Sunday October 23rd

Well finally I have arrived in Australia!! I got heinously bored on the plane trip over, and felt a bit sick… I was sitting between an older couple (the man wanted the window seat and the lady wanted the aisle!!) who smelt of sweat, but were lovely. I managed to read a chapter of “the case for faith” by Lee Strobel, but that was about it….I had thought there’d be trashy womens magazines to read or something, but all that was on offer was Voyeur – the virgin blue magazine that is a total load of dung, and had about one article and the rest was advertising – and I didn’t have $12 to hire a movie player. Anyway by the time I got off the plane I was feeling rather ill and managed to hold it in until we got back to my Aunty’s place, where I promptly made an acquaintance with my white porcelain nemesis. Stupid fruit salad and bung neck.
Its really warm here… almost feels like a constant curtain of warmth… I slept in my summer pjyamas last night (after sleeping in brushed flannelette pjs with a hottie at the Flat!) and only a sheet on the bed. Crows woke me up at 4am (which was 7am NZtime, so that wasn’t a problem) and when I got up this morning I had a cool shower and am wearing shorts and a t-shirt (Without a singlet!! It really has to be hot for me not to wear my trusty singlet)
Australia (from what I have seen – which isn’t much!!) isn’t as beautiful as New Zealand, as the bush is mainly scraggy gum trees and the like, but its still something different, which is always beautiful in its own way. =)
I guess the thing that is the most different is all the wildlife… in the trees in the backyard are crows (or Rooks) (evil black things that make annoying noises), um… yeah… numerous other birds that I can’t name!, beetles, ants galore, and oh yeah – the best part of all – possums. (‘best’ because they didn’t make any noise and they aren’t crawling over my food…) There are two ‘pet’ possums that come out at night and they came out for me last night so I took a picture. I’m not sure if it will come out, but hey, they’re only possums…!! (Heh heh) They’re native animals here, and so are protected, so people don’t have the same loathing for them that New Zealanders do.
I suppose I should explain the living arrangements as referring to ‘we’ and ‘the backyard’ isn’t really helpful if you don’t know what I’m talking about!!! I’m staying with my aunty and uncle and two cousins (the Aunty that was at my 21st). They live in a place called ‘Chapel Hill’, which is close to the freeway, but not so close as to be affected by it… I can see it in the distance, but we’re on the top of a ‘hill’ and there’s lots of bush between here and the freeway. It’s a constant sort of noise in the background, and I thought it was the noise of rain when I woke up this morning, but no, its not!! A breeze has just ruffled up, which is nice… as its supposed to get to 29 degrees here today.
The house here has a sort of granny flat underneath, with a cool tile floor, a kitchenette, and a bathroom with shower and toilet. I’m staying there, which is nice to have a bit of space to myself.
I think the weirdest thing of all is probably the time difference.. its three hours behind New Zealand, but I guess that just means that I will get up earlier in the morning and go to bed earlier at night… Its nice because it means I’m ready for the day by 6.30am, and ready for bed by 7.30 at night, hee hee!!

Anyway, I think that will do for now… nothing much has happened, so there’s not really anything to post about!! My computer says 12.42pm as I write this, but my cellphone, on roaming, says 9.42. But it definitely feels like lunchtime, as I’ve been awake since about 5.45 (8.45 NZT)….. I think I shall go rustle up some lunch! Toodles!