Elsja Down Under

I Live Here January 10, 2010

I don’t know about you but I love vacationing in tropical places with beautiful crystal clear water. When planning a trip I scope out pictures of the beaches to try to find the spot that looks the best. I’ve been to places like Cancun, Costa Rica, Maui and Fiji and the gorgeous clear oceans always make me so happy. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that I no longer have to take a vacation to enjoy these fine beaches. They are right in my own back yard!!

Yes… I live HERE:

This discovery took place on Saturday when Andrew, Mike, Hayley,  Ben and I went on the Bondi to Coogee walk (now I’ve completed 2/5 of#7 from my 101 list). It’s a 12km round trip trek with the most amazing views (clearly). I had heard a lot about the walk in the last 2 years that I’ve lived here but never quite made it past Tamarama.

I always knew Australia had beautiful beaches but come on… these are amazing! Look at that water! Why haven’t you all come to visit me yet? We could actually go to these beaches!

Unfortunately I did not get to go in the water since the purpose of our visit to paradise was to go on this long ass walk. So instead of a bikini, I was wearing tennis shoes and a sports bra. I think this beach is calling me back though… anyone up for a day in the sun in the next few weeks?

Check out a few more pictures if you want to see what else you are missing while you are all sitting in the cold US winter.

Spring… Summer…What’s the Deal? September 30, 2009

I wish the weather would make up its mind. Should I pack away the sweaters or not? Should I put  the heater back up in the closet?I just don’t know. Saturday at the races it was COLD! Sunny, but super chilly with the wind. Sunday was colder. REALLY cold in fact. We went to dinner and I ended up with a tank top, sweater, wintery type jacket and scarf and I was still a little chilly. I left my jacket on the whole time we ate.

So today I was sitting on my couch and I decided to go for a walk. I see the wind blowing and the birds are chirping. I assumed it must be a nice breezy Spring day. I debated in my mind… should I wear pants or shorts on my walk? Eh… it looked breezy but I figured I’d get hot once I started walking.

Then I went outside. Holy blazing hell it was hot. 33c/91f to be precise. Where did the heat come from? Two nights ago I was sleeping with an extra blanket on the bed.

I decided to suck it up and go for my walk even though I was already sweating the second I walked out the door. 40 minutes into it (and with 20 minutes to go) I was really regretting my choice to take the long route. I’ve been home an hour now and I think my face is still red. But after taking a quick shower, I feel great! Summer is my absolute favorite season and the warm sun followed by a cool shower makes me very happy. I’m really looking forward to the BBQs, beach days and picnics we’ll get to have in the heat. I’ve got iced tea practically on tap in my fridge at all times and I’m gearing up for some sangria recipe experimentation.  

I know Spring just started… but BRING ON SUMMER! (but please don’t get too hot in our apartment).

Our Snowboarding Weekend August 2, 2009

I went snowboarding this weekend for the first time in over 10 years. The reason I know it has been that long is that I actually still had my last lift pass attached to my snow pants and the date was February 14th, 1999. Crazy! So since I had no internet for nearly 4 whole days, it was impossible to update everyone on the trip. So I thought I’d update you all on the weekend in a facebook/twitter status update-like fashion. This is mostly because I can’t be bothered to type full paragraphs. So pretend you just read these all throughout the weekend

Thursday

Elsja:

• is driving to Jindabyne with Andrew- I just saw wild Emu and I’ve seen tons of wild kangaroos too
• arrived at the apartment- pretty nice place. Now we’re eating pizza, watching a movie and waiting for the others to get here.

Friday

Elsja:

• is on the slopes  for the first time in 10 years… I’m REALLY scared
• is eating shit, this is a bit harder than I remember
• is getting a group snowboard lesson with 3 other girls. Our instructor is great and I’m actually getting the hang of this!
• is using my new knowledge of turning and making it down the bunny slopes without falling.
• had a great first day of snowboarding, now we’re drinking schnapps and beers at the bar on the slopes.
• is making fajitas for dinner and having some wine.
• and Andrew are kicking butt playing the game Articulate with the rest of the group.

Saturday

Elsja:

• woke up sore, but not too sore. I’m ready for more boarding.
• just finished my 2nd group boarding lesson and I was probably one of the best ones in the group of 10. I’m really getting the hang of this.
• decided to go up to the higher lifts, it is WAY colder up here, super windy and a lot steeper- I’ve lost all confidence to practice turns
• has changed her mind, I’m NOT getting the hang of this and have fallen more in the last 3 hours than I did the entire first day.
• is in pain. Lots and lots of pain.
• can’t stand up. I keep falling over and I’m just too tired to even stand anymore.
• is so over snowboarding!!!!
• and the rest of the group are heading to Kris’ friend’s place in Thredbo for a BBQ.
• has seen more roadkill on this trip than I have my entire life.
• enjoyed a great  BBQ dinner and conversation but I got one of my stupid stomach aches.
• took some medicine and laid down, feeling much better now.

Sunday

Elsja:

• woke up in horrible pain. Pretty sure I have whiplash. I do NOT want to snowboard today.
• realized that if I don’t snowboard, I’ll sit alone for the next 6 hours doing nothing so I’ve decided to suck it up and give it another chance.
• just went down Friday Flats (the bunny slopes) again and actually did really well- maybe I haven’t lost my confidence after all!
• ran into a few friends, SO many people are at Thredbo this weekend.
• was just asked “Friday flats AGAIN?” by the guy checking my lift pass. So what if I’m a wuss and can’t go on the bigger runs after yesterday’s experience?
• is getting better and better… so glad I ended up boarding today- I’ll leave on a high note!
• and Andrew just said goodbye to the snowy mountains and we’re on our way home. My body is still in massive pain, but I had a great time!

To see the rest of our pictures- click here!

WiiFit Revitalized April 1, 2009

I slacked off a bit on my WiiFit action when my parents were here and I haven’t REALLY gotten back into it. Sure I’ve done my 10 minutes of hula hoop here and there, but my 30 minute per day workouts became a thing of the past.

Until today.

I realized that my WiiFit can be so much more fun when I turn down the volume and crank up the new music I downloaded off of Itunes last week.

I also learned that the “free step” can be fun! Wii tells you to stay on beat or else your steps won’t be counted. Well the beat is just way too slow… boring. I don’t see how it can be beneficial stepping on a board 2 inches off the ground at a slow pace. SO I said screw the beat, I’m just going to step in time with some Flo Rida and M.I.A. And guess what? The Wii lies! It DOES count your steps even if you go way faster than you’re supposed to.

So I felt good after my 47 minute cardio work out. Even running in place for 26 minutes was fun when I had some tunes to run to. I just kinda turned it into a WiiFit run/step/shake/dance session. I’m pretty sure I got a lot more out of it with the addition of some music.

I also felt good after drinking 3 liters of water today. I figured April would be a good month to start #1 from my 101 list- Drink at least 2 liters of water every day for a month. The whole peeing every 10 minutes thing isn’t so fun- but I can tolerate it I suppose. It’s for my health, right? But WHY am I still thirsty?

So If I combine the revitalized WiiFit sessions with my 2 liters of water, 2-3 sessions of yoga that I’ve been doing every week and top that off with a trip to the gym here and there do you think it will counter the effects of the half a large pizza that I ate tonight?

Making the World a Better Place February 19, 2009

I’m going to start doing something nice for the world.

I am going to start volunteering! By volunteering, I really just mean doing some work at a yoga studio a few times a week in exchange for free yoga classes.

So I guess it’s not REALLY volunteering per se but hey, I’m not getting paid. To me- that’s volunteering.

I may not be helping sick children or cleaning up beaches*, but it WILL still help the world out! How you ask??  Hey, if I get healthier and more in-shape, I will be a much happier person. If I have some time to “meditate” and relax, I will be a much happier person. If I happen to meet a new friend while I’m doing my happy helper yoga duties, I will possibly be a happier person (unless that new friend starts to get on my nerves like a lot of people tend to do). Anyways, If I am happier, Andrew will be happier and he will have better days at work. This means he will fly the planes with even more superiority than he already does and all the passengers will be even safer and more comfortable on their flights. Then, they will arrive to their destinations in a good mood and they will spread their happiness to others. My happiness will spread throughout the planet. AND… since I won’t need to PAY for yoga, I will have more money to spend in shops and restaurants which will help to stimulate this poor economy.

So you see… my 2 hours of work each week in exchange for free yoga classes really will make the world a better place.

You can all sleep easy tonight!

*For the record- I WOULD help sick children if I could actually find a place close to me where they need volunteers for this. I would not clean beaches. I clean my house, I don’t pick up other people’s trash. I’m a people person, not a litter and manual labor person. Good thing there are other people who like doing that sort of stuff.

Unbalanced January 6, 2009

So I was right… my balance… BAD. My center of gravity is totally skewed well to the right, surprise surprise. Guess that happens when you stop using your left foot. So while my overall balance isn’t great anyways (I’ve always known this), I’m actually not TOO bad when I try to balance on my right foot. I’m pretty good at the yoga tree pose… seen here:

I can definitely put my left foot up on my right thigh and balance pretty easily. Keeping that red dot in the middle of the cirlce is pretty challenging, but I can do it. Ohhh… but the left sided tree? Yeah… that just doesn’t even come close to happening. Not only can I NOT place my right foot on my left thigh, I really can’t even lift my right foot 3 inches off the ground for more than 2 seconds without falling over. NO BALANCE AT ALL. Now I see why my physio told me to practice. He was quite aware of the trouble I would have with this simple task.

But… I am really good at the hula hoop challenge. I’m up to 300+ spins. Andrew found it amusing to watch me look like an idiot as I pretend to hula hoop in my undies.

I love my Wii… and the WiiFit is my favorite  So much fun!

Back to the Grind January 5, 2009

I’ve been cleared to go to the gym! Yay… I think. Should I be excited to get back to doing something that I hate? Really… I hate the gym! I go because I know I should and I do feel better after I go, but I never actually enjoy it. Well, with a broken foot- I’ve pretty much been completely incapable of doing any physical activity that includes my lower body (which is basically any cardio).

Today, I went to the physio and he cleared me to go to the gym- but I can only do the bike. So I can FINALLY get back to working out, I can finally stop feeling like a lazy fat ass… but is that a good thing? These last 5 weeks are the longest I’ve gone without ANY exercise in over 4 years! I have to admit, it’s been kinda nice to take a break. Do I REALLY want to go back to the gym?? NO! But do I need to? Ummm YES! I feel like a wobbly, jiggly mess! I think I’m ready to break out my WiiFit for the first time, but do I REALLY want to weigh myself after 5 weeks of inactivity??

The physio gave me some exercises and stretches to do to help strengthen my muscles in my left leg and ankle. One includes balancing. Now, my balance is shit on a good day! My poor balance is the #1 reason I started yoga a few years back. I got really annoyed when I was at the Coachella festival and I kept trying to stand on my tippy toes to see the bands and I just kept falling over. Pathetic. So imagine me balancing on a foot/leg that I haven’t used in over a month!! I almost fell over about 5 times in the office. However, I must say- my right leg was doing quite well in the balance department- I guess that’s what happens when you hop around on one leg all the time.

So… hello gym… here I come! But not until next week… my membership here is on hold until I get back here from the US (so I guess I can enjoy being a lazy ass for a few more days)

Withering Away December 15, 2008

Want a surefire way to get skinnier legs? DON’T USE THEM!

My left leg is withering away to nothing. While usually one would think it was great to have their legs shrink and become skinny- it’s not so great when the other leg is still the same size. My calf muscle looks concaved and droopy. My lower thigh looks quite good- but it still doesn’t match the other leg.

I’ve never felt so disproportioned. I’ve never looked at myself and thought “ew, my skinny leg looks gross.” There’s a first for everything I guess.

There is some good news today. Andrew worked. Amazing, I know. He’s off on an overnight shift- his first shift in nearly 2 weeks! I think it’s good for him to be back at work. For the last 2 weeks he’s been like a housewife- cooking, cleaning and taking care of good ol’ gimpy moi. I know it hasn’t been fun for him- but he’s been a good sport. He just needed to get out of the house and fly planes and do math in his head and all that brainy stuff. Hopefully he enjoys his 1 1/2 days of work because after tomorrow, he’ll most likely be off until after New Years.

Up and Down… Happy and Sad… December 10, 2008

First I decorated our tree… our HALF tree that we accidentally bought. Yes, it is half of a tree. It is pushed up right next to the window. We were really angry at first that we spent a lot of money on half of a tree, but then we realized it fits much better in the apartment anyways, so it was a blessing in disguise. it looked pretty. I was excited to see what it would look like at night and enjoy the beautiful sparkle of the lights and ornaments.

I was happy.

Then it got darker and we turned the lights on. It didn’t sparkle. The lights barely twinkle. It’s a dull dark tree. But there was no way to re-do it with new lights unless I took off all of the ornaments and then put them all back. That wasn’t going to happen.

So I was sad…

Yesterday I went to the orthopedic surgeon to get that bohemith of a prehistoric cast off. I waited for the doctor to say “you need surgery” or “let’s put your new cast on” but he didn’t! He said I’d be ok with just an ace bandage and maybe a splint for more support.

I was SO happy! I don’t have a picture to show my joy at this point, so I’ll just show you my original xray instead!

But then today after being in pain all night and morning, I tried calling around to see what it would take to get a removable splint put on. It really hurts without that giant, heavy plaster cast and I need something to make it more comfy and bearable. But I learned that my insurance doesn’t cover splints. Last week I changed plans (the day before this happened). If I was still on my old plan, I would be covered, but now… no coverage. I then called around to different physios to try to find someone who would do a splint for cheaper than the $230 we were quoted yesterday and talked to 3 different places who all said they don’t do splints in their office. Seriously… PAIN IN THE ASS.

Now I am sad… and hurting… but Andrew re-did my bandage so it’s super tight and a bit more supportive.

At least it covers up my swollen, purple and yellow granny cankle for the time being!!

 

Then tonight Andrew made me laksa for dinner. I was happy.

Mood swing city over here.

The Great Outdoors October 11, 2008

So my internet took a dump this week. Australia has these awful download limits on their internet plans. Well, we (I) reached ours by downloading a few too many episodes of grey’s anatomy and gossip girl, so our internet was useless for awhile. Today starts the new month and it’s back to being remotely quick. I feel like I’ve been freed from internet jail hell. It’s a good day.

But I’ll tell you what isn’t good…

Spiders.

I finally saw my first one of these the other day:

And yes, it was that big. Now, in all honesty- I DID see one of these before. But I was warned ahead of time that there was one on the house and we all went out to take a look and it wasn’t that big.

THIS occurence was a surprise… and of all places to see one, I saw one in the very place that freaks me out the most. On the car!! Why does the car scare me the most? Well, because many times, these are found INSIDE the car and they scurry across the windshield (again, on the INSIDE). Now, this one was on the outside… THANK GOD, but it was dark and late and it made me want to vomit when I saw it’s furry giant legs crawling up the passenger window. I am very thankful that I was driving on this particular night, so it wasn’t MY face that was inches away from the creature. If I would have been in the passenger seat, I just might have shed a tear. Andrew actually opened the door to flick it off. However, you can’t exactly “flick” these spiders off the car. It was more like a shove, and when it hit the ground, Andrew heard a big THUD. GROSS. I really don’t like the fact that Andrew has no light in his car so every night when I get inside there could be creepy crawlies all over and I would never know! UGH.

So while spiders are not part of the Great Outdoors (they are part of the creepy, gross, ugly outdoors), we do have two GOOD outdoors things to mention.

1. Our patio. I finally took pictures of the patio with the table. This isn’t that exciting- and it’s pretty small, but my mom wanted to see pictures- so here you go:

2. We went kayaking yesterday. There were 7 of us, I was clearly the most useless when it came to my kayaking abilities, but I still had fun. I haven’t kayaked since we did it in our high school pool 11 years ago. I didn’t take pictures because I completely forgot my brand new waterproof camera that would have been PERFECT to bring. Oh well, next time. And today, I am sore. Kayaking is rough on the muscles! But it’s not my arms that hurt, it’s my left calf. Yes, evidently kayaking is REALLY hard on the calves (particularly the left one). Who knew??

Oh and also this takes care of #40 on my 101 list (go kayaking) woohoo!

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I’m So Happy September 28, 2008

Reasons to be happy…

1. FINALLY (after nearly a year) we found a patio table for our balcony. I thought we’d have to settle on something crap, but it’s not even ugly! We can now enjoy dinners by candlelight in the warm Sydney summer. All I need are some twinkle lights and I’ll be totally set. Although, I do think those might be a bit much. Maybe my green citronella mosquito repelling tea light candles will be sufficient.

2. Alexis is in Sydney!!! Although she’s not here to visit me or anything, it’s still great that there’s finally someone out here from the US. The phone rang today and it was a number I didn’t know. This is always a huge excitement because I pretty much only ever get calls from Andrew. I’m going to meet up with her tomorrow and probably Thursday as well. It’s so exciting to finally have people out here!!

3. I just went on to Itunes and saw something wonderful. Grey’s Anatomy started!! It was such a wonderful surprise to see it there, ready to download. And there’s TWO parts. SWEET. Downloading has commenced.

4. The 26th was the 1 year anniversary of the day I moved to Sydney. it’s kind of exciting that I’ve made it a year in a foreign country In a month I’ll be applying for residency and hopefully not too long after that, I’ll have my visa approved!

5. Saturday we did the Spit to Manly walk with Kris, Tess and Ben. It is 9.5 km (5.9 miles) along the beach and through trails. It’s not always easy (up rocky steps, down sandy hills) but it was a good workout (even though andrew doesn’t think so). You can follow our trail on the map. It is supposed to take 4 hours according to the posted sign but we did it in 2. We started at the orange star and followed the yellow, red, blue and green lines to the end at Manly where we had lunch.The next day, of all things on my body that could possibly be sore, my back hurt the worst. Who knew walking was good for your back???

5. Saturday night was great as well. We first started at wes’ house for an awesome BBQ and then headed to The Oaks for dual parties. We were there to celebrate the return of Sinead from her long trip overseas and ALSO to celebrate Stu’s birthday. Some of Andrew’s other pilot friends came to hang out as well so Andrew had three totally separate, large groups of friends there (luckily all hanging out in the same area). It was great to see everyone all at once. The DJ played great music that everyone was singing and dancing to and the drinks were flowing! I had tons of fun until the DJ started playing “time of your life” which is the surest way to tell that a bar is about to close. Here is a great shot of Kimbo attempting the dirty dancing “lift” as the song played (turned out to be more of a tackle). Oh and what exactly is going on in that second pic?? All of the rest of the pictures can be found HERE.

Grey’s anatomy is almost done downloading… peeing my pants with excitiment right about now!

Finally May 5, 2008

Did I mention that I’m SO happy the writer’s strike ended awhile ago and that shows are finally back on. I’ve already watched 2 new Grey’s Anatomy and some new Gossip Girl (oh yeah, did I mention that’s my new secret love). I still have 1 or 2 LOST episodes to catch up on, so I’ll watch those on Wednesday when Andrew goes on an overnight trip. Oh… after American Idol of course Oh… and after my Spanish class that I’m finally starting on Wednesday! I really should’ve taken a Spanish class years ago, better late than never I suppose!

Did I also mention that I’m going to Maui on Saturday? Andrew and I are very excited that we finally get to go on a real trip together. There’s always a slight fear that we won’t get on our flight since we have staff travel… but when tickets from Sydney to Maui cost $358 bucks round trip, you really can’t complain!

What else have I been doing?? Getting my booty kicked at the gym by a trainer. I’ve been two times… trying to finally burn off some of this Aussie flab that has started to creep up on me since moving here. I just don’t know where it’s all coming from!! My best guess is the higher quantities of wine that I’ve been consuming in the last few months! Friday I did an upper body work-out, but that just couldn’t compare to the agony of the lower body workout today. Pretty sure I might not be able to walk tomorrow, but it’s all good. Should’ve started this a few months ago… seeing as how I’ll be hanging out in a bikini all next week!

Oh and I finally found something else to eat at lunch! I pretty much eat the same exact thing every single day. Turkey and cheese sandwich on a big bread roll.  I decided last week that I needed to find something else with less cheese and less bread. I wanted to mix it up a bit and try something that could be a tad healthier. So thanks to Leighton and Julz, I discovered these rice wrap things. They are kinda like really thin square tortillas, but they are made from rice. Anyways, I got some tzatziki and some shredded chicken and cashews and tomatos and wrapped it all up and had myself a delicious new lunch for my tummy. Very healthy and very satisfying. I can’t wait until lunch tomorrow, where I will eat the same exact thing.

Mmm I’m hungry. I should go to bed.

Woah 2 Blogs in 1 Day February 12, 2008

I just had to come write about my experience at the gym today… and the effects of that gym visit. I decided to do a class called “Body Pump” after my 25 minute cardio session. I’m trying out all the classes… something I never did at 24 hour for some reason. But in this gym, the appeal to try these classes is much higher. It’s just all new to me, I’m sure the excitement will fade.

So, body Pump consists of sets of weight routine thingys set to music. Whatever… it’s lifting a crapload of weights for an hour… that’s all you really need to know.

Things I cannot do now:

Lift my spoon of soup to my mouth without spilling some because my arm is so shakey

Move my arms while typing

Walk down stairs without feeling like my legs are going to collapse and I’m just going to eat shit

Walk up the stairs… period. Well, ok I can- but it’s not easy.

Lift my hand above my head without it shaking

And the best part of all…

It’s going to be 10 times harder to do all this stuff tomorrow!

Aww the joys (and pains) of working out. I was on a roll this week. 4 days in a row with some pretty hard (long) workouts. It’s freed me from boredom and I’m happy that I don’t just sit on the couch all day. I was planning to go tomorrow as well… but I’m going to guess that I might need a day off. We’ll see.

PS… How many of you got “Blame it on the Rain” stuck in your head forever after reading my post from the other day?? I know I did!

Blame it on The Rain February 8, 2008

Yup… Milli Vanilli were right! I’m just going to blame it on the rain!

I finally gave in and got myself an ultra-expensive, ridiculously overpriced gym membership. Our eliptical machine broke last week and due to the NEVER ENDING SHITTY SHITTY RAIN, I am unable to get outside much to go for walks/jogs/etc.

Sooo in order to actually exercise regularly- I decided to cave and pay the price for fitness and health. The ironic thing is- I still have to walk TO the gym… so if it’s raining- I still have to walk in the rain to get there, but it’s only 10-15 minutes each way and I CAN take a bus if need be. If I have to walk in the rain to get TO a location, it’s not as bad as if I’m walking in the rain for exercise!

I feel better already. I feel like I can really exercise like I used to! The club is pretty nice! Much newer, nicer equipment than the shit at 24 Hour Fitness. The TVs actually work and you can plug your headset in to your machine to hear the TVs. THere are 9 to choose from- all playing different shows. I appreciate this since I come from 24 hour where they have about 15 TVs with 2-3 shitty shows to choose from (and that’s IF they even work).

It’s also got a lot of little private-ish areas to work out in that are more mellow and not so crowded. I think I’ll go take a yoga class tomorrow.

Don’t Bother with Resolutions! January 5, 2008

Especially when it’s the same old “I’m going to work out more, get healthier…blah blah blah”

The gym was super crowded today. I couldnt find one open machine. No treadmills, no elipticals of any sort. All because a bunch of lazy slackers decided that this year was going to be the year that they FINALLY lose those extra 10-20 pounds.

NewsFlash!!! All you people who didnt work out pre-2008 will probably be giving up your gym routine in 2 weeks anyways. So my request to you all… just give up on your resolutions a bit earlier than you typically would and leave the gyms to the people who are actually devoted to going so we don’t have to deal with unnecessary crowds.

I guess I shouldn’t complain since I’ll be leaving the country shortly anyways (I hope). Once I’m in Sydney, I won’t even be going to the overpriced gym- I’ll just have to work out in my stellar home gym. But let’s just hope and pray that I get on a flight ASAP (as in tomorrow or Monday) because if I don’t- I may be stuck here for a LONG time.

Here’s why:

A STRIKE of more than 1500 Qantas engineers will remain in the wings until the new year, with the airline yesterday offering an olive branch to their union.

More than 1700 aircraft engineers will walk off the job on January 9 in protest against growing casualisation of the workforce and erosion of working conditions.

Almost 90 per cent of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association members voted for the action following the breakdown of enterprise negotiations with Qantas.

It would be the largest disruption to the nation’s air travel since the 1989 pilots’ strike.

Tensions mounted between the two sides yesterday, with informal talk of bringing the action closer to Christmas — traditionally the busiest time for Australia’s airlines.

ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said the engineers were loath to disrupt Christmas and new year travel but strike action could go ahead if Qantas took hostile action.

“ALAEA won’t be acting before January 9,” Mr Purvinas said. “The only possibility (of that) would be if Qantas decides to start locking out employees.

“We don’t want to disrupt the holiday or Christmas and new year, and hopefully we can have meaningful discussions with the airline.”

A lockout — where the airline sends employees home without pay until further notice and replaces them with casual or other workers — was not in Qantas’s interests, Mr Purvinas said.

Qantas executive general manager engineering David Cox dismissed the suggestion.

“We are not going to do that,” he said.

Kevin Brown, a Qantas executive general manager, said that the airline was committed to finding a solution.

“We will resume negotiations with the union on January 4,” he said.