Hello! The trip down the NSW coast towards Melbourne was always going to be comprised of stop-overs in small towns punctuated with long drives in between, and I don't think either of us really anticipated just how 'small-town' these places were going to be.On route down the coast we stopped at Jervis Bay, technically part of the Australian Capital Territory state (a token naval port to compensate for their land-locked status) anxious to soak up our first bit...

Hello! After touring the Hunter Valley we turned south, away from the floods in Queensland, towards the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.Our first stop was the tourist hub of Katoomba to get some info and bearings, and to take in the view of the range from the Echo Point lookout.We had great weather and the panorama was pretty incredible; there was a definite blue hue to the forests too, from the eucalyptus oil in the air, which we were lucky to see really.We d...

Hello! During my time working in Sydney I made a bit of money on the side teaching Biology and Chemistry as a private tutor.I had one or two pretty awful students, who it was obvious really wanted to be spending their spare time doing other things, but there were two who were a real delight to teach: a uni student called Cassie, who was preparing to sit her GAMSAT, and a year 12 HSE student called Max, a super-bright kid who was struggling to deal with a cra...

Hello! Reading over my last blog, written only a few months ago, I find it surprisingly difficult to identify with much of it.It's amazing how much one's opinions of a place can change, but that is the beauty of a blog in that it preserves what was felt at the time - the raw sentiment without any glossy retrospective make-over.When I arrived here I was definitely frustrated with Sydney, and I was clearly in a massive hurry to find my feet, but I managed pret...

Hello! So, barely a week has passed and much has happened already. In my first seven days in Australia I found myself a job, a flat, a bike, a bank account, a tax number, a medicare card (free healthcare), had interviews with temping agencies, began giving private tuition, and even had a potential offer of a job as a research associate on a genetics research project - more about this later though I think. Money was definitely on my mind as I was totally blow...