in my course in Canada. Most of the stuff in my assessment will be things I covered 5 years ago in those courses I did, the big sacrifice of my 'work holiday' fun time. I remember how much I studied.
I had every night at work, standing at the front desk after check in was done, and I would type up my notes. Then I studied evey morning when I woke up and of course I dated a guy who was in my course and we were obsessed by wine and would spend hours in wine stores in Banff looking at the labels. I had things stuck on the walls all over my room and would write down the 7 Grand Cru of Chablis in my bored moments, in case I had somehow forgotten them.

I am getting a little scared. I have about 2.5 months to refresh everything I learnt over 18 weeks and then all the stuff in my 3 years of degree studies (yes they do ask viti and vini questions).

When I was studying earlier this week, I noticed how much stuff has become integrated in my general knowledge, that is, it has become part of things I take for granted.

An example, one of the the things on my flash cards said "site selection - flat compared to hills". The answer I gave now (in my head) was - it just isn't as good because..., I know that, everyone knows that. I just knew that there are places and sites that just wont work. I used to drive around, on the way to uni and look at the paddocks on either side and decide where I would plant a vineyard if I owned that land. 5 years ago my answer would have been very precise and rote: chance of bad drainage, higher fertility soil, basically great for vegies, not for wine vines. These days I just know that stuff and if pressed for an answer I would struggle, even though I know that stuff. It has just become way more instinctive.

In a way this is much harder, because there is no tutor, there is no weekly tasting, there is no support network or living a life filled with people on the same wavelength. My knowledge has gone underground - it is there, but to put it into words is much harder because it is part of the way I think now, but on the other hand I am reassured that the knowledge is in there and it is no longer just theory on page or concepts that I can spell let alone see.

The funny thing is that I learnt all the French terms for wine making, years ago, just like I learnt to climb in French Canadian. Now, to think in English about these things is still quite foreign.

The absolute scary part is remembering all the names of things I cannot afford to drink (most things). However I am expected to know by rote all the chateau of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Growths of Medoc, the other major Chateau of Bordeaux (fair enough), all of the Grand Cru of Burgundy, the regions of Italy (who on earth can comprehend Italy's wine regions?), the Grand Cru of Chablis (easy) the Cru of Beaujolais (easy), the major grapes of Spain, Portugal (tricky, as lots of common grapes but with names 10 miles long that often mean the same variety). Its hard. But now I am freaking out. I'm sure its like riding a bike The good news is the rep from Fine Wine Partners said I can open anything reasonably priced (ie under 100 bucks, given that they supply our Hill of Grace, I am lucky). for free, for practice, if I provide a tutored taste to our staff when I open it. Nice work.

What a long day

What a long day it has been. My sister had the hide to ask me how my long weekend has been. Long weekends just mean two sets of 'Sundays', its a little like Groundhog Day.

As we know it is the Queen's birthday. It irks me that the queen gets to 'celebrate' her birthday so close to mine every year, and I have to work because it is always a long weekend, and it is not even the actual real birthday of the queen. Everyone else seems to love to celebrate for her.

Anyway, enough whinging. What has happened on this very long day?

I woke at six to put bored kitties outside and get ready for work. For the second day this winter I had to get out the watering can to get rid of the ice on my windscreen. I covered front desk as our FOM is off sick (everyone seems to get sick on Fridays over a long weekend and get better on Tuesdays). I spent 4 hours catching up on yesterday's work that I didn't get done from covering sick people. I then did an impromptu wedding site (as always, QLD'ers have never heard of appointments, or day light saving....). I then spent a few hours helping F & B catch up, as they had been slammed with people revelling in the queen's birthday with traditional gifts of abuse, love for themselves and hope for no one on earth as long as they breathe. I then checked in a group of people who we had no names for or much sense out of, but who promptly found their rooms, plugged in foreign electronic devices and sent 9 rooms into total darkness (thanks). They then had an arguement with poor timid waitstaff about a campfire that they wanted to steal from another family (OMG.....!). I then had the kitchen boys bitch at me because we ended up with 12 less a la carte than they had prepared for (a huge sigh of relief for the waitstaff who had made 6 beds for me just before dinner service). I walked down to the staff carpark in darkness because I lent my torch to some guest during the blackout and they disappeared (into the darkness) with it.

I went home very happy to have the day over, and so was kitty as she got to come in out of the cold and sleep in this very comfy possie on the couch. I personally have always wanted to sleep there but I am too large.

For dinner I had excellent semi frozen Latina ravioli with some mini roma tomatoes, fetta, proscuitto and some left over BBQ chicken. Quickly followed up / accompanied by half a bottle of 2006 Shiraz from WA.

For anyone that does not know I am sitting for my certified sommelier exam in August and am therefore allowed to have as much practice as it takes. Especially on a very long day like today.