At least she let me do her hair and make-up. She looked so adorable! I can’t wait to see the video that Lyn is taking of her.

CONGRATS DANA! You’re off to high school!

Been to Fiji and back. Gorgeous islands, beautiful waters. We didn’t want to leave! I definitely would like to go back and stay longer than we did. Photos of Fiji are on my Photography site (deviantArt).

We’ve now booked flights for Auckland. This time we’re staying for 2 weeks. None of this 4 and 5 day crap. This is our last flight out of the country so we’re going to make the best of it. Then we can lodge our Visa application so I can live here permanently.

I got stopped in customs in Brisbane because there’s a pattern with me coming and going every 3 months. I’m tellin ya, I was scared shitless that I’d be deported back to the states! Why? Cuz I watched too many Border Patrol tv shows! LOL.  Nah, it was all good. She asked me a few questions and I said, no I’m not working and no I don’t plan on living here. I don’t think she believed me because she gave me a number to call to get my tourist visa extended… LOL! Anyway, she let me go and just made a note that I’d be leaving and coming back again in December/January.  And so it goes…

So yep, we’re off to Auckland and got our sight seeing places mapped out. Can’t wait! The land of Xena: Warrior Princess!

Things here have been good. Just depressing that I can’t work. I feel guilty and bad sometimes and I get sad. Lyn feels the same way too. We just gotta keep plugging along. We’re nearing the end now. Just a few more steps to go and we’ve made it! OH How I can’t wait to call myself an Aussie. OH how I can’t wait to start working! And OH how I can’t wait to L I V E with my girl in peace!

So that about wraps it up for now. Until I forget to write again…

OH…..

p.s. I’ve gotten much better with driving, but I STILL forget which side the turn signal is on!

Not much is happening really, just living life. Stressing over money for each of these trips and pay bills and it’s hard because I can’t work. I can’t contribute and I feel bad. Lyn knows it’s not my fault but it’s the sacrafices we have to make. We do take small little day trips here and there to break up the monotony of things. Just a couple weeks ago we took a day trip to Mamu. There is a new Canopy Rainforest Walk there. Not worth the $20 entry fee but nice all the same. 

Anyway, our flights are booked. Taking 1 flight to Brisbane, then Brisbane to Nadi (Fiji), staying 4 days, then back again. We got an all inclusive mega deal! The nice thing is that the place we’re staying at is gay/lesbian friendly. That’s always nice! Our package includes all meals, 3 tours, $100 worth of drinks and the roundtrip flights (except for the Cairns to Brisbane portion). So it pretty much cost us the same as our New Zealand trip.

Lyn and I decided to go buy some bathing suits (or costumes as Aussie’s call it). We both bought one-pieces and wore them this past Sunday. It was father’s day for Aussies so we spent the day at the lake. It was overcast, not much sun but certainly enough to burn our backs! OMG the pain!  Well, at least we’ll be set for Fiji! LOL!! 

I’m thinking about posting pictures of our trips as additional pages. So have a look for those if you’re curious. And I’m going to try and keep this blog updated. Not like anyone really cares but…. I do! 

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.

I’ve been a bit apprehensive over the past few weeks about the upcoming flights but since Lyn and I started packing for our mini-holiday I’ve gotten a little more excited about it. Time for “us”. Christchurch isn’t exactly where we wanted to go but it’s the cheapest we could find on our very slim-to-none budget. Next mini-holiday will be to the North Island/Auckland. At least we’ll be better prepared budget-wise.

My birthday was on the 7th of July. I guess you could say I had two days of it. Since I’m in Australia, my actual birthday in the States was Monday the 7th, but actually Tuesday the 8th here. I know, I’m confused too but I celebrated on Monday. Lyn took me to the Rainforest Dome in Cairns. I got my picture taken with a Koala Bear. OMG it was the cutest little thing!  Next?  A CROC!

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  

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…  

Just the other day I was reading the paper and came across an advertisement for ink at some office store. The main headline read something like “Heaps of Ink, Tonnes of Cartridges”…..   Tonnes?  Ok.  What’s a tonnes? So not like how we spell TONS but that’s how it was spelt. How was I to know? I thought it was a typo.  I pronounced it Toe-nes ROFL! Well, come to find out, “tonnes” is their “ton” in liters.  Our “ton” is American lbs.  So I accepted that answer. Fair enough.

I can’t seem to order food or ask questions to people at shops. They look at me funny or have to ask me what I said.  Is it my accent?  I don’t have an accent! What are they talking about?  LOL!  Lyn has to resort to asking for me. 

Driving is getting a bit easier, although I think I’ve mentioned that already. Still struggle with the turn signal and wipers. Lyn busts a gut when I do it to! Grrrr! Ok ok, I have a chuckle myself.

The wildlife, I haven’t seen much of yet. Although I did see a peacock walk across the road. A gosh dang peacock! I’ve only seen those in zoo’s!  OH, and a huge flock of cockatoo’s. I’ve only seen those as pets! It just amazes me! Anxious to see more!

Last night I thought about my next flight. Which will be in July sometimes, mid July I’m guessing, but I layed in bed and thought about it and strangely enough, I got anxious to fly again. I couldn’t wait to get up there in the vast blue, puffy whites (or stormy grays) below me. How do I feel now?  I lost that intense feeling but I think I should have no problems with flying now. Still won’t like the decent feeling, the pain in my ears and the turb but I still like being up there. It’s worth it really.

Ty’s adjusting quite nicely. The kids love him, play with him a lot so that’s a good thing. He still sleeps with me and still follows me. I guess he’ll always do that no matter how many others are in the house. He’s my boy. 

So besides some little quirks about Australia, they are quirks that I can adjust to and most certainly live with! I absolutely LOVE living here! The scenery is gorgeous, the weather is perfect (right now). What more can I say? Love experiencing something new everyday. I’m so looking forward to building my new life here with Lyn and her family.

Everything is still going great, although I swear Ty picked up some bad habits in quarantine! I really haven’t slept well in the past 3 days because he’s been panting a lot. I’m used to sleeping in a cool room with air conditioning which keeps Ty’s panting under control. Last night I resorted to keeping him in the living room until Lyn gets up for work at 1am. By then, the house is much cooler and less panting from Ty. I dunno how well that’ll work, he did a bit of whining at the bedroom door until Lyn’s youngest layed down with him on the sofa. She fell asleep, and he pooped by the door!  Eeesh!! No one’s to blame… no one’s fault… LOL!!

Driving is getting a bit easier. Still struggling with the dang wipers and turn signal thing! Ugh! But driving on the left…. piece-a-chocolate mousse! 

After he was rolled out from the cargo dock they lifted his crate off the pallet and I said “I wanna let him out!”  I was tickled to see him! I opened the crate and got his leash on him and he just went berserk! Not with me but because there were 4 of us standing around him. He didn’t know which end/way to go. His tail was waggin’ and I’m guessing if he could kiss the ground he woulda. He’s been on the same amount of plane rides as me. LOL!  Anyway… I sat down on the ground and called him over. I called out a few “key” words that only I would say to him and he just about attacked me!  3 times his front paws jumped on my shoulders and his tongue was all over my face!  Now THAT’s a greeting!  I started to cry.

Got him home and introduced him to one of Lyn’s kids. (the eldest, 16). She adores him. The 4 cats that occupy the house pretty much scattered. Of course we knew that would happen, but they’ll come along soon enough.

Today, I took Ty to get him registered here in the city and then we went down to the creek we could catch up on old times. Rocks and water and water and rocks!  LOL… Took a picture of him on the ride home. Adorable as usual!

So all is good now. I’m feeling very complete! Now all we have to work on is our Interdependency Visa. More flights to come yet as well. I’ll still be posting!