Back to reality

On Monday morning, the time came to wave goodbye to Dunsborough and the lovely McKiernans, having had a heavenly fortnight’s break from the city. After a tedious five-hour bus ride sitting next to yet another elderly woman reeking of perfume (although I can’t complain, she did give me a Lindt chocolate), I landed firmly back on Perth soil, exiting the coach into a wall of stifling 39-degree heat. I’d forgotten just how much of a difference being a few hundred kilometres closer to the equator makes and it felt like the journey across the city to Peppermint Grove minus the sea breeze I’d become accustomed to down south took all my energy not to pass out from the heat. Monday afternoon was incredibly exciting and involved the inevitable unpacking, washing clothes and food shopping that returning from holiday involves. Unfortunately I failed to find a Good Samaritan to scab a free lift home from Woolies with my groceries too! I got settled and had an early night before work resumed on Tuesday morning.

I was really dreading returning to the office and facing the music, but I’ve actually found that the break has done my motivation the world of good and it’s quite nice to get back into a routine. Firstly, my cycles to and from work are now greatly improved by Ryan moving five minutes down the road and finally getting his biked running. It’s a fixed-gear and there’s nothing more entertaining at 7am than hearing him puffing and cursing away behind me up all the hills. The first day back involved getting the very neglected Cell Culture lab back in operation, which included Andy, Ryan and myself making a trip to Zoology to fill up the liquid nitrogen; no matter how many times I have to use it, I will never tire of how cool that stuff is! It was lovely to catch up with everyone and hear about what they did over the break and, most importantly, I appear to have started my next mammoth task in the world of neuroscience with startling enthusiasm.

Lindy left for a six-week holiday cruising around Iceland at the beginning of December, leaving each of us in the Fitzgerald team with a list of jobs to be completed by the time she gets back next Friday. I did well with the practical side of my list and submitted all of it before the Christmas break, but was blissfully ignorant of the one item I was desperate to avoid at all costs: my literature review. I have mentioned part of my assessment for this year comes in the form of a report to be handed in when I return to Bath; Lindy has to give me an evaluation and I’ll also present a poster, but the report is the big one. The literature review forms the introduction of said report and is basically the background information on my area of research using findings from published scientific papers and journal articles in the field. I am not the biggest fan of writing passages that require so much referencing and, as a result, have left myself a grand total of six working days to write the whole thing. I know, silly me. However, it’s not all doom and gloom; I have made quite a solid start and, with the moral support of the PhD students who have all gone through this process, I have actually found myself enjoying writing something so scientific from scratch. Turns out I sort of know what I’m talking about, which is always a bonus! Let’s just pray that this roll I’m on continues.

Another silver lining to being back in Perth was being invited to the Billinghams after my first day back, which was the perfect way to wind down. We ate John’s famous curry, played Canasta and watched an episode of Inspector Linley; it felt just like living with them again and made me pine for South Perth a little! Even better than being provided with a hot meal was the news that Jamie has passed his final driving test; I know from experience that new drivers love getting out on the road and he’s basically offered me lifts anywhere I want to go, plus he can now meet me after work at the foreshore to go sailing.

As usual, there are plenty of upcoming events to look forward to. Tamasin and I are going to Adventureworld (Perth’s answer to Alton Towers) this weekend and their water park will be the perfect remedy to the 41-degree forecast. I have a sneaky feeling that the rest of January will fly by in a whirlwind of visiting English friends; Amy comes over from Melbourne next Wednesday for five days, then I only have two days home alone before Jew nose (I mean Nick) arrives for a ten-day stint. He’s been on the east coast for a few weeks already and I can’t wait to catch up on all the Tintagel gossip! We’re going to watch England vs Australia at the WACA, taking a daytrip to Rottnest, celebrating Australia Day with my friends from work to name but a few activities. During that time, two Biology friends from uni who are on placement in Sydney, Tom and Rob, will also be in Perth staying with Rob’s family, so I’ll get to catch up with them. During all this excitement, I mustn’t forget that, in just nine days’ time, I’ll be halfway through my placement (4 and a half months!) and on the home straight. Time is flying by!