The end of the beginning

Okay, so to say that this entry is late is a bit of an understatement. My original excuse was that I had several weeks of no internet access after arriving in Australia. My excuse evolved into me not having the time because I was looking for a job and a place to live but really I suppose I got lazy! Anyway with no excuses left I decided it's time for the latest update... happy reading!

After 5 months travelling, 10,000 miles, 16 countries, 10 time zone changes, 26 long distance train journeys (some very long!), more hostels than I care to remember, 3 ferry journeys, 3 flights, 7kg lighter (me, not my bags!) and only 2 pages left in my passport, we finally arrived in Australia on Dec 20th.

We arrived in Adelaide on a scorcher of a day. Working in Vietnam gave us a chance to get used to high temperatures but being from Ireland, it'll take me a little longer to get used to 30 deg C at 8am! We spent Christmas and New Years with Kate's mother who lives near Adelaide. When I say 'near Adelaide' it's a bit like Galway being 'near Dublin'. Australia is a big place and distances can be divided by 10 when being compared to Ireland.

Now, I am not a big fan of snakes (unless they're dead, and even then I don't want to get too close) but everyone told me that they're actually quite rare. In fact, of all the people I was talking to (about snakes) only a few had actually seen one in the wild. So you can imagine my surprise when I found a brown snake (yes, poisonous) all by myself ...in the house!!! Ok, so it was only a baby snake but I was glad when it was safely back outside and I was safely in. I've been keeping a closer watch ever since.

During our time in Adelaide we picked up a new car and Kate started taking flying lessons. She now has done 5 lessons and is eager to get back to doing a few more. We eventually left Adelaide (or more specifically, Maitland) and took a leisurely road trip along the coast road around the south coast of Australia to Melbourne. This was a great drive and the weather was fantastic too - I saw my first kangaroos and first koala bears! The Great Ocean Road is along this section and it too was fantastic.

The 12 Apostles (or what's left of them) along the Great Ocean Road

The blue lake in the volcanic crater of Mt. Gambier

After we arrived in Melbourne we met up with Marty, a skydiving friend of ours who recently moved back to Australia, and stayed with him for a week or so. We also met up with Barney and Patricia, old friends who have been living in Melbourne for the last few years. During this time, we had a look around for a longer term place to live and found a nice 2 bedroom apartment not far from the city centre. Let this be the official invite to anyone who would like to visit us and see Melbourne. The spare room is waiting :-)

Unfortunately, this travelling lark could not last forever and so I finally went to some job interviews over the past few weeks for Actuarial jobs in Melbourne. They were successful (or unsuccessful depending on your point of view!) and I will be starting work again after a 9-month break.

To make the most of our last few day of freedom, we decided we'd get into the Australian way of life and spent the last week back on the Great Ocean Road, on a 5-day surfing course... Totally bodacious man! ...or something, surf-lingo lessons are not till advanced class! ;-)

Melbourne City - home sweet home for the foreseeable future