Gone on a Lucky Country

My chemist knows my name....

It feels hard to explain why that is such a big deal - but I will try...

Instead of having giant Walmarts, Krogers, CVSs and Walgreens to choose from for our prescription needs, we have two local "chemists".  I chose one when we first moved here simply because it was on one side of the street versus another.  This isn't like a Walgreens where you can pop in for some groceries, a dog toy, a belated birthday card for your cousin, eyeliner and your prescription.  No, this is a tiny little store  - maybe the size of two largish bedrooms smooshed together and their opening hours are not conducive to modern times.  They are open till 7pm weeknights and have very limited hours on weekends.  If you went in with that list that I just named off, you would walk out with just the prescription.  That's all they do....

It sounds limiting and there were times when we first moved here that I struggled with that.  Joe and I both take maintenance prescriptions so, while I wasn't in there a lot, I was in there about once a month.  When Joe had his big surgery back in October, we struggled with getting his pain managed properly.  The doctor agreed that he needed an additional script of the main pain med he was taking.  They asked for the name of my chemist and I gave it to him.  Later that day, when I went to pick up the script, the chemist didn't know what I was talking about - apparently, the doctor sent the new script through snail mail to us - not even to the chemist!!  There was no calling or faxing. The chemist tried to call the Dr to verify; but it was after 5pm so no dice.  Luckily, the Dr had scanned the new script and emailed it to us.  I showed the copy to the chemist and he filled it because he knew us and knew we weren't trying to scam him.

So, can you imagine going into CVS or Walgreens with a *copy* of a prescription for narcotic pain killers and having them fill it and telling you, "just bring the original in when you get it in the mail."??  Can you imagine?

Anyway, since then, he has filled another script for Joe while still waiting on the new one from his regular Dr.  To be fair, this is one of the ones we get every month; but still.... how great of service is that?

Last month, I ran out of refills on my regular prescription.  When I picked up the last one, the chemist gave me the used up script and told me to get a new one from my Dr and drop it off when I had time.  I did it a couple of weeks later and stopped back in to drop it off.  He was behind the counter in the back filling a script so the shop girl was trying to help me.  I was just trying to explain what I was dropping off to the confused girl when he popped out...

"Hey *insert my real name here*, is that your new script for *insert medicine name here*?

"It is!"

"Do you need it filled now or later?  You should still have 2 weeks worth from the last one but I can fill it right away if it's easier"

So, in that moment I realised.... My chemist knows my name by sight, he knows what medicine I take and approximately always knows when I will be needing a refill.  A couple weeks after that when I was picking up my medicine, he asked, "Does Joe need his *insert medicine name here* filled?  He should be almost out".

In that second moment I realised.... My chemist knows both of our names and all of our medicines and when they need to be refilled.  How great is that?

Brings a whole new meaning to personal service!

Two mornings ago there was quite an event in the harbour.  It was billed as "The Lady Meets the Queen".  Basically, there were going to be two cruise ships passing each other in the harbour - the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth.  I heard some folks talking about it and I also saw some signs up on the ferry wharves advertising it.  Quite frankly, I was pretty underwhelmed...  There are always cruise ships coming in and out of the harbour - after a while you just stop noticing them....  I wasn't about to take time out of my snoozing time to go look at some boats for goodness sake!  

** Just a quick FYI for those interested - I wrote this entry 2 days ago; but I didn't have the photos organised for it and plus, it's the weekend, and I was busy relaxing!  - sorry it's so late in coming! **

After our late night of wild and crazy domino playing - we opted for the later breakfast time the next morning.  There were more choices on the menu that day, including some delicious little potato cakes and a few more egg options.  I have to say, both mornings, the breakfasts were very good - nothing super fancy; but really tasty and nicely presented - Barry cooked the breakfast and Rod served the table.  I got fried eggs the second morning and they were some of the best eggs I've had in a while... not sure how he cooked them l but they were crispy on the bottom and soft on top!   Plus there was freshly brewed coffee - flat whites, cappuccinos etc...  After breakfast we packed up and got everything ready to go - we still had about 20 minutes till check-out.  P.I.C was enjoying the paper in the conservatory and I was jotting down some thoughts on my laptop in the dining room when Barry and Rod descended again.  They basically asked us to get our stuff out of the rooms so they could go in and make them up for the next guests - I get it, they have every right to expect us to leave before the final check out time; but in this case we had a bit of time where we were just collecting ourselves for the next leg of the trip.  We felt rushed out and we ended up pulling out of the parking lot still about 10 minutes prior to check-out.  It left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths about the stay.






All in all, Barnsley House was a beautiful beautiful place to stay.  The gardens were overwhelming inviting (see pictures above) - the whole place had this pervasive air of restfulness about it.  I thought that the rates were a good value as well - prices were comparable to some of the nicer B&B's we've stayed at in the States.  I do feel like Rod and Barry's attitudes effected our stay a bit; but, I do feel that if we had stayed at any other time than Christmas (and more than one day), than our experience would have been much more positive.  Also, the fact that it was rainy on Christmas and we couldn't enjoy the outdoor areas was really unfortunate.

We drove back up into town to find it absolutely bustling with activity.  We headed to the visitor information center so P.I.C could ask about the best way to get to Thredbo.  Beechworth is famous in it's own right for being the town where Ned Kelly was jailed and stood trial.  If you have a couple minutes, you should click on the link and read about him.  It's a very interesting story and still very important in Australian culture today.





On our way over the the courthouse, we stopped inside an old telegraph office.  The office is still functional and for a very small fee you could send a telegraph message to anywhere in the world!  Joe promptly wrote one out to his Dad back in Kentucky.  We are still waiting for the call to tell us that he received it - We are figuring that it is probably going to take sometime for it to actually get there as it will need to be mailed once it gets to the States. The guy working the telegraph was an absolute wealth of knowledge and was able to tell us some of the history behind the telegraph in Australia.



Our next stop was the courthouse - we paid our admission fee and as we prepared to head inside, P.I.C happened to make some remark to the man behind the desk about his major (and I do mean major - P.I.C is obsessed) interest in Ned Kelly.  The man quickly engaged in conversation and we ended up getting a bonus lesson in how the class systems were set up back in Ned Kelly's day.  It was interesting to hear from a local about it and also someone who was so obviously well-versed in the history.  It really added an additional layer to our experience as we went through the courthouse.  One of my favourite parts was that they had recorded "readings" of certain trials playing in the main room.  The result of that was that, if no one else was in the room, you could sit and imagine what it must of been like actually hearing these trials go on.







It was an interesting visit; but the day was hot and we were very tired so when P.I.C suggested going to another museum, we all deserted him.  Joe and I opted for a carriage ride (made even more awesome by the fact that the carriage owner had his two dogs - one adult and one a tiny puppy (but both the most well-behaved doggies ever) tethered to a post by the street where we were able to pet them to our hearts content)) and then the three of us retired to the pub for a cold beer while P.I.C geeked it out in the other museum.



We met back up at one and headed out towards Thredbo.  We briefly discussed having lunch in Beechworth; but we were all still full from breakfast so we decided that we would just find a cafe or winery on the way and stop there.  I have no idea of the route that we took or the route that we were supposed to take - we were listening to podcasts and enjoying the scenery in the backseat while Cristin and P.I.C were in charge of maps and other such navigational tools.  The woman in the visitor's center gave us directions to some scenic highway  that was so new that it was not yet on the printed maps or on any GPS systems.  I don't exactly know if we ever found that highway; but we did find some pretty great scenery - this is the sort of view that makes you stop, sit by the side of the road and wonder at how anything can be this beautiful.





Even though the road was beautiful, it was in the middle of nowhere with no lunch prospects.  We finally passed a little pub around 4 - the kitchen was closed so no luck there; but I was getting sick from being so hungry so I made myself a quick half sandwich while we were stopped in the parking lot.  I ate way too fast and I made the sandwich with hot (really really hot) salami by accident so, by the time we came across a proper town, I was feeling pretty vomitous...  Everyone else was really hungry though so we stopped for a look.  I had noticed a "Man From Snowy River" Museum on our way into town; but it was boarded up and in disrepair so I didn't want to go back and get a picture of it.  Luckily this arcade was right in front of where we  parked so I was able to get some sort of picture to show my sisters.

While everyone else walked up and down main street looking for food, I sat on a bench, felt sick to my stomach and generally had a couple of miserable minutes where I wished for all, each and any of my sisters to be sharing in this Snowy Mountain experience with me.  We met back up at the car in a matter of minute - everyone felt the food choices to be dodgy so we decided to just press forward towards Thredbo and figure out food when arrived.  I discovered that having the window down made my tummy issues disappear, the air started getting much much colder as we climbed and the view started looking quite mountainous!  It was exciting to feel the altitude and temperature change so quickly as we continued.

                                          ........... Ok, Thredbo update tomorrow...........

Per the usual, I've returned from somewhere with far too many photos and probably not enough witty prose to go along with them.  I'm just going to write the whole story, plug the photos in and keep my fingers crossed.

After my homesickness leading up to Thanksgiving (I know, I know, you have no idea what I am talking about since I never did end up writing a post about Thanksgiving) I was looking for a way to mitigate any sort of celebration or expectation of celebration for the Christmas holiday.  Much like my old industry in the States, the entire country of Australia seems to shut down from Christmas to New Years ((and in some cases two weeks into January) They call it the "Silly Season")) so we were going to end up with about a week and a half's worth of vacation in a city that had virtually ground to a halt.  I didn't need all that down time to get me thinking so we decided to take a vacation.  I started looking a while back for some little shack or cottage on a beach somewhere where we could have a nice week away. I soon discovered that it is nearly impossible to book ANYTHING near a beach for the Christmas holidays - ah yes, and also they seem to charge double over the holidays.

Luckily, our intrepid friends Cristin and her Partner in Crime were also looking to get out of Sydney over the holidays so we decided to holiday together.  We settled on a trip length of 4 days - 2 days in a little historic town  called Beechworth and the remainder of the time in a ski town at the top of the Snowy Mountains called Thredbo.

Joe and I both took the day off work on Christmas Eve - P.I.C (Partner in Crime mentioned above) had to work till noonish so that gave me the morning to pack and get the apartment settled. P.I.C and Cristin picked us up around 2 and we started the drive south.  The drive was pretty unremarkable at the beginning - of course there was much talking and laughter - also some podcast listening and snacking.  I first realised that we were not only going south; but also, back in time, when we stopped for petrol the first time and I saw the pumps were circa 1970.  We stopped for dinner and shopping in Gundagai.  It was a cute little town with an IGA (which was our main reason for stopping there).

After we stocked up on lots of wine and food for Christmas day, we wandered down the main street to "the local" hotel which was surprisingly crowded for a Christmas Eve evening.  We ordered our fish and chips (and, of course, I'm the one with the Corona) and then found a table outside in the courtyard.  As we sat there, we began to notice that people were walking to the hotel from all over the town - it was almost as though the entire town was coming together to celebrate Christmas Eve at the pub.  Also, it should be noted that these folk were showing up in what was obviously their Christmas finery.  We ended up eating rather quickly and then moving on as we felt further and further out of place the longer we sat there.  It was extremely obvious that we were "not from around these parts"and it felt a bit like showing up at a huge party and being the only people that weren't invited.

In Beechworth, we had booked ourselves into a lovely Bed & Breakfast called Barnsley House.  Cristin and I were seduced by the pictures of the rooms on the website - claw foot tubs, private patios, afternoon tea and a bright sunny conservatory just perfect for reading.  After I booked the room, I got a very nice e-mail from "Rod & Barry" informing me that they would be gone on Christmas Day visiting family and that our food was pretty much up to us.  They would make us breakfast of course; but it would be early.  No problem we thought - there are little fridges in the room so we would just buy some groceries and have some snacky sort of meals.

When we went into the IGA to stock up we were slightly horrified to realise that there were only 3 types of meat in the deli case - the whole store was really operating under the umbrella of "slim-pickins".  We called Rod & Barry to check if there was a BBQ we could use - there was not.  We asked if we would be able to access some plates - we would not.  It was around this time that they started referring to Christmas being a "limited service" day.  This did not bode well.....

We checked in very late much to the disapproval of Rod and Barry (both wearing shorts and house slippers - very strange).  We were reminded several times about the early breakfast and told that they needed to leave for their families house by 9:30am sharp!

Admittedly, the house was completely gorgeous - everything was done up perfectly down to the last detail.  It was in a bit of a dodgy neighborhood; but since it was enclosed in a high dense hedge it wasn't really noticeable after you pulled in.



The next morning it was up early for breakfast - there was one other couple staying at the B&B.  They were from Melbourne and were there for Christmas with his family as he had grown up in Beechworth.  They were easy and fun to talk to.  We must have been lingering a bit too long over our coffees; because Rod came over to the table to tell us that we needed to finish up and vacate the dining room so they could lock-up and leave. It was right around that moment when I realised that they were locking the door that led to the back of the house (which included the kitchen, the dining room and that gorgeous conservatory).  We were then left with just our rooms and a small "Guest Lounge" to our disposal.  We settled in to the lounge to watch a movie - there was nice selection of DVDs that were for guest use; but we opened them only to find that all of the disks had been removed and replaced with small stickers that read "Ask Rod or Barry for assistance".  They really were living up to that stereotype of fussy gay couples.  Thankfully I had downloaded some movies onto my laptop so we were able to watch "Love Actually" (albeit on a very small screen).

Ok, I'm getting a bit nervous seeing as our six month anniversary of living in Sydney has come and gone without us having much to show for it.  We've done precious little in this great city and I plan to rectify that.  Of course, being here in the winter to start with doesn't lend itself to a whole lot of activities; but this summer is chock a block with fantastic stuff to do.

I've cobbled together this list and I'm looking for some input - anyone want to do these things with us?  Anyone been to these in the past with reviews of whats worth it and whats not?  Lots of them are happening in the next few weeks so I need to make a schedule, book tickets and make some plans!

I've underlined my favourites - and am now realising that that was most of them..... Guess I have some hard choices to make...


The Rocks Markets By Moonlight

Chinese New Year Events:

Dragon Boat Races - Saturday 12, Feb and Sunday 13, Feb - Darling Harbour

Twilight Parade - Sunday 6, Feb - Town Hall to Chinatown

Chinese New Year Markets - Friday 28, Jan to Sunday 30, Jan - Belmore Park

Cinema Alley - Friday 11, Feb - Haymarket - Must book seats

China Heart - Sunday 30, Jan to Sunday 13, Jan - Powerhouse Museum

Australia Day - Wednesday 26, Jan
Ferrython - 11am
Parade on the Water - 1pm
Live Music in the Rocks - from 11am
Darling Harbour - from Noon
Short Films
Concerts
Fireworks

Mike Birbiglia - 13 to 16, Jan - Everest Theatre by Central Station

The Giacomo Variations - 19-22, Jan - Opera House

Symphony in the Domain: Midsummer Shakespeare - 22, Jan - The Domain

La Boheme - July to October - Opera House

Sting: Symphonicity Tour - 31, Jan to 3, Feb - Opera Forecourt!

Mahler's Sixth Symphony - 3 to 5, March - Opera House

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
MISSA SOLEMNIS OP. 123, D MAJOR
SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS - Sunday 12, June - Opera House

Macbeth - 10, Sept to 8, Oct - Opera House

Sydney Shakespeare Festival - February Weekends - Glebe Harbour Foreshore

International Short Film Festival - Week of 7-16, Jan - Bondi Pavilion - Sunday 9, Jan - Best of Poland Films

Picton Rodeo - 8th of January - Picton

Opera in the Domain - 29th of Jan - The Domain

Annie Leibovitz - to the 27th of March - Museum of Contemporary Art

I am in the midst of dealing with our first ever "shaped" internet usage!  "Shaped" is a nice Aussie term for "you have used to much internets and now you must be punished!"  So, we have a plan for 100MB a month (yes, I know this is an extreme amount; but we download a lot so don't judge) and it is at lightning fast (I'm not being sarcastic - it really is crazy fast) broad band speed.  Once we go over our 100MB we get throttled back to a "slightly faster then dial-up" speed.

What that means....  Well, for one thing, it means that I downloaded too many movies the other day.  Also, this means that there will be no video-Skyping tomorrow for our Skype date with Joe's parents.  That is a bummer.  The only positive here is that our usage resets in about 24 hours - so, we only have to live with a pre-historic internet connection for another day.

Jennifer - I am dying to watch your You-Tube videos... I can get to "this is the part of the classroom" and then it stops loading and I have to give up.  I swear I will watch them Sunday night.

I am often confused by the turn of phrase here:

Yesterday the cust. service rep from Telstra asked me if I wanted a "silent number" for our phone - I felt stupid as I had to have him explain it me; but apparently that is the Aussie version of an unlisted number!

Also funny was a conversation with an Internet tech one of our first weeks here.  He told me that he was going to try some stuff on his end, he would "ring me back" and then I could "go for the gold again".  So cute!

The spelling it another thing that continues to amaze me:

color = colour
flavor = flavour
harbor = harbour
liter = litre
realize = realise

Actually, now that I am typing this out it doesn't look that weird to me....  I actually quite like adding the u to the American spelling - it seems to make much more sense phonetically!

Here I am in a beautiful city, having a once in a lifetime experience and all I want to write about is the cleaning crew that services our apartment!  I am fascinated by how incredibly casual things can be here.  So far I have seen an older woman, an older man and two teenagers in various teams at various times.  Last week was by far the best cleaning experience thus far excepting, of course, the horrible smell and the necessity of rewashing our floors.

In all the times that the crew has come, the older woman and the older man always seem to be the most thorough and do the best job.  I was very excited Friday when they showed up to clean and it was both of the older folks.  I was expecting a fabulous cleaning (and I didn't even care if I had to wipe the floors down after they left).

He went into the bedroom and started making the bed with fresh linen.  She went into the bathroom and cleaned the toilet and sink - then her phone rang and she went in the hallway to answer it.  The guy finished making the bed, thanked me and then left.  They didn't dust, clean the kitchen, clean the floors, vacuum or refill any of my detergent packets.  Nothing.  Just fresh sheets and a clean toilet.

The part that kills me is that we are spending a small fortune here every week and I know a substantial amount of the price is there because of this great "service" that we receive.

At least I didn't have to rinse the floors down this week though!

Joe and I took the train out to Lewisham on Saturday in search of a mattress - we found one that was supremely comfortable (although anything would be better that the lumpy double we are on here) and that we both liked.  We found out that we do not like "memory foam"; but we do like latex.... Who knew?  So, much much poorer we hiked back to the train station and then decided to walk around The Rocks again.  We were quite surprised to find that George St. had become a market (the day before it was filled with taxis and cars) and I liked the touristy part of it even less on a Saturday than during the week.  The alleyways didn't disappoint though, we still found a great pub and shared some type of BBQ platter... Yum!

Throughout the day we kept coming across funny signs so:





































We also saw a ton of these little guys skittering around on the garden walls - They were cute, much cuter than spiders!