Torquay, One Year Later
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Lisa Loeb - How
I had such a great weekend, even in spite of all my cameras being broken or needing batteries.

On Saturday I got a craving for some homecooked food, so I made some cornbread from the boxes I brought back with me. Man, I forgot how much I loved the stuff. Leigh asked me if I was eating or having sex, that's how good it was! I swear Aussies are missing out.

That morning I sent Brett a message about going to Torquay, because when we went out to dinner the night before, he mentioned he might be going and invited me along. He responded that he was going, and asked me to go, so of course I said yes.

We didn't get down there until about 11 pm because Brett had cricket and had to stick around afterwards to hear the results of the other division and didn't arrive to pick me up until 930pm or so.

On the way out to Torquay I saw some flashes in the sky out of the corner of my eye. I looked off to my left and saw a fireworks show. A few minutes later, off to my right was another fireworks show. It was surreal, reminding me of a time Tom and I were driving on Fourth of July and saw fireworks at the Camarillo airport and over the grade.

When we got to the caravan park, we had the option of going out to the pub, but we decided to sleep and get up early to take photos.

We got up the next morning, went to the shop for some food and a disposable camera. When we got back to the caravan, Brett made me a toasted cheese sandwich with Vegemite. Yes, after over a year here, I've finally tasted Vegemite. How did it taste? Very salty, almost like putting soy sauce on the sandwich. It wasn't horrible, but it probably won't replace Miracle Whip in my cupboard anytime soon.

We drove down Great Ocean Road to Lorne, and to Erskine Falls, which are the waterfalls I have photographs of from my last trip down there. Unfortunately this time we didn't have the place to ourselves, there were many tourists around, but we were still able to find some peaceful moments walking along the river.

Yesterday I developed the photos that I took with the disposable camera, and to my surprise, many of them came out very well, if a bit on the grainy side. I got an e-mail from the photo place that has my camera, but it didn't tell me what the verdict is or if it's been fixed, just that it's ready to pick up. I'm almost afraid to go and see what they say.

I arrived home on Sunday night to discover that the housemates from hell had moved out. When I moved out before, I was replaced with a couple who basically were still children. We did their dishes, cleaned up the bathroom after them, many times had to flush the toilet after them. Today I spent most of the day washing down the walls, windows, and vaccumming their room to try to get rid of the cigarette smell. I also took the opportunity to scrub the bathroom and their kitchen cabinets, preparing for any new roommates. I might move into the room, but I'm kind of content in my half room/half office, though it could do with a scrub as well.

Work has been sparce, hopefully it will pick up soon. I could really use the money.

Random Photos
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Tori Amos - Precious Things
This photo was taken when I was back in California over the holidays. My brother Jayson, my friends Nik and Steve, and I went to Vegas, and then made our way over to the Grand Canyon.

It was winter, there were patches of snow, and it was quite early in the morning. The site of the Grand Canyon was spectacular, ruined only by the vulgar shoutings of my brother, who was praying for an echo. I had to beg him for this photo, knowing Mom would love a decent photo of her children.

Brett and me at the Cricket Ball. Luckily the photo was taken before I had consumed too much wine.

Save for some embarrassing moments for Brett (yes it was my fault, but I was trying to win $500 bucks), the night was fun. I met another American there, Stefani, who is from Texas. She met her Aussie husband working at a pub in Ireland I believe. How random is that? Another reason I highly recommend traveling!

Here We Go Again...
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Traffic in the background
Here is my second attempt at a new web journal. The other site was severely limited in what I could do with it, so I decided to use trusty Tripod and start again. It looks promising, offering me an option to post images. I will post the entries from the other site onto here when I get a chance. Until then, I will post some photos from Queensland.

Previous Posts
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Men At Work - Land Down Under
Here are the posts from the other web journal site that I began. Enjoy...

Spontenaity At It's Best

I have just returned from Queensland. Most of you know that I had planned to go, and some of you know that I also cancelled my trip there for various reasons. Tuesday, I ended up doing some work, and during work Jim and I went back and forth about my going up there. He had gone up that morning and was telling me how great it was.

I started regretting my decision to cancel the trip, but when I asked a friend for help in researching flights out, we were unable to locate any available seats. My only other option was to take the train, but I wouldn't get there until Wednesday night or Thursday, which basically meant I'd have a day and a half or so there before having to turn around and spend another day and a half on the train back.

I called Qantas, and at 430 pm, was told they had a 550 pm flight out. I debated a bit longer because the expense was more, but in the end I broke down. Chris drove me to the airport, and on the way to the airport I booked my seat.

The difference between domestic flights and international flights is amazing! I arrived at 530 pm, walked straight to the gate to check in, and boarded the airplane at 535 pm. I wish I could do that with all my flights - none of this three hours early stuff. Chris suggested I not tell Jim I was coming until I arrived, but I was afraid he would be out when I got there and wouldn't be able to get to the hotel. So being the cheeky girl I am, I sent him a message just before the plane took off and then had to shut my phone off so he couldn't ring me back to get details.

The first thing to hit me when I got to Queensland was the humidity. Summer in Queensland is along the lines of summer in Florida, hot, humid, and sticky. The first thing I did when I got to the hotel, besides giving Jim a huge hug, is jump in the pool, a salt water pool at that. After a barbecue, we hit the town.

To talk about the rest of the days would be repetitious because it was just filled with going to the pool, going to the beach, going shopping, and going out. One moment of particular interest - On Friday we were swimming in the ocean when I saw what looked like a piece of plastic floating by. A minute or so later I saw another one with a bit of a different shape. I started to ask Benny what it was, when a moment later I heard Jim say, " I just got stung by a jellyfish!" He quickly got up to the lifeguard, who sprayed him down with vinegar and suggested he put some ice on his stings. They were on his left arm and from his right shoulder down to the middle of his back. We got back to the flat and bought some ice and he took an ice bath. It took about an hour and a half but the fire in his wounds extinguished enough for him to get out of the tub, and soon he was back in action.

What a desperately needed escape. Now it is back to work, hopefully making up the money I spent.



Sunday, February 15th 20042:14 PM
No Love for The Heat...

God has a funny sense of humor. 105 degrees farenheit on Valentine's Day. Like people NEED an excuse to take their clothes off on that day, and yet God wanted to make sure that any little shy stragglers would shock and delight their significant others with their newly unveiled exhibitionist streak.

I hope all of you had a good Valentines Day. Mine came a bit early. Jim came over on Friday evening with a bundle of star lillies for me, and I woke up this morning to find that nearly all of them have bloomed during the night. On Saturday he came by as well, with a pink rose, which promptly wilted in the heat. Saturday night I hung out with Mr. Anti-Valentine, yes Brett, and we did the dinner and a DVD thing.



Back with the rest of the update after work.


Tuesday, February 10th 20044:48 PM
Testing...testing....

Well this is new. In my neverending attempt to keep everyone on their toes, I've now created this website to keep all of my journaly type thoughts. As for the other website, it will still be around, but it will be primarily the story of my travels to the ends of the earth, along with photos and whatever else I can think of to put on there.

So yea, it's been ages since I've done anything website related, and I apologize. I know Mom, Pat, and various other people have been prodding me, but with so little time on my hands, it has been difficult to set things up the way I wanted to.

I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm back in Australia, again, and settled in, again. I've been working my rather obese bum off, but where the money is going, I may never know.

I've been trying to get out and about more than I did last time around, and have made a few more friends along the way. The day I got back, January 3, I went out with my friend Gavan to Anglers Tavern, just on the Maribyrnong River. As we were about to leave, I met Jim, and his friend Benny. We made our way to a couple other bars, eventually and inevitably ending up at The Grand, the place I had sworn off for ages. The night ended up great, and since then Jim and I have hung out quite a bit, to the point that I'm going to be going to Queensland wtih him and some of his friends on the 17th of February, very very soon!

On Saturday I went to a Cricket Ball with Brett. The night was really fun, getting dressed up and pretending to be civilized. Considering I haven't had a drink in nearly a month, the few glasses of wine I had did me in, but other than that, it was perfect. Brett looked great in a wine colored shirt and black tie. As soon as I figure out what all this web journal can do I will post some photos from it.

Other than that it's just been the usual. - work and wandering around. Oh yes, my camera is broken. I took it in to get looked at, and the guy behind the counter looked at me with sympathetic eyes and said, "It doesn't look good." Of course being the smart chick I am, I did not purchase an extended warranty on it, which doesn't matter because it wouldn't have been valid here anyway, but the camera is only a year and two months old, which means had it broken in December I still could have had it fixed under warranty. Actually it was broken, but I thought it was the battery. Such is life, I will never buy another Olympus camera.

Anyway, so here's the new site, have a look around, and look! You can post comments and stuff right on the page! How exciting! See ya soon!