Borobudur

One I forgot to post from the Borobodur Temple in Java....

I will probably black and white it at some point in the future in an attempt to make it more 'arty'.

Random Stuff

I have had a couple of requests to do part 2 of 'When Sam Met Lucy', unfortunately I am finding it difficult to find the time. Blogging is very hard when you have to travel for half an hour to the nearest internet cafe.

Tomorrow I travel from Sydney to Montreal to complete a piece of work for my old company (for one week). When I was sent the work order, it gave my duties as: Day 1, handover and meetings; Days 2-5 observing the furnace.

Basically I will be spending 4 days peering into a furnace at 1500 degrees C. I have a strange job sometimes.

Heat is not my issue at the moment though. My issue is that it will be -15C this weekend in Canada. It is summer here in Sydney, and all I have is my backpacking stuff which I used to travel through Indonesia. This leaves me with a problem. Its mot very easy to buy clothes to withstand -15C when you are in a county at 30C.

As my Dad pointed out the other day, when I land in Montreal, I will have travelled all of the way round the world this year (given that I was in Montreal in June). Pretty cool. Its a shame I hate flying. I have the beauty of actually landing 2 hours before I set off.

Further news. I have somewhere to live. this is the view from my living room:

Unfortunately I now dont have any furniture and/or money. So if anyone wants to donate any of either - let me know.

Table for One Please

Whilst in my old job, I spent quite a lot of time travelling to different places (usually chicken factories in Northern Ireland, or steel foundries in Gateshead). during this time, I became very familiar with dining alone (you gotta eat!). I mention this, as since my arrival in Sydney I have had to do this a couple of times to escape the monotony of sitting in a room with my book, or watching the local, badly tuned in (why are they always like this in hostels/hotels?) television.

I have spoken about this to a few of my friends (and my girlfriend) who are horrified that I do this. They would never even consider going into a pub or a restaurant without someone with them. I even have frineds who won't enter a bar on their own when meeting people, in case they are first. they have to meet outside. 'I always feel sorry for the guys who are eating on their own', is the usual comment.

Dont, is my response. Take one look into the eyes of that guy sat in his suit on his fourth pint of local ale, digging into his Chicken Madras. What you will see is peace.

This is the only time he gets to truly empty his mind, and think about what he wants to think about, such as Steve McLarens tactical mistakes, or whether to get the new iPod touch or not, or whether 50 midgets really would be able to overcome a lion in hand-to-hand combat (a common discussion topic amongst my friends, and one which causes many arguments). Plus he gets to eat what he likes, and drink as much as he wants. The true beauty of it all is that it is usually on company money!

While eating out on my own, I have spent an entire evening in Amsterdam (the only person in the restaurant) talking to the waitress about her children and getting loads of free drinks, I have sampled some enormous steaks in Northern Ireland, and more recently I went on a full night out in Bali on my own (not company paid for might I add), rolling in at 5am, talking with an Australian entrepeneur and leaving after refusing to go on to an after club-club.

But mostly at the moment, I just sit and eat spicy pizza, drink beer and think about Lucy.

So here's to the single diners.

And Then There Was One

I stayed in the hostel last night to watch the Australian election results roll in. After 11 and a half years in power, Howard's coalition government has been dramatically displaced by the Rudd Labor party. I don't pretend to know anything about Australian domestic politics, but commentary suggests that it was Howard's lack of 'contemporary' policy which lost him the voters, and in particular a couple of larger issues including lack of action over climate change.

As a country so dramatically and obviously affected by climate change in areas such as water shortage and in effects on Australian national institutions such as eucalyptus survival, and damage to the Great Barrier Reef (advice is see it while you can), and for a country with such a reputation for environmental beliefs, I always found it strange that the Australian government had not ratified the Kyoto protocol. And it seems that Australian people (particularly the young)were somewhat confused by this also:

While setting up a new bank account with a local Sydney branch, the lady going through the application noticed my new job title "Climate Change Consultant". She enquired what it entailed, and I politely informed her that I went out to factories and large companies and provided advice to them in how to reduce their carbon emissions (mainly through energy efficiency and good management techniques). She asked me the very frank question "how do you think the Australians stack up against the rest of the world?" I gave her the honest answer of "I haven't got much experience of Australia yet, but I think they are around 5 years behind the Europeans". She went into a long monalogue about her frustration at the governments refusal to ratify Kyoto and take action on climate change - frankly surprising me with her understanding and concern for the issues.

Watching the elections and the commentary on the political mood of a nation, the Australian attitude reminded me of the British popular opinion of two years ago. For all of the faults of Blair's government (mainly with respect to foreign policy), Blair spotted this change of popular opinion some time ago, and begun to initiate change (though you might question how successful it has been). Howard did not, and he paid with his job (and his party paid).

Blair has managed to put in motion some political reforms and has presided over the implementation of a number of emissions 'cap and trade' schemes including the climate change levy and the EU emissions trading scheme. And he was there at the inception of the renewable transport obligation and climate reduction commitment (that the British people will hear much about over the next 5 years or so). Personally I think more investment should have been made into capital grants schemes, and into improvements in planning policy to favour renewable energy schemes. Professionally however, the inception of these trading schemes have meant massive workloads for consultancies such as the one I work for.

So one of Rudd's election promises here in Australia has been the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Which means that if my experience in climate change and energy consultancy over the last four years are anything to go by - the company I am about to go and work for will experience a massive rise in workload over coming months and years. Which is pretty significant, as it appears to me that it is the only reputable large company in Australia to be undertaking these types of projects.

In order to see the other concequence of the Australian government change on climate change politics cast your eyes on the linked map.

So I wonder. Will Bush heed the story of Howard and pay more attention to 'contemporary' politics? I wonder if Howard's story will be repeated on a larger scale.

Though of course Afghanistan hasn't ratified yet, so why should America.

Beginners Guide to Moving Country

Ok, so here I am in Sydney. I have learnt a large number of lessons in the last three or four days, largely through doing some extremely stupid things. So here is my guide to moving country (to Australia) based largely upon the things that I DIDN'T do:

1. Firstly, remember to call your bank to tell them that you are leaving. This way they wont cancle your cash card upon your arrival in Asia (en route), thus landing you in all kinds of crap!
2. Secondly, dont put your cash card in any Asian ATMs not attached to banks (discovered by my friend Pete), as if the machine swallows your card and then switches itself off, you will NEVER get it back. You will have to get a taxi to the nearest major city (using money you don't have - which why you were at the ATM at the first place), and then they will charge you to come out and fetch your card from THEIR faulty machine. Best just to cancel the card.
3. While on the subject of banks, make sure you set up a foreign account (in this case Australian) before you leave. Its not too easy to set up an account in a country where you have no address.
4. Always make sure you have accomodation booked if you are going to Sydney. This will save wandering around for six hours in 30 degree heat with a 20kg backpack on.
5. Never arrive in a new country during tourist high season - THERE IS NOWHERE TO STAY.
6. Never arrive in a city with a housing crisis on - THERE IS NOWHERE TO LIVE.
7. Investigate where you want to live before you land. This will save around 4 days of wandering from street to street.
8. Save up approximately $8 billion before arrival. (Deposit - $2,000, two months rent $2,500, Hotels $500, New Mac - $1600, Travel - $200, Intenet Cafes for blogging -$50, setting up a new bank account - $2,000 required, new furniture at least $1,000 as every property is unfurnished. That makes $8 billion right?
9. On the subject of banks, be aware that Oz banks charge you for EVERYTHING. To get money out of your account, to pay a cheque in. Even to get money over the counter from you own branch is $5. And dont expect any interest unless you have Bill Gates bank balance.
10. dont expect any help from Real Estate Agents. They are even bigger sh*ts that they are in the UK. Basically then can rent out any property at any price they want and still fill it. therefore they dont have to (and refuse to) work very hard. Expect them to take around 3 days before rejecting you application for a property (yes - you have to apply).

Well thats that off my chest. I am off on another wander to try to find somewhere to live. will keep you posted.