Coffee Catch-Up #15

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If we were having coffee I would tell you how strange it felt returning to Sydney yesterday after living and working in Newcastle for the last 2 weeks. Sometimes I forget my current home is still in Sydney as Newcastle feels so natural to me as it is my childhood home. On the train as I approached Sydney, I was suddenly aware of people. They were everywhere which is very different to slower paced Newcastle with its population of  about 400,000 compared to Sydney’s 5 million people. The irony is that Newcastle is actually the 7th largest city in Australia and New South Wales’s second largest city.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how 2 possums got caught in one of our courtyards at the hospital on Friday and couldn’t get out. This meant we had to call in the a special possum wrangler to catch them and hold them for the day until he could release them into the bush in the local area later that night. He said he couldn’t release them earlier as they are attacked by other animals. His job was quite tricky, giving him a good work out, however after a few attempts (our possums put up a good fight) he caught them without injury.

Tom Possum

The photo above is of the possum who comes to visit us at home occasionally not the possums caught in the courtyard at work.

If we were having coffee I would tell you it was weird doing night duty again for the first time in 12 years however I surprised myself by actually enjoying it. I am sure working more than one night in a row may be too tiring in my old age but who knows we’ll see if the opportunity arises. Working casually does make it harder to plan one’s life but it is also giving me more spare time.

If we were having coffee I would tell you how excited I was to watch my AFL (Australian Football League) team GWS Giants defeat the Sydney Swans (minor premiers) yesterday in their first finals match ever. The Giants are only a young team who played their inaugural game in 2012 and I was fortunate enough to be at their first game. Back then they were described as the easy beats because they lost most games but over time they have grown into a force to be reckoned with.

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If we were having coffee I would tell you that my husband and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary since our last coffee catch-up with a nice lunch and a visit to our Newcastle house. It was only brief as although it is empty we have not had it officially handed back from the real estate yet but dreaming and planning for our future extensions was fun.

If we were having coffee I would ask you what is happening in your world? Let me know in the comments.

13 thoughts on “Coffee Catch-Up #15”

  1. We’re Swans supporters here, although my interest has dropped off. My husband used to get free tickets to games back when Barry Hall when playing. I loved being part of the crowd and then our son started playing and managed to play at half time both at ANZ Stadium and the SCG. That was pretty exciting. I think the jersey went down to his ankles. Most of those players have now moved on and I haven’t kept up. My son no longer plays either.
    I have been enjoying the Paralympics. I’m not a sports person but it’s so encouraging. Liesl Tesch teachers at our local high school so I have to make sure I don’t miss her sail.
    Hope you have a great week!
    xx Rowena

    • What a special treat fro the kids to have a Para Olympian as a teacher. It would teach them a lot about dealing with adversity. I hope she comes home with a gold. Hopefully the Swans and Giants will meet again in the Grand final that would sort the Victorians out. Have a great week too.

  2. Happy Anniversary!! Hope you both have a great Celebration!! Your Football appears to be soccer. In America Football means something different. BTW, I’ve always heard the expression “Carrying coals to Newcastle.” What does this mean and where did it originate. Thanks.

    A Curious American.

    • AFL involves running, kicking and catching the ball high. It is played on an oval field. Newcastle on Tyon and Newcastle Australia are both large coal exporters so carrying coal to Newcastle means doing something that is useless or pointless as in Newcastle already has coal so why bring more. It originated in England in the 1500’s but is true for us as well.

  5. Congrats on your anniversary. Wishing you both a lot of love and happiness. If we were having coffee, I would tell you how much I miss Hong Kong though I just stayed there for 2 weeks twice. If I were to go back, I would be happy. 🙂

  7. Thanks for the coffee and the visit to Australia got to love that country. Winter will arrive here before long, I may hibernate like a possum. I just don’t care for the cold and snow anymore. Happy belated anniversary.

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