I have learned one thing about Australia already, communication with Vancouver is going to be a lot tougher than I thought. The time difference is a real drag. It should be ok for weekends but when people are working it sucks. Here is a quick rundown of some key "communication times":
Before Work - Australia 6am = Vancouver 1pm
Lunch - Australia 12pm = Vancouver 7pm
If I can't get a hold of someone at either of those times or for some reason I get busy during those times I pretty much lose any chance of reaching Vancouver. For those that know me and much I enjoy talking on the phone realize what a blow this is to me personally.
Time zones also screw with my sports. The games are already over when I wake up or going on during work hours which make watching them (if I can find a T.V. with the game) or even following them online difficult unless I am slow at work (3yrs, 4mnths, 26days since the last slow day).
Enough of the negative though. This place is great! I can't wait for Lisa to get down here because I am sure that she will love this place as well. I am still running somewhat odd hours (wake up 5am, sleep 8pm) which limits what I can do after work so it was nice that I got a chance to do some exploring over the weekend.
Friday night there was a Semi-Final (which is actually the quarter final, don't ask me why they call it a semi-final) in the AFL, Aussie Rules Football. A guy in the office (Matt) had a BBQ because his team was in it. I went over and enjoyed the food and quite a few beers which combined with the late kick-off time (8:30pm) and my strange hours resulted in me passing out on Matt's couch a halftime. In wouldn't have been too bad if I wasn't sitting in a room full of 20 people I didn't know. I didn't exactly represent Canada to the best of my ability. Apparently there are some photos floating around but I haven't got my hands on them yet. I will be sure to post them once I do.
Thanks to my early bedtime Friday I was able to get up early Saturday and tour around abit. I have posted a bunch of photos below from my travels below. I took the "City Cat" which is a ferry that runs along the Brisbane River and traveled to either end of Brisbane. I kept the video camera rolling for most of the trip. Unfortunately the files are way to big to post of the webpage so you will have to wait until I get back to see them. Also I don't have my editing software on this computer.
On with the pictures:
This my hotel (until the 19th). Looks good enough from the outside but cleaning has this difficulty remembering to lock my door after they leave. It took 3 days of me filing complaints for them to start doing it. Unfortunately I couldn't get a room in another hotel nearby or I would have left.
This is the a portion of the City Center or CBD (City Business District) taken from a road bridge over the river. The city is a nice blend of old and new buildings.
A few places to amuse Lisa when she gets down here.
I thought this was a cool looking tower......reminded me of Batman for some reason.
This is Eagle Street Pier, which is across the street from the office. I would like to live in one of the highrises in the background (if Lisa allows it of course) but this area is slighty out of price range (kinda like Coal Harbour in Vancouver).
This is an overview of a boardwalk that runs along the river in an area called Southbank. Imagine the Seawall design for year round nice weather. This area is directly across the river from the CBD.
Buddist hut along the Southbank boardwalk.
Cliffs across the river from the CBD. They run climbing along these cliffs so there is one reason to come visit Pete and Mits....
Well, it is getting close to dinner and people are squawking at me to hurry up and finish so we can go get a beer. I guess that means it is time to go......oh by the way I am heading to Papua New Guinea on Saturday for a few days. That should be an adventure.
Cheers,
Rick
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