5 months on

Bee and I being tools in Victor Harbor

Many months later, I suddenly get the urge to update my blog with a new post. Is it that I have had nothing to report on over the past 5 months? Hell no!

in Taco Bill with Lee after a few margheritas!

There are less than 4 weeks until I leave humble little Adelaide again and head off with Lee, my lil sis, through Asia and Europe. Scheiße. That has come up way too fast! I swear it was only a few days ago that we were booking our flights, instead it's been over 6 months! Hmmm, how time flies when you're having fun. Update: All flights have been booked and paid for, most of our accommodation has been taken

Mmm... eating Fat German Sausage with Bradtke

care of (thankyou to the friends and couchsurfers who have kindly offered their place for us to stay along the way), the UK working visas are being processed as I write - hopefully get them back by next week, and then it's just the loose ends: selling the cars, packing up our stuff, buying the last few items, etc. We had a slight hiccup when our Sabrina unwittingly cancelled our final flight from Beijing to London. She couldn't seem to be able to re-book the same flight and so we are now diverting through Abu Dhabi in the UAE for a few days for some fun in the sun before hitting the big smoke. Pretty exciting really as it will be my first taste of Arabia.
Some other big news for me (which I'm sure most of you know anyway) is that not too long after my last post, Megs and I got together and have just been having the best time since. After telling myself for many months that I would not let myself fall for a gal as I knew I'd be heading back overseas not too long after I got back, I just couldn't bring myself to pass this one up.

Camping with Megs in Deep Creek.. An awesome place

She definitely is something else, and I haven't looked back. The problem: I'm heading overseas and the time is drawing near... The solution: Megs has decided she is coming over to Europe a few months later! See, it all works out in the end :)

the Playboy Party - me and Chel

I have worked much more slowly on my music than I had hoped, having still not yet written a full song with Micah (we are getting close and am really hoping this will be done by the time I leave though). I have finished my guitar lessons now - they were with quite a talented Flamenco guitarist by the name of Aloysius Leeson. I enjoy being more confident on guitar and am considering getting myself one when I get to the UK. I've also taught myself the 1st movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on piano which is a bit of fun.
A few festivals and shows have come and gone or are still coming before we leave. Big Day Out (reputedly the world's largest travelling music festival) came to Adelaide on the first day of February this year and in my opinion it would have to have been one of the best one's I've seen yet (this was my 8th BDO). Rage Against The Machine were the headliners, along with Sarah Blasko (although I didn't get to see her as she played the same time as Rage), Björk, Bexta, Karnivool - my personal favourite - as well as my mates' band New Season Black, and many others. I did manage to see Sarah Blasko in a more intimate setting a few months previous at Her Majesty's Theatre, which was fantastic. Machine Head and Archenemy came. Coming up is the Soundwave festival with bands such as Killswitch Engage, the Offspring and Alexisonfire - which just so happens to fall on 1st March, the day before we leave. Also coming up is the annual Adelaide Fringe Festival, where I'll be checking out, among other things, the talented Irish-born comedian, Jimeoin, and the NZ band The Mamaku Project.
My ma's birthday was last Monday and Lee's birthday is this coming Monday. February - the "month of the birthday" in our family. We had a lovely dinner for mum's birthday last week at Chianti Classico (a very nice and rather upper-class restuarant on Hutt St in the city) and dinner for Lee on Monday night is shaping up to be just as nice at Yakitori Daikichi (the first traditional Yakitori-style - approachable for all those who don't go "raw" - Japanese restaurant in Adelaide).
So I'd say this will be my last post in the City of Churches before I leave. But keep an eye out for my new blog from Pillar to Post: a traveller's guide to stuff which I'll be using to keep you all up-to-date with my progress around the world on this new and exciting expedition.

And don't forget to keep in touch!

p.s. does anyone know a good dentist? the cheaper the better... prepared to sacrifice qualifications for cost... :P

Peace x