Where's Phil?

I finally found someone at the recruitment agency, who seemed to have some idea of what was going on. Phil listened very intently at my interview and was particularly interested in learning about Australia. I have spoken to Phil a few times since and he was very helpful and interested. I rang the agency last week to find out why they hadn't paid me (again) and asked to speak to Phil. The reply came back that Phil no longer worked there...in fact he'd emigrated...to Australia! Good luck Phil!

one photo plus text

This a photo of beautiful Whitby on the north east coast between Middlesbrough and Hull. We fluked a beautful few days here and walked for about 8 miles along the coast south to Robin Hoods Bay (nothing to do with the guy in the tights as far as I can see). Nobody there was giving money to us (the poor) anyway. This is real pirate, smugglers type country with strange little freehouses and the like. Anyway that was a few weeks ago and we are returning to the coast to Scarborough this weekend for more of the same.

more photos from recent travels

back at work

We are back in the groove, with Lorraine back at Hirst Wood, and me getting what work I can in local schools. I'm averaging 3 or 4 days a weeks in schools mostly within walkin distance. By far the biggest headache for me is that I am employed by a private agency who has the contract for this district. Each contractor sets their own rates based on years of experience etc! The one I work for is hopelessly inefficent and constantly changes their mind about how much I am worth. They paid me once for day I didn't work at all! I have a new appreciation for the problems facing casual teacers, and casual workers in general, who have few rights and are easily exploited. The conditions in the schools vary greatly with some very cramped and others very spacious. They are obsessed with security and it is sometimes hard to get in the front door of the place! The kids are much the same, once you get to them, and the academic standards slightly above ours in general I think, depending on the drawing area, which is always the main determinant. The gap between haves and have-nots is expanding, as it is everywhere. Oh well...we'll just relax and plan the next holiday - to Paris!

Fountains Abbey photos

These photos should have been attached to the last post

Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey (not Fountainlakes) is the most extraordinary ruin we have encountered yet. It was established by he Cistercian monks in 1132 then added to continuously by the order over the next few centuries. It was then puchased by a member of the aristocracy then expanded with the addition of extravagant Georgian gardens.

Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay

We walked from Whitby to Robin Hoods Bay on teh north east coast, a distance of about 12 kms along a cliff top, literally a metre or two from a crumbling edge - not recommended for those afraid of heights! Look closely on the beach shot there is some idiot surfing - the air was about 5degC and the water was colder!

Lakes district - I wondered lonely as a cloud......

to michael and heather

Thanks for your message. Try sending an email on neilandrew10@hotmail.com. We have put clean sheets on the bed for you....

plastic bag trees

Did you know that plastic bags grow on trees!? They do in this country! Such is the problem of disposing of litter and the addicion to plastic bags, along with other forms of packaging, that many trees, which currently have no foliage, do have plastic bags hanging from them, presumably blown there by the wind. It really does look as if the plastic bags are growing on the trees! This is very sad but strangely compelling as if a warning sign for us all. Despite constant messages on the media about disposal of rubbish the problem is out of control. Is it lack of caring or simply the inability of the country to cope with the sheer weight of numbers. I don't know....but there are lots of plastic bag trees....

the suns shines

I took these yesterday on a beautiful sunny day

Yorkshire...isms

A sweet little girl asked me the other day if I spoke English. I asked her what language she thought I spoke and she replied that it was Australian. I asked her then whether she spoke Australian and she said of course that she didn't. How come you can understand me then was the obvious response? That got her thinking and lead to a discussion about accents. We all decided that we could understand each other easily and that no-one understood the Irish! (there was an Irish student teacher at the school at the time)
There are a couple of very interesting Yorkshire...isms eg when greeting someone you say: "hi ya, yor-right" which translates to : "hi, how are you" not "hi, are you all right?" as I first thought, thinking that I must have looked pretty awful. If you say "G'day" they just laugh! The word "was" doesn't exist, replaced by "were" for every occasion eg "when I were in town..." The definite article "the " doesn't exist eg "When we were at (the)pub yesterday..." You don't feel ill, sick or crook...you feel "poorly" and you don't vacuum the carpet, you "hoover" it. Oh yes and footabll is soccer not rugby league or union and deginitely not AFL!

our new friend.....Ken

Lately I have been venturing a little further from home in order to obtain work and have made a new friend - Ken - who is attached to the windscreen of the car and tells me when exactly how to get to places I have never been to before. Without Ken I would by now have run off the road trying to balance a street directory on my lap whilst trying to work out where the hell I am. Ken comes with me wherever I go (he can't stay in the car as total strangers want to own him!) and never gets stressed or raises his voice or gets shitty when I don't obey his instructions (must be something in he name?!)And the best part..... Ken has an Aussie accent! For those who haven't guessed, Ken (and his other friends)is a tom-tom ie portable satellite navigation system or sat-nav. Could be useful in Bangalow.....

still swimming...

You can't stop a pair of dedicated ocean junkies! We have joined Greens (no not those Greens). This one is a "health and recreation centre" which costs about a year's salary to join. I have been swimming about a km a day. Okay its a pool and I've got black line fever but its better than the Leeds-Liverpool canal. I'm losing weight and regaining fitness. Look out when I return!!! Lorraine is too busy being a breadwinner to swim every day but she is getting fitter too. Next week we have a week's holiday (yay!) and we are heading off up the east coast then over to the famous "Lakes district" where I am expecting to feel the urge to write poetry or say profound things etc. Hmm..

snow

Woke up this morning to a blanket of white outside. Fortunately it is Saturday and we have time to admire it. Spent the day in Bradford at the Film and Television museum. Bradford has a lot of bad press but is undergoing a Renaissance of sorts. We are working hard and looking forward to weekends. Have a week off soon and are planning a motoring tour through along the east coast to Hadrian's wall then across to the Lakes district. Hope it doesn't snow too much