Aussie Icon - Iced Coffee Milk

Well, following my putting a photo of Donald Bradman on my last blog, it gave me an idea.
There are many Australian things that are true aussie icons . Okay, they might now be owned by some mega-corp based in the USA - but the association of these products are truely australian, unlike say Fosters beer!

So, my first in what may or may not become a regular blog feature.. I give you Dairy Farmers Union Iced Coffee!


Started in 1977, Farmers Union is a coffee flavour milk drink. In 2003 Australians consumed in excess of 22,000,000 litres of Farmer's Union Iced coffee, making it Australia's best selling flavoured milk drink. The drink's popularity has led to some McDonald's, KFC and Hungry Jack's (aka Burger King) restaurants selling it as a part of their menus across the country.

Farmers Union Iced Coffee outsells Coca-Cola in South Australia, making it the only place in the world where a milk drink outsells a cola product, and one of the few places that Coca-Cola is not the most popular bottled beverage.

And best off all, it tastes GREAT! I'm nearly addicted to the stuff....


D

50!

FIFTY POSTS! So, in tribute, here an old photograph of the greatest australian sportsman of all time Donald Bradman (for Canadians, think the Gordie Howe of Cricket!) For more info on this aussie lengends, check out wikipedia HERE



Now, back to the blog -Woot! 50 freaking POSTs! I can't believe I'm still blogging and 50 post strong. Not sure if anybody reads this thing, but its good fun - I'd highly recommend it. In fact I recommend it so much, I'll be starting a Second blog next week, just for my Photos. It won't be updated as much, but will be full of my favourite photos.

So what else to add to my 50th post...

Lets see my 3rd week of work completed. Was really busy today - a good sign! I'm learning alot very quickly, and despite being lacking in some of the technical skills, my experience seems to get me through most problems.

Also, the weather has turned.. not sure how long it is supposed to last.. probably until April 09! But it was sunny and 29c today! Not bad for early spring. And to be honest, it didn't seem too bad. Everything is Air-conditioned, unlike back in the UK, so you never really feel too hot. No doubt I'll be blogging in a few weeks time about too hot it is!

Best to keep this short!

Next update REALLY soon...

D & L

Mt Lofty - Not the loftiest moutain I've ever seen!

The above photos is from our day trip to Mount Lofty and Mount George in the Adelaide hills from this past weekend.

The weather was nice, so we decided to head out to the hills for a BBQ/Picnic. While we couldn't find a BBQ pit (still need to get a decent parks of South Australia guidebook) we did find two nice parklands. The first was Mt.Lofty, the "loftiest" of the adelaide hills.. still not very lofty. But it did afford a nice view of Adelaide (no photos, as we only had the compact 35mm digital cam, and the photo didn't really turn out!).

We then continued further into the hills, where we found Mt George and the park there. It was quieter (the are regular tour day trips to Mt Lofty), so we unpacked our lunch and ate outdoors. Followed by a short walk around the small lake. It was a nice little place, and only 45min away from our house.

We are hoping to visit another parkland this Sunday, and I've got my digital SLR working again - and I plan to take the zoom lens, as the guide book suggests I might be able to see wild kangaroos and/or Emus! The majority of kangaroos I've seen so far have been in petting zoos, so to see a wild one will be quite a treat (and NO, I don't really count the one I saw on the side of the Freeway as I drove past at 110kmp/h!)

D&L

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, its off to work I went

Week 1 done!

It has been a good week. I've met EVERYBODY in the company - including the CEO - I'd like to think that I'm special, but infact all new starters get a 30min meeting with the CEO and the company Exec's.

My training has begun, I can now write and execute simple SQL statements, and schedule overnight database runs. Not sure what next week will entail. I've been told I've got 6months training before I'm allowed to go near the production servers and support our clients.

The people are nice, my "team" has about 10 people, we are all in our 30's and come from quite similar work experiences - so It has been easy to get along and relate with everybody.

So, week one impression are quite good (I might regret this blog entry after a few months - but I'd prefer to have a glass half full prespective)

So, it is Saturday today, and nice and sunny - the weather has finally turned, we are expecting mid 20's and sunny for the next few weeks, then it should start hitting the 30's by November, with the possiblities of the high 30's or low 40's towards the end of Dec/ Early Jan.

Not much on today, but tomorrow, I'm hoping to be heading of the Adelaide Oval to watch the SANFL playoff finals first round (or something) - it will be my first Aussie Rules game - I've watched plenty on TV so I know what is going on - but it is always different to watch a sport live, heck even Baseball isn't that boring live!

I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow.

David

Spore-iffic

Well, this is not a blog about Australia - this is a boring blog about a computer game called Spore.

A little known game (ha!) Spore has arrived, and for the first time in many years, I even purchased a new game from retail shop - crazy idea I know. So far it is fun, but I've not even reached the space stage yet - which is where the real game begins. I've been too busy playing with the spore creature creator..

So I present my first creation - Strawburr!







Anyway, I must have too much time on my hands these days... good thing I start working on Monday!

DK

Royal Adelaide Show 2008

Today, we went to the Royal Adelaide Show - for those of you back in Duncan, think Cowichan Exhibition - as there were farm animals, horse shows, fun fair rides, arts & crafts, etc...

The main difference, would be the Australian invention "Show Bags" - think of party bags. You spend $5, $10, or whatever on a goody bag, and you get $10, $20, or $30 dollars worth of goodies. Anyway, Lyn has been going on about show bags since we got the local paper, and it listed all the show bags availible for sale.

I decided to take my non-zoom lens to the show, a decision I do regret, as there would have been so many great photos to be had, if I could have just gotten a proper zoom - but then again, I wasn't there as a hobby photographer, but as a bewildered canadian!

So, the photos...

First up, we have the 7th Heat, of the Mens underhand wood cutting (38cm Diameter I believe)



Next, we have some the old Farm equipment on Display



Now we have Lyn hamming it up in front of the prize winning daffodils



An action shot of the Toyota HiLux Heroes display



And now the Yamaha Freestyle Motocross Exhibition Team.



And the all important Show Bags!