All Good Things...

Well...

I've packed my bags and will be heading to the airport in a few hours. All the old cliches apply, like 'Time flies when you're having fun'.

Any of you who have spent long periods away from friends and family will know the mixed emotions I'm experiencing right now. Excitement over going home, seeing people you dearly miss, yet gutted about the new friends you'll leave behind- not to mention the idea of the adventure coming to an end.

In some ways a year is a long time. Over the past week I've been reminiscing about my time here, looking over old photos and having a laugh. I feel like I've seen and experienced a lot. I've made good friends that I hope I'll still be in touch with in years to come. And some day in the future, I'm sure I'll be back. 

A Busy Week...

I've spent a lot of time this week trying to get organised for coming home- booking flights and train tickets, trying to get everything in order before I arrive back in Nottingham.

It's been a fun week though. Last weekend Jared and Naomi organised a surprise "Goodbye" party for me. They did a great job keeping it secret and it was a big surprise! There were people there from work and from the families I've spent time with this year. We had a great laugh looking back over photos from my year and reminiscing about funny stories we've had along the way. I don't have any pictures yet, but I'm trying to track some down.

The next day we took the youth group from church up to the snow in the mountains. It had never occurred to me that Australia had snow! But I guess it makes sense, we were pretty high up. We had a great time tobogganing down the slopes and even tried to build an igloo (with limited success!). Again, no pics yet but I'm trying to get my hands on some. 
After that we headed off to Philip Island for a few days holidays. We stayed with Jared's grandparents, fed some pelicans and even saw some penguins! I know! Another thing you don't associate with Australia, but they're here! They have a mini version called 'Fairy Penguins'! They're only about 10cm tall and they're flippin' cute.

I got some pics of the pelicans and tried to get some sunset pictures too. 

Gutted...

For months I've had my finally Aussie 'fling' planned- a trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock) followed by a 2,500km road trip through the Australian outback.  We've been talking about for ages and getting more and more excited.

Everything was looking great until, this week, Tiger Airways were grounded across Australia due to safety concerns. There was a brief glimmer of hope when it looked like the ban wouldn't last too long but,
alas, out trip is cancelled!

Gutted.

Gutted. Gutted. Gutted.

Walk about...

Went for a walk around Melbourne last night. 

Earth Shattering...

We had a 4.4 earthquake in Melbourne today!*

It reminded me of my few days in Christchurch when all the after-shocks were happening. Its such a strange feeling- its not until afterwards that you realised what happened. Thankfully everything was fine and there wasn't any damage. Apparently quakes are a pretty rare occurrence in this part of the world so it's got quite a lot of media coverage today.

*CORRECTION make that TWO earthquakes. We just had another one. Not sure what size yet.

So It Continues...

In an effort to get another star-trail shot, I've left my camera standing out in a cow field tonight. I've come back home (to the warmth) while it stands out there taking continuous photos for the next hour or so. It's winter over here in Oz and the temp is definitely dropping, so this is a much easier way to do things.

Now I just have to sit here and hope that no gust of wind (or cow!) interrupts my shot!
I'll post the photo later.

***

As promised:

This is a composite of 128 separate photos, each 30 secs long. It's not perfect, I guess my technique still needs some tweaking, but I'll get there!! :o)

I got a right fright when I went back to get my camera and saw a cow twenty feet away. the end result would have looked funny with a cow standing in 128 different positions in the field.

Wierd...

After a year away, its strange to think that my next days work will be at Abbey Road.