Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category
Monday, July 28th, 2008
Well, made it safe and sound to New Zealand. I’ve been meaning to write but kept getting side-tracked or just plum forgot! New Zealand was beautiful but I’m guessing it’s twice as nice during the summer. I still have a hard time with the whole winter in July bit but it’s ok. Christchurch on the South Island is where we stayed. Quaint little place with Trams and old architecture. Sorta Gothic/English looking. Very cool! It was chilly tho. I’m guessing about 40’s during the day (and that’s in fahrenheit).
So I completed flights 4 through 7 now. Cairns to Brisbane to New Zealand to Brisbane.. then Cairns. I think I’m getting the hang of this quite well now. No worries. Fiji next? Hmmmm
We flew Jetstar and Pacific Blue (Virgin Blue). Both planes were 737s, seating was 3-3. Both flights to New Zealand we got the emergency exit seats. Nice and roomy! But on the way back we were just one seat behind. I think I feel more comfortable over the wing. I was also told that you can’t feel as much motion either. Regardless, I still take my dramamine. Pictures of the clouds and some New Zealand shots can be found on my deviantArt gallery.
So if you’re wondering or if you’ve guessed, I made it back through customs in Australia and am on round two of my 90 tourist visa. No questions asked. Lyn and I have now been physically living together for 6 months. Another 6 more months and we can apply for our interdependency Visa. That’s gonna require lots of paper work and money for the fees. I really hate that I can’t work and earn anything.
My mum sent me a package for my birthday. She made me the cutest little wooden jewelry box. She does wood burning like stuff so she engraved an Arizona scenery on the top. When I opened the box to look inside there was a little piece of paper with a poem on it. It reads:
It isn’t very big at all. Nor tiny, not one bit. You coudln’t buy it in a mall, Cause all my love is in it. So when you lift this tiny lid, And stardust falls upon you. I’ll always be there by your side, miles from Lake Havasu.
Well as you can imagine… I bawled! As I’m doing now since I just re-read it. LOL! So my mum misses me heaps. I miss her too! I wish she would get her passport and start putting some money aside to come and visit. But we talk on Yahoo quite a bit and I’ve been calling her on the phone. All is good.
I’m really comfortable here. I’m glad I followed my heart! I knew that I loved Lyn and wonder sometimes what my life would be like had I not made this life changing decision. I’d probably still be some computer geek sitting at the desk watching stupid movies and wasting my life. Lyn is now my life and I can’t imagine living without her. Truly, I don’t care where I live as long as she’s by my side.
Tags: airport, architecture, australia, christchurch, computer, english, flight, gothic, Jet Star, jewelry, New Zealand, Pacific Blue, passport, plane, trams, Virgin Blue, Visa, yahoo
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Sunday, June 8th, 2008
It’s getting closer for me to depart AU so we are searching for some deals with airlines. We haven’t decided where we want to go yet, ie: Fiji, Guam, or Auckland. Seems tho that if we go to Auckland I’ll have to get a Visa for that country, but if I go to Guam, it’s part of the U.S. so I won’t need a Visa. And it’s only 4.5 hours flight from Cairns.
Driving is becoming much easier now. I actually drove with an ice cream cone. 
I drove roundtrip from Gordonvale to Cairns and back without turning on the windshield wipers as well! PROGRESS!
Still have trouble with store names. Dunno how long it’ll take me to get used to. Lyn laughs every time I say one wrong. **blush**
Internet is funky here. So not like the U.S. Here you have to pay for bandwidth. Rather sucks because it gets quite expensive! I’m paying for 5 gig bandwidth a month for $40! I paid for unlimited use in the U.S. for the same price. They don’t have much in the lines of competition with businesses so they can pretty much charge what they want. I purchased an internet mobile device. Virgin Broadband Mobile but I tell ya… it’s massively S L O W ! ! ! I was clocking the highest rate at 5.2kbs DAMN! Downloading a 1 meg file took 10 minutes. But it’s like a cell phone, if the signal is weak, slower connection. SUCKS!
I’m not much of a sports person. I never liked sports in the U.S. all that much. Football is ok but the Footy here is pretty cool. They don’t suit up at all, and it’s all around different. I’m quite liking it better. Rugby, however, WOW! That’s grueling! But something I could definitely watch. Figuring out the game is the hard part but Lyn’s explaining it to me little by little.
So it’s coming into Winter here. Winter in July! How ’bout that! My first Winter Birthday! (July 7th). Yeah, I know it’s only June. Anyway, the temperature is just gorgeous! I can’t imagine what summer must be like. (in December!) Oh my god! I just can’t get over that! Summer in December… hmmmmmm
Tags: airline, Auckland, australia, bandwidth, birthday, business, Cairns, christmas, competition, deals, december, download, driving, Fiji, file, flight, football, footie, footy, game, gig, Guam, internet, july, june, meg, money, paying, plane, rugby, summer, ticket, unlimited, Visa, winter, xmas
Posted in Driving in Australia, Thoughts | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008
Ok, trying to get stores names straight around here is pretty funny! Stockland’s is a mall with numerous stores in them. Big W and Target are two. Then there’s Dick Smith (electronics) and Crazy Clark’s. So what did I go and say? Dick Clark! Angus & Robertson’s (book store) turned into Albertson’s. Oh my….
Lyn’s sister Jenny is married to Barry. I’ll give you one guess what I say….
Give up?
Benny & Jerry!
Ok, so it’s not so bad. I’ll get used to it soon enough. I’m getting better at driving if that’s anything positive. I have to admit tho, I love how Aussie’s shorten their words. If you’re not an Aussie, take this test…
Brekky =
Postie =
Mozzie =
Macca’s =
“Comment” with your answers…
Tags: albertsons, Big, Big W, book, clark, dick, drive, electronics, name, store, target
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Friday, May 2nd, 2008
So I’ve been in Australia now for a week. It’s taking some getting used to. I’m not living like a tourist and eating out everyday and sight seeing. I’m living as a resident would. Shopping in grocery stores for dinner is pretty funny. Grocery items are so different. There are some things that the U.S. has but most of which is their own brands. Foods have different tastes as well. (more…)
Tags: accent, aussie, australia, beautiful, brands, colorful, different, dog, down under, driving, food, friendly, IDL, international, light, oz, road, shopping, slang, stores, turning, vehicle
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Monday, April 28th, 2008
Ok… here I am safe and sound in Australia. I took 3 plane rides to get here. Each plane varied in size and length of trip.
Flight #1: Vegas to L.A. Embrae rj140 Sat in 5C near window on the right side of the plane. Flight Time – 2:50 pm – 4:00 pm
I showed the FoF letter to the boarding lady and she said “oh aren’t you so cute! Sure you can meet the pilot and see the cockpit”. So now it’s time to board and I’m walking through the tunnel. My nerves were rattling inside and I could feel tears starting to well up. The flight attendant pointed me left to the pilots cockpit area and both pilots started talking to me. (more…)
Tags: airport, altitude, arrive, australia, breathing, Brisbane, bumps, cabin, Cairns, cold, control, crew, cruising, deep breaths, dizzy, dramamine, drive, ear, flight, flying, LA, landing, luggage, pictures, pilot, pressure, runway, sneezing, take-off, taxi, turbulence, Vegas
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