The Ginger Factory

Nestled in a little town called Yandina is a tourist attraction called The Ginger Factory. Last week they held their annual three day Ginger flower and food festival. Entry was free so we decided to have a look. Now a Ginger plant is nothing special..when not in flower. However when these unassuming little plants bloom they are the most spectacular I have ever seen. Of course I took my camera and here are some of the beautiful blossoms we saw...

Aren't they fabulous? As well as the flowers, there is a lovely little heritage style village with gift shops, a Herbal shop, and a sweet shop filled with all sorts of gourmet yummies, like candied ginger, macadamia brittle, pistachio nougat, and mouth watering fudges (my favourite being the Turkish delight fudge). There are lovely gardens with ponds and fountains and a little wooden bridge, or you can stroll through a forest trail (we couldn't do this as it was too wet). There is a little steam train to take you on a tour of the whole park, as they are also a ginger processing plant. There was some cool entertainment and lots of delicious food stalls as well. 

However, we decided we wanted to visit the town of Yandina itself so at lunch time we drove into the town centre and found a lovely little bakery and had the BEST pies, washed down with a cold passiona. 

It was a really nice, family day.

To all my Aussie friends out there...

HAVE A GOOD ONE!

Bad news...

Don't you hate it when someone says that? You immediately think the worse.. someone's died.. or something else equally horrible..
The other day, after fetching a few groceries, Hubby walks through the door and says "Bad news".. all terribly serious. My heart does a little flip flop. I am thinking holy crap what's happened? Do I really want to know..? I thought he'd had an accident, or ran over something fluffy...


Anyway, he then proceeds to tell me that the back passenger door of the car isn't locking. 
.....that's it?
Are.you.f**king.kidding.me???


I then calmly ask him if there is some way to disable the door handle until we can get the parts to fix it... he googles it and yes. There is. Crisis averted.


Bad news..? No. Just mildly inconvenient news. 


So MY mildly inconvenient news is that I didn't get the job. It seems he wants someone who can walk in and magically do the job to his unrealistic standards without any instruction at all. Even though I did hit the 30 books and hour a couple of times, it appears that not doing it every time (again, I was still learning the ropes..) isn't good enough. Oh well.. 
At least he paid me in cash for my efforts. Lovely, tax-free cash..


Ah well.. back to the job hunt...

I am being employed now...

We had such a big day today and I am so tired but I couldn't go to bed without telling you all that Yes I DID get the job.. woohoo! well technically I am still under a probationary period.. but I am going back on Monday to do a full day.
Basically my job so far is.. gather stack of books... wipe them clean (they have bits of book guts all over them from having three holes drilled in them on the spine).. then I take some binding string and a needle and bind stitch the spine. which is harder than it sounds.. the binding string is strong stuff and could probably garotte someone if I was so inclined to do so.. as it was I had to put bandaids on my fingers in the places where the string bit into my skin.. (apparently all the ladies had to do it when they first started). then I have to put on a barcode sticker and spine label and other id labels. each school/library is very specific where said labels are to be placed. So that's all it is really.. but they are very particular and this process needs to be done quickly. The ideal number is 30 books an hour. At my four hour assessment on Thursday I DID 30 books an hour and the boss was impressed.
The only thing he said that concerned him was that I didn't really look like I enjoyed it or look like I wanted to be there.. I assured him that it was just nerves and I really liked the work.. I mean seriously.. I would have felt dumb sitting there grinning like a weirdo on my first day.. of course I was going to be nervous and shy.,.. gheez!


Anyway.. Hubby and I are happy I have a job.. it means we can pay for.... oops! I can't tell you WHAT just yet.. you will have to wait... hehehee

Wish Me Luck!

So after months of sending out resume's I finally have a job interview tomorrow.. and can I say I am more than slightly nervous about it. I haven't had to DO an interview for years... (last one I had was on my mobile in the bowls of an IKEA.. my phone dropped out on my future boss.. TWICE! ...awkward...) and this one is more than just an interview.. it's a four hour assessment. It's with a Book processing company that gets them ready for dispatch to libraries. SO I will be covering, barcoding, binding.. that sort of thing..I will be taught by some lady who has been doing it for years. If I get proficient at it I will be expected to do about 30 books an hour.. which is 2 minutes per book... pressure! Hopefully I wont find this work as difficult as the guy who rang me made it sound. *blubber...* 
Anyway.. I was zoned out on mega painkillers (having got my period...you know what mine are like) curled up in the foetal position and I get the phone call.. so he proceeds to conduct a mini interview over the phone.... err...
Apparently I must have impressed him enough for him to ask me to come in for a training and assessment session.. WOOHOO! I am sure I could have been way more articulate.. but anyway.. Tomorrow I have to be up with the birds to be at their warehouse, 50 minutes drive away, at 8am. 
At least I don't have to figure out what to wear as he told me just wear shorts, t/shirt and sneakers. Hubby asked me WHAT t/shirt am I going to wear... why? is my HELLO KITTY T/shirt not the way to go? maybe my shirt with CHEEKY MONKEY emblazoned across my boobs is not appropriate either...? I will go for the tame plain t/shirt I think.. lol..at least until I know I have the job...
Wish me luck :)