A piece of paper...

So after 10 weeks of 14 hour days on a Monday and a Wednesday the event course I have been doing is finally over and I got my grade today and I got a distinction with 86.5% overall!

The course itself wasn't particularly ground breaking and having been in the events industry for over 10 years now (eek!) I could have taught a fair few of the lectures but what I really enjoyed from it was the opportunity to lead the group I was working in and doing a creative pitch to a charity.

The concept was fairly straightforward, they wanted a community fundraiser to raise money, awareness and to increase the community support in Queensland so we came up with a fundraising campaign that ended in an awareness week.

The charity was Redkite - a children's cancer charity so our fundraising campaign involved nurseries and primary schools registering for a fundraising pack that enabled them to organise their own fundraising day where during the day they flew kites. Nice and simple and it went down a storm with the client - it will be interesting to see if they decide to run with it!

Anyway it looks like I am in the right career....lucky really as I don't plan on changing anytime soon! ;o)

4 days as a Sydneysider!

After work on Tuesday instead of the normal trip home I headed off to the domestic airport and bound a plane for Sydney.

I arrived in Sydney after the 1.5hr flight excited to see what the capital of NSW was like...the trip from the aiport to Central station was very simple but a little expensive ($15 for a 9min train journey!) and once I got there, found the correct exit and headed off to my accommodation. From landing at Sydney to getting to the hostel took me just over 30mins - pretty impressed with that!

I have not stayed in a hostel before but thought I would give it a go as it was cheaper than a hotel and would have people in similar situations to me - travelling about! I got up to my room which I was sharing with 7 other girls and tried to make my bed in the dark (it was about 11pm and I didn't want to wake anyone up!), this was aided with a brilliant tip from my sSister Ellie to take a sleeping bag liner - such a good idea! The next discovery was that the communal bathroom on my floor was being refurbished so we had to use the ones on different floors - boo!

Anyway I headed to bed as the next day I had an early start as was meeting at 8am for a wine tour of the Hunter Valley. We (me and two others) were picked up from outside the hostel and after another collection stop we headed off to the Australia Wildlife Park for morning tea and a visit with some local inhabitants! Some cute and one that I was feeling very brave with!

So after having fun with the animals it was back on the bus and over to a chocolate and fudge factory - delicious fudge (bought some but don't have any left!) - before heading onto the first Winery at Warraroong Estate for a tasting of wines under the label of Swish Wines and Tin Soldier. The last time I went to a wine tasting (well properly!) was when I was about 12 in New York - this one was lots more fun and we tried about 13 wines...most delightful, I even tried red wines. I ended up buying a case of wine - just hope it tastes nice when it gets here as I can't remember it clearly any more!

So after this winery we headed onto to two more, Tempus Two and Tamberlaine. Tempus Two is a larger brand and Tamberlaine is an organic winery - both were nice but not as good as the first - no more cases bought and no more photos as it was raining! After we had finished at the wineries we headed off for our last stop at a brewery - no idea what it was called as had drunk enough by this point and I am not a big beer/lager drinker! We then headed back into Sydney for about 7pm where I had dinner and an early night as was shattered!

The next day I woke up and the sun was shining so off exploring I went - Darling harbour for breakfast, Sydney Aquarium and Centrepoint Tower for 360 views of Sydney.

The aquarium had quite a lot of animals although I felt a bit bad as the tanks were a bit small for the large mammals - they had dugongs which are wicked but they didn't have much swimming room :o(

The Centrepont tower was awesome and had some great views:

So after the tower I headed up to the botanic gardens to get my first official view of a bridge and a house that I was told were a must see ;o)

I walked round Farm Cove to get a better view and decided to stop and have a glass of wine at the Opera bar which turned into lunch and most of the bottle - it was a little mesmorising and quite difficult to walk away from....well until a crazy decided that trying to proposition me was a good idea - only problem with travelling on your own - you can attract the crazies - anyway the bridge was stunning and the Pinot Grigio went down well too!

I then caught the ferry round to Darling Harbour and walked home taking lots of silly photos which have been edited out of the ones on FB! Why I think I can be arty after a few glasses of wine I don't know!

A quick dinner in Chinatown and then back to the hostel where I had a chilled evening chatting with one of the girls from the room - don't know her name but she was from somewhere near Memphis!

The next morning I woke up to hear the sound of rain on the window :o( not good - decided to go and get breakfast in circular quay and see if the weather improved at all! It started to perk up a bit so bought my ticket for the Taronga Zoo and off I went...the weather turned on the journey and it got colder, wetter and just to top it off the wind picked up. I battled on in my jacket to see the lovely animals - so many photos but here are a few:

After the zoo I headed back into Sydney (its on the other side of the harbour) and thought about walking back to the hostel - about halfway through my feet were screaming at me and I was soaking (yes it was still raining!) so I headed to the nearest train station to get the train back to Central - this may sound easy but in the cold, wet and dark it was not as straightforward! I eventually found the citycircle trains and got to Central where I proceeded to leave through the wrong exit to the station and it took me about 40 mins to work out where I was and eventually make it back to the YHA. By this point I was cold, tired, wet and my feet were killing me so all I wanted to do was go home to my nice bed in my nice room in Brisbane - tried to change my flight but couldn't - just as well really as the next morning the sun had come out and I had a lovely day walking round the Chinese garden of friendship and then met up with the lovely Sam from my NT Contiki tour and we whiled away the afternoon with lunch and a coffee in Darling Harbour - tres pretty!

So having said goodbye to Sam I headed back to the YHA to get my luggage before heading to the airport for my nice and simple flight - it didn't quite work out that way so with a delayed flight, no airtrain because it was too late to a bus, train, bus combo to get home I finally made it home at just past 11 last night about 2.5hrs late!

I had a great time and really liked Sydney and am looking forward to going back and enjoying it with other people when Mr & Mrs M are in Australia and also when Inge and Lucy arrive later in the year!

and on to the next adventure.....

Tomorrow night I am flying to Sydney! Yes I am finally taking a few days off work and going to see a bit more of this beautiful country I am currently calling home!

It has been a busy couple of weeks, my course has come to an end (finally!) and the event I was originally brought in to organise went off without a hitch - actually it was a resounding success with people actually tweeting me to tell me how much they enjoyed the day!

I am waiting on the results from the course but I should know next week what I got - we came 2nd in the presentation by 1 point and the lecturer really liked our idea (slightly borrowed the concept from when I worked at the Meningitis Trust but adapted it to a different charity!) - fingers crossed for the distinction people!

Anyway getting slightly off track so as everything has calmed down a bit and my contract has been extended until mid September I thought I would take a couple of days off - Wednesday is the city based public holiday for the Ekka (big old agricultural show/fair type thing happening this week in Brisbane) so I added some rec leave on the end to have a nice long weekend. I was originally going to just take some time and catch up on sleep but then I changed my mind and booked a flight to Sydney and a 4 night stay at the Sydney Central YHA! Who needs sleep?!?!

I am a little nervous as I am off on my own but I am sure (fingers crossed again people!) that I will meet some lovely people and will have a fab time. I am hopefully meeting up with the lovely Mia from the NT tour at some point and will see how the rest of the stay takes me!

I have one thing planned and the rest I will organise when I get there. I fly out tomorrow after work and get into Sydney at about 10pm go straight to the YHA and then the next day I am off on a wine tour around the Hunter Valley. It mentioned chocolate and fudge as being part of the tour so I was sold! - oh who am I kidding, it mentioned wine and I was in!

I am flying back to either the Gold Coast or Brisbane on Saturday - still to be determined as am waiting to hear if a group of us are going to be staying in Coolangatta on Saturday night for a chilled evening with a few (!) glasses of wine!

I am bound to have lots of photos to show when I get back so keep an eye out!

Update

So I know I haven't been blogging much lately, not a massive amount to say to be honest!! I am either working, studying or sleeping (or at least that is what it is feeling a bit like at the moment!).

I am currently doing a night course 2 nights a week in Event Management. Thought I would do a little bit of professional development whilst I am over here, and the networking opportunities were a pull as well for the Brisbane event scene! As much as I am enjoying it, I will be very glad to be finished in a few weeks and can get back to a normal life with no 14 hour days!

The course has been okay so far, I am really looking forward to the PR modules (although they have been moved because the original lecturer couldn't do it any more!). It was something I wanted to study as part of my marketing/events degree but couldn't because it clashed - explain that one if you can!!

I am working with a good group of people from varied backgrounds and I hope that we do well in the pitch presentation we have in a few weeks time. I also have an exam (first one in years) although it is multiple choice so I am hoping I will be okay! Anyway come the middle of August I will have a Diploma in Event Management after my name to go along with my degree. I know it sounds backwards but the degree was super early in the educational scheme of things!

Aside from that I have also started a new job. I am now working for Smart Service Queensland (another Gov agency - yay!) organising a conference for 200 people on social media and how it can be used for the Government.

Its a great team and we have lots of giggles and fun (and lots of morning/afternoon teas!) and I am really enjoying it, the contract runs until mid August at the moment and then I am back into the world of agency temping until Mr & Mrs M come over in November for a month.

And the best bit, I am waiting to hear on a job with the Australian Open Tennis - there have only been 2000 applications so I am sure I will walk it! Three month contract - yes please!!

Anyhoo, I really need to get my act together and get over to the gym (another addition to my weekly activities) but am struggling this morning after a lovely night catching up with Renee and Melissa - beautiful dinner, beautiful view of the city and beautiful company!

Queensland Disaster Heroes 2011

So the reason I have been crazzy busy and absolutely shattered recently is because I have been working for the Queensland State Government in the Department of Premier & Cabinet as a project co-ordinator working on the Queensland Disaster Heroes programme.

It has been a great couple of months and fantastic to get back into the events industry, properly organising events and all!

The programme has been to recognise all those people who have been nominated by their peers for their work during the floods and cyclone that have ravaged Queensland over the last couple of months.

There have been 10 events which have coincided with Queensland Week and I have been looking after 4 of them in Lockyer Valley (Gatton), Townsville, Emerald and Toowoomba. They are fairly straightforward ceremonies but have meant so much to so many people that it has been an absolute pleasure to be involved in them.

Lockyer Valley was the first event and the most nervous I have been about work for about 4 years, which is the last time I stage managed an AV event! It all went super smoothly and I spent much of the ceremony dancing around backstage doing the victory dance with no shoes on when it all went right. We then moved on to Townsville where the event was held in a marquee (I can't believe I came to the other side of the world and one on the first events I did had a marquee involved!!) which again went really well, then it was off to Emerald (inland Central Queensland) where the event went well for the people viewing it but wasn't quite as smooth for me when I had to run round the outside of the venue to pass on a vital piece of information to the choir! We then moved on to Toowoomba for my final event and I was so pleased with how it went (although there was less dancing as I had regained my professionalness by then!).

Although all areas that had ceremonies were hit hard by the disasters it was really amazing to see see how they have bounced back since January and the strength and resilience of the people was phenomenal. Many people said how they didn't think they were a hero and part of our job was to explain that someone thought they were and that was the most important thing!

For those that I spoke to before I left about what I could do to help when I got here, it may not have been aid work or anything like it but recognising those people that went above and beyond the call of duty was a fantastic thing and I am so glad to have been involved!

I, of course, met some lovely people both out at the events and also in the office where I worked and I will be sad when my contract ends on Friday to not be working with them all everyday. A truly lovely group of people!

Just the one shot to show our silliness on the event with Kate and Prue....this is the one from our first event in Lockyer and I have 3 more of the team at each event that I did....definitely one for the photo album when I get back home!

Territory and Outback - Litchfield & Darwin

So our last 2 days of tour - we got up bright and early and jumped on the bus and headed off to Litchfield National Park to see the termite mounds....I know it sounds weird but they were cool - 2 types of mounds can be found here - cathedral (or castle - can't remember!) and gravestone - I will let you figure out which is which!!

It was a very quick stop before getting back on the bus and heading to the beautiful Florence Falls for a swim in the lovely cool water and watching the boys climb and jump off like the crazy fools that they are!

A quick bite to eat and then back on the bus to head towards Darwin with a quick stop to make a small purchase..



(which is now safely installed in Mr & Mrs M's house in London!) before getting to our lovely hotel and preparing for our night out of general drunken debauchary (and a slightly moody half an hour from me because I didn't want the tour to end!). It all started so well and then ended up as a bit of a sweaty mess!!

Next morning it was up and off to a museum and a quick city tour of Darwin before heading out to get some lovely shots looking over the bay...

Then back into town and it was a fond farewell for some, whilst others disappeared without a trace! Caroline and I then pretty much walked the city before heading back to the hotel to meet up with the remaining crew to head out for dinner and say our goodbyes.

Contiki Territory & Outback it was a pleasure (and an experience) to spend 2 weeks with you guys and I have very fond memories that are going to last a lifetime! That bloomin swag is definitely one of them!!

Territory and Outback - Kakadu National Park

So I need to finish off the blogs about the NT Tour, been crazy busy with work but will fill you in on that one later!

Last time I blogged we had arrived in Kakadu at the lovely Aurora Kakadu South Alligator Hotel and had hit the hay for the night after getting the boys to remove the dead frog from our room...I really need to learn to

The following morning we got up and headed off the first of 2 cultural centres that day. The first was the Bowali Visitor Centre and mainly focused on the flora/fauna of the area and after we had spent some time here it was back on the bus for a short ride before another hike to see some aboriginal art work in situ.

It was great to see the real thing on the rocks and get a better understanding of what the different art stands for. I have probably said this before (but I can't remember and can't be bothered to go back through the blog!) but we only ever get the children's version of the aboriginal stories as the elders of the traditional people don't communicate the full stories to many people. It is still fab to see it in real life though - amazing that it has lasted so long!!

A few pics from the art near Namanjolg's Feather - Daberrg...

I can't remember which way round it was but I think we then headed to the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre for more information on the local area and the importance of it to the locals. It was then back on the bus and off for lunch at a hotel before our fab crocodile cruise around Yellow Waters.

We saw quite a few crocs on the cruise as well as seeing the amazing wetlands that they live in. The ones we saw were pretty much sunbathing and we learnt information about them from the guide such as they can't open their mouths very quickly so they tend to sit in wait with their mouths open ready to snap at anything that might get too close....it was not going to be me!! One of the crocs was maHOOsive and we could only see half of him half his body and tail was underwater and the guide reckoned he was a good 4m long...eek!

Pictures of the beasts and the birds that inhabit the Yellow Waters area...

After the croc cruise we headed back to the hotel for a chilled night in the hotel and a dip in the pool...which whilst hanging around we were all fairly surprised but pleased to see a kangaroo hop through the garden area of the hotel (didn't have my camera on me). Another lovely dinner of caesar salad (with a cold poached egg which I still don't understand!) and then off to bed as another early start in the morning as we headed on the final leg of our journey to Darwin.