Hello dere everyone. Just a really quick message as my time's about to expire. Got to Melbourne okay and stayed in the nunnery. Great little hostel and had a good laugh there. Katy has now flown the antipodean nest and should be back in blighty by now. Probably shivering and being generally miserable. Ffi and I are now doing a whacky races effort across the South to hook up with Laura and the Irish lads but progress is slow. Had one of those days yesterday but today is all good. Bugger all in Torquay though and I can't really be arsed to go surfing (beach is miles away). Moving on to Apollo Bay tomorrow though and eventually getting to Adelaide, then to Perth. Perth will probably involve a purchase of a car to then attack the Western Coast. Following that I can finally get involveed int he volunteering I want to do. Oh yeah, and visa extension is required. Whther or not I'll get it is unknown but it should be okay. No news on the Masters yet but fingers crossed. Mail me, and I'll see you all later. Oh yeah, The Hartless one (Claire) and her botfriend should be in Adelaide on the 30th. Mad as. And Moony might also be out in a little while (March time) in Perth. Andy's still stuck in Sydney so god knows when I'll see him again. Right then, sees ya.

Escape from Sydneytraz

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! I'm finally getting the hell out of Sydney. Tomorrow night to be precise. Not sure at exactly what time though as I haven't checked train times yet. I keep getting hassled to go out tonight considering how it's my last night in the big smoke, but I really don't feel like it. Therefore, I must be a miserable old git (but don't start nodding in agreement just yet). If I get a late train out of here I can go out for a bit beforehand, have a couple of ales, go and get the train and then we're all happy. Marvellous.

Also got some photos back today. Haha, they're pretty crap to be honest but they were mostly experimental. I followed Sophie's advice and shot from the hip (to make your pictures shit) and I wasn't too impressed with the results. Still got some alright ones out of it. I get three more rolls back tomorrow afternoon and then I'll bundle them all up and send them home. The original plan to get them onto the lomo site was sound apart from the fact that I'm using public computers. Therefore, there is the problem of not being able to install necessary programs, which I'm sure none of you care about but I thought I'd tell you regardless. They'll be up for viewing pleasure as soon as I return. Betcha can't wait. Although I have another plan, so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a fox, but it depends upon the computing skills of the old dear.

So farewell Sydney. I've had a great time here but cities don't hold my attention for all that long. So where am I going. Haha, straight to another city. Nice one. But apparently Melbourne is far more laid back and should suit me more. Not that I'll be there for long. I reckon once I start moving again it'll be hard to stop.

One of the reasons for the Sydney delay was the fact that I was waiting for the cricket (day nighter between Oz and Zim) and was it worth it? Well, no. Oz batted first scoring a measly 225, 112 of which were singles. Boring? To say the least, we ended up playing cards. The bowling was a little more impressive though and Zim were 17 for 5 at one stage. Thought they might get a worse score than England's one day worst ever for a while, but alas they ended up with 126. Not exactly an evenly matched... errr... (for want of a better word) match. Still the crowd were as entertaining as ever.

This morning was spent at the Art Gallery, taking in some cultural highlights and wondering how most of it could be classed as art (honestly, painting a canvass black and then daubing biblical quotes over it in white?.... ) Still a good 20c Oz section made up for it.

Hannah got in touch via e-mail the other day about a uni reunion so if any of you UMEC folk are having a squiz at this then mail me (contact at the top) for Hannah's e-mail address if you're interested. I've also set up a message board type thing for any comments / suggestions about venues or whatever.

Right then. I'm orf to sort me train out and I'll see y'all later on. Ciao.

Bloody hell, this was a blast from the past. A mate Matt who I met in Prague (the second time around) has just sent me pictures of when we were there. Haha, not expecting that at all but here we are.



As for the now, I'm back in sweaty Sydney again after a most relaxing time in the beautiful blue mountains. We went to watch the cricket yesterday. Bloody Indians have been playing for a draw all along particularly since they went back in to bat after they could've made Oz follow on. Cheeky monkeys. Anyway, I could go again today but I can't be arsed.

Ffi and Katy are leaving today (booo) to go to Melbourne, with a couple of stops on the way. Which means I'll be left in the familiar old sitch of staying somewhere longer than everyone else. Still, super Andy (to be said in a Scottish accent) and Alex are still kicking around. Could do with somewhere to go for the next few days until the day nighter against Zim but I'm becoming lazier and lazier and I might just book in here for a few more days. Hmmm we shall see.

Tis the Season to be

Feeling extremely unhealthy and like you gorged on everything. Haha, well I don't feel that bad actually. Christmas eve was good fun. We just went out and about in and around Sydney but in order to ring people at home it was necessary to stay up till four thirty. Sincere apologies for any garbled messages that may have ben received at this time. And what else would an Englishman in Oz do on Christmas day? Well go to bondi of course. Yes the day was spent lazing on the beach with an eski full of cold ones taking the ocassional dip in the sea when it got too hot (and man was it hot!). I managed to sustain an injury by diving into the sea thinking it was deeper than it was so I now have a dumb looking sand graze on my head. Oh yeah, and me and Scot the Scot got chased out of the water by a shark. No shit! Well, we didn't see it but the shark siren was going off. Perhaps it was a clever ploy to remove all the drunken people form the sea in the most effective manner. Whatever, it worked. Never moved so quickly through water.

The last couple of days have been very quite. Just been to the cinema and last night found the worst club in Sydney. If you're out here of ever planning to visit, never, repeat NEVER go to the Silva club. For those of you familiar with Horny in the cellar at manc, yes it's unbelievable but we found the Oz equivalent last night. Needless to say it was quite an early one.

As with most big cities, I'm now beginning to tire of Sydney. I don't know if it's because I've got the attention span of a goldfish or just because I don't generally like cities that much but on the second I'll hopefully be heading for the blue mountains for a few days until the 5th. Plenty of hiking and views and the good old nature. Can't wait. Then on the fifth it's a day at the test match. Then after that somewhere else until the 11th when the one day cricket shall be watched. Preliminary plan after that is to go south. Haha, not much of a plan but so what.

Personals

Phil hope you and H had a corker and that New Year is cool too. Can't wait to see the back of this year. Any recommendations of where to go south of Sydney?

Con hope you and Clare had a brill Crimble too. Give my love to everyone over there and you two have a great New year too.

Everyone, the comments are working again so do your worst!

Ma, hope you and Doug had a great time in darkest Africa (you explorers you!) and that your New Year is the best ever.

Love to everyone back home and if I've missed any one out court marshall me when I get back.

P.S. I have to say that having a Mc Donalds for Christmas dinner was a touch odd.

A hey hey hey

And a very merry christmas to everyone. I apologise if I've missed anyone with my Christmas group mailing but I'm in between accounts at the moment and it's a little confusing. Speaking of confusion, you should try being in 30 deree sunshine over Christmas. It's bloody weird. Haha, you have to pity all the father Christmasses walking around town too. Extra belly and christmas costume in theis heat? No thanks. HAving a few poskets of mates out here in Sydney too it's going to be a strange one. I'd love to see everybody but it's going to be hard getting to do that. Sod it. I might try it anyway and just bounce from group to group. Haha, whatever happens I'm definitely going to the beach at some stage. I reckon that's the way to do it rather than freezing yer tits off in the British winter.

Only problem with being out and about is a lack of giftage. Not to worry though, I think Katy and Ffi are getting me something so I've returned the favour. Christmas shopping in the midday sun is very uncomfortable but I got it done in my usual speedy time of around half an hour. Genius.

Right then you lot. Seeing as how it's Christmas what the hell are you doing on the net? Log off now and have a beer on me.