The Big 3-0

Well, it's been a month since I last had a chance to update my blog, and as we're in the middle of packing up the house it's going to be a short update. So, what has happened in the last month?

Well, first of all I celebrated my 30th. Lucy kindly bought me a lovely cake, made from ice-cream & complete with a photo of Spot! Did feel kind of strange when I was digging my spoon into a part of his head! And I also got a helicopter flying lesson - a fantastic surprise. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to wait for a while to make use of that. As part of the celebrations we headed off to Byron Bay for a long weekend - we didn't have any idea how long that would turn out to be.

Arriving on the Saturday morning, things got off to a great start when we were given the wrong room key & walked in on a middle-aged couple in the middle of some weird sexual act. I've got the image imprinted on my mind - scary - but very amusing! Spent some time walking along the beach, checking out the bars and restaurants, ate a massive pizza & of course took the 'happy bus' to Nimbin in order to buy some special cookies.

In fact, even on our last day in Byron - when the rain started - we had a lovely time just chatting, reading & chilling in a cafe for much of the day waiting for the bus to the airport & our flight back to Sydney. Unfortunately, things started to go a bit wrong from the moment we got to Ballina airport (a tiny regional place that makes Teesside look massive). Fog had descended & the rain had got heavier - which made landing a large plane on a small runway - without radar - near impossible. The result was that our flight was cancelled (only the tiny regional express planes were moving)...initially we were ok with the thought of checking out a new place for the night. Then came the bombshell that the next flight we could get on was 2 days later.

I'm sure Ballina is a lovely place when the sun is shining. Unfortunately, it was raining....heavily. And trying to find something to do was a bit difficult, so we ended up paying visits to the RSL for food (very good as it happens), the cinema (Chuck & Larry was much better than I expected it to be) & the toy shop to buy a game of Battleships to pass the time. What made matters worse was that the weather just did not seem to be getting better & I was starting to think we might not get out a 2nd time around - so a back up plan of bus (12hrs) or train (11hrs) to Sydney had to be looked at - I just couldn't have spent another day there. On the morning of the flight our host informed us that her husband's flight had been moved from Ballina & so we were not entirely confident that we'd be leaving...fortunately our flight was ok. Think I would have slit my wrists if it had been cancelled. Think I'll stick to driving to Byron from now on!

Apart from the trip to Byron, we have been keeping ourselves busy with preparing for our move (lots of paperwork, a medical & now packing up the house) & spending time with John & Vicky on their recent trip (really nice to see a familiar face). At times it feels as though we're in a world of our own here on the Northern Beaches. In fact, the last time I went into the CBD was to see Maximo Park (who were VERY good) a few weeks ago - I definitely don't miss that journey into work each day.

Oh - one other thing that we did was attend the 'Dog Day Out' at Manly Lagoon. Basically a day for dog owners to bring their dogs along for a variety of events... Lucy & I just had to go and watch. Somehow we won the raffle - which consisted of a variety of dog food - which we donated back to the home (don't think we could have eaten it ourselves!) - and received an invite to go along & see the home and what they do there. If only we could buy the beagle that has been sitting in the Mall's petshop for weeks....

Good news on the MBA application - I got into the AGSM & so will be here for another 15-18 months... the downside to that is that I'm currently going through the immensely tedious visa application process. If it's like this for a student visa, I'd hate to think what it's going to be like if we apply for permanent residency.

Finally, Monday is our last day on Queenscliff Road....in fact, our last day in Oz for a little while as on Tuesday we're flying to New Zealand. A month touring around in a campervan....let's hope we have a bit more luck with the weather. And then following that we're heading to SE Asia (Singapore, up through Malaysia to Thailand & then Laos & Cambodia...depending what we can fit in). If anyone has any suggestions on places to visit then I'd be happy to listen.

Might be a while before I get a chance to update again, but I'm going to try and do a couple of updates whilst we are away. Due back in Australia at the end of November / start of December.