Back in England

Hello out there!!

Yes, i made it back to London yesterday, with decidedly more luggage than I left with! Oh well, it was all in a good cause, and some of it will be consumed anyway. For Scott I bought some apfelwein (apple wine, kind of like cider), some Darmstadt beer, chocolate, some cherry chewing gum, pink grapefruit chewing gum (yes, Scott likes his weird chewing gums!!), and some tea bags that make gluhwein, which is the hot spiced wine that Gremans drink at Christmas time.

The flight back was good. I was very early to the airport, but I would much rather be early than late. So i checked in, said goodbye to Gisela who had kindly dopped me at the airport, and went through security. I was warned about there being two security checks, and that i should leave 40 minutes. Ok, fine. I went through the first lot, then had a look at some shops. I sat down in an empty gate lounge and drank the fruit juice I had bought myself. Then I wandered towards the British Airways end of the terminal, to find that there was another security check. My stuff was x-rayed again, and this time there was no walk-through metal detector. So I had a metal detector run over my body by some lady. Nice. I made a comment that it was a bit personal, but her English obviously wasn't good enough to understand what i said! The woman x-raying my bag picked up something metal in my bag and wanted to have a look as it was a strange shape. It was my flying pigs hair clip. She thought it was very cute, and proceeded to show it to her collegue. I don't understand why they needed a second security check. It was only if you were going through certain gate lounges.

While I was sitting in the gatelounge, before the second security check, I walked over to the window. And guess what? It was snowing. So on my trip to Germany it snowed the day I got there, and the day I left (but only after I was safely through immigration etc). Unbelieveable!!

I made it back to the house, Scott met me at the tube station which was nice. It's always handy to have a porter!! Went back to the house, unpacked a bit, wrapped Scott's pressies up. He made dinner for me which was lovely. We had our Christmas celebrations, well, we opened our presents anyway! I got three novels (all by Dan Brown who wrote The Da Vinci Code), two pairs of earrings, an Eeyore phone cover, and a lovely gift set care of his workplace as they miscalculated and had one male and one female gift for two male employees, so Scott chose the female one for me. It is really expensive stuff too!! A nice shower gel, eau de toilette and a body lotion are in there. Yum! Then it was to bed, as I am still a little unwell and the plane flight wreaked havoc on my ears and i was a bit deaf... what?? ;-)

Today, we got up early, as it was our "Christmas Day". We caught the tube to Notting Hill Gate, changed to the Circle line to Paddington. Got off there and made our way to the main line station (ie the long distance, overland railway system). We bought tickets to Oxford, and hopped on a train pretty much straight away. And it was an express train too, stopping only twice on the way there. We arrived at Oxford at 10am, and jumped on a sight seeing bus. Got off at Christ Church College, and wandered in. We had been told that the dining hall had been used in the filming of Harry Potter, but when we got there the sign said it was just used as inspiration. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see inside one of the colleges though. The buildings are beautiful. And coincidentally, when we were there, a group of school students from St Peters in Indooroopilly (for those of you outside Brisbane, it is a school near my university). The group was a choir doing a tour of Europe, and they were there to give a concert.

From Chrsit Church College, we jumped back onto the sight seeing bus. We had read in the Lonely Planet Guide that there was a really "cheesy" attraction in Oxford called The Oxford Story. So, we went and checked it out. I tell you what, I am so glad Scott decided to treat me, as it was so bad! Basically, the whole experience was us riding on a train, in carriages shaped like scholars desks, looking at models of people doing scholarly stuff, and listening to commentary. I can see you rolling your eyes from here!!

After that experience, we grabbed some lunch in the covered market, and had a wander around there. It's like a very mini version of the Victoria Markets in Melbourne. Very very very mini!!

After that we walked to the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Natural History Museum (they are joined really). So, again, Alex was in heaven! The Pitt Rivers Museum was great. It was a bit like the Horniman Museum in London (which I think I neglected to tell you about!!). Basically it is quite old fashioned in the museum world, in the display techniques. But I think theat is the appeal of the place. The cabinets are crammed full of stuff (like shrunken heads, baskets, knives, guns etc), all sorted into categories. It was fantastic. Although, the labels left a little to be desired (...Nic??).

From there we jumped on the bus again, and went all the way round to Christ Church College again, where we had a look at Alice's Sweet shop. it's basically just a small shop that is amking money off the fact that Lewis Carroll had something to do with Christ Church College. They had some cute stuff, but I bought nothing.

Then we wandered to Blackall's Bookshop, which is supposedly famous etc. Had a good look around. There were so many archaeology books, I had to stop myself from looking at too many as I would have wanted to buy them. It is very dangerous to take me into a book store!!

From there we managed to jump on the last bus back to the station and got on the next train to London. It turned out to be to non-express one, so it took forever to get us back. But we were able to jump off before the train went all the way to Paddington, and change to the tube. And now you are up to date! I am sitting in Acton after our day in Oxford, feeling still a little unwell, but I will have a quiet next few days, then it's New Years! Then I start a new job on Monday for two weeks for so. But, it's a change, it's money etc.

:-)

Me

Last entry from Germany

Hello there,

As the title says, this will be my last entry from Deutschland. I have had such a wonderful time. It was so great to see my host family again, and share Christmas with them like I did 8 years ago.

Today I wandered around Darmstadt by myself. I went in with Henrike and Gisela, as they had to take Henrike's Christmas present back. Gisela bought her a phone for her apartment in Cologne, as her old one didn't work very well. But when Henrike opened the box, there was no phone inside. Nothing at all!! But it all got sorted out today.

I didn't intend on buying any clothes for me today. But I ended up with three items of clothing, which I am very happy with. I bought a pair of jeans (I brought a black pair with me, and a brown pair, but a little variety after 6 weeks in the same clothes never hurts!!), a kelly green jumper (Irish colour, suits me well), and a chocolate brown v-neck top that I can wear for work. And some stuff for Scotty too. Which I cannot put on here just yet, as he may read this before I get home tomorrow and spoil it!!

I am finding that I am developing a travel style. Let me explain. I really enjoy just wandering through a place, experiencing the local sights, smells, etc, rather than rushing around sightseeing. Maybe that comes from the fact that I will be over in Europe for a while, so subconsciously, I know that I don't have to rush around and see as much as I possibly can. I know I will be back to Germany, so for this trip, spending time with Vera and everyone was much more important than going to see other places. I can do that on my next trip, because I know there will be one. And besides, I am a people-watcher. I like looking at people from different cultures, looking at what they eat, how they dress, etc. It may sound odd, but that's me really!!

Bis London meine Freunde und Freundinnen!!

A quiet day

Hello there,

Well, today I was meant to go with everyone to the grandparents house near Stuttgart. But, I wanted to stay home, as I have a cold and I didn't want to pass on my germs. And I think a day of rest has done me a lot of good too. It is a pity I missed going to see them, I vaguely remember them from 8 years ago and they were very nice.

So there really is not all that much to write today. Yesterday was a very lazy day which was great. Vera and Chris went out last night to Das Kaffeehaus again, but I stayed in, because of the smoke. But that's cool, because I got to watch "Shall We Dance" auf deutsch. It was so lame, I am kind of glad it was in German!! I had a bit of a language barrier, but that made no difference, as Henrike had difficulties understanding what was going on in the plot, or should I say, lack thereof!

So today, I lazed around. I read some of my book, I took a nice hot bath, napped, and watched The Incredibles on dvd (a pirate copy obviously!!) but it was auf deutsch to, which was fun. I am feeling a lot better for a lazy day too. I am worried about flying with a cold on Tuesday, but hopefully I will be a little better by then. I think I will try and get some Sudafed tomorrow (or the German equivalent!!). Gisela will take me to the Pharmacy and do all the talking. It was bad enough when we were in Austria trying to explain what I needed to the pharmacist there (that too was for a cold, similar to what I have now...gotta love winter, hey??)

Scott said it was cold, but bright sunshine for Xmas day in London yesterday. And no snow here. What is the world coming to??? :-)

Tomorrow hopefully I will get to go shopping. I really love wandering and exploring by myself. Hopefully I will get to do a little bit of that tomorrow. I think Henrike goes back to Cologne tomorrow, and then I leave on Tuesday. I must remember to get her email address, so perhaps we can meet up in Dublin, or she can tell me a good place to stay etc. Insider knowledge is always good!!

So, what did everybody out there do over Christmas? I would love to hear all about what you got up to!! Please post a comment or email me and tell me! I still don't know how many people read this thing, so make contact, then I can find our just how many people I am putting to sleep.....

That's it from me. Hope all is well with y'all!

Alex :-)

Weihnachten!

Hallo from Deutschland! Today we walked into the village to get some last minute Christmas shopping done. Went to the butchers, to the wine merchant, that kind of thing. As I write this, Gisela and the girls are off buying the tree. A last minute purchase, but one that saves money apparently. I think it's a great idea, really. I think it's funny how people have Christmas trees for so long.

Last night we went out to Das Kaffeehaus to meet Vera's friends. It was nice to see some of her friends from school I met 8 years ago. But the place is so smoky, I am really suffering today. I feel like I smoked an entire packet of cigarettes last night. And I have never actually smoked in my life. I think it's an awful habit personally, but the number of smokers here in Germany is phenomenal. I noticed it 8 years ago, and it hasn't changed much, if at all. Scott and I noticed on the tour, that smokers in Europe seem to be so inconsiderate of others. At least in Australia, most people think about others before lighting up. Ah well, the beauty of cultural differences, right??

Anyway, there is a tree to be decorated etc.

Frohe Weihnachten, Merry Christmas!!

ahem

So, I was saying yesterday about a white Christmas? Well, my mistake, as I woke up this morning, looked out of the window and it had all washed away in the rain. How rude! Oh well, no white Christmas for me I'm afraid. But, nevertheless, I shall be having a German Christmas!

Gisela told me this morning that we were lucky yesterday with regards to Frankfurt airport. I think I mentioned that the pilot had never seen so much ice. Well, an hour after I landed, the airport was closed to all flights for 5 hours as the runways were too icy and dangerous. Good timing, hey?

I can't think of much else to say at the moment. I will try and update later tonight or tomorrow with some more news. Keep well.

A.

Darmstadt!

Hello! Well, I lied about the lack of entries before Christmas. I am sitting in Darmstadt at this very moment. I have not been in this house in 8 years. It is so nice to be back! Vera and her sister Henrike will arrive tomorrow by train from Cologne. Gisela and I will go into town in the late morning, and do a little shopping. I will hopefully find the rest of Scott's present here somewhere!! If not, I have something I can buy for him in England. :-)

I am so happy to be here. I cannot explain it. I had such a great time here 8 years ago, I have many fond memories of my short 6 weeks here. I am looking forward to being a part of Christmas here again. I am sad to leave Scott behind, on what is our first Christmas away from home together. But at the same time, we are not joined at the hip, so to speak. We have just postponed our Christmas day for a few days. A trip to Oxford for the day sounds good to me!

It is cold here too, so I get a white Christmas. YAY!!!! Apparently, it's my fault it snows at Christmas. Let me explain... When I was here last, in 1996, it was the coldest Christmas in 50 years or something. So when I woke up on the 23rd of December that year and looked out the window, it was all white. It is really hard to describe what I felt at that moment, looking out onto all that snow for the first time. Just breathtaking! And so this year, it is snowing again at Christmas, for my benefit of course! I think it's great that I can control the weather so well. I should get paid for that!!

I am looking forward to checking out the town I spent so much time in all those years ago. Do a bit of shopping. Maybe they have Christmas markets like they used to. I can't wait!!

So that's all for now. Toodles!!

I forgot...

Some people had asked me to describe the albino Indian man I saw.

The first thing about him that struck me was that he looked like any Indian Sikh man, with the beard and the turban on. But upon closer inspection, his skin was pink, not olive or dark like I expected.

Now, the parka and beanie wearing Hare Krishnas were just funny.

An update before Christmas

Helloo out there!!

This will be my last update probably before Christmas. Scott and I are postponing our Christmas celebrations until the Wednesday after I get back from Germany (the 28th I think??). He has the day off, so I suggested we hop on a train and head off somewhere. I thought of Oxford. A couple from our tour went there after we got back, and they got to see the Great Hall from Harry Potter. So I think we will study the Lonely Planet guide and see what in instore for us in Oxford.

I am really looking forward to Christmas. It is going to bring back a lot of fond memories of my 6 weeks in Germany. It was funny how much of it I thought about when we were on the Contiki tour. Even though it was so long ago now, 8 years!

And I hope to get to Hungary soon too. I have many relatives there on mum's side. I am looking forward to meeting them all, hopefully sooner rather than later. As an only child, with very few close relatives, it is a little bit of a novelty to have all these people I can visit.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Christmas, and a happy new year. Enjoy your break from work etc if you get one. I send hugs to you all!

Alex :-)

In heaven :-)

Yes, for those of you who know what I am interested in, you will understand what I mean by heaven, when I say I went to the British Museum today. I love that place. Nic, there is an exhibition (very small though) on badges and identity. It was quite interesing. I took photos of three of the badges. One of them I feel was quite appropriate to a certain friend of mine. It said "Genuine Nerd". One person reading this will know I am talking about them. Yes, you, Nicole!! My other fav badge said "Nuke a gay whale for Christ". I have no idea what it means, but it sounds very amusing. I saw the Rosetta Stone too, and Lindow Man. He is smaller than I thought he would be. Although, after all those years of being squished in a peat bog, you'd expect that, right? And the Rosetta Stone was bigger than I thought it would be. For some reason I had it in my mind that it was small. Not sure why.

Yesterday we went to Portobello Road markets. They are huge. Bought a few things, like vegies and stuff. We caught the bus there. We are exploring the buses. Our area is quite well served by buses which is great. There is a bus from the bottom of the hill to the British Museum. Hello!

I made soup last night. Leek and potato. It was quite nice really. We had sour cream with it. But here, its not called sour cream, it's called Creme Fraiche. The English are a weird bunch!! ;-)

We also exlored the smaller grocery shops in our area tonight too. There are four or five. In England they have shops that are like convenience stores, and they advertise themselves as selling "Food and Wine". They are not more expensive on the whole. The ones in our area have some really cool stuff in them. We bought rose hip juice, couscous, semolina (for porridge!!) and salami. They have yummy cheeses and olives, and so many different kinds of yoguhurt! It depends on the nationality of the owner, as to what they sell. There is a polish one, a russian one, a middle eastern one and a medditeranean one. YUM!!

I am going to Germany for Christmas this year. I will have a kind of reunion with my host family from all those years ago. I am leaving Scott behind as he has to work. I feel bad about it, but he told me to go, and I guess I would have to wait 12 months for the next Christmas!! We will be together for New Years though. I am really looking forward to seeing Vera and her family. It's been 8 years since I was there in Germany with them, and 7 and a half since I have seen Vera. I can't wait!

:-)

not much

I saw an albino Indian man today.

And I am now a tenant. Signed the lease today, and we have keys. Move tomorrow. Should be exciting!

:-)

a place to live!

Hello! Yes, finally, we have a place to live. We sign the paperwork tomorrow, get the keys and move in on Tuesday. Well, when I say we, I mean Scott and Judy will actually do the moving, and I will just come home from work on Tuesday to a different house! It will be odd, but Scott starts work on Wednesday so it's the best time to do it. We will be living a short distance away form Scott's work which is good for him. And as we don't know where I will be working, it will not matter for me. We are close to the tube, so it's quite accessible.

Funny thing I saw today:

Hare krishnas walking down Oxford Street, wearing ski jackets and beanies. Made me laugh.

Mum put an idea in my head tonight. Spending Chrismas or New year's someplace other than London. Germany perhaps, or Hungary. I would love to! Andif we stay with someone I know, then no accomodation costs, right? Scott has to find out when he has to work over the holiday period, then we can work it out from there!!

:-)

can't think of a title tonight...

hey people,

Well, it is the end of my first week of work. All in all, it has been quite good. I am working there again next week, which is great. Nice to know they will have me back. I get to read my book on the tube, if I get a seat that is! I have done various admin stuff this week: typed out letters, filing, answering telephones, making telephone calls to chase staff. That kind of thing.

One thing I forgot to mention the other day, and I was reminded of it on the walk back from the train station tonight. In the toy shop in the suburb where I am staying, they sell Sylvanian Families. I don't know if anyone reading this had those when you were growing up. I did. And I loved them. They are still under the house somewhere too I believe! Brought back memories :-)

We are looking at three flats tomorrow. Well, rooms anyway. Some of them sound good on paper, I guess its a different thing to see them in the flesh. But thats the plan tomorrow. We are looking in north London, close to the tube etc. And hopefully with my own bathroom!! Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

I bought blue roses today. Cos I could. Not for me though, but for mum's cousin who has done so much for us.

Over and out. ;-)

A job for Scotty!

Helloo! Seeing as though I update my journal more often than Scott does, I feel it is my duty to tell you all he has a job. He wil be working in the correspondence department of a major mobile phone company in London. I am so happy for him! Apparently the company seems like a great place to work, they treat their employees well, which is great.

We will be looking at a couple of flats tomorrow night too. On the tube, zone three, so should be ok. I wanted my own bathroom, but I think it is more important to meet people. So I will bite the bullet, and we will look at flats/house shares. Most of the places in the area we are looking at are filled with Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans anyway! I am looking forward to meeting other people in the same working holiday situation we are in.

Work today was good. I am flying through the work that was supposed to take me all week to do. I have now finished that and I have moved on to something else. According to the boss, I am doing " a brilliant job". Yay!

:-) ta ta!

Another relative

Hello! I met another relative today. She is 83, and the mother of Judy, who I am staying with. Anne is her name. And she's one of these really cute old ladies. She has Alzeihmers, so she doesn't remember who her own daughter is. She forgets to speak English too, or cannot remember that she can. But she was pleased to meet me, even though she cannot remember the people she has met in Hungary I am related to.

As for the rest of the day, I will go for a walk I think. And we will go out to dinner, as both Judy and her son will be out for dinner. Turkish perhaps. Something cheap anyway.

Toodles. :-)

Sitting in a pub, reading about family history

As the title of this entry says, that's exactly what I did today. I walked down the Dulwich Village to buy a present for the parents. I wrote them a card while sitting in the Crown and Greyhound, drinking bitter lemon. As you do. And as I was sitting there, I noticed a booklet on family history. So I picked it up. Turns out, the BBC is putting on a family history fair this weekend at the National Archives. Good timing, huh? It will interest Scott more than me, but we are going along tomorrow to see what the deal is. My ancestry is more to do with Scotland and Ireland. I have only one ancestor to trace. All I know is his name, that he was born in London, and his parents names. And it is a common name - Stone. Great.

Scott had his assesment thingy today. He will find out about the job on Monday or Tuesday. Fingers crossed!!

As for me, I have work for next week. I am happy. I was really happy today, for no apparent reason. I like days like that.

A job!!

Of sorts. I got a phone call today from the first agency I had an interview with on Tuesday telling me they had a position for me, and that it was all mine. It is only for a week, but it sounds good enough for me! And its for an agency that has many branches. They prefer to have temps in their offices who have worked for them before. So there is always the possibility of further work.

As for Scott, he went for an interview today for a call centre position. He was then called this afternoon by the interviewer from the agency, who asked him if he would like to be put forward for another position within the same company. This position would be more suitable for him as it deals with the written side of communication rather than on the telephone all the time. Sounds good, and I am happy for him. The job is a permanent one too. Depending on whether he gets the job or not, travel plans can be changed, etc. We don't have any firm travel plans at the moment anyway. I want to go visit an uncle in Belguim, but I should do that on my own Ithink. He is 85, and I want to go asap.

Life in London is fun. I am enjoying just being here. Today we went on a bit of an adventure. Scott had to be in a place called Mill Hill today for 11am. I went with him, as I didn't have an appointment to go to today. We left at 8.45am and walked for 20mins to the train station (as opposed to the tube). We got off at London Bridge, changed to the tube to Kentish Town, then got on the Thameslink to Mill Hill Broadway. Mill Hill itself was boring, but I had less than an hour there. I read the paper in the library, and wandered around a bit. Scott met me after his interview and we headed back towards the city. We got off at Bank, then took the Docklands Light Railway. That was really creepy. The carriages are kind of a combination of a monorail and a tram. There are no drivers, as they are controlled from some central point and its quite strange. We went to the end of the line, and got off to look around. Had lunch, then got back on the DLR to get home. Took a while, as we took two light railway lines, and two trains to get back. Then the 20 min walk back to the house. But it was an adventure which I enjoyed.

And it gets dark here, like pitch black, at 4.30pm!!! Quite disconcerting really!!

Job search begins

Hello there.

I forgot to mention, that I set up a mobile phone here, so I can now be reached on that too. Please email me if you would like the number. I can send international text messages too!!

I am still in London at my cousin's house. She has been incredibly generous taking in a very distant relative (she is my mum's third cousin) whom she has never met, as well as Scott.

Scott and I went to see an exhibition today called "Hungary's Heritage". Twas quite good really, but my only disappointment is that most of the objects in the display were merely owned by the particular Hungarian family, not actually made in the country. But the collection (not the Hungarian bit though) included quite a few micromosaics. These are amazing. The pieces of marble etc used in them are so small (we were actually given magnifying glasses at the beginning), I would say the maximum length is 4mm. Quite stunning really, and they were mostly of scenes like the Roman Forum, as people in the 18th century used to buy them as the modern equivalent of postcards. It was lovely to be able to recognise the buildings in the mosaics, and be able to say "I've seen that!!"

Apart from that, life rolls on really. We are keeping our fingers crossed about jobs etc tomorrow. We will keep looking for jobs, chase up employment agencies, talk to people etc etc.

Bye for now!!

in london.. again

Yes, I am here again. We have had a nightmare of an adventure over the last few days. My last post I think spoke of our future of working in a pub. Well, as I sit here, back in London in the lounge room of a distant relative, I can safely say that I think I don't even want to start!! We have been led on a wild goose chase, crossing three counties of southern England, and we are back on London, four days later and some 10 miles away from where we started on Monday morning!!

Let's start at the beginning shall we???

So on Monday morning Scott and I head off to Guildford for our first pub job. To get there we have to catch a tube to Waterloo, a train to Guildford and then a bus to a place outside Guildford to the pub. We get there, after some two and a half hours travel time, only to find out that the people who were supposed to leave decided not to only the day before. So there was no job there for us. We rang the company who placed us, and they arranged another placement for us. So we had a noght in an English pub. The pub itself was great, real character. The staff there were so helpful too.

So the next day we travelled back into Guildford, then caught a train to Havant, where we were picked up by our second employer who took us to the pub in a place called Emsworth. Nice enough town, but the pub had a funny feel. It was kind of a yuppy bar in the middle of a seemingly sleepy riverside village. I didn't feel comfortable there at all. We met the wife of the guy who picked us up form the station. The guy was really nice, but his wife was an absolute bitch. She basically told us that they were under the impression that we had experience, and that she did not have time to train us. In other words, for the second time in as many days, we were told that the place that we had lugged all of our luggage to, had no job for us.

We made the most of the day though. We headed into the next town and organised our mobile phones. So I can be contacted now! And I can send smses home which is fun too.

The company arranged a third placement for us in a place called Newdigate. Spoke to the boss, who sounded nice on the phone. Basically it was his idea for us to be there and get trained and then start getting paid when the other staff member left. Sounds good in theory right? Okay, so we get there, after catching two trains to get there from Havant (and going through Guildford where we had been some two days previously). So we get there, meet the boss. We were basically ignored by the guy and his wife all day, which was fine as they were busy. So we try, much later that evening, to do some washing. We asked another staff member about the washing machines etc, and placed our stuff in one of them. I have never used a front loader before, so i mentioned it to the boss. He then told us that it doesn't work. So we asked if there was a trick to get it open. Apparently I looked at him funny (and who wouldn't at the prospect of losing all of your underwear to a hungry washing machine, and given the previous few days), and he decided that because of that, that we were no longer welcome. WTF? I still don't get it. So I rang a cousin of mums and explained the situation to her. I had spoken to her the previous day from Emsworth. She said that we will have to stay with her. Bless her! I had not met her until today, but she is just lovely. So we have a roof over our head, we are back in civilisation and on our way to getting jobs. And not in pubs!

We have been turned off pubs, and I think this whole debacle has proved to me that I am a city girl at heart. The countryside is nice, but only if you have a car. Not if you have to deal with public transport.

I am falling asleep here though, so I shall sign off. I hope all is well with all of you. :-)

back in london!!!

Oh my God!! The last three weeks have flown by and Scott and I are back in London. We made it back to London this evening. We were caught in traffic. We left Amsterdam this morning. It seems like so long ago already! We left early and drove almost to the border of Belgium to stop at Macca's. Had 45 mins there and drove thru Belgium straight to Calais to the ferry. We had to go through UK customs and I GOT A STAMP!!!! Now I have four. Liechtenstein (which I had to pay for, but it was so worth it!), Heathrow, departing Australia and now entering the UK again. Small things...

I must tell you about Amsterdam. On our first night we had a "cultural" evening. We (as in most of our group of 51) went to a live sex show. 'Twas a bit lame really, as it looked pretty much like an Aerobics Ozstyle display. Then we had free time to wander the streets of the Red Light District. There was porn everywhere, really in your face. It was an eye opening experience to say the least. As for the marijuana, that too was everywhere. There were quite a few in our group that tried it. So there were many giggles on the bus back to the hotel. WE spent the rest of the night packing as we had to fit everything into as few a bags as possible. We did it, only just though. And tonight we are staying at the Generator in London. We are starting work in a pub in Guildford,Surrey in two days time, so we head out there tomorrow. Anyone who would like the address, please email me and I will gladly send it to ya.

The tour overall was great. There were bits I would change or do differently, but it was a fantastic way to see some of the many sights of Europe. It was hectic, with late nights, early mornings, drinking, sleeping in the bus, taking lots of photos, meeting new people and making friends, laughing with and at people, climbing stairs, squeezing into hotel lifts, enduring cold showers, being hounded by black men with rip offs of designer bags, beggars, public transport systems, foreign languages, post cards and stiff legs from hours on the bus.

So that is it from me for now. I will next update from our new home of Guildford in Surrey. Take care peoples, and I would love to hear from y'all!! :-)

The Rhine Valley

Hello from Germany! We are staying in a place called St Goar, which is very close to the Lorelei rock. It was dark as we drove past, but I can still say I have seen it. Today we travelled from Switzerland to Germany. We took the cog railway down early this morning to the base of the mountain. From there we drove about three hours to the border of Germany/Switzerland. Stopped at border control, then drove 20 metres for our first stop. We got lunch of schnitzel and potatoes which was pretty good. They had lemon mentos there too, but I didn't buy any. I love just looking at all the different stuff that is in the shops here, the different versions of the stuff we have at home.

We went to a Bierstein shop today too. Under the hotel (Contiki seems to be big on group deals and kick backs) and it was a little tacky, well not tacky, but I didn't want to buy one. There was also a teddy bear shop. And for Caroline and Delicia, they had Stief teddy bears, the MEGA expensive ones. So again, no purchases made.

Tomorrow we head to Amsterdam. I am looking forward to that I tell ya what! We get to see clogs and cheese! I want a pair of clogs. Well, not really, but I want to try some on.

switzerland...

again...

well, i had spare swiss francs to spend so i pumped them into the computer thingy. why not hey? still have not found the shift key though

we had a day in lucerne today. to get there from the top of the mountain, we had to take two cable cars and a bus. unbelieveable!! the views were spectacular. the first cable car was large, fitting about 25 people in it. the next ones were small with only four. i think i had a grin on my face the whole way down!!!

day in lucerne was spent wandering around, taking it all in. bought sme post cards, a gorgeous watch. lucerne is beautiful, with the swiss alps surrounding it. stunning

oh and i bought a tee shirt too, with the characters from south park on it, dressed in leder hosen etc with swiss park on it. funny

ok, thats it from me, take care people, and hopefully i can update from amsterdam...

top of switzerland

helloo

i cannot find the shift key so i hope you can read it.

we are currently staying on the top of mt pilatus, which is about 2300 metres above sea level. the views are aewsome. we caught the cog railway up the side of the mountain. awesome views. all of my photos are of mountaïns...

we also got to go to liechtenstein today too. dad, i sent you a post card so check out the stamp, apparently they are highly sought after...

i cannot believe that in one weeks time we will be at the pub in surrey. we have done so much on the tour and seen so much. it will be sad to leave, but exciting at the same time.

not much of an entry i am afraid, but it is all that mountain air ;-)

No Kangaroos in Austria

Helloo!!

We are in Vienna! We have free time today for a few hours, so it is nice to be able to catch up on emails etc. We could check them at the flash hotel we are staying in (the flashest of the tour) but it costs the equivalent of $4AUD for 10 minutes.

I am having a great time. I am sooooo tired, but it is all worth it. I must admit tha tI am happy that we have left Italy. As much as I enjoyed seeing the ruins of the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, it is a really dirty country. Compared to France which was just stunning...

Rome. What can I say? We we staying quite a way out of town, so we got to experience the Rome Metro. That was fun. So many people!! We also got to go on a bus, which had so many people on it that every time we went around a left hand turn the side of the bus would grate along the road. Extremely funny.

We went to Vatican City. Saw the Sistine Chapel. We were standing there and an annoucement came over the loudspeaker, in four different languages and at some volume, telling everyone to be silent. Ironic really.

From the Vatican City we caught a bus into Rome itself for our walking tour of Imperial Rome. I was disappointed, as I was hoping the guide would paint more of a picture of what life was like and what the buildings were like. But I bought a book instead. Then we went to the Colosseum. Oh my God!! It really made me happy to just wander around. Sad as it sounds...

From Rome we travelled ALL DAY to Venice. We stayed on the mainland (in Hotel Vienna, run by Asians...go figure), but travelled there the next day for a full day on the islands. It was supposed to flood in Venice, as it does 70 times a year. So the main square was full of water, and we bought "emergency" gumboots. These are basically plastic bags with soles. Amusing though. And we have embarrassing photos to prove it. Speaking of photos, I will soon be burning my cd of photos from my camera, so i should have photos for you all to see soon.

And now we are in Austria. We had dinner in the hotel last night instead of going into town as we are tired. We had a picnic on our bed. It was fun.

And today is a free day!! A good day to telephone people.

Florence

Hello from Italy. Italy is a beautiful country, dirty and full of beggars etc, but a nice place. We drove from Nice to Florence yesterday. We stopped at a French perfumerie on the way and had a tour. Spent money in the shop on perfume and some other yummy stuff. Then it was into Italy. Between the border of France and Italy to the town of Pisa which was our next stop we went through a total of 157 tunnels. I stopped counting after about 36. There was a prize for the person who got the correct number.

We stopped at Pisa, which is of course home to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Smaller than I thought it would be. I was happy to see it though, after seeing it in books etc, it is fantastic to be able to see it in reality. And yes, we did the photo with me trying to hold up the tower, but it didn't really work! In Pisa they have a great number of stalls selling fake brand name bags. We bought a carpet bag and I got a hand bag as well. I have no idea what brand they are supposed to be, but the hand bag is really nice and I didn't bring a going out type hand bag with me, and the carpet bag will come in handy for our purchases, as well as stashing our sleeping bags, which we have not used yet.

From Pisa we drove into Florence. Florence is a Renaissance town with gorgeous architecture. Did not really see all that much on the first night however. We had dinner in the hotel, then it was out to some bar nearby for a drink. There was karaoke, so Scott got up with someone and sang. :-)

Today was another early start. We had a group photo taken overlooking Florence, then it was into the town itself for a tour of a leather place. I spent a bit of money today, but considering I have hardly bought anything, I think I did well. I bought a Florentine box, which is a box handcrafted out of one piece of leather. Gorgeous. I also bought a pashmina, really cheap! Some post cards, two leather bracelets. That's it I think.

Tonight is a Tuscan dinner, then to some Discotheque. We are skipping the disco thing, as we are tired, and we have only been on tour for a week. There are still two more weeks to go.

I hope everyone reading this is keeping well. :-)

The beautiful French Riviera

Hi there! I am sitting in an internet cafe in Nice. Please forgive me if I make spelling errors as the French keyboard is really difficult to use. All the letters are in the wrong places and you have to press the shift key for a full stop.

Our tour so far has been pretty full on. Two days in Paris, one spent wandering around on our own which was great. Saw Notre Dame, walked down the Champs-Elysees, watched Paris walk by. It was great. Sent three post cards too, so it will be a surprise as to who gets one.... And we also went up the Eiffel Tour on our first night in Paris, really takes your breath away when you see it for the first time.

From Paris we drove to Lyon, a nice place on the Rhine River. We did a walkabout dinner as out tour manager calls them. Basically it means that we are left to our own devices in a certain part of town to get food. We went off in search of food with a couple from Melbourne (yes there are heaps of Aussies on the tour). We found this great restaurant in a side alley. I had the best duck i have ever had. Absolutely devine. I don`t think I will be able to eat it anywhere else now!!

From Lyon we went to Nice, stopping in a town called Avignon on the way. Tried the local food of course. I remembered from home that mum made something called Pisaladiere, which is basically a tart thing with anchovies and olives and onion on it. I found one and it was so good!!

Arrived in Nice last night. Changed and drove to Monaco for dinner (as you do). We saw the palace, which is surprisingly open. There are guards but it is not behind walls at all. Dinner was good, nice food. Then it was back to the bus for a trip to a casino in Monte Carlo. I spent nothing but Scott did some gambling on the black jack table. Lost some but had fun.

Then we came back to the hotel and went out for drinks. This turned into a very long night and we got back to our room at 4.30 this morning. So I am tired, but having a great time.

All in all I am loving Europe. Apart from the cigarette smoke everywhere. The buildings are awesome. I feel really lucky to be here and to be able to experience all that we are.

Internet cafes are expensive here so I hope I can update soon. Keep looking to see what I am up to! And comments are welcome. Bye bye for now!

Still London!

Two busy days to fill you in on.

Yesterday: Walked to Covent Garden, found the bus to London Tower. Not a double decker, but we had one of those later on! Very cool. The Tower of London was very well done. It reminded me a little of Sovereign Hill with the people in costume wandering about, but it was all very well done. We walked over the Tower Bridge. But we found that halfway along we could actually (pay and) go inside the bridge. So we went up to the top of the bridge to the covered walkway bits and walked along both sides, taking pictures. The weather has been so great, clear and fine, even sunny at times! Then we wandered down to the end of the bridge, to catch the lift to the roadway. The lift attendant told us that we might just be in time for the bridge opening (for a ship that is). And we were! We came out of the lift, and the bridge's middle was rising. Talk about timing! So of course we took photos. I will hopefully be posting photos after our Contiki tour. Promise :-)

We then caught a bus to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which is a reconstruction of the 17th century theatre in which his plays were performed. The place is very well done. Everything was done using medieval tools too. The sponsors of the project (ie those who gave money) were each given a stone in the courtyard. John Cleese bought two stones, one for himself and one for Michael Palin, but deliberately had Michael's name spellt Pallin to annoy him. But, according to the guide, it was ironic as in doing so, Michael Pallin had a larger stone than John Cleese!

Caught a bus to Waterloo Station, then another from there to Russell Square (the double decker). We made our way to the Royal National Hotel, as we had a Jack the Ripper tour starting at 7.15. The tour took us to the east end of London, which was great, as it gave us an insight into the area, both in 1888 and today. Had fish and chips in a pub called the Prospect of Whitby. In the time of Jack the Ripper, they used to hang people behind the pub, then stopped, and took to drowning them. Lovely!!

Today:Got up early, and headed to the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221b Baker Street. Not really my thing, but interesting nonetheless. Caught the train to the Museum of London. Excellent. :-) I love museums. I gotta find me a badge that says that. Caught a train from St Pauls to near our hostel. So we could see the Mummy!! The British Museum have an exhibition on at the moment called Inside a Mummy. It was fantastic! They used hospital imaging techniques to see inside the mummy and determine what he was entombed with. It turns out that the embalmers left the bowl behind his head, or so the theory goes, and realised the next day, and just wrapped him up bowl and all hoping that no one would notice! Love it. The 3d film was brilliant. And then we got to "meet" the mummy, as he is in the museum's collection.

And that is the story so far. We are off on our Contiki tour tomorrow morning, really early. :-)

A post from London!

Hello out there. We arrived safely in London. We are sitting in an internet cafe near the hostel, about 2 blocks from Oxford Street. It is the biggest internet cafe I have ever seen. It is open 24 hours, no staff, and I think there are about 150 terminals.

Today was a big day. We had breakfast at the hostel, as it's included which is great. Nothing too flash, just some cornflakes, bread and jam, that kind of thing. We then had to go to the bank in Regent Street, so we wandered down there. I have no idea how far we walked today, but it was quite a distance. At the bank, there was a special Australia and New Zealander suite for new account holders, so they obviously handle a great number of Australians!

We both really enjoyed the walk to Regent Street. I was just happy to be wandering around in a strange city, just drinking in the atmosphere, the sights, sounds smells of London. It was great! We walked through Piccadilly Circus, which was really busy, and had large neon billboards. From the bank we walked back down Regent Street to the British tourist office thingy where we swapped out London Pass vouchers for actual cards. These we bought in Australia, and they enable us to enter a great number of places such as museums and galleries etc for nothing, well it's obviously built into the cost of the ticket, but ultimately we paid for it in Aussie dollars, not in pounds, and there is apparently no waiting at attractions, which will save us time.

We then headed to Tottenham Court Rd underground station to get our three day travel tickets. These saved us a lot of time and money today, as we can hop on and off any red bus or tube train in zones 1 and 2. Which is exactly what we did today.

We saw the houses of parliament, the thames. We are staying very close to the BRitish Museum, but we will go there tomorrow, as we get free entry to the Inside a Mummy exhibition. YAY!! My time at the computer is running out. I will update more tomorrow, or soon after. I am having a fab time, hope you are too! :-)

Singapore!

Hello from Singapore! We were walking towards the transit lounge and shops and I spotted free internet terminals. Now we couldn't pass that up, right??

The flight was pretty good. 7 and a half hours I believe. I slept at least half of the way, but it wasn't great sleep. It never is when you are sitting up! Scott got coffee spilled on his pants by the stewardess, but he's ok. He didn't suffer burns or anything!

I have never been to Sinapore before, so I am keen to have a look around the shops. Our gate lounges are close together, but we have three hours to kill. So I want to look around the shops. I found the place that you can get massages from! YAY! So I'll see if we have time.

Free internet rocks. I hope we will be able to find more places like this.

I am tired, but a happy camper. We have begun our adventure, and I am looking forward to sleeping in my bed in London, so I can be rested enough to see some of the sights. I was warned not to see too much in the first few days. I think that is a wise move really. We will be seeing so much on the tour, that I think three days just hanging around London, people watching, and spending time in the British Museum will be a great start to our adventure. I will sign off now, and I will update from London!

Possibly the last post from Australia!!!

Hello out there!

I have my bag packed. It weighs 16kg according to the bathroom scales. It's pretty heavy, so I may take some stuff out of it yet, but it's under the 20kg mark, which I am happy about.

This may be my last post from the Land of Oz. I have several things to do tomorrow, and then we are out of here!

I am a mixture of emotions at the moment. I am SOOOO excited to be leaving, but at the same time I am afraid that I won't like it, scared of the unknown. I know Scott is feeling similarly to me. It's his first overseas trip too, which makes it even more scarey etc!

We have cash and travellers cheques, copies of documents. I think I am supposed to take one with me. And leave one at home? I have no idea! I thought so, but I will talk to mum about it tomorrow.

For all of those who will be reading this when we are away, I invite you to post a comment on my journal and/or on Scott's. Just click on the comment link (it will say 1 Comment or 0 Comments etc). Then click on Post comment and write to me! Simple!

It is here that I will sign off. Please keep in touch. Take care, and I will "speak" to you all soon!

Alex :-)

A big big weekend

I think my last weekend in Australia for a while was one of the busiest, craziest in a long long time!! Friday night was a great night. It was fantastic to see so many of our friends together in the one spot! The food was great, the people even better!! I still think they do the best satay chicken skewers ever. I got some photos on my shiny toy too, which is good. I may even post some to my journal. If i get the time over the next few days.

Scott has been unwell for a few days, so the next couple of days will be focussed on getting him ready to fly. I have complete faith that he will be ready to go. I believe in the power of positive thinking, what harm can it do, right?

As for me, at this point I am surviving on 4 hours sleep. I locked the keys in the car, in the ignition with the engine running tonight at the airport when we dropped my uncle Tony off after his weekend staying with us. It was very funny. You have to see the lighter side of life I say.

I am off to bed. Tomorrow is a new day. Gute Nacht. Schalfs gut. :-)

One week to go

Hello there. Well, it's one week until Scott and I leave the country. I just can't believe that in exactly seven days time, we will be at the airport! I pretty much have everything I need. Apart from that pesky stuff called money of course! We have to arrange/buy travellers cheques, probably on Monday. I will get my last pay on the day we leave, so I will withdraw all of that and exchange that too!

I have my bag pretty much packed. I am usually organised with that kind of thing when it comes to trips. I need to buy shampoo, an extra battery for my camera and a camera case, and I am all set!

As for the going away dinner, it's looking pretty good! People have been a bit slack with the rsvps, but I can forgive them! I am really looking forward to having lots of people in the one spot! I was asked today if there was anything I had not bought yet, as my friend L., the sweet thing that she is, wanted to buy Scott and I a going away present. We pretty much have everything. More money is always good, but I don't want it as presents from friends. From family it's different. From friends I just want to be able to enjoy a meal with them, and say good bye.

Photos

Thank you to my nerdy friend Nic who has taught me how to post phots in my journal. I did a test run today, and it worked perfectly.

As for the rest of the preparations, I have re-packed my bag. I weighed it, but it seems to weigh about 14 kilograms. Now from previous adventures, even to Melbourne, it is most unlike me, or any member of my family for htat matter, that I should be taking so little luggage! What is going on I asked myself? Well, I wanted to take my bag not full, which I seem to have achieved. But because I do not believe our scales at home, which are notorious at the best of times, I will be taking my pack to the airport. My uncle is coming up for the weekend this Friday, and I will take my pack to the airport when we drop him off. I will dump my bag on a set of scales there, and hopefully get a clearer picture of the weight of my baggage. In theory anyway!

Dreams

I think it must be the stress of the upsoming launching off into the unknown, but I have had two bad dreams this week, and noth are related to the trip. Last night's was related to the working in the pub. I dreamt that I forgot everything, like my wallet and my passport (although how I was able to enter the UK withou one is another matter), that the boss was the woman from that terrible movie Cyote Ugly, and that I was desperately unhappy. And I couldn't call home because I had no idea how to make a reverse charge phone call!! I really hate having bad dreams. They really throw me, and I wake up feeling awful.

In other news, hardly anyone has RSVPed for our party. I don't think people realise that we need to tell the restaurant how many people will be there. I NEED TO KNOW PEOPLE!! And besides, I would lke to know who to expect to walk thru the door rather than be surprised. If I haven't heard from people, I will send an email over the weekend, demanding to know.

My ears really hurt. I think they are full of fluid, which is great if I have to spend 22 hours on a plane with them like this, hey? Yeah, a whole bunch of fun! I have to go to the doctor sometime this week or next to get drugs for the trip, so I will mention my ears. Hopefully they will clear up by the time we leave! Keep your fingers crossed for me people!!

Big Purchase!!

I did it! I bought my camera. It's shiny and cute and pocket-sized! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I took a cool photo with it in black and white of the underside of the Riverside Expressway. It's very cool. I have to show Nic, a Canon fancier herself. It is just a matter of playing around with all the settings and stuff so I am completely familiar with it all.

Otherwise, it is two weeks until we leave. I still have a range of emotions going through my head. But, overall, the strongest feelings are excitement and happiness. I have wanted this trip for so long, and it's finally here. And I have a wonderful travel partner by my side too! What more could I ask for?

It's getting closer...

I had horrible dreams last night about money. I have been stressing about the fact that I won't have enough money when we are overseas. I have a UK bank account waiting for me over there, but I still worry. Any large cash donations would be gratefully accepted!! ;-)
I am looking forward to our going away party. It will be nice to have everyone in the one place so we can say good bye. I am trying to spend time with my parents at the moment, as I won't see them for a while! It will be strange not seeing them. But, it's not like I won't be able to keep in contact! Especially with this journal, which hopefully everyone will read while we are gone.
My task this week is to purchase my camera. I want to learn how to use it before I leave, and learn how to email piccies home too. That would be nice! Oh god, more money to spend!!!

More to tell

Things are moving along nicely. I picked up our London Passes etc today from the lovely travel agent. We have to exchange them in London for actual tickets/cards I guess when we get there. We also got those under 26 cards. So even though I should have gone overseas years ago (instead of spending soooo long at uni) I can feel young, as I now have a special Youth Card, Yay me!

I packed up my bag last night to see just how much space everything would take up in my bag. Well, I was a little shocked to say the least! I divided my stuff into things I think I will need when I get there or one the plane, which I put into my day pack, and the other pile was basically everything else. My daypack was absolutely stuffed, and weighed a tonne, and that was without the 2 litres of water I am supposed to consume on the flight! My backpack was also full, and extremely heavy! And that was without the hairdryer, the guide book, the underwear, and the extra two pairs of pants I want to take. I have to do a serious cull of the things I want to take.

Still scared, but getting really excited. I am worried that I won't have enough money to spend. Scott is lucky, in that he was given a nice present from someone, as well as the fact that he earns more than me. I was promised something that didn't turn out the way I expected, which disappoints me slightly, as I would have preferred what I was promised, as it would have helped me a hell of a lot more than what I got (at least in the present!). I know that is a little confusing, but I know what I am talking about. I told mum that I just won't eat for the three weeks of the tour, as I still have to buy my camera yet. That's $700 or so, if I get a good price. I told her that photos are more important than food! Well, in the long term I won't remember what I ate for lunch when I saw La Tour Eiffel for the first time, but if I can't take a photo, I will remember that for ever!!

Anyway, enough of that. It's off to plan just how much we can cram into our first few days we are in London!

More money spent!

I seem to be spending a lot of money lately! Today we bought 4 things from the travel agent.

1. London Travel Card, which gives us unlimited travel in zones one and two for three days.

2. London Eye Pass, self explanatory surely!

3. London Pass, which gives us free entry into a whole bunch of touristy places

4. Jack The Ripper Tour! Ooooohhh scary!!!! Leaves from the Royal National Hotel which is just around the corner from where we are staying.

And I spent $91.00 on other travel necessities. Oh well, it's all for a good cause, right? :-)

Driving Miss Crazy

Miss Crazy? That would be me of course! As for the driving part, that of course is referring to the fact that I am now legally allowed to drive on overseas roads. I applied for my international drivers licence . Scary thought really!! It's really big, much larger than I thought it would be. It's a booklet, not a card. Odd.

30 days to go

Like I said, there are 30 days until Scott and I jet off into the unknown.

I just want to be on that plane, flying away from the known, the familiar.

Contiki Stuff!!!!!

I dropped in at the YHA travel to see if our Contiki documents were ready on Monday. Our travel chick told me that they usually don't come out til about 2 weeks before we leave. So I thought, oh well, that'll be ages away. But Scott got a call on Wednesday saying that the documents were in. YAY! So we collected them. It's suddenly very real that we will be going on a tour around Europe. But I am really looking forward to it. And the whole alcohol thing really doesn't bother me. I have heard that Contiki tours are just excuses to drink a lot, but it doesn't interest me.

We are leaving the country. I am scared, excited, worried, thrilled, all of these emotions are running through me. But I guess that's normal, right?

Not much of an update really

Helloo. There really isn't much to say here, but I thought I would write something just so all of those who read this can have a new entry to read!

Scott and I are getting very excited about our trip. We are planning what we will do in London in the first few days we are there. We wil buy a London Pass thing, which gives us free entry into heaps of London attractions. And we will go on a "Jack the Ripper Tour". This basically involves walking around the streets of London looking at murder sites. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (play scary music).

While in London for the first few days, we have to go get our bank cards etc from Regent Street. So we will spend the first day just wandering around I think. It's the best way to see a place really! I am looking forward to walking around a strange city with someone special at my side. :-)

An Update, of sorts

Hi! I have been meaning to update for a few weeks now, but every time I go to update, nothing interesting comes to mind, so I log out and don't bother. But I have some news today that I will share with the world. Our Contiki tour of 21 days is ALL PAID OFF!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it! It has been 3 months or so paying it off. I remember being stressed about booking it, whether there were going to be any places on the tour left etc. But it's all booked and paid for! So... alcohol-filled three week tour through 10 European countries here we come!

Scott and I both opened UK bank accounts, so we will have spending money over there, as well as have somewhere for our employer to put our pay. Always a good idea I say. I just feel really poor at the moment. Although, I guess that's due to the fact that we had to open the account with a minimum of 1500 pounds, and given the exchange rate, it's little wonder I feel so poor! Oh well, all in the name of fun right?

I updated my "To Do" list, which seemed to get longer when I re-wrote it. Oh well, as long as I get it all done, right?

The pub interview went really well, better than I expected really. The guy we spoke to was lovely, and really gave us a picture of what life over there will be like. We have asked to go into a pub out of London, just so we can say we have been to the UK rather than just London. I think a country pub would be nicer anyway, in terms of people, and facilities. I may yet be proven wrong on that point, but I have to wait until the 22nd of November to find out.

6 WEEKS TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pub Thing

Scott and I put in our applications for the Work in a Pub thing. We put in online applications which was good really. We were contacted by email today, and we have an interview on Wednesday. Oh my god!!!!!!! I am rather nervous about the interview thing. I hope we get in, I really do. Then I will be able to relax about the job thing. I will keep y'all posted!! :-)

Bank Account

I filled out all the forms etc for the bank account yesterday. I provided all the correct identification. I had the bank cheque. But I forgot to sign one thing. Dammit! So I have to head into Travelex tomorrow and sign one last thing. Then it will be all good. So I can almost cross it off my list, but not quite.

Nearly 58 Days

Well. As the title of this post says, it's almost 58 days until we leave for our adventure! Scott and I went shopping on Saturday, as both Mountain Designs AND Kathmandu were having sales. Bargain!! So I spent all up $120 in three stores (Silk Road was also visited), and I did not pay full price for any item. Yay! I pretty much have everything I need to buy, apart from medication. At least I think so, sitting here without my trusty travel book nearby!

Not much

I need to get used to the fact that people read my journal. Nicole (hi! because I know you read) came over the other night and we had tea and talked of travel. But she mentioned something that I had written here, but I had not spoken to her about. This freaked me out somewhat, as I forget that people may actually read this gabble. I suppose it's probably because we are still in Australia. I guess once we leave it will be different, as I would really like people to be reading what I have been up to, as it will be a major form of communication with Down Under.

Bank account shall be opened ASAP methinks. I have heard that the account we will be opening (the one with Travelex) took a friend's boyfriend 10 weeks, rather than the advertised 5 weeks. Hmmm... I think we should get it done.

As for the pub application... all I have to do is airbrush those full length photos of me so I look like some supermodel.

Decision time

I have decided to apply for the pub thing, regardless. Then we will see what happens, then play it by ear.

Confused

Ok, as the title of this post says, I am confused. Scott and I decided, when we were in the planning stages of our trip, that we would do pub work. It was going to be a great start to our working holiday - we would get to work together, live together, and get paid. It's not that I am having second thoughts, I really want to do the pub work, as I think it sounds like fun. I am just worried about future stuff. I want to get a museum job over there, and I am worried that if I get an offer that is too good to pass up, then what'll happen to the pub work? I think we will still apply and see how it all goes. I may get rejected here anyway, or they may not find us a placement. Who knows.

Also having issues with money, and bank account details. It's all so confusing. It's just that I want to be able to spend my earnings on stuff for my family, without expecting Scott to pay. I don't even know if that makes any sense, but I want to be able to be independent, pay my own way while we are there.

Update

Wel, it's just over 10 weeks until we leave the country.

Scott and I went for a walk yesterday with our backpacks on - I am sure we looked funny, but we are going to look just as funny overseas!! I am happy with my pack, I just have to get used to being a snail (for those of you not understanding the reference - we will be carrying our houses on our backs!)

I am trying to figure out where to have a going away party. I am trying to find a restaurant which is suitable - ie caters for everyone's tastes and budgets, is not too noisy so I can actually talk to people, and is not too far away! So those of you who read this, if you have any suggestions... email me, or post a comment if you do not have my email address. I'd love to hear your ideas!

The next task on our To Do list is to pay off the Contiki tour. Then we will be applying for the pub company. We have pretty much decided on Canterbury as a first choice for that. It sounds like a great place, and is close to Dover for those all important weekend trips to France and Belgium!

Whoo Hoo!

I got word today that my visa got approved. This does not mean, however, that I will be allowed into the UK, but I have a better chance than I did before.

Visas are in

Scott and I put our visa applications in today. We ran around getting money orders and last minute (ahem) passport photos at lunch time. But we got it all sorted, and the travel agent has a monitoring service so that we can check up on the state of the visa application. Fingers crossed hey?

Also paid some more money off the Contiki tour. Still a fair way to go yet, but we've got 6 weeks or so to pay that off. (It sounds way to close when I say it like that!!)

Stupid Work

I spoke to the boss at work today. I had made enquiries about taking a leave of absence from work while Scott and I are overseas. It came back from HR with a no. I have been with the company 8 years, and they give me this? So speaking to the boss, he basically said I have two options. Resign, or apply for 6 months leave, and if I like it too much when I am over there, then resign from Europe. Well, I don't like either option, quite frankly, as they both involve resigning. And I can't, not yet.

So I am going to go to casual status, rather than permanent part-time, as they won't give me any hours anyway, as I am way too expensive as a casual.

So there you have it, you give 8 years of loyal service to one company, and they give you the proverbial finger.

Some Systems Go

We have the ticket paid for, as well as the 6 months insurance. There are still major purchases to be made, but I guess the most important one (the flight away from home) is done. We fly out of Brisbane on the 27th October 2004 on a one way ticket. This does not mean that we are not coming back, it just may be a while, that's all. :-)

I still need to find a backpack. this is stressing me a little, but I still have three months to find one. Scott has his, so we're not even, just yet!

Visa application goes in this week. We spoke to a representative of the British consulate on Monday night at the YHA info evening, who told us that the working visa can be post-dated three months. So i can apply for it now, and they will date the visa from the day beofre we enter the country. Scott is lucky enough to be going on an Ancestry Visa. Lucky thing, as it's valid for four years, not two!

Just because I can

I really don't have all that much to say. I have nothing to report, apart from

IT'S 101 DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-)

Well, Scott and I have basically booked the major things for our trip. Flights? Check. Tour? Check. Insurance? Check.

What we still have to do: Pay everything off! Book accommodation for when we arrive in London. And some other stuff too. But I am happy, as I was a little stressed out about the tour and not getting a place on it! But it's all worked out just fine. Yay!

Not much really

I am online, so I thought I would write something in this here journal thingy.

Scott and I headed along to the STA travel information night at the Hilton. It was smaller than I thought it would be, but useful nonetheless. We spoke to a chick from Contiki who answered our questions. And I decided which travel alarm clock I want to buy - yes, a big decision was made tonight! It's funky and it has a thermometer! Yay!

Plans for this week:

Go to YHA travel and join YHA and book Contiki tour!

Worried...

In the lead up to the trip, I am starting to get a little stressed out about stuff. Like:

What if I am rejected for a visa?

What if there are no places left on the Contiki tour we want to go on?

What if we can't get accommodation in London?

What if we don't get jobs over there?

Arrrrrrgggghh!!!

STRESS!!!!!!!

The Story So Far.....

It's been a while since I have updated, so I thought I would update whoever reads this as to what I have been doing. I feel that I should be writing only stuff in this journal that is relevant to our trip, but I guess most things in my life are at the moment.

So far, it feels as though I have looked at every backpack in Brisbane. I am sure that's not the case, but nothing feels 100%. I sometimes feel that I am being too fussy, then I think that I will have to lug this thing around with me for the next year, so I have to be happy with it!

On the upside, I have found a pair of boots. Not quite what I had thought I would be buying, but I think they are awesome boots, and they are sooooo comfy! They'd better be for the $ I spent on them! But they are worth it. Scott bought his boots today too, from the same place I bought mine. It feels more like we are going now. We bought the boots together, so it feels a bit more like OUR trip.

The ticket is booked, and we are paying it off. There are plenty of things we still have to do, but it's all acheiveable. It doesn't seem quite as daunting now though.

=)

Thoughts

I am getting nervous about the trip.

The next step we have to take is to book the tickets. So my next step is to organise the funds to do it with. Hmmm...

First Ever Post!

Welcome to my journal thingy. I have started this journal so that you can keep up with my movements when I am overseas. Or should I say we, as I will be travelling with Scott.

In the lead up to travelling, we have a lot of preparation to do. Today we went to Kathmandu, as they are having a sale. We were a little disappointed to say the least, as they didn't have anything we really wanted. The backpacks were not to our satisfaction, the thermals were expensive, etc. But there are plenty of other shops around, and I intend to visit them all!

Over and out.