Back to Oz

It was very weird coming back to Australia, I don't know what it was, maybe my time in New Zealand felt very long (in a good way!) and it felt like it was ages before that that I had left Melbourne, but coming back made my head feel weird. Plus I wasn't back in Melbourne, I was in new territory in Sydney and near there. Anyway, I flew back on xmas eve and drove up to the Blue Mtns and spent xmas there. Christmas day was a bit difficult. It was really foggy and you couldn't see much in the mountains, so my plans of spending the day going around to various sites was sort of ruined. I couldn't just pass the time in a cafe either because everything was closed, so I spent more time in my motel room watching tv than I would have liked to have done. I did join this free xmas lunch though that a group puts on every year in the town I was staying in, that was really nice, I chatted with a young couple from France and we got a free meal complete with ham and turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and veggies, then plum pudding for dessert. They had xmas crackers on the tables (for the Americans, these are cardboard things that you pull apart with a pop and they have silly little toys in them and jokes and a little paper crown) and I had to try to explain the joke in it to the French couple, heh. Fortunately there was ok weather on the 24th and 26th, so I did get to see the beautiful mtns (which is more like a canyon really), but it was more rushed than I had hoped. I think I got some good photos, so look forward to those.

Now I'm in Sydney and the weather is beautiful. =) I caught up yesterday with some people I know from Holland (for those who know them, I saw Hayley, Egor, Hassan, Jude, Carolyn and David) and we had a picnic at Mrs Macquarie's Chair and it was so gorgeous, a bit cool actually with a strong breeze from the water, but the Opera House and Bridge were behind me and there was blue sky. So lovely. I've seen a bit of Sydney, a couple of neighbourhoods, but I can definitely say I prefer Melbourne. Sorry Sydneysiders... I just feel more at home there.

The plan is to see the big New Year's Eve fireworks tomorrow, so if you see them on the news or something, know that I was there! Have a happy New Year's everyone and best wishes for 2008!