Mark's Blog: Coffee and Stuff

Given that there's not a great deal to report from here - school is going well and the weather is fairly uneventful - I thought maybe I should write about coffee. Gill gave me an 'aeropress' coffee maker for Christmas, of which I have been making full use; it's a neat little thing that uses air pressure to perculate ground coffee, and is both self-cleaning and portable. I've taken it to school as there is a small kitchenette next to my office where I can use it. Just down the road from Gill's is a independent coffee seller where they grind coffee to order and which does some excellent blends; so it has become my chief supplier. The end product is as good or better than that in many cafes, and saves money (and time) too. And it means I can crap on to people about coffee.

I had some good news this week; I was hugely relieved to discover that I have another five years - not another two years - to complete my online part-time Diploma in Education. I had thought I would need to double my study load this semester (which would double the already extortionate cost), which was hardly what I needed given the new job role at school. So I can carry on doing two units per year and still complete it in time.

We're having a pretty chilled weekend; taking it easy at home today, and tomorrow we're going to Gill's parents for a bbq. Last weekend I met up with Ludo for a few beers; he has decided to move back to Europe in a few weeks time. Having resigned from his job in the city he will spend a few weeks back home in Holland and then move to London where he plans to get a job with one of the investment banks in the city. It's a shame that he's leaving, but I hope to catch up with him when I'm back in England in July. Speaking of which, I will be buying my flight home in the next week or two. I've already put a draft itinerary together for the 16 days Gill and I will be there, plus a few days in Malaysia on the way back. Between now and then we have a wedding to go to in Tamworth in April (it'll be a 'full on' country affair in a old sheepshearing shed somewhere in outback NSW - can't wait for that!), and we have four days in South Australia over the Easter weekend, including a day in Adelaide and a few days in the magnificent Flinders Ranges and Mclaren Vale, one of the best winemaking regions in the country (Gunno: any suggestions would be most welcome!). I have a copy of the Good Wine Guide 2011, so I'm on the way to adding wine to the topics of the weather and coffee as the only things I ever talk about these days.

Below are some photos from Bradley's Head and Middle Head, which are National Parks on the Lower North Shore. They also include military sites - several fortifications were built here in the 1870s. At that time the colony felt vulnerable to invasion - possibly from China or even the United States. There are still army and naval bases stationed here today; although I think they may have stopped using the cannons.