Sunday, January 22, 2012
Apparently Dubbo has a TARDIS. And it is awesome.
I can't say I'm a Doctor Who fan. I remember Kylie Minogue was on one of the Christmas episodes and know the names of the three that have helmed the new generation (I remain curious of the David Tennant era particularly).
I DO know Torchwood though, which from what I've seen I thoroughly enjoyed. So I understand people's appreciation for the Doctor. And I now also know of the admiration for the show and Matt Smith from the wonderful Steph of Mayhem and Miscellany.
During her visit to Dubbo for the weekend she saw the sights of the city and also a bit of Narromine (ooh aah Glenn McGrath), but neither of us were prepared for the mini golf course.
Astro mini golf at the Observatory was not something I'd thought about doing since the move. But at Steph's excitement I thought it was a great idea. As she put it, it's all about "embracing the daggy stuff". And what an unexpected surprise it was.
We went through the Space Race and Oort clouds, before entering the TARDIS and then finally getting sucked into the Black Hole. While Steph was disappointed it didn't expand to include the so called features (multiple swimming pools, helloooo?) it was still a privilege to get the ball in the hole located inside. I was impressed.
Other weekend highlights included a revisit to Andonbel Alpaca Farm and Coffee Shop, exhibition viewing and the opportunity to learn French off nationals. But they are stories for another time.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
I had my first roadtrip with company yesterday (Saturday) when I drove to Narromine with fellow newbie sub-editors Orlaith (from Ireland) and Jess (NSW). Now, Narromine is only 30 minutes away but on the highway it still feels like it takes a while. Once the nice drive leads you into what is an industrial entrance with the silos(?? still getting some lingo), you eventually hit the main street which is lovely, lined with palm trees and a an interesting statue of a baker.
A couple of nice boutique/giftware shops were trading (luckily, otherwise the trip would've been quite pointless), and we satisfied our hunger with some fried grub at the local pub. The childhood home of Glenn McGrath, we honoured his great contribution to cricket by admiring the statue there in his honour (and explained to Orlaith the 'ooh aah' phrase for future reference), before heading to something we stumbled across on the Information board. The Andonbel Alpaca Farm and Coffee Shop - we had drinks in a train carriage.
You can tell how excited I was by forcing the girls into a photo! It was the most interesting concept you could ever think of in a town of Narromine's size (almost 4,000 I think). You looked out the window and it was farmland. We didn't get up close and personal with the alpacas in the end, but I had a mean strawberry milkshake. The service was incredibly friendly, I found an alpaca pin that I'll make part of the travel collection, and the Mars Bar cheesecake is why I will be going back. It looked incredible and life won't be complete until I try it. The girls said it's a bit far to make our local hangout... half an hour, half a schmour.
We saw a mother and two kids cruising down the road in a carriage pulled by a pony as we made our way back through Narromine. A pony. I actually slowed down the car on a road you could drive at 90km/h to get a better look as they went past. We were all too excited to get a photo in time though!
I still can't believe how cool that coffee shop was. Where's the coolest place you've ever eaten or had a coffee? Or do I win?
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