The Magpie Solution

Today was the day to try my new zip ties. I half-heartedly zipped up two of them on my bike helmet like dorky antennae. I was pretty ambivalent about the experiment until I mounted my trusty bike and started on my route. As I biked along, something came over me and I realized the excitement of what was about to happen. I was soon to be victorious against my daily attacker(s) like a mini 'woman versus wild' episode. I felt kind of like a soldier going in to a easily winnable war, and instead of antennae I was wearing feather-plumed battle regalia. (yes, i'm melodramatic)




I approached the corner where my normal attacker lives and easily glided through his territory, with not even a glimpse of him or his nasty shadow. I couldn't believe it! He must have seen me from his nest or close to it, saw my triumphant plumage, and refused to fight! I was absolutely ecstatic, to say the least. :) I am proud to say, my eyes will remain safely in their sockets.

Spring Has Sprung…right upside my head

You may have seen the photo I posted on Facebook showing a stalking magpie on my route to work.



I thought at the time that it was an anomaly, just one crazy bird. Since then I have learned it is quite common here. We are now in full blown Spring season, and magpies everywhere are defending their nests. It seems their favorite objects of scorn are bikers. They swoop down at your head and usually make this clicking noise seemingly right in your ear, making you think you’re being shot at or something! I’d really like to know how they make that sound, too. Sometimes they even make contact with your helmet, which makes me a little angry. I’ve never been the type to want to shoot a bird, but they are really starting to inspire something in me!

They actually do stalk you, too. The first time I saw it was when I took that photo of theo. The first time I experienced it myself was totally eerie. I was riding down a sidewalk on a street lined with telephone poles. I couldn’t see the bird, as I was looking ahead and down at the sidewalk. What I did notice was a shadow on the sidewalk of a bird on the wire, then as I continued, the bird would swoop to the next section of line, then the next. Finally it made its move at me and then I knew for sure it was stalking me. How creepy! I often wish I could resurrect Alfred Hitchcock (or Hitch as I like to call my other dead secret soul mate) and assist him in making a sequel of “The Birds” here in Australia, because I think the natural talent is abundant!

I’m confounded about why they choose bikers, since we are simply riding quickly through their territory and aren’t even around long enough to disturb their nests. Cars are too large and fast. People walking are too small and slow? I don’t know. But bikers apparently are just right.

Some bikers put zip ties on their helmets so they extend upwards like little alien antennae, which I think I’m going to try, although I know I’m going to look like an even bigger dufus with them on. I’m still weighing which is worse, but I’m leaning towards looking like a dufus.

Healthcare Update

This update is about two weeks late.

I’ve been preoccupied with being fully entrenched in the daily grind of working life. On the positive end, I’m learning a lot and on the other end, I got to endure my first workplace bullying psychodrama. With the negativity behind me (hopefully) I can continue learning through some upcoming travel opportunities to other regional offices and I’m looking forward to a much-needed vacation in November with my mom in New Zealand. Yay! (more about that in the future!)

So I had promised to update you on the insurance coverage from my $75 doctor visit/prescription fees. I ended up getting $35 back from my insurance company, which isn’t bad considering I only pay about $85 a month. I had signed up for almost the bare minimum of health coverage because I don’t feel like paying a bunch of money for something I probably don’t need much at this stage in my life. I just need something to cover emergencies and allow me to stay in the country legally.

Getting the insurance was unbelievably easy. I searched online, found something catered towards visa holders and reasonable prices with terms and conditions that were actually readable. This is something I’m not used to. I downloaded their application, mailed it in, and voila, I was basically instantly covered from the day they received it. It was a one-page application, maybe two if you count the automatic payment details page. No medical exam, even. There was a 2 month waiting period before I could claim anything, but can you blame them when they only charge $85 a month!?! I hear these horror stories of people back home being charged upwards of $900 a month for insurance, with awful exams after which they give you a laundry list of reasons why your premiums should be higher. I definitely feel lucky in this department.

75 dollar health care

I got the chance to attend some training for work last week in Brisbane, which I was pretty happy about. Brisbane is the largest city, and the capital, of the State of Queensland. It’s about an hour drive north of where we used to live in the Gold Coast, so while we were in town, we got to pop in and visit a bunch of friends we left behind, which was super fun. Plus we got to stay in a flash hotel in downtown Brisbane, with an awesome view of the city.

I’ve learned that I am definitely a city person, despite my constant need for solitary time. Mackay is a nice small quiet city, but lacks the cultural diversity and cultural activities of a real city, which I constantly crave.

The only setback was my health. I discovered at the beginning of the week that I had a bladder or urinary infection of some kind. I’ve had one before, but not this severe. I thought I could handle it, but suffered extreme abdominal pain Monday night that made me give in and see a doctor for the first time since I’ve lived in Australia. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but walking through the process with Theo a few months back eased my apprehension.

We were running an errand at a shopping center near our hotel and stumbled upon a doctors clinic, which is not that uncommon to see in random places here. We walked in - it was nearly empty – and enquired at the counter about the appointment openings and prices. We were told $65 for a short visit, and the doctor was available immediately! Nice. Waited about 10 minutes, saw a doctor, peed in a cup, and I was gone in 20 minutes with a prescription in hand. Walked to the pharmacy next door and paid $9.90 for the full course of antibiotics. All this without excessive paperwork – I only filled out a name/address sort of flyer not even a full page long. I didn’t present any medical insurance card, and they didn’t even really care if I had insurance or not.

I do happen to have insurance, so all I will do is mail my receipts off for reimbursement. I’m not sure yet what to expect in that department, but I’ll let you know. At this point I don’t even really care, because I’m so grateful I only spent $75 for super quick, awesome health care in a time of need. This is exactly how it should be – no hassles, no worries, and no paying an arm and a leg.

Ride with Me

As promised, I grabbed my photographer today and we headed out to take photos of my bike route to work. Here they are:

I pass this every morning and it makes me smile to see something with Louisiana on it! I don't think it ever moves... much like many of the cars actually in Louisiana! Ha!



This is also on our block. Seems pretty random on a residential block. We often wonder what kind of store it used to be back in the day...

There are many many dogs who live on our street. This is one of the typical Aussie breeds. This guy's one of the more mature ones on our block.

This is probably the biggest house on our block. There are all kinds of styles, from the traditional Queenlander really high up off the ground, to the "cottage" type that we have, up off the ground just a little, then there are some random brick ones too.
This is our neighborhood fish and chip shop. They sell local fish like barramundi and our favorite is the reef fish called red throat. They see us there at least weekly.

This is what a typical school looks like. It's also in the Queensland style, up off the ground. Very cute. This is the local Catholic primary school.
The big banana! When we give directions to our house, it's "take a left at the big banana!" I'm not sure why it's there... that's a fishing gear shop on the corner...


Then I cross the first little bridge over barnes creek.











There have been 2 hundred-year floods in our neighborhood pretty recently. So I hope I don't see the next one... I won't be able to get to work!



Then right after that is the bigger bridge, which they're currently upgrading, spanning the Pioneer River.



Right on the other side of the bridge is the downtown area where I work. They just installed a new art piece right on the Bluewater Quay, as it's called. Of course, they must have made one of the thingees red just for me!


































Quite a few of the older downtown buildings are very Mediterranean/Spanish looking architecture, which I find odd, but nice. Not so much this one, but this is an example of what some of them look like...

Zen of Bike Riding

Something clicked for me this week.

I've been riding my bike to work every day for 3 weeks now (except for the day it was raining). We purposely got a house within riding distance because we haven't purchased a car yet, so now my fear of driving will last just a little longer. But Mackay is a great place to learn, whether it be biking or driving, because it's a small city and drivers seem to be relatively more courteous here. And I have a really flat route. It only really inclines at all around the bridge over the creek and another bridge over the river, but even those are minimal.

I was probably afforded the opportunity of enlightenment this week because my rear end has finally stopped hurting when I sit on the seat, which is magically wonderful in itself.

The most important thing that clicked was 'slow and steady wins the race' when it comes to biking, especially after becoming so unfit the last 7 months without a gym membership. I'm also not a seasoned biker and up until I moved to Oz, I hadn't ridden much since I was a kid. So for some reason, I think when I get on the bike, I feel like I need to go really fast (something I also coincidentally feel like doing when driving), which isn't a good strategy because I just end up getting tired and have to stop peddling for a break. Then I slow way down, then the cycle continues.

But finally this week, I subconsciously (I guess) decided just to peddle slow and steady. Amazing! It's so much more fun now!!

I've learned some other things on my zen biking journey as well, like:

better understanding of how traffic here works... which will help me when I finally start driving;

what to do when your wheels are loose because the movers didn't put your bike back together properly... actually, this one requires a meltdown phone call to your husband so he can calmly give you instructions. But it all worked out;

it's not so bad wearing stretchy pants... at least while actually on the bike, anyway... off the bike, still not cool;

the bike helmet isn't that bad either... but I still don't see how it's going to protect anyone in a car collision, though. But everyone else has to wear them, too, so I don't feel like such a dork; and

riding my bike is a chance to smell the roses... or at times, the fish guts people leave on the sidewalk on the bridge. "Wow, the river smells fishy today... oh, it's just the fish guts on the ground..." But for real, some days the bike time may be the only time I spend outside all day, so why not enjoy it? You get to see all things you wouldn't normally see through the car window. (photos of which I'll post someday)

So along with getting my free daily exercise and free transportation, I'm starting to really enjoy bike riding.

It's been awhile since I've posted anything because it's been another round of whirlwind life change and adjustments. As soon as I was selected for a job with the State government, we immediately started making plans to move. We flew up to Mackay for a few days to suss out the housing situation, and luckily on the last day in town our application was approved for a rental house! We were really excited because first, it can be a bit of a nightmare finding any rental properties in Australia, because there's no central way to search and the market is huge. You have to visit every real estate agency in person practically every day to keep up with the new listings, inspections, applications, etc. Then they go off the market so fast, you really have to be on your toes. So we were relieved that we got that part done so quickly.

Then the next step was packing, moving, and tying up loose ends in Kirra. I pretty much moved up to a hotel room in Mackay and starting working right away, while Theo stayed behind in Kirra to pack, see our stuff off with the movers, and clean our apartment before we officially moved out.

The job has been great! It's exactly what I had wanted to do. I'm still getting to know the work processes and people, but there's always a learning curve. I have 2 other Americans in my office, which was surprising! Every day I'm impressed by the progressive policies and work environment. As far as employers, I couldn't have done any better!

Mackay as a city is not bad either. I didn't really know what to expect, since I didn't get to see much during my interview visit. It's still a coastal city, but not as big as the Gold Coast. Not as touristy either, which is really nice. It's further north, so it has a warmer climate than where we came from (a Fijian friend says it's on the same latitude as Fiji!), so they grow a lot of sugar cane and other tropical crops here. It's also not far from the mines, so a lot of people who live here actually work in the mines. Many have one week on/one week off type schedules. This can sometimes be a negative because miners get paid so well, it can create a kinda false economy, with businesses catering to and inflating prices for miners. But it's not too bad. If we lived any closer to the mines, it would be much worse!

We're still getting settled into the new house. We have practically no furniture, and it's a 3-bedroom house, so it's going to take awhile to make it feel cozy. But we have everything we need, really. The best parts about it are the wood floors, the awesome front deck, and the fruits growing in the back yard - passionfruit and mandarins! The backyard is fenced in case we find a cute puppy to take home, and the neighborhood seems really nice. There are definitely things about the house we would change if we could, though. It's pretty old, and they must have added the toilet later, because it's in the back, down a few stairs off the laundry room. So it's not that fun when you have to get up in the middle of the night. And on a related note, the water pipes are really old and unpredictable and the bathtub is an awful pink color. But the good things definitely outweigh the bad... Just glad to be employed and semi-settled at the moment...