Spring Flowers

Well there is not much that I can say about the new location of Whirlwind as it is a bit of a cultural oasis - however it is surrounded by some of the prettiest Australian folliage. In spring especially out come the most beautiful blossoms and magnolias and my absolute favourite jasmine I think I drive all my fellow train walkers crazy with my ravings about the sweet smells and all my snorting noises trying to get as much as possible into my lungs along the way.

Moving House

Sorry for the un-uptodate blog as we have been moving from St Kilda to Essendon and have had the worst luck with the whole process ranging from no power for a week to door handles that come off to no phone or internet for 3 weeks but as you can tell by the blogging now we are finally 90% settled. I think in future I will just pay what ever the cost to get someone else to pack and move it - it is definately worth the expense. On the upside though the moving forced me to finish my packing and get all my stuff ready to send back to NZ when I get back from my holiday in December.

Catchup with Holly

Last night I got a visit from the lovely Holly as she was down for a business trip from Sydney. We had a yummy dinner at Chocolate Buddha (probably my last :( ) and then enjoyed a south african red wine with cheese at her hotel. I am also glad to report that she loves Federation Squares buildings as much as me. The best thing of the whole night was a conversation about her fab hair that brought about an appointment with her hairdresser Lenny in one of his 6 week visits to melbourne to get my hair straightened before my trip which will hopefully mean that I won't need to do much to look fabulous everyday. Thanks Holly.

Farewell, Welcome and shots

Its been a busy week for me this week as Tuesday morning Kevin and I sadly farewelled Grant at the Airport on his way back to live in NZ. Then on the theme of NZ I got the wonderful present of a visit from my good friend Debbie who was over for the weekend on a shopping trip. Finally today I got 6 vaccinations (Typhoid, Hep A, Dyptheria, Measles, Polio, Tetanus) needless to say I have a dead arm and can expect to feel the symtoms of a cold in a weeks time. I just have to remind myself its a bit of pain for alot of fun.

Ceramics Class

Isabel and I spent most of today at a fabulous cafe in Camberwell that allows you to paint your own ceramic item whilst relaxing with a cup of coffee and food. Both Isabel and I opted for mugs mine large and round hers tall and thin. tommorrow we get to see the finished fired product. Its great fun as you really don't know what you will get in the end. attached are some pics of the works in progress.

Grants Farewell on the Tramcar

Grant Kevin and I went on the Melbourne Tramcar Restaurant as a final fun goodbye for Grant before he departs for Auckland. It was a fun night with beautiful food and some funny happenings. Grant and Kevin decided the lady in the chair behind us looked like a pirate so had some laughs about that and we also had a sudden stop which caused some of the ladies in the rear to be covered in their drinks but overall everything went smoothly. I would recommend this experience to anyone atleast once.

Sunrise in St Kilda

Here is a photo of one of the many beautiful sunrises I see every morning as I leave for work. I also get to see some pretty nice sunsets but can never seem to get a good pick out the windows of the train.

Defining Melbourne

With the knowledge that I will soon be leaving Melbourne and returning back to Auckland I decided it would be nice to define what it is I love and hate about the city and try and take photos of some of my favourite icons. here are a few that I took today but there will be more to come.

Things I love & Hate (I leave it up to you to guess which are which):

Streets - Acland, Fitzroy, Lygon, Brunswick, Chapel, Smith
Yarra River and the daily rowers
Wogs (Italian, Lebanese, Macedonian, Greek, Croatian, Serbs) brought in great food
Milk Bars
Local Pubs
Footie, Melbourne Cup, Grand Prix, Tennis
Screaming Adverts for clearout sales
Hughsy, Rove, Burt Newton, Sam Newman
Expos and Exhibitions for everything and anything
Water Restrictions
Fed Square free entertainment
Bikers along Beach Road
Trains, Trams and Buses "Connex apologises for any inconvience caused"
Luna Park
Flinders Street Station
Graffiti and Stencil street art
Bath Showers
Walls with vents
Channel Ten, Nine msn, Yahoo Seven
Big Brother
Victoria Markets
Bonds
St Kilda Markets
Hot Air Ballooning

well thats a start anyway.

Christies Farewell

This Friday saw another fav soul from Whirlwind Leave. We farewelled Christie in great fashion with a general British theme. She arrived to an office full of union jack coloured balloons her queenly crown and so on. I will hopefully get the chance to catch up with her when I am in London in the next few months.

Superman vs Tristram Shandy : A cock and Bull Story

I have been to see 2 movies in the last three days and both were fantastic. The first was superman which started and ended with a bang. Great visuals, sounds and story. Only criticism would be the casting of Lois Lane as she was devoid of her usual edgy crossed with feminist kinda personality - this time she actually looked scared most of the time. Other than that I loved it the crystal caves in the arctic were incredible and I loved all the crazy shows of his strength from air land and sea. On the funny side Kitty (Parker Posie) hair styles are very amusing.

Tristram Shandy was also brilliant a great english romp on post modern film showing a movie at the simultaneous time of showing its filming and creation. My favourite part was the dialogue at the begginning and end that talks about the co stars teeth its stomach achingly funny.

would give both 5 stars and recommend seeing them.

Monicas 30th Birthday

Well another of my friends has now hit the big 30 and survived. only 22 months till its mine and not too worried. Monica organised a dinner to celebrate the occasion at a lovely Italian restaurant in Hardware Lane in Melbourne. It was a fun night over all but the highlight for me was my main meal of lamb shank which literally melted off the bone - I was in food heaven.

At work with no work

It is occurring to me how annoying working in an open plan environment is when you are completely out of work. It means you actually have to do a good job of acting like you are working whilst achieving nothing. My last desk space in the old office was great as my back faced a wall so in down time I could spend it on the internet researching my next trip.

I'm so excited... and I just can't hide it

I only have 11 weeks until I go now I paid the last of my trip off yesterday so its really happening now. I have no where near enough savings but will just have to live on crackers and vegemite.

Uncanny Similarities between life and movies

Have you ever sat in a movie cinema only to feel like the story unfolding on the screen was based on your life. Well I have and not just once. I remember in my late teens watching the three movies clerks/mallrats/chasing amy and thinking oh my god as My best friend was obsessed with comics I was working in a video store and most of my days were filled with pseudo-intellectual debates about unimportant topics.

Then in my twenties I watched the first Bridget Jones Diary film and almost cried it was so close. I had the pink fluffy PJs, lived alone, wrote diaries, was overweight, had a crush on a guy at work and even had the red heart cushions.

The latest was a movie called the breakup. The arguments they have are so similar at times to mine and Kevs its funny especially the one that began about the dishes and ended on ballet. Also the fact hat he spends too much time devoted to computer games.

Anyway thought I would put it out there. I have had more than this but these are the scariest.

Dereks Farewell

It seems that it is another spring cleaning time at Whirlwind when a mass group of staff go their merry way. In the coming weeks along with myself there is Christie, Cara, Cam, Rene and Derek all fav staff members. On friday I went to Derek and Rene's farewell at the Vic in Richmond. It was fun and we even had the token superman(dails son). However the highlight and now one of my favs is going for the vine wrapped minced beef rolls wrapped in asian mint and iceberg lettuce - at one of the many Vietnamese restaurants along Victoria Street. These are soooooooo good I can't believe it has taken me so long to discover them.

Only 12 weeks to go

Well I am finally getting excited now as it is within breathing distance until I go on my 4 month world tour. I have almost booked everything now so all I have to do is make it onto each plane on time. so from now on I will be making regular updates so by the time I leave I have this thing called bloggin sussed.

I have finally made it to the blog generation

OK so many have been aware of the fun of this for some time and care of my friend Ellen I have also been shown its capabilities but as with all technology it takes me a while to embrace. With the knowledge that I am going on a wee trip round the world at the end of the year I thought I better get up and going before I leave.

Hope what I have to say about me and the world around me is of interest to any who are kind enough to read.