Tuesday, December 15, 2009

In Sydney again

Hi

I am back in Sydney after a disappointing summer in the UK. Although I did have a really perfect week at Taunton in early June when I went to watch the England Women’s Cricket team compete in the International Twenty-20 tournament. They were unbeaten in the all their matches at Taunton. Next they were playing Australia in the semi’s at the Oval. I managed to get a ticket on ebay and watched a great match where our girls beat Australia in a tough match. The English Women went on to beat New Zealand in the final at Lords.
So having won the International Women’s 50 ODI tournament earlier in the year in Sydney, they now held the Twenty-20 title too. Lastly they went on to beat Australia in the Women’s Ashes as well. An excellent performance.

This time I have entered Australia with my permanent resident’s visa. It took just over 18 months to get the visa but it was worth it.

I think Australia is a great place with very good weather. The thing I do find odd are the adverts on the tv here. They seem to consist of people shouting at you. Why do they do that ? It just makes me switch to a different channel. The fact that a nation accepts these kind of ads is worrying and their politicians seem to adopt the same “shout at you” techniques. Luckily with the age of the Internet it is easier to watch programs from other countries.

I have a great view from my apartment as it overlooks the harbour, bridge and Opera House.

If you want to see this view being updated every 60 seconds you can at www.sydneyview.com

Bye for now

Peewit

Friday, April 03, 2009

Back in the UK

I am back in the UK for at least the next six months having just spent seven months living in Sydney. I really enjoyed my time in Oz and had great weather. Missing the English winter was a bonus and apparently it snowed here.
I have been in a queue for an Australian Contributory Parent Visa (CPV) for just over a year and still do not even have a case officer assigned to me. Considering the fact that I am going to have to pay the Australian government a large chunk of money, as well as meet all the other criteria, it is a pity that the process takes so long. I hope to have my visa by the end of the year.

The new Formula One Grand Prix season has just started and it is exciting with the new rules upsetting the form book. It has been hard keeping up with the changes in the results over the last week. I have started a website that displays in chart form the standings for both drivers and teams as the season goes on. I think it is a great way to compare the performance of drivers such as Button and Massa, as well as teams like McLaren and Williams. If you want to see the charts, have a look at :-

www.f1charts.com

All the best

Peewit