Around Australia in 18 days

Well, almost. In the last 2 1/2 weeks I've worked in Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, taken 10 flights, flown for 26 hours, travelled over 23,000 kilometers and worked in 4 different time zones! I've had a fab time, taken some great photos, but quite frankly I'm shattered and glad to be home! In fact, I'm thinking about leaving work early today:)

Take cover!

House building report #294

Well the outer cover of the house is nearing completion with a combination of the ubiquitous Colorbond (the wobbly steel stuff) and Cedar overlap boards. You won't see from the pictures that the decking is also 95% done and all the internal walls/ceilings have been plaster-boarded ready for painting.
We think the fit out of the internal cupboards and walk-in 'robe will start this week.
Carpet has been ordered - pure NZ wool of course!
All very exciting.

PS - we're planning on putting down some slabs in front of the main entrance door and then a bed to the right of that with grasses, ferns and sculptural blue/grey/green plants. This will 'soften' the colorbond side.

A long lost friend

On my travels around Australia I've been to Adelaide in South Australia. So what you say. Well, Adelaide is where my best friend used to live. I met Laurene in 1987 at the pub I worked in a couple of nights a week. (Incidentally, I met J there. It was a great pub!!!)Laurene was a Kiwi travelling in the UK and we hit it off immediately. She moved to Oz not long after I arrived here in 1988 and we shared a flat for a while before Laurene moved to Adelaide to be near her family. We saw each other on weekends - I still remember the overnight 12 hour bus trips!! Anyway, Laurene and I lost touch, last exchanging emails in 2002. As my trip approached I found my old address book and couldn't believe it when I realised that Laurene still lived in the same house! I gave her a call not knowing what kind of reaction I'd get. After all, it had been 13 years since we'd last seen each other. I needn't have worried. It was as if we'd never been apart. I can't believe we talked so much in the 2 evenings we spent together. What an extraordinary friendship we have. I can't wait to see her again.

The long journey

On Thursday I had a long drive to a meeting. I left home in Kingston, drove through Brighton and Bagdad before bypassing Kempton and the turn off to Richmond. I drove through Melton Mowbray, Epping Forest and within 30 kms of the Nile before driving through Perth to reach my destination. And in the afternoon I drove back!