Reflections of March

Wow this month has flown by and what a month, I feel I have been plane hopping all month: as I look back it has been action packed and some of it I will reflect in more detail, a quick synopsis of the month will give you some idea of the places I have been and what I have been up to.

The new semester started at the end of February, I was on the back foot as I was still marking tri-semester work from Singapore (Dec – Feb), which in effect creates a greater work load. The beginning of semester is always hectic and exciting, having revamped your course work and set new assessments it’s always a challenge then seeing the student’s progress through their course gives me a great sense of satisfaction.

Singapore was the first trip of the year, again exciting, challenging and rewarding we start the first session with what are the students expectations of me over the three day teaching period…… if I do not do this I feel that there could be a danger of just vomiting the course information to the all students – my style of teaching is quite animated and I use a lot of case examples to illustrate the use of legal and ethical points and the students seem to respond to this format of teaching…….. I really love it….. And the feedback is always good. Each time I visit Singapore I have my favorite places I like to visit such as Borders & Kinokuniya Bookshops.


I also like to visit somewhere different. This time I went to Sentosa Island to see the new casino and Universal Studios…. However the studio will not be opened until after I leave so I will have to return. Never the less I did manage to find a new bookshop called Page One and I bought Ian a book about his beloved Leeds. I never mind travelling alone, as I can please myself as to where and what I see and if you have a vivid imagination you would be surprised as to how you never feel alone…….but I do miss sharing those special moments with my husband….. “like when I finished teaching and feel on cloud nine because it went really well”. Next trip to Singapore will be August….. so watch this space….


On a personal level we took a weekend out and went to a family friends wedding which was held at Rivendell Winery Yallingup. I worked on the Friday night and enabled a woman to have a wonderful normal birth of a healthy beautiful little girl, so we left early Saturday morning and drove down …….. It was a brilliant wedding……Kate looked enchanting and deliriously happy everyone had a wonderful time……the company, weather, food and wine was divine, what more could you ask for…… but Monday came around all too fast and the working week began again….

The following week was the ACM Board and Strategic meeting…. In Canberra………leaving on Wednesday evening and returning on Sunday night…. It has been three days of intensive meetings, brain storming, networking and sharing with some incredible, talented, wonderful people…. I am so inspired this will have to be another blog…


Beyond Q Books, Curtin ACT

However today we that being Tracy and I did get into a bit of bother with the Federal Police at Capital Hill… We decided to visit Parliament House so we could take the obligatory photo out the front…… however not realizing we had parked at the back entrance….. Which I did think this looks different to the last time I visited…… however we continued…. Walked up the path and took as usual a multitude of pictures….. What would we do without out digital cameras……. We were laughing joking and admiring the building and the beautiful fauna….. Walked around the building and into an alcove which had a very tall gate…. Behind the gate were the most beautiful climbing wisteria bushes I had seen….. And so proceeded to take the pictures beyond the gate….. We then walked back to the car…… as we reached the stairs…. I noticed several police officers and did wonder why all of a sudden there were three of them….two of which were on bicycles and the other had come in a car….. The one on the stairs approached us and said “good morning, nice day” I responded and said “yes’’….. Carefully looking at his uniform making sure they were Police and not security….. The officer then asked me if I had been taking photos of the building……. I did think carefully before answering as I did consider saying ‘no’ however I decided that honesty was the best policy in this instance…..as we live In Australia and it’s a free country in terms of taking photos….. And I needed to be at the airport within the next 2hrs so now was not them time to be difficult. The officer then informed us that we had set of the silent alarm when we entered the alcove and took photos beyond the gate….. This was illegal. I then informed the officer that I had not seen any notices to let me know that 1 – I could not enter the alcove and 2 – I could not take any photos…..to which he responded…. “No there isn’t”….. “we have bought this up before and the powers to be think that the signs would spoil the image or ascetics of the building”. He then asked to examine our cameras and proceeded to delete three photos that were illegal…. From both our cameras…. The officers were very polite and friendly and said it was an honest mistake on our part…… which of course it was…. However I do feel that there should be warnings for the general public not to take photos or enter the restricted area….. To prevent this from happening……I not appreciate my photos being examined and deleted….. However the alternative was not good either…..missing my flight…. On a positive note it is good to see that security is at a premium and that our Parliament House is well protected…. My estimate was that the officers were there within 5 mins of us taking the photos….. So a job well done by the diligent Federal Police and I am grateful to know they are doing their job.



Flying home from Canberra can be tiresome, three hours time difference and several airports to navigate…… I managed to do some shopping at the Melbourne airport during my stopover and of course now I have my 6 hour battery for my Acer laptop I can get some blogs, emailing and work done…… I am looking forward to being home…… have missed everyone…. I am hoping to have a quieter time for Apri, to catch up on some work, blogging etc…. As I have not had a weekend at home for the whole of March…….I just want to sit and chill………………….

Watch for the next blogs. ACM Strategic meeting summary, Group Midwifery Practice plans..... I am so inspired...... its time to move and make it happen......