Despite my inability to stay up late, I somehow stayed up late last night and we celebrated the new year with fireworks over the Yarra river. Shayla, Leigh, Tux, Brighly, and I had a great time with other friends.

Today we decided to go to the beach and enjoy the sunshine and the large kite sails. A beautiful day spent with Shayla, starting off the new year in a really awesome way with someone special.

Arrived safely in Melbourne and with only a few hours to get used to the time difference, we're going out to Federation Square to bring in the new year.

Going to be here for the next three months, it's great to be back in the future!

A few weeks in Australia and it's nice to be back, visiting the country I call my second home. Things have changed, circumstances have changed and a few faces have changed but some are familiar and have been happy to find the new ones and get to know more about them as well. It is however, winter here. That's left a little something to be desired still.

The weirdest thing about being in Australia though is that it's not weird to be in Australia. I have traveled so much and my home base is now non existent really, so traveling feels a little less removed from reality and more of the permanent status quo.

I had a great visit to Australia, and to Melbourne specifically. I have been here several times in the past but this was the first time we really got to know each other. I met some great people and caught up with ones I already knew. Nothing but friendly people everywhere I went. Melbourne has a unique feel to it different than Perth or Sydney. I kept thinking it had a bit of Chicago to it as well as some Christchurch. If you haven't been to Melbourne before then definitely make it a priority on your travel list. During the cup races is a particularly fun time to go. And try the semi dried tomatoes when your here.

So long Melbourne. See you again soon.

I give up. I really do. I went to go get a hair cut today and the little asian hair cut girl used the clippers all the way around, over the top and pretty much everywhere I could possibly grow hair on my head. I'm not going over when I say my hair is the exact same length everywhere on my head now. She then used the little scissors to trim something away around the ears, as if it really mattered at this point. By the time I could even pick my jaw off the floor, half the top of my head of hair was just gone. The last time I felt a clipper go across the top of my head was when it all got shaved off in Air Force basic training.

I'm going to go sit quietly now and wait for my hair to grow back.

The weekend is gone, the party was had, two in fact. A great time with some great people I will miss. I was kicked out of a high end club in Sydney called The Establishment for being drunk. Actually I was just standing there when a bouncer decided to come pick on me. I was with a group of people and Guy (who used to be a bouncer) worked it all out where we could at least finish our drinks. The reality was, I wasn't drunk, I just wasn't cool enough to be there. I wasn't dressed up in a suit. We left there and went to a dodgy bar in the rocks called "the Orient" where we jammed front stage with the band.

This weekend was full of beauty and adventure, some more than we asked for.

When you get to Fraser Island, there are no real roads. Once you get off the barge from the mainland, you drive your 4x4 along the beach to get from point to point which means you have to be aware of the tides as at high tide, driving along the beach can be impassable.

We drove all the way up to the northern point of Fraser Island; Sandy Beach. Access was limited and we got stuck a few times and helped others get unstuck. Everyone helps each other out of the sand.

Here is some fun trivia for you; Uluru (Ayer's Rock) is about a five hour drive from Alice Springs, Australia. I know this because the nice people at the Alice Springs Airport informed us of this when asking "So where is the rock?" With only one flight a day leaving Alice, an overpriced rental car was leased and a scenic desert drive was had. I saw a dingo roaming about, an eagle having a meal on a dead roadkill kittycat, a few kangaroo's and a unique view of the sky where the shadow of the earth can be seen just over the horizon during sunset.

Going again to the Sydney Opera House tonight to see the Lord of the Rings Symphony. The performance is sold out and Howard Shore will be there to conduct. Katie Noonan will be singing "Into the West" originally performed by Annie Lennox in the film.

"...The concert will be accompanied by the stunning imagery of John Howe and Alan Lee, the world's foremost illustrative interpreters of Tolkien's work and Conceptual Artists on the films. These beautiful and never-before-seen storyboards and sketches, which were the basis of the design of the films, will be projected onto a giant screen above the orchestra."

Tasmania was a beautiful get-away. Jules and I went down to Hobart for a few days and took a drive around the island, a tour of the prison, and stayed the night at the most charming bed and breakfast. Truly a beautiful country side escape. 

After two weekends of diving and testing, I am now a PADI certified, card carrying, licensed open water diver! Unfortunately, I will be getting over the salt water intake and being nauseated from the turbulent boat ride yesterday for a short time so I don't plan on going right back in the underwater world for a short while. The weather picked up yesterday and tossed the boat around a bit, a few people tossed their cookies, I remained vigil but didn't feel well for the rest of the day. I met some great people in the course and the marine life was fascinating; manta rays, puffer fish, sea horses, grey nurse sharks, etc...

Today is Australia Day and everyone is off work. A nice relaxing day to recover. Ahhh.

Happy birthday Australia

In case you haven't been told there in the northern hemisphere, it's nice and toasty warm here in December in Australia. I have to go buy a Hawaiian print shirt today, go ahead and ask me why.

You walk in, take your seat in the colorful theatre, you wait for the crowd to stop talking and for the show to start. The lights go out and a single large woman (Rafiki) dressed in funny rags and paint with a mighty voice starts singing the familiar opening theme... 

"Nan ts'ngonya ma bakithi baba sithi hm ingonya"

Went to a performance of the famous Opera <i><a href="http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/h/event.asp?EventID=479">Madama Butterfly</a></i> this weekend. It was interesting and different from what I expected. Luckily, they displayed subtitles above the stage so you know what they are saying. The story takes place in Imperial Japan, with an American military soldier, all singing in Italian.

Today, my dear friends Tracy and Jane from Perth fame came through Sydney with a five hour layover on their way home from Los Angeles. I drove down to meet them, have breakfast and catch up. It was a great time until I smashed Julie's car into the truck in front of me while driving the girls back to the airport. The men in the truck were nice about it at least. The car is pretty messed up but it's insured. Nobody was hurt except my driving record.

My first auto accident. Bah.

It was the eve before last at the Sydney Opera House that I did partake in a play that was written over 400 years ago by a man known as Shakespeare. The play, be it well performed, was a comedy that was without question humorous, entertaining, and thoughtful.

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages...

Canberra is the national capitol of Australia, about a three hour drive South West from Sydney and about a five hour North East from Melbourne. The Capitol architecture is modeled after both the U.S. and the U.K. governments and the city has the most unique feel of a city I've ever known.

Jules and I visited the Capitol and the War memorial today and took in a walk around the city.

Jules and I went to the Blue Mountains just north of Sydney this weekend, it was a good trip to be welcomed back to Australia. We had a great time and avoided the power outages all over Sydney and New South Wales from the bad weather and strong gales. It was kind of comforting to be in the hotel there just off the mountains, in the old giant wooden fortress as the strong wind outside seemed somewhat threatening as the comforting fireplace and light reading seemed perfectly serene.

The next morning I woke up really early because of Jetlag. I watched the most stunning sunrise over the mountains.

The Blue mountains are blue because of the reflection of the Eucalyptus plants growing there.

We Went to the Sydney Opera House again last night to watch a performance of Beethoven's 5th Symphony as performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Now I can say that all of the classical music I know didn't just come from Bugs Bunny cartoons.

What a great thing, to be able to just plan a night out after a day of work for the Symphony, or an Opera, or a play... or something besides a movie and an overpriced coke. Afterwards, to be able to walk around the city with such great views and the hustle of the city going on around you and being lost in the whole thing. I am most definatly, a big city person at heart.

Happy Easter everyone. I am heading down to Melbourne in Victoria for some fun for the next few days, hopefully the rain will let up. Looking forward to the nine hours drive south down across some baron roads with few signs of civilization in between. That is if I can even manage to make it out of Sydney.

On the plane a few days past, it rained calmly and I had some time to reflect on some of the emotions I have had since being far away from the place I call home. I've been happy here. I've been happier here than I have been in a long time and knowing this, I thought it needed examination.

It wasn't the change in geography that brought me the happiness. It wasn't the expectations of what I was doing here nor was it the adventure. It was something more than that.

Friendships are a precious commodity. Lifelong friendships are worth more than anything. True friends stick by you when you make mistakes and don't have excuses when you need help or support.

A few days ago, I decided that instead of flying from Sydney to Perth, I would take the Ghan Railway, I would ride on the Indian Pacific three days across the outback with a few stops along the way. It was more expensive than flying and certainly longer, but I wanted an experience that was unique.

The train was indeed an experience unique unto itself. It was a lot slower than I expected and the seats didn't accommodate sleeping very well. By day two I decided to bite the cost and upgraded to the sleeper cabin. It was amazing how different I was treated by the train staff when I asked to upgrade, you would have thought I had upgraded from Steerage to First Class on an Ocean Liner.