it's a flickr thing

And finally, I managed to work out how to put a slideshow on my blog!!

it's getting competitive now

Cathy and I went to see the (Collingwood) Pies thrash (Freemantle) Freo at the weekend in the AFL. It was exciting stuff. Helped massively by the fact that we were only about 8 rows back from the touchline, and the fact that Freemantle are from Western Australia, so most of the 41,000 spectators were gunning for the Pies. The cheers at the end were so loud that I didn't hear the end buzzer. And that thing is LOUD.

It's the first game I have seen the Pies win a game (just to clarify, it's not the first time they've won!), and they did it with style... ending up with a score of 169 - 85. That's massive! Afterwards we headed to the Lexus Centre where the team train for a post game drink, and watch the traditional interview with the players. Well... I can certainly say that I now know why the Collingwood fans have a rather stereotyped reputation for being boguns (Aussie version of Chavs). Still, the enthusiasm is contagious...

So, this Friday sees a big twilight game between the Pies and the (Essendon) Bombers, who also had a big win this weekend. A bunch of us have tickets, but we're split down the middle with who we support. I have a feeling there's going to be some bad winners...

I'm really getting into this!

birthday loveliness :)

Woops, these posts are getting fewer and further inbetween. Mostly because I got lazy, and I can't imagine anyone actually wants to hear about my work! Except that it is going well and all is fine of course. I am even provided with the odd comedy moment from time to time too... like this morning when I got in and turned on my computer I had a global email from site services entitled: "Office not warm this morning". Just in case I hadn't noticed perhaps??

Sadly, there is not a lot to report from the last few weeks even though I would like to assure you that I am actually having a pretty awesome time. Some of you will be glad to know that I have rediscovered my camera (just need to find a cheap enough tripod) :) and I promise I will do something 'interesting' soon...

Monday was my 29th birthday!!! Many, many thanks to all the lovely people who made it wonderful :) Oh yes, and allowed me to drag it out for pretty much a whole week without a single word of annoyance! Unfortunately I work for pretty much the only Australian employer who follow the apparently European tradition of bringing your own cake to work on your birthday. Grrr. One of the best things about being away is that cards and unexpected presents have arrived during such a broad interval that it feels like my birthday has lasted for weeks! Unfortunately the much cherished UK chocolate did not. Woops.

a brief escape to nsw

I haven’t posted anything for a little while because I haven’t really been doing anything! I started work a few weeks ago and I am a little surprised how easy it was to just slip back into working life. It is actually nice to have a routine again (not to mention knowing I have money coming in), and I’ve just been getting into the swing of it all (along with replenishing the depleted money stocks!!). I’m working in the Publications Department of the Bureau of Meteorology, which is feeding an ever-growing obsession with the weather!

Gladly, last week brought the arrival of Romany - a friend from Vancouver who I have not seen in almost 2 years - on a whirlwind holiday in Melbourne for a few days. Other than that, life has been the usual whirl of work, gym, pub, dinners out, gigs, trivia nights. Oh yes, and discovering just how delicious cookies and cream ice-cream in Baileys is. All good.  

Yesterday was a public holiday in Australia; celebrating the Queen’s birthday – something which most of the Brits found pretty strange. I’m definitely not going to complain about a long weekend though, even if I didn’t get paid for the day off work. 

This weekend also heralded my first real trip out of Melbourne. I actually managed to make it out of the state too - albeit briefly - as we were staying in a cottage in Albury, which is a surprisingly Canadian-looking township just over the border in New South Wales. I joined a friend and a bunch of her mates for a weekend Winery Walkabout in Rutherglen, a beautiful region about 3 and a half hours North of Melbourne – I am seriously starting to wonder if I am going to do all my travelling of Australia via winery tours! Not a bad way to travel though…

By the way, apologies for the continuing complete lack of photos. I think my camera is beginning to forget what it’s function is. Must remedy that.