I need to bring myself up-to-date with the days before the epic road trip. I was pretty tired after the trip and working so I had little planned for the weekend, at least initially. I seem to have copped for a lot of Monday evenings, so sadly salsa has pretty much fallen by the wayside at the moment.
Saturday we went up to the Black Hills park, which is the next bit of the hills up from Morialta. We chose the Ambers Gully route, for no reason other than that it was slightly shorter and Ina had to do a night shift. But it was the steepest. The exact words are “take it slowly because you will need all your energy for the very tough haul up the main ridge”. So when the path started going down, we realised it was just too easy and there was definitely something wrong. Confirmed by reaching the start of the final loop back to the car park. So we retraced our steps and found the path, the one we’d looked at and said “no way”. Actually it turned out to not be as bad as the previous walk’s climb and we got to the top where there was a stunning view back to Adelaide one way (and a huge quarry the other way). There were kangaroos and a kookaburra sitting in a tree over the path.
Half way down, as we went past the rocks that looked like a petrified waterfall, my phone rang. Dinner now booked for Sunday night.
So on Sunday lunchtime, a few of us met up for Yum Cha in town, and then I went into town. It’s autumn – I need some decent boots. I found some in a small shop right on the edge of town that I always forget is there, and some very nice shoes too. I had to walk the bike back as I now had a carrier bag with a large box in. At least I walked so far, but gave in and cycled when it started raining.
Time for a shower and then round to see Conrad and Chris. It’s months since I last had a Sunday Roast. Plus quite a lot of very good wine and I ended up leaving the car lying around Adelaide again. A really good evening.
Next morning I had to go and get the car. It took about 50 min to walk round, and I had a coffee before going home. The AC engineer arrived – no gas in the system, apparently.
Wednesday night I went to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre where Queens of the Stone Age / Smashing Pumpkins were playing. Because I was late booking, I ended up sitting upstairs. Haven’t sat for a gig since Crowded House which was when? A very long time ago. It’s not right. I arrived slightly late (too big a gig – the first band started at the time on the ticket. that's also not right) and ended up trying to find the seat in the dark, having to count the seats while climbing over people. No leg room at all.
Anyway. QOTSA were good (I got them more than when I last saw them), and Smashing Pumpkins were worth seeing. But who needs a lighter. All you could see from the floor were the myriad blue lights of cameras and phones swaying. And twinkling like a starry sky.
On Thursday night, almost straight after work I flew to Perth for a toxicology course. Matt, the other SR was also on the same plane, although we weren’t sat together and I actually spent most of the flight dozing.
On arriving at Perth, we thought there must be something going on in town as there was a queue of about 200 people waiting for cabs. It snaked all the way round the barriers then escaped down the front of the terminal. So instead of that, we thought “why not get the shuttle bus”. And we could claim the cost back. So Matt booked two seats and we waited around. Eventually the bus arrived (the word “jalopy” sprung to mind) and we boarded. Strangely it wasn’t full and we were joking about how this driver should give up if he couldn’t fill the bus.
One hour later we were still waiting. We had moved up the terminal to the Virgin Blue exit (where we’d first started) and a few more had got on. The radio kept crackling with messages like “Where are you?” and “Have you left yet?” Eventually we did leave and ground our way into town. An American couple with enough luggage to be emigrating had got on and he tried to find their hotel first. The Dutch couple at the front were complaining loudly. You just had to laugh. If you didn’t you’d cry.
After driving past my hotel twice (it was on the main business street), I got dropped off. There were profuse apologies from the driver saying that he couldn’t concentrate with the “Germans” bending his ear, and that he’d forgotten. I got to the room 2 hours after landing. I’ve never used the minibar before, but I needed a beer (and Pringles or room service were the only options for food).
Next day I had to get up at 645, however because of the time difference it was actually 915, so not nearly as unrealistic as it sounded. Of course I had got to the hotel at the equivalent of half one that morning. I met up with Sam (our tox fellow who I share an office with and who was sitting in on the course) and Matt. Apparently he got to his room, which was less than 10 min walk from my hotel, half an hour after I did. It seems that it was the driver’s first trip – and it also seems that that is typical Perth service. And we forgot to get the receipts.
The course was useful. Very intensive, and it made me realise how lazy the rest of us have got with tox – just look it up. So it was excellent. It was set in the University Club – v. modern, certainly not like anything in Soton. Most of those attending were Regs from Vharles Gairdner (the very local hospital) and we were the only three from out of WA. In the evening we had drinks – paid for by the drug rep, and there was lots of drink. Then dinner, an “Italian” – roast duck which was v nice, but with a disappointingly small amount of veg. But lots of wine. We got a taxi back at 11.
Next day it was raining – which I’m told never happens in Perth. I’d forgotten what to do with this stuff that comes out of the sky. The course finished about half twelve and it was still raining. So we waited for a taxi to come by, and I waited for someone to answer the phone. Eventually one of the other guys from the course came by. He’s a rural GP who’s a typical Aussie, but an interesting bloke who has dived at shipwreck sites and breeds animals.
So Matt and I got a lift into town and the rain stopped and sun came out as we were eating in a very dodgy food court. Lots of Asian stalls, but the most popular one was that selling Steak and Chips. He went off to the library and I went shopping for a birthday card for my brother (nearly forgot). I had a couple of hours to look around. Much redevelopment is being done, and the shopping centre is like any other. However, there are a couple of interesting arcades and the Terrace, where my hotel was is an incongruous mixture of skyscrapers surrounding and overshadowing a couple of small, old buildings. Then there was “London St” which was a very fussy mock tudor alley, actually built in 1936. The modern conference centre is right on the river, and I wandered in there for a look (one advantage of carrying a conference bag with papers in, no-one challenged me).Then it was time to get back to the hotel to give myself enough time to find a taxi. And off to the Airport for Melbourne
No comments:
Post a Comment