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...

Miss List #1

In keeping with the David Letterman Top 10 List style, the #1 answer is anti-climatic, but "drum roll please" anyway.....

#1: Real Mexican Food

I've already harped on this subject, but humor me and let's cover it one more time. I'm not talking about Tex-Mex... nachos or burritos... which aren't purely Mexican inventions... I'm talking about the real stuff, my favorites being:

Real Mexican-style tacos on homemade corn tortillas with nothing but cilantro, (onion if you like it), and the hottest salsa in the restaurant. As you know, if they bring it to you automatically, it's not the hottest salsa in the restaurant.

Carnitas are another favorite. Fortunately, I can make that one myself, since it's not that hard and doesn't require exotic ingredients. My other favorite dishes I used to cook at home were chicken tinga, made with chipotle peppers and onion, but without tostadas that wouldn't be much fun to eat... and green mole with shredded chicken. That one has multiple availability issues (green mole sauce and tomatillos).

And lastly, my own personal version of cochinita pibil (Once Upon a Time in Mexico reference)... the pork chile verde... Oh how I love chile verde. I haven't figured out the recipe for that one, but I have a similar one that will do when I want to have it at home. Of course it's another one of those dishes made with tomatillos, one of the things I can't get here. So watch out Mexican restaurants, when I return to the States for my next visit, have my chile verde ready!!!

I'm serious. :)

Miss List #2

#2: $5 Matinees

What I would give for a Sunday afternoon $5 matinee movie with my little sis! We used to go an average of twice a month, sometimes several times in a row. Those days are loooong gone. I got quite a sticker shock at the movie prices here. They can cost up to $16 to $18 for an adult ticket... no matinee prices. Up to $22 for an extra special 3D theater show. I felt a little guilty for spending that much to see Alice in Wonderland, but I figured I was worth it!


Most theaters might have one night a week, when you can watch movies for $7 - 9, which is in the realistic range, and if you get a loyalty card, they have a movie of the week that's only $9, but it's usually the worst movie on the market at the time. But that's about the only time we go now... which is why we've been taking advantage of the awesome DVD selection at the library for now. You can't beat free!

Miss List #3

#3: Chipotle

It is no secret that I'm addicted to Chipotle. I could not get enough of it from the moment I moved to Kansas City and discovered it through my co-workers in 2000. I still remember my "first time" and how it was impossible to eat the burrito without making a huge mess. I also remember when they finally moved across the KC border into Wyandotte County. My fellow Chipotle aficionados and I made a party of it, we were so happy!

One time, Theo and I even dragged our little sister to one on halloween and dressed up in foil, just to get our free halloween burrito! She definitely thought we were crazy at first, then I think she secretly enjoyed it. (These are the lengths we go to...)

It was always the fallback dinner decision when Theo and I couldn't decide what to have for dinner... One of us would say... Chipotle? and the other one always agreed. :)

My favorite is barbacoa with the hottest sauce and sour cream. Ahhhh, the flavors...

I even offered my services directly to Chipotle. Since I just happened to be conveniently moving to Australia, I suggested to them that I could help set up the first overseas branch. But they politely declined my gracious offer (I couldn't even believe they answered my email, to tell you the truth!!). I really did understand, though, since they source most of their meat from farms that don't use antibiotics, and try to use local ingredients, it would be quite a setup ordeal.
Last year, they did finally expand overseas, albeit to London. You can really blame them, Europe is a much bigger market. But I can still dream...