Vacation Bliss

So I finished my last day at my old job on Friday. I went out for lunch with my team and they presented me with a really nice book of Aboriginal artwork, and a mood calendar. There was to be a big afternoon "tea" at the office for the 5 of us that were leaving that day, but I had already taken the afternoon off to use up some overtime, so didn't attend. Instead I was at home with a friend, getting drunk. Isn't that what one does when they finish a job up? Heh heh. We went out to our favorite watering hole, Monte's Lounge to meet with other coworkers for after-work drinks, but only two people showed up. The rest either had plans or went to the Juicy Rump where the other after-work drinks were happening. Just as well. I headed home at 7pm and was in bed by 10 after an exhausting week. 

Mount Sonder

I had taken a week of vacation time at my old job for the following week and I have been enjoying it immensely. On Sunday I went camping at Glen Helen Gorge Resort (not a resort as you think of them) with my friend F and we did as little as possible! We went for a short drive to the Mount Sonda lookout, and the rest of the time we spent having some drinks, playing cribbage, and reading books. We both finished a book while out. It was blissful! The days were a bit warm, but not too bad, and although we both managed a bad sunburn, the trip was so very relaxing. I did get eaten alive by the mozzies, but it's partly my own fault for not putting any bug repellent on. I didn't see any mozzies or feel any mozzies, so didn't bother. Big mistake. 27+ bites later...

fresh green among the bushfire black

We saw some wildlife - lots of different birds of all sizes from Australian ringneck parrots to finches and herons, the waterhole drew them all. We also had a dingo visit our campsite both nights, but didn't get too close to us before he wandered on. There were ants galore, but such is the case in central Australia as my sister discovered during her visit here. The campground was not particularly busy the first night but the second night a couple dozen youths arrived on a bus for the group camping site across the gully from our site. They were noisy as teenagers can be, but settled down early in the night and by 10pm you didn't know they were there. The stars were out, nearly outdone by the nearly full moon. The moon shone so brightly we didn't need flashlights to get around at all. 

We stayed for a couple of nights and then packed up early like we pissed the bed and came back to Alice. I was happy to be back in my own bed again, and Dundee certainly missed me. A mauling was in order, and before long I was covered in fur. 

lots of burned ground from recent bushfires

beautiful mount Sonder

Today I had a lazy morning, puttering about the house, fooling around on the computer, reading the news of earthquakes and storms in Canada, thankful the weather here in Alice doesn't get too exciting. It has been pretty hot again now though, and at one point the thermometer in my car registered 43C...gross. This afternoon I headed out to the local university library at Charles Darwin University (CDU). It's a tiny library with just a handful of study carrels but it was good enough for me. Aside from some noisy women who nattered on at one of the tables, I was able to make some progress with my forensic psychology course from Athabasca. I just moved to the other side of the library away from them. One would think everyone understood that people go to libraries for the quiet, as well as the books. One would be wrong. I'm planning to go back each day this week so I can finally get caught up on my readings. I try to read at home but just like when I was in uni a decade ago, I can't study at home. I can write my papers well enough at home, but too many distractions to read and study at home. I used to go to the library at U Waterloo for hours and hours with a good friend of mine to study. We'd load up on Snapple and Pringles and who knows what else we could smuggle into the library, and leave when they kicked us out at 1am. Oh the days...

looking down the road

floodway metre stick and paddy melons

so many interesting rock formations

heading into Glen Helen Gorge Resort

our campsite

look at how tiny I am!

Other than the library, I have no real plans for the rest of the week other than enjoying being off at home for a change instead of my usual travel and GO GO GO vacations. I start my new job on Monday, but for now I am on vacation bliss time...

Changes Afoot

      My apologies to readers for my lack of posts in October. It has been a busy month! Not long ago I made the final decision to leave my government position once and for all. I had been pondering it for many months, due to my struggles with the current management, and then when they added yet another impossible manager, the writing on the wall was clear - quit or go down with a sinking ship - so I chose to quit. I was getting so frustrated with it all. I was dying a little inside every day and dreading going into work. My health was suffering, and I was sick and tired of going to work to fight about something every day.

NPY Women's Council members

     So off I go to an Non-Government Organization - NPY Women's Council and couldn't be happier about it. I begin on November 5th, and while it is quite a drop in pay, life is too short to work for a bitch who is determined to drag workers down and destroy their careers. Goodbye and good riddance I say. I was worried about my visa as it was sponsored by the NT government, but they have agreed to just let me go, as I have given them 19 months, and I had a note from my doctor in support of my leaving. Once they gave me the word, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders!

      NPY is a very strong support agency for women who live on the NPY lands, which spreads out over the southwest corner of the NT, northwest corner of SA and eastern central WA. I'll be out bush about 50% of the time which suits me just fine! I love going out to community. I'll be working as a case advocacy worker for domestic violence survivors, and some sexual assault survivors. I finish up at my current agency at the end of next week, and then I'm taking a week off to regroup and get into the mindset of working within a non mandated service. It will be my first social work position that is non-government and I am stoked! It will be a whole new perspective and I'm tickled to get a more in depth experience with the local Aboriginal culture. Australia has so much more to offer and I can't wait to experience it!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

As the temperatures rise to the high thirties this weekend, I'll be slaving over a hot stove cooking Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, and baking for it on Saturday. I've asked over a group of friends for dinner, and while some of my closest friends here will be unable to make it, I'm looking forward to it. This year among other things, I am thankful for air conditioning. I've got the usual fare planned, shared with many different groups of people as I've moved around Canada, and last year I had my first Thanksgiving here. It was also the first for most of my friends as it isn't celebrated here in Australia. This year, more new faces as Alice Springs swirls people in and out of the group.

In a two weeks, several of this same group are going camping at Chamber's Pillar. It's another challenging 4WD track not far from here, similar to Palm Valley, but without the huge sandbar that I bogged in twice last year. My friend J. has bought some two-way hand held radios to keep in contact along the way. It's meant to be a very rocky track, with a lot of incline. We shall see! I think I just got a little whoopsy in my belly just now, thinking about it. I still need to talk up a local expert for some more tips to avoid disaster...so far his info has been very good and kept me out of trouble. These folks in central Australia that drive the tracks and off road all the time are a bundle of information about the area, and the fella I talk to uses both google earth, satellite, and paper topographical maps to plot his way and make sense of the country's vastness. I want to rent a satellite phone too as the campground is pretty remote and land phones are hours away, and mobile phone use several hours away on the other side of several mountain ranges. I can't wait!

So I also want to do a hike this weekend too, early morning if I can drag my sorry body out of bed early enough before the heat sets in for the day. My Canadian co-worker and friend just moved into a unit complex with a nice saltwater pool. I'll be visiting you V. You know it. Summer is already here in Alice. I wonder when it will rain next? It rained last week for the first time since March. It was awesome but short lived, with a bit of a thunderstorm. I want more.

Dundee continues to lizard hunt, both inside the flat and out in the courtyard. I don't mind too much as long as he doesn't destroy my stuff in the process. There's already a long tally of past damages. Love ya puss, but you frustrate me sometimes as my glass continues to shatter across the floors here. Once the lizard is down on the floor, he's fine. He just plays with it, carries it around in his mouth from room to room, then plops it on the floor and lays down next to it, wondering if it will jerk to life again for one last round. Sometimes they do. They all get eaten. Thank-you Dundee for not leaving lizard carcasses to rot under my sofa and bed. I think I'll keep you. I don't mind the lizards but I don't want them running across my bed or curling up in my hair. So once they come into the house, it's fair game for the cat. They have the whole desert to explore. I have a sign up for Dundee on the outside gate - beware attack cat...many lizards have lost.

Tomorrow is Friday. Can I just say, hooray.