A busy month

January has turned out to be a really busy month for me.

First, Carla came back after a month long visit to Canada.  We were both very happy to be living in the same place.  Over the past few years, there have been too many times where we've had to spend a month apart, just because of our travels and trying to make all our moves happen.  It is not fun to live apart for even a few days, let alone a month, but we made it work.  Hopefully, we won't have to have many more of these month-apart occasions.  I don't think Carla will plan another winter trip to Canada, but this one had to be done.

Second, we've been renting a car every weekend this month trying to explore Sydney and surrounding sights.  Over the last couple of weeks, we have visited Blue Mountains and Kangaroo Valley.  I will post pictures from those trips over the next few weeks.

Thirdly, we have used the car to do some shopping at stores that are hard to get to by train.  It is nice to have the added mobility that having a car gives you, but driving in Sydney is not really enjoyable.  Traffic lanes are too narrow (compared to North American driving) and highways are either tolled or are not located conveniently for getting around the city.  I always feel relieved when I drop off the car and hop on the train.  When you are using public transport, there is no need to worry about finding a parking spot or a gas station, or figuring out how to navigate through the city.

Lastly, work has been really busy with new opportunities, business travel and making sure that at least the most important tasks are done.  Working for a startup is a very interesting experience.  You never run out of things to do, and never know what you will be working on next week.  It makes it hard to make long term plans, but it sure teaches you flexibility.

After all our travels, I have a whole new list of funny Australian town names to share with you.