The Quick Approach

Time is dwindling down now, and the days are getting shorter and shorter!! It is one of the most exciting, yet saddest times of our whole year here.  As home-time gets closer and closer, my excitement builds to get back to the states.  I am looking forward to seeing my sisters, spending some time with my Mums, and returning to the old routine of my Dad leaving 6 voice-messages in a row complaining about me never answering my phone (: 

Not to mention that being able to drive a vehicle to the grocery store, and get to the gym and back in a couple hours rather than half the day, is what daydreams are made of at this point.  Add in the prospect of getting the boards over and done with, finding a job, and receiving that first paycheck, and my-oh-my!

On the other hand, however, it is quite sad, and a bit regretful that we must leave Adelaide. We’ve grown quite fond of our Flinders family, and our Repat family, and it will be a bit sad to not see them each week. And to think that we are leaving a ripe opportunity to get a good job here in Australia, and going home seems a bit bitter-sweet. Our fellow radiographers here make quite a bit more money than us state-siders, get a LOT more vacation time, and, well, have quite a few less responsibilities than us Rad Techs.  We are quite torn to leave the fertile opportunities here, and return to a desolate job market back home.

However, we will both keep our fond memories, and possibly return in just a few short years to work in Australia again, if all bodes well.

I LOVE Food!

*Melissa*

For those of you who may know me on a personal level, you know I love food. And food has been the hot topic of conversation this past week, as Chad and I gear up to go home, and start visiting our favorite hot-spots for a final farewell.  Not to mention all the chatter about how excited we are to return to our favorite morsels back home. So, I wanted to share with anyone who may find themselves in Adelaide where to find the TASTIEST grub!

Best Sushi- Sushi Train.  For variety, price, and tastiness!!  However, quality does vary – the location on Gouger Street is much fresher and cleaner than the one near Rundle St.

Best Japanese – Tomiko, Glenelg.  Wish we had discovered this place sooner!  Always smells delicious!  Tepanyaki Oysters, crumbed sweet & sour pork, twice glazed teriyaki barramundi, and even some yummy sushi being driven around on, what else, a toy train track!!  (Complete with engineer waving hello!!)

Best Schnitzel- Seaview Fish & Chips, Brighton.  Hands down. Their gravy, crispy fries, and tender chicken absolutely cannot be beat anywhere in Adelaide.  Trust me – we’ve tried to find a comparison and it can’t be done!!

Best Brekky- ARGO, Norwood.  There are few places that Chad and I are willing to routinely travel 2 hours on the bus first thing in the morning for. And ARGO is one of them.  My only complaint is that they are SOO good that it can’t stay a secret, and it is always packed and hard to find a seat.  Great lattes, and tempting deserts, with a tasty treat I can only describe as an elephant-ear disguised as a donut!! Mmm Mmm!!

Best Hot-Chocolate- Bracegirdles.  Should be of no surprise. Although Cocolat and Chocolate no.5 come in close, I find them a bit too sweet, so that they almost taste artificial.  Bracegirdle’s is the perfect balance of chocolate without being too sugary or heavy.

Best Coffee-  ARGO, Norwood.  There are TONS of coffee options on every corner, and they are all quite decent.  However, if you’re really looking for amazing coffee, I insist you must go to THE WORKSHOP in Darling Harbor, Sydney.  Sorry Cibo, Hudson’s, and Gloria Jeans ):

Best Cupcakes-Cupcake Café, Norwood. Insanely overpriced, but obviously worth it, because Chad and I have downed around a dozen since we’ve been here. Chocolate is the best – with any topping you like- as long as somewhere in the description it says ganache. While you’re at it, you can even get yourself some ridiculously priced American candy, too!

Best Bakery-3 –Way TIE!!    Of course you could have guessed that this category would have a tie!!  Bluebird Bakery, Brighton.   Although the owner has always been a bit off-putting, she seems to have lightened up in the last month or so, and it was never enough to keep me from coming back!  DELICIOUS gluten-free cakes, tasty donut holes. Rheinland’s Gourmet German Bakery, Marion Center.  That damn owner is always standing there shouting about his $5 boxes when we go for groceries after work, and they are hard to resist!!  Delicious donuts, fluffy mousse cakes (bought one for a party), and tempting pastries. Brighton Bakery, Brighton.  Phenomenal donuts that I could stuff my face with every day – the only thing stopping me is the bellyaches I get after an indulgent jelly-filled donut, an iced round, or their tasty gluten-free orange almond slice.  Great choice for bread, as well!  (they are one of the few bakeries that have gluten-free bread in the whole city!)

Best Noodles/Stir-fry- Indochine, Glenelg.  Forget Wok in a Box, or Red Rock- Indochine has an enormous selection, is rarely jam-packed, and taste’s amazing. You even get %15 off of takeaway!! How can you beat that?  The wait-staff is always great, too – the only problem we’ve ever had is the ambiguity on how and where to pay the bill (the signs say at the table – but they never bring the bill!)

Best Pancakes- Pancake Kitchen, CBD. I put this in here mainly for Chad who loves pancakes, and I will graciously admit that out of all the pancakes we've had (even Pancakes on the Rocks in Sydney)  this place is far superior.  Try with the drunken bananas and you've got a winner!!  Or, you can aptly choose the Canadian or American Big Brekky, which will suit just as well!

Best Italian- Bochelli’s, CBD. Although we didn’t try them all, the best Italian we’ve tried is this place – great parmigiana, and amazing calzone’s!

Best Pizza- Michael Fuller’s Gourmet Woodoven. Sorry, but for this one you’ll need a special invite!  Roll your own, and top it how you like, but be prepared to share!! Get fancy, with things like Tandoori chicken and tsatziki, and you’re in for a treat!  He might even let you leave with some leftovers in your own cardboard pizza box!  (:

And, for all the controversy I’m sure we sparked, I will conclude with the fact that these restaurants are all easily accessible by public transit!  Your welcome, tourists (:

And Adelaide, I will miss your food!

Blue Mountains and My Defeat

*Melissa*

Tuesday was an adventure.  We had big plans to hop on a 7am train for a big day in the Blue Mountains.  However, after a crappy night of sleep, which the hotel found to be a fitting night to do construction, we woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and already an hour behind schedule we didn’t have time for breakfast.  We grumpily hurried our ways through the streets, trying to read a map to take us to the train station.  We finally made it (just missing the next train) with little to comfort us but a few less-than-best Krispy Kremes and a greasy Hungry Jack’s Menu (Better known as Burger King in the States).

            By the time we boarded the train, my blood was full of sugar, and I regained my excitement to be getting out of the city and into some amazing natural scenery.

We arrived in Katoomba where we were welcomed with an absolute downpour. Chad broke down and bought a raincoat before boarding our “hop-on-hop-off double decker sightseeing bus”, and our adventure began.

            Our first stop was Scenic World, where there are 3 attractions. The first is a Sky Bridge that takes you across a little valley to Scenic World central. Once there, you take your second ride, on the “steepest train in the country” down to the rainforest.  This, in reality, is a 10 second ride that takes you down about 30 feet.  Granted, it probably is the steepest 30 feet any train goes down in Australia. The third ride takes you back up from the rainforest floor in another little carriage with amazing views of the valley.

            I am intentionally not saying too much about the beauty of this place, because it is truly too hard to put in to words.  This area is absolutely breathtaking – even in the on and off rain and the 10 degrees (yes – TEN DEGREES) it got down to.  We only got a small taste of the area in the few hours we had, but I will DEFINITELY come back to this place.  I will try to get some pictures up, but truly, I think everyone should come experience it for themselves!

By the time Wednesday came, I had succumbed to defeat. The sun was out, and shining bright, and the freezing cold chill the only reminder of the rain we’d had the previous few days.  But, I was feeling absolutely lousy.  I often say that it is impossible for me to fly on an airplane without getting sick, and this was coming to be no exception.

We had the better part of the day to explore before our flight back to Adelaide, and started with breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks (they ain’t got nothing on Adelaide’s Pancake Kitchen!).  After experiencing the strange “aussie-style” of pancakes with ice cream and too much sugar, we wandered our way to the Sydney Fish Markets.  Everything looked amazing, and I really wanted to be hungry and excited about so much fresh fish everywhere, but my heart wasn’t in it.  I tried to put on a good show, but that didn’t last long.

We ended up wandering to the shopping center, where we encountered enormous crowds and a never-ending parade: it was ANZAC day.  Not something that Chad and I had been aware of when we booked our flights, or we would have simply gone home that morning.  The Workshop was closed, to my great dismay, and we tried a cupcake shop that was far below par compared to our Mini Monet’s and the Cupcake Café.

The most exciting discovery we made, though, was a Westfield Center with 6 floors, and as you went up in the levels, the price of the stores went up.  I say this in jest, but it honestly seemed to be the case, and I have never felt more out of place!!  Awesome food court at the top – I wished we had discovered it sooner!!

I was quite happy to finally make it to the airport that night, and eternally grateful that our Chief at work, Michelle, came to our rescue and generously came to pick us up from the airport.  She had recently returned from an overseas holiday and had the same dreadful sickness as me, too!!  THANKS MICHELLE!!

Manly Monday

*Melissa*

Monday we woke up to the kind of weather we had expected in Sydney all along – soaking wet. This was much to our disappointment, as our plans were to head out to Manly for the day.  We pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps, cinched down our hoods, and went anyways.

I must mention that before braving the ‘rough’ harbor seas, I had to get a coffee.  I discovered possibly the best coffee I have ever had in my life at a little alcove called “The Workshop” nestled between all the big stores, and definitely recommend them to any coffee drinker who happens to find them self in Darling Harbor.

The Ferry ride to Manly after that was just lovely – we sat on the deck in the back of the boat, avoiding the cold winds and bitter wet spray coming from all directions.  It was gorgeous scenery the whole way, and well worth my $11 just for the ride alone. 

Our hearts sank like anchors when we docked in Manly, however. We had been looking forward to “OceanWorld”, where we were originally going to swim with the sharks in the tank (until we saw that it was a bit more costly than we had originally planned on).  Over in the corner of the harbor was a sun bleached little hovel with a big ocean world sign on it.  I would expect this place to maybe sell some fish, but it definitely didn’t look like it would hold anything bigger than an octopus – any definitely not multiple! We were so stunned at the sight, which we didn’t even get around to going in at all.

            We wandered around town, trying to duck under shop awning and storefronts to avoid the crying clouds, and Chad quite happily explored each and every surf shop we stumbled upon (several, if you’re wondering.  Manly is Surf shop central!!)  We put off lunch so we could get “shopping” out of our blood, and avoid having to return to the same places later in the rain.

            Much to our disappointment, after debating for an hour over where to finally eat, everything had closed down. One of the most frustrating things about Australian restaurants (at least in smaller suburbs or cities) is that they close right after lunch until 5 or 6 pm.  So, if you wait till after 1 or 2 to eat, you are flat out of luck!

            Grumpy, hungry, wet, and frustrated, we were at a loss at what to do. In lieu on hanging around sitting in the rain, we got back on the ferry to head back to Circular Quay.

The Rocks

Sunday was the final day of the conference, and Chad and I were excited to explore outside of Darling Harbor.  We got an early start and caught some of the morning sessions, including one of the most interesting ones, called “Messages from Chernobyl”, in which the speaker talked about the liner non-threshold radiation risk diagram, and how – really – it’s false.  I’m sure that means absolutely nothing to those of you in any other profession besides Radiology, so… moving on…

After having our minds woken up by these final early sessions, Chad and I hurried back to the room to kick off our heels and our fancy clothes, put on our walking shoes, and went out to explore!!  Our first stop was Circular Quay, where we would explore “The Rocks”, and see those iconic monuments of The Sydney Harbor Bridge and The Opera House.

The ferry was a welcome difference from the usual trains and busses, and totally worth the fare. We wandered through the gorgeous streets of “The Rocks”, admiring the kooky little alleyways, the amazing stones, and funky old buildings. We wandered through the market, and devoured some “Mini Monet Cupcakes” (that almost came close to Norwood’s “Cupcake Café”). We oogled at the bridge, and were surprisingly unimpressed with the Famous Opera House (surrounded by Construction, I might add). 

By far, the most impressive area of Circular Quay was the Botanic Gardens.  The gardens are ENORMOUS, and seem to stretch on forever, and they would definitely be somewhere I would spend a lot of time if I lived here.  They were green, gorgeous, and full of amazing little creatures.  I was SO excited to see my first wild Kookaburra wildly trying to crack a big nut at the base of a gum tree.  And then, to top things off, we got to the café which was nestled beneath some trees housing hundreds of enormous flying foxes!!!  Branches filled with brown furry bats hanging upside down, stretching their enormous black wings and bouncing around with their claws.

To top off first “touristy” night, we had booked a dinner cruise on “Sydney’s only and oldest) authentic wooden 3-mast tall ship”.  With a light drizzle, and a chill in the air, we sailed around the harbor admiring the city lights.  Although the overall experience left a lot to be desired – not to mention that there were a few real jerks on board – it was still a nice, enjoyable evening. We had “snags”(hotdogs) & peel-your-own prawns on board, and after we disembarked and ferried back to Darling, we treated ourselves to some good ol’ American deserts at the Hard Rock Café… which I won’t go in to detail on how quickly we devoured them!

The Big Moment

*Melissa*

I think we revised “Radiographic Practice and Education at the Oregon Institute of Technology, USA” about as many times as there are words in the title!!  Our presentation for the Sydney ASMMIRT Conference had to be absolutely perfect – not to mention, we had to cut down our original presentation of 45 minutes down to 12 minutes, while still maintaining the same information.  This was an incredible feat. And so it was, last Thursday, our bags were packed and we were heading to the great golden city, the Florida Keys of Australia: Sydney. For better or for worse, our presentation was in its “Final Version”, and we would be presenting it to our International Audience the following day.

*Chad* 

We touched down in the not-so-golden city, greeted by rain, grey sky, and an unimpressive ride to our accommodation; I thought I was back outside of Portland Oregon.  Once we reached our destination, we met up with some of our Flinders family and headed to the Sydney Convention Centre to check in and make sure that our presentation power point would work on the big screens. Melissa and I both walked into the Centre in amazement, overcome with the knowledge that we, two little American students, would be presenting to an Australasian audience in the heart of Sydney. It was at that very moment that the nerves kicked into over drive.

After sorting out the minor details we found the room we would be presenting in the next afternoon. You couldn’t have asked for a better location. The room was on the second floor of the venue boasting an almost panoramic view of the beautiful and bustling Darling Harbour. I was amazed! For me, that moment was very powerful. I realized that all the years (yes YEARS) of planning, hard work and sacrifice had landed us to this place. I was proud to be a student from the Oregon Institute of Technology, proud to have achieved our goal and most importantly, proud of Melissa and I for having the fortitude and determination to see this endeavour through. This all may sound a bit pompous but keep in mind that I was a kid that cared nothing for school during my younger years and, in fact, barely graduated high school.  I’m getting off topic here.

After a few minutes of staring at the sky scrapers, the harbour, and all the people wondering about, Melissa and I took off to explore the local area before the sun went down on our first day in Sydney. 

The next morning we got up early and slapped on our finest broke college kid attempt at professional attire and made our way to the conference. If you can believe, I was so nervous I had little to no appetite (rare I know). The conference was opened in the aboriginal tradition with a song played on the didgeridoo in an attempt to ward off evil and bring success to the delegates. 

The opening ceremony was followed by a presentation from a group of radiographers from Christchurch, New Zealand. The group had been working in hospital on the 22 of February 2011 when the 6.3 earthquake rocked the city. The presentation was an emotional eye opener into the demands of disaster response from a radiographer’s perspective. It was amazing to hear the stories especially considering that the disaster robbed them of friends and family only a few short months ago. Our hearts definitely go out to the people of Christchurch.

The rest of the morning was a blur of more presentations, trade show events and then a lunch break. My nerves still kept me from eating so Melissa and I retreated to a secluded area of the convention centre to get a few more practice sessions in before our time slot arrived. After reading through our cards for the one thousandth time, we began to feel some resemblance of confidence creeping in.  

Our session began with an introduction from a representative from the Queensland Health department as Melissa and I took the podium. The twelve minute presentation seemed to take less than a minute and before we knew it, it was time for questions. Of course we only had one actual question. We tend to tell ourselves that people where just blown away with the public speaking skills that we demonstrated….at least that’s what we told ourselves.  With a massive weight off our shoulders, we spent the rest of the day attending meetings and talking to vendors about new equipment.