| "Getting slack at writing these, I know!!" - part 1 |
| G'day!! Well, we're into our first week of autumn here, though Sydney seems to be rebelling, as we're sweltering today in 35 degrees plus!?! Can't believe I'm now seeing my 3rd season here! Doesn't seem right!? In some ways feels like forever that we've been here and others the time is just flying!!! Guess a few of you may have taken a peek at the website now, hope you like it, and thanks for all the messages in the guestbook, was so surprised when I had a look!! So what have I been up to? It has been a while since I last wrote - seems to be coming the norm now! Since then, we've had New Years Eve - so a VERY belated New Year to y'all - hope things are going the way you planned! It was weird, coz at home you always see a 5 second glimpse of the New Year fireworks in Sydney, so it was really strange to be here to see the whole thing! And even weirder to see the opposite 5 second coverage of celebrations in London!! We had a fab spot to watch the show from though - in the Botanic Gardens right beside the Harbour - our view had the Opera House just across the bay with the Harbour Bridge right behind it - perfect!! Queues for the beer tent were stupidly long so actually saw the New Year in as sober as have been for years!! Made up for it after at a Latin Bar at Darling Harbour, one of Sydney's bar areas salsa-ing the New Year in with my friends :oD Then just after that party finished, we were launching headlong into another for my birthday in mid-January - thought it was strange when all my friends were too "busy" to go out, little did I know my sister and friend had organised a surprise dinner for me at Star City Casino!! Though after the cask of wine my thoughtful friend brought round to my house beforehand, I arrived slightly worse for wear (thanks El!) - but still managed to eat and dance the night away back at Darling Harbour! Recovered the next day on Coogee Beach - another weird thing to do in January - never thought would be spending my birthday on a beach!! Used to being stuck inside in the snow and cold! Also the same weekend got treated to a day's trail-riding out at a farm south of Sydney. Explored the local bushland on horseback for a few hours, seeing some pretty weird insects and birds (as you do in Oz!), and stopped off at a beautiful waterfall. The guide we had was a "real" Aussie cowboy, though scared us a little when we got back to the farm and he was rounding up the horses with his whip?! Changes galore recently as we moved into a new place and I started a new job. After weeks of looking we finally settled on an apartment at Coogee Beach. We're renting a room from a married couple who live there, so it's a real nice place. Though it has been a bit of an aclimatisation not living with backpackers who really don't care who does what and when - we're getting used to it though. Can't complain as it's only a 5 minute walk to the beach, so after sunbathing on a Sunday afternoon, wandering into the local Beer Garden, chilling out in the sun with friends listening to a good band, then going back to our apartment's pool area for a BBQ - bliss!! And the new job - bit different to the last - no trudging around the streets up and down people's drives, carrying a heavy bag in 35 degrees of heat, trying to "sell" them a monthly donation for a charity!! Back to the good ole office job doing the regular kind of stuff. It's a little dull right now, but it will serve it's purpose, a means to an end - so we can leave Sydney soon - as much as I love this city, we're just a little frustrated to get out and see more of what this country has to offer!! Late January we celebrated Australia Day - the 200 years or so celebration of Europeans discovering this huge landmass and beginning to have thoughts about populating it - call me cynical, but can't help but see the irony in it, considering there's been people here for 40,000 years!!? The Aussies do like to celebrate everything Australian on the day though, which does include the Aboriginal history. I spent the day out on a boat around the Harbour (along with most of the population of Sydney it seemed, with the amount of traffic out there!!), our very belated work Christmas party! The weather was good to us and we spent the day chilling out, cruising around in the sun and swimming in the harbour to cool down...though maybe the boat should think about dropping us off INSIDE the shark net next time, rather than outside it!!! Soon made a swift exit when I realised!! |
| 9 March 2004 |