the back story

I feel really self conscious about starting a blog. How exactly do you start one of these things?

I figure if you are reading this you already know who I am quite well so I'm not going to bother with an intro.

I will say though, that I've started this blog as a record of my travels to Ingham in Northern Queensland, to pursue a job as a journalist. It's a record for myself more than anyone, but also for the people I know and love in Newwie who want to keep tabs on me.

So there you have it. One small note though before I commence - no, I am not crem. Crem (short for Crème Brûlée) is a 20cm tall plush hippo that was given to me by Luke before I left. I decided to dedicate this blog to Crem in honour of his excellent cuddles.

Right - I'm already here in Ingham and I have been for about a week now. Here is the backstory (pardon the past tense):

After 13 months of working for Bradken Resources Pty Ltd as a Marketing Coordinator, and feeling pretty bored and grumpy (as far as work went - not otherwise) for most of them, I finally received a job offer as an entry-level journalist on Friday the 17th of November (a little over two weeks ago…).

In fact, I actually received two phone calls that day from two separate papers. Crazy but true…

For a moment, it seemed all my Christmases had come at once.

The only problem was – I had to move to Queensland, and I only had two weeks in which to do it.

I spent the weekend deliberating… Swinging between going and staying. Deciding which paper to work for. Whether or not to leave my awesome boyfriend, my family and my friends. Whether to leave my lovely apartment in Hamilton. WHAT TO DO????

After lots of talking with Luke, and my family, sighing, umming and ahhing I decided I had to go. This was too big an opportunity to miss… The position is a maternity leave contract for 8 months and it’s with News Ltd. My decision to go was based on the fact that it will be great experience and hopefully a foot in the door with a paper closer to home at the end of the process.

The week between accepting the job and actually leaving was a really hard one. It went by way too fast, in blur of anxiety and snotty tissues.

I spent it packing, wondering if I had made the right decision and trying to cram in as much time with Luke, my friends and family as possible.

I resigned from Bradken on the Monday and came down with a raging case of the flu on Tuesday.

Apologies to all my mates who came out on Wednesday night to wish me farewell and got coughed on. I don’t think I was much fun that night. Two beers had me under the table (I blame the truckload of pain killers taken earlier that day) and I piked at 10pm. I promise to make it up to you all at some stage or another.

I was all packed up by Wednesday afternoon, so Thursday was spent hanging out with Luke and my family. Lots of cuddles and a big family dinner that night.

After some teary goodbyes on Friday morning, Dad and I set off on out three day journey.

The whole thing from Newcastle to Ingham took THREE DAYS. We left on Friday the 24th (my 23rd birthday) with our first overnight in a pub right on the NSW/QLD border. We spent the next night in Rockhampton, and then travelled all the way Ingham, arriving late Sunday afternoon.

What a haul. I was originally going to write about each day in detail but it was just going to take too long.

Highlights of the trip though included:

- Trying unsuccessfully to find accommodation in Byron Bay in the middle of schoolies week.
- Pub stay at the “Hotel Victory” on our first night. Awesome pub in the middle of nowhere. See my flickr account for pix.
- Driving through Brisbane in morning traffic
- 3 days worth of chain-store junk food
- Road tripping with dad! An awesome travel buddy.

So! Dad and I arrived in Ingham on Sunday afternoon. Driving into Ingham was kinda cool - it was all overcast and the clouds were hanging low over the hills as the sun set. The highay into Ingham is lined with lush green cane fields and that afternoon as the sun set it looked absolutely spectacular. It was a nice way to arrive.

The streets of Ingham were completely deserted when we arrived. The town shuts down at 4pm on a Saturday afternoon and doesn't wake up til business hours on a Monday, so we booked ourselves into "Motel Ingham" for some well deserved sleep and ordered pizza delivery from Eagle Boys, the only shop still open in town.

Next morning we went to the real estate agency and checked out a few houses. We were looking for something furnished (as I didn't want to have to invest in white good and couches for an 8 month stay) and furnished we found!

The second apartment we looked at was cute, furnished, and more importantly had air con and lots of fans (a total must have in QLD... extremely hot 24/7). So I applied straight away, and by the next day we were moving in! Only thing it needed was some beds, which we picked up cheapo at a second hand furniture store in Townsville, and some mattresses which we got from the kind folk at clark rubber.

Dad and I spent the rest of the week doing the tourist thing, taking lots of photos and visiting all the local beaches. I'm really glad he was there for the first week with me - when I started missing every one he was there to give me a hug. Many sooks have been had in the last two weeks. So thank you dad for being so great and never failing to cheer me up.

In the week dad was here I also went in to the paper and met everyone I'll be working with. They all seem really lovely, and my boss seems pretty pretty chilled out as well. I think it' going to be a great place to work.

Anyway... I've left out heaps of details so as not to bore you (or myself) but I'm still sorry if this first post was less than riveting. There was so much to write!!

I promise to only write short, witty and poignant posts from now on.

til then

xox tegz