Day 24: All in a day's work

As I have to remind myself occasionally, part of our short-term plan is to acquire employment. It is rather hard to convince all the parts of your mind to switch from HOLIDAY-mode to INTERVIEW-mode, but somehow it is possible, and for a couple of hours it was business in all seriousness.

With the feeling of high-heels still fresh in my feet's memory, we decided to spend the afternoon in Manly. I am rather relieved that I was infinitely better prepared for the interview than for what waited on Manly!

To put the experience in perspective, my prior knowledge about Manly centered mainly around three things:
1. It is an extremely popular and hip place to live in.
2. It is an expensive place to live in.
3. You can get there by ferry.

Yep. Not a wealth of information.
You can then well understand my surprise when nearing Manly - on the famous ferry, of course! - I see a stretch of tall buildings, a line of trees, and best of all: a beach!

Of course that piece of information is known by MANY people, and thus, even on a weekday afternoon, the beach is dotted from end to end with people. Furthermore, just off the beach, you find yourself in friendly streets of shopping and eating. Thus armed with a feeling of pleasant surprise on the one hand and Danish ice-cream in the other hand, we head off to walk along Manly beach...

It is along this walk that I seriously considered a change in career. A radical change. Here we are, in the country of new opportunity, and I am looking for a job where I will spend most of my day in an office, looking at a computer screen, or getting other people to look at a computer screen? I have to wear suitably uncomfortable shoes to look 'professional', wear different IRONED clothes every day, and even brush my hair EVERY morning! Clearly all of that is overrated, totally unnecessary, and probably bad for your health.
HERE, on the beach of Manly, is where things can change. THIS is where I can spend my days. Live my future. Become...

Living the dream!

There is only one small problem. Call it a challenge, if you like. I would need to learn to swim!!!

Location:Manly, Sydney

Day 15: Dogs on Leash!

There is a miniature Schnauzer in the family, and he wanted to go for a walk today. But not an ordinary walk in the park. No. A walk on the beach.

Not ever having lived on the coast in South Africa, I don't have much experience of taking dogs to beaches. Here, if you want to bring pooch along, you have to go to one of the dog-friendly beaches, like the Spit.

Getting there turns out to be quite an ordeal in itself: it's a public holiday! Every car-owning person wants to go to Seaworld. And every dog-owning person wants to go to the Spit. And the two are next to each other... It was Joburg traffic at its worst.

Finally there, we find a designated parking area for 'dog-walkers'. Nice. Organised. Signs showing clearly: Dog on leash. Or: No dogs beyond this point. Contrary to popular belief, dogs can't read, however. And humans tend to take some rules with a pinch of salt. Surely they don't really mean ALL dogs on leashes, ALL the time. Angry dogs definitely, and maybe old ones.

Fortunately we are in a first-world country. And not any country, it's Australia. Here, there are friendly people dressed in khaki, driving up and down the beach to remind people and dogs to stay connected with a leash, and not to go over the imaginary line in the sand to the other side - the side where dogs are not allowed. And if you are one of the people with dog but no leash, you promptly get issued with a leash. Plus a doggie-bag for the other end. (I couldn't help to wonder: if you arrive with a leash but no dog, will you get issued with a dog??)

I can only muse at this strange, friendly efficiency.

It is somewhat of a new concept for someone from Africa...

Near the Spit - the dog-walker's beach