Volunteering at the Mater Hospital...

I never thought in  a million years that with all my banking experience I couldn't get a job in Brisbane. I can't find a job in a bank,  I can't even find one as a cashier in a supermarket. I've been looking everywhere, so I went to the Mater Hospital's website to maybe find an admin role, and I saw the tab to volunteer. I called the number and  the woman that answered didn't speak English very well, and I could tell she wasn't taking down my information at all. She said someone would get in contact with me, and after a week I heard nothing, so I called them again, this time I got an Aussie woman and she was pleasant, took down my info, said I'd get an email and sure enough by the end of the day, I received an email. Before I could start volunteering I had to go to an information seminar or watch a DVD presentation, I opted for the whole day seminar because who are we kidding, I have nothing better to do. It was very interesting, and if I manage to get a job here I won't have to go through it again.

Since starting in July, I have met a few people and it helps me having conversations with people other than the cat. My husband works during the day and I have no female friends here, you can't really make friends if you're not amongst the people, so the volunteering helps immensely. The ladies I 'work' with are so lovely.  Wally is originally from Germany, she came to Australia back in 1954 by boat and at 87 she's currently the oldest volunteer there. Then we have Bette ,originally from Newcastle, England, a Geordie true and true (as per Bette), she also came to Australia via ship and she said it was such an adventure coming here by ship. I am a bit fuzzy on how long she's been here. She's in her late 70's and still drives, and has a cute Geordie accent. We have Kay, who is from Western Queensland, she grew up on a farm, met a Sicilian man and he never introduced her as Kay as it sounded too much like che? "what?" in Italian. He called her Katarina.  None of her children speak Italian which I think is a shame.  Sue is originally from New Zealand, and also in her 60's, she's a card, she wears a hearing aid and when she speaks she yells, kind of reminds me of a Kiwi version of my former boss. They have the same sense of humour and mannerisms, I find it very funny. Then there's Rosalia, she's originally from El Salvador and I'm the only one that pronounces her name properly with the rolling r's. She's in her late 50's and recently married her high school sweetheart on a trip to California, he's from El Salvador, moved to the US and now married an Aussie citizen. She has such a fun personality, but I haven't seen her in weeks. There's Jenny, she's a special needs person and God bless her, she's in practically every Monday, stamping her envelopes. She has a carer bring her in and come get her to go home. Last but not least we have Bec short for Rebecca, she's the person in charge, she's not a volunteer but a paid employee that get's all the jobs for us to do. She's great to talk to.

Volunteering can involve many different tasks, they range from massaging patients hands to stuffing envelopes. Since I didn't want to get blood work done, I opted for the non-patient volunteering, which in my case is considered Administration. Since I am the youngest in my group of Monday ladies, I sometimes get the sucky tasks, like a few weeks ago I had to go to another building and unpack computer screens, take out the wires and rip up the cardboard and then place the screen back in the box and tape it back up. The other day I had to go to the Media department and draw lines in a ledger book, I wouldn't have minded much if I had proper lighting or a proper seat. My chair was a low wicker patio chair and the table was a wooden kitchen table that was too high to be able to sit there and draw lines. I wound up doing the job in my lap sitting under the stupid fluro bulb, I left after 2 hours because my eyes couldn't take it anymore and it was almost time to have lunch with the ladies, seriously, you couldn't put me at a desk with a proper chair? Last time I was in this department I was slicing the laminate off of photos for the cafeteria menu, that was also boring and back breaking. My favorite thing is to stay in our big room and socialise with the ladies, it's great to hear stories and for people to ask how was your weekend and such. We've put together little boxes for the new moms, that included nappies (diapers) a onesie, a Mater Baby on Board thingy for the car, a little mesh bag that included, baby wash, baby lotion, baby cream and one other tube that eludes me, along with coupons on the purchase of formula and diapers. The new moms at the Mater get looked after really well.  Sometimes we put charts together, or take them apart. Sometime's I've had to take the trolley and get the mail from different departments, take them back to Bec, she sorts through them and then we stuff them accordingly. In some cases if the lady at the Volunteer reception isn't in, I'm asked to fill in, which I totally don't mind as this is the area that I wouldn't mind working.

As a volunteer we have four hour shifts. If you drive you can get your parking validated. We get a uniform of sorts, it's a long vest that states you're a volunteer, or if you want, for $35 you can purchase a polo shirt that once you leave you have to return and they buy it back from you for $10. The vest they launder, the polo is yours to launder. I received an id tag which is also a key, I wear it on a lanyard. I actually love wearing that. We get free lunch, choice of cut sandwiches (basically sliced bread with a few different fillings, such as ham, cheese & tomato, a salad sandwich with lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, I once had a roast beef sandwich, and an egg salad sandwich). If you want your sandwich toasted, they will charge you 20 cents to toast it.  You could also have the soup of the day, but you cannot have both, but you can take a piece of fruit for free also, usually a banana, orange or apple. If you want a beverage, other than tea or coffee you have to pay for it, they have these little Coke cans of 200ml for $2, I usually wait till I'm on my way to the bus and get a 600ml of diet Vanilla Coke, not Vanilla Coke Zero (thank god)  for $3.70.

Wine, wine and more Australian wine...

In my early 20's I was not a fan of wine. Not until my early 30s did I start to appreciate a good glass of wine. I'm still not a huge fan of red, but I do find the occasional one that suits my palate. There was a sparkling wine that I loved when I lived in NY, Fragolino, but on my visit last year, I realised it was way to sweet for my taste. There are so many wineries in Australia, there are well known wine regions, and some smaller ones that you can only buy at their Cellar Doors. There's a store here that sells row, upon row of mostly Aussie wines, it's called Dan Murphys'. They sell, lots of wine, local and imported beer and whiskeys, and scotches and any type of drinking alcohol you can imagine.

Here are the wine regions in Australia:

 NEW SOUTH WALES -
The area around Sydney has the longest history of grape growing in Australia. The original plantings of vines were at Sydney Cove in 1788 and this was followed by the Macarthur plantings near Camden and Blaxland’s vineyards around the Parramatta River in the early 1800’s. James Busby’s collection of 362 vines, originally planted at the Botanical Gardens, was the most significant development in the early history as cuttings of these vines made their way to other parts of NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
QUEENSLAND -
While grapes were first planted in cooler parts of the Sunshine State more than 100 years ago, until relatively recently, Queensland was not known as a wine grape growing area. It was considered too close to the tropics and too hot to produce quality wines. But perceptive grape growers and winemakers noted that in the higher altitudes of the ranges running inland, there were cooler climates and rich volcanic soils. As the pioneer vignerons to the Granite Belt region suspected, being 700 to 1000 metres above sea level does have a significant cooling effect and allows the production of some stunning wines as the grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Viognier grow through warm springs and summers and relatively cool autumns.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA -
South Australia is the most important wine producing state and is consistently responsible for almost 50% of Australia’s annual production. It is also home to some of the most famous regions, historic estates and oldest vines in the country. It is the driest state in Australia but diagonally dissected by the Murray River which supplies critical water for irrigation in many regions. There are a multitude of different soil types and local mitigating influences such as altitude and cooling ocean breezes that allow for a wide range of wine styles.
TASMANIA -
The pristine island state of Tasmania is situated off the southern coast of Australia in the cool waters of the Southern Ocean. The first commercial vineyards were planted in Tasmania in 1865. A decade later the industry collapsed largely due to the gold rush on the mainland. A resurgence of interest started in again the late 1970’s. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir do particularly well in these cool conditions and also form the backbone of the renowned sparkling wines. Many of Australia’s best sparkling wines have been either made in Tasmania or contain substantial components that have been sourced there. Pinot Noir is the other strong suit and the style is distinctly fragrant and lighter bodied with delicate flavors of red apple and cherry. Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris are also grown.

VICTORIA - 

In the 1880’s Victoria was in fact Australia’s largest wine producing state. Phylloxera outbreaks put a temporary halt to production in many areas which subsequently saw a resurgence of interest in the 1970’s. Victoria is the second smallest state but is home to more individual wineries than any other state in Australia. It also has the greatest diversity of regional climate which allows for the production of virtually every imaginable wine style from fine sparkling wine, high quality Pinot Noir, savoury Shiraz and the historic fortified wines of Rutherglen.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA - 

Western Australia is the largest State and spans the western third of the Australian continent, although the winemaking regions are almost entirely concentrated in the south-west and great southern land divisions of the State. Some regions are close to the Perth the State capital but most are located further south away from the metropolitan area. The regions include Blackwood Valley, Geographe, Great Southern, Peel, Pemberton, Manjimup, Margaret River and Swan District.

One of my favourite coffee places....McCafe...

McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by McDonald's. Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993 by McDonald's Licensee Ann Brown, and introduced to the public with help from late McDonald's CEO Charlie Bell and then-Chairman and future CEO Jim Skinner, the chain reflects a consumer trend towards espresso coffees. McDonald's introduced a coffee line called "McCafé" nationwide in the United States. Unlike in other countries, "McCafé" is just a line of special drinks, not a full coffee shop. 

Australia is full of people that demand good coffee and that's why McCafé came to existence. Just watch the video to see how McDonald's is slightly different than the ones in the US. In essence what they've done is they've added things to make it their own, EXCEPT for McCafé , that started here because Aussies wanted espressos, and cappuccinos without having to sit down in a fancy cafe and now you can get McCafe coffees through the drive-thru. McCafe coffee is also available in various parts around the world, including Canada, Spain, Ukraine, Croatia, Bulgaria, Paraguay and South Africa.



When you walk into McDonald's there are two counters, one for burgers and such and the other, albeit smaller is McCafe. McCafe has it's own register and has a display case that includes yummy things such as cheesecakes, various muffins, cakes, cookies, macaroons, brownies, and sandwiches.

A McCafe display case

Aspley McCafe display case 

 I see macarons and assorted cakes in these displays, along with the bottles of flavours and the assorted sizes of coffees they offer.

Breakfast McCafe menu 

Breakfast McCafe menu

It also has the most important thing, COFFEE! They have this loyalty program, every 5th coffee is FREE, a small cappuccino costs $3.55, along with a flat white, long black, the mocha ones. I don't personally drink the flavoured ones but they have a tendency of being ten cents dearer.

McCafe loyalty card 

Espresso and small cappuccino 

Small cappuccino, espresso and 2 mini muffins

I really like their cappuccinos and my husband likes their espressos very much. They are not the best, but they are nowhere near the worst. The only difference between a McCafe cappuccino and let's say a Merlo one, is the fact that I need to use 2 Splendas to sweeten it and none for the Merlo. Everyone's different when it comes to how much sugar they take in their coffee, I guess try first without and add sugar as needed. Australia has a very large espresso based love of coffees, they won't drink something that's filtered or sits in a pot, it's made fresh when you order it, not a minute sooner. 

So when you come and visit, I'll shout you a coffee and you'll see, McDonald's actually knows how to make coffee, here, not in the US.