“Two weeks in South Australia,” sounded tempting, with wineries, the beach and relaxation in other idealic settings, and so the day after Christmas we packed our bags and left. We made it out of Victoria on that first day, and were quickly into the swing off holidaying (as opposed to working). Two weeks flew by, with the exception of a day or two in Adelaide (which is cursed), and soon it was time to come back.
As good as the break was, I think we both could’ve used longer. Driving all over South Australia was more stressful than it needed to be, and two weeks was really barely enough to put the worries of the world behind us (we didn’t know about the tsunami tragedy until we got home a week into the new year).
How quickly time moved once we were back!! It seemed like an information overload, with the world grieving and work busy again. (I haven’t even been at work for two weeks yet, and I’m taking a sick day just to try to come to terms with everything that we have missed.) I’ve been getting grumpier since we got home, and that’s not good for anyone.
So today I have done nothing. Almost nothing, at least – I went to the post office to try to make an appointment for my passport interview. (Yvonne has signed it, after all that – but she needs to sign the photos again, as her affirmation of my identity was cut off when the photos were trimmed to an appropriate size. These things, it seems, are not meant to be easy.) Oh well, Yvonne can sign it tomorrow, and I’ll go to the post office near work on Friday for my interview.
Bren from Dee’s work is moving to the UK, it seems (if you’re reading this, “You lucky bastard – we’ll see you over there for a quiet British ale!”). He trumped us! I’ve also found out that Stuart (“Hippy”) is getting ready to leave as well – is anyone to be left to run Australia?
Not that you can blame them, considering the IT salaries in Australia at the moment. I was more than just a little shocked to see that contracting Java developers could get £300-£450 per day! This makes Australian rates seem pitiful – or have I just been given a bad run? (It reminds me that I need to talk to my recruitment contact.)
We’ve also started talking about what we’re going to do with all our stuff.