Autumn is here
Hey Readers (if there’s any of you left),
Where have the last three months gone? Autumn is here, winter is coming, and I haven’t updated my blog until now. So here it is, the first entry for 2015. I’ll try not to be so slack with entries in future.
What I’ve Been Doing
1. Spending Christmas and New Years Eve in Perth - snuck in a quick trip to Cervantes and the Pinnacles too.
2. Driving Across the Nullarbor - In early January, Craig and I drove from Perth back to Canberra in five days, stopping at Esperance (Western Australia), the Nullarbor Roadhouse (South Australia), Clare (South Australia), and Narrandera (New South Wales). We encountered dust storms, heavy rain, and forty-five degree (Celsius) temperatures while driving through Port Augusta.
3. Attending the amazing Doctor Who Symphony Spectacular in Sydney. Also stayed with my brother and had a go at stand-up paddle boarding, which seems to be all the rage right now.
4. Visiting the Night Noodle Markets in Canberra. Sooo busy (it was basically like a mosh pit on opening night, so we came back later during the week). The N2 icecream was a hit. I hope that next year, the organisers will hold it in a larger area, with more stalls so that the queues aren’t as bad.
5. Bike riding in Newcastle, along the foreshore.
6. Attending E-’s wedding in Perth. Fantastic night - one of those weddings where the bride and groom put a lot of effort into looking after their guests, right down to home-baking the cookies for the dessert.
What I’ve Been Reading
1. “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen. I can see why this is described as one of the top books of the 21st century (yes, I know we’re only fifteen years in, but still…). I’ve become a Franzen convert. His novel of Mid-Western Melancholia struck a chord with me. Parents in the west? Kids in the eastern states? Sound familiar?
2. “Time and Time Again” by Ben Elton. Not quite up there with “Dead Famous” or “Blind Faith” but still a good yarn for a (very) long car trip, with a neat twist at the end.
3. “Slush Pile” by Ian Shadwell. Book about a frustrated writer who takes a job reading unsolicited manuscripts. The fun starts when the writer decides to plagiarise one of the manuscripts and pass it off as his new novel.
4. “Schooled” by Gordon Korman. I loved Korman when I was a kid. His “Bruno and Boots” series (which Korman mostly wrote when he was a teenager himself) was hilarious. So this is technically a kids’ book, but I had a blast reading it. Korman hasn’t lost his touch.
What I’ve Been Watching
1. Season 4 of “Game of Thrones”. Craig and I have been very good, and watching one episode at a time, rather than gobbling up the entire season.
2. Season 2 of “Rectify”. Slow burning, but absorbing show about a guy released from Death Row.
3. Season Two of “Broadchurch”. It’s a reunion of actors from “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” (and no, that wasn’t a complaint!)
4. Season Six of “My Kitchen Rules”. I now know how to cook scotch eggs and what a gozleme is.
Where have the last three months gone? Autumn is here, winter is coming, and I haven’t updated my blog until now. So here it is, the first entry for 2015. I’ll try not to be so slack with entries in future.
What I’ve Been Doing
1. Spending Christmas and New Years Eve in Perth - snuck in a quick trip to Cervantes and the Pinnacles too.
2. Driving Across the Nullarbor - In early January, Craig and I drove from Perth back to Canberra in five days, stopping at Esperance (Western Australia), the Nullarbor Roadhouse (South Australia), Clare (South Australia), and Narrandera (New South Wales). We encountered dust storms, heavy rain, and forty-five degree (Celsius) temperatures while driving through Port Augusta.
3. Attending the amazing Doctor Who Symphony Spectacular in Sydney. Also stayed with my brother and had a go at stand-up paddle boarding, which seems to be all the rage right now.
4. Visiting the Night Noodle Markets in Canberra. Sooo busy (it was basically like a mosh pit on opening night, so we came back later during the week). The N2 icecream was a hit. I hope that next year, the organisers will hold it in a larger area, with more stalls so that the queues aren’t as bad.
5. Bike riding in Newcastle, along the foreshore.
6. Attending E-’s wedding in Perth. Fantastic night - one of those weddings where the bride and groom put a lot of effort into looking after their guests, right down to home-baking the cookies for the dessert.
What I’ve Been Reading
1. “The Corrections” by Jonathan Franzen. I can see why this is described as one of the top books of the 21st century (yes, I know we’re only fifteen years in, but still…). I’ve become a Franzen convert. His novel of Mid-Western Melancholia struck a chord with me. Parents in the west? Kids in the eastern states? Sound familiar?
2. “Time and Time Again” by Ben Elton. Not quite up there with “Dead Famous” or “Blind Faith” but still a good yarn for a (very) long car trip, with a neat twist at the end.
3. “Slush Pile” by Ian Shadwell. Book about a frustrated writer who takes a job reading unsolicited manuscripts. The fun starts when the writer decides to plagiarise one of the manuscripts and pass it off as his new novel.
4. “Schooled” by Gordon Korman. I loved Korman when I was a kid. His “Bruno and Boots” series (which Korman mostly wrote when he was a teenager himself) was hilarious. So this is technically a kids’ book, but I had a blast reading it. Korman hasn’t lost his touch.
What I’ve Been Watching
1. Season 4 of “Game of Thrones”. Craig and I have been very good, and watching one episode at a time, rather than gobbling up the entire season.
2. Season 2 of “Rectify”. Slow burning, but absorbing show about a guy released from Death Row.
3. Season Two of “Broadchurch”. It’s a reunion of actors from “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood” (and no, that wasn’t a complaint!)
4. Season Six of “My Kitchen Rules”. I now know how to cook scotch eggs and what a gozleme is.