Brisbane and Gloucester
I’m now just wrapping up week 3 of 4 consecutive weeks on the road. Last time I wrote, I was home in Sydney for the weekend after a thrilling week in Northern Queensland.
Trip 2: Sydney->Brisbane->Sydney
I’m getting used to waking up at 5:30am on Monday’s now…. Not cool. Last Monday, I flew up to Brisbane first thing in the morning and was at the client by 8:30am (which is 9:30am Sydney time – they don’t do daylight savings up north which is crazy because it literally gets light out at 4:30am). So at the start of my workday, I had already been awake for 4 hours. Ugh.
After Emerald and Tieri, Brisbane was like a holiday. We were in a really nice hotel right on the riverfront, which included an excellent free buffet breakfast. They also gave us all envelopes when we arrived, which turned out to be about 10 drink vouchers (each!) for the hotel bar! I was also pretty happy about the hotel bed; after weeks on an air mattress, a few nights in a huge lush king bed was pretty nice.
There were 5 of us up in Brisbane; me and 4 guys. We all went for a really nice meal at a steak house on Monday night. Thanks to the early morning and travel, I was feeling a bit like I had been hit by a bus by 5pm, but I managed to get past that. The free bar vouchers helped with that and I really enjoyed dinner.
I have never been to Brisbane before, so it’s nice to go out to some of the restaurants and get a feel for the place. Its’ definitely not somewhere I would want to live and its much smaller than I thought. It’s a similar size to Calgary I’ve been told, which surprised me. I was also under the misconception that Brisbane was on the ocean…. which it’s not. It’s on a river; the ocean and beaches are just close by. I guess it’s a good jump off place for a lot of wonderful beaches, but the city itself is quite small. There is a nice riverfront area with lots of restaurants and bars, but otherwise there really isn’t much to the place.
Tuesday night we went out for another nice dinner. I had previously been convinced that there was no good sushi in Australia, however this meal proved me wrong – it was one of the better sushi meals I’ve had in a long time. I think my problem with the standard Australian sushi is just that it’s different from what I’m used to. First off, all the rolls have cooked food in them…. I don’t want fried chicken in my sushi. And a cooked tuna roll? What the hell is that? Trying to get good spicy tuna or salmon sashimi is tougher than you would think. Additionally, the rolls don’t come cut up; they come in something called a “hand roll” which you can eat like a sandwich (sans chopsticks). It’s all very confusing. Anyway, this restaurant we went to was awesome and served “normal” sushi, so I was pretty happy. Had a number of glasses of wine as well, so it was another good night.
We ended up coming home Wednesday night instead of Friday as we finished up at the client site up there so there was no reason to stay. While it was nice to have a few nights in Sydney before having to fly out again, I wouldn’t have minded another night of good food and another night in a real bed.
Trip 3: Sydney->Gloucester->Sydney
After a few fun days back home in Sydney (which included the discovery of a bar which does free bubbly on Thursday nights, and a big Saturday night out), I was back on the road Monday morning. I was up at my standard 5:30am Monday morning start time and was on the road by 6am. This time I was driving to the mine site, which is not ideal. I would rather fly so that I can sleep on the way.
I rented a car for the 3.5 hour drive; my first experience driving on the left side of the road. For the most part it’s been ok as its actually more intuitive being on the wrong side when you are actually in the drivers seat (and not the passengers seat). I don’t have a problem remembering which side to drive on… the biggest issues are the turn signals (which are on the right side of the steering wheel) and the width of the car (I’m often drifting to the left part of the lane – I think because that’s where I’m used to being as a driver). Other than a near sideswipe of a poorly parked car 2 minutes from home, it’s been all good.
We drove to Gloucester because flying would actually take longer. The town is about an hour and a half west of Newcastle, which is about 2 hours north of Sydney. Once again, I was there to visit a coal mine. Monday and Tuesday it was just me and a 2nd year staff, and on Wednesday 2 more joined us.
We spent the day at the client before checking in to one of the more glamorous hotels I’ve ever stayed at; the “Gloucester Country Motel.” Now, to be fair, it was very clean and the owner was very nice, and I’ve heard its about 1000 times better than the other hotel in town (which apparently has the feel of a truck stop)…..but the décor was shocking. All the walls in the room were brick, and there was bedding which looked like it might be from 1960. I felt a little bit like I was in a castle…..but a ghetto castle. Once again when we checked in, we were given milk (just like at the hotel in Emerald). What is that? Is that normal?
We decided to check out the “town” of Gloucester for dinner Monday night. We were told that there were two restaurants; the one at the golf club attached to the motel and one in town. The pub in town actually wasn’t bad (better than the Tieri pub), but the town was depressing. I don’t know how anyone can live in a place like that. It’s a farm town I guess. Farm land in every direction (save for one coal mine) and one main street with some stores (which all close by 6). I got some looks walking into the pub…. I don’t think anyone could comprehend what I would possibly be doing there. We mixed it up on Tuesday night and tried the restaurant at the golf club. It was fine.
Wednesday was supposed to be a mine site tour, but since the mine is open cut and it was pouring (I mean POURING) rain, we didn’t get to go. It doesn’t rain here nearly as often as it does at home, but when it does, it comes down in sheets. That was a bit disappointing because the whole reason we stayed up in Gloucester for Wednesday was for the tour.
So that’s it. Back in Sydney now for a few days before hitting the road again next Monday. More to come from that experience, Im sure.
Trip 2: Sydney->Brisbane->Sydney
I’m getting used to waking up at 5:30am on Monday’s now…. Not cool. Last Monday, I flew up to Brisbane first thing in the morning and was at the client by 8:30am (which is 9:30am Sydney time – they don’t do daylight savings up north which is crazy because it literally gets light out at 4:30am). So at the start of my workday, I had already been awake for 4 hours. Ugh.
After Emerald and Tieri, Brisbane was like a holiday. We were in a really nice hotel right on the riverfront, which included an excellent free buffet breakfast. They also gave us all envelopes when we arrived, which turned out to be about 10 drink vouchers (each!) for the hotel bar! I was also pretty happy about the hotel bed; after weeks on an air mattress, a few nights in a huge lush king bed was pretty nice.
There were 5 of us up in Brisbane; me and 4 guys. We all went for a really nice meal at a steak house on Monday night. Thanks to the early morning and travel, I was feeling a bit like I had been hit by a bus by 5pm, but I managed to get past that. The free bar vouchers helped with that and I really enjoyed dinner.
I have never been to Brisbane before, so it’s nice to go out to some of the restaurants and get a feel for the place. Its’ definitely not somewhere I would want to live and its much smaller than I thought. It’s a similar size to Calgary I’ve been told, which surprised me. I was also under the misconception that Brisbane was on the ocean…. which it’s not. It’s on a river; the ocean and beaches are just close by. I guess it’s a good jump off place for a lot of wonderful beaches, but the city itself is quite small. There is a nice riverfront area with lots of restaurants and bars, but otherwise there really isn’t much to the place.
Tuesday night we went out for another nice dinner. I had previously been convinced that there was no good sushi in Australia, however this meal proved me wrong – it was one of the better sushi meals I’ve had in a long time. I think my problem with the standard Australian sushi is just that it’s different from what I’m used to. First off, all the rolls have cooked food in them…. I don’t want fried chicken in my sushi. And a cooked tuna roll? What the hell is that? Trying to get good spicy tuna or salmon sashimi is tougher than you would think. Additionally, the rolls don’t come cut up; they come in something called a “hand roll” which you can eat like a sandwich (sans chopsticks). It’s all very confusing. Anyway, this restaurant we went to was awesome and served “normal” sushi, so I was pretty happy. Had a number of glasses of wine as well, so it was another good night.
We ended up coming home Wednesday night instead of Friday as we finished up at the client site up there so there was no reason to stay. While it was nice to have a few nights in Sydney before having to fly out again, I wouldn’t have minded another night of good food and another night in a real bed.
Trip 3: Sydney->Gloucester->Sydney
After a few fun days back home in Sydney (which included the discovery of a bar which does free bubbly on Thursday nights, and a big Saturday night out), I was back on the road Monday morning. I was up at my standard 5:30am Monday morning start time and was on the road by 6am. This time I was driving to the mine site, which is not ideal. I would rather fly so that I can sleep on the way.
I rented a car for the 3.5 hour drive; my first experience driving on the left side of the road. For the most part it’s been ok as its actually more intuitive being on the wrong side when you are actually in the drivers seat (and not the passengers seat). I don’t have a problem remembering which side to drive on… the biggest issues are the turn signals (which are on the right side of the steering wheel) and the width of the car (I’m often drifting to the left part of the lane – I think because that’s where I’m used to being as a driver). Other than a near sideswipe of a poorly parked car 2 minutes from home, it’s been all good.
We drove to Gloucester because flying would actually take longer. The town is about an hour and a half west of Newcastle, which is about 2 hours north of Sydney. Once again, I was there to visit a coal mine. Monday and Tuesday it was just me and a 2nd year staff, and on Wednesday 2 more joined us.
We spent the day at the client before checking in to one of the more glamorous hotels I’ve ever stayed at; the “Gloucester Country Motel.” Now, to be fair, it was very clean and the owner was very nice, and I’ve heard its about 1000 times better than the other hotel in town (which apparently has the feel of a truck stop)…..but the décor was shocking. All the walls in the room were brick, and there was bedding which looked like it might be from 1960. I felt a little bit like I was in a castle…..but a ghetto castle. Once again when we checked in, we were given milk (just like at the hotel in Emerald). What is that? Is that normal?
We decided to check out the “town” of Gloucester for dinner Monday night. We were told that there were two restaurants; the one at the golf club attached to the motel and one in town. The pub in town actually wasn’t bad (better than the Tieri pub), but the town was depressing. I don’t know how anyone can live in a place like that. It’s a farm town I guess. Farm land in every direction (save for one coal mine) and one main street with some stores (which all close by 6). I got some looks walking into the pub…. I don’t think anyone could comprehend what I would possibly be doing there. We mixed it up on Tuesday night and tried the restaurant at the golf club. It was fine.
Wednesday was supposed to be a mine site tour, but since the mine is open cut and it was pouring (I mean POURING) rain, we didn’t get to go. It doesn’t rain here nearly as often as it does at home, but when it does, it comes down in sheets. That was a bit disappointing because the whole reason we stayed up in Gloucester for Wednesday was for the tour.
So that’s it. Back in Sydney now for a few days before hitting the road again next Monday. More to come from that experience, Im sure.
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