Angry Jen’s Rants..

Well after 2 years of being in the house - we finally went and bought a dining table.  We had been eyeing off Dare Gallery’s glass table, but a newish furniture place had appeared next to it at Highpoint.  They had a similar style table - so long glass table, with a black strip (instead of white) up the middle.  It extends as well - but its kind of massive.  Ended up going for the 8 seater table :)  It also has mega funky chairs with black leather - long backs, and an almost quilted pattern on the front (ie. stiched squares in part of the front).

So we got it delivered Tuesday night - the dude was early, but thankfully Jase wasn’t too far behind.  So they brought in these 2 massive crates and then the guy left.  Jase then spent the rest of the evening hammering off bits of wood (surrounding the massive box).. and putting together the table. The worst part was trying to get the glass top onto the table.  As I think its maybe 2m in length, decent width, VERY HEAVY!!!  

So a combination of me balancing it and Jase creatively using the couch, the couch cushions, some fleecy blankets for balancing on the frame - we finally got it up there.  Just in time to enjoy my chicken roast, potatos + gravy. 

So we now have a room full of packaging rubbish and wooden frames - but a fantastic looking dining table, so I can now invite people over for a proper dining experience!!  Now all I need is to employ someone to wash the big dishes that don’t fit in the dishwasher

After just under 18 months - it was time to finish up at Fernwood.  My final week was madly trying to transfer any knowledge I had in emails to the wiki and project folders!  I finally remembered to return my uniform on the Wednesday, and handed in my pass on Thursday (so that I’d have no dramas with my final pay).  Friday - was final tidy day.  We had a team lunch - with Jac buying me lunch + wine (thanks jac!! and thanks rob for booking the hotel :)) Jac almost got me into trouble because we were discussing how I’d received the email about my farewell present (who had sent the email) - but turned out all good! ;) 

At about 3 we had farewell speeches and cake.  I got to pick the cake - so we had non baked cheesecake with chocolate chips (from the Cheesecake shop - very nice).  Managed to get through my speech - highlighting how bizarre it had been seeing an office almost full of females on day one.  I think maybe the IT guys got it more than anyone else :)  Jess had managed to run back from her training course and made it with like 2 minutes to spare!!

Then onto presents!!  The IT Team got me some geeky stuff - so I got a double feature biker film (where I had been added to the dvd cover as Biker Jen!), a Panic button (that will put up an image for when your boss is heading over) - and from everyone I got vouchers for my massage place in the Rialto.  Mmmm massage!!  Almost got dragged out by Jac and Rob for early drinks but thought that might have been frowned on. Had my final talk with my manager with any tips I had to share before leaving.. and downhill from there!  Thanks Rob for hunting down that final signature for my card!!

After work we headed off to Cookie - where we managed to nab a table in the bar.  At drinks were Rob, Yen, Jess, Brooke, Bec and Siva.  Enjoyed 2 contreaus + lemonade.  Moved into the restaurant where Scott turned up to join us - shared a steamboat thing (with chicken and mushrooms) with Yen as well as stuffed squid.  I think I might have had another contreau + lemonade, as well as shared a bottle of wine with Yen.  I have a feeling I was drinking a little quicker than she was!  After dinner.. we headed to the bar upstairs and I got another contreau and lemonade bought for me.  Not sure how much longer I lasted - but eventually walked back to Flinders St station with yen where she flagged me a taxi from a dodgy (ie. before the rank) spot so I didn’t have to wait.  Got home and stumbled into bed - felt very dodgy and sorry for myself the next day.

Had a great day though so thanks to everyone!!  (Oh and welcome to the world of lolcats Bec :))

Our final day in Hobart - got Jase up and out of the apartment with 5 mins to spare of check out time.  We loaded up the car, and walked down to Smolt at Salamanca Square for brunch!  Met up with Heather, Elliott, Grahame, Caryn, Brett, Jack, Rob & Yen.  Jase & I both had OJs, breakfast pizzas, a hot chocolate (for me) and a take-away jam dougnut.  The doughnut was yummy but very suggary and was missing that just came out of the deep fryer warmth !! :)  Our breakfast pizza consisted of a poached egg in the middle, some kind of sausage,  proscuitto and other stuff!

Got a bit chilly in the restaurant - but thankfully standing in the sun helped to thaw out.  We got to see the Smolt feeding (infant salmon) - which was pretty cool.  Elliott was being all shy and then decided I was ok - so was using his “finger of discovery” (according to Heather) to poke my mouth and then giggle about it.  Very cute He was put into his straightjacket (well that’s what his enclosed top looked like for his nap) and into the pram for a pole slalom course and naptime.

We then said our goodbyes - and headed off to get Petrol.  Unfortunately there had been a rush on Unleaded petrol the day before so we were forced to buy the expensive premium stuff :(  From there we headed to the airport where I made a huge mess eating my doughnut.  At Hobart airport dropped off the car, wondered where to find the Tiger Airlines queue (look for the yellow ribbons), and proceeded through the xray machine.  I apparently looked dodgy so was given a suspicious fibre/explosives check before being given the all clear.  We spent a little while in the bookshop, then gave up and headed for seats!  On our way - found Rob and Yen so camped out as we waited for our flight, and finally our seat numbers to be called.

Flight was relatively uneventful - in row 3 this time, but seated together.  After we got off the plane - we had to walk what felt like 100m to a tin shed, with porta-loos, and watched a guy chuck our bags (through a mesh fence) onto the conveyer belt.  We then had to cart our bags 150m to the nearest taxi rank.. and had to badger a staff member to get on his walky talky to call us a cab (we had seem them queued up when we got off the plan so had been pretty excited - but they’re called on demand it seems ).

Back to home sweet home where the cat told me exactly what he thought about being left alone for 4 days!! 

Next time I think we’re hitting up the targa (?) tracks in our new car (when we eventually get it) - and also hitting up the wineries to savour some more pinot noirs!!  Oh and maybe freeze up the top of Cradle Mountain too!

Attempted to drag Jason out of bed to go to Port Arthur nice and early - struggled a little. So we ended up at a bakery in Dunally (Duneely?!) for another pie (mine was a bit cold ) Then proceeded on to Port Arthur checking out the Tesselated Pavement, Blowhole, Devil’s Kitchen and a couple of lookouts on the way.

At Port Arthur we wandered around the little museum thing they had. I think my card led me to be a boat maker - and Jase’s card led him to be a whipping man! We did the walking tour - which was good although the rain started up a little during our tour (sheltered the camera!!). We then went on a boat cruise where I failed to be able to open the door to walk out the front (the tour person was nice and came and opened it!) So I took lots of photos of the isle of the dead, and point peur (the boys prison island). Bought a souvenir stubby holder and one for Jase!

We then hit the road again and stopped in at the Tassie Devil Conservation Park. I wasn’t expecting much which was just as well.. but still paid the small fortune to go in there. Point of Interest #1 was boards of information posters - yawn.. #2 was a video about the tasmanian tiger (and by this point I wanted to see a live animal!) Thankfully #3 and #4 were tassie devils!! Took a few blurry shots.. and moved on - then decided to switch my lense over to my VR lense and took some zoomed in shots of kangaroos and wallabies, got a cool shot of a eagle.. and then back to the tassie devils. Bought some souvenir stubby holders and a tassie devil toy - and headed back to Hobart!

Unfortunately on the way back had mega slow people on the road (it hadn’t been too bad on the way to Port Arthur with people pulling over!!). Lined up dinner with grahame - on a misson to find steak! Decided to pass on the ball and chain grill (or something similar) - and headed to Henrys which was near the pier but away from Salamanca Square. Henrys had an interesting atmosphere - live piano (which made hearing conversation a little difficult) followed by techno cds. For dinner I had the steak (as did Grahame) with steamed vegies - he had the Caesar salad (although it had a much more swisho name than that). Jase had the lamb shoulder and vegies too. For dessert we all waited the 20 minutes for the chocolate pudding + orange sorbet. Yumm!!!! I think we got the Bass Block I (2004) Pinot Noir. I then had a baileys to finish off.

Had a bit of a sleep in, and then headed off to find some quick breakfast. Went to a 24 hour bakery and I got a beef and mushroom pie - very yummy, had chunks of steak in there!! Jase ordered the egg and bacon roll, not realising that it was premade and sitting in the pie warmer! He then raced off to the Cascade Brewery for our beer tour. We got a tourguide with waaaay too much energy, a very sexy safety (yellow) vest and goggles. Beer tour was ok - got 3 tasting tokens for afterwards so I got the Blonde, Pale Ale and the Ginger Beer. Never had GB before, and I’m now a big fan!! The beers weren’t too bad either (for beer). Jase got a couple of beers and a shot of Stout. The gardens there were awesome - very pretty and relaxing. Jase bought a wooden coaster, cascade beanie and I got a tassie tiger toy.

Went back to the pier and had fish and chips (Fish Frenzy maybe?). I got flake and chips (probably should have asked for it grilled).. but got 2 massive pieces of fish, and lots of chips in a paper cone thing. Yummo!! We then headed up to Mt Wellington (after confirming which mountain we were supposed to be heading there and directions - it wasn’t on my map!!). I took lots of photos until my hands were well and truly numb. According to the car temperature guage it was about 3 degrees (minus the wind chill factor). Awesome view though as we had a clear afternoon. I was busy taking photos of what I thought was the place we were staying at.. until Jase pointed out the big orange boat that was docked near us

Dinner was at the Japanese place where we were served a variety of little dishes. Very nice - accompanied by warm sake - although my chopstick skills slightly deteriorated. We started noticing a trend of being the last customers to leave each restaurant after dinner!! Guess the locals were already home in bed :D. Some of the dishes included sushi, baked egg something over rice, prawn over rice, egg + noodle + mushroom thing, picked vegetables with what tasted like satay sauce/paste, pork belly, soup + noodle + chicken + prawn tempura. Plus of course the green tea ice cream!!

Caught Tiger Airlines flight to Hobart. We were in row 1 so had to put up with the inane conversation of the flight attendants. I also had a guy drop ice on me when filling up a cup for someone else - and then proceed to elbow me in the head when reaching across to grab some lady’s rubbish. HELLO?!!! Got our people mover vehicle (Mitsubishi Outlander - white) and drove to our hotel on the Elizabeth St Pier. Very nice apartment with a loft bedroom.

Had afternoon lunch at 42 degrees on the pier - I had the beef papperdelle.

Caught up with Grahame for dinner at Smolt. Jase had the steak but was busy eyeing off Grahame’s Veal Shanks, and I had the gnocchi with mushrooms (best gnocchi ever!!!). Had some dessert with poached pears or something.. We also drank some Breamcreek (2001) pinot noir.