Phew! In by the skin of my teeth with another blog for the month of April!! I feel a little proud of myself for that!

I've been a busy little bee over the last three or so weeks. Just before Easter I headed to Gay Paree with my mate Sue for 3 days. We had a bloody fantastic time away and a few mini adventures along the way too.
We left on Tuesday the 11th and met at Waterloo station - 1/2 an hour before our train was due to leave as stated we should on our tickets. Once there stood outside the check in point for Eurostar we noticed that there was a sign saying all trains had been cancelled due to a gas leak in the Bromley area and that passengers were advised to get a refund and book to travel the following day unless it was an emergency. Sue and I looked at each other and at the same time said 'Well it is a bloody emergency! I need this holiday!!' So we waited in line, and waited, and waited. Hoping for another announcement allowing us on the train, or simply to know what the hell was going on. After about an hour a voice came over the tanoy saying pretty much the same thing as the sign did, so we continued to wait, wait and wait some more. After about another hour they started to let people through onto the only train that was going to run that day, Just as we were close to the barrier and about to go through, the lines stopped and people started shoving, swearing and getting a bit raucous. Knowing how good the French are at rioting Sue and I got a little teeny bit worried and hung onto each other as the press of the crowd pulled us towards the barriers that were being reinforced by the London transport police.
After a while people began to calm down a touch and although the press of people remained the swearing and angry atmosphere slightly dissipated. After waiting another half hour an announcement came across the tanoy again, first in French (pacify the wild ones first)and then in English sating that they would let more people on, but it would be standing room only for the whole of the 2 and a half hour trip. We didn't care if they were gonna strap us to the top of the train, as long as we got to Paris that night and could have our holiday uninterrupted!
So we were bustled through the barriers eventually with all the rest of the anxious travelers and finally got through passport control and onto the platform. We made our way to the bar carriage, plonked our things down, bought a few beers and settled in for our trip - now about 2 hours behind schedule.
We waited supping our drinks, ducked out for a quick fag, got back on the train and were onto our second beer and still the train hadn't pulled out of the station in London! Then another announcement was made, advising that there were too many people on the train for it to leave and asking anyone who didn't have to travel that night to get off so the rest of the passengers could go. Feeling a little bad for being so selfish we continued to sup our beers as we watch several people walk back along the platform and into Waterloo train station - sacrificing their travel so we could go. What selfless and nice people, glad that not everyone in the world was as selfish as we were!
Finally at about 1/2 10 we pulled out of Waterloo and were on our way to Gay Paree! The travel passed almost in the blink of an eye and before we knew it we'd gotten through about 3 pints each and were wobbling our way down the platform in Paris Nord at 2 in the morning (time difference - France is an hour ahead of the UK, as is the rest of Europe) It was then that Sue chose to remind me that she had forgotten to bring with her the address of where we were staying. Not to worry said I, there's sure to be an internet cafe around here somewhere. So we walked out of the station, and not seeing anything open in the vicinity other than a few bars, we walked back into the station to see if there were internet facilities available there. Everything in the station was also closed, so we headed to a bar to see if we could get something to eat and think about what to do next. With our cloudy heads it wasn't as easy as it sounded and we stumbled into the first bar we found. I headed up to the bar while Sue sorted our bags out and sat down to go through the options of how to find out where we were staying. After finding out they had stopped serving food I ordered the next best thing - 2 pints so we could continue supping whilst we solved our dilemma.
By this time Sue realised that she could get internet connection on her mobile phone (the effectiveness of modern technology!!) and proceeded to try and access her hotmail account - with no luck. That option and the internet cafe option not struck from the list there was nothing further we could do than call some mates in England and hope they wouldn't be too pissed off at being woken at 3 in the morning to check Sue's email account and give us our directions. So Sue proceeded to call, we finished our pints and while she was still trying to raise someone at home hailed a cab and jumped in telling the driver that we didn't have the exact address but we were headed towards Epinay. Ahh what fun and games, neither of us speak much French and he spoke even less English. Still we managed to be understood with elaborate hand signals, a word here and there and then eventually the address written down on a scrap of paper. The last thing we had to do was stop at a hole in the wall for some cash and then straight to the hotel to crash out.
The cabby stopped at the ATM and I jumped out to get some cash while Sue stayed to hold the cab, when I jumped back ion, she jumped out to get her cash and the cab sped off up the street with me in the back frantically trying to get the driver to notice Sue was missing and to turn around. After a slight panic on my part that I was being kidnapped the cab understood the mistake did a u-turn and picked up a bewildered Sue.
Within moments of the last hiccough we were at the hotel and checking in (after giving the cabby a fine tip for his efforts with us two pissed up Aussie girls),the cabby followed us in after a few moments just to make sure we'd got the right place and were ok. How sweet he was!
Within moments of getting to our room we were in bed and I was fast asleep - dead to the world.
Next morning Sue let me know that her adventures had continued into the night as she slept walked out of the room. The door automatically locked behind her and she found herself in the hotel hallway, busting for the loo in her pajamas. Although her banging on the door woke the people in the room next to ours, I didn't stir and she had to head down stairs and have reception let her back in.

After all the shenanigans of the getting to Paris, we were looking forward to a pretty chilled day checking out the Rodin museum and Per LeChaise (the huge grave yard where Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison and other famous dead people are buried) The Rodin Museum was amazing. I had no idea he had such a huge and impressive body of work from his life. The flow, texture and feeling in all of his pieces was amazing and along with all that there was a room stuffed with antiques and art that he'd collected himself from all parts of the world. A truly magnificent sculptor....




Per Lechaise was like, or is, a little city of or for the dead. The tombs line wide boulevards, little streets and alley ways and hide behind the tree lined streets. You can buy a map on the way in and all the different graves are marked clearly showing you their street name and district. It's quite beautiful and peaceful there and some of the graves date back to the 1700's, all of them are for the rich and it would take a mint to afford a grave site there, no matter how simple it was. Aside from the three dead guys mentioned earlier, Cartier and a load of other famous designers, families and historically amazing people were laid to rest in the grounds.



After the excitement of our first day we grabbed a few things for dinner from the delis about the place, some wine and headed back to the train station for our train to Epinay Villetanuese, feeling rather proud that we had made our way around the city without any mishaps, managed to converse a little with the Parisians and seen all we had planned to that day.

Once back on the platform at Paris Nord, I congratulated ourselves before stepping onto the train back to our hotel. We slumped into our seats looking forward to getting back to our room, putting our tired feet up and drinking some wine whilst making fun of French telly. The train sped towards our destination and right past it, then past the next station and out into the countryside! Realising there was bugger all we could do about it we happily stared out the window at the passing woods, quaint little villages, streams and fields, wondering if we would ever make it back to our hotel before midnight!
Fortunately for us we were able to get off at the next stop (about 1/2 an hour out on the train) and cross the platform straight onto another train taking us back to Paris Nord so we could begin again. We eventually made it back to the hotel, hooked into the baguettes and fromage we'd bought, plenty of red wine to wash it all down with and had a good laugh at the fun we'd had - both planned and mistakenly. We stayed up late gettin drunk and having girly chats until the wee hours of the morning.

The next day we headed out to The Pompidou Centre, Notre Dame and the Eiffel tower, but before getting too stuck into our further touring of the city we sat down at the first pub we found and had two bloody marys each, hair of the dog and all that from the night before. Although we didn't have headaches the bloody marys went down a treat and we were ready to begin again. Paris would have to be the most beautiful city I have been to so far, although I am told Venice far surpasses it. The architecture is amazing, the tree lined streets, tiny cafes that seem to be waiting for you alone to discover them and the street art all make for such an inspiring and beautiful place to visit.

The Pompidou centre (or 'inside out building')





Notre Dame



The Eiffel tower


Being our 2nd day in Paris of walking here there and everywhere, we we back to our room by about 9pm and completely shagged. Got some Japanese take away of the way back and relaxed with our sushi, rice and red wine. Both of us were asleep pretty early that night.

Friday was our final day there and we'd seen pretty much everything on our 'have to see list' so spent the day wandering in and out of cafes, shops, the musee D'Orsay, the Louvre and other Parisian landmarks. Being Good Friday the queues were huge snaking things and we declined to wait for hours on end. One day I will definitely go back and it will still be there waiting for me rather than me waiting for it!

So back on the Eurostar finished off the rest of the wine we bought....and home again, home again, jiggity-jig!

Well, I've let another month slip by without making a blog entry and I apologise for my tardiness on the whole blogging thing. I really have no excuse either - I haven't spent the last four or so weeks sitting under a rock so have a few things to write about. Quite simply I kinda forgot about it and the dog ate my keyboard... I've been emailing a little more, and even sending the od group one as well - something I vowed to you all I wouldn't do so I suppose I should apologise about that too? Here, please accept these with my sincere apologies to all who have been looking for some new news here -



And these for good measure...



Anyway, enough of the scraping and bowing about all that - lets start afresh and I'll tell you all about my past month here in "ol' Blighty"....

The beginning of the month was kinda busy work wise, but one good thing was the Temp - Mel - that I was 'given' to help with thing. I'd been running about like a blue arsed fly trying to keep up with my usual tasks as well as help promote two new publications (one booklet toolkit and one CD-Rom) organise for them to be sent out to numerous different bods and organisations and at the same time keep the retendering of our mailing house service going. Needless to say it was getting a bit much so the departure of Lizzie (the first temp) was a bit worrying, but the arrival of Mel was a god-send. The girl is a wizz! Got through all the work I had for her and then some, without as much as a misspelt word. Man I was impressed - I may let her know about my position becoming available when I am ready to blow this popstand, she did seem keen to come back if she could. It was nice to have someone to talk to in the office too - usually it's as quiet as a library in here and it does my nut in some days... You could hear a pin drop - or the thoughts of the person next to you and that's definitely not what I want!! Ha ha.

So thanks to Mel, work wise I kinda cruised through the rest of the month, she got me up to date with all my reports etc and then she was gone, just like that! Weirdly enough I kind of miss her and she was only about for a few weeks.... Ach well - easy come easy go hey?

A few weekends ago we headed out to a party called 'La Chambre Magique' which is a hardcore/high energy/trance night usually held on the pier. This was the first (and possibly last) time they held it at a club in town just down the hill from us. Nice and easy. We popped along to that with Lee (Jemma stayed home feeling ill) and had a wicked night out, but as it was the weekend that the clocks went forward it ended early, which was a bit of a shame... Still it was an excellent night with some wicked treats and if/when they have it again I'll definitely go along. Actually, that's a bit of a fib as they did have it the following weekend on the pier but we were knackered from going out on the Friday night instead so didn't make it to that one... Oh well.

This month also I have been sorting out a trip to Gay Paree!! I got some 2 for 1 vouchers in the paper for Dad & Ann and then found out that they wouldn't be able to book by the end date for the deal, so have taken advantage of it myself. So its 3 days in Paris for me and Sue next week. Really looking forward to seeing the Rodin Gallery and loads of other places - that most of all though.

Amber - Mark's niece is coming to visit us this weekend for a few days. She's a little gem and I'm really looking forward to having her over and doing some kiddy fun things with her.

Anyway, it's way past lunchtime and I haven't stopped so I will end it there, and try not to be so long between blogs next time. Adios Amigos!

Another day, another dollar, pound, penny......whatever.

It's been about 3 weeks I think since my last blog and to be honest, not a lot has been going on with me that is particularly noteworthy or would make interesting reading. Work, sleep, eat and then weekend relaxing and getting off it on one thing or another. But then that's not that different from life back in Aus.

I am still enjoying my amateur photography stints and even had enough interest from some new acquaintances to warrant getting some enlargements of a few done for them. Maybe one day I'll even get paid for it - now that would be perfect. No more desk jockey work, bending over for a fiver, but to be getting paid for something that you love doing - now that's what life should be about doncha think??

I sound quite negative really don't I - sorry all. There really is plenty to smile about - blue skies outside my window, Spring getting so close you can smell it, a visit from family pending and new plans for the future.

A move to the other side of the country is on the cards (not for a few months at least though) somewhere around Salisbury which I am told is gorgeous countryside. I've never been up that way, but am quite happy to move there into the unknown and see what there is to see....

Anyway, enough ramble here's some pictures to liven up this dreary blog.

Apparently this ain't so far from where we'll be moving to -





And just for fun -

Well it's not so long between blogs this time. As far as exciting and interesting things to write about though - well that's a different matter! It's getting a little hard to think of things to write about really.
I've been doing the usual routine - work, eat and sleep - but not much else.
About 3 weeks ago I headed up to London for a short course on minute taking and clerking. I know, I know - it's hard to contain your excitement over such an involved and interesting issue. Still it was nice to get away from my desk for the day and see yet another part of London - this time the docklands.
I headed up the night before and stayed over with Em, which was really nice. We stayed up til the wee hours of the morning drinking and chatting - something I slightly regretted through the pounding in my head the next morning, but somehow still glad I did. I did still manage to get up and make my way to South Quay in time for my course, which I am reasonably proud of too. The docklands are pretty similar to that of Melbourne, except bigger and seemingly with more little waterways and harbours. Possibly not though. Here's a picture and you can decide...



or this - a little more pleasing to the eye....



Since I have been getting snap happy with my camera I have been taking it almost everywhere, so this course and the docklands were no exception. I popped out at lunch time and although I'm yet to get the film developed (that needs to wait til pay day) I think I have some pretty good B&W pics of where I was, the bridges and the boats around the place. It was a brilliantly sunny day too, so plenty of light.... Fingers crossed that they turn out as well as what I saw in my minds eye (and the view finder!). Unfortunately when I changed from B&W to colour I didn't change the ASA, so the first few may not work at all, either that of be under exposed. I'm yet to find out!

The weekend following my trip to London we headed out to a friends party at the Crown house and had an unexpectedly wicked time! Not getting to bed the until after mid day on Sunday made getting up for work on the Monday a little difficult. If it wasn't the fact that I had booked Tuesday and Wednesday off, I may not have made it in at all!

Tuesday was excellent - being a day off AND Valentines day! Stayed in bed until about midday. Received my 'anonymous' card from Mark, which made me laugh - about a guy who got stuck writing a valentines poem 'cause he couldn't think of anything to rhyme with 'Gagging for it'. Ate some chocolate and then headed down to the pub for some fish pie and a friends birthday celebration. Ended up a little worse for wear (but not too bad) by about 5pm and headed back home to sleep it off and watch a DVD or two.
Wednesday was another day of taking it easy and pretty much all we did was buy our tickets to see Judge Jules on the pier that weekend (the one just gone). Pretty damn cheap (£16)and seeing that it was to be my first time heading out to a proper party since I've been in the UK, I was pretty damn excited, even though I'd never seen Judge Jules before and only had a few disks of his that were part of box set CD's....

OH! on top of the tickets, we went to check out a place that we may be moving to, a little cottage around the corner from where we are currently, but a lot bigger than our place and hidden from the road down a little pedestrian only alley way. It's really sweet, with a big garden and seemingly big rooms but we're yet to find out more about it as the owner is still fixing it up from the lasttenantt and didn't want to show us inside while work was still going on.... What we have seen though has gotten us both a little excited!

Then all too soon it was back to work on Thursday and needless to say I was hanging out for the weekend. Still on Thursday night rather than trying to rush through my week by sleeping, I met up with a mate of mine in Brighton and we headed to the Prince Albert to see what we thought was to be Jazz. It was morecabarett type stuff, and really good. So another late but very enjoyable night was had!

Before I knew it Friday work was over and it was another weekend (YAY!) and time for a party. It was a bit of a mad rush between getting home and heading out - What to wear?? Needing to eat and organising to meet up with friends before we left. Still we managed it and were down at the Gritty Palace for a respectable 10.30pm pre-start. A few beers, treats, calm down fag and then into the main gig! Lee and Jemma came along with us, but the expected other mates piked one by one... oh well - there's always a next time isn't there?Unfortunatelyy the music wasn't quite to our taste, and the clubbers we a hell of a lot different to what I expected. Some people looking more like they'd dressed up for a night out in Dandenong.... Hmm, I shouldn't be so critical - but I am. We stuck around for a good 4 or so hours though and then made the long walk home - although it never seems that far at that time of night does it?
Here's some pictures of the Pier Pressure event, and where it is. Not from the weekend just gone, but other evenings they've held at the ballroom on the pier.




Next morning wasn't seen by us - except at the getting home end - and by the time we got up all we wanted was a fry up (I think, I don't know if Iwasn'tt to eat.... yeah I do... no I don't...) and a beer. So we headed into the old town for the necessities and then back home for a nap and a DVD. What lazy people we can be!

That pretty much brings me up to today - see, not the most exciting or interesting of blogs, but at least I can think of something when put to the blog test. Hope I haven't put you to sleep! X

I have probably been the worst blogger over the past two months that I have ever been since I started blogging, so apologies to any who’ve been persevering and continuing to visit my little ol’ site. I do have some reasonably good excuses – although they are excuses all the same….. (skip the next paragraph if you would rather I talk to the hand)

The lead up to and after Christmas has been really hectic at work (one of the guys I work with took 3 months extended leave to go travelling in India – HOW RUDE!!), so there’s been little time to sneak in a little bit of blog here and there and when I get home from what are my undeniably busiest days since I’ve begun, I’m completely knackered and the idea of sitting down in front of a computer yet again is abhorent. On top of this is the fact that many of my intended stories/writings or plain old ramblings include divulging the secret of the Christmas presents that I have only just now managed to send the last of back to Aus. Hence the silence, everyone knows just how crap at keeping a secret I am, so I’m better off to just remain completely quiet until I can tell all! Ahhh.

Now where do I begin…? 5th of December. Hmmm.That seems aeons ago, but as I cast my mind back I do seem to recall a trip up to London around that time to catch up with Sue and Em before we all went our separate ways for the festive break. Sue had recently moved and it was Marks and my first time to the new place. We got lost about 3 times on the way up (but only twice on the way home so we are learning albeit slowly!) due to the detours we got a little narky with each other but sorted it out after a cigarette and glass of wine/beer at Sue’s place… Was a pretty uneventful night the Friday, chatting, drinking and catching up was about it. On the Saturday arvo we headed into Oxford street to meet up with Em and her man Aaron – OH MY GOD! Oxford street on one of the last weekends before Christmas (I think it was the 10th or something like that) is a complete sea of people. Seriously, you cannot stand still on the footpath as there are so many people out doing their shopping that you’d just be carried along with the crowds. Even inside the stores there are that many people you can’t actually stop to browse through the products, no, it’s just a matter of grabbing things as you are whisked past and if it’s not what you want dumping it on the next display stand whilst crossing your fingers that the flow of the crowd will take you to that cute little cardi that would be great for so and so. Needless to say (and quite obviously from the late arrival of the presents I did manage to buy and send) we didn’t do our Christmas shopping there and I’d be wary of going anywhere near there around Christmas time again – unless of course you like the diplomatic way of choosing pressents in that it’s a majority vote on which stores you will flow in and out of.

Enough said on that – I do tend to go on a bit don’t I? Anyway we did manage to catch up with Em and Aaron, they were rushing off to some party afterwards and us to dinner in Angel. So a few pints, merry merry and off we were again back on the tube. Before we’d had time to complain too much about the poor excuse for public transport the underground is we were on the street again and trying to find this little restaurant. After another ½ hour of getting lost, asking directions, tracing our footsteps back and starting again we did manage to find the restaurant, had a lovely meal (everyone else had pretty much finished by the time we arrived!) and then were whisked away to a small pub/night club. Stayed there until we were chucked out, dancing the night away and then headed back to Sue’s place.

So that was a weekend well spent! Between then and Christmas it was nose to the work grindstone and dreaming of my two WHOLE weeks off over the Christmas break and expected 6 monthly bonus! This finally came around on the 21st or 22nd and I was released from the routine and had a bit of time to try and find some right gifts for family and a friend or two. Right here I’d like to apologise to all those friends who I didn’t send a card or present to this year, it’s not because I don’t like you or you smell, I didn’t send any Christmas cards at all this year, Mark did that and I kept out of it, I was a little bahh-humbug this time around. Also I want to say thanks to all who sent me something over. I have been really sporadic and lax in saying thanks so hopefully one blanket thank you on my self indulgent “it’s all about me” blog will be enough. If not email your complaints to toobadbuddy@cantbearsed.com.

There are always a few people I find hard to buy for – Dad and Ann definitely being one pair that have me wraking my brains each year - so I headed to the pub to mull over my options and ideas with Mark and a pint or two. Whilst getting through my 2nd pint (or maybe more…) I got chatting with a local artist, well not exactly local anymore, from near Sommerset but he grew up in Hastings. He had a load of his work with him that he was showing to a few friends and people in the pub. Me being my nosey self butted in and had a look through his stuff and came across the perfect picture for Dad & Ann – a really nice scene from one of the winding alleys of Hastings – a piece of my new home. I tried to get him down in price, but this not being Vietnam and having plenty of competition for that particular picture I didn’t get far, but I did get him to throw in the cost of mounting in his original price (Go Victoria! Yay!). So off I scampered off to the hole in the wall for the doolah, and while I was away some other lady tried to swindle me out of the painting by offering him 10 quid more than what I had agreed to pay. Fortunately he was an honest artist and said no so I paid him and the next day went back to collect the now mounted painting and sort out the framing etc. It was well worth it, a well known local artist and the picture may actually be worth a bit when he kicks the bucket – not that I’m wishing death on him or anything. Best bit though is that Dad and Ann really like it – or so they said!

After getting most of my Christmas shopping done the next day I was exhausted and knew I was way too late to have the post deliver them in time so I left them (sorry to all who made the effort of having things arrive on time!!) at home while Mark and I headed up to Leeds for our Nana Tour Christmas 2005!! As much as I have taken the piss it was actually a really nice Christmas. When we arrived on Christmas Eve there were chocolates on our pillow, a card from the hotel and the room was really nice. It was bloody cold the whole time we were there and we weren’t actually in Leeds (which was a little disappointing) but somewhere on the southern outskirts. On the way up there though we did pass a sign saying it was 2 ½ miles to Womersley so I felt pretty close to my family and all (ha ha, lame I know but you have to try…)

Christmas day was food piled on from 10am and then more food followed by a bit more food, pretty nice grub as well so no complaints from me. We were given balloons, hats, streamer popper type things etc on all the tables – some of the balloons given were those ones that you can blow up and when you let them go they make a whistling/scream as they fly around the room running out of air. Really hard to blow up though. Never the less we did try and succeeded in getting a few blown up with the table next to us coming a close second. Red faced grandmas are a bit of a scary sight though, you’re not sure if they’re about to keel over or not! After getting them blown up, Terry (Marks oldest brother) let his go, a loud screeching from the balloon ensued as it repeatedly circled the old dears on the table across from us, then it seemingly selected the rudest old biddy on the table, circled her several more times and fell, deflated, on her face. Well that was it then, the race had really begun – all these old people started cacking themselves laughing and trying their best to get more of these screaming balloons blown up to release at other tables. Christmas dinner was filled with the sound of screaming balloons and elderly people laughing like children… Strange, but lots of fun.

The others on the trip aside from me and Mark’s family were at youngest frail old 60’s, some much older and a few that looked liked they’d already passed. And RUDE! Oh, I couldn’t believe it to begin with - the way the old dears (mainly the old men were a little more polite) would shuffle, shuffle, shuffle and oops!, bump you out of line and take your place. Or the other good trick they did was loitering around doors and queues so you couldn’t get by for fear of knocking them down with your slip stream when you passed, whilst the rest of their wrinkly mates would shuffle past you to get all the prime sandwiches or whatever from the buffet…. I was too taken aback to say anything, and I guess they do that because they’re not sure if this will be their last chance of a sandwich/roast/cooked breakfast before they’ve crossed to the other side. And in true old person stereotype, they complained about everything - right down to the taps in their rooms being turned off too tight so they couldn’t turn them on with their arthritic hands, or the sides of the bath being too high and not being able to get in them – and who needs the sides of baths that high anyway? they’d ask each other. Maybe they were just making excuses for why they all smelt like musty dog food? Who knows?

On boxing day we had a day trip to York, York is a beautiful old town – apparently one of the oldest in Europe. York Minster is amazing – a huge old cathedral with three story high stained glass windows, phenominal work on the ceiling and the tombs of knights and priests inside. All about 7 or 800 years old, probably more. I took a load of photos whilst there, but unfortunately only 1 or 2 of them worked out reasonably… I have my memories though which are better than any photo, just can’t share them!! I’ll see if I can find some pics on the net that I can put on here….




The day after boxing day I had my Christmas snow wish granted and woke up to white everywhere. No one else was too pleased though as it was the day we were to head back on the coach to London and we could now expect delays of a few hours… Still it didn’t take long and the scenery looked so different from on the way up due to the snow – ahhh LOVELY! Mind you I slept for a lot of the way… It was even snowing in London when we arrived there – apparently not something that happens that often. Due to all the snow and ice we weren’t able to get back from London that night but had to stay over at Mark’s mums’ place and leave the next day. Everything at home stayed covered in snow for a few days after that and getting down the hill into town was a bit of a nightmare.

By the time New Years Eve rocked around the snow had melted but it was still damn cold! Not detered by this we headed to a little pub on the pier called the Gritti Palace to begin our NYE celebrating with some nice Jack ‘n’ Jills and a beer. Initially we were going to pub skip around town but enjoyed ourselves so much there that we stayed until closing and then headed home for a nice cup of tea and a snuggle in bed. It was a great crowd there that night and I met some really nice people that I have continued to stay in touch with and make friends of mine. Not bad going considering it has taken me all that time to make some real friends in Hastings – the few people I do know in the UK are either here in Brighton and old school or work mates living in London.

After NYE it was a reasonably quiet week sorting my self out to get ready to return to work. Holidays never last long enough, even if you’re away travelling for months it just flies by and before you know it, there you are getting out of bed early on cold dark mornings just to earn a buck, or quid. Still it was back to work and then the weekend after NYE it was all on again. We ended up catching up with our new found friends and staying up all night chatting and chewing the insides of our mouths...

Since I’ve been back at work life has gotten hectic again. Work has been a bit mad with loads to do and not enough hours in my day. Although I do enjoy that knid of pressure and I am learning new things as I take on the extra responsibility. Plus I shouldn’t complain too much as I have been ‘given’ a temp for now to get through some of the more tedious work. Mind you she’s in Malta this week and next so not much use for anything other than making me jealous it’s not me travelling off somewhere…

A few weekends back Sue came down to visit us and went on a photography walk through the country park and then ended up out on the town, catching up with mates, having a wicked time and wondering where the weekend had gone when Sunday evening arrived all of a sudden. Last weekend we headed up to London to use our float tank voucher that Aaron and Marie gave us for Christmas – Thanks again for that guys it was wicked! It is definitely the best thing like that I’ve ever done, and not because I’ve never done anything like that before either…. Hope that makes sense. Everything they say in the pamphlet about it is true - your skin feels delicious when you get out, you are incredibly relaxed, nothing seems to phase you too much and your body in general just feels like new. I sound like an ad so I’ll stop, but it was fantastic.

And then it’s been back to work, loads to do and not enough time or hands to get it done. So that has certainly brought you all up to date – if you’re still reading this that is! If not Ce la vie, it’s not a bad record for me to have of all this time I’ve been away from home (and then some!)

Oh, and I know I'm probably not supposed to make personal requests on this public domain, but to hell with it, I have been posting all about me for the last 2 or so years so why stop there? I have lost contact with a few of you guys from home, so if you haven't heard from me in ages - particularly Simon, Josh or Jess - get in touch with me on my email (pinnacle99@hotmail.co.uk) as I've lost your addresses, or else am getting no response so am maybe emailing strangers (or else you're glad to see the back of me! In which case you wouldn't be reading this....Hmmmm?) Had to change my panorkle account as it stopped working for yonks. Anyway that's it for now. Will try my very best to be a better blogger in future! X

Oh lordy I feel ill today.... the hangover is sure to hit sometime around lunch, but for now I'm still feeling a bit pissed and ill, like I'm gonna chuck and my balance leaves much to be desired. I really shouldn't have drunk so much on a Sunday evening. I only have a vague recollection of getting into bed - I think Mark gave me a hand....

Other than that the weekend was a pretty quiet and boring affair. Didn't do anything other than tidy the house a bit and go for a walk along the beach front.

However the weekend before was a pretty big one - up and back to Liverpool for Sam's going away party. It was on a boat docked in the harbour there on the Mersy. Lots of people that I didn't know as they're all old friends of Marks (and of course Sam's) from when he lived in Liverpool.

We headed up to London on the Friday night after work and stayed at Kelly's place before heading up to Liverpool (about a 5/6 hour trip in the car)on the Saturday. We got there with about enough time to change into our glad rags and head off to the party. It was a really good night with some wicked tracks playing so I got to have a good boogie, chatted to some strangers about god knows what(as I didn't know a soul there other than Mark and the people we drove up with - vaguely)and got nicely off it on some powder... Mmmmm and a quarter of a trip.... mmmmm.
The night went by pretty quick and next thing I knew Kelly was yelling at us that it was time to head back to the flat that had been kindly lent to us by one of Sam's mates. Kelly, Lee and Jem were all ready to crash out, but I still had a load of energy left as did Mark and we went walking and talking through Sefton Park (apparently where the beatles used to hang out) for the rest of the evening. We also visited the grave of Mark's dog Cassius that was in someone's back yard... Thankfully there wasn't another dog there and we were able to sneak in and out without a sound or anyone knowing.

As the sun was coming up (about 8am up there!) we were finally heading to bed, tired out after a brilliant night. After we'd had a sleep and goten up and dressed it was time to head back to Hastings again. What was supposed to be a 7 hour trip turned out to be longer as there were a few smashes on the freeway back... A long drive after such a big night out, but not much you can do if you need to get home!

On Monday morning when my alarm started it's incessant beeping I was in no state to be showing my face at work so I hit it, rolled over and went back to a deep sleep which I didn't wake from until 3.30 that afternoon.

To be sure it was a fine weekend we had with Sinead visiting from Ireland and it was great to catch up with her again - I can't believe it's over a year ago that we said adios in Hanoi.

It was also nice to have a long weekend - more of those please!! Sinead arrived in the late afternoon on Friday so we picked her up at the train station and spirited her away to ours for a cup of tea and some dinner before we headed out to the 'Cave moon cafe' down on the beach front to check out some clairvoyants.
The cafe we went to has a huge cave at the back of it - perfect for parties - that was dug out a few hundred years ago by fishermen/smugglers. Apparently it's been used for all sorts since then - bomb shelters through the war, hiding stolen 'booty' and then these days as a bike space for the cafe workers. It's a little spooky walking around in there with just a candle though.

Sinead checked out the raki there and had her tarot cards done while I went and saw a guy who holds something personal of yours and then tells you about things going on in your life - I can't remember the term for it though. So I gave him my ring to hold (ha ha, sorry I know it's crass but it makes me laugh) and he told me a few things I knew I needed to do something about, a few things I wasn't aware of and a few things that didn't make any sense and still don't. But then that's the way it goes when you see these types of people isn't it? Mark came along with us as well of course and checked out the spiritual medium whom he said was quite good. All in all it was a good yet unusual evening.

On Saturday night we stayed in with some DVD's and a few beers - Sinead wasn't up for a big weekend so it was pretty low key the whole time she was over. During the day we'd had a wander about town stopped in a pub or two for a beer (coke for Sinead) and generally just whittled away the few daylight hours we have here at the moment.
Late on Saturday night (or rather early in the morning on Sunday) after we were all tucked away in bed and snoring there was a knock at the door by the wife of a friend of ours. Apparently she'd locked herself out of the house and couldn't raise her partner to let her in. So we had her around at ours, blearey eyed and foggy brained trying to figure out what to do with her as there was no room for her to stay on account of Sinead being there for the weekend. We eventually raised her partner and got him on the phone to make sure he was there to let her in and then called a cab to come and collect her. It was all a bit of a debacle with her being pissed and quite rude to us all whilst we were trying to sort out some way of getting her home safe and sound. But the cab turned up and we eventually were able to return to our beds. Ahhh, fun and games!


On Sunday it was more lazing about. Sinead cooked us a roast dinner which was completely unexpected and really nice of her to do. But aside from eating the roast we mainly sat around watching the box, talking and generally making pigs of ourselves munching away.
Then all of a sudden it was time to head to bed and get ready for the week of work. Sinead came into Brighton with me on Monday for a look around and lunch with me before she had to head off up to Gatwick and fly back to Ireland. And so the visit sadly had to come to an end. Still it was great while it lasted. Now I just have to sort myself out to head over there some time soon.

It's been a long time between blogs! I think the last time I bothered with an entry was way back when Mark's Mum, sister, brother and sister in-law were on there way down to visit us - or after that...? Anyway it seems like aeons ago although I'm hard pressed to remember what the hell I have been doing between now and then...

Hang about a bit... Oh yep, that's right, a few of my Aussie mates from home have been heading back home as their visas are up. Feels a little lonely these days without them around to meet up for lunch, or have an email chat with throughout the work day, but they were happy to be heading off back home to family, friends and new jobs... Guess it won't be long until I'm considering the same, then again, you never can be sure of these things now can you??!

Nelly was the first to go, which was a bit sad, my old highschool mate that I hadn't seen for something like 9 or 10 years until I arrived here. Bit strange that was... But good strange, nice to catch up with people from your past and find out that you still get along as well - if not better - as when you parted ways, for whatever reason.

Mark and I headed up to London for her going away do in Brick Lane. A big partially open air pub/bar in the CBD. Nice it was, and then onto some club not far away when we were all a little worse for wear and the Vibe bar were kicking us out... What was it...Cargo! under some train bridge arches. Quite nice too although the music was a little unexpected - bangra beats mixed with prodigy and the like. But it worked, even though my description of that makes you think it's impossible.

It was a really good evening, and then before we knew it, Nell was gone! Like a puff of smoke, with just a faint memory of her being here. Well not really that faint, but I was trying to be poetic then.

The week after that it was Lisa's turn - same thing again, old mate/flat mate of my little brother's that I hadn't seen in years and didn't even know she was here until I literally bumped into her as I was walking down the street. Bit of a surprise again, but still a good one.

She's been living and working just around the corner from where I work in Brighton so there was many a lunchtime drink and catch up. Mark and I headed up to Brighton to say our farewells, bon voyages and all that sort of thing. Was a good night although the Jack n' Jill's were a bit lame. But it was kinda the same scenario again - get pissed at the pub and head to a nearish club once you're getting kicked out of the first place. This time it was some place on the beach front called concord. No idea why, don't remember seeing any planes, but there you go, guess they have to call it something. Not bad and not great music but then it didn't really matter by that stage.

Since then we've been staying in a bit more, keeping a bit quite. Partially due to limited funds, but more due to limited energy. The onset of winter this year is a lot harder than last year to deal with - this time I know what to expect and I'm not really that excited about the prospect of cold and dark days/nights ahead. Maybe if it snows it'll lift my spirits. I do love that clear, clean look when you wake to everything being white and new in the mornings. Don't get me wrong though, I haven't turned completely English - there is more to life than weather!

My class has been going really well. I have got a copy of Photoshop on Mark's laptop and have been building on what I was taught in class. It's good to keep the brain going. And were learning another program - Hyper Studio - which is a really easy straight forward way of putting together sound, animation and pictures. Can't really explain it better than that, but the more I learn about it, the more I like it.

Work has let me know that they can't sponsor me, which is a shame. They looked into it, looked for loop holes, way up, down and around it, but there isn't one.
You know the more I learn about immigration rules - from my Australian married experience to what I am finding out now - the more annoyed and frustrated I get with it all.
As it stands work is unable to sponsor me as I am not important enough to the company, I can be replaced reasonably easily. (Maybe not with someone as truly excellent as I am, but there you go - Ha ha ha) However if I was a cleaner here, or for some other company, England would be happy to have me stay, I'd be in an integral or whatever it is they call it industry. Seems that the Poms prefer their immigrants to have their hands down toilets, or else they're just dirty bastards who can't clean up after themselves... not sure which. Frustration, frustration and yet more of the same....

So that's been the main things going on with me for the last however many week since I last had a blog. I'm sure there are more anecdotes and funny little stories, but I just can't think of them right now, plus lunch break is almost done and I need to have something to eat.

Here's something to stave off the boredom though -
Mmmm the Hoff.

The days and weeks seem to be racing by at the moment, but I haven't really been doing that much aside from work, eat and sleep. The weekends have been nice and quiet - for a change, but it's back to being busy as of this weekend with Marks family coming down to stay for the weekend. I'm really looking forward to it. Mrs Gridley, or Brenda, is lovely and Marks niece Amber is a sweetie too... Not that the others aren't.

This week has surprised me with a little bit of madness! On Wednesday night when I got home there was a letter waiting for me from Ann Womersley of East Sussex! What's this? I thought as I tore it open, obviously a joke from Dad and Ann at home, but it turned out to be something else completely unexpected. A possible relative writing to me as they're researching their family tree. I got really excited about it and thought about calling and emailing, but didn't, instead I talked Marks ear off for the whole evening speculating about who this Eric and Ann were, and how strange it was for them to contact me. I was going to call Dad about the research he'd done years ago before getting in touch with Ann the letter writer, but I haven't been able to raise them - although their fax machine and I are building a close relationship.....
So last night I decided to call them without getting in touch with Dad first. A posh elderly mans voice answered the phone and when I explained who I was and why I was calling he got quite excited and put his wife on the phone (Oh! It's best if you speak to my wife, she'll be UTTERLY DELIGHTED that you called' and then with the hand over the phone 'DAHHHLING, There is a Victoria Womersley on the phone wanting to speak with you' a muffled reply 'OH! Smashing, what a surprise!') and then there on the other end of the phone was someone who may well be my great Aunt, or something of the sort.
I didn't find out much, although she talked my ear off for the few minutes I was on the phone and I will be getting in touch with them again. She's invited me over some time ('It would be so lovely to meet, don't you think?!') to meet them. All I did find out was that they have no known blood relatives, are about 70 years old and have lived in East Sussex for all of their lives. Oh, and that Erics Grandfather was married four times. She's sending me the parts of the family tree that she has managed to track down, and I promised to try and get the information that Dad found out to her too, one way or another.

It was a reasonably quick call - it's hard to know what to say to someone you don't know but may be related to.... But it has made me feel quite happy, and intrigued by the whole thing. I think I'll have to take them up on their splendid offer of meeting some time - it would be charming! Don't you think?

It's been a while since I wrote - sorry for being such a slack blogger - I now have to catch you all up on the last two weeks don't I?

Where do I start? Aside from being as busy as hell at work, there've been a variety of things going on with our weekends.

A while ago now Mark and I headed out to Bishopstone for the last time for the end of dig party. It was a pretty good night with a spread of all sorts of food put on for everyone at the local pub 'The Smugglers Inn'. Most of the night was spent talking about the various finds, where they were off to for their next dig and all that archaeological talk... A bit over my head at times, but I managed to stay awake and appear interested for the most part. Not that it's boring, but it does get a bit much when it's all anyone around will talk about... Mark got some recognition for the work he'd put in with the plans of the site which was really nice as it's the first time he's ever tried his hand at planning for an archaeological dig such as this,

The week after that was a full work week again, and by the time it got around to Friday I was ready to drop! But instead we headed out to the New Forest for a weekend of camping - the last opportunity until next summer as the camp sites here close over the winter time.

Lee and Jemma came along and we found a lovely little spot that felt like we were right in the middle of the woods. We headed to the pub for a pint as soon as we arrived - everyone was pretty exhausted from the drive and the week gone. On Saturday morning we had a fry up for breakfast on our little camping barbie, and just as we'd finished and were packing up we were accosted by a wild pony who was doing the rounds of the site in search of apples, oranges, bacon sandwiches - anything it could get it's teeth on really. It was a bit of a worry as it's not that easy to move a wild pony, and you're never too sure if they'll decide to give you a kick for your troubles or not! But we eventually had it move on, right to the next group where he tried the very same trick.

After that excitement we headed to the Otter and Owl sanctuary. It was more than just otters and owls though they had Badgers, Hedgehogs, polecats, ferrets, wild pigs/boar, deer and quite possibly some other animals I have forgotten to mention. It was great to go and see some of the native wildlife in a reasonably natural setting, and to have the chance to see some of the animals of England that I may not otherwise get to see in the flesh - like the hedgehog.



After spending most of our day there we headed back to camp for a nap and then out to the pub for dinner, and then back to camp again where we huddled around the campfire. We had really clear nights so I lay snuggled in the tent for a while before sleeping with the door open looking at the stars. I didn't think I would notice it so much but the sky here is so different from home - way more packed with stars, and not one constellation instantly recognisable - it's like looking at an alien sky, and makes me think of home.

On the Sunday morning it was a matter of packing up and getting ready to head back home, but before we left we went for a walk into the woods. While walking around we came across a family of wild pigs. Jemma and I decided it was probably wise to keep our distance, but Mark and Lee crept closer and closer. The pigletts spotted them after a while and were as curious about the boys as they seemed to be about them. So they began to wander towards the boys. Only a moment or two passed and the wild boar father spotted these two humans getting a little too close to his babies, so charged at Lee and Mark. Mark started running, Lee let out a yelp of fear and also began running. Jemma and I had already gotten as far away as we could and climbed onto a fallen tree so that we were out of harms way. Thankfully no one was hurt, although it got our adrenalin pumping, and the pigs wandered off away from us and we kept walking in the opposite direction to that which the pigs had disappeared to.

Then on Monday it was back to work, and a pretty crazy week. Half our team was heading out to Durban for some training I had organised for then and final arrangements etc had to be made. So it was pretty bloody hectic and I was well relieved when they took the taxi to the airport on the Thursday and the pressure of it all began to subside.

By Friday I was more than ready for a really quiet weekend, as was Mark, so that's exactly what we had! On Saturday we stayed in bed watching DVD's and generally lazing about. On Sunday we headed out to the country park - I haven't been walking there for months now - and took a small pail with us to put the black berries we picked along the way in. We managed to fill the whole pail, could have filled two - and I made a blackberry and apple pie yesterday. Smells really good but we were both too full after dinner to actually try any...

So that's what's been keeping me busy. I have finally scanned a few of my travel pics and hope to either post them here or on the website I am supposed to be making in class next week.

Oh that's right! I forgot to mention - I have started my multi-media course, all is going well, we're learning a heap about Photoshop, HTML coding, Dreamweaver and other sorts of things that should be helpful both with work and personal things.

With four days packed into two, work wise, my holiday seems like a distant memory but I have still been managing to make the most of my weekends.

The weekend just gone saw Mark and I heading up to Bishopstone to the archaeological dig that Mark has been working at. He's been drawing plans of the site along with two other guys, and he seems to be doing really well at it. I spent the day on Saturday cleaning finds with a toothbrush and bucket of water whilst Mark kept on with his drawing. Cleaning finds sounds pretty boring I guess, but it was actually quite interesting as practically all of the finds come through there before being bagged and tagged. Everything except for human bones and things that need to go to a lab - like the complete pot that they found, stood vertical in the ground and placed in a hole that had been dug into the bedrock and then the hole filled in with daub or something like that around the pot. It has to be sent to a lab for tests that need to be done on the soil inside and whatever else they may find in there.

I was cleaning heaps of bones from various animals - they think it may have been an animal 'graveyard' - and lots of pieces of pottery. Some sort of terracotta mix, quite coarse, and I found one piece of a top of a vessel of some sort with circle decoration imprinted on it. Quite pretty. It's strange to think about the people who lived there when your working at these places (not that I have worked at any others!). The pots we found could well have been made by a famous potter of his or her time, but then who'd know? After a while it doesn't matter what you've been or done do you, the only whisper of a memory that will remain is that of the society you lived in, if you're lucky that is!

It's in really pretty countryside, not too far from here - about an hour drive west. Here's a picture - saves me babbling on!

This is the church next to where we were digging.

This is the coast line near there, and similar to what it looks like here.

The are a few small patches of woods around that way too.

So a week off and I returned to work feeling pretty refreshed and ready to get back to the hectic demands of the office.

Our holiday began before we headed of on the Sunday as we went to the classical music concert held in the Battle Abbey. I went thinking it would be somewhat like the classical concerts they hold in the Sydney Myer Music bowl in Melbourne, but I was in for a surprise! It was a concert called 'The Proms' which apparently is quite an English thing, they hold it every year around the country and the English National Symphony Orchestra tour the country putting on these concerts. We went along with our picnic basket (a good one I'd picked up that day at a really good price at a 2nd hand store) and found a good spot to sit and watch the concert, but Mark decided that he wanted to get a little closer to the stage so we headed down the hill closer and ended up laying out the picnic blanket in a bit of a bowl in the slope and couldne't see a damn thing! Still it was good sound. They orchestra began with some classic war movie themes like Dam busters and the like and as they played a hurricane airplane from the 2nd world war flew over the crowd for about 3 tracks doing loop the loops and wowing the crowd. It was a bit frightening at times as the down slope of the loops he was doing we're straight towards the crowd, and all I could think was 'If he doesn't pull out of this we're all dead - DEAD I TELL YOU!!' But fortunately he was a good pilot and we all survived the evening to listen to some more relaxing classical sounds. At one stage they played the theme music to Star Wars, and as we couldn't see anything I turned to our mate Tony and said 'You know the conductor is dressed as darth vader and the whole orchestra are dressed as Star Troopers.' He got really excited about it and was on his way to standing up when I had to break the news to him that I was telling fibs. Funny ones, but fibs all the same.

After the concert we walked back to the closest pub for a few more beers and then on to Tony's place to drink most of the night away.

After waking the next morning and making our way home we finished packing and headed off to Lyme Regis which is a small town about 3 or so hours drive west of Hastings right near the border of Dorset and Devon. So we camped at a lovely little camping ground in Devon, but went back into Dorset the next morning to look for fossils on the beach in Lyme Regis. That part of the coast is quite well known for the excellent specimens of Ammonites you can find lying on the beach. We found quite a few good ones and then headed across to another beach where you are supposedly able to find fossilised starfish and prehistory octupy type fossils as well. Unfortunately we weren't quite so lucky there and only found more ammonites. The weather was really nice that day, and if the sea wasn't absolutely freezing here I could have almost gone in for a swim. But it is, so I didn't and we got back in the car and headed off to Cornwall.

We drove through part of Bodrim Moor and stopped to take a look at the Hurlers Stone circle, which actually turned out to be two stone circles in line with each other and surrounded by various ruins of castles, old tin mines, chimneys and buildings of other sorts that we weren't sure of. Not all clustered together though, spread out along the countryside. After the stone circles we went back to the coast and found a camping ground at this sweet little town calle Looe. The harbour and town there is really pretty, but we didn't spend too much time in town. We headed straight to a camping ground and set up tent. As I got dinner going on the little BBQ we have Mark headed into the camp ground to find a toilet. Being Mark he walked straight past the shower/toilet block and found a toilet in a bar at the camping ground. When he got back he let me know that he'd found a bar! Good news! We could head up there for a cold beer after dinner instead of persisting with the now warm Kronenburgs that we'd picked up on the way there. And so we did.
I was expecting a small bar, not much in it except some tables chairs and old blokes sitting around supping their amber fluid. So I didn't bother getting changed and headed up with a woolen jumper on with a singlet over the top, my old grey cardy over the top of that and my Thai fishermans pants. Not a good look really, but then who's gonna care at a camping ground?? We got there, opened the door and the first thing that hit me was the heating and a thousand bright lights. We walked in the entrance towards the bar and as I looked around my eyes took in something that I could only assume was an alternate universe. The main part of the floor was something like a huge bistro from a pub, packed full of young families with kids no older than about 8 or 9, grandparents and blokes that looked as though they'd just been releaseed from prison, everyone was dressed up as if they were off for a night out at the Commercial in Warragul and then maybe onto 'The Club'. Below the bistro type area was a stage and a dance floor where a whole lot of pre-pubescent kids were doing their utmost to look cool and trying to pick eack other up. The bar stretched the length of the room, and behind it was another room, even more brightly lit and full of every immaginable arcade game.
As we got our beers and went to find a seat a voice came booming over the sound system 'Annnd NOW it's time for the KIDS TALLENT SHOW! Let's give them a round of applause....' Next thing you know there's an 8 year old girl on stage belting out her rendition of Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' But she can only remember the chorus so you hear over and over again 'I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there..' I couldn't believe where I was or what was happening, but it just kept on going. After that we had another pint and the kids acts finally finished and on came two old guys about the same age as Dad who did covers of 60's, 70's, 80's and a bit of the 90's... Yeah classic.
After that pint I decided to try a typical English holiday camp drink and get into this 'Holiday camp' mood and had a Pernod and Orange. I managed to finish it, but Pernod would have to come a close second to Snake wine in disgustingness.
After the old man cover band they had a game of Bingo, we had another pint and turned in for the night.

The next morning we headed to the Eden Project. We found that we could go there in the evening as a special summer thing so we headed down to the coast again to a little place called St Mawe for lunch and then back up to a camp ground to set up our tent for the night and then back to the Eden Project. The Eden Project is a huge green house built in a disused clay mine, where the earth has pretty much been desimstated. So a group has gone in there and dumped 85 thousand tonnes of recycled dirt (household waste etc) into this open mine area, covered it over with the green house, redirected the water catchment area into it and grown rainforest which feels exactly like the forest in Thailand as you walk through it. There is also another section of temperate forest, and then a mediteranian garden. The layout is beautiful, and the feeling in there is really peaceful and calm. Unfortuately I forgot to bring my camera with me on the trip, so hopefully the disposable one I was using will do it justice.

I hope to scan my pictures in at some stage and if possible put them up on this blog page. I'll try to do a pictorial representation of my whole time I have been away.

The day after the Eden project we headed down to lands end - the most south westerly point of the UK. The coast line there is much different from here. Here it's sand stone, down that way it's shale or some other type of dark/greyish rock. When in Lands end we took a look at the famous merry maiden circle which it's said if you dance around the maidens (standing stones) and touch the Marker stone which looks quite phalic, you'll be pregnant shortly afterwards. While there Mark kept a close eye on me and warned me several times not to dance around the stones! I'm not looking to pump out any kids just yet, so there was no need for him to worry.

All around Cornwall there are old celtic crosses just standing in the countryside. The land is windswept and has a drained and grey type feeling to it, whilst at the same time being quite beautiful in it's own way. We only got to spend the day and night there before we headed back to New Forest, a 7 hour car journey back to the east towards home.

New Forest is the largest tract of old growth forest in England and covers about a thousand hectares (or acres I'm not sure). It's gorgeous, old oak trees spotted between sicamores and other types of indigenous English flora. Squirels skip around the forest floor, wild ponies contentedly graze in the camp grounds, melting away at night into the trees for cover, and I am told that red deer wander through out the forest too, although we didn't see any that time.

We only had time to spend the afternoon and night there before we had to head back home to Hastings.

On the Friday when we got back I organised all my boring tasks like taking my winter coat to the dry cleaners and getting some more winter duds. I also had my hair cut at a hairdressers for the first time in about 5 years, and got my long locks made into a short layered bob. It's cut so that it flicks out rather than under and I have coloured it blonde again. Doing the colour job myself, and not badly either!

So that was my week away in England. I really enjoyed getting to explore more of this country that I am considering making my home, and have fallen in love with it that little bit more.

Work this week has been amazingly busy with no time to even stop to scratch! Still after the rest from my week off I feel up for it and not nearly as stressed as I was before I went away.

So another week has gone by and France, Amsterdam and all that fun seem years away now! Funny how time passes. Next week though I'm off again, I think I've been blogging saying that I am heading off to Greece or Spain or something like that, but plans have changed and I'm actually going to see a bit of the country I've been living in for almost a year now.

We're heading to Cornwall on Sunday for a camping trip - lets hope that the weather decides it's summer again! Cornwall is the county below where Stonehenge is - so that will have to wait for another trip. But it's also where Penzance is, St Ives, the Eden project and some of the moores where the headless horseman and demented people walking about getting lost stories come from. Smugglers territory and what not.

I know I'm going to say that rhyme on the way to St Ives - 'When I was going to St Ives I met a man with seven wives, seven wives with seven cats, seven cats with seven kits and so on...' Mind you it will be two going to St Ives this time, and I'm told there aren't many Moslems down that way, so not probable that I'll be meeting any men with more than one wife.

I'd like to dress as a pirate when we're in Penzance, but chances ae I won't - not as simple as saying a rhyme.

The Eden project is a massive eco-dome (I think that what they call it) which covers acres of rainforest, tropical and temperate I think. The pictures I've seen make it look like several giant golf balls sitting in the landscape, and they're filled with gardens and forests. Take a look:



and inside:



and I have to mention that the inside one above is stolen from another bloggers site 'brodick.blogspot.com' so if you want to take a look at some more Eden project photos then check out his blog, cause they aren't too bad! But it isn't all sculpture in there although that's good - there's huge trees and all sorts - but not the licorice kind.

On the way there we'll spend a night at the New forest which apparently is either the biggest patch of forest in England - or I could be wrong, but something special about it and wild ponies roam around there too. Wild ponies. Mmmm.

Before we go though on Saturday night 'they're' having a symphony orchestra play at the old abbey in Battle - the abbey where the castle was built by King William, or what ever his name was, the guy who invaded here in 1066. I really should know all that living where it happened. Anyway, nice setting, nice music and some good food and wine, then head off into the wild blue (or possibly grey) yonder.

What an amazing weekend away in St Malo, Brittany, France!! It is a gorgeous city, and the trip was made all the better having spent it with some great friends, new mates and eating and drinking wonderful food and wine.

Firstly a picture and then I shall go into it a little more:



On Thursday after work Mark and I headed up to London to meet up with Em and Aaron before we started our 12 hour journey to France on the train and ferry. Although we were tired from work we were so excited about the coming festival and the trip away that we stayed up until the early hours of Friday morning chatting and drinking wine... Getting up that morning was a bit of a struggle, but we got to the train station on time all buzzing with excitement for the coming events.

The ferry ride over was much better than expected. We met up with 4 others on the way there who were all heading to 'La Route Du Rock' (the festival we went to) as well, so from then on we had a little posse of like minded people together, and when we got there a nice little camping group. After many a beer on the ferry over we were all a bit pissed, thankfully we had a shuttle bus organised to pick us up from the port and drop us straight off at the camping site/festival grounds.

The actual gigs were held inside the medieval fort of St Pere in the countryside about 15 minutes drive from St Malo. The first night we went to see Mercury Rev, who I'd never seen or heard before but became a new fan of theirs after seeing their gig. They're quite reminiscent of Pink Floyd, although not quite as depressing as Pink Floyd can be.
After Mercury Rev we met some French people who spoke pretty good English, so while La National were playing we chatted away to them. I seemed to have my natural freak attraction powers working in over drive and this French guy who spoke bugger all English accosted me to tell me that he loved me, that I was his sister and he could drink the rain and eat the wind. No matter how many times I protested and told him that I didn't understand French he would still continue on his rant with me getting more and more frustrated. After a while he became quite agitated and began to cry! I had no idea what he'd been saying and was pretty alarmed to think that I had made this guy cry without even saying anything that he could understand. After his bout of tears he finally left me alone and one of the English speaking French girls explained that it wasn't me who'd made him cry but that he was really pissed and had been talking to me about the apocalypse and the end of the world and how all the beautiful people like me and the others I was with were going to die!! Not what you need when you're pilling off your tits.

After Le National finished the French group invited us back to their camp site so we went along with them and continued chatting and drinking until sunrise. Sunrise was amazing - the sun coming up as a huge white orb rather than the yellow glow that we're accustomed too. Also for the four days we were their it was a special time in the stars. This side of the world hits an asteroid belt in late summer, so we were gifted with a view of a thousand shooting stars each night - 12 ever minute to be exact.

On Saturday we were blessed with gorgeous weather, beautiful blue skies, high twenties in temperature and a soft breeze. After barely a wink of sleep the night before we spent the day lazing about in a field, smoking, chatting and dozing off in the sun. The bands didn't start until about 7pm each night which left us the daylight hours to explore or just hang out like we did. There was a free bus into town which was handy, until we realised that they were trying to squeeze several hundred onto a 50 or so seater bus. The option of chilling in the field became even more alluring after that!

On Saturday night the headlining act for the whole festival was to play - THE CURE. Before hand the Ravonettes whipped the crowd into frenzied anticipation, and all around were Robert Smith lookalikes. Some not looking as alike as others....

The Cure were great. Funnily enough Robert Smith looks almost exactly the same as he did in the eighties, just a little more haggard and stooped. Most of their set were tracks from their 'Wish' album but there were a few classics thrown in, like the Spider one and 'Boys don't cry'. They gave us 3 encores and the crowd was huge seeming to have swelled to about 3 times that of the night before.

The Cure:


I have no recollection of who played after the Cure, Mark and I headed back to our tent for a night tipple and some much needed rest.

On Sunday morning we headed into St Malo. The European cities I have seen so far (all two of them) are beautiful and have a real sense of history and important things having gone on. St Malo is the same but even more so. Each street beckons you to simply walk down it and enjoy the architecture and soak in the feeling of time that it exudes. The stalls, markets and shops all seem so colourful and enticing. St Malo town centre is surrounded by castle walls which you can walk along the tops of looking out to sea on three of the four sides as it is stuck out on a point into the sea. In the 1700's it was a country in it's own right, as was Brittany and even today the people from St Malo and Brittany consider themselves apart from the French. We were all hankering for some fresh St Malo mussels and we found a restaurant which had only mussels on the menu, in every kind of way you could think of, from natural to curry to provinciale. We all ordered different ones and got to try some of each. All were delicious, and the cheap house wine was sumptuous too!!

At about 6.30pm we caught the shuttle bus back to the festival for the final acts. It was a lovely day walking around St Malo, sitting in some of their sweet little pubs, trying out the delectable food and wine, checking out the art at the markets and shops in town and being a complete tourist by taking pictures of nearly everything.

On the final night we were entertained by 'The Polyphonic Spree' who are a group of 18 Californians who are all part of the same cult in Texas. They bounced onto stage in pale blue kaftans with red lightning flashes across them. I'd never seen or heard them before and couldn't help but begin to make a joke or two about a group dressed as prime targets for a bit of piss taking. But as they started their set the jokes became less and less and the energy in the crowd rose. Everywhere you looked the spectators had huge grins on their faces, people were dancing and taking part. The group are electric, full of energy, and their music is actually pretty good - it's just their dress sense which lets them down. And so I have become a new fan of them too, although I doubt I'll be traveling to Texas to find out more about their religious beliefs. By the time they had finished their hour and a half gig I felt as though I'd taken drugs and that I'd been watching them for a mere half hour, they were so good, and again I'd become a new fan.

Polyphonic Spree:


After the Polyphonics, Sonic Youth played. I haven't seen them since I was about 17 years old at the Big Day Out in Melbourne. They were good, but nothing could top the energy of the band before and we left on that high to head back to the tents and chill out with our new friends on the last night we had in France.

Monday was a long day, we left the festival at about 9am and didn't arrive back home until 12.30 that night. The ferry was delayed, as were the taxis from Poole. Still with that being the only hitch for the whole weekend I think we did really well. We had a brilliant time and already I am thinking of the next opportunity to go back and spend some time in that most beautiful and alluring of cities - St Malo.

Just a reminder of Amsterdam before I begin to skyte about France, and the beautiful St Malo....

Sooo Amsterdam - what can I say? When my memory rights itself I should be able to elaborate, but a few outstanding things for you now.

The Dutch are some of the nicest people on the planet that I have ever had the fortune of meeting in their own country. Really lovely and nice - nothing is a problem with the dutch, you want hard drugs, soft drugs, pay for sex - no problem with the dutch. Which in itself is kinda weird, but really nice, not that I paid for sex while there - or Mark for that matter.

We arrived on Friday evening and went directly to our hotel, dumped our bags and then went searching for a place that sold grass - or what they call in Amsterdam - a 'coffee' shop. Wasn't hard, and after about 15 minutes we were sat in a cafe partaking of the Amsterdam delights, cut to another 15 minutes later and I was having to leave, I'd almost whited out - not good. As we left and thanked the proprieters as we walked out they smiled and nodded knowingly at me... I guess they're used to people like us coming in thinking we can 'go hard' and then almost or fully passing out on their floors. Thankfully though - it's no problem with the Dutch.

On Saturday we headed into town on the tram - same trams as Melbourne, those crappy new ones with all the mouldings and bugger all seats - for a look about, try to find the galleries and see waht was on offer. We managed to get lost pretty much straight away and spent the entire day wandering about in and out of coffee shops, bars and cafe's. The city is beautiful - wide open boulevards with canals down the centre and trees lining the streets. It's a big change from England where everything seems to be built so close together, small winding roads and not much light filtering through to street level.

I got some good photos (I have my camera back at last!!) I think, and we tried some new and different things, but didn't actually manage to find any galleries or do the touristy thing that day, aside from smoking and walking about taking pictures. After a good hammering and some dinner (a yummy steak) we headed into the red light district. Now that's a weird one. Imagine walking through the back streets of Melbourne CBD, but instead of looking up to closed windows and office blocks, your looking up at open windows each full with it's own representation of woman kind in various stages of undress. I didn't think I was that prudish until I went there - I didn't know where to look, and my camera (fortunately or not depending on your point of view) stayed firmly in my bag... Towards the end of the night on the way back to the tram stop we passed by the sex museum, and were going to go in, but being about 11pm they were just about to close. Unfortunately we couldn't find it again, so didn't actually make it inside.

On Sunday we woke to rain, grey skys and wind... Oooh it was cold. I didn't really want to get out of bed, but when you only have a few days somewhere you have to make the most of your time regardless of the weather dontcha?? So we headed out to the city again, and with a little more confidence than the day before seeing that we'd had a good look around. I could tell that from my aching feet - and all that we'd seen, or rather tried to.

We headed to the Van gough museum first - I was hoping that the rain would ease so that we could go to the sculpture beach. Anyway, once we got there we decided that 13 euros to wait in line in the rain wasn't our idea of fun, so insted went to the Rijkmuseum (I hope I spelt that right!) where all the dutch masters are kept - not actualluy - that'd be a touch too weird for me. That was brilliant, Rembrandt, a few Van gough and lots of other master painters that I can't remember the names of.
It was still raining after that though so it was back to a coffee shop to watch the world go by... and then home again home again, jiggity jig. Hoping to see the sculpture beach on Monday before we left.

Monday is the only day that the museums, galleries and other 'cultural' places are closed, so after checking out the hortus botanicus - botanical park - again we headed to some coffeee shops. But we weren't quite as unproductive as it sounds. Mark did some sketching while I read and wrote as we whiled away the hours to our flight back to England.

So that was Amsterdam, lots of fun, but nothing hugely world breaking. Definitely glad I went and I will definitely go back again too. The streets are so clean, the people are so nice, and it just feels good there.

I'd best go, get some dinner or something.

I miss you all and wish that you had've been with me on my birthday. Thankfully though a little herbal remedy helped me forget any worries I could or would have had, and a wicked weekend was had with the Dutch, those lovely friendly helpful people to whom nothing is a problem...

So another week goes by and yet more bombs go off. What a crazy world we live in...

Aside from that though life goes on as usual. Mark and I headed out for a party at a friend of a friends for the Saturday night just gone, and I tell ya, we had a ball! Was good to get out and meet some new people, have a dance and get off it...

We made our way to Tony's after an afternoon of drinking at the Nelson with Jemma and Lee. (They were down for the weekend looking for a place to live and following up on interviews/temp agencies and the like.)and I was pretty tipsy when we got to the party after yet another 'pre-party pint' and definitely in the mood for a boogie! There was asome damn good tracks playing, and better still some interesting people to chat to who are from around our way.

Mark managed to sort some goods for free, and away we went! I met this guy Uri/George who was from the Checz republic (hope I spelt that right) who's a Drum and Bass DJ - not my kinda thing... But a nice guy all the same, another chick also from the Checz republic and then whoever else I spoke to have kinda morphed into one person. I do remember rambling on to this one guy James who was completely off his face, and having a laugh. He turned around to me at one point, and said 'You're a right proper head fuck you are' Which made me laugh, and I've taken it as a compliment - I don't care if I am wrong!

At about 4.30am Mark and I decided to head off only to find that because we were in the middle of nowhere it was near impossible to get a cab. After several people tried to persuade us to wait 2 hours for a cab we headed off on foot expecting a 7 mile walk back to ours. Fortunately though after about 10 or 15 minutes a car came belting along, almost knocked us over as we scurried to the other side of the lane, and stopped beside us. Initially we both thought it was a cab - wicked luck eh? - and then as the letters on the side of it became more apparent found we were staring at a cop car. But nervousness soon gave way to delight as he offered us a lift seeing that it was too dangerous for us to be walking along the country lanes at that hour of the morning!

I've never had a lift in a cop car before - friendly or otherwise, so that in itself was a bit of an experience. But I was still in the head space of getting a lift from a taxi and both Mark and I rambled onto him about everything but the party. He did ask, but we were sufficiently vague and conversation led onto other things... I asked him if police in England really did say 'You're nicked' when arresting criminals, and he quite proudly answered with a puffed out chest 'Well actually, it is a recognised term, so we are allowed to say 'You're nicked' especially if it's someone that we're nicking quite often, you don't want to be going up to known criminals and having to say 'Excuse me sir, but I'm putting you under arrest.' So I said to him 'So just say that when you pulled up beside us you decided to arrest us instead of giving us a lift (to which Mark gave me a stern look)would you say to me 'You're nicked' or that I was under arrest?' And I'd be told I wa under arrest, not nicked, guess I'll have to work on my criminal record if I want that kind of familiararity from the coppers...

We got home when the sun was well and truly up (6am) tried to sneak in without waking Lee or Jemma, without much luck, and then snuggled into bed for most of Sunday... A damn good weekend and the beginning of a long haul of fun weekends - coming up is Amsterdam, then a friends house warming party in London, then off to France for a music festival in St Malo, a party in Hastings and then a week away somewhere warm with a beautiful beach... Spain? Greece? Turkey? We shall have to wait and see what kind of deals are on offer for that one!

It's so strange how your perspective can change in a matter of days. My last blog was the day before the explosions in London. Thank fuck I am not living there... but it's still weird that I am living in the same country as this sort of thing and the way that it changed my view on so many things - some seemingly unrelated.
First of all a quick run down on what happened. I think it was 7 'explosions' from what was first reported, now they seem to say 4. Anyway a map for you:



I hope that works... Anyway what they are now saying is 4 explosions or bombs going off from 'terrorist' or organisations who are as yet conconfirmed (as far as I know) in central London. Bighton station near where I worked also closed for the day - who knows why, we're over an hour from where things were going on, maybe they felt left out, or they fancied the day off. All the same though it was pretty scary and it's weird the reactions.

When it was happening I was at work, logging in, making a cuppa, and starting my day. 1st thing I knew was an email from a mate asking if I was ok. And then it unfolded from there, trains in the underground exploding, busses exploding and a whole lot of speulation. One Israeli paper was saying straight off that it was suicide bombers, the London police were calling it an electrical fault, some were saying it was linked to G8, and then the ever present Al Quaeda, Jihad group reason. Either way it was a horrible thing to have happened, lots of people were killed and the rest of us were in a weird kind of shock. At leat I was.

I have never lived in a country where explosions, our what has now been confirmed/admitted, bombs going off. Emails from my Aussie mates were all about when they are going home and telling their parents they were alive. Reactions from UK work people were a little different. One guy I work with said something like 'Well I lived in London when the IRA were bombing, life goes on doesn't it?' The most extreem comment was 'It's a little bit unsetteling don't you think?'
Unsetteling? Life goes on? I want to go home even..... It's all just a bit mad, but then mad things happen every day, in so many places, constantly, and multipuly (is that a word?) so why should we be shocked and afronted when it happens near us, or on our door step?
And at the same time as saying that, what if you were living in a place where these things were a part of the course of life? Do you then have any more or less reason to be affronted and alarmed, does being de-sensitised to things like this make it better or easier to deal with when you see it?
It's all a bit strange and hard to get my head around - take me back to being 12 in Australia!

Anyway, back to Thursday, Brighton station closed to have a controlled explosion - probably some old ladies shopping, a bag found unowned on a platform. Fortunately it opened again before the end of the day and I was able to go home! Not the bag, the train station...

Things around the station were closed, or like our ofice, had the blinds closed and people were staying away from the windows which should be closed. It was this air of calm panic, I felt alternatetly like throwing up and crying. Definitely a weird experience. But then it wasn't really near me, if I lived in years way gone by, I may not have even known that it happened days, months or ever after it. So does the information make my life better or worse.

So many questions....

Well I caught my train in time and it's now a few days later, I'm at home so I have a bit of time to catch you up on what's been going on and there is lots of good stuff to relate!!
Where do I start though? I suppose with last week when I tried to blog with only 10 or so minutes to spare...

Last week I booked three days and three nights to Amsterdam for my birthday! So I'll be off and away on a plane to Amsterdam on Friday the 29th, and waking on my 29th birthday (oh Gawd I'm getting old!!) to Amsterdams' sunshine. I can't wait I've always wanted to go there and check it out - the museums and galleries and of course the cafes! Mark is coming with me too, so we'll probably head out clubbing on the Saturday night, and then we still have another two days to check things out there and just chill out. So looking forward to getting on a plane again and heading somewhere new and exciting.

Also last week I talked to my boss Mathew about doing a multimedia course through work at Hastings College, which he seemed pretty keen about me doing - always a good start! He said he needed to pass it with our department boss, but in the meantime I was to check out a few things with the college, like how they would like work to pay for it, etc. So I did, and this week it looks 99.9% sure that I will be starting this course in September. I just need to get some paperwork signed off and send in my enrolment forms. It's only 10 weeks, one night a week, but covers digital photography, Photoshop, web page design, internet research and getting my work on the web. So when that's all done I'll have to let you know my new web site address - if I get one. It's accredited - being through the college, but doesn't give me an actual qualification. Not to worry though it's still a chance to get the old grey matter working again and should help a lot with what they have been getting me to do as part of my job. So another thing to be looking forward to!

So last week was pretty good, the trip to Amsterdam, getting approval for work to pay for a course I want to do, plus it was pretty hectic at work with getting some new pages on the web, keeping up with general admin work and following up on the work done by the work experience kid we had in the week before. Nice kid, and after a week we had built up a bit of a rapport, only to have him leave, never to be seen by me again. Such is the way of work experience I guess.

This week Em and I have been organising a long weekend away in August to St. Malo - France for a music festival. The Cure and Sonic Youth are on the line up for the days, amongst other bands, and then at night a bit of a club scene with some banging house. Sounds like it'll be fun, and not a bad deal that we got either - £90 which includes the festival, the ferry to France and our camping costs while we're away. Absolutely brilliant. I tell you the sunshine (what little there is at the moment) and summertime has spurred me into action and I am finally starting to organise a few trips away here and there. It'll be great to spend some time with Em and her man Aaron, and of course the lovely Mark. The festival is on the beach as well, so cross your fingers that we have good weather!


At the end of August Mark and I are hoping to take a week off and go somewhere warm, with a beach and not much else to do. You know I have been back at work for less than a year after tripping around SE Asia, and already I could take a load more time off and go away somewhere to forget about the worries of life and the world. I guess anyone could hey? I definitely work to live, not the other way around!

Anyway, aside from that not much else has been going on. Mark was away last week camping and looking for fossils with a friend of his in Lyme Regis, so I had the flat to myself which was nice. Time and space to myself for doing mainly nothing and having a think about whatever popped into my head. He found a few good ones and now has the task ahead of trying to get them out of the rock in one piece... Ha ha, better him than me!

It was a reasonably quiet weekend - the last show of my favorite Friday night TV, some quiet celebrations of such a good week and a result with the course I want to do and then out drinking on Saturday night around the old town. Checked out a few new bars and then headed home with a wannabe souvlaki in hand. Mind you that pictured is a proper souvlaki, not like the try hard stuff they give you here... You'd think they weren't Greek - and actually maybe they're not.

I suppose I should give you a quick update on the English weather as well. It's July - supposed to be summer, yes? Well June was pretty lovely, I even began to get a bit of a tan! There were picnics outside, lazing about in the sunshine and generally enjoying the warmth and light after about 4 months of dark, cold and wet. The dark is the worst bit by the way - the cold and wet, well you can deal with that can't you?
Anyway for the last week and a half or so it's turned back to almost winter weather - but with more daylight. It's been windy rainy and cold, and I'm told this is supposed to be the middle, or near to, of summer! Gawd, no wonder there are so many pale misserable Poms! They're being deprived of their vitamin D from the sunshine! Hopefully it will pick up again, even if it was just another week - or couple of weekends I'd be happy. But if it doesn't I have France to look forward to, and that week away to the as yet undetermined destination that promises warmth and sun!