Escape to the Coast

Jervis Bay

We had a long weekend in Canberra last weekend and 14 or so of the grads headed to Jervis Bay (about 3 hours drive from Canberra) to see some coastline. We rented a house for 2 nights that came fully equipped with beds (for most of us), a barbeque, cooking utensils and dining ware. It was like a big sleepover - or a school camp where you don't have to do anything you don't want to.

We played Twister, 20 Questions, UNO, Poker and some games of our own invention, took walks along the beach, watched Grease, read books and magazines and shared secrets until the early hours of the morning.















Lukas, Mirren, me, Tara and Catie at the beach




















The boys get active














Twister - some not so flattering views

It's getting cold in here...

Canberra has suddenly plunged into the beginnings of super-cold weather over the weekend. It's been -7 degrees overnight and in the mornings. This morning I had the not-so-brilliant idea of going for a jog (it looked sunny outside!) - I lasted for about 15 minutes before retreating back to the apartment. When I got into work I found out I had been running in -5 degree weather. Arrrggg.

Our car windows have been frosted over if they're left outside overnight - I got into my car this morning and couldn't see a thing. I stood there for ages trying to scrape the ice off the front, back and side windows. Yesterday, a driver actually hit and killed someone because they were driving with frosted-over windows.

Land of the Acronyms

It has occurred to me that all the weird and confusing acronyms I encountered when first starting work for the Government and living in Canberra in general have become part of life (and speech) now. At first we all complained about how coming to work here practically involves learning another language, and that people who have been here for a long time sometimes pack a sentence with more acronyms than real words. So initially all the grads had to ask for a translation every other sentence when speaking to people in the Department. But now...

We all abbreviate the areas we work in - I work in CPFU (Competition Policy Framework Unit), which is part of CCPD (Competition and Consumer Policy Division), we work on TPA (Trade Practices Act) matters as well as NCP (National Competition Policy), soon to become the NRA (National Reform Agenda). Each morning, I read the SCD (Strategic Communications Division) media report, each week I coordinate SoP (State of Play) for our unit, and we regularly write QTBs (Question Time Briefings) and EMs (Executive Minutes) for our Minister or his advisers. Speaking of which, the Treasury portfolio has 3 ministers - the Treasurer, the MRAT (Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer) and the PST (Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer).
We've worked closely with DCITA (Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts), DOTARS (Department of Transport and Regional Services) and PM&C (Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet). Our legislation is being drafted by OPC (Office of Parliamentary Counsel).

My housemates work at AG (Attorney General's Department) and Finance (Department of Finance, which used to be abbreviated to DoFA, some say appropriately, but this acronym was banned because it was considered offensive). On Friday nights, we go to OPH (Old Parliament House) or the NGA (National Gallery of Australia) for drinks.

Now, I thought I had most of the acronyms worked out already, until yesterday when my supervisor was going through her old files and said, 'I should PA these files'. I sighed and contemplated letting it pass, but curiosity got the better of me and I asked, 'What's "PA"'? And she said, nonchalantly, 'Oh, it means "Put Away"'. Of course.

What's been happening

Interstate Travel!

On Wednesday I made my first work trip - I flew to Sydney for a COAG meeting! For those who don't know, I love Sydney, and don't subscribe to all the Sydney-bashing that goes on in other states at all. I flew from Canberra on the 6.30am flight, and was in a so-metropolitan cafe in the heart of Sydney city by 8.30am. I'm sure it will fade off after awhile, but I totally loved sitting there in my suit, drinking a macchiato and reading the Fin Review magazine before the meeting. And what do you know, on the front page of the Fin that morning was an article about the legislation we've been working on in my unit. Full of errors and misinformation, but it's always just a bit exciting to see discussion of our work in the press, and knowing that different groups in the community are watching the developments with interest.

Anyway, at the meeting it was great to get some exposure to how COAG works and how the states, territories and Commonwealth reach agreement on issues. We also had some delicious food. I was back by 4.30pm, it really just felt like a trip to the north of the river in Perth!

Mecca Bah & Silo

On Friday we ended up having dinner at Mecca Bah, this awesome Turkish restaurant in Manuka. We had fish wrapped in vine leaves, roast lamb pizza, tagine, and more… the food was great. Mecca Bah also has a restaurant in Melbourne, and I’m guessing the Melbourne one came first.

The other great place I went to this weekend was Silo – a bakery/café in Kingston, the suburb where we live. Our gym was having this psycho ‘challenge day’ where it ran 9 classes nonstop, and after going to 2 of these, I ended up at Silo with Rithy having great coffee and eyeing some delicious-looking food. The place is so crowded it’s really hard to get a table. If you’re interested, google these 2 places, I will take you there if you come to Canberra!!

Afterwards, it was blissful just to wonder around in Kingston and Manuka, into the bookstores and overpriced specialty shops selling $200-water jugs and $100 candles. Even though Canberra has such a small population, it feels busy enough because I guess it’s less spread out than Perth and people congregate in a few areas.

Staff turnover

There are a lot of people leaving my unit over the next month or so, in the next transfer round. Things are fairly mobile within Treasury – people tend to move to another section of the department after a few years. While it’s exciting to be getting new people, I can’t help wondering if our good run with an amazing team will be ending! Because I truly like the people in my team, they have been so good to talk to and work with. I wonder if we were just lucky having a great bunch of people, or if it’s like this Treasury-wide.