Would you like some tea????

We have now been back in Aus for over a week, and have been making inroads into the first stages of readjustment.

I have arranged a few job interviews up in Newcastle, after going up there with Donny for a quick trip last week to have a look around. It had been ages since either of us had been there so we wanted to see what the vibe was like, and it is nice. For those not local, Newcastle is about 1.5 - 2 hours drive north of Sydney, and is Australia's 8th largest city, behind the capitals in each state/territory presumably. We are looking at moving up there to give life away from the hustle, bustle and (as importantly) expense of Sydney a go.

I cant believe how much more expensive things have gotten in the 2 years we have been away. I was shocked to go to the supermarket to get a few things for lunch today, and end up paying $50 for the stuff to have a simple lunch of ham, cheese, rolls and a few other bits on the side. It is just silly expensive here. When you add in the rental market which is amazingly tight, and expensive, then Sydney loses a bit of its gloss.

Having said that, Sydney is a beautiful city. We noted it when we were back in Feb, but coming back here after travelling to quite a few cities and places around the world, it really is a very beautiful place, and the food here is just so consistently good wherever you go. I has been a pleasure to be back and meeting up with people around the place and head off to eat some lovely food with lovely views.

Friday night was Marty and Sacha's combined bucks (stag for you northern hemisphere types) and hens night, and we headed out into Kings Cross in the city. For those not familiar, Kings Cross is the traditional epicentre of debaucherous activity in Sydney, however the evening remained very civilised. In fairness, both Marty and Sach got off very light. I remember at the end of my bucks night being escorted (carried) home by older brother Pete and having a very serious philosophical debate with myself abouit the virtues of ever drinking again. Not so with those two, who seemed merry, but still there, for the whole evening.

We were at a bar whose gimmick was the serving of cocktails in teapots, and we set about going through a not very civilised amount of "tea". Pete seemed worse off than Marty by the end of the evening, and it was left to myself to steal a cab from underneath the noses of 4 girls to get us home. Trying to find a cab in Syd in the early AM is painful, I guess even more so if some prick steals your cab, but hey, we had to get home somehow. Marty and Jo Day have a bunch of photos that may make an appearance soon. My favorite one is of me doing a guest DJ spot, which I might add brought the crowd into a state of semi-frenzy (that I was able to negotiate my way out of eventually).

Last night was a bit of a get together at the Day household (longtime fam friends) which was also excellent, and today I met up with my mate Pete and his daughter Charlotte, who has grown heaps since we saw her earlier this year.

OK, this is probably starting to get a bit boring, but I guess that is the awkward transition from interesting to less interesting that is the first non-travel entry.

I am going to head out into the nice sunshine now and continue my one man hurling exhibition. One day I hope to find someone with an interest in going for a proper puck around, but until then I will just have to keep pestering Madonna. I just realised that I am going to have problems with using terminology that may only be familiar with one certain group of potential readers. Oh well, we can live with that cant we.

Next stop, job interviews in Newcastle, and then Martys wedding on Friday. Should be excellent, will let you know how it all goes.