Work treasure!!!

Today at work I found this little guy!

 It's a Rhinoceros beetle!!

 They are among the largest of beetles, reaching 60 millimeters in length, however they are completely harmless to humans because they cannot bite or sting.

Their common name refers to the characteristic horns born only by the males of most species in the group. They have a horn on the thorax and another horn pointing forward from the center thorax. They use their horn to fight other males during mating season and it even functions as a built on digging tool.

I love Australia. :)

Experiemental cooking...

So the farmers markets that take place on Sunday morning have inspired me to cook! That and the fact that eating out here costs twice as much as it does in San Antonio.

I picked up some squash (pumpkin) blossoms at the market and decided to stuff them with lamb mince and goat cheese then steam them. I am suprised to say it turned out really well!!!!

 

Maybe I'm not cursed in the kitchen. Later that night I made fettuccine with mixed seafood in a creme and tomato sauce with chilies, mushrooms and bell peppers (capsicum). I had compliments all around!

Car shopping!!!

Today Robbie and I set off to do some much needed car shopping! Right now I have to take the bus to work and walk 2 K to get there. The bus system here needs much improvement and it takes me two and a half hours to get to the spot where I walk 2 k into work. This needs to change ASAP! Being that I will be doing research in the forest preserves I will need a good 4x4 and given that I don't have a Aussie manual license I will need an automatic. This narrows down my options quite a bit especially since my budget is 4-8G.

On Wednesdays they advertise privately sold vehicles in the paper so I took a few to consider.

After much calling and browsing it became clear that my only option was a 900$ Mitsubishi Pajero. I wasn't exactly thrilled by this option but if I could get a car to hold me over until I found something better then that would still be better than nothing! The guy said he couldn't meet us until 1:30 so we drove around looking at car lots and cruising for roadside deals, everyhing was a bust. I did a bunch of online car shopping and all the good deals and trucks/suvs (utes) are either in Brisbane or Melbourne. These are both waaaaay too far to go pick up, it would take four days to pick up something in Brisbane!

In the meantime we went and did some shopping for work boots which I needed and some camping gear. We let time slip a bit and ended up at the guy's house at 1:50 only to be told that the car had just sold. Bummer... the search goes on...

Friday night whipeout!

As I mentioned before, Friday nights by the pool are a regular household gathering spot. This night I decided to host and made my salsa and tortilla chips. I made the salsa Aussie friendly with only two jalapenos. I also got a slab of Corona (which set me back 67 bucks!) and showed everyone how to properly dress a beer. To think they had been drinking nekid Mexican beer!!! My little bit of culture went over smashingly and the night got off to a great start. Around 12am Elise and her friend Ainsley and I went to the pub across the street to dance (every Friday night there is a live band). We came back with MORE beer and a few guys to add to our posse. When I returned the Euros were still living it up by the pool so I joined them while Elise, Ainsley and the pub boys hung out in the house. I made some guacamole and as soon as I brought it out the sky opened up! We quickly moved everything into the cabana and continued our soiree! The rain poured and poured, the wet season had clearly begun. This however inspired a chorus of "singing in the rain" which turned into "singing in the rain" in five languages!!! I can't say I'd had a better time to date. Who would have thought a Texan, two Frenchmen, a German, and an Italian would be singing in the rain drinking Mexican beer in Australia?!!

This got us pumped up and ready for some club action! The clubs won't let you in past three so we had to get cracking as it was already 2:30. This is where stupid starts to happen. The boys didn't have bike lights but I did so I led them, however I forgot my glasses which meant I wasn't that good of a guide and the streets being wet ultimately spelled disaster! I took a corner pretty hard and slid off of my bike, in an attempt to save her for being scratched up I took the fall and boy do I wish I had just stayed home!

This is the result of that stupid decision... Lesson learned!

Day two at the R.S.P.C.A.

Today I was determined not to mess anything up! Again no ambo calls (which really is a good thing) so I filled in the gaps with the strays and did some pre-surgery prep. Apparently I have already garnered the title of cat whisperer due to my magic cat washing skills. There were four I had to prep for surgery and all of them were so cute! One had a terrible amount of fleas and the bath I gave her was clearly uncomfortable as the fleas were migrating all over the place. I still managed to keep her calm, maybe I do have cat magic....

While on break I noticed a large bird enclosure that was being repaired by a maintenance man. When I asked who it housed he said "wild goannas", you can imagine my excitement! The enclosure was donated and in the meantime a bit neglected therefore leaving it open to whomever wanted to inahabit it. This whomever turned out to be a large female monitor (goanna). The story goes that a large male came around and mated with her, when she became gravid she couldn't fit into the burrow under the sidewalk so she used the bird enclosure!!! Given the physical description is could be anything from Gould's Goanna (Varanus g. gouldi), Desert Sand Monitor (Varanus g. flavirufus) or an Argus Monitor (Varanus panoptes). Given that the RSPCA is in the bush a bit north of mangrove mudflats and south of the Bohle floodplain I'd say it's the panoptes.

This is what one looks like and they can reach 5 feet (1.8 metres). I am now actively looking for them, the babies should hatch in a week or so!!!

First day at the R.S.P.C.A.

Day one at work and what a doozey! No ambulance (ambo) calls so I filled in the gaps which meant taking care of adoptions. Not so hard really, just bathing and fluffing up the dogs and cats that have been cleared for adoption. The RSPCA is terribly underfunded and run by hicks (bogans) so when the ambo isn't going out the attendants and driver help out around the place. There really isn't a whole lot of training it's just "that needs doing so go over there". Well I got into a groove washing up these cute pups and neglected to look if any had stitches still from desexing surgery. I ended up washing 3 dogs that had stitches. I feel so bad! They didn't seem to care that much and said they'd keep an eye on them but still, my first day and I do that. :( FAIL.

Mi casa!

I live in a two storey Queenslander type house. Queenslander buildings are primarily of timber construction and can be low or high-set, one to two storeys. They are typically "tripartite" in sectional composition; underfloor (stumps), primary rooms (can be two levels), and roof. All have one or more veranda spaces, a sheltered edge of the building that is typically only part-enclosed and used as another living zone. This consideration for climate is the defining characteristic of the Queenslander type. Typically, the Queenslander is suited to the sub-tropical climate of Queensland of high rainfall and mild to hot, humid climate with average summer temperatures in the range of 23-36 degrees Celsius (73-97 degrees Fahrenheit). However, the type is found across the state in colder and hotter locations usually with adaptations to suit.

My particular house has wood floors throughout and high ceilings with a corrugated tin roof that makes the wet season (big wet/monsoon) really nice to listen to.

I currently live with two Aussie girls and a French guy on my floor, the floor below has it's own kitchen etc and therefore is separate but we still borrow each others cookware and share the pool. Downstairs lives an Indian guy, another Frenchie, a Chilean girl who is living with her Aussie boyfriend and a German guy. The German is leaving so an Italian guy is taking over the lease. Truly an international bunch! Some nights we cook for eachother and make our local cuisine. Most recently the Italian guy (Steffano) made pasta carbonara and pizza, it was the best I've ever had!

This is the majority of the gang! Left to right: Thibaud (visiting french guy), Robbie, Philippe (my upstairs French flatmate), Emmanuel (downstairs Frenchie), ME!, John (German), Steffano (Italian), Rocio (Chilean), Elise (upstairs Aussie flatmate), and Saair (Indian). All we were missing was Carley (upstairs Aussie), and Matt (downstairs Aussie).

This is the view from outside my bedroom window. In the mornings and evenings I can hear the Lorikeets squawking and chirping as they fly about their business.

This is the view from my kitchen window. That is a Frangipani tree. I was invited to a holiday party that was tropical themed and made a lei out of the flowers from this tree!

The Pool! This is what makes living here so great! After a long and hot day at work or after a long bike ride, this pool is fantastic for cooling off! On Friday nights we often sit by the pool with a glass of wine and hors d'œuvres.

Well that's the basic rundown, not a bad lifestyle!