time for an update from Oz!!

well for starters happy new year to everyone!! sounds like everyone was having a lovely Christmas when I phoned home, cant say that I could really tell who I was talking to the whole time but was lovely to hear from you none the less!!

if you look at the picture above you can see darling harbour. the ost in the foreground is a restaurant that I went o with Mum and Dad when they were over. Looking at the oicture our flat was about a 5 minute walk to the left..so pretty fantastic! the flat itself was awesome (note im saying was...wil get onto that in a second!) it was a 2 bedroom appartment, which me and andy shared with a doctor. It worked out really well, joe (the doctor) was about 30 and we all got on really well. He worked one week on one week off, and when he was around we got on really well and when he wasnt we had the flat to ourselves which was also nice! we had a huge balcony looking over darling harbour, and in the buikding there was a gym, spa pool the full owrks so was pretty plush!! unfortunately however Joe has been relocated to Perth so im crashing at a friends house at the moment before going back to slumming it Sydney's cheapest hostel...believe me its cheap for a reason!!!

funnily enough a load of people from law school have been over in australia at the same time so have met up with them quite a lot which has been really nice. have made friends with their friends and so we have got a good crew together. Andy has been working for the red cross fundraising, and have met a lot of people through that as well. I think he is a natural at it...he kept getting sales person of new south wales which is pretty darn impressive and was coming home with mega bucks so that was good!!: )

Im working as a secretary for an insurance company called IAG, working within the workers compensation department. I really love it, theres a really good vibe in the office and i get on really well with everyone there. Its a bonus that i get on so well with both of my managers aswell! really landed on my feet (after a rocky start...trying to find a tempoing job in sydney was proving to e very difficult with agencies saying that comapanies just werent wanting to hire temps!)

i have seen a lot of Sydney now, i try and go and explore different places at the weekends, admittdly it began by spending every weekend at Coogee beach but have venured further afield now! have ventured to various markets in the suburbs, explored all the different parks, and even found some places my mistake (my sense of direction isn't too hot!!). In September we went up to the Blue Mountains which were spectacular. It was freezing when we were there especially as i didnt have a proper jumper. The hostel that we were staying in ahd a wood burning stove and believe me it was needed!! we went off the beaten track somewhat and followed the directions that a guy in the hostel suggested. it was a brilliant weekend. Wentworth falls were truly spectacular. In terms of other weekends away, I went up to Brisbane when Mum and Dad came over which was lovely. We went up and stayed with Tony and Marie (some family friends from back home) and they took us up to the sunshine coast and noosa. the beaches up there were gorgeous. We spent about 2 hours walking trying to see a koala but unfortunately failed!! I have however met one in the wildlife centre (im sure most of you will have seen the pictures over Christmas).

In novemeber i took andy for a weekend away for his birthday. We headed south of sydney by about an hour and a half on the train to a place called Crunella. From here we took a ferry to bundeena were we began our 2 day 26km coastal walk. It was absolutely gorgeous, the views were stunning and the beaches deserted. Barely saw another person it was lovely! one of the highlights for me was swimming ina pool at the top of a waterfall with views that went on for miles! we camped overnite at a "campsite" (it was just a field but you need permits to camp within the national park) which was awesome, definately want to do some more camping at any opportunity!

we had an amazing new years. They have fireworks at 9pm and at midnite. We watched the 9 oclock ones from our balcony, and then headed over to lunar park (which is the opposite side of the harbour to the opera house) for the rest of the evening. I dont think i have ever seen such impressive fireworks, i was expecting them to be amazing but had no idea jjust how much!

The sydney festival is on at the moment. its so good..they put on loads of concerts all through January, so every saturday nite ther is a huge concert and its all for free. Throughout the week they have outdoor cinemas and various other concerts which you pay to go to. Last saturday we went to jazz in the domain. we took a huge picnic and it was a lovely nite (though it must be said it wasnt exactly what i would call jazz!!) the weekend before i saw cat empire, mr scruff, and grace jones, and then there have been various dance events on too, so certianly a very good time to be hear!

so there we have it a sum of australia to date!

I hope you are all well and that its not too cold back there : P loads of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx