Guro and Caroline Blog

my last couple of weeks...

...but it feels more like a lifetime since i was working at sandown - only 2 weeks ago!

guro and i had a great night out with vic, julian and beth in melbourne on my last day at sandown. in the day we bindged on cake and chips (thats crisps brits) and did little work. beth and i stopped for a little emergency shopping on the way so we started late but we partied until a respectable hour before heading back to once again fall asleep in comedy positions on vics oh so lovely sofa. fortunately the gin fuelled hangovers were mild and after tea and organic hot cross buns (yummy good friday) we were off to find a small town called colac in sw victoria.

we arrived in amy (now usg, we managed with v few hitches to sort out her rego but she needed new plates) about 5 hours later than expected to a grumpy nurse waiting with my house keys. after a swift tour of a reasonable practice kirsty left (i think she needed a drink to help her hangover) pointing us in the direction of simpson, an oh so very small town 20 (yeah right) mins away. she also mentioned the time off mike, my new boss was planning whilst i was here was starting the next day for 10 days so i would be being mike instead of helping him :(
40 mins down the road we found 'the house on the corner' which was to be my home for 3 1/2 weeks, a mere 50km from the practice. its a nice enough place (although something does go bump in the night and i dont think its possums) but v far away.

next morning we met the infamous 'mike the mortician' and a hectic morning ensued with me consulting, gu operating and mike out on farm. i'm not sure how late the day would have been if gu hadn't been helping and the idea of carrying the practice through easter week alone seemed daunting... as it should have.

gu helped me through the weekend but then had to go back to ballarat to look after the pets she was sitting easter monday. it was busy and i'd forgotten that i know nothing about cattle. especially dairy cattle. in australia... eeeek! i was permanently on the phone to mike who in his defense was only an hour away but most definately on holiday. i was operating on cows left right and centre, v few of which (possibly one) who are still with us today! after 12 and 14 hour days in the week i was reconsidering my position, having 2 other practices we've previously worked for clawing for us back with a more substantial salary for much less work. but i think somewhere along the way i developed stockholm syndrome - mikes not a bad person. and the support staff here are lovely (the grumpy nurse is only grumpy on a hangover, a couple of which we have since cultured together). i was shafted over working last weekend, mike only telling people friday he expected me to be working. i'd already decided to leave or just deal with it and ask for more money. no point whinging and i'm still here, and it was the right decision (and i have more money!). life has become pretty cruisey. cate, a smallie locum, comes in a couple o days a week and mikes back so i tend to do an odd ceasar or calving, or pd 10 cows :) life is good. and the bakery up the road does killer profiteroles. and kirstys housemate cindy is a great cook and introducing me to ozzie foods :D

guro came down from ballarat again last night and we met up with hamish!... and simon and fi (hamish's mum and dad). it was great to see them, they're doing really well. simon still stands out as being very australian even in australia. we finally gave them the baby present we've been carrying since thailand :) we had a lovely meal and stayed over, making me pretty late for work next day (but i figure mike still owes me for easter)

am keeping warm just. nola gave me a fleece jacket as a leaving present from sandown (think i may have been whinging that it'd be cold in colac) which is fantastic, and i've scabbed a 2nd handjacket from beth and nice new pfizer fleece vests for me and gu. we're accepting charity gladly now :)

the plans from now are to finish working on the 27th then we'll be back on holiday!! anzac day we're going to cirque du soleil, we're hoping to fit in some kite surfing before seeing ardal o'hanlan at the melbourne comedy festival in 2 weeks. then its the sandown christmas do (they're a bit slow) beofre a trip up to uluru which we've still to organise. seeing pink on the 13th before flying from sydney on the 14th to bangkok! will be home on the 18th so see y'all soon

x

posted by Caroline @ 09:15