It's freezing

Oooh is it cold now. This morning we had frost. And a layer of ice covered the cars parked in our street.

They said Sydney, being at sea level, does not get frost, but this is apparently not true.

Last year at this time I had escaped to Fiji for 2 weeks...

Computer crash

Yesterday night my laptop computer was infected by a virus. I did have anti-virus software running (avast), but it could not block or remove the virus.

It looked pretty bad and I decided to wipe the hard disk and reinstall the computer. And then, this morning, I had an idea how to turn the problem into an opportunity. Why not try to install Linux instead of Windows? I had a setup CD for Ubuntu 9.10 here.

This is something I wanted to do for a long time, so I should be thankful to the virus for giving me the trigger. I haven't worked with Linux for many years, and never with Ubuntu, so I will need some time to familiarise myself and find out how things work. But the first and most crucial obstacle is already taken: I successfully managed to connect to the Internet.

Rudd is gone

Normally I don't post political news here, but this is an exception: Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd has resigned this morning after he had lost his party's support to his deputy, Julia Gillard. She is now the new prime minister. Some things happen very fast here in Australia, when they happen.

At work and after work

This is the view I have from my office window, taken on a sunny day. It does look surreal in a way, doesn't it? Just office buildings in all sizes and shapes, and no people visible -- although thousands of them are there -- just a lettering that says 'people'.

This strange place is North Sydney.

A different sight! Here's me with some of my colleagues on a Friday night after knocking off (Feierabend) in a pub in Sydney. We're all software specialists, but other than that we're very diverse. My boss (not in the picture) was born in Australia. All others come from somewhere else: from England, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, China, Germany (me) - and the Indian colleague was here for a short time only. And this cultural mix is very typical Australian.

By the way, that beer with the nice red colour is James Squire Amber Ale. It is brewed in Sydney and named after James Squire, a convict who was transported to Australia on the First Fleet in 1788. After serving his sentence, he became a free man and was the first to successfully brew beer with hops in Australia. His death in 1822 was marked with the biggest funeral ever held in the colony!

FIFA

Yes. I did go to the outdoor screening of the FIFA games in Sydney at Darling Harbour.

The two girls in the picture are Anna and her friend Kathrina. The match we watched was last Friday night, Germany-Serbia, which didn't go too well (0:1). Oh well. You can't win all of the time.

It wasn't as overcrowded as on the matches when Australia plays, so that was okay. There are lots of Germans here in Sydney, with black-red-gold flags and all. But also a surprising lot of Serbians -- who were, of course, beside themselves with joy at the end.

Long weekend at Schonegg

The rain is over and this Monday is a public holiday, Queen's Birthday. I spent the long weekend visiting my friends in Country Guesthouse Schonegg, which I'm sure all you blog readers know by now, it's 300 km from Sydney near Canberra. It was a very happy weekend; everybody had been looking forward to my visit, especially the children, Mathias and Katja, and so had I. Knowing that it might be longer until we meet again is sad to think, but we made the most of the time!

We enjoyed perfect winter weather, sunny and blue skies! We played soccer, board games, and a cooking competition called Mystery Box Challenge, from the popular Aussie TV show MasterChef. You get a box with surprise ingredients and one hour time to cook something from them. No recipe books or computer permitted. The box contents is the same for all contestants, and you can use up to 5 additional ingredients. That was great fun, and of course a great learning experience too. When the time was up, we presented our creations to the jury (Richard and Evelyn) and received scores in different categories. And lo and behold: I won the prize apron! :)

I was also invited by Evelyn's mom for Sunday lunch, and she had again made something very special for me: a self-baked cake in the shape of my initials (MM). She is such a dear! From her you can learn deep and simple truths, such as that the joy you give to others comes back to you -- and that the sky is like an ocean, with the clouds like waves. Evelyn's dad was up and about too, which was really good to see.

In the evening, Katja, Mathias and I made a campfire in the garden, with a perfect improvised tripod and pot to make hot punch. And of course we also made damper on a stick (Stockbrot) , marshmallows, and fire-baked potatoes, under an ice-cold clear starry sky.

Oh, and Germany beat Australia in the soccer worldcup 4:0, but that you surely already know!

Penrith and Castle Cove

Wow -- we had 1½ days without rain! That was good. I spent a very nice Saturday in Penrith (50 km west of Sydney), playing guitar with Peter and enjoying a walk at the banks of Nepean River and watching people go down the artificial Olympic whitewater (Wildwasser) slalom course in rubber rafts (Gummibooten). It's a bit like the Eiskanal in Augsburg, but bigger and the course is in a circle, the water being pumped up at an amazing volume of 14 m³/s. From the finish, the boats can get conveniently back up to the starting point on a big conveyor belt (Förderband). Sorry I can't show you any pictures of this, I didn't take my camera with me.

But what I can show you is another pretty spot called Castle Cove. It's quite close (11 km) to Sydney's center but it's a very idyllic and unspoilt place. The 'castle' is a private residential house built in the 19th century by an Australian parliamentarian, Henry Willis.

Vivid Sydney

There's currently a nighly illumination of the Opera House. The event is called "Lighing the Sails", part of the festival "Vivid Sydney".

The colours and patterns are projected onto the white "sails" of Australia's iconic building with giant projectors from across Circular Quay bay. They move slowly and change every few minutes. That looks spectacular, of course!