Dan's Blog

A day out of Newman

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:26:00 +0000

Yesterday I decided I’ve been in Newman long enough so I took my work car (with prior approval, naturally) out of town to do some exploring. I arose relatively early, fuelled up on a proper breakfast (egg, bacon, sausage, beans, mushroom, tomato, hash brown, and a glass of juice - see below) and got ready to go. My electric frying pan actually claims to be a Family Banquet Frypan, but apparently an Australian banquet equates roughly to a large English breakfast - and I’m sure I would have comfortably filled it if I’d had a second egg and hash brown.

After my breakfast and a brief stop off at the Newman Visitor Centre (open 7 days a week) for a map with GPS co-ordinates and an access road permit, I hit the road.

My first (and as it turns out only real) stop was at Wanna Munna - about 74km up the highway from Newman. Wanna Manna has ancient Aboriginal rock carvings and a permanent pool. I successfully navigated here and drove along the short dirt track to get to the pool, and it was quite stunning. Below is a panorama shot I took of the pool, with the rocks in the background.

To really see the carvings (essentially very old graffiti) on the rocks, it’s necessary to climb over them and look for them. Amazingly, almost every rock has some sort of markings on them, and all you have to do is take a look around to find some. I took some (possibly too many) photos of the rocks, including playing with the fancy options on my camera to tweak the colours (possibly a mistake). Anyway, I have embedded my photos I took from Wunna Munna below.

After spending some time looking around Wunna Munna I headed back to Newman. I stopped off home to eat some lunch and restock my supplies (the grapes I was munching for the car ride) and then headed off for the afternoon to Kalgan’s Pool - keen readers may remember I went there when I did my 4WD DTEC course last year.

After turning off the road to get to the pool, I headed along the same way we took last year but quickly came to a stumbling block. The riverbed we had driven across looked pretty soft and there were some deep tyre tracks in it. I stopped the car and got out to inspect it. It seemed pretty solid underfoot so I proceeded to drive slowly onto it. The car then went about 3 metres before completely digging into the sand.

I then flagged down a passing car who towed me out (thank you everyone in the Pilbara for carrying 4WD rescue equipment “just in case”) and I took a longer was around. Along the route there were some shallow streams that hadn’t been there when I went last year, so each time I gout out of my car, inspected them, walked through them before picking a route and driving through. On one (probably only about 1km from the actual pool - bearing in mind it’s about 25km off the road), the water was murky, it was a longer crossing and I didn’t really want to get in it to check.

Despite that I knew for a fact the car that had towed me out had gone through not long prior, I decided I didn’t want to risk it in a vehicle I don’t actually own and decided to go home instead. Since I hadn’t brought my swimmers and was mainly taking the trip for the 4WD experience, this wasn’t actually a disappointment for me at all. So I reversed to a convenient spot and took the 90 minute drive back.

All in all it was a pretty interesting experience. I’ve found that I’ve now become an incredibly nervous 4 wheel driver - definitely not the same as before I had my accident, but I’m happy to take it all at my own speed and to draw a line when I’m scared rather than to get reckless about it. After I got back to Newman though I got back on my bike and went for a long cycle - I came to the conclusion on the ride that I’m definitely a road cyclist and not an off-road driver. All in all it wasn’t bad for a day’s action though.

No tricks, this is an actual Google search. Thank you very much,...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:25:38 +0000

No tricks, this is an actual Google search. Thank you very much, Google.

Back on my own saddle

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:40:00 +0000

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned on here, but I’ve recently invested in a late Christmas present for myself - a 2011 Avanti Giro 4, and I’ve taken a photo of it which you can see below.

After waiting patiently for my helmet to arrive (stupid Australian helmet laws - don’t even get me started…) I’ve managed to ride it the past two days. I’m very impressed with it; it goes like a rocket when I put my foot down, and I’m sure it’ll be even quicker once I get the engine back in shape. In order to log my progress, thanks to the wonderful suggestion of Edd (as all of his suggestions invariably are) I have created an account on Strava and learned about a whole world of features on my satnav that I didn’t know existed.

So in short, Strava makes pretty graphs and maps of my cycling - so that I can see exactly how fast I cycled the whole way along my rides, and this will enable me to easily criticise my performance when I find out that it isn’t improving with time. For anyone else who also wants to be critical, I’ve added a widget to the left of my blog so you can see exactly where I’ve been cycling and how quickly I did it.

And just for sh*ts and giggles, I’ve also embedded the ride I had this evening below…

Usually when I see adverts for companies with just one store...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:33:00 +0000

Usually when I see adverts for companies with just one store based in small towns in WA, they’re pretty terrible. Today I saw this one for a shop called Totally Workware and I was actually quite impressed with it. If I was a tradie in Geraldton I would definitely swing by. (The company actually seems to have a history of pretty good adverts actually because YouTube also suggested I view this one.)

"What? Like pancakes?"

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:01:00 +0000

“What? Like pancakes?”

- - Everyone whom I’ve told about my flapjacks from yesterday.

How have I gone my whole life without knowing that Americans (and hence Australians) call their pancakes ‘flapjacks’?! This completely changes the scene for me in Groundhog Day (what was the popular culture reference for a day repeating itself before Groundhog Day?) when Bill Murray gets pulled over by the police after driving down the railroad tracks.

Sophie Dahl, your flapjack recipe does not work.

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:27:00 +0000

Yesterday I decided that a good way to use up some of my left over baking stuff would be to bake flapjacks and throw in a bunch of stuff. So I looked up recipes and decided on Sophie Dahl’s golden flapjacks recipe. Sophie Dahl - and I actually knew this - is Roald Dahl’s grand-daughter (although Dahl isn’t her real surname, but I imagine it’s better than whatever her mother’s surname was after she married) and she’s a model turned Jamie Cullum (some sort of singer/pianist who actually lives in Bath)’s wife. She also did a series of cookery shows where I believe she tried to muscle in on the Nigella market a bit.

Anyway, I bought the necessary ingredients, used the rest of my cherries from the fridge and a load of raisins I had from by brownie recipe, and used dried apricots instead of mango. I baked the recipe - an incredibly easy process actually - scored the flapjacks and left them to cool. When I tried to take them out of the dish, I found they were way to soft still. So I put them in the fridge and tried again later, but they were still falling apart too much.

So I’m left with really tasty flapjacks that I am forced to eat by just scooping it out with my hands because the mixture’s just not bonded at all. Now I’m not complaining too much because they are lovely, but it’s a shame I can’t cut them up like I’d hoped. I think next time I’ll line the dish before spooning the mixture in, and Sophie Dahl should stick to modelling/hanging around with friendly giants (fun fact - the main character in the BFG (the little girl, not the giant) was named after her).

Above you can see the tasty flapjacks, but notice on the right hand side where I’ve tried to dig them out how it’s just not sticking together like I’d hope.

"Well that would be ‘cherry’."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:56:05 +0000

“Well that would be ‘cherry’.”

- - One of my colleagues when I was explaining that the spelling “Sheree” is very Australian, whereas I’d spell that name “Cherie”.

They do it with lots of names though… “Sharnee”, “Shaani” (funnily enough pronounced the same), Shaynee, Stevie, Renae, Reece (and yeah I’ve seen it spelt like that in the UK too but it still seems wrong and I get vacant looks when I spell it Rhys here). It’s almost as if no one looks up baby names and they just spell them phonetically.

Today’s Australia day, and apparently it’s...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:50:09 +0000

Today’s Australia day, and apparently it’s unAustralian not to eat meat. I have no idea who this guy is, but apparently it was a minor big thing when he released his national address earlier this month.

And for anyone wanting a slightly more blue Australia Day message (caution: very strong language in places), check out this video.

Casa de Dan!

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:02:00 +0000

I’ve been meaning to put these up for a while, so without further ado - below are photos I’ve just taken of the inside of my place here in Newman…

Complaining's the same in any language.

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:59:00 +0000

Earlier this week I took advantage of the 27 year high the Aussie Dollar’s experiencing against the Pound and transferred a significant amount of money back home. During the process I had some grief from my bank, being pushed from pillar to post with various issues transferring such a large amount of money - this was coupled with a lightning strike that’s taken my local branch out of action until further notice.

This afternoon I phoned them asking how to close my accounts because I don’t like their service - I’m paying for an account and receiving a level of service that no British bank would dream of giving me (and I should know, I’ve had accounts with most of them to take advantage of their various promotions). As a result of this 10 minute call they’ve now waived all fees on my account until July and given me a bonus 1.5% interest rate until June. I might now reconsider closing the account for a few months…

In the next hour my apparent IQ will take a hit.

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:41:00 +0000

Within the next hour, the English language Wikipedia will be taken down for a 24 hour period as part of a protest. It’s worth reading the reasons for this on that link if you have the time because - apart from anything else - I thought it was quite interesting.

Nevertheless, I’m definitely going the way of the above XKCD comic strip for a day. That is unless I can very quickly master another language…

"It's miserable weather outside..."

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:15:03 +0000

Over the past week, we’ve had rain in Newman. Like, a lot of rain. It’s been pretty non-stop, and so the creeks are all filling up, the roads are being flooded and closed and some of the minesites have been evacuated a few times this week.

According to the Australian Beareau of Meteorology, on Tuesday there was almost as much rain at Newman Airport as one would expect in October in London (apparently our wettest month). So it’s not all deadly levels of UV rays here in the summer…

Still, I can now fall back on the phrase that’s so deeply embedded in my British culture … “it’s miserable weather outside”.

Potential Gold Medal Winner

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:30:47 +0000

I read a cycling article on the Guardian this morning, and I was left a little confused by the following passage;

With sport cycling expected to do well at the Olympics – with a potential gold medal winner at the Games’ opening event, Mark Cavendish in the road race – 2012 could be the year when cycling goes “top of mind”

Surely every competitor in that race is a potential gold medal winner, so why have they singled Cav out in this article? Nevertheless, with his string of achievements last year, I doubt that one more will be the tipping point that makes cycling “top of mind”.

Anyway, good to see more positive press for cycling. Let’s just hope it doesn’t all simply drive morons onto two wheels on the road just to get themselves killed.

"Oh, that’s where that comes from."

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:25:04 +0000

“Oh, that’s where that comes from.”

- - One of the people who complained that we still have Christmas decorations up in our office at work.

I’d explained to her that decorations should be kept up until the Twelfth Night (“…there are twelve days of Christmas. You must have heard the song?”). Apparently Australians have no idea about Christmas traditions.

Back in Newman

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:37:00 +0000

After very busy, really great week back at home followed by an entirely uneventful journey back to Newman, I am now back at my house.

Thanks to the shortest queues I have ever seen at Heathrow’s security checks (I literally walked straight through to the front of the queue at the X-ray machine) I had plenty of time to sit and enjoy the last British pint I’ll have for several months (see below) at the Bridge Bar and Eating House in Heathrow’s Terminal 3. Thankfully the security was quick, because the bar staff at Bridge certainly weren’t in any hurry to serve people either promptly or quickly.

55 hours after leaving my home in Newman...

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:45:00 +0000

… I am home in Wallington. That is all.

Qantas Club Lounge

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:38:00 +0000

Courtesy of the wonderful cabin crew I had yesterday I secured a couple of vouchers entitling me to entry into the Qantas Club lounge, so I am currently sitting in a lovely leather armchair in Singapore airport with a complimentary copy of The Times, a complimentary copy of The FT, a complimentary coffee and a complimentary beer using the complimentary wireless internet with a TV showing the cricket in the background.

If I get the urge, I can walk over and look down on the poor people who can’t get into a lounge milling around the airport below, but I’m really too comfortable to go and do that. Unfortunately I’m told my flight is running half an hour late, but frankly this doesn’t bother me as long as I’m in here. The rich really do have it good.

Also, as an aside and an addendum to my post yesterday, I sent a massively complimentary email with my feedback on the cabin crew I flew with yesterday to Qantas this morning and after discussing it during take off with one of the crew just now (unfortunately not in Business Class, but in an exit row with plenty of leg room nonetheless) apparently my feedback will be passed on to the staff in question and a note will be made on their employee records. I know I have a reputation in some circles for complaining a lot, but it’s really great that my positive feedback also counts towards things from time to time.

And further to above, I am now drinking a complimentary beer because I finished the coffee. Nice.

Not, unfortunately, in London.

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:38:57 +0000

So many people may know that today I was flying to London. Currently I should be sitting in Singapore airport waiting for a connecting flight to Heathrow. This morning shortly after posting my blog post, I got a lift from a colleague to Newman airport. After checking in, passing through security and waiting in the departure lounge, the plane landed as expected half an hour before I was due to fly out.

An announcement was then made to say that due to a mechanical failure on this plane, the flight would not take off on time. An engineer was flown up from Perth on the next flight, landing at 13:10 (bearing in mind the flight was supposed to leave at 09:35). Since my connecting flight from Perth to Singapore left at 15:35, this immediately made my chances of making that flight very slim. To cut a long emotional roller coaster of a morning story short, I was unable to change flights, Qantas could only book me on the same flight 24 hours later to Singapore and on to London, and my travel insurance company told me that couldn’t help with anything.

I was left wondering why I bothered with travel insurance, whether I’d ever fly Qantas again and how I’d cope landing in Heathrow at 5am on Christmas morning. At this point a pair of wonderful girls in Qantas cabin crew uniform stepped up and offered to help with my problem. Unfortunately they couldn’t, but they really tried their best to help and they all seemed to feel genuinely disappointed that my trip to London would be delayed by so much.

When we finally got onto the plane (at around 16:00) I was directed to a seat in row 2 - business class - for my troubles. After take-off I was given a glass (yes, not plastic - did I mention I was in business class?) of cold water with a cold towel. We were then shortly served drinks and breakfast. Every time my glass(!) was almost empty the stewardess appeared with another can of beer for me, and towards the end of the flight she came and gave me the rest of the beers from her cupboard (“for the evening at your hotel”). I was also given vouchers for the Qantas Club lounge both times when I pass through Singapore, and some very generous vouchers for the inflight duty free products.

After getting off the plane and picking up my bag, the Qantas desk gave me two taxi vouchers and told me where my hotel was for the night - the Burswood Holiday Inn. So I’m currently sitting in a hotel room with two queen sized beds, having just eaten a T-bone steak from room service, using the hotel internet connection (whatever Qantas hasn’t covered in my bill I’m going to make damn sure the travel insurance does cover). And since I was signing the taxi voucher for the driver (ironically Chris Rea’s Driving Home for Christmas was on his radio as I climbed in), Qantas gave him a shockingly generous tip for his troubles.

So what could have been one of the most depressing days for me has turned into not too bad a day. I give all credit for this to the cabin crew of my flight who rocked up to Newman expecting to work for a 90 minute flight but ended up going absolutely above and beyond for a full 9 hours straight of amazing customer service. Also credit should probably be given to the two engineers who flew up to Newman to stand around on the runway with their heads in the undercarriage of the plane in the midday (44°C) sun for about 3 hours fixing the plane’s problem.

Unfortunately I have been forced to miss the evening in the pub I organised a month ago, but I will be home for most of Christmas. I usually refuse to do this, but I’m going to ask quite forceably for an upgrade to business class again for my inconvenience. Presumably if I keep my eyes peeled out of the window, I might even see the big guy pass the plane in his sleigh.

London, I’ll see you in 30 hours. That is all.

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:03:05 +0000

London, I’ll see you in 30 hours. That is all.

The xnerp.co.uk Jeweller of the Decade Award

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:05:00 +0000

It’s that time of year where some of the great awards announcements are made; including The BBC Sports Personality of the Year, The Christmas Number One and of course, the Foot in Mouth Awards. But today I make history by adding to this list of most illustrious awards by presenting the first (and probably final) decennial xnerp.co.uk Jeweller of the Decade Award.

After very careful consideration of a shortlist containing more than none and fewer than a lot of names, I have decided to present this award to Tom McDowell of Tom McDowell Design. Some of my regular readers may have already heard of Tom, but for any of the uninitiated, there is much more to him than simply a dashing young man with a penchant for Christmas songs.

Tom is a former colleague of mine, and I have been fortunate enough not only to work with him but also to sing, dance and on occasion haver with him. Tom has been by my side during some of the pivotal moments in my life; the time when I stroked David Hasselhoff’s leg (true story), the time when Steve set the bar unbelievably high for pre-wedding celebration drunkenness, the first time I saw the movie Beerfest, and one time when I was somewhat nauseated on a moving coach whilst asleep.

And Tom is a jeweller. Not in a gay way though; Tom makes metal lions. I have been fortunate enough to actually witness the genius of Tom’s design first-hand. One time in the pub Tom was commissioned to make a pair of bespoke ear-rings, and as Gemma (the customer) described what she wanted, Tom stared pensively into the middle distance before declaring, “yes”. Tom then went on to make those ear-rings (pictured below) and according to Facebook, Gemma “likes” them.

Up until this point, Tom’s greatest achievements arguably include exhibiting in the Barbican, drinking beers with names starting with all 26 letters of the alphabet, winning the Stephen Maer award, being able to carry a pint of beer with just his mouth and no hands, and recently being named Cooksongold Jewellery’s Designer of the Month.

When Tom announced via Facebook that he’d won this last honour, he described himself as being “very happy”. I have a feeling that when he learns of this latest accolade he will figuratively soil himself with excitement. This latest feather in his cap will surely eclipse all of these previous achievements - for one thing, there are no fewer than 120 months in a decade.

So for anyone interested in seeing more of Tom’s work, there is a gallery on his website, and thanks to modern technology, you an become a fan of his work with just one click over at his Facebook page. I believe he is available for commissions, and he will dance for cookies and/or beer.

So well done, Tom. A celebratory plaque (or just some text) will be mounted on the left side of this page whenever I can be bothered to bolt it on, and you will be presented with a low value Australian scratch card (if I remember) at the pub next week.