Hello from Goes, Netherlands

Yay!! I'm back in summer again!!

oh... I should explain... I guess I forgot to follow up the whole "I'll update you about my holidays later" thing but here I am and I'll tell ya whats going on now...

I'm on holidays for the next three and a half weeks :) WooHoo!!

The plans for my holidays are as such:
18 to 28 June - Netherlands
Mum and I will be trotting round Holland visiting relatives and doing the general touristy thing... So far, we are staying in Goes for the next few days and Mum's been going snap happy with the camera...

29 June to 5th July - Laragne, France
Looking forward to catching up with Mon, Scott, Cammy, Jon Jr, Belinda, Davis, the Jeffs, Scotty G and a bunch more at the Hang Gliding Worlds... Roll on the sunshine and fabulous flying days!!

6th July to 11th July - Santa Cruz, California
Catching up with a good pal in the goold ol' USA. Going chasing otters and deers and other fun stuff... Cant wait!

So thats it for now... Photos to come soon :)

Autumn '09

Yep... Its another update day where I cave in to your complaints and tell most of you what you already know about the wee adventures I've been having of late... Lets delve into the picture archive and see what items of interest I can dredge up...

Ah yes... first up is the wedding of my cousin Dana at which I was one of the bridesmaids. This was held up in Nyngan and after the usual dress dilemmas we were all set to go. The man upstairs chipped in with some beautiful weather and Dana's family and friends helped set up a fun and happy atmosphere. What a great day and a lovely couple.


Next adventure worthy of mention is the Inglewood weekend. KB and I flew up in Nancy to Queensland for a fly in. The lucky sods in Qld had a long weekend however KB and I could only stay one night thanks to NSW not having the same pubic holiday. No matter tho. We still had an awesome weekend catching up with some of the Qld crew and it was also my first time in Nancy. I dont know much about aircraft but this ones a little beauty (little being the operative word tho... very squishy inside but still super fun!). Pic above is KB taking Nancy for a drink of petrol and below is looking west-ish over part of the Hunter Valley on our way home.


So... other than these things I have pics for what else have I done?...

Well...

...I'm now working for the John Holland Group. Its really much the same role and same people as before with ARTC however its full time. So far, so good. Lovely people, good experiences.

...I've been paddling with KB a few times. I''m still a little wary about the whole ''looking like a yummy meal to a shark'' thing but I guess Ill get over that when the daylight hours are a bit longer and I''m not dangling my legs over the edge of the kayak at feeding times...

um... cant think of much more right now but it is way past my bedtime and my sleep is very precious so if I think of more I'll add it later. I'll also tell you about my upcoming travel plans due to start very, very soon... Yay!!!

Time...

Time seems to be a very precious commodity in my life lately... What happened to the days when I had all the time in the world to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted? I miss them and I want them back...

Sure - there were some boring moments when I was hard pushed to amuse myself but compared to when its just go, go, go I think maybe those moments were there to let me step back, consider my direction and continue.

Dont mistake me here. I dont think I've taken any "wrong" directions of late. The path on which I travel is perfectly satisfactory however I wish I still had the time to smell the roses along the way, get the full benefit of the ride so to speak.

I'd also like to know how time seems to be slipping from my grasp so easily these days? I cant say my life has taken a drastic turn of any sorts, nor is it filled with many dramatic events to justify such a noticable difference.

Perhaps I need to review my time management skills...

Perhaps I just need more time...

Birthday Weekend

For those in the know, I had my 31st birthday today. One of my bestest mates Jen came over from Perth for a fly by weekend visit and also celebrate her birthday (15 March). The picture above is looking over the Merewether Baths here in Newcastle. My new home is going to be about 3 streets away from the baths and the beach here (pictured below)!!




Saturday night saw a bunch of us at Monicas house for a wee birthday and bye bye party. Birthday cake pictured below. Visiting German pilot Katha is heading home on Tuesday - first class but at a high price. Best wishes to her for a speedy recovery and that we see her back here next Summer :)




A couple weeks ago Stu bought home this little beauty. Her name is Jaz and shes an Indian Ringneck parakeet. We've been wolf whistling at her since she came in and I finally heard her repeating it today. Too cute!




Now - some very important news... Due to unforeseen circumstances, Jen and I havent been able to locate a new venue for Sticky Date Pudding. Our inability to even get to Goldbergs left me going on a search through the local supermarket for a quick and easy fix... What i found was absolute GOLD. Homer Hudson has released a flavour called "Digger" with Anzac biscuit pieces and honeycomb icecream... I highly recommend this to anyone who likes icecream, anzacs or honeycomb. The combination of all three will be very, very addictive!!




To wrap todays entry up, I'll say this. I have a feeling that 31 is going to be a very interesting age. If the unpublishable events of this weekend are anything to go on we're going to be in for a wild ride and to this I say... BRING IT ON!!!!

Back to reality???

So folks... Here I am... Two weeks from my 31st birhday (hint, hint) and living in sunny Newcastle and not the UK one. The last 10 months or so have been relatively travel free if you exclude a couple trips to Canberra, frequent trips to Muswellbrook and a few trips down the coast. Even the adventures scene has been relatively quiet with a ball, a HG comp and some galivanting round the Hunter being the highlights to keep me amused. Come to think of it, I think I need to make a better effort to be doing some more blog worthy stuff if I'm gonna start updating this thing :) I guess that will be my challenge for 2009...

Without boring you all by recounting the few things I did do since previous entries, I've just attached a couple of my favourite pics to share :)

This was a bay on the Isle of Pines. We stoped off on this little island during our cruise and it was hard not to fall in love with the beautiful, crystal clear blue water on what was a perfect day!

Me and Monica at the last Westpac Helicopter Ball. Another great night!

Mum came up in November and she, Kylie and I took a little trip up to the Hunter Valley Gardens on a very wet day... First time I'd been there. The place is huge and would be georgous on a bright sunny day.

2009 Hang Gliding State Titles in Manilla. Fantastic comp. Lovely people. Good times :)

Recent trip to Sydney. Went there for work but managed to have some fun playing too! Big Thank You to Ben for keeping me sane when the workshops and workload was anything but!

Finally....

G'day folks...
Just to keep a few grumbly peoples happy, here's a quick note to let ya's know I'll be doing some more updates soon :)
Mwah xx

Uh oh...

In a fit of boredom this evening (stuck at this office on a worksite) I decided to check in on my blog and discovered with a shock that its been FIVE whole months since I wrote anything... Its not that I havent been doing anything in those five months but I guess I havent taken the time to sit down and let ya's all know what I been up to - even tho I had been reminded several times by my devoted and loving fans (heehee)...

Now, firstly you may have noticed that the first paragraph contained those dirty, dirty words of "office" and "work"... Yes - alas it is true - I have been employed (yuck) for the last four months much to my displeasure... It would seem I enjoyed being a lady of leisure much more than being a slave to "the man"... So, anyways, I've been temping as Admin since April for a company called ARTC (aka Australian Rail Track Corp or something like that) which as the name would suggest has something or other to do with the Railways. Not a bad job if that sorta thing is what floats ya boat but it has been a good learning experience.

And now I have to go again - I'll try and explain more of this craziness next time... :)

Manilla & Dalby

Okay, okay… I been slack… again… its been a few weeks since I last updated anything but as usual I been a little busy… well – except for the days when I wasn’t but just couldn’t be bothered coz there was something more interesting like sleep or shopping or the beach…

Anyways, the last couple of weeks have mainly been filled with driving for some pilots at hang gliding comps in Manilla (NSW Feb 23 to March 1) and Dalby (QLD March 8 to March 15).






Manilla was organised by the delightful Miss Monica and, with a great turnout of 60+ pilots, it was a fantastic week. This was the first comp I had attended as a driver and my ever patient team of Conrad, Mick, Glen and Gary helped me in learning some of the more intricate parts of the role such as reading maps, using GPS’s and mastering the art of driving a manual 4wd. What an adventure!! Most nights we got in at a reasonable hour and almost always in time for a great feed at The Royal.

This years karaoke night was another cracker with hits like Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again and YMCA being covered. TNT is clearly Pauly Maggot's karaoke favourite and I'm certain it was Reggie and Keiro who dobbed me and Monica in for Waterloo... Bleeding ears aside it was a load of laughs!!!

Back on Mt Borah the waiting game must have tuckered a few of the pilots out. On most days I still hadn't left the hill until 4pm but there was always something up there to keep us amused like the boys and their whips or Carolina teasing the pilots out of their harnesses with sandwiches or beer. Big thanks go to Monica for organising another brilliant and increasingly popular comp and also to the pilots for making the time to get there.

Dalby was another fun comp. Keiro and I drove up on Friday night (7th) arriving about 4am on Saturday morning. After sleeping in the car for a few hours we went in to find some brekky and found some other pilots before setting up my tent and returning to the airstrip for practise day. If I thought the days in Manilla were long, then I was to soon find out the days in Dalby are much, much longer... 'The weather wasnt as great as it could be for a "Big Air" comp and, as Blaino was quick to point out, the week was to become the Dalby Little Air comp as the tasks were often fairly short and the retrieves were often a lot shorter...

I drove for a team aptly called The Mongrels. This is our team pic and consists of Flocky, Keiro, Ebbs, Blaino and me. Mum - if your worried about why I'm wearing a bikini top here, just be thankful I managed to weasel out of the proposed picture involving the strategic placement of a GPS and Vario...

On the last day of comp, Flocky found this georgous puppy at a local pet shop. She's been temporarily named Rusty, pending Sue-Ellens approval... How cute!!!

We got home safely last night after another long day of driving - on my birthday no less - but it was all cool coz Monica had a yummy roast waiting for me when I got home. TA LUV!!!

Bye Bye Perth...

Well, here I am in Newcastle again, having flown back from Perth yesterday. I really enjoyed being back in Perth, catching up with awesome friends and soaking up the sunshine. A big thanks to the ever lovely Jen for letting me stay with her ad Rob. I'm going to miss living there but I'm sure that Newcastle and the cool folks here will give WA a run for its money...

Below is a pic of one of the little yellow duckies - lets say it was Jose (i havent individualised them yet) - having a little adventure with me in the city while I was waiting for Jen to finish work one day.

On Friday we're off to Manilla (NSW, not Phillipines...) for a while for some hang gliding fun. Fingers crossed for some good weather!!

Oh... By the way...

Sorry folks... havent been updating for a while but as I'm getting harrassed again by my fans (heehee...) I guess I should mention that I've been back in Oz since about the 12th Jan...

As the entries of the last three months would show, I had a really great time in South America, Mexico and Spain and would go back to most places if I had the money and the time but maybe only after I've been to all the other places I'm dreaming about too...

After giving myself a few days to settle back in to Newcastle, I was once again off travelling but this time it was with 7 other chickys on a weeklong cruise from Sydney to Noumea and the Isle of Pines. Organised by my sister in law Kylie (thanks Kyles!!) we had a great week mostly lounging by the pool and soaking up the sun. Most nights had a theme like the 70's night and the Island Party to keep us amused and our day trips on to the islands were great fun too. Isle of Pines has nothing there but is incredibly beautiful. I'll be putting some pics on soon!

So... Now I've been back for a couple weeks and I'm looking at getting a new house and a job in Newcastle to settle down (eeeek...) but only after I've gone back over to Perth to see Jen and a few others and then head up to Manilla (NSW) til the end of Feb. Some time in there I'll try and upload some more photos from the last four months... :)