AC/DC

Well the AC/DC concert finally came around last night, having bought the tickets back in June last year. Although this bunch of ageing rockers aren't seen as that fashionable, they have been touring for over a year and playing to huge stadiums across the US and Europe, with their Australian tour also getting a lot of hype. This was their third and final show in Sydney.

I used to love the original band in the late 70's but had never followed them as much after the original singer died just over thirty years ago in 1980 (from alcohol!). Coming to Australia has exposed me to their music again as they are often played on the radio here (or at least the stations we listen to) and I was intrigued to see their show - having previously seen them in a small venue in Bristol in November 1979 and had ringing ears for 3 days afterwards!

Sue reluctantly agreed to come along with me and it helped that we had seats in the stands. They were playing at the Olympic Stadium and so the special events buses were in operation - a great system with routes across Sydney to try to reduce traffic chaos. In fact we ended up being the only ones on our bus all the way to the stadium due to the number and timing of the buses, but we felt very grand!

We missed the support acts but found out seats high in the stand about 30 minutes before the show started. It was a very hot night and almost packed out - an amazing view around the stadium, especially when the main lights went out.

In the end, I didn't enjoy the show as much as I expected, whereas Sue enjoyed it more than she thought she would (but this was helped by having ear plugs, as it was very loud!). It was an impressive spectacle and most of the songs were from 'my era', plus the lead guitarist is still quite incredible, particularly for his stamina in that heat. However, I still don't like the 'new' singer as much and being high in the stands lacked some atmosphere, but it wasn't a bad way to spend a Monday night!

Caroline's 18th and Laura leaves home

We've been an uncharacteristically 'sick' household for the past few weeks, with Sue still suffering from her shingles pain, and me having had bad toothache prior to dental treatment during the week. On top of that, Rebecca's had a bout of asthma, so we've been having a low key time of late and limited exercise. However, this past weekend has been an active one, with Laura going off to University and Caroline's 18th birthday on Saturday.

I took the day off work on Friday so that Sue and I could take Laura to Wollongong for her course enrolment and to move into her student accommodation. It was a hot day but the journey was reasonably fast at just over the 1.5 hour mark. Laura went off to enrol on her nursing course, where she's still classed as an international student due to our visa type, but it seems to cause all sorts of problems with the system!

Sue and I had a walk around the botanic gardens which is next to the University campus and then met up with Laura after she'd finished her tasks. The campus is very green and open, on the outskirts of the town and at the base of a large hill / escarpment that dominates the landscape and coastline.

We then found her student accommodation, eventually, and moved the first load of 'things' into the room - quite spacious and comfortable enough. She's living in 'flexi-catered' accommodation for this first year and the largest one for the university, so lots of students around and it all seems very welcoming.

We all then returned home for a takeaway family meal in the evening, prior to Caroline's birthday the next day. Saturday was spent busy preparing for the party Caroline was having at the house in the evening and Rebecca also started her new job at a pharmacy chain in the local shopping mall in the afternoon. The party went off well, with about 35 friends turning up - it was noisy and we were glad when it was finished but Caroline enjoyed it and there wasn't too much to clear up afterwards!

Then on Sunday we all drove back down to Wollongong to leave Laura there with the rest of her stuff. We had a quick look at the local beach, which is near to the accommodation, and then left her to sort her room out before various social events started in the afternoon. She's really looking forward to getting started and making new friends and it seems like she's picked a good environment to live and study, which gives her the independence away from home, but not too far away.

Permanent visa application

With just over a year to go on our temporary visa, we are posting off our application for a permanent visa today, with a big file of paperwork heading off to Adelaide.

After getting the confirmation on sponsorship from the NSW Government, I have had to compile a lot more forms and information about us and the business, as well as get the accounts redone for a different 12-month period - since the length of time to get the sponsorship meant that the accounts period fell outside the required time period for the main application. We also had to get a lot of paperwork certified, but there is a good free service at the library each Saturday where JPs will do this for you (and it took a few visits to get all the items done).

There are little things that arise during the process that I hadn't considered in advance, such as the accounts period being different and the time it takes to get police checks done, both in Australia and the UK. We have been waiting for the latter ones for the past 2 weeks to get everything finalised and so we should have sent off our requests for these sooner with some better planning! It's also been a tight process to get everything in before Caroline turns 18 in two weeks' time, as that would mean a further batch of forms to be completed, but it's possible we may still need to do this is the application isn't reviewed until after this time.

Hopefully the application won't get lost in the post so that we have to do it all again! Not sure how long it's going to take now and we're hoping we don't all have to get medicals and X-rays done again, especially as Laura will be in Wollongong soon. It's now just a case of wait and see, and eventually we will have some certainty, one way or the other!

Washout

This past weekend seems to have been a continual rain storm / shower, with Saturday being the worst - apparently over 70mm fell in Sydney over a 24 hour period, and northern NSW is also under flood alerts. Which means that Lesley & Dave timed their visit here very well, and we had a quiet weekend indoors!

The Olvers in Sydney

Lesley and Dave have been here for 5 days, on their way to a longer stay in NZ. They arrived last Tuesday morning - Australia Day - after having spent a few days in Hong Kong. The day turned out hot and sunny and we took them to the city to enjoy the events going on around The Rocks and on the harbour, and then enjoyed some fish & chips on the beach at Balmoral on the way home.

The rest of the week was a good chance for us to do the tourist trail again and show them the sights. The weather forecast had been mixed but turned out pretty well in the end and every day was hot. We went up the coast on Wednesday to Palm Beach, where we walked up to the lighthouse and were lucky (?) to be able to watch a scene from 'Home & Away' being filmed by the beach.

Sue decided to take it easy at home on Thursday so Laura and I took the Olvers to the city again where we had a wander around, went up the tower for a view and walked along the bridge before heading back again on the Manly ferry. Friday was a trip to the Eastern Suburbs and South Head, with a great lunch at Doyle's in Watsons Bay and then an afternoon dip in the sea at Bondi, which was lovely and the waves not too strong!

On their final day we took them on the Spit - Manly walk to get them prepared for some hiking in NZ! It was a hot day and walk, but some great views and a good way to finish their stay. The past week has been a holiday for us as much as Lesley & Dave and it's been great to have them here, even for a short time. They departed for Christchurch early on Sunday morning for a 3-week stay there.