Had a nice weekend. Jason and I went for a quiet drink on Friday night. Saturday we got some cleaning in the flat and washing done, very domesticated! In the evening we went into the city to meet Gemma and Garry, we hardly ever get a chance to catch up with them, so we had a fun night. We went to a few different bars, then Garry had to take Gemma home, so Jason and I went to the old favourite, Burdekin bar.
Yesterday had a nice lie in, then we went to see Click at the cinema. I would recommend seeing it if you can, it was a really good film, and suprisingly deep (for an Adam Sandler film!). It really made me think about my life (and made me blub too!). In the evening Jason met up with some friends for dinner and I stayed in and phoned my Mum and Chris for a catch up. I'm really happy, my Mum has said she'll probably come to visit in February next year, and my brother and Martina are thinking about coming over too...which would be great! It'll give me something
nice to look forward to. Actually Jason and I have come to the decision that we will only be in Australia for another year (so if you want to visit OZ, keep that in mind!). We are going to move to New Zealand next August and look for a house as you can get a really nice house there and it's lots cheaper. Well, that's the plan anyway!

I got my first wages today....yaay!! I'm so happy to be getting paid again, and the money is great, I've got the same for 3 days that I normally get for 5, so I can't wait until next week to get paid, I'll be loaded!! Work is going ok, it's not that exciting tho. I actually had a phone interview for a travel agency yesterday, I really want to try something a bit different careerwise, so I thought I'd apply. It was quite a funny interview, it's a really sales orientated role so it wasn't what I was used to. I had to do a role play with the interviewer, I had to chose to sell either a camera, a backpack, or some sunglasses....I chose the backpack and I did quite well, I guess cos I only bought one last year so I knew what questions to ask...I think she was quite impressed, she asked me back for another interview in person next week! I've been thinking about it though and I don't think I will pursue it, the basic wage is very very low, you have to earn on sales (which I've never done before) and also, you have to work 10-12 hour days and 2 weekends a month, so altoghether it's not really what I want, especially as Jason and I really need to save as much money as we can for weddings and the future. Oh well, maybe something else will come up soon.
Apart from that, the weekend was quite good, I met Sue on Friday night, then on Saturday we had a couple of birthday parties to go to. Sunday we went to see Pirates of the Carribbean 2, it was really good. I went for a run on Monday night with Jason...I'm still aching now, but I'm going to try and go again tonight. I have to get my Europe photos put online at some point too, I have loads of them, it's gonna take ages!!

I've just finished my first week back at work (well half a week!), it's the first job I've had in about 4 months, so I'm really tired. I'm still suffering a bit from
jet-lag too, I'm getting really sleepy from about 6pm every night, it's really hard for me to try and stay awake until bedtime...I've been going to bed at 9.30 most nights! Work is going ok, it's always a bit difficult doing someones job when you haven't had a proper handover, but so far so good. On Wednesday I even got 2 massages....they employed a company to come over and massage everyone's shoulders as it's the end of financial year (I'm in the finance dept) they were a bit painful though, I felt like I'd been bruised!
We managed to go out last night, a friend of ours had organised a launch night at a club, we were VIP guests, so we were treated to free drinks all night...not that I made the most of it, we left earlyish as we both had work today...I'm so well behaved!! It was a good night,it was at the same place I'd celebrated my birthday last week.
I'm meeting Sue tonight for a catch up, I'm sure we'll have lots to gossip about!! I'm quite chuffed as well, lots of people have been saying I've lost weight...I can't quite understand how, I always put on lots on holidays,especially when I go back home...can't complain tho!!

Another update....
On the Monday morning, Jason and I sad our sad goodbyes to Mum, Chris and Martina caught the boat up the Danube from Bratislava to Vienna. It was nice way to finish off our Slovakian trip!

it was a bit windy on the boat!!


Vienna was really hot too, we managed to lug all our bags to the hotel which was a lot of effort, then we walked to the Prater where we looked around the funfair and then hired a 2 person bike... for a ride around the park.


After that it was a shower and change then we walked to the city to find somewhere to watch the Australia v Italy match, we found a great big outdoor screen which was good..but we weren't impressed with the result of the match. Afterwards we walked around the city to find somewhere for dinner. It was great to look around...I've been to Vienna before, it still amazes me what a fantastic city it is, all the beautiful architecture is amazing, I really could live there if I had the choice. We had a great dinner, we went for the authentic Austrian food, Jason had Wiener Schnitzel and I had Kase Spatzle...yummmm!! We rolled back to the hotel...we were very full up!
Next day we were up early, we had a very cultured day. We walked around some of the historic buildings, then we went to the Vienna Arts and History museum for a couple of hours (I would definitely recommend the museum). In the evening we went to a Mozart and Strauss concert at Schoenbrunn Palace....



The recital was very good, we thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a storm brewing at the end of the second half, it was a mad storm...it added to the passion of the music!
Weds it was time to leave :-( We were up early to get to the airport...Jason had to practically drag me on the plane...I really didn't want to leave and was very upset. The trip back was ok, it seemed to go a bit quicker than on the way there. There was a few big bumps tho which was a bit scary. So we got home on Thursday afternoon absolutely shattered.
Friday was my birthday, I had a really lovely day, Jason really spoiled me, and took me out for lunch. In the evening, we went to Cherri jam, we had the best night, and it was nice to see Sue and everyone again, we had a good catch up. After the club we went to Rach and Stu's to watch a footie match they'd taped, we didn't get home until 6am, so Saturday was a bad day, didn't feel well at all, was in bed most of the day!! We managed to stay up until midnight on Saturday, then we walked to the pub to watch England's last football game (which I don't want to talk about!) Got back home about 4am, so another late night, again Sunday was a write off!
Yesterday was busy, speaking to agencies about work etc and sorting some bits out. I've got a job today, I start tomorrow, just for 2 months to get me back into the swing of things, but the pay is great. It's at Sydney Water again, so it's a bit familiar to me.

This is the first chance I’ve had to update my blog since last week, things have been really mad!

I’ll start with the Wedding…

Last Friday morning, Chris, Martina, Mum, Jason and I drove to Martina’s parents house in Komarno, which is an hour from Bratislava. We had lunch there and Martina finished a few bits and pieces, then we left for Palarikovo to the place of the wedding. It was nice to see Martina’s parents again, although we cannot communicate very well as they don’t speak English…but we managed as best we could. When I saw the place where the wedding was to be held I thought wow, this is going to be cool, it was a huge hunting lodge, which looks more like a palace or something similar, and inside, the bedrooms were so huge it was unbelievable. We managed to get unpacked and sort out some things, then everyone that had travelled from Germany and England arrived on the coach. It was great to see them all again, it was a bit hard to chat with everyone though as they all arrived at the same time. It was so nice to see some family whom I haven’t seen for a few years. Most people went to find their rooms and then we all met up in the evening for dinner. I managed to do a lot of my catching up then, so it was cool. After a few drinks, I managed to persuade Martina that she should really go to bed so she wasn’t knackered for the next day, as I was her bridesmaid, it was my job to boss her around and make sure she was ok. So we got an earlyish night (I was staying in the wedding suite with her, as of course her and Chris were not allowed to see each other in the morning).

Saturday morning we woke about 7am because of the church bells and all the excitement. It was a busy morning running around making sure some last minute things were done, and of course most importantly, getting ready. I was really impressed with Martina, she managed to stay really calm and didn’t really panic at all, she held herself together better than I did! It was an absolutely scorching day, so we did get a bit hot and bothered trying to get Martina’s dress on, and then mine after that, but we got there in the end! Seeing Martina in her dress and all her veil made me choke, she looked so beautiful, a really stunning bride. I had to leave a bit earlier than her with Chris and Mum (who both looked amazing) in the car, this was the point I started to get really emotional, it didn’t help that my dress was so tight, I could hardly breathe, so I started hyper-ventilating in the car…..Mum managed to sort me out tho and calm me down a bit luckily!! (I do get very emotional!!) When we arrived at the church, Chris, Gary (the best man) and I had to stand at the front of the church, again, I started crying, I looked over at Mum and my aunties and started all them off too, it was a bit like a chain reaction (god, I don’t know what I’m going to be like at my own wedding!!) and there were loads of cameras and a video camera there, so I’m dreading seeing that footage. Anyway, Martina arrived shortly after with her Dad, everyone was in awe seeing her come down the aisle (especially my brother!!). The ceremony was pretty short, even considering it was all being translated (badly) into English (the translator guy is another story!). After the ceremony, Gary and I signed the book as we were both witnesses, then we all went outside to wait for the bride and groom. In Slovakia it is a tradition that guests bring the bride flowers, so when they were congratulating them, Martina accepted all the flowers (I’m not sure what happened to them after).
We went back to the hunting lodge after where the pictures were taken and then a few toasts, then it was off to the reception. The room was decorated beautifully, they really did an amazing job, I think everyone was impressed. First off, Gary did his best man speech, which unfortunately went on for ages because of the translation, I felt really sorry for him, but he managed to get through it. He also said some really nice words about Dad, which made us all emotional. Then it was time for the food, and my god, there was lots of it! I think over the whole night, there were seven courses, and the portions were absolutely massive, we had 4 or so meals that were like main courses, and tons of cakes too. Another tradition is that the Slovakians bring cakes to the wedding, these weren’t even touched, but put on table for everyone to see, they were beautifully made cakes. I was actually quite relieved my dress was so tight, it meant that I couldn’t actually eat much at all, I think otherwise I might have been sick from eating so much food! In the midst of all this food, Chris said his speech, Martina ended up translating in the end (otherwise he may have been there all night too) and it worked out really well like that, it was a lovely speech, and funny. Chris and Martina gave me a lovely necklace for being the bridesmaid and some flowers to our Mums etc.
After all the formalities had taken place, it was time for the real party! Chris and Martina had their first dance, then Chris also had a dance with the flower girl, who was such a sweet girl, it was hilarious, he was picking her up and throwing her around the dance floor, very amusing! Then we all joined in the dancing, trouble was it was so hot in the room, noone really lasted for too long….most people had to go outside and risk getting eaten alive by all the mossies! Later on during another meal (I think this one was about 1am) there was another tradition….a group of folk singers came into the room up to the top table. First off they had to ask Martina’s Dad if he would give her away to Chris, they asked him 3 times (he had to say no twice, then yes the third time), then they asked my Mum the same about giving Chris to Martina, then when she said yes on the third question, everyone was really happy. We went to the dance floor after that for the next tradition. Chris and Martina had to sit down opposite each other, then they took Martinas veil off and put some funny hats on them and then drink some boravichka (?) a Slovakian shot and the folk singers sung some more (not sure what about) then everyone stood up, then all the guys had to put some money into the hat to be able to dance with Martina. After ages, and lots of dances, Chris in the end put his whole wallet in the hat to buy Martina back, I think it was after that that he took off her garter with his teeth! It was a really nice tradition, it was so interesting to watch all these differences in cultures.
The whole night was great fun, we were in and out of the house, we did lots of dancing too. Even Mum was up for a great night, I've never seen her have so much fun!! When we were outside later on, the video guys came around and asked us all to say something to the bride and groom. I won't say what I said, but it ended up in a singing session with Andy (I'm dreading seeing the dvd!!)
I think thats about all I can remember for now. We had a fantastic day, and I'm so happy for Chris and Martina, I know they'll be truly happy together.
Next day we travelled back to Bratislava (having to say goodbye to most of my Munich friends :-( ) We had a bit of a party at the flat in the evening, a few of the guys came back to watch the England game, then I was given an early birthday cake from my family which was sweet. Having to say goodbye to them all was so hard, especially after such a great holiday, I'm really going to miss them all. Chris was so great, it was really nice to spend so much time with him, as he was in Munich with us too ;o)
Next installment is Vienna, I'll write that up soon....

Here's just a few piccies of the wedding

The bride and groom


Jason and I


Chris, Mum and Martina


Me and Chris

We've been having a really nice time in Slovakia the last few days. Tuesday we did a bit of sightseeing, we went for a walk around the old town, it really is very nice, lots of little roads and alleys with loads of cafes and restaurants. We took some nice photos of all the old buildings, although we had no idea what they were as we didn't have a tour guide! In the evening we had a nail biting time watching the England v Sweden game, luckily we didn't lose as if we had England would have been playing Germany on Saturday (which is my brothers wedding day, and nobody would have been happy!) but as it turns out they play on Sunday, which is great news.
Yesterday I went with Martina to try on my bridesmaids dress, it was really lovely, mind you I wished I was skinnier, but you can't have everything! Then we went to try on her dress (I'm not giving away any info on that one - all I'll say is she looked stunning!!) When we got back Jason, Mum and I went to the castle which is really close to my brothers flat and had a look around there. Last night we met up with my brothers friends who had come over from England and went out for a meal.
Today Jason and I went for another walk around town and had a look at the river Danube. I am really struggling with the heat, it really is so hot here, there was a huge storm last night which has cleared the muggyness, but it still is boiling.
We are off to Martinas parents tonight, then the big day on Saturday! I have to go now as I'm melting!!

What a busy and brilliant fun week in Munich we've just had, we've been right in the heart of the world cup, we couldn't have picked a better time to go. We arrived in Slovakia yesterday evening and I'm feeling a bit sad at leaving Munich and my friends.
We had a late night on Wednesday after watching the Germany game. The streets were full of people partying, it went on till the early hours.
We were up quite early on Thursday, we had arranged to go up to Nuernberg which is where the England v Trinidad and Tobago game was being played. The atmosphere there was amazing, there were so many England fans travelling up from Munich, we had such a laugh. We went to the main square first which was heaving with people, they'd set up a beer garden there and everyone was drinking and singing away. It was such a hot day, absolutely boiling. We had a few beers there first, and then we got on a tram (which was crammed full and boiling hot) to the fan fest which is just by the stadium where they set up a huge screen so everyone could watch it. It was absolutely packed there, there were about 25,000 people (most of them England fans). The game wasn't the best, obviously until England scored twice at the end, that bucked everyone up!! After the match we got the bus back to the centre of town, it was heaving there, everyone was singing and dancing, we were having such good fun waving our flags at everyone when we went past them on the bus. We didn't stay in town long as we had to get the train back to Munich. It was a nightmare train journey, it went on for ever....when we got back to Munich most of the people that got off were England fans.
On Friday Jason and I took advantage of the weather and went to one of the outdoor swimming pools. It was very busy tho as all the kids were off school. In the evening Andy came back from Bremen (we were staying at his and Nicolas) so it was great to catch up with him again. We went to Tollwood which is an outdoor festival with lots of beer tents and food stalls, but typically for Tollwood no sooner had we arrived it started to rain, unluckily we were outside so had to shelter under the umbrellas. When it had calmed down we made a run for one of the tents and met up with all the other guys. After a few beers we went to Murphys for old times sake, and then to the Shamrock, we had such a laugh, Andy and Jason did a dance off, it was hilarious! It was a pretty late night so we were knackered the next day. Jason and I went to the Olympic park and then had some food at Tollwood. In the evening, we went to Ned Kellys for a few beers... it was really great as a lot of my old friends turned up to say hi.
On Sunday we went to the Fan fest at Olympic park in Munich for the Australia v Brazil game. We got there about 2pm and it was already full for the Croatia game. We eventually managed to get in and found somewhere to sit for the long day. It was a really hot day so none of us were drinking any beer, I was even sat under my umbrella to get some shade. I think there were about 20,000 fans there, all in yellow and green (for both teams), it was an amazing atmosphere, we had a fantastic day, what a great experience. We went for dinner after and saw all the Brazilians celebrating on the streets.
Yesterday we were just travelling to Vienna on the train. Chris picked us up and then we picked Mum up from the airport and went to Chris's flat, which is lovely (I daren't touch anything for fear of breaking it!). It is really hot and muggy here, I hope it cools down a bit, it's quite unbearable. We're off out this afternoon for a look around town, then it's time for another England game tonight.
Keep posted for some photos, I just haven't had a chance to do them yet. I've got some good'uns!!!

oops, I haven't written for a while, it's been really busy!
We watched the match on Saturday, I was pleased that England won, although the game was a bit boring in the second half. After the football we went home quickly to have some food, and then Mum took us to Wimborne for the folk festival. We had a great night, we went to a few different pubs, they all had tents and bands in the gardens. We bumped into some people I know who work with Mum, we had a laugh with them.
Next day we went to visit Jasons friends for an hour and then I drove to Sarah's as I didn't get to see her at the football game, so we said our goodbyes. Then it was home to pack all my stuff. We managed to get most of it in a vacuum bag I bought and we weighed both our bags and they were the right weight for the flight which was lucky.
Monday we were up at 4.30 to catch our coach to the airport. I was really sad to leave England, it just wasn't long enough, but I was glad that I'd be seeing Mum again in a week, she really looked after us both really well, as per usual. We had a bit of a nightmare with our flights, for some reason there was a problem with our tickets and they couldn't check us in, so we had to go to the ticket desk, then we went back to the check in and Jasons ticket was ok, but mine wasn't, so we were hanging around for ages, they closed the check in and there was only 20 mins for our flight and I still wasn't checked in. By now I was panicking thinking Jason was going to go without me and that my brother would kill me for not being on the flight. Anyway, we eventually got it sorted and had to run all the way to the boarding gate.....what a nightmare...and we weren't sat together. Luckily my flying nervousnous isn't as bad as it used to be.
So, we arrived in Vienna at 1pm and we met my brother. It was so good to see Chris again. We drove the 4 hours to Munich and Chris dropped us off at Nicola and Andys to unpack our stuff. It's really great to be in Munich again, it feels like I've never been away! We went out in the evening to Tijuana cafe, just Jason, Chris and I, we had a really good time catching up and a few drinks! All the cafes on Leopold str have tvs for the football, so its absolutely packed everywhere. After Italy won their first game all the Italians (there are loads of them out here) were celebrating on the street, they closed the street down, which is quite normal here, except we thought it was a bit extreme for the first game...anyway, it was good fun to watch.
Yesterday Jason and I did lots of sight seeing. We caught the train to Karlsplatz and walked down the high street to Marienplatz. We stopped and looked in lots of churches, they really are lovely here, as they are catholics the churches are full of gold and are really beautiful. We were real tourists and took lots of pictures. Then we walked back through the Englischer garten, it's a really huge garden, I think one of the biggest in Europe. We walked by the nudist part too which was very amusing, full of old men standing up in all their glory!!
We met everyone at the beer garden, Pete came, and Lisa and Steve, Brian, Jason, me and Chris, we got there for the first match of France and Switzerland. They have huge screens at all the beer gardens too. We also watched the Brazil v Croatia match. It was so busy down there, but it was nice to watch it out in the sunshine. We all had a good catch up and a few beers, it was great. We were in Leopoldstr again and there were loads of Brazilians celebrating.
Today we went to the Nymphenburger Schloss (palace) which is very beautiful. Then we went to my old work so I could say hello to my old work friends, it was so nice to see them all again, they were really suprised to see me. Now we are going out to get a place for the German game, so I have to run.

Yesterday was a good day, we managed to get to the beaches. First we went to Sandbanks, it's the 3rd most expensive place in the world to buy real estate, we had a look in the estate agent windows and 6.5 million was the top price we saw (a bit out of our price league!!) and that was only for a 4 bedroom house. We took a walk from Sandbanks to Shore Road and then back along the Marina, then I drove to Branksome Chine, another beach where I used to go years ago. They really are lovely beaches, very different to Sydney where there are lots of small beaches, down here they are long beaches all joined together, huge stretches of white sand. I did take lots of photos, but Mum's computer is so slow I haven't got the patience to download them onto my blog now! We sunbathed for a couple of hours, it was so hot, we even went in the sea to cool down (it was pretty freezing tho!!). And I managed to get a sunburnt face, I couldn't believe it, I've been in Australia for over a year and only managed to burn accidently once, but I come here and I've burnt my face twice already, it's not that I haven't been careful either, very strange. It's been the hottest couple of days this year, the heatwave is supposed to last till the weekend.

Today we were up early to catch the train to Bath to meet up with Jason's family. We had a lovely day there, the city is really nice and it was nice to meet his cousins and aunty. We went to see the Roman Baths too. Again I took some really nice photos which I will try and download soon. I came back this afternoon, Jason will come back tomorrow morning, it gave me a bit of time to spend with my Mum tonight .....mind you, we've been busy trying to sort out all my clothes that I want to take back. I've got so many clothes you wouldn't believe, I'd forgotten I had so many, it's been really hard deciding what to take with me. I had to buy one of those suction bags so that I can shrink all my clothes to make them smaller, what a nightmare! It's not fair that I can't take all my stuff back. Anyway, we've managed to sort that out, so off to bed soon. Looking forward to the England game tomorrow....come on England!!!

We had another busy day yesterday, I was up early to go and get my hair cut, then Jason and I went into Bournemouth. I had an appointment to get my colour done too, so Jason just had a look around Bournemouth while I was at the hairdressers. I managed to get a little bit of shopping done too, but I have to be careful with my money, so I had to hold back a bit unfortunately!

We met up with Sarah and Ady last night at one of our old local bars. It was really great to see them again. Sarah was a bit crafty, after we'd been there 10 minutes, the rest of the girls all came out from hiding to surprise me, and then came their husbands and boyfriends! It was so nice to catch up with them all, it was a great night. We had a bit of dinner and some drinks and a gossip. I've found out that a lot of my friends who I'd lost touch with had had babies and some were getting married. I also met my friend Hayley who I used to hang around with years ago, she said it was really bizarre as she'd just thought of me earlier that day, and then I go walking into the pub!! She tells me that one of my old best mates from school has had a baby too. It makes me sad that I've lost touch with so many people since school, I'm not sure quite how it happened, it's a real shame :-( Anyway, it was a nice night.

I'm going to take Jason to the beach today, we're still having lovely weather so we're going to make the most of it...besides I want to get a tan, eveyone keeps saying I'm not brown, but they're forgetting it's winter in Australia now!

Yesterday we went into Poole and did a bit of shopping, the shopping centre actually seems a lot smaller than I remember, I guess I’m used to these big Australian shopping malls now! One thing we’ve noticed here is that everyone has gone absolutely football mad….the shops are full of England t-shirts, flags, towels, anything you can think of they have, and the amount of cars with the St Georges flags sticking from them is just mad, some cars even have 2 or 3 of them, it’s very amusing!
I was very good at the shops and I only bought a top (not for the want of trying tho!!). Jason bought quite a lot of stuff. I had to go to the dentists in the afternoon, I thought I was only going to have a check up and a scale and polish…I ended up having a bloomin filling…not happy! After that we drove home for some dinner, then Jason and I went to see Elaine and her family. I showed Jason my old schools on the way there, and our old house we used to live in with Dad, it was really weird seeing it again, I haven’t been past since we moved out nearly 20 years ago. It was lovely to see Elaine and everyone again, I saw Katie too, who is my step-niece I guess, she is nearly 3 and so cute. We got home about 10, it’s funny that it doesn’t get dark till that time here, coming from Australia where at the moment it gets dark at 5pm, it takes a bit to get used to, the days seem a lot longer.
This morning I was up at 6.30am, I wanted to get tickets for the Robbie concert in Sydney, I was very lucky and got 2 tickets…I even managed to persuade Jason to come, which I think is a miracle! So I was very happy about that!
The weather is still gorgeous here, we’ve been so lucky, it really does make such a difference when the sun is out. We had a nice drive today, we drove to Wareham first and stopped there for a bit and had a look around. Then it was off to see Corfe Castle which is an old medieval castle, there is so much history around this area. I’d forgotten how lovely the village was there, it was so pretty, there are lots of oldy worldy cottages there. We went into the model village too, it showed the castle before it was attacked. Next stop was Harmans Cross where we got on the old steam train to Swanage (we were being very touristy!) It does make a difference when you’re showing someone around tho, you really see things that you probably wouldn’t normally see or do. Swanage was really nice, we walked to the beach, it’s not quite Bondi as Jason said, but it was nice. We stayed there for a couple of hours, then headed back to catch the train. On the drive back home, I took Jason to Blue Pool, but we didn’t go in as it charged £4.50 and we only wanted to have a quick look (another thing Jason noticed, they charge tourists for absolutely everything here). So we drove to Kimmeridge next, the countryside really is beautiful around here, I’d forgotten how lovely it actually is, it really made me appreciate it a lot more. We drove through the country through Kimmeridge and had a look at the beach. Then it was time to start driving home so we’d miss the traffic.

We had such a lovely day, it was really nice to go to all these places again (all these places I’ve talked about I used to go to with my Mum, Dad and brother when we were small, so it brought back a lot of fond memories). I have to sign off now, as I’m feeling very sleepy again, it didn’t help getting up so early this morning! The jet-lag isn’t actually as bad as I thought, I’ve just been getting tired early evening, and I think driving today didn’t help either. Another busy day of hairdressers and meeting friends tomorrow, I've hardly seen my Mum, hopefully we'll get to spend some more time together at the end of the week.

We finally arrived in the UK at 1pm on Saturday. It was such a long journey, it took 34 hours door to door, we were shattered! Our first flight was ok, a bit bumpy to start off with, but not too bad, we did have a bit of bad luck with our fellow travellers, I had a Russian lady sat behind me who kept moaning at me to put my seat forward, cheeky bloody woman, at one point she actually tried to push my seat forward with all her might, I had to turn around to ask her to stop, when she didn't, Jason told her off and she stopped, it made matters worse that she couldn't speak English! That really wound me up, I could have punched her! also Jason was sat next to a gay guy who wouldn't stop asking Jason questions about the flight and he kept tapping his legs to his music, he looked like he was on drugs! so that flight, which was 8 hours was a bit crap. To top it off, for the following 11 hour flight we had the same plane and the same passengers. That woman again kept tapping me and asking me to move my seat, I mean, why should I, I paid the same as everyone else and I wanted to be comfy too, she had her seat back. Anyway, we didn't get much sleep as it was a really bumpy flight practically all the way through, I was so glad I had read my 'how to enjoy flying' book before we went, it really helped, I think if I hadn't read that I would have been going out of my mind with worry (it's the turbulance that I hate). I did have some problems with my legs as well, they were really aching the whole journey, and my knees were killing me, that didn't help with trying to sleep, I felt like an old woman!! That flight was such a long one, I really didn't fancy getting on another plane again, but of course, we had to when we landed in Vienna. Luckily it was only a 2 hour flight, which went really quickly, thank god. When we landed in London it was a beautiful day, the sky was cloudless and blue, we were pretty suprised. We caught our bus to Bournemouth where Mum picked us up. It was really nice to see her and get home again, it's been so long since I've been here.

Didn't get much done yesterday as we were so tired, I still felt like I was sitting on a plane....because of the turbulance my head still felt like I was going up and down, not very nice! We tried to stay awake as late as we could, but by 8pm we had to give in, we did manage to get 13 hours sleep though, which was great, but I still felt a bit groggy this morning.

As it was a lovely day today, Jason and I got on our bikes and rode into Poole, we went to Poole Park, Baiter Park and Poole Quay. We had some chips at the quay which were yummy (best chips in the world) we had a walk around, Jason couldn't believe how many pubs there were within such a small area, I guess I'm so used to it I never noticed before, but he was right, there are loads, and restuarants too. We had a drink in the lovely sunshine and then had a look around Poole Pottery, we rode back via Upton Country Park, which was nice. It's so good to be able to ride a bike again, I really enjoyed it, we can't do that in Sydney as it's too hilly.

Got back home about 4pm, I've really caught the sun, my face is a bit sunburnt. I've sorted out all my cds, I bought a case back with me so I could take them back, Jason was taking the mickey out of me, he thinks I've got bad taste in music (little does he know, it's his bad taste, haha!) My brother phoned too, I'm looking forward to seeing him in a week. That's about it really, it's now 10.30pm, and I'm really stuggling to write this and keep my eyes open so I'm going to sign off for now, I hope it makes sense!!

Our holiday is nearly here, we're flying tomorrow afternoon. I'm so excited, but also really nervous about such a long flight, we have 3 flights altogether, so it's going to be a long, long journey. We have some crossword books and cards and there will hopefully be lots of films to watch. I'm a bit disappointed tho as we only have a 20kg baggage allowance, which doesn't give me a lot of scope for bringing things back from UK, oh well, I'll have to figure out something!

We had our visas put in our passports today, so I finally believe it's happened. I did have butterflies when we were at the office tho, I thought they were going to find something wrong and not give them to us!!

Fantastic news!!!

We had the news we've been waiting for for months today. Jason and I finally got our visas approved!! It's been such an uphill battle, we've been so stressed about it for nearly 6 months trying to work out what to do. I haven't been documenting our struggle on my blog as I wasn't sure whether it would get accepted and I wanted to wait until we had some sort of news, so here's the good news ;o) The visa is valid until May 2008, so it gives us time to decide where we want to live. It also means I can finally work and earn myself some money. What a big relief, and just in time for our holiday, so we can enjoy it more and not have the worry in the back of our minds!

I had a major achievement last night... I made my first homemade soup!! I never thought I would have the patience to make soup before, but I wanted to give it a shot! And it was bloomin lovely (even if I do say so myself!) it was red capsicum and sweetcorn. I must admit though that half of it ended up all over the kitchen floor when I tried to blend it, and I did ruin Jasons cookery book....but apart from that, it went very well!! Jason cooked the main course, filo pastries with feta cheese and yummy veggies....mmmm!! I led in bed last night thinking of what other soups I could make (how sad am I!!).

Earlier I phoned up one of the recruitment agencies I go through to get a summary of all my pay from the last year and I had a really nice compliment. It was a woman I've never spoken to before, she asked me my name, when I told her, she said, oooh, I've heard lots of good things about you. She said that TAFE, where I worked at the beginning of the year have been saying very good things about me. So that made my day, it must have been good that she recognised my name to tell me!

Countdown is on....only 7 days to go till our holiday ;o)

We had the coldest day on Tuesday....it was down to 15 degrees....brrrrrr!!

I went out with Sue last night, we met up at our local bar for a few drinks, had a bit of a catch up.

Just found out that Robbie Williams is coming to Sydney in December, he's finishing his world tour here, so I'm hoping to get tickets for that. It will be a great couple of months in Nov and Dec, we have U2, Pearl Jam, maybe Kylie, and now Robbie too...cool!!

Thats about it for now.

We went to see the Da Vinci Code last Thursday, we really enjoyed it, although the reviews weren't the best.
Friday night we went out with a few friends. Paul had just returned from China, so we caught up with him. We just went out for a meal and a few drinks. Saturday Jason and I went for a drive to some of the posh parts of Sydney, we had some chips at Watsons bay (not normally part of my diet!). We took a diversion to Bondi shopping mall, they have a couple of pet shops there, and we always check them out when we're passing. They always have really cute puppies there, most of them are those designer dogs, like laboradoodles and cockerpoodles!! This week we saw the cutest yet, beagliers (cross between a beagle and a king charles cavalier) I just wanted to take them both home with me, they were the loveliest dogs I've seen. I've got this thing about pets at the moment, it must be because I'm a bit lonely what with not working. There's a really sweet friendly cat downstairs that I'm quite attached to (this is very strange tho as I don't really like cats...they scare me a bit) like I said, I must be very lonely!!

I just realised, it was 6 years ago yesterday that I moved to Munich....wow, it seems like a lifetime ago, and I still haven't stopped travelling!!

Anyway, I'm just off to buy our travel insurance now....only 11 days to go ;o)

It's turning cooler here now, winter is definitely on it's way (thank goodness!!) it's still pretty mild, but I'm sure it won't be long now.

I'm getting really excited about our holiday, we're leaving in 2.5 weeks ;o) I can't wait to go back and see everyone, and it's a real bonus that I'm able to go to Munich too.

Apart from that, not too much going on. Jason and I went out on Friday with Linn and Martin for a friends birthday, we went to a bar I'd never been to before, it was good fun, they were playing loads of 80's music which I'm sorry to say I really love! Saturday, I got the ferry over to Manly to visit Sue. We bought lots of food and dips and had a girls night in. We had all good intentions of watching a dvd, but as always, we talked all the way through it, so we had no idea what was going on in the film....so we had to watch it again the next day (we managed to shut up for it!) and I'm glad we did watch it again as it was really good. After we'd watched that we walked down to Manly beach and had an ice cream and sat watching the world go by. When the sun started to go down, we went to a bar for a couple of drinks before I went home. It was great fun to see her again.

We had a lovely weekend. One of Jason's friends won a competition for a stay at a holiday home at Smiths Lake, (which is 3 hours drive north of Sydney) and they asked if we wanted to go with them. We jumped at the chance of a free weekend out of Sydney, so we all drove up on Friday night. The place was really lovely, the back door opened straight out onto the lake. We unpacked all our food, then settled down to a night of eating lots of yummy food and drinking wine, we didn't get to bed till about 3am! Next day, Natalie wasn't feeling too good, so Jason and I decided to go off on our own to see Forster, which is the next main town up the coast. We stopped off at a viewpoint on the way, where I managed to get eaten alive by all the bloomin mossies, I've never seen so many and in the daytime as well, Jason was swatting them off of me as I'm very prone to getting bitten. I thought I'd gotten away with getting bitten until yesterday when they all came out..my arms and back are covered in them! Anyway, after the lookout we made our way to the beach. There was hardly anyone there, we had our lunch and chilled out on the beach for a few hours. Jason went for a snorkel, but I wasn't feeling brave enough to venture into the cold water! On the way back we stopped so I could take a picure of one of the many kookaburras, eventually I got a good pic (it kept moving it's head) but I think I must have disturbed it with my flash and he flew towards the car, I screamed as it was so close I thought it was going to fly in the car window, they're not small birds, I wouldn't fancy that in our car! Jason thought that was very funny!! When we got back, a friend of Linsey's had arrived, we cracked open the wine again and started off the evening with some board games. It was a great laugh...I realised how hopeless I am at Trivial Pursuit...but am a lot better at Pictionary and Outburst!! After another long night, we headed for bed.

Yesterday we had breakfast and then made our way to the local beach (Sandbar beach). It was really lovely there, again hardly anyone there, except for some surfers. The surf was really good, so the boys jumped straight into the sea....again I just watched, but it was nice just sitting on the lovely beach. We stayed there a couple of hours, then Jason and I headed back to the cottage and packed up all our stuff for the drive home. We had a really nice weekend, it was so nice to get out of the city and see somewhere different, and I really loved just sitting around talking and playing games, it was so relaxing.

The view from the lookout

The sunset over the lake

Kookaburra

Sandbar beach

Jason getting battered about in the water!

Had enough....

View from the back door of our holiday home

I managed to get to the cinema a couple of times last week which held the boredom at bay a little! Saturday night, Jason and I went to Gemma and Garry's for a bbq. Jason used to work with Gemma, and I met them at the races last year, we've been trying to meet up for ages, but only just got a chance this weekend. Had a really nice evening, Gemma cooked some really nice food, she went to a lot of effort. The only thing that ruined it was all the guys just had to watch the football...I don't know, I just don't understand it!

Yesterday I was a bit worse for wear...I didn't realise I'd drunk so much. I managed to get myself out of bed and we went to the Kings Cross Food and Wine fair. I had a few sips of wine which made me feel so much better. Later on, Curly, Rachel and Linn turned up and we had a catch up with them, then I just had to go home as I was really tired. We watched the Whale Rider when we got home, it's a story about the Maori in New Zealand, it was quite a good film.