43 Days Left in Australia

That's right folks, just 43 days left to enjoy sunny Australia. *Sigh* Is it too late to move to Queensland?

The past few weeks have been full of adventure. Two weeks ago James and I went with Wade, Katrina, Birdy and Francis down to Barossa Valley for a wine tasting trip, and to visit Rob, his dad. It was, as usual, a lovely time. James' friend happens to own Elderton's Winery, so we had a personal tour. It was a good time all-around.

Last week was potentially even more adventurous. At least, it was more long-travelled. James and I flew to Queensland to the Sunshine Coast. While James attended numerous meetings and what-not, I went on day trips to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's Zoo), Underwater World, a Ginger Factory, and Nutworks (a Macadamean Nut Plant). Day two was a trip to Fraser Island, which also included McKenzie Lake and Rainbow Beach. Very nice spots. Tons of pictures.

Next weekend is Victor Harbour to visit James' mom. I suspect more merriment to follow. Keep you posted on the developments.

Melbourne Open

Today is the day my friend. Today is the day I leave for the Melbourne Tennis Open...in Melbourne. James, Kerry and little 'Ol me will take one vehicle, and Wade and Birdy will be in the other. Then tomorrow, bright and, well, likely hung over, we will make our way out to the courts to watch some internationally renowned tennis players square off. I'm getting pretty excited about it. Also, despite the fact that I finally remembered my camera, I seem to have forgotten the bloody cord, so pictures will once again have to wait. Rats.

In other news, I have once again been wine tasting at the Coonawarra. You know what rocks? Wine. Of course, I think it's fairly obvious at this point that James is influencing my wine preferences. I recently purchased a dozen cleanskin bottles of sparkling red, which, you know, should do me for awhile, but then a few days later we had our Coonawarra trip, so now I'm sitting on the most wine I've owned in my life. The plus side? It's all nice wine :) Therefore Calista=content. Is that a bad correlation?

Christmas/New Year's/Melbourne

Well, it seems I have been sliding on my updates. I will, therefore, endevour to briefly summarize what I have been up to this last few weeks.

Christmas was fabulous. Christmas Day was spent entirely at the dinner table. Drinking and eating began at around 11am, and finished at about 10pm. In the meantime, James and I spent the while with his dad, Rob, and our room mate Doug and Marianna, his Chilean girlfriend. Birdy and Francais also came to join in the festivities. Agrarian discussions aside, it was a great day, and I heartily recommend the luncheon Christmas approach to all.

Much of the same crowd were present for New Year's Eve. We spent the time camping on the beach. It was rather nice to fall asleep to the sounds of the waves, although I wasn't entirely sure if we were high enough to avoid the tide. We were, and woke up to a perfect morning. I did, however, find later on that our bonfire was totally illegal because of the fire ban. Apparently record drought + fire = bad news. Oops. Well, at least we had no problem finding dry wood for our bonfire... which perhaps should have been our first clue. Nonetheless, it was a great night (ignoring the sand in my captain morgan and coke). By the by, nothing says fun like drunkenly yelling "The Cap'n got me again!" and having no one know what you mean.

In more recent news, I'm going to Melbourne on the 20th for the Australian Open (tennis). It should be a nice break from the monotony of quasi-employment.

In more, more recent news, I'm waiting to hear back on my acceptance to SFU, and James getting a job in BC. I do, however, have high hopes.

With that, I promise pictures soon.

Adios for now

Bono Sighting/High Five-ing

A brief synopsis of the past 2 weeks:

Last weekend James and I headed for Sydney for his cousin's wedding. The reception was held in front of the Sydney Opera House, right on the harbor. It was beautiful. Free flowing champagne and a very fancy meal indicated that it would be a lovely night. The reception let out around 2am, and most of the cousins were primed and ready to go. We ended up at Hemisphere, a lovely night club where the cousins contented themselves with bottles and bottles of expensive champagne, while I found myself quite happy to sip on my $5 coke. Eventually, however, we got the boot from our nice, cozy little outdoor balcony alcove in lieu of a spongy/fancy sitting area. Our previously held alcove was closed up and, I learned from one of the late-coming cousins, held for Bono (who she passed on the way up). Actually, first she noticed one of his purple-adorned groupies and made fun of the 'strumpet' and then noticed who followed her up. Up where we were, several hours and many bottles of champagne later, Andrew, one of the rather tall, rather large, and rather boisterous cousins, made a drunken attempt to high-five Bono. He was soundly tackled by security. Unfortunately, I missed the attempt because it was 5 am, I was bloody tired, and had left a half hour beforehand. I will never make THAT mistake again! Any tackling story deserves as many witnesses as possible.

The following day the guests went to a 'recovery party' which is a fine Australian tradition that basically embraces the 'hair of the dog' attitude. Platters of good food and 'beverages' began to circulate at around 11am. An impressive attendance rate, I must say, considering the night before. Anyway, we visited all afternoon and caught the flight to Melbourne around 5pm, and then drove to Mt. Gambier the rest of the way. All in all, a rewarding weekend!

During the week I started work at Angus and Robertson, which is their version of Mcnally. So far so good, but I'd be happier with more hours. The way it stands though, it's a good temporary job.

Which, of course, brings us to this weekend just past. I worked Saturday and then we rented The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I whole-heartedly recommend to any and all tv-watchers. Then on Sunday I went with James and Kerry (James' co-worker) to the Coonawara wine region for some wine touring (yay!) I ended up with a bottle of port, a jar of Merlot Jelly (fancy grape jam), and a bit of a buzz. All in all, another good weekend. The weather, in 3 days, went from frigid to HOT. It is now the Australia that I remember, though I suspect we'll still have some cold nights before the summer heat is here to stay. And with that, my dear reader, I will leave you until my next entry.

Settling In

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been on msn lately. This is an unfortunate result of not having the internet, which requires a minimum one year commitment. Blast.

As my time on the free computers comes to a close, let me give you the quick run down of events. I'm going to Sydney for a wedding this weekend. Should be a chance to visit with and meet quite a few of James' relatives, so it should be a good time. In other news, I finally have a job at a bookstore, so yay employment! Other than that, it's finally warming up here. I, unfortunately, don't have much else to tell at this point, but will, most assuredly, keep you all up to date on anything of note.

Thus, with this new temporary job of mine, I suspect my time in the fields with James may come to a quasi close, though I have promised to take my UDL (passionfruit flavoured, of course) and watch him work. Yikes. I'm tired just thinking of it!

In Oz

What no one tells you is that there is a national conspiracy. It is NOT warm during Australian spring. In fact, as the houses are not heated, it is freaking cold. I have been informed that during the winter, you may wake up and see your breath. Great.

With that rant aside, I wish you all greatings from Down Under. I have settled in after my 51 hour trip, and am now looking for work. You know what they also don't tell you? Looking for work in a small town is frusterating. Of course, I've only spent one day looking, so we'll see how that goes.

Anyway, I'm off to plant my veggie/herb garden. Anyone know how/if you can grow ginger?

Earthquake

Well, instead of flying to Australia, the earthquake shut down Honolulu airport, which means I will be spending 2 more days in Vancouver than originally planned. More details to follow as frustration fades into acceptance.