26th of March 2013

Off to work today! A little difficult just after the long weekend. But how I'm going to manage next Tuesday will be very interesting. I did end up watching the episode of the walking dead last night before I went to sleep and as usual, it left with a cliff hanger! How typical of the walking dead to make the way you feel about characters so quickly within just one episode. Would've been nice if I hadn't seen any of the spoilers on Facebook though.

When I was headed into work, I notice that my stocking had a run in it, which was annoying as it wasn't there in the morning. So once the train arrived at Town Hall, I quickly dashed over to Woolies so I pick up a couple for spares, then headed into work.

Got quite a bit done today for work, but there is still plenty more to do. Since I'm helping out in one of the teams, one of their suppliers is a bit of a mess so I've been helping them clear it up and get the account up to date. Things have been going pretty smoothly, but it's just a bit of a tedious task. Which I personally do not mind. Maybe it's just simple because I know it's only for a few weeks. But then again, I've been taking that attitude since I've been told I'd been made redundant.

We also had group accounts meeting today, to keep us all updated about what will be happening over the next few weeks. Which isn't anything really. We've been told that all the changes will happen from June, which is after a bunch of us leave. So it's nothing I need to worry about, or have it occupy any thought within my brain.

For lunch today, I just sat in a quiet corner while I read the book Rot and Ruin. It's a book that was given to me by my Spotlight Report friends for Christmas, and I've picked it up every now and then to read. But as of late it has getting to the good bits, so it's hard to put down. I think maybe it's also because The Walking Dead is coming up to the end of Season 3, so I'm subconsciously grabbing onto any Zombie story that I can until new episodes of the Walking Dead come out. 

All in all it was pretty much a quiet day. When I got home I checked the seedlings which I had planted over a week ago now, and I'm starting to see some sprouts. It's about time, cause I was starting to think that the seeds weren't working at all. Though when I planted them, they were very very tiny seeds, so seeing something sprout from them must be a miracle!

25th of March 2013

Another Monday! How many more of these do we have left of the year? It just doesn't seem fair sometimes how Mondays seem to roll around so quickly! Oh well, still have to get showered and dressed for work anyways and make it into work. Still things need to be done, and most of all I still need to get paid! Work hasn't been too bad as of late, not that it was ever horrible to begin with, I just feel as though there is a sudden weight off my shoulders and I cannot really explain why that is. Either way I'm not complaining and just enjoying how things are. I was a little concerned on how the tension was going to be since 5 people had left at the end of last week, so I had a feeling that moral wouldn't be that high.

When I caught the train, my friends Rocio mentioned that she was heading off to Melbourne for the next couple of days for work and would be back on Wednesday (lucky duck!). She mentioned that she has a lot of work to do in the meantime, and even mentioned to provide me with a tiny screen shot of what she looks at all day, and I don't envy her one bit! Give me my reconciliations of accounts any day!

When I got into work I had a quick look at how the plants were doing, and they've grown to about 25cm! So I made sure I water them so that they'll be ok for the next few days. My Dexter plant isn't doing too well, so I must research the plant some more to find out what I need to do. I have a feeling though that I may need to bring it home (well I will have to anyways eventually) as I made need to move the soil that it is in to make it well once again.

Throughout that day one of the girls at work who is pregnant kept mentioning food towards lunch time, which was making me really hungry! We all started talking about Maltese food and the different types of food that we like to eat. Especially now that Easter is coming up and all the wonderful Easter treats will be coming out! I mentioned that I have a sudden craving for bake macaroni, so I couldn't wait to get home to mention it to mum to make it the next day.

During lunch I didn't get up to much, now that Gloria is away on her honeymoon, everyone else is pretty busy with their own thing. So I must remember to bring in a book for the next few weeks so I can have a pretty relaxing lunch break.

Once I got home, I was surprised to see that mum had made baked macaroni! I think she's part psychic and must have tuned in to my cravings at work. Even Frank had mentioned that he was thinking of making some himself, but thought it was better to leave it up to mum to see what she wanted to make.

After dinner I browsed about the web to see about stock photos. As I was mentioned during the weekend, that with all the photos that I take with my good camera, I can sell them online. I was recommend a couple of websites and browsed through the terms and conditions. It doesn't seem like a bad idea. But there are a lot of questions that they ask you, as well as the type of photos they are looking for. I started to get a little sleepy, so I thought it was best to sneak in the recent episode of the Walking Dead before I pass out asleep! 

Which reminds me, that there is only one more episode left to go before the season finishes! And why is it with the season so close to the end, that people feel the need to post up what happened within the episode before most people either A) Come home from watching it themselves and B) Before it airs the next day in Australia! I mean seriously.... I get it that the episode was exciting, but is there really a need to mention WHY it made you cry! We all know someone is going to die in the episodes, because in just about every episode there is always someone who dies. But do you have to mention who!? Bah! Oh well... still a great episode anyways, cannot wait to see what happens in the next episode!

24th of March 2013

Got to sleep in today, and boy did I make the most of it. I vaguely remember waking up at about 7 in the morning and seeing mum sitting outside, while I went into the kitchen to make myself a coffee. Once I managed to complete that task in my sleepy haze, I walked back into my room and finished off the coffee before I went back to sleep again.

Nothing really much to report for today except it was definitely a lazy Sunday for me. I spent most of the day playing Sims 3. It's one of those games where you think to yourself, "I'll only play it until the character I make gets married and has a kid." Then when you do get up to that stage it's three hours later and you wonder where the time went! Though with games like this I tend to come up with silly ideas. Thank goodness I have only silly ideas with Sims 3 maybe twice a year if I'm lucky, otherwise I'd spend my whole time in front of the computer! I actually had an idea where I made a red person and a blue person just so I could see if they would have purple babies. It isn't the case if you wanted to know.

I also starting to get into again Rifftrax movies. Which is made by the same guys who did Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K). It's awesome stuff. But be warned, if you love a movie and they have a 'riff' on it, probably not a good idea to watch it. Maybe start with their earlier work first. Basically it's three guys making fun of a movie. Back in the old MST3K days, it was 1 guy and 2 robots. But they still have that witty sense of humor.

At about 5pm, Frank suggested that we go out for dinner. So after watching the football game we all got dressed and ready and headed to the St Marys Band club. Not one of the best places to go to, but the food wasn't too bad. Raiders were playing this afternoon, so after we finished eating I went to catch the last 10 minutes of the game. Which they managed to score one last time before time up. Oh well, one long weekend done and dusted. Another two long weekends to go!

23rd of March 2013

Woke up just after 9am in the morning. Quickly had a shower and got ready for another big day. Everyone was already up and having breakfast so they were waiting on me.

At just after 10am we heading over to Mt Ainslie  for out first stop, to see some views of Canberra from the top. There was a lovely view of the new and the old Parliament house. It was very windy for a sunny day, but there were such fantastic views! We then headed of to Telstra Tower - which is now named Black Mountain Tower. On the way we drove pass the war memorial and also the statues and other monuments in remembrance of other wars.

The Tower was just how I remembered it when I went to visit a few years back. It's such a great view, and I would highly recommend it to everyone. That is of course, if you don't have a problem with heights or have a problem with how windy it can be outside. Ended up coming across a stuff toy within the gift shop of a colourful cat, and I was very tempted to purchase it. Just for the simple fact that it reminded me of an episode of the Walking Dead (strange I know). We also had a bit of morning tea while we were there, and sat down for a bit of a chat with some tea and coffee.

Afterwards we headed over to Cockington Green Gardens, where they have a wide selection of miniature houses surrounded by mini plants as well. It's such a lovely and tranquil place, even with a little pond running through. It also has little sneaky signs and little puzzles throughout the place, which once you do find are pretty interesting. I personally think that there should be more, so it'll give you a bit more story about each of the little building. It is still fantastic nonetheless. We even went on the little train ride afterwards, which I love going on, as there is one corner that shows you a little alien spaceship with two aliens waving. You wouldn't be able to see them while just walking around, and you only get to see them while the train.

After walking around the place for about an hour my cousin from Canberra, my uncle and I visited the walk in aviary where they have us a plate of cut up apple to feed to the birds who were flying about. There were canaries, budgies, parrots and even some doves. I'd never got to do this before so I was thrilled when I had a chance to try it. I must admit the first time one of the birds flew on me I was taken by surprise, but I was in heaven once the shock settled. I even had a couple jump up on my plate to take the apple pieces for themselves while eating it there.

It wasn't long before we had to head off again back to my cousins place, where we packed up our things to go back home. I wish we could stay longer, but my uncle had other plans for the next day. I'm hoping to come back here again one day this year to see the Raiders play. So maybe I can convince Frank and mum to come along when the Panthers play the Raiders within Canberra.

After taking a few photos and saying out goodbyes, we headed back home. We had a bit of a laugh when mums door flew open as she took off, but she managed to close it right away. Throughout the whole drive I tried playing a bit of the Sims within the car ride, but it didn't feel right. Plus I only had a little bit of battery left.

When we finally arrived back at my aunts place, it was about 7:30pm and my Uncle Joe had just arrived a few minutes before we did. So we went inside and had our greetings before mum and I took off home again. It was a very long day, and it wasn't long before I crashed into bed.

22nd of March 2013

Woke up at about 6am and hurriedly had a shower to get dressed and ready. I also packed up a small bag for a few clothes for our trip to Canberra for the next couple of days. I made sure that I had my tablet with my and also my laptop. Since we'd be staying at my cousin's place, those two things tend to be a necessity for me every time I visit. Not because I get easily bored there... the complete opposite! As the kids (well not really kids anymore) are computer geniuses as well as my cousin's husband, and there is always something new that I learn while I'm there.

Just after 7am my cousin from Malta message me to let me know that she was arriving at the station soon, so mum and I made the trip to pick her up and than afterwards we went to my aunts place to pick up her dad. We stayed talking for a little bit and even had a cup of coffee before we hit the road. My Aunt's even packed us some biscuits in case we got hungry and also 'in case anything happens'. So it wasn't long before we hit the road to make our way to Canberra.

Not even twenty minutes on the road, I spotted a car which looked like the general lee on the road and as I was looking at it, I kept thinking how awesome of a car it was. Even my cousin was looking at it. So as we drove up next to it we wanted to see who would be driving it, and to our surprise, the older man driving it looked and us and mouthed "You have a flat tire!" My cousin an I were in shock... we called out to my mum to let her know that there was a flat tire who then pulled over to the side of the road. Luckily my uncle used to be a mechanic, otherwise the three of us girls would be waiting for assistance from NRMA! Haha! We kinda blamed our aunt for jinxing us, which is why we had the flat tire. Good thing we all had a laugh about it, guess there isn't much you can do with situations like this.

Not long later we called up my cousin who we were going to be meeting, and we decided to meet up at a service station just outside ACT. As there wasn't any service stations that could fix with tire issues on the way to Canberra, so we had to go to one within Canberra.

After we arrived, we stopped over my cousins place for a bit to have some lunch before we took off again. Our first stop was the Mint, where all of the Australian coins are made as well as a lot of other coins from across the globe. We when arrived they were about to start the tour of the mint, and out of the couple of times I had been there already we never done the tour. So we were definitely in luck this time! We were told the history of the coins within Australia and shown all different types. Also mentioned that if you come across any coins with any misprints or slip ups on them it can be worth a fortune! And along the way there were many examples of mistakes that are on the coins. For example, the two pictures on the two different sides on the coin, even though they are different they are perfectly aligned. If they aren't it's a mistake, and considered rare.

The lady at the mint was fantastic and told us a bunch of jokes, so we were very happy that we got to do the tour. Afterwards we  looked at the gift shop and noticed that there was a 50 dollar note and also a 100 dollar note that was in 24 carat gold foil! As we were leaving the place we were taking photos of all of us outside the place when the tour lady saw us and came along to take a photo :) 

Afterwards we headed over to Questacon, which is similar to the Powerhouse within Sydney. We spent almost two hours in there, and could have spent a lot longer, except that they were closing up. There was a room that was on an angle to show us with camera tricks how they make people look smaller and bigger, and a lot of other fantastic stuff! Got to see how a tsunami is formed as well as a tornado. There is so many things to see and do in the place, that we all just wanted to play and touch just about everything!

While we were there, my cousin (who lives in Canberra) received a call saying that another cousin of ours is pregnant and is expecting twins! I swear with all that is happening as of late this is about the 5th person that I know that is either pregnant or recently have a baby. I'm starting to think that there is something within the water!

Afterwards we headed back to my cousins place, were the boys were preparing dinner on the BBQ. They talked about new projects which they were working on, and it also fascinates me how they come up with all the ideas that they do. So once it was all cooked and ready we sat down for fantastic dinner and told a few jokes. Even had a bit of Lambrusco wine! During dinner we got onto the subject of the old TV Show 'The Chaser.' So after we finished dinner we watch a few of their clips on Youtube. I even showed my cousin the recent popular clip where the guy goes to jump in what he thinks is a small puddle! 

It wasn't long before we said our good nights and headed off to bed. I started to watch a Rifftrax movie called "The Prisoners of the Lost Universe." But as usual I ended up falling asleep while watching it.

21st of March 2012

Woke up this morning a little tired, but nothing would would stop me from being productive today. As even though it is Thursday it is the last day of the working week for me. And for the next three weeks I have 4 day working weeks! Hooray! Caught the train as per usual with my friend Rocio and we had some pretty weird conversations. Though we also did talk about going to Perth, as it seems as thought that the Gold Coast may not be an option for us. This way I do get to see Rhys and Gwen from Torchwood, and even Wash from Firefly! So it's an added bonus for me. Still wanting to see Jayne though...*pouts*

When I got into work I handed Gloria her wedding present, as she is going to get married this Saturday! I'm so excited and happy for her. I noticed that her desk was covered in balloons and streaming with a sign saying 'Congratulations.' There was even a little picture which one of the managers made that had a lovely quote on it with a married couple picture. She was all in a flutter and really excited but nervous for this weekend. On a sad note though, it was my friend Rhonda's last day and will also be the last day for about 4 more people tomorrow as they've all been made redundant. So for most of the day I had a mixture of emotions. Excited for Gloria, but felt like I was losing a good group of friends at the same time. Even thought I knew that the same thing will be happening for me in a couple of months time.

At about lunchtime a large group of us headed to Blackbird within the city to have a farewell lunch. It was a little squishy with everyone who had arrived, and we were all seated within one long table. It was a pretty good meal though and everyone had a good ole chat. Even though it was for a sad occasion, I always like these big gatherings. It's just a pity we only do these when someone is leaving. The only time we celebrate is within a team or during our biannual conferences. On the way I ended up getting a ice chocolate, as one of the girls kept on talking about how she had a craving for it and was going to get one on the way back to the office. Word of advice... don't hang around pregnant women, or you'll end up with all sorts of weird cravings!

The rest of the work day went by pretty smoothly and I ended up getting stage one of my work done. At just after 4pm, all of us within accounts gathered around together to wish Gloria congratulations and hand her a card which everyone had signed, and also a present which everyone contributed to. After all the congratulations and hugs we moved on to a sad part. To say goodbye to Rhonda who had been working with the company for 18 and a half years! She had been one of my close friends within the workplace since I started working there, mostly because she was Maltese and had a name which rhymed with mine, so everyone wanted to introduce the both of us when I had started. 

She gave a fantastic speech and I'm very happy she was in top spirits, though I guess there isn't much you can do once you've been made redundant apart from look at the bright side. I'm afraid I was far too quiet than my usual self as I never really know what to say during moments like these. She kept telling me that this isn't going to be goodbye, and that we'll catch up later on and she'd love to be invited to the lunch when it is my turn to leave.

She also mentioned that that she is going to be looking into her own bakery, as this is something that she's wanted to for a while, and will start off local. She loves making Maltese treats, and will start at local Maltese places first before branching out. I wish her all the best and hope that she does accomplish this. In fact I know she will.. she has the Maltese spirit in her :)

Afterwards I went over to the other side of the building to say goodbye to those who would also be leaving tomorrow, since I won't be there. They're a lovely group of people and I also wish they weren't going either. It's just a pity that only a selected few are going. It's a whole different kettle of fish when it is one a handful of people going, instead of everyone.

I slowly made my way home, and got there a bit later than my usual time. I had stayed back for almost an hour saying goodbye to everyone. So when I got home, I wasn't in the most top of moods as I was feeling a little numb as the time I was told I was made redundant.  Oh well... I guess this prepared me for the time I do leave to. Look for bigger and better opportunity and always look on the bright side. It could all be a lot worse!

20th of March 2013

When I woke up this morning, I couldn't believe that it was already Wednesday! When I explained this to mum I think the reason I was excited that it was Wednesday is that I'll be having Friday off, which meant that there was only one more working day for me left this week. 

When I got to the station I explained to my friend Rocio that I was seriously thinking about attending Supanova this year, and will most likely go to with Brisbane or Melbourne as I wanted to see Jayne from the TV show Firefly. But in order for me to do so, I'd like to dress up but really had no idea what to dress up as. I love watching Doctor Who, so maybe something to do with Doctor Who would be a great option. Then again the whole reason why I want to go to Brisbane in the first place is to see Jayne, and the logical thing would be to dress up as something from Firefly! Ohhh the options!

When I got into work I made my usual trip to see how the seedlings are doing, and it's probably my imagination but they seem to be growing each day. I also decided to bring my Dexter plant over to the window to have some sun as it doesn't seem to be doing so well. Well there are new leaves growing on it, which is a good sign, but the stem which the flowers sprout from don't look as though it is doing so well.

It wasn't that much of a eventful day, as there was a lot of work which I wanted to get though. Though during lunch Gloria and I did get our nails done. Well me for a bit of fun and to tag along, where as Gloria had to get her nails done for her wedding. I got mine done black, as it was something completely different to what I usually get and I'm pretty sure that I want to go for a record and get different colours. I wonder if they would object if I did get every nail painted a different colour. Similar to that of Dexter's mum!

When I got home I posted up a couple of costumes up on Facebook, as I wanted to see what people thought of them and get any ideas if need be. It seems as though that everyone likes the Firefly costume that I am thinking of getting. So hopefully that can be arranged soon!

19th of March 2013

Was a little hard to get up this morning. I really need to try and get to bed earlier and earlier. I'm sure a lot of people have pretty much the same habit as me, that once we get into the Internet once we get home the time just seems to fly! But I made it onto the train and met up with Rocio on time, so I'm glad I least didn't miss that.

Once I got into work I quickly checked to see how the seedlings were doing, and it seems as though that overnight my seedlings have grown at least two inches! Which was so amazing that I just had to take a photo of it. I had been telling Gloria since we'd planted the seeds that once day we're going to walk into work to find that her desk has been completely taken over by our seedlings. And if the two inches over night wasn't proof enough, I'm not sure what is!

The new team that I am in had a quick meeting this morning to give a run down of everything that has been happening within the work place, and it seems as though not many people do know what is going on and a lot of things are happening a bit at a time so not to confuse people. Though for the past couple of days the invoices which are usually processed within our Sydney office, will now be processed overseas. So we've been told to be weary of any up coming issues.

During lunch I went with Gloria and our team mate Tatiana as she had to go dress shopping to looked for something to wear for Gloria's wedding. So we went to the shop forever new so she could try on a few dresses, which is a little hard with her being pregnant. I then had to quickly dash off as it was coming up close to the end of our break and I hadn't had anything to eat as of yet. So I quickly said that I had to go and buy some food before heading into the office where I ate it at my desk. I usually don't like doing this, as the smell of food can annoy other people, especially if they've already had their lunch break.

As for the rest of the day, not a lot happened. When I got home I went to water the plants to see if there was any movement with my new seedlings there, but nothing so far. I think that there may be a bit of action towards the end of the week. So here's hoping!

18th of March 2013

Why oh why do you arrive so quickly Monday? Oh to be a Time Lord to repeat the weekends over and over again until I felt like I was able to face Monday again. This Monday didn't feel as heavy as the previous Mondays though. As today I will be starting within a new team for the next three weeks, so I was pretty excited about doing something different instead of doing the same tasks that I do each and every day. Well in this case, I would be doing the same tasks but for a whole different area of the world. Plus I secretly always wanted to be in that team, just because they deal with Malta, even though they do not have a large supplier base there as of yet.

I caught up with my friend Rocio at the train station, and when we caught the train we both thought it was highly odd that the train was packed today. Though we did notice that there were some regulars who weren't on the train. Rocio mentioned how she was considering on going to the states for a week or so as she had a wedding to go to at the end of the year. I mentioned that I had a pretty eventful weekend, but nothing as being asked to go to the states for a wedding!

When I got into work the manager that I would be dealing with sat me down and told me my tasks that she'd like me to complete in the time I was there. Pretty hard tasks, but nothing that I couldn't handle. In fact I think I've done a lot worse which took me a lot longer. Since I had to move desks, I am now sitting in the area that Gloria sits so I can chat to her more on a regular basis. We also both noticed that the seeds that I had planted the other week are now shooting through. Her seeds are much more taller than mine, since she planted them a week before me. So it was nice to see my little seedlings finally shoot through!

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Gloria mentioned that for Wednesday she'd like to get her nails done to be ready in time for the wedding, and wanted to know if I'd join her to get my nails done as well. I thought why not! After lunch I went pretty much straight to work and completed my tasks for the day.

The manager also gave me a copy of The Big Issue - which she had bought a while back - for me to keep as it had a cute picture of a cat on it, plus it also looks like Sheba. I haven't had a moment to read the cat stories in it just as yet, though I may save it for the trip to Canberra which is happening on Friday.

Once I got home I planted some seeds which I had bought over the weekend, and placed them in a small pot and also around the garden to bring colour up the place a little. Hopefully I'll have just as much success as I do with the ones that are in the office.

17th of March 2013

Finally got to sleep in a little today, and tried to do what I usually like to always do on the weekends... which is nothing! But I had to go shopping as I had a couple of gifts which I needed to buy, as well as a wedding present for a close friend. So after sleeping in till about 10am, I got dressed and ready to head over to the shops.

The first objective which I had was to find and locate a wedding present, so mum and I went browsing at a bunch of shops getting a few ideas here and there. I wont mention what I ended up buying (of course), but I personally think it was a lovely gift. As it is for a close friend of mine, I wanted it to be more than a kettle or a toaster :-p

After I bought the gift, mum had to go browse around and do her down shopping so I did my usually browsing as well. I like taking a peek into book stores and game stores. I honestly think I could spend hours within a book store and still not be completely done browsing. I've been having a thought as of late to go to university and starting up a degree in criminology. It's something that I've always been passionate about, especially forensic psychology. So I've been asking a bunch of people about Open University and what they think about it. I've been hearing good reviews about it, so I may end up going ahead with it once I settle in to a full time job.

I ended up going into EB Games and buying the new expansion back from The Sims 3 called seasons. Ended up almost having an argument with the sales guy as he kept going on about how the endless expansion packs for the sims will never end. To which I laughed and said they'll probably make a couple more, release Sims 4 and reboot they whole expansion packs again. Which he suddenly got defensive about and said that they would never do that. When I pointed out that they did the same thing for Sims 1 and Sims 2, he mentioned that they were just trailing things then. The way he acted as if he were the inventor of the game, which I thought was a little odd. Oh well.

Once we both got home, we all sat and watch a little TV before I started to install the expansion pack. I completely forgot with games that if you haven't played them in a long while you need to update all the improvements, which took almost half an hour before the game started to install! Oh well.

Ended up spending most of the night playing Seasons before heading back to bed. Have a big day within a new team tomorrow, so I must look my best! :-p

16th of March 2013

Got woken up at a little after 9:30am, as I had my last vet appointment for Howard today at 11am. So I quickly got dressed and ready as fast as I could, with my head still in a state of sleep and my legs a little worn from the awesome concert that was last night. Once I got dressed and ready, I gave Howard's cage a little cleaning out and then we headed off to the vets.

What surprises me each time that I go to this vet, is that there is always a different type of animal each time we visit. When I first arrived there was an elderly guy holding a box, which he ended up telling me it was baby canary chicks which he wanted to get checked out, and there was another guy who had a peach face. When I brought in Howard, the peach face started to whistle and Howard joined in a call and response type tweeting. The elderly guy looked at me and laugh, and said it seems as though that the two birds had a lot to talk about.

Not long later a woman came in with a turtle, and I recognised her from the last time that I was here. I asked her which one was the turtle? Was it 'Splish' or 'Splash'? She looked at me with a smile and said she couldn't believe that I would remember some a small greeting from the last time, and told me it was Splash getting an injection.

While we were both chatting away, and she was informing me that her turtle was 6 years old another woman came in holding what seems to be a kitchen mitt. She told us that it had a bat inside, that was no bigger than the palm of my hand. She ended up taking it out so that it would have off the neck of her shirt and started to pet it while we were all there. The bad kept giving it a weird smile, the type of evil smile when someone did something horrid and thoroughly enjoyed it! But she kept saying that bats have a bad label and are actually very kind and sweet.

When it was Howard's turn to visit the vet, she gave him a quick once over and said that he was perfectly fine and that there was no need for me to provide him with anymore medicine as he had been singing like his old self for a week now. So when we finished from the vet, we made a detour tot he pet shop so I could spoil my Howard and getting him a couple of new things, which he seems to have enjoyed very much! I even had a quick look to see if the pet shop had an green canaries (which I'm looking for), but they didn't have any. But they did had a few loose baby budgies that were grooming themselves, as well as three baby bunnies which looked so cute!

When we got home, Frank told me that the engagement part that they had tonight had a couple people cancel and wanted to know if I'd like to come a long and I said yes. So I got a few things ready and sat down and watched TV for a bit while I had some coffee. I also had a bit of a nap while I watched TV, as I still hadn't recovered from my 2am outing yesterday. We ended up leaving for the engagement party just after 5pm, and there seemed to be a traffic jam near Parramatta road. So we had to go a different way.

Once we got to the engagement party, the whole set up looked as though we turned up for the wedding. All the chairs and tables were decorated like one, and even the bride to be was wearing a long white dress which could pass as a wedding dress. A lot of people thought that there may be a surprise wedding which is why everything was set up the way it was, though I doubted it since the cake had 'Engagement' on it and not wedding. Though on a personal note, I think it would have been awesome to have a surprise wedding! 

Ended up having a fantastic time, and the food was delicious! We stayed till 11pm and danced the night away. Well... to be honest I didn't as I don't like dancing much at these things any more. Mostly because a little OCD kicks in and it annoys me when I seem people dancing like the bus stop or the Nutbush city limits incorrectly!

Once we got home it started to rain a little, and Frank's sister in law was talking about how she loved doing cross word puzzles and was amazed when she came across one question which mentioned who was the original Martha Stewart. When she Googled for the answer, was amazed to learn that it was Pocahontas. When she married John Smith ended up changing her name to Martha Stewart. Once we got home we all ended up crashing in our beds once I got home. I vaguely remember putting on a movie to help me sleep, but cannot remember for the life of me what it was.

15th of March 2013

Hooray for Friday!

What a week it has been! I'm so glad that the end of the week has finally arrived. The only downside is that as much as I try to enjoy every minute of my weekend, including Friday, it all just goes too fast. Before we all know it, Monday is looming over us all once again.

I was running a little late this morning, as I had to prepare some clothes, make up, and shoes with my to work today as I was going to a concert afterwards. I also promised my boss at work that I would give her a couple of books to read, as she would be going to Jakarta on Sunday and staying over there for over a month (with a week break in between). So I thought it would be a good idea to give her a couple of books to relax and read during her downtime. Once that was all backed up and I was ready to go, I ended up catching the later bus to St Marys and caught the 10 past 7am train. It would get me into work a couple of minutes after 8am, so I wouldn't be too late.

Once I got into work I had a look at the email turnaround that the team had scored for Thursday's result and it was another good week turnaround. So I got stuck into my emails and invoices right away to keep up with the easy flow of emails.

At about 11:30am my boss came up to me to let me know that her and another manager wanted to have a quick work with me. I got the 'Don't worry it's not bad' speech into the meeting room. I knew I hadn't done anything bad, but you always get that inclination that something is up. I was told that since my boss would be going overseas and that the team would be getting a couple of new temps, I would be spending the next 3 weeks within another team to help them get back on track. This way I'll be helping out a different team and get them on track, while the new temps would be helping out my original team with my workload and anywhere else that they could help. I figure it didn't matter, as my last day is at the end of May anyways. Plus a bit of change of scene is always good.

At 1pm Gloria, Jia, Jaclyn and I went to go have lunch at the Scary Canary's but it was packed out, so we ended up going to the food court within Town Hall to have a bit of a catch up. It seems as though a lot of people have been stressed as of late and really needed to vent during lunch. I think it was the first time in a long time that I wasn't worried, as I'd be in another team for 3 weeks so whatever work I did have I'll be passing it off to someone else anyways.

When we got back to work, it was out Teams duty this week to host the Friday get together in the kitchen which we call "Friday Flash". It was my duty to make announcements. There were only a couple so it wasn't too awful to announce a couple of things. One of the guys in our team had to send an email out to everyone to let them know that Friday Flash was on, and he sent an email saying "It's Flash time! (not literally)" which I thought was pretty funny.

When that was over I quickly dashed to the hairdressers to get my hair washed and dried for the concert tonight. So then I got back to work where I quickly put my face on and dressed. I wasn't 100% sure how to get to the Roundhouse so I ended up having dinner at the New York Cafe and catching a taxi there. The taxi driver seemed to be filled with dad jokes and told me some the whole way! Including:

"There's a single woman, married woman and a widow woman sitting on a bench. Along comes a stork to give one of them a baby. Which one does the stork give the baby to?"

When I said that I didn't know, he replied with:
"I cannot believe that someone at your age still believes that the stork is the one that brings the babies!"

Finally got to the Roundhouse at about 7:30pm, where I noticed a bunch of people lining up int he queue. It wasn't until I double checked the time that I remembered that the doors open at 8pm, but the first band didn't show until 8:30pm! I caught up with a friend Christina who brought a friend of hers along as well, so we went inside for a beer before the first band came on.

Altogether there were three bands in total. Arrow, Hey Geronimo and The Presidents of the United States of America. They were all pretty awesome, but not as awesome as The Presidents! I swear I don't think they stopped at all throughout their whole set!

The whole thing finished just after midnight, and I managed to score a left off Christina. Which was lucky in my case, as I didn't get home till after 2am! All I did was pass out once I got home. I knew I shouldn't have brought heels to a concert! Gah! Keep forgetting that.

14th of March 2013

I woke suddenly this morning by mum letting me know that it was 6am already! Crap. Had half an hour to get dressed and ready for work as the bus arrives just before 6:40am. Luckily with the power of coffee I was able to make it on time, even managed to give Howard his medicine as well as give him a treat of boiled egg.

I left the house with my little folder and tablet to prepare for my meeting at St Leonards today, so instead of getting off at Town Hall I was continue while waving goodbye to my friend Rocio when she got off at Wynard. I arrived a little early and decided to have a little breakfast before I had my meeting/interview. I read through again the notes within the folder that he gave me last time, but this time to find out what type of style I have when it comes to implementing and setting goals. According to the quiz I have an imaginative style. Which I think is a good thing, but I'm sure there are others who do not agree with me.

When I got to the meeting with Colin, I mentioned that I wanted to focus on my resume today. As I have always created it myself and have never had a professional type one up for me or give me their opinion. Then again, there was once that a recruitment agency who did type up one for me, but there was so many spelling errors (including my name) that I never trusted recruitment agencies after that.

Colin basically ripped my resume apart (in a good way), and gave me so much ideas on how to have it stand out. I had always put in a little colour for my resume, as it was my idea that it was to stand out. Apparently just having black text on white paper is the way it does stand out, and no colour will ever give you that little bit of an advantage. The other big no no is to never use colour paper (especially pink - though I'd never use that colour anyway) as it will most likely get through into the bin. By the end of the hour meeting he gave me a lot of pointers and my second draft of my resume was looking a lot better and it did give me a lot more confidence.

When I finally arrived at work it was almost 11am, which meant that most of the working day was gone. Not long after I arrived we had a bit of a team meeting to let us know of a few more changes that will be happening next week, as my boss will be going to Jakarta. So we needed to know the procedures that will be in place as of next week.

When it was lunch time, I went to show photos of my Uluru trip to Gloria only to realise that I had brought in the wrong memory card and that there were only photos from the Canberra and Panthers game that I went to on Sunday. So I felt like a bit of a goose from bringing in the wrong card.

Back at work we had an afternoon tea for my manager as a kinda farewell before she leaves on Sunday. We would normally do this on a Friday, but since we have a part time person who doesn't come in on the Friday, we decided to have it this afternoon instead. While this was going on as well, the whole of accounts got together to farewell Lorena as it was her last day. But she is following up with her dream job, so as much as she will be missed we're all happy that she is doing what she loves the most.

For a Thursday the environment was pretty relaxed, which is amazing! I guess focusing on the hard bits while I got back from my holiday really did help a lot. I even planted a couple of seeds within the team's little garden that they had started while I was away. So hopefully within the next week we'll soon see something grow.

On the way home from work I got a media message from mum on my mobile, which had a two minute audio of Howard singing! Hooray! I think he has finally got his voice back. Tomorrow looks to be a bit of a big day, as I have the concert of The Presidents of the United States of America to go to tomorrow! Pretty excited about it!

13th of March 2013

Hump day! It's already half way through the week, and I'm so thankful that Monday and Tuesday are all over! I thought I was going to be running late for this bus this morning as I had to take my my laptop to work so that I could show something to my friend Gloria, but luckily enough I had just made it to the bus stop on time. Caught up with Rocio at the station and managed to grab a seat despite a bunch of people pushing to get through.

Since we were sitting within the three seater on the train, and another lady was sitting along the isle, when we arrived at Town Hall station you'd think that she would at least have the courtesy to move a tiny bit or at least get up from her chair to let me through right? Wrong! Didn't even move an inch, and then groaned when I squeezed passed her. Well I'm sorry deary... if you're not going to move for me, then I'm going to make you move! :-p

Also the extra funny thing when I got off at the station, there was a guard holding the flag to signal the driver that the area was cleared so the doors could be closed, well there was a guy behind him making all sort of cat noises! "MEEEOOOWWW.... MEEEOOOWSSS.... PUURR PUURR!" Was the funniest thing that I had seen in a while! Maybe because I'd be the type of person to do that... well I would with friends but not behind a random person within public!

Usual routine at work. Got in... worked hard on emails, worked hard on invoices, answered a bunch of phone calls and told a few silly jokes. Kidding aside, I think I'm finally making a break within my emails, it was just unfortunate that a bunch of invoices came through at the last moment yesterday so I was left with a whole bunch this morning. 

For lunch we all took off just a little after midday as we were having lunch at the Shellbourne hotel which was just up the road from work we work. When elevator finally arrived to take us to the ground floor, I noticed as we went in that Elevator dude was inside! *swoon* Never seen him head off to lunch, so now I'm the creepy stalker who knows what time he has lunch! The whole way down to the ground floor I kept elbowing Gloria with a weird look on my face! So when we finally made it outside I just had to burst out laughing, cause I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Ahhh..

The rest of the day went by smoothly, and the lunch that we had was lovely. The annoying thing about having lunch at 12 instead of the usual 1:30pm like I have, is that the time after lunch went by so slowly! So after sitting at my desk and clearing a bunch of paper work, I looked at the time to notice that is had just turned 3pm!

When I got home I remember that in the morning tomorrow I have an interview to go through talks on how to improve my resume. But I first need to show him the resume that I have first! So I looked through all the files on my laptop trying to find it, as I thought I had saved it on this new laptop. I then realised that it was on my old laptop which the screen doesn't work. So I had to recruit mum to help me find the monitor wire to hook it up to the TV. When I did finally find it, I could only find it in PDF format which meant that I had to retype everything! Fun evening! So when that was finally done I emailed it off to Colin who I was meeting tomorrow and let me know that it was a really rough draft!

12th of March 2013

Was a little bit of a struggle getting up this morning, but not as bad as yesterday. Thinking the post holiday blues are finally disappearing. There's nothing like work to snap you back into reality, to remind us all that there is a job to be done and we need to get paid to we can then pay our bills. Which reminded me of a quote which I read that was said by the Dalai Lama.

"Man sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. Then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn't enjoy the present: the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

Which reminded me that we all need to have a bit of fun in our life, and to remember to have work and life balance despite everything that goes on in our lives.

When I got into work I bumped into a friend of mine Jaclyn who was showing Jia and I some jewellery and handbags that she has. She is about to start her own business and is in the process of creating a Facebook page to start selling these. I was eyeing the small handbag that she is selling, and even the long necklace look pretty amazing as well.

I went to my desk to get stuck into my emails. The only unfortunate thing about being away for a week is that work piles up on you, but in this instance it didn't get too much as Gloria helped me out while I was gone, so I didn't have too much when I got back yesterday. Though there were quite a few emails which I decided to get my hands on and focus for most of the day.

When it was lunch time, Gloria and I decided to go to our usual spot across the road within Darling Park when we noticed that the whole inside was being renovated. So a lot of the area was closed off. When we went up to escalator to get a bite to eat, we saw that the place was closed! So we headed back towards Town Hall station and just got a subway wrap. According to the signs within Darling Park, the building will be in renovation mode for a few months. So it looks as though my last few months with Flight Centre, I won't be able to enjoy my lunches within the park.

The rest of the day went smoothly. I decided to shift my focus from emails to invoices and got a lot done. It still amazes me how invoices are missed on a monthly basis, and it's either just from some people forgetting to send them in or details weren't provided to us. I was also informed that there will be a lunch on tomorrow which people had to put their names down, as Lorena a coworker will be leaving us on Thursday. Everyone had to put their names down by Friday, but since I wasn't at work all last week I wasn't able to put my name down. So I asked her managed if I was still able to join, and luckily enough I was squeezed in.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the day, though I did receive a text message from mum saying that Howard was singing his little heart out! I'm so very happy that he has got his singing voice back! I may even spoil the little bird and get him a new cage. We'll see how things go though.

11th of March 2013

Woke up a little earlier than usual to get ready for work. Mostly because I was afraid that I would sleep in due to the hour and a half time difference I had got use to at Ayers Rock. So I gave Howard his medicine and also gave him a treat on top of his usual food of crushed boiled egg. For 5am he seemed wide awake and ready to take on whatever the day had to offer him.

Once I had got dressed and ready for work I headed off to the station where I bumped into my friend Rocio who apparently thought that I would be going away this week instead of last week. It wasn't until I didn't show up for the second day last week that she realised she had the wrong week.

When I got into work I noticed right away that Gloria wasn't in for work, and thought at first she was just running late. So I asked a team member and a good friend of hers also if she knew she was going to be in, but she had no idea. We found out about an hour later that she wasn't well and not coming in, so I sent her a message to let her know that we hope she feels better soon. She has her wedding next Saturday, so I can only imagine what kind of pressure she is under right now!

During lunch went with a co worker to look for candles for Gloria's wedding, as she needed a particular three which she'll have a picture of her and her fiance as well as a bible verse. Now I really don't consider myself a romantic but there is one reading which I love hearing within weddings and it's the verse from the Corinthians:

“Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous, love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offense, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end.”

Which is pretty weird I think coming from myself who is more of a Beatrice from 'Much Ado About Nothing.":

“He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man. He that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.”

Had a conference call this afternoon as well with my manager and a supplier of mine. When I first heard about it when I got in to work this morning I was a little confused as they've never really complained before, so I had started to check on passed emails just in case I had missed anything. After a discussion it turns out that there was a simple misunderstanding, and had nothing to do with us anyways. So that was a huge relief!

I also noticed today that Google had the theme picture today to celebrate Douglas Adam's 61st birthday! Cannot believe that he would be 61 today, was taken from the world far too soon and had such great imagination! So it was a such a great surprised to see 'Don't Panic' on the Google homepage today. It's a shame they didn't have '42' there though, but instead they did have a drawing of Douglas Adam's quote of 'Flying is simple. Throw yourself to the ground and miss."

After a long day at work it was such a great relief to come back home and chill for a while. Ended up getting some KFC for dinner. I also received an email back from the guy that Frank had met at the Panther's game yesterday, as I had sent him an email of pictures which I took of his daughter that bonded with Frank yesterday and he really appreciated all the photos.

Now if you'll excuse me... it's Monday night and I can watch an episode of The Walking Dead!

10th of March 2013

Got to sleep in a little today, maybe I'm still adjusting to the time zone difference even though it is only for an hour and a half. Still have a bit of the post holiday blues, but trying desperately to shake it off. Doesn't help that I have to go back to work tomorrow, but then again maybe it will help a lot by having the usual routine in place once again.

Mum and Frank headed off to the shops and told me that they would return before 1pm as that is the time we would be leaving for the game. So while they were away, I made some boiled egg for Howard and washed the dishes. I even showered and washed my hair, then had to go on a bit of a hunt for my Raiders jersey. I also thought it would be a good idea to take my camera with me, as I was in a bit of a habbit carrying it around since my time at Ayers Rock. It was also felt good taking photos with it again.

When they arrived we headed off to Penrith Panthers stadium, and we gathered our things (my Raider's jersey and they took their Panthers jersey). It was also a very hot weather in Penrith, though not as hot as it was in the Northern Territory. Since Frank had his season tickets, mum and I ended up sitting within the stadium on the opposite side of the field to him. Good thing we did as well, as the side that Frank was sitting on was in the hot sun, and the side that mum and I were on were under the shade!  We also had a good view of the goal lines, just had to wait till the second half so that the raiders could score on this end.

It ended up being a pretty good game, though it was a pity that the first two tries that the Raiders scored weren't counted. As I'm sure that if those tries were counted they would have won the game! There was also won try that the Panthers had scored that I'm still not convinced that they scored. Then again it is only the first game, and the Raiders did play particulary well and had only dropped the ball once as far as I can tell. Still many more patches to go!

During half time Frank, mum and I went to go grab a bite to eat and I was shocked at the prices that they had for everything! Pretty much close in competition to the cafes and bars within Ayers Rock. $5.00 for a coke and also $5.00 for a meat pie! I ended up buying a 'family sized chips' which cost $7.50, as I knew that the regular hot chips which were $5.00 was just a cup. So paying the extra $2.50 would be worth it for double the chips.

During the second half of the game Frank managed to find a seat closer to us, as he didn't want to sit in the sun any more. Ended up seated next to a guy and his young girl who was about the age of 4, and this was the first time ever she had been to a NRL game and was a Panthers supported as well. Since Frank struck a conversation with them both, we caught up with them at the end of the game and managed to get the guys email address so I could send him photos of his little girl. As she looked so cute with had face painted with stars and rainbows! 

We headed over to McDonalds afterwards where we had some ice cream. Really needed something to cool us down in this hot weather. Though once I did get to McDonalds I ended up getting the mango ice crush or whatever it's called, and ended up having a brain freeze just after a few sips! Took me ages to finish it off, as I ended up feeling so cold half way through the drink while mum and Frank said the ice cream just wasn't enough to cool them off.

I mentioned to mum that since we were heading to Canberra in a couple of weeks it probably would be best if we could take my cousin Nathalie to a Raiders game while we are there and also take mums brother. But when I looked to see what matches that were on, I noticed that they were playing on the Sunday night. Oh well.

Once we got home, we all had a bit of a lay down and rest and it wasn't long before we had dinner. Getting up for work tomorrow is dawning on me, and I have to get my clothes ready. Such a shame that holidays leave us so quickly. Then again I did only take a week off, and those who take more than a week off must really feel it when they get back to work. Oh well, I'm sure all will be fine tomorrow as I'll get to see all my work friends which is what I am looking forward to. 

9th of March 2013

I slept in till about 11am today, either it was a change in the time zone or I was just tired. Though it would have been 9:30am in  Ayers Rock at the time that I woke up.

I didn't get up to much today as I think I was suffering from post holiday blues. So I spent most of the day laying down and watching TV. Frank told me about the punters club tips that were chosen for the day, so I asked to see what horses were racing just in case a name popped out at me and I would decide to put about $5.00 or $10.00 on it. There was one horse that was called Lannister, and if anyone has seen the TV show or read the book 'Game of Thrones,' you'll understand why I wanted to put a few dollars on it. But when I went to check what the odds are for the horse I found out that it was scratched and couldn't put a bet on it at all. Oh well... maybe next time!

Since seeing the TV show Parade's End on the Wednesday, I was intrigued and decided to spend the day to watch the whole season of it. Not a bad TV show, but it is a typical English show where everyone speaks proper English and you sometimes have to rewind to find out why everyone is laughing to something someone says.

Later in the day mum and Frank went out to the club to have something to eat, but I decided to stay back in my pj's and watch more TV, and I ended up ordering pizza. As a little bonus to me I played my music about for about half an hour as I hadn't heard a Muse song in a while! Well apart from yesterday as we were leaving the hotel to head off to the airport and I started to dance in my seat.

Ended up being a good night, mostly because I didn't do anything apart from watch Parade's End and an episodes of Spartacus season 3. When mum and Frank did come back home, Frank mentioned that tomorrow the Raiders were playing against the Panthers tomorrow at Penrith, and wanted to know if I was interested in going to the game... which of course I answered YES!

Also found out the my cousin Brian and his wife Alexia become parents for the first time with their first born daughter which they've named Emily! Another addition to this big family of ours!

8th of March 2013

Our last day within the Northern Territory! Cannot believe how quickly the few days have gone by, though everyone says that when they are away on holidays. I guess it is a sign of having a good holiday. As a treat I had ordered room service for Nathalie and I to have breakfast inside. So after getting up at about 8am and then having a shower and changing room service arrived with our breakfast. With the amount of food we had I couldn't believe how little we paid, and realised I should have been getting room service all this time instead of eating out at a cafe or restaurant. 

We then both started to pack up our things and and left the room at about 10am. After we checked out we headed over to the Town Centre where we went to buy last minute things and souvenirs for the family. We were considering buying a toy dingo for my Uncle Joe as he had said to us before we left on our trip to bring him back a dingo if we ever came across one. Though the chances of our uncle Joe remembering the joke once we returned back would be very unlikely, so we ended up buying him a hat instead.

It wasn't long before it was time for our shuttle bus to take us to the airport and ended up bumping to Jonathan who we met on the bus the previous day. So we took our luggage and headed to the airport which was 10 minutes away. When we got into the Virgin airline queue (which wasn't as long as the one we had in Sydney), we went to check in our bags and the lady informed us that we didn't ask for check in luggage. So we had to rearrange our items in our bags so we can take it as carry on luggage. I ended up having to checking one bag in and paying the extra $40.00. Which confused me as I am pretty sure that I had requested check in luggage.

While we waited within the lounge we also bumped into the two German guys we had met the night before. One of them told us that there was a girl who was following them and constantly taking his picture which we all found odd. When it was time to board the plane, the German guys asked us to take their photo but a staff came running up to us to stop as we may cause the plane to explode. Which I thought was an unusual thing to say.

We hopped on board and said our goodbyes to Ayers Rock. We both had a fantastic time and will miss the serenity and the tranquillity of this place. Will definitely will not miss the flies though!

When the plane landed within Sydney, we hurried off to catch the train from the Station as Nathalie had somewhere to be at 7pm. So once we got to Central station we said our goodbyes and and hopped on the train.

Once I got home started sharing stories with mum and Frank, and also showed mum a little of the video which we took. Thought it was a little odd that the total time of the video was 38 minutes, 38 seconds and 39 milliseconds!  Stayed up watching The Following, and The Walking Dead! Wow, what an episode. 

7th of March 2013

Woke up at 5am with the alarm, as both Nathalie and I were due for a walk around the rim of Kings Canyon, and had to be on the shuttle bus just before 6am. I had decided then and there that I would pass on the rim walk as they kept mentioning that it would be an extreme walk that would take just over 3 hours and if you aren't fit that it will be difficult. I had fret it over a little yesterday evening, but in the end deciding against it as I knew I wasn't fit, plus I didn't want to hold everyone up. So Nathalie headed off at about quarter to 6am, while I stayed a little later as I was going on the other walk which we all had to meet up at 10 minutes to 8am.

I got dressed and ready and headed off to the shuttle bus where we made our way to Kings Canyon where we would be doing the canyon floor walk which took just over an hour. When I arrived there I got to see a group of large black cockatoo's that were in a tree just at the start of the trail. Further a long the trail we walked pass the canyon wall steps which Nathalie would've walked up, and once I saw them I knew I had made the right choice. 500 steps in that angle would have knocked me out.

A long the trail we got to see a bunch of wild bush tomato which were growing and a small termite's nest. It was a lovely trail just seeing the flora and fauna  of the whole area, including ghost gum trees. Which are just like normal gum trees, but their bark is white. After the hour walk, we headed back to the start of the trail where Nathalie was waiting and had just come back from her rim walk not 5 minutes ago. She said she had a great time and got to see some amazing views. Part of me regretted it, but deep down inside I knew I wouldn't have enjoyed myself too much if I had to stop every few minutes to catch my breath.

We then headed back to the hotel to chill out a little bit before we had to pack up and head back to Ayers Rock. We turned on the TV (even though there were only a couple of TV channels), and there was the morning show. We just turned it right on time as they were showing The Presidents of the United States of America (the band) who where playing the song Peaches. Was pretty fantastic that we turned on the TV just at that time. We chilled out in our room for a bit more before we packed everything away. There really wasn't much to pack away since we had only just arrived the night before.

By 11am we were all packed and waiting for the bus to take us back to Kings Canyon Station where we would have some lunch and then also catch a different bus to take us to Ayers Rock Resort. The trip to the station seemed a lot shorter than the last time. Nathalie tried a camel burger this time, as this place is apparently well known for their camel burgers. I just had a cheeseburger as I really didn't feel like eating any camels today. I got to hear the weird accent of the same guy as last time, as I still cannot pin point his accent. It's like a mixture of New Zealand/Australian/Ireland. We also bumped to a couple who did the helicopter ride around the Kings Canyon and they said they had a fantastic time.

After about an hour the other coach arrived which Nathalie and I joined. There was only about 20 people on this bus including us so we had a lot of room to move about if we wanted to. Plus this driver seemed more enthused than the other driver. While we were on our way he even mentioned that we would be watching a movie! Just what you'd expect on a 5 hours coach ride! The movie was more of a documentary called the last of the nomads. Which was about the last two aboriginal nomads, who were lovers and kicked out of their tribe as they weren't suppose to marry one another and the woman was promised to someone else. This documentary was about the rescue of both of them, as Australia was going through a major drought at the aboriginals were worried about the couple. As excited as I was about seeing the documentary by body had a different idea and I fell asleep shortly afterwards.

When I awoke we had a rest stop to see a view of Mt Conner as well as the salt lake that was on the opposite side. To get to the viewing area (which was different to the one we had yesterday) we had to walk up a red sandy hill in about a 40 degree heat! Now I didn't feel it much as I had my joggers on, but for Nathalie who had a pair of thongs on really did feel it and couldn't stay longer. So while she headed back to the bus I took some more video and photos of the area, which is when I ended up talking to one of the guys on the bus who was from Brisbane and found out that everyone within the bus had left Ayers Rock that morning at 4am to go to Kings Canyon to do the rim walk, and then were headed back to Ayers Rock that day. He even mentioned that on the way to Kings Canyon they had managed to see a group of wild horses as well.

When we both got to the bus Nathalie and I were introduced to a few more members on the bus and we got to exchange photos and stories of what they've experienced so far. I still wouldn't have done the trip to Kings Canyon and the walk to only head back to Ayers Rock in the same day though. One thing that we all agreed on was that the prices for everything were too overly priced!

So the trip back to Ayers Rock was a lot shorter than usual, mostly due to the conversations we had on the way back. Even saw one flipped car, which I'm pretty sure I hadn't seen the day before! On the way there we also stopped at Curtin Springs which had a bar with weird letters above the bar. We were told that we were never to ask what the letters stood for as there was a heavy price to pay... and I for one didn't want to find out what the price was! Plus they also had two emu's walked about called Mongrel and Bastard. The bus driver said..."I don't know what their names are, but I'm told that if you pet them, you'll ended up yelling their names once they bite you." It seemed like a weird little place, owned by very strange people... but in a good humour kind of way. They are also looked for new staff as well... so I guess I have a back up plan if all else fails for me!

Once we finally arrived at Desert Gardens, we checked into our room again which was different from the last one we had. It also didn't have a view of Uluru which we were a little disappointed by, but weren't really complaining as we'd only be here for one night. Nathalie and I had a quick shower and changed as we were heading to the Outback Pioneer hotel where we were going to have some dinner and a few drinks. We both saw the singing walked about who had sang here a few nights ago and he was slowly setting things up and tuning his guitar. Funny thing is, that when I saw him singing a few days ago I assumed he was about 22 years old, but when he was walking up close I realised he was a lot older! One of the bad things about not carrying my glasses with me!

After being there a couple of hours, Dwayne who we'd met on the bus came over and asked us to join him and a couple of German guys who he'd made friends with before. We ended up chatting by the pool for many more hours, and before we knew it it was just after midnight. So we headed over to were the shuttle bus was and realised that we had missed the last of the shuttle bus. And looking at the road with hardly any light, my gut was telling me that there was no way that I was going to be walked back to the hotel in that! So I went to the reception and asked if there was any other way we could get to our hotel, and the hotel manager offered to drive us both back.

When he dropped us off we headed back to our room where we ended up seeing a couple of wild rabbits about the place! Here we are in the middle of no where, expecting to either see a snake, kangaroo, dingo or at least some wild creature... and we end up seeing rabbits! Once we made it back to the hotel we just crashed within our beds.