.....Camera-less

Those of you who know my little and endearing character traits best will not be surprised  to read the following update, in fact, as my Dad so honestlty put it, the real surprise will be that it took so long in coming.

So the reason there have been no photos added to the blog since Fraser Island is not just because I am (as always) behind with the blog and am a lazy photo album keeper; it's cos I lost my camera.

Was walking along the beachfront in St Kilda (the nice suburb of Melbourne where I was staying) and it dropped out of my nowhere-near-deep-enough-to-carry-a-camera pocket and has not been seen since. I was very proud of myself when I discovered what I had done however, becuase I didn't cry - and boy I came close! But I breathed through it, reported it to the police, retraced my steps just incase... Then I gave up on finding it, informed the insurers and have now bought a new one in Christchurch.

So I now have a nice shiny new camera with no scratches or sand stuck in it and it has a New Zealand plug socket for the charger and everything! (I'm trying to look on the bright side you might realise). However, I have lost all my photos of Noosa (including Australia Zoo - me feeding the kangeroos for goodness sake!), Byron Bay, Sydeny and Melbourne. Not ideal, but there it is.

Will do my best to hang onto this one for longer than three months, but people have warned me about muggings in South America so we'll see how that goes... Guess I should just be damn well faster at getting the pics online and then at least they're safe in cyberspace....

And apart from camera shopping I have also had to do yet more warm clothes shopping since hitting Christchurch cos it's bloody freezing - about 8.c during the day and 0.c at night - rather a shock to the system. I've bought two thermal vests! And bed socks! And a waterproof jacket and jeans and combats and four tops and wooly walking socks and a hat, scarf and gloves and long PJs.... Think that should do it, not sure how the budget will stand up but at least I'll be cosy.

Did have a good sightseeing day yesterday however - park, botanic gardens, museum, arts centre, riverside walk etc... and I determined that this city is indeed the closest thing to being in England you could get in the Southern Hemisphere, its very pretty, green, quaint; all good. I'm liking the feeling of New Zealand already even though I've only seen a city centre. Will get some pics up asap so you can check out the English vibe.