Archive for June, 2007

So … last night we were due to get battered by a nasty low in the Tasman sea, which the man from the Bureau of Meteorology assured as was as powerful as a category 2 cyclone. We were all advised to get everything in from the garden, get stuff off the balcony and araldite our wigs to our heads. We’re in our third week of shite weather now and this area has been on the edge of the previous storms, but we were promised we were going to get a proper Ponders End shoeing from this one and that it was going to pack a punch.

So during the day I got everything in from the garden, I stored the table in one of my two (yes, two!) sheds. I put the garden chairs and the barbie in the garage. I picked up all Kali’s toys. I took in the pool equipment. And then Liz gave me a hand getting the pool cover in because I figured if anything was going to fly into outer space during high winds – that was it.

Now, I’m not complaining or anything – believe me. But you know how it is when you get yourself all keyed up for something … and then it doesn’t happen. We were due to get the storm at 10pm last night, so I kept peering out the window, but it just looked a bit blowy. By midnight there was a strong wind blowing, but again – nothing too fierce. At 1pm I went to bed.

When I woke up in the morning, I peered out of the kitchen window and was greeted by a scene of absolute destruction normality. I turned on the news and it transpired that we (the coastal part of NSW) had all been spared by the weather. What had happened was that an ‘inversion’ had taken place, which forced the really strong winds up to 1000m above us, leaving our homes, trees and hair-pieces unmolested.

Thinking it was just me who was vaguely disappointed by the lack of storm force winds, I gave Lloyd (bloke I met when doing my bronze medallion) a ring. Turned out he’d gone to similar lengths to protect his home and property and was similarly non-plussed by the non-event. “I looked out the window this morning and the storm in its fury had knocked two satsumas off me tree,” he said. “So we’ll officially declare it a double satsuma storm mate,” I said, “a new meteorlogical benchmark. I’ll contact the bureau tommorow.”

After I’d dropped Jack off at school, I drove down to our beach to see what the surf was doing. At least that wasn’t a let-down. Right down the beach as far as the eye could see, the sand was blanketed in this great jelly-like swathe of foam up beyond the high-tide mark. The surf was pumping – bloody great 10ft waves were breaking way out the back – the 50metres between the beach and the breakers was white mush. It had drawn quite a crowd too … though nobody had been dumb enough to try and surf it.

I opened up the surf club to get some photos from the vantage point of the club’s balcony and could see waves breaking a good 2km out to sea. Greenwell Point, off to the south, looked like it was getting a right hammering from the swell too. I was somewhat surprised to see a few small fishing boats out there too. Something tells me they were having a rather bumpy ride.

He waits, thats what he does….. tick follows tock, follows tick…

All things being equal I should actually get a chance to head out into the surf this Friday on the IRB. Conditions look good, swell won’t be too vicious and the sun even promises to come out. It’s taken a couple of weeks but I do feel that I’ve re-aclimatised to the chilly weather now. I’ve even been know to wear long trousers and a fleece. Heresy, I tell you! Heresy!

Right, well the dog’s not been out for a walk in about three days and so I shall take her for a night-time jaunt to the little park behind our house. Later ‘taters …

Gather you guys back in blighty have been having a bit of the wet stuff falling from the sky. Well let me tell you, we’ve had rather a lot here too – 100mm here today alone. Thing is, this area was never in drought, so the fields are sodden, the rivers are looking very muddy and the Broughton River is on the rise. If we had the volume of water that those poor sods up in Newcastle had endured then I don’t think moving furniture upstairs would be enough to protect our stuff. Ah well.

I had the first part of my IRB Crewman’s course today. We were supposed to be heading out on the boats, but the weather (as I’ve mentioned) was truly fucking awful so we did some theory instead. As with all these courses, I’ve seriously underestimated just how much stuff there is to learn. River navigation, stripping outboard motors down, correct crewing procedures, refueling etc etc. Gary, who’s running the course, did say that they didn’t run the courses to a timetable like they do with the bronze, so we can just take our time, get acquainted with the craft, and sit the exam when we’re good and ready. All of which greatly pleases me.

It was interesting stuff though, and I’m looking forward to going out in the IRB in a decent swell and punching through some waves. If the outboard fails when you’re out in the surf, you (the crewman) have to act as a sea-anchor, which basically involves jumping off the front of the boat holding the front handle (which is on a rope) whilst the driver restarts the engine.

Anyway – we’re hoping to get out in the boats tommorow lunchtime. The current deluge shows no signs of abating so I reckon it’ll be interesting. Given the fact that I won’t have to do much swimming, I will be wearing my UK-strength wetsuit – first outing for it in over a year. Wife and son, meanwhile are going to a birthday party that was postponed from last week due to the bad weather (ironic smiley).

On Monday we’re off up to Sydney. Jack has an appointment at the childrens hospital, where a specialist will have a look at the birthmark on his leg. Obviously Jack is concerned about this and hopes that the doctor won’t want to remove it. Given the size of the mark though and the general received wisdom on moles of any sort in this country, there’s a strong chance they will want to do something about it. Better he gets it sorted now, than has it turn cancerous later on.

Jack was a bit bored earlier and I took him out on a special Friday night treat-trip. We drove over to Broughton to get some doughnuts from the famous Broughton Doughnut van. As we were heading home he said he needed a piss (urgently), so I called in to see my parents and let him use their bog. They were pleased to see us (bit of excitement on a wet Friday night) and sent me out to buy ‘em a packet of fags. Not sure I should be encouraging them to smoke, especially since my dad’s still recovering from his knee replacement surgery, but what you going to do?

Had a good chat with my kid brother’s girlfriend Shawna on the phone. She’s currently en route to her home country of the USA in order to sort out her spouse visa. Received wisdom was that you stood a far better chance getting it sorted off-shore, so she’s combined it with a trip home to see her family and friends. They’re settling in up in Cairns, but it’s a lot harder for Shawna to make friends because they don’t have kids and she can’t work due to being here on a tourist visa. Hopefully that second thing will be sorted shortly … and as for the other, well, they moved here to start a family, so maybe that’ll change soon too.

Liz has entered the Sydney City to Surf race. It’s a 14km run – she’s done marathons so I don’t think it’ll pose her too many problems, though like me, she’s a bit unfit of late. The actual race is in mid-August – I’ll keep you posted as to how she does.

What else? Well, we just finished watching the last part of The Apprentice, which we’ve both been addicted to. It was definitely the best series so far – some great characters in there – and I think the right person won. Best character by far was Katie – what a stuck-up, conga-eel faced old bint she was. Not a good word to say about anyone, always ready to slag everyone else off. Still, she got what was coming to her – fired by her employers (The Met Office) because she was an embarassment to the organisation. What goes around, comes around, eh.

In other news, it is our 10th wedding anniversary this October (been together for 14 years though), and we’re mulling over renewing our vows. We quite fancy having a nice beach ceremony here in the Bay, up at the surf club. Get all the guests in board shorts and rash vests, have a barbie, a piss-up and a disco in the club house. Should have started warming up nicely by then. Might even get on the decks myself…

I’mmmmmmmmmm coming up, so you better get this party started ….

Have to admit to feeling a bit deflated after getting my bronze on Sunday (thank-you, incidentally, for all the great comments and general support on that, guys). To be honest, I didn’t think I’d do it. I also really enjoyed my Monday evening theory sessions and Sunday practicals and the week seems a bit flat without them. I haven’t had anything quite like my bronze to aim at in a long time and I found it focused me in a very good way. For instance, there’s no way I’d have started going swimming every morning, pushing myself to do more lengths if I hadn’t had the exam looming over me.

The good news from that point of view is that I’ve carried on going swimming. I’ve given myself a new goal. I plan to shift my gut and try to get back into proper shape. I’ve said it many times before, but I remain an optimistic bastard. My plan is this – I want to shift the flab around my midriff in time for the start of spring here and the commencement of surf patrols on Seven Mile. It’s not a question of losing weight, because I’ve always been a heavy bloke – but I’ve got flab that needs shifting and if I set myself a target then I might do it. I’ll keep you all posted.

I have my next course this Sunday. It’s just a one-day job this time – Senior First Aid. I’ve already downloaded the course book and had a read and it seems to be mainly based around a series of problems and solutions, such as ‘Mary approaches you on the beach complaining of tingling in her hands and feet. What should you do?’ I wasn’t going to do it, but Liz said I should give it a whirl, because she preferred pre-bronze-exam Ted. so all day Sunday I’ll be running through the joys of arterial bleeding, shock, CPR and spinal injury. I do start my IRB crew course a week Friday, so that’s something to look forward to.

We’ve got some fairly nasty weather with us at the moment, ushering winter in with a bang. There’s a nasty double-cell low sitting off the north NSW coast bringing in 19 metre waves and beyond gale force winds. A large coal cargo ship has beached near Newcastle and several other ships have slipped their moorings. I went down to the surf club to have a look at our beach today and whilst the sea looked angry, it didn’t really compare with what they’re experiencing 330km north of here. Nevertheless, the tide was higher than I’ve ever seen it, lapping at the base of the dunes and the water was just violent white mush. The surfers had been hoping for something rideable, but they’ve lucked out. I flicked on the VHF marine band radio to see if there was anything going on, but there was only silence, suggesting that nobody had been dumb enough to try and go out in it. Swellwatch are forecasting 10ft waves on our beach this Sunday, so what with my course and everything, looks like I’ll have ringside seats for the main event.

Jack is now recovered from his bug. In fact he was over it 24 hours later, though as with all illnesses of that type, he needed a day off school to get his strength back. He returned to school on Tuesday and Liz told him to tell the teachers if he felt ill. I went to pick him up and one of his classmates, Billy, said that Jack wasn’t in class. Mrs Sweeney, his teacher came out and told me that Jack had said he wasn’t feeling too well and had gone to lie down on the bed in the school office. As we spoke, he comes running round the corner to get his bag and coat. As far as we could understand, he hadn’t felt ill at all, but quite fancied a bit of a kip and so had taken himself off to the sick bed for a nice afternoon nap after recess. He was awoken by the bell, much refreshed, and announced to the sceptical ears of myself and his teacher that ‘mummy had said it was okay’. Liz pointed out that she’d said nothing of the sort, just that if he’d felt a bit queasy he should speak to his teacher. He does like his sleep, that boy.

Various things that were due to happen this weekend are now not. Soccer is off for starters, on account of the rain (120mm today alone). Jack was also due to go to a party (a sausage sizzle) which is also cancelled for similar reasons. Instead we’ll probably drive over to Surftown to see the blowhole in full song and in order to let Jack spend some of his birthday money on new books in the Angus and Robertson there.

Liz, who is increasingly bored shitless by her job, is seeking an outlet for her caring disposition. She mentioned a while back that she’d like to look into becoming a counselor in the diet and sports arena. With a large work project, 18 months in the making, finally done and dusted, she started looking into it again today. After about an hour on the web she started getting discouraged, saying that all the courses needed qualifications she hasn’t got. I found the number of the course advisor at Wollongong Uni and told her to call. She didn’t want to initially. Then I reminded her that she’s forever complaining that ‘men’ are always reticent to ask for directions when they’re lost and that what she was doing was no different. So she made the call, found it what’s required, and will probably start doing a BA in Psychology part-time with the next student intake at the uni. So bloody good for her. I think it’ll be great for her to have something that’s just hers and hers alone – a few hours in the week that are fuck all to do with me, or Jack or this house. I reckon it’ll do her the world of good – a veritable sanity saver.

So .. I reckon that’ll do for now. I have three episodes of Doctor Who downloaded and a half full bottle of Jack Daniels that’s calling to me. Till tommorow pop pickers …