Letter to my friends

Well after about 10 weeks here I can honestly say we’ve settled in nicely. For about 7 of those weeks we were somewhere in cyberspace between iinet and Optus. Its funny but one really feels disconnected without the net. Jenny especially got so desperate for stimulation she went out and found a casual job at [a school] here.

I enjoyed doing nothing for once, being incommunicado from [my previous boss] while I did not have broadband. However once I did get a broadband connection hooked up, there were too many things to do in a short time. I had to do a few things for [the old job], after hours, then two assignments for the LPAB, Jenny’s 40th (!) happened somewhere in between the two, all in the last three weeks. Finally I can once again catch my breath.

We were fortunate enough to find this place in Canberra that’s fitted our needs really well, as much as spoiling us in terms of proximity to everywhere.

The kids walk to school, or at least they did when Jenny wasn’t working. As they say you have to be careful what you wish for. They have settled in nicely. Deep down in every parent is a wish their kids are half-smart, so it was with some dismay that we heard from Euan's new teacher that she felt Euan's skills were not up to Year 1 standard. But that disappointment did not last long, I was more annoyed (incensed) about the lack of governance at their previous school which allowed the teacher to get Euan to Year 1 without the requisite literacy. But after our chat with his teacher in the new school, we felt she was being constructive. Jenny and I have had to confront our own shortcomings in bringing up Euan as the “baby”. Funny thing is Euan is adamant he will not drop down a year. We shall see how much progress he can make in the next three months. Poor kid, under pressure at such an early age. Whatever makes him happy is fine with me, but I am somewhat surprised how seriously the little man has applied himself to learning how to read and write.

Caitlin has settled in well without any social issues, which for a little girl, means the world.

We are taking Canberra as an unfolding pleasure. Most Sundays we go to church, then leave the kids in Sunday school for an hour, and Jenny and I wander around Manuka and have a coffee and browse the bookshops or the music store. The music store is actually a real gem, good value and selection. After that we go for a drive wherever we fancy. We try and do a different thing each weekend.

Going out has been quite a treat as well. We’ve had very good meals at a Thai, Chinese, and a pizza place! All at very good prices. Karen visited Canberra and I took her to “Chairman and the Yip” which has modern Chinese. We had the degustation menu and one of the dishes was “Patagonian Toothfish”. I Googled that fish with some anxiety when I got back and found it was not endangered – merely overfished. I though the dish exquisite but Mother Nature exacted sweet revenge, giving me gas for a week.

Did I mention how fresh the air is here? Back when it was not so cold we used to drive with the windows down just to smell the air.

Winter has set in. Tomorrow we are expecting snow in Canberra. For the kids sake I hope it eventuates but the novelty might wear off quickly if tennis lessons are not cancelled tomorrow.

Jenny has seen the folly of her ways – she has decided to be a kept woman and wake up at the crack of lunch. But she is mulling over her options right now, and I think may well step away from teaching, given a chance.

We’ve settled into the house. Almost everything is in its place. What isn’t, will stay in boxes until the next move. Its my first experience in Australia of being so close to the city, and I fear I will never be the same again. This is how life is meant to be. Jenny and I have a joke – I ring her in the afternoon saying "I’ll be home late – you can expect me there at 6.30pm!". Far cry from some late nights at [the old jobs]!

I work with [my new job], and I can commend to you the good men and women of this organisation who keep planes from flying into one another. The dedication is humbling. It is a body incorporated by statute, answerable to the Minister for Transport, and its mandate is to ensure safety “airside”. Once again Michael your words have been prophetic. You warned me that SAP was not a tool so much as a factory. Our systems here are a bit like that. We have about 3 million flights a year, and billing has been automated to the extent we have just this one person pushing a button at the end of the month, generating $700M in revenue. Ironically there is not one person in the organisation who has a grasp of our system end to end!

I work in the [new work] area reporting to the manager. Pay is good thus far which is nice as our place in Normanhurst has suddenly required a lot of repairs. Now and then I do get a glimpse into the Public Service. There is the biggest trough here with the old-fashioned company car scheme. It’s as if I stepped back in time before FBT. However I am in a good team and there is plenty of scope. I do not have much at all to do with accounting these days, my focus being on transactional processing and shared services systems. I do not miss debits and credits one bit, but occasionally I do a reconciliation for the accountants here just to make myself feel good.

[My travelling friends] - I have been following your travel journals with great interest. You will have such a lot of memories and some very different perspectives when you do come back. That may well turn out to be a challenge upon the eventual return. I must look up Petra on the net. That must have been a magnificent experience. [Our previous boss] sends his regards.

[My Sydney friends] I am not sure when I can meet up again. Whenever we are in Sydney our relations pull us in every direction. Perhaps you should come down to Canberra for a visit!!!

I have been remiss in not keeping in touch, but thoughts have never been far.

With warmest regards

Canberra 10 weeks on

9 1/2 Weeks. Today it is 9 1/2 Weeks since we moved to Canberra.

After more than a decade in Sydney, we had had enough. Just getting around was hard. Both Jen and I had good jobs, but our stress balance seemed to be larger than our bank balance.

So it came to a point of exasperation one night, followed by a flash of inspiration - why not Canberra? One of those monumentally significant decisions one arrives at in 2 seconds.

9 months later, we were commuting up and down the Monaro Highway. I had resigned from my job in St Leonards, but kept up a part time presence. In between we were travelling to Canberra, alternating between looking for a job and looking for a house.

Another 4 weeks later, we had found a job, a school for the kids, and a house to rent. That is another story for another night!

Every night I marvel that we are happy. I fulfilled my old wish of not having a TV. We connect through the 'net. The children don't seem to want for stimulation. They don't ask for the TV. I no longer see the bored and glazed and overstimulated look in their eyes I used to see. More than that is they are happy.

I ask Jenny, as if to pinch myself, how can this be? Maybe it comes from how Jen and I have settled in here being so happy with where we are. We're country folk. There's more time to "be" rather than "do". Ironically the "do" part is easier as well. I am finding my studies are easier. Right at the moment we are in "balance". That spills over into home life, how we are with the kids. They probably have seen and been with me more in the last 2 months than they ever have been, even when we have been on holidays. In fact that's how they feel: we're on holidays!

Canberra is such a lovely spot. I love the bare branches on the trees. They have this elegant simplicity about them silhoutted against clear cold skies. It is winter after all, and you've got to have that wintry look. I love walking up to the bus stop and looking at the trees and skies and sometimes seeing the odd hot air balloon rising above the city. How good is that?

Our first nights here I could not believe how silent it was at 8 at night. Even in the wee hours in Sydney it never got that quiet. Here it's dead silent.

The air's so fresh we drive with our windows down for the smell of it, when we can stand the cold.

When I have more time I'll have to go into this more. For tonight, I have my assignment to complete in Real Property. Oh joy.