Finally! A physio job in Bristol

After 2 months of flipping burgers and cleaning up after people doing market research, I finally hit paydirt - a three-week locum physio position in Bristol, in the west of England near Wales, population about 500,000. I am working in a Brain Injury Rehab Centre, part of Frenchay Hospital (in northeast Bristol).

The job is interesting, and it's good to be using my brain for physio again. The centre is a little old, but the staff are friendly and there is a good team atmosphere. It took the first week to work out the system, and now that I know it, I'll be leaving!

The hospital accommodation is cheap, but nasty. I am staying in 'A' Block (already it sounds like something from the TV show Prison Break). It's like a dorm/motel, with all single rooms and single beds. The hallway smells of old cigarette smoke (obviously someone smokes in their room). The kitchen is full of dirty pans and pots, but with no dishwashing detergent around, I haven't really been cooking. People in 'A' Block are generally middle aged, and of an ethnic background. Haven't really said anything more than hello in passing. After my 2nd night, I decided just to use it only as a place to sleep, and started working out how to get to downtown Bristol.

Works out a bus just outside the hospital can take me there in 35 min. So off we went.

Downtown Bristol is actually quite nice, like any other smallish town. Lots of history and old architecture. There are a few special landmarks:

• Clifton Suspension Bridge - beautiful bridge for one. It is at the top of 2 hills looking down on Bristol, so the views are pretty nice.
• Bristol Cathedral - nice looking cathedral.

Poseidon: "I think the bus stop is this way?" Danny: "No, maybe it's over here..."

That's me next to this huge mirror ball. Imagine the size of the disco club...

The Clifton Suspension Bridge and west Bristol below

There is also the University of Bristol, which is less than a 10 ininute walk from downtown, so I'm sure the nightlife is great during when uni is on. So I have been going there after work every night, checking it out. There are rough areas of town (like Easton where this Internet cafe is), but I'm sure there are places like this everywhere.

As always, there are more pictures to see at www.flickr.com/photos/sneakykangaroo.

And if you can also check out my MySpace site at www.myspace.com/dannyn80. Not much to see, but worth a look anyway.

DN

Hurricane Leng

So while I was STILL waiting for physio work in the UK, my friend Leng arrived from Melbourne traveling to Hong Kong and Europe. And from the time he arrived it like a whirlwind of a blast, about the level of a Class Six hurricane.

After picking him up at the airport and checking in to his hotel, we went to go see all the London sights. This was also a chance for me to see the tourist sights, many of which I haven't seen yet.

Lenga on the king size bed in his hotel room

Look out London, the twins are taking over!

Leng and I on the London Eye

The twins on Westminster Bridge, with Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in background

So we went to hit the big tourist spots - London Eye, Big Ben, etc. We ended up walking past 10 Downing Street, and by chance ran into the Changing of the Guard! Well, we didn't actually
missed it, we only caught the Old Guard returning to Wellington Barracks. But went to Kensington Palace anyway to catch the band still playing. No queen in sight.

After that, we spent a fair amount of time trying to finish a duty-free sized bottle of Smirnoff across 2 days. Here is a picture from Day 1:

Leng and I at the base of the Monument

Day 3 was spent seeing other London landmarks, including the London Bridge. That night "the twins" went to Bayswater to meet up with Dan, Mike, Rob, and Tony for a few quiet drinks, before meeting up with Lisa, her housemate Catherine, and her friend Julian down to go barhopping in Brixton (livingbar), which expanded to Clapham High Street (The Falcon, Cafe Sol). One of the my most entertaining nights in London.

Dan, Mike, Rob and Me in Bayswater

Day 4
Can't remember too much, but I do have photos of going to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Day 5
Went to Greenwich, saw Cutty Sark, went to Greenwich Royal Observatory. This is where the basis of the Prime Meridian started.

The longitudes of Aust, NZ, and Sth African cities (where's Melbourne?)

The next day, it was off on a day trip to Oxford. A beautiful little college town about an hour's bus ride west of London, it is home of one of the prestigious universities in the world. After walking through the main streets, we went on a tour of the uni, and checked out Oxford Prison, which has now been converted into really expensive hotel rooms.

Leng and I outside Oxford Prison Hotel

We spend most of the day walking around and seeing the sights, so by the time we got back on the bus back to London, we were exhausted.


And with that Hurricane Leng was downgraded to a Tropical Storm, to just a some meager clouds. But my oh my, it left quite a mark on myself and London. I don't think it will ever be the same.

DN