I have plenty to write, I'm just hoping I can remember everything I've done.
I'll start off with the girls Christmas Concert. We all know that when you go to a child's school concert, you're only there to see that child. Unless something amazing happens, you really want to see your child then go. But obviously, that is not school concert etiquette and you sit there, politely clapping and listening to the head teacher do a ten minute thank you speech. Maybe it's a little insensitive, but I'm not half glad I had a couple of ciders before I went. I haven't drank anything for about a month, so I was nicely fuzzy which saw me through the two and a half hour concert. Without the cider, I may have strangled myself with my camera cord. Nonetheless, Jarrah and Stella's parts were good. Jarrah was right in the centre of hers and danced really well, and Stella was really loud and they both looked great. Even better was that because of the concert, they didn't have to be in school until 11am the next day - lay in! When I went to pick them up from school, I tried to glam up my job title by explaining to the lady on reception that I was the 'au pair', it didn't fly and I had to go back to 'nanny' for her to understand who I was. Worth a shot I suppose.
On Friday, I ventured into Melbourne to meet up with Cheryl and Hayley. Remember them, from the Wodka Club in Picton? Their train took a little longer than mine, so I ended up sunning myself in Fed Sq. for a good forty five minutes whilst reading Lorna Doone, a Exmoor legend. Managed to not burn and when the girls arrived, we had a walk through the Christmas trees before wandering off to find somewhere to eat. I took navigational duties, which proved to be a mistake when we found we were going in the opposite direction to the rooftop cafe that Cheryl suggested. So instead we ducked into a cafe that seemed to do reasonable food, and with the promise of a free glass of wine with any meal, I was sold. I had a surprisingly spicy risotto which was accompanied by a glass of Sav. All in all a lovely meal. We then set off for the mall that is right next to Melbourne Central Station, so we hopped onto the free city circle tram. That was before we realised we were going the wrong way, (not a good day for navigation, my fault again, but you would think the city circle would just be one big loop so it wouldn't matter which way you went!) Anyhow, we jumped off at Harbour Town, which I'd seen adverts for as being good for shopping. It was. It was massive and it was outlet. Admittedly, I bought myself a few Christmas presents in the form of clothes. But it was all okay because I was under budget for that week, possibly for the first time. On that note I really should update my money book today. By 5-ish, the heat was exhausting, so we made our way back to the tram and back to the train station and went our separate ways. So good to catch up though. Since it was Friday night, I sat upstairs with the girls and had a movie night. We watched Valentine's Day and Stella fell asleep, so after putting her in bed, Jarrah and I watched half of Dirty Dancing, queueing up many quotes ("Nobody puts Baby in a corner!")
Over the weekend I was very homesick. I don't know what bought it on really, but I suspect it was because I finally got festive. After downloading a Christmas CD, and watching the three classic Christmas movies (Miracle on 34th Street, The Muppet's Christmas Carol and Love Actually) and watching Carols in the Domain (an Aussie thing), I got there. Festivity city. But in reality, it only reminded me of how much I missed my family and my friends. I had a good long chat with Mum and thought about planning things. I like to plan things when I'm down, I either bake or plan. Because I've been well and truly bitten by the travel bug, I thought it appropriate to plan my next travels. Then the best idea hit me. For my 21st and Mum's birthday (the number of which I shall not disclose, you're welcome Mum, hehe!) in 2013, me and Mum should take a trip on the Orient Express from Venice to London. It's a 4-day trip, so we could spend 3 days in Venice first, and take it as a week away. Good idea, no? I spent Sunday planning too, but this time I was planning things much naerer, like where I'm going to stay in Bali and in Hong Kong. I haven't made a firm decision where I am going to stay, but I've decided not to stay in the ChungKing Mansions in Hong Kong. From what I can gather, it's a big building spilt into many different businesses, 99% of which are hostels. The building however, is very very old and a massive fire risk with no chance of escape, Furthermore, reviews tell me that it's a hotbed for druggies, muggings and rape. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many places to stay cheaply outside of ChungKing. But my decision is that even if I have to put it on my Lloyds credit card and get the international charges, I'll do it. My safety > Money Saving. Other Sunday activities included giving Sammy the dog a bath and having dinner at Nandos! Yes, Australia has Nandos.
Monday was my last day in Melbourne, supposedly, so I packed and spoke to Mum a little more since I was still feeling pretty down. Had a good cry, always makes things better in the end. I went and had lunch with Ashley and Griff that day too and had my first Aussie pie. Apparently a 'thing' over here, but I didn't think they were too much different to a pukka pie from the chippy in all honesty. Had a chat with Ash about my next steps and he offered to pay for my flights back to Melbourne then up to Brisbane if I wanted to come back.. I must be doing something right hey? The kids break up for summer holidays on Thursday, so I think that has something to do with it. (Summer holidays in December, I know...) But I decided to do it and head back to Melbourne after Christmas/NYE depending on if I could find somewhere to stay.That night when the kids got home, we all went to the Cinema to see Arthur Christmas. A kids film, obviously, but also very funny for adults too and me still being in a slightly emotional state, a crying film.
I had such an early start yesterday morning to get my train to Gosford where my Dad's cousin Roger lives. My train left Melbourne at 8.30am so we left the house at 7.30am which meant being up at 6.30am. Ouch. Once I had found the right platform and got myself a toffee nut latte though, I was pretty much settled into my seat. The train journey was supposed to be 11 hours until I had to make my connection at Strathfield, but because of "speed restrictions imposed on the line between Melbourne and Sydney" I didn't end up getting into Strathfield until 8.40pm. In that time I finished Lorna Doone and read nearly all of Michael Moore's Dude, Where's My Country? That's a hilarious book by the way, I fully recommend it. It actually had me nodding along and laughing out loud. I also watched a good ten episodes of Family Guy, three of Peep Show ("Why can't I have everything I want all the time? Isn't that democracy?") and one episode of An Idiot Abroad ("It's an alright wall, it's the Alright Wall of China.") Transferred at Strathfield, had to wait 20 minutes for my train. It was a double decker train! All I have to say to this is; England, buck up your ideas! This is two countries I've seen and been on double decker trains in now and they are awesome and you are missing out. The journey from Strathfield to Gosford was not the 30 minutes I expected but actually took an hour, so I ended up getting into Gosford at 9.50pm. Needless to say I was so exhausted, in fact I walked right past Roger who had come to pick me up! After doubling back and finally meeting him, we came back to his for a cup of tea. I couldn't stay up long but had time to talk about the family and give Mum and Dad a call to let them know I was okay.
This morning Roger made a breakfast of poached eggs which was lovely, and after checking my emails we set off into Terrigal. Terrigal was a beautiful little seaside town with a gorgeous beach. I took lots of pictures, but I left my camera cable back in Melbourne with the majority of my things. I didn't see the point in bringing everything for a short trip. We sat and had a coffee and spoke about politics, of all things, as well as more things about the family. Roger told me all about how he had found out he had a daughter five years ago. I actually ended up sending her an email since she lives in Yorkshire back home and to be honest, we could use all the females on this side of the family as possible, the blokes far outweigh us haha! I thought it would be nice to get in contact really. After a wander around Terrigal and then a walk around the mall, we came back and I fell asleep on the garden swing chair reading my book, I must have been tired! I'm very grateful today, as Roger called his sister to see if I could stay there for New Years and the answer was a yes! I feel quite rude really, because I don't know these people from Adam even though they are my family, I've never met them. I feel that I'm intruding being here for Christmas, let alone inviting myself for NYE too. I'll just make sure I offer to help with everything and hopefully I'll feel less guilty. So my plans now are to fly back to Melbourne on January 1st! Tonight Roger is working, so I'm going to chill out in front of the TV and drink copious amounts of tea. Proper tea.
I'll get some pictures to you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment