I know, I know, its been weeks, months even, since I last left a little update on 
what I have been up to. Apologies to you all, particularly those of you who are currently stuck in minus °C temperatures and use my blog as a way to warm your lives. Well, today isn’t too good weather wise on this side of the world you’ll be glad to hear. A rather chilly 28°C is what I have awoken to this morning. Hopefully it will get nicer this afternoon though.
At present I find myself back in Sydney, following a short trip away to celebrate my birthday. I headed up the East Coast to the Whitsunday Islands, before then taking a trip south to Brisbane to watch Australia take on New Zealand at the Gabba in the first test match of the Australian summer.
On arriving In Canberra I headed straight to Parliament House, a modern building built into a hill, where I enjoyed the second best guided tour of my entire trip so far. I also took the opportunity to steal some expensive toilet roll. Feel free to tell Kevin Rudd, but to be honest, what with the impending melt down of the world and him apologising to everyone, I think he has bigger fish to fry. Overall I was pleased to have seen Canberra, but wouldn’t really recommend anyone going for longer than a day.
The second weekend of October saw me make another visit to Melbourne, this time for the Melbourne half marathon. I was happy with my time of 1 hour 35 minutes, but was more impressed with running onto the hallowed turf of the MCG where the finishing line was located. To celebrate Ebony put together a rather tasty Aussie meat barbecue, which featured Crocodile and Kangaroo.
what I have been up to. Apologies to you all, particularly those of you who are currently stuck in minus °C temperatures and use my blog as a way to warm your lives. Well, today isn’t too good weather wise on this side of the world you’ll be glad to hear. A rather chilly 28°C is what I have awoken to this morning. Hopefully it will get nicer this afternoon though.At present I find myself back in Sydney, following a short trip away to celebrate my birthday. I headed up the East Coast to the Whitsunday Islands, before then taking a trip south to Brisbane to watch Australia take on New Zealand at the Gabba in the first test match of the Australian summer.
Having finished work on November 14, I packed my belongings back into my backpack following my 7 months of being a Sydneysider, bid farewell to my housemates Bridget and Kate, and went north, where I met up with my former neighbour at university, Craig. The pair of us then spent the next few days on ‘The Pride of Airlie’, a rather impressive boat whic
h allowed us to witness the most beautiful spot of Australia I have seen so far, Whitehaven Beach. By day we sailed - stopping off occasionally to do some snorkelling – and by night we drank, which did create the occasional problem with the sailing. Needless to say, we both took in a number of deep breaths when boarding the morning after a heavy night, though I don’t think either of us were sick. High fives all around!
Our flight back down the coast to Brisbane proved to be particularly interesting. Throughout the week Queensland had been battered by various cyclones, though luckily we were not affected by it. As we approached Brisbane the city was still experiencing some freak weather though, with hail stones the size of golf balls raining down. This resulted in a reasonable amount of turbulence, but also the incredible spectacle of the evening sky being lit up every few seconds with bolts of lightning.
The following day was my birthday, which was exciting, but it wasn’t excitement that woke me up. Being back in a hostel, I was awoken that morning by people on the bunk underneath me getting a little physical (Ali, you would have been disgusted). As a result the top bunk was swaying all over the place.
h allowed us to witness the most beautiful spot of Australia I have seen so far, Whitehaven Beach. By day we sailed - stopping off occasionally to do some snorkelling – and by night we drank, which did create the occasional problem with the sailing. Needless to say, we both took in a number of deep breaths when boarding the morning after a heavy night, though I don’t think either of us were sick. High fives all around!Our flight back down the coast to Brisbane proved to be particularly interesting. Throughout the week Queensland had been battered by various cyclones, though luckily we were not affected by it. As we approached Brisbane the city was still experiencing some freak weather though, with hail stones the size of golf balls raining down. This resulted in a reasonable amount of turbulence, but also the incredible spectacle of the evening sky being lit up every few seconds with bolts of lightning.
The following day was my birthday, which was exciting, but it wasn’t excitement that woke me up. Being back in a hostel, I was awoken that morning by people on the bunk underneath me getting a little physical (Ali, you would have been disgusted). As a result the top bunk was swaying all over the place.
Myself, Craig and Eoin arrived at the Gabba to the sound of a kiwi wicket falling, which set the tone for the remainder of the day. A further fifteen wickets fell as both teams struggled to set an 
impressive target with the bat. By mid afternoon I had already had far too much to drink to be paying that close attention to what was going out on the oval, but do remember getting extremely excited at one point as a stream of Aussie batsmen came and went, much to the frustration of the local support. Craig and I were both left particularly disappointed by the standard of home support to be honest, with wit and humour in short supply throughout the two days play we attended. As birthdays go this was certainly one of the better ones I have enjoyed though, and can I also use this opportunity to thank everyone who contacted me in one way or another to wish me a happy birthday.
impressive target with the bat. By mid afternoon I had already had far too much to drink to be paying that close attention to what was going out on the oval, but do remember getting extremely excited at one point as a stream of Aussie batsmen came and went, much to the frustration of the local support. Craig and I were both left particularly disappointed by the standard of home support to be honest, with wit and humour in short supply throughout the two days play we attended. As birthdays go this was certainly one of the better ones I have enjoyed though, and can I also use this opportunity to thank everyone who contacted me in one way or another to wish me a happy birthday. Having spent two days at the cricket without seeing much else of Brisbane on this visit, I thought I would use my fina
l morning to have a wander around and then meet Vanessa for a spot of lunch and an afternoon beer. This proved to be a great decision as, following the New Zealand's collapse the test match was over by the morning of day 4. As a result I was provided with my latest ‘cricketer stalking’ opportunity, when Brett Lee wandered into the bar I was eating lunch in. Clearly I wasn’t going to miss this latest opportunity, so here we are together.
Then all I had to contend with was a 17-hour bus journey back to Sydney. These days I can handle long journeys, so 17 hours didn’t bother me (apart from a brief moment when I thought I had lost my ipod), but what did annoy me was the fact that the bus driver, Ray, decided to put a Lindsay Lohan film on soon after leaving. In the words of my former housemate Bridget; “Why, why would he do that?!”.
Well, that’s the last week sorted. But what about the previous three months? This could take me a moment to search my memory. Let me see, what stands out as a highlight over the last few months?
Oh, there was the man who told me to "F**k off back to Pommyland" after I gave him a wrong phone number when he rang up at work and wanted to speak to someone who could fix his computer. As I said to dad, it's good to know that I am having an impact on the lives of ordinary Australians.Right, I’ve remembered something else that doesn’t involve me being verbally abused (though I think I do have other examples of that too).
l morning to have a wander around and then meet Vanessa for a spot of lunch and an afternoon beer. This proved to be a great decision as, following the New Zealand's collapse the test match was over by the morning of day 4. As a result I was provided with my latest ‘cricketer stalking’ opportunity, when Brett Lee wandered into the bar I was eating lunch in. Clearly I wasn’t going to miss this latest opportunity, so here we are together.Then all I had to contend with was a 17-hour bus journey back to Sydney. These days I can handle long journeys, so 17 hours didn’t bother me (apart from a brief moment when I thought I had lost my ipod), but what did annoy me was the fact that the bus driver, Ray, decided to put a Lindsay Lohan film on soon after leaving. In the words of my former housemate Bridget; “Why, why would he do that?!”.
Well, that’s the last week sorted. But what about the previous three months? This could take me a moment to search my memory. Let me see, what stands out as a highlight over the last few months?
Oh, there was the man who told me to "F**k off back to Pommyland" after I gave him a wrong phone number when he rang up at work and wanted to speak to someone who could fix his computer. As I said to dad, it's good to know that I am having an impact on the lives of ordinary Australians.Right, I’ve remembered something else that doesn’t involve me being verbally abused (though I think I do have other examples of that too).
Way back in September a number of the people I have met in a variety of countries since I left home decided that we needed a weekend of drinking wine. So, we all piled in
to a mini-bus and headed to the Hunter Valley, where much of the local Sydney wines are produced. We began drinking at 10.30am and if I remember rightly by 11am we had managed to offend at least one of the winery workers with a rather risque topic of conversation. From there the frivolity only increased.... I mean just look at the sense of excitement on Chris's face. I haven't seen a German that excited since I saw Boris Becker walking into a cloakroom at a restaurant a few years ago. Unlike Boris's antics, our fun lasted all day though...well, at least until we ran out of alcohol on the way home and fell asleep.
Having been
told by various people that Australia's capital city Canberra, was a waste of time and not to be visited for any reason, I decided to see if this was the case. On a very pleasant Sunday morning Pish and I headed off in her car, which looks very similar to Scott's first car in ‘Neighbours’. En route I was lucky enough to see the latest in a long line of Australian ‘big things' that litter the roads along the East Coast. I added 'The Big Merino', a 15 metre tall concrete sheep, to the ‘Big Prawn’, ‘Big Golf Ball’ and ‘Big Rock’ that I had already seen earlier in the year.
to a mini-bus and headed to the Hunter Valley, where much of the local Sydney wines are produced. We began drinking at 10.30am and if I remember rightly by 11am we had managed to offend at least one of the winery workers with a rather risque topic of conversation. From there the frivolity only increased.... I mean just look at the sense of excitement on Chris's face. I haven't seen a German that excited since I saw Boris Becker walking into a cloakroom at a restaurant a few years ago. Unlike Boris's antics, our fun lasted all day though...well, at least until we ran out of alcohol on the way home and fell asleep.Having been
told by various people that Australia's capital city Canberra, was a waste of time and not to be visited for any reason, I decided to see if this was the case. On a very pleasant Sunday morning Pish and I headed off in her car, which looks very similar to Scott's first car in ‘Neighbours’. En route I was lucky enough to see the latest in a long line of Australian ‘big things' that litter the roads along the East Coast. I added 'The Big Merino', a 15 metre tall concrete sheep, to the ‘Big Prawn’, ‘Big Golf Ball’ and ‘Big Rock’ that I had already seen earlier in the year.
On arriving In Canberra I headed straight to Parliament House, a modern building built into a hill, where I enjoyed the second best guided tour of my entire trip so far. I also took the opportunity to steal some expensive toilet roll. Feel free to tell Kevin Rudd, but to be honest, what with the impending melt down of the world and him apologising to everyone, I think he has bigger fish to fry. Overall I was pleased to have seen Canberra, but wouldn’t really recommend anyone going for longer than a day.
The second weekend of October saw me make another visit to Melbourne, this time for the Melbourne half marathon. I was happy with my time of 1 hour 35 minutes, but was more impressed with running onto the hallowed turf of the MCG where the finishing line was located. To celebrate Ebony put together a rather tasty Aussie meat barbecue, which featured Crocodile and Kangaroo.When Craig arrived in Australia he came and crashed at my house in Sydney for a week or so. I used the opportunity to show off some of the finer spots of what is a picturesque city, but on one occasion this ended in us receiving something of a shock. After enjoying a cracking fish and chip lunch, we decided to head off for a walk around the local coastline. This ended with us unsuspectingly wandering into a cottaging hotspot, where various men were, well, pleasuring each other. We suddenly realised that we should probably leave quickly, but found we were slightly lost, so spent much of the following 15 minutes trying not to make eye contact with anyone. This did not stop one small Chinese gentleman from following us though, as I suspect he may have thought we were easy prey. Looking back now I wonder how we did not realise where we were going, especially as that part of the coastline is named ‘Georges head’.
Before leaving Sydney I decided to get a few friends together for a bowling afternoon
at Petersham bowling club. Sadly I came out on the loosing team after Ellie disregarded the rules by not placing one of feet on the bowling mat for numerous bowls. I’m not bitter though, you know, I’ve just let it go, I’m not letting it bother me. Luckily she made it up to me the following day by cooking a cracking Sunday roast and the proceeded to organise a scone-fest at work on my final day, complete with a range of jams and cream.
Before leaving Sydney I decided to get a few friends together for a bowling afternoon
at Petersham bowling club. Sadly I came out on the loosing team after Ellie disregarded the rules by not placing one of feet on the bowling mat for numerous bowls. I’m not bitter though, you know, I’ve just let it go, I’m not letting it bother me. Luckily she made it up to me the following day by cooking a cracking Sunday roast and the proceeded to organise a scone-fest at work on my final day, complete with a range of jams and cream.Now there have been a few requests that I fill you in on my future plans. At present I am in Sydney until mid-December. Then I leave Australia and head back to New Zealand to catch up with Dec, Giles and Ebbo for some Christmas and New Year fun. Then it is back to Australia in mid-January for a trip around the outback and the Aussie Open, before I fly to Tokyo at the start of February. From there I then intend to make my way home.
Thanks to everyone who has, or is still to let me sleep on their floor/spare bed over the coming days and weeks. I appreciate it.
Right, I'm busy putting Christmas decorations up at the moment, so need to get back to that.
Bye for now.
Vinny/Ian
P.S. For everyone interested in finding out who was responsible for plop-gate, the huge poo that blocked the toilet at the Salt Flats last year, then my sources informed me that the perpetrator was none other than Michelle Cooke.
A few observations:
Without a doubt the funniest piece of graffiti I have seen in years, spotted at Melbourne airport. I mean it was always going to be hard to top number 1, but I feel 'okay' is a bit harsh.
A few observations:
Without a doubt the funniest piece of graffiti I have seen in years, spotted at Melbourne airport. I mean it was always going to be hard to top number 1, but I feel 'okay' is a bit harsh.
