what happened to 2010 (or the last three and a half years)?!

another year has passed by and with it's passing, i'm reminded that i've been in australia for over three and a half years now....  i certainly didn't expect to be here this long when i embarked on this journey!!  that said, i do believe that australia has been a great growing experience for me and truly, i still believe melbourne suits me brilliantly ;-D

i managed my most traditional christmas since i landed with shannon only it was a week earlier than it was supposed to be!!  we had a lovely christmas morning together!!  it started with a light breakfast and presents under the tree (there were heaps of presents from canada to open!!)  he then cooked a leg of lamb with roast veggies, etc..  for lunch and then we headed out for dinner at a greek restaurant with a group of friends.  it was really nice to have a quasi-traditional christmas for a change, even if i'm still yearning for a dose of snow, family and friends and of course, a turkey with all the fixings!! :-) 

for christmas proper, i headed up to noosa, queensland for 6 days with a friend.  we expected to spend days at the beach swimming, kayaking and snorkeling.  unfortunately, mother nature had other plans and it poured for the entire 6 days except for about 3 hours of grey overcast clouds on christmas day!!  we headed off to fraser island, the world's largest island made entirely from sand for christmas eve.  there are some absolutely breathtaking photos of the place however i can't say that any of my shots are anything but dreary!!  christmas day, we went for a stroll before lunch which was put on by the hostel and then spent the afternoon in the pool getting rained on!!  i spend boxing day on the phone with the family and then we headed over to see a movie (what else do you do when it rains 24 x 7?!)  we went for a hike through the national park on 27 december in the rain before flying home the following day to sunny, warm and dry melbourne...  why i paid money to go away, i'm not entirely sure!! :-D

i spent the new year's long weekend with shannon down the coast in sorrento/rye area.  we drove down on new year's day, stopping for a picnic and a couple of walks before arriving in rye.  we spent the night at a bed & breakfast, woke early and visited a lighthouse (my favourite thing to photograph!!), a strawberry farm (it was chockers with people and delicious strawberries), a goat's cheese farm (where we had a tasting plate) and a winery before commencing our drive back to melbourne.  it was an action-packed day which finished with a bbq by the beach across the road from my apartment and a kite flying lesson (i'm sure i used to be good at this activity!!) before we snuggled on the couch to watch a movie!!

other than the holidays, i've been super busy doing spring/summer activities!!  i taught a friend to ride a bicycle, head on a sail around the bay for another friend's birthday, had some dinners and drinks with friends as well as the requisite holiday parties, etc...

all up, the last six weeks have been super busy and i'm looking forward to a somewhat slow start to 2011!!

best wishes to all in the coming year!!

hugs,
s