2010. The year of craziness. Apparently.

My time here is running out, and things are not slowing down one ounce. It's all good. Though the sleep deprivation delirium is starting to kick in for sure. My main problem is that I work 7-3 but live a 9-5 kind of social life. Doesn't make for much sleep. Naptime is slowly becoming just another part of my day. Still, it IS nice to finish at 3 and still have time to do stuff. And I am very glad of the work (moneywise of course).

So, what actually happened in January? My ailing brain needs some help... so out comes the old diary again:

• I spent a day with my friend Sarah's family in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. Good food, gelato on the beach and lots of sunshine :)
• Went to see a band called The Books, another addition to my 'totally random gig' collection. It was cool. Definitely unusual, and not at all what I was expecting - almost more of an art installation than an actual gig.
• I went to see Shakespeare in the Park - A Midsummer Nights Dream. Great fun, and very entertaining. Thankfully Melbourne played along, and it wasn't raining.
• Got dressed up 50s Australian Suburbia style and spent an afternoon picnicking in the park for a friends birthday - way to turn 30 in style!
• Went to see David Sedaris at the Arts Centre. I had heard of him before but didn't know why. He writes funny short stories, and reads them aloud. Very entertaining. I enjoyed it immensely.
• Spent a few evenings drinking sangria and taking in the atmosphere at the Vic Night Markets.
• Spent Australia Day at a BBQ with friends, drinking cold beer and getting my first sunburn in many, many years. Totally my own fault of course. Hot day + zero sunscreen = FAIL.
• Went to the St Kilda Open Air Cinema (The Invention of Lying - awesome film!) where I froze slightly and spent a few hours waiting for my deckchair to collapse, but definitely enjoyed it. Nowt quite like sitting under the stars watching a movie waiting for the gulls to crap on your head...

Aside from that, there was a whole lot of going out, cinema-ing, and spending time with friends. Obviously. This is me, after all.

It's been a hot and cold month - literally! 43 degrees on the 6th, 11 degrees on the 13th. How? Melbourne is weird sometimes. The 43er was followed by the hottest night in Melbourne's recorded history. I concur. It was fecking hot. I have had many conversations with people about how much they love Melbourne, and how much they hate the weather recently. I am starting to fully agree.

And now it's February tomorrow. Not entirely sure how that happened. My life is passing by me in a blur. Less than 6 weeks to go :(

New Year at Metung

After a crazy Nov/Dec, I was ready for a slightly lower-key New Year. We decided that we didn't want to faff about trying to find a bar and spending a fortune in the city. Instead, 6 of us booked a cabin in East coast Victoria, near Raymond Island at a place called Metung. Good job too, as it turns out, since Melbourne was awash and the New Year was rung in with massive thunder and lightning storms.

I'd been working between Christmas and New Years for the first time in my life (I know, I know, slacker) and partying at the same time, and I was ready for a break. A couple of days chilling out, drinking on the verandah, swimming in the pool. Awesome. Metung is cute, a tiny little town right next to a lake. We still managed to get slightly lost looking for the (only) pub though!

New Years Day we headed to Lakes Entrance and hung out on the beach all afternoon. It was still feeling very weird for me to be sitting on a beach in January rather than staying indoors and trying to keep warm! Next day, we decided to head to the Buchan Caves, about an hour away from Lakes Entrance, to see the stalagtites and stalagmites. They're really quite awesome, and fully worth the claustrophobia.