Random discovery...truly!!

I forgot to include this really mind blowing tidbit on my update yesterday ;)

When in Vietnam last fall, I took an overnight bus from Hoi An to Nha Trang.  On the bus were two English girls who sat behind me and an English guy who sat next to me.  The two girls were travelling with the guy and we chatted at a rest stop (as you do when you're travelling :)  Anyhow, David and I went on a boat cruise the next day and the two girls whom he was travelling with, Laura and Hannah didn't come as they were sick.  On Caufield Cup day, I met Hannah, the same Hannah that I'd met on a bus in Vietnam almost a year previously!!  How random is that?!  She realized the connection when we met up the next time...I can't believe that a year later, we'd run into one another again in a totally different country, where neither of us are actually from!!  Makes you realize how small the world really is ;)

S

Five months and counting... ;)

For those of you keeping track back home, I've officially been in Australia for 5 months on Wednesday!!  I can't believe that time has flown by that quickly!! 

I went to Adelaide/Broken Hill at the end of October for a long weekend.  Took a plane to Adelaide where Justin picked me up and we toured around Adelaide, checking out an abandoned mansion, the markets and then a drain!!  I've officially decided that I'm not crazy into drains - they're all pretty at the start and then end up as big concrete tunnels underground!!  From there we drove to this tiny town about 300km from Adelaide and camped out at an abandoned mine.  We had a full moon to light up the desert and it was a spectacular starry night - really beautiful!!  I got a really great photo of a tower, lit up by the moon with the stars in behind.  ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/decouvert2001/)  The next morning, I woke to see my first wild kangaroo ;)  I tried to sneak up on him and take a close up but he wasn't keen on getting to close to me :(  From Yunta, we headed over to Broken Hill which is a mining town in Victoria.  We had a tour around there, did a bit of exploring and headed home on the Sunday.  It was an enjoyable trip and now I can say I've seen another part of Aus ;)

The week after Adelaide was a bit nutty, out every night during the week, trivia, dinners and then out to see a buddy's band (He was really awesome to watch ;)  The weekend arrived and Saturday involved a catch up with mother, a visit to some friends photo exhibition and then out with the ladies for a night on the town.  We had a great time out dancing and drinking.  I then brunched and wandered around in the freezing cold and rain taking photos - I'm not convinced that wet weather is the ideal time for taking photos ;)  From there, I worked the Monday and then all of Melbourne closed down for Melbourne Cup day.  That's right, they have a public holiday for a horse race!!  I headed over to friend's place for my first official Aussie bbq (minus the eskie which is a cooler).  We had fresh fish, sausages and lots of champers (champagne) - it was a lovely day!!  Unfortunately, my horses didn't place or win ;(  I ended up sick from my silly wander about on Sunday and thus holed up at home with a fever on Wed/Thurs ;( 

This past weekend has been nuts!!  I was out for dinner and drinks on Friday night, woke early on Saturday to go to Emirite's Day (another horse racing event) with a guy from work.  I hadn't intended on going but the person he was supposed to go with bailed last minute so I felt compelled to go again :)  I called a horse race (but didn't put money on it) and my horse won - odds were 61 to 1 - it would have been a great pay out ;)  I came home, removed the frock and headed out to meet up with Sue (Joc - we painted the town red on Saturday night but I'll let her tell you the stories ;)  We had dinner with some of my friends and then headed into the CBD (downtown) for drinks and dancing.  It was a lovely evening and Sue kept marvelling about how alive Melbourne seemed (and making fun of my supposed Aussie accent - seems I have acquired a bit of their speech patterns :)   I rose and had brunch the next day before heading out to a bbq at Albert Park.  I got home late last night and am amazingly happy to be at home tonight - having a quiet night in ;)

For all those curious about work, etc... - My contract is up on 7 December and since I haven't been applying for work, oddly, I don't have a job lined up.  As such, I've decided to go off travelling for the month of December before returning back to Aus on 31 December for New Year's in Sydney with Joc.  At the moment, I'm leaning towards New Zealand, south island but I'm not completely certain yet.  Wherever I end up, I'll take heaps of photos and will keep you all in touch ;)

Must be off!!!

Hugs and kisses to all and I hope you're enjoying the cooler weather/snow!!  It's getting hot here!!
S