Anyways (cos I seem to love using words like that to start a new paragraph)...what have I been up to in my last days here.....packing....slowly! Rosie's packing too, so I have plenty of distractions in the house. Skateboarding more with Terry, great teacher, you will be missed mate. My skateboarding has been improving. Invited myself to Dandy's birthday, spent the early evening at Brews Brothers Mircobrewery (great idea) before having a meal, and a few more beers, didn't think I was that drunk until after I had walked home and struggled to get the key into the door. Over the weekend went to Nat's leaving doe in New Farm park as she's moving to the Jolly old, in fact we're leaving Australia on the same day, I would've stayed out with her longer, but she flaked early (heavy night the night before). I also went to catch up with Terry (Kidnyte) at the Queensland state DMC comp at Coniston Lane....he did kick ass, but so did some of the other competitors!
Sunday, Rosie and I took our sweet time to get out the house, but when we did we headed down to Burleigh on the Gold Coast for the Drum Circles. We just took a Floor Tom and a Djembe and swapped them around between us. First time I got to play a Djembe properly, and it felt good, I even noticed half way through paying that some people were following my lead. That's now something else I wanna get when I get back to England! We then slept at Cougal Cascades, in the Currumbin Valley (just cos!), then started our "Working (Haha, it's been a while)" week there, and spending the rest of the day chilling on the Gold Coast (Surfers, Mermaid, Miami, etc. (yes these are real places!)), before heading back up north to Yatala Drive-In cinema to watch the new Batman film, and of course we stayed on to watch Ted for free too!
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| Not a bad place to start a Monday morning |
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| Slowly getting naked. Rosie took my camera off of me and took loadsa photos of me undressing AKA A Closet Straight Girl! |
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| Look how warm it is! |
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| It really really took my ages to get in! |
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| Yep! |
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| Sweet as!!!!! |
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| Moving house! |
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| Of course we burnt my unwanted clothes....way more fun then giving them to charity! |
And now today will be my last full day in Australia, for possibly a long long while!
Right, I've been here for a long while so I think this is gonna be a massive list of thank yous. I think I'm gonna have to write this in an order of when I met people as to try and remember everyone, so I suppose I should start with Tom and Gordo, thanks for housing me when I first got to Australia, and if it wasn't for you Tom I wouldn't have ended up in Brisbane, if it wasn't for both of you giving me a chance to get my feet on the ground and end up having the amazing time that I've had....I can't thank you two enough. Good luck with your film, I do wanna make sure that you guys make sure that I do get to see it. And thanks for the road trips to Noosa (and both your parents on that one) and Straddy.
Gemma, thanks for taking me on behind the Bar at the Groove Train, I suppose it's where the Australia Adventure all began really (and thanks for all your help since). And thank you for some pretty entertaining nights out. I suppose everyone there too, Darren (you never shouted at me mate....good choice), Julian, Johnny, Terry, Mark, Migaul (especially for the cocktail testi.....I mean training), Phil, Cholie, Qel, Corey (I'm never gonna like you're smile you cheeky bellend), Oscar, Andre, Jeremy (touché), Melanie, and everyone else!
Bryony, you were our first guest at the Cottages, and had a sweet as time seeing you again, your bright bubbly face made Brisbane so much more fun. Just wish you'd've gotten here a little later so we could've done more stuff with you, but still can't wait to see you when I return home. And thanks to Tim for sending my camera from Hong Kong, that was awesome, cheers mate, I hope to see you and your brother, Nick, when I get back.
Kirra-Lea, we always had fun at work, and I loved hanging out with ya. Thanks to you, Lewis and Laiken for always being sweet hosts and cooking the BEST EVER toffee crumble that I've ever had. Hope you get back on your feet soon Lewis, you seem to be getting there! I will miss all of ya!
James, you dirty bastard, as much as I really really really dislike you, turns out you're actually alright. Cheers for the awesome times at Groove Train, thanks to you and all of your room-mates for hosting my at Bondi this New Year, you all made an awesome start to my 2012, and thanks James for all the awesome road trips....and I suppose that means I should thank Greasy Lee too......ah Lee mate, you'd be well pleased, there isn't a single swear word in my whoooooole blog, no word of a lie.
Hugh at Montare Recruitment for getting me the sickest paid job for amount of work going. And thanks to all I worked with at Dell. I loved walking around them Suncorp offices on the Fridays and Mondays...Nice views!
Cheers for hooking us up in your place in Mooloolaba Dan and Zoe. Was awesome seeing you both again, and meeting a lady who rode the world's biggest surf board. Good luck with all your recording stuff and visa stuff, I know the ordeal of that.
Emily, your time over here was great fun, I loved our Road Trip, and I loved just having you around the house, even if you did seem to take over all my space, and I was still finding your hairs WEEKS after you left in very random places. All the best with your Uni results, and hopefully you can get on the Travel thing soon.
"MJ...er...I mean Miranda......" .......wow, like I wasn't ever gonna not get on with you. Definitely got it off from the word go, I was so bummed when you left but loving that you're having an amazing time in Amsterdam. We'll catch up in England next Spring, and thank you for introducing me with your friends. I'm so pleased that we're still in contact. And Nat, we never did get the hang of a quick response with our texting, but we definitely did share some adventures when we did meet up. Good luck on your travels too, also starting on Saturday, so pleased that you're finally doing it, and hopefully I'll be seeing you in England next Spring too. And thanks for the awesome time down in Victoria and setting that all up, "I'll tell you my brother!....."
JP, Coops, Jasper, Hedge, Jill, Tyrell, Swara, Jen, Madlo, and all you others at Moreton Island and other occasions, every time I've met up with all of you you've been nothing but awesome, friendly and a great laugh. Big shout to Coops for the rock climbing too. And thanks to JP for sorting me out down in Adelaide, it was awesome to see you again mate.
Audie, you're a beautiful person, and I miss you already. I hope you have an amazing time in Europe and I hope you make it over to Canada, you deserve it all. Thanks for everything, and thanks for stepping out in the Soundwave crowd and Boss'ing it up getting us through the nose with my freshly broken hand.
Everyone I had the pleasure of WORKING with at GroundProbe (I would really like to stress that I am not even slightly thanking the muppets who run the show there). My time there was great fun and I gained so much from it, shame it was cute really short. But special thanks go to Jo for getting me in and constantly helping me with visa documentation etc. (I hope you're getting on well with your new job and new PR application), Keith, you always helped out and had a great attitude about it (many might not see it, but we know it's there), and Richard, I cannot thank you enough for everything you did for me whilst I was there, and even now, all the best in Japan mate.
Faye, what can I say, we had our fun. You definitely added an edge to my life that wasn't there before, and I must've liked it. Fancy getting kicked out of your building 2 days before you were about to leave.
My two Canadian pets, it wasn't the same when you left, it was great fun having you around. And Becca I owe you loads already so I was so glad that I could do the same for you. Hope you're both loving Jasper again, can't wait to see you again soon.
Stinko Larco, hope you had an amazing time out here, hope it's given you the travel bug a bit more. Was so pleased when you said you were gonna be coming out, and it was awesome seeing you out here after a year apart. Hay, and thanks for the sleeping bag, it's got plenty of use since you've left. Missing ya!
Jake, for sometimes sorting us out! Josh, Apes, and all the other Roars fans, not always the greatest of football, but the company made it irrelevant, great times. Shame I couldn't do it more often with you guys.
Harry and Mike, hope you both enjoyed your time in Brisbane. Mike glad the 457 hunting went well and thanks for the St George's tickets the other week, a nice random shout. And Harry hope you're enjoying being back in England. Tom mate, sorry Brisbane wasn't everything you wanted, sorry you got here so late, but I'm glad you've moved on and you're probably doing awesome things somewhere in this great land. Hopefully see you at some point back in the Jolly Old...if you ever figure out how to communicate through modem day communication methods....seriously dude, get it together!
Jill, thanks for an awesome Birthday, it was just as chilled out and as hectic as I wanted it to be. No one made a fuss, I just enjoyed the day and mostly the company.
Paula and Alan, thank you for the meals, warm beds, lifts to the airport, and the amazing week sailing around Fraser Island, that was an amazing experience which I will never forget. I wish you both all the best. And thank you to all your family for having me as a guest on several occasions, including Christmas Day.
Luke at Valley Ink, pleased with what you've done, and it was a laugh whilst you were working on it. I'm not gonna lie, I've been more then tempted on several occasions to spend more time in that chair but I'm not gonna rush anything just yet. And thanks for Parkway, you read my mind!
Amber, for whom I've never really liked (not even slightly), but I will miss you when I'm gone. And Terry for the free entry into venues and the sick as skateboarding. So I suppose on that note I should also thank all the Doctors and Nurses at Mater Hospital and PA Hospital, your admin stuff may not be all that, but as far as you guys go, you saved my hand, now I can do things again...with two hands....it's amazing.
Audrey and Matt, I had a sweet time living with you guys, was a shame it was cute too short, thanks for all the Pemphthon moments, which I will always hold dear. I will miss 36 Latrobe for reasons even I cannot understand, nor do I want to understand.
Dandy, Jeff, Nina, Kelly, Carol, Stephie, and everyone else who I have met in my times in Coutts, Bulimba, at every random hour of any day. Always good fun, great guys, beautiful people! Also thanks to Grimace, Alex, Sam, Jordon, Tash (what a dancer), Lan, Lucy, Ali, Coco (how could I ever forget my first), Donny Danger, Jeremy, Cas, and Elliott I've had some fun, random, interesting times out with all!
Amy and your roommates for hosting us down in Canberra, and thank you for my first ever tour of a gay club, something I feel everyone should experience at least once. Na, it was an awesome time, great meeting you and good luck in South-East Asia. And thanks to Mandy and your roommate for hosting us in Sydney, sorry we didn't get more time together but you were all so busy.
Everyone at STA in the Myer Centre, Brisbane for helping me with all my recent Aussie travelling, especially Geogie and Simon. And Sophie at Southampton's STA for still helping me out, it's been well over a year since we first spoke and I still haven't met you, but you're always awesome!
Everyone I met on my awesome awesome awesome Aussie adventure Rahul (I hope you get you life in order mate, you did a good job (at times)), Isabell (can't believe you missed out on that airport...and all them trees), Angela, Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrreto, Alex, Sara, Jet, Daniela, Rachael, Sandeep, Mike, Ally (thanks again to you both for the night in Melbourne too), Ben (you were pretty awesome at your job and a great guy), the Polish couple (sorry I can't remember your names), Caz, Tyler, The other Aussie couple (sorry the names have gone again), The Italian couple, I think that's everyone from Northern Territory. Daniel for hosting along with JP in Adelaide. And Tassie, Adam (awesome tour guide, and cheers for hosting us), Vicky (old school music...loved it), Jacqui, River, Phoebe, Chang, Elsa, Isalene, Claudia, Kaho, and everyone from my first night in Hobart (that was an awesome night full of many many surprises!). And thanks to Chelsea and Zoe for hosting me down in St Kilda, fun times (and honestly, Chelsea, when you walked into that door, hands down, funniest thing from all of my trip, seriously, laughing at you hurt me A LOT, glad I finally came around to asking you if you were OK)....seriously, Nat and I are still telling people about that....look, it's even mentioned on my blog now! And everyone else that I met on my little Australia adventure this June.
Southampton, thanks for giving me TWO PROMOTIONS since I've been here, that's two amazing party nights you've giving me. I celebrated them both in style flying the RED AND WHITE flag around Brisbane. Good luck in the Premier League (where we rightfully belong), I will always love you, from -10 points in League One only 3 years ago to our Champions League winning days. COYR! Premier League = More games on Sky = More chances for me to watch Saints whilst I'm away!
The randoms that invited me to play basketball with them the other week in Kangaroo Point, I guess that just kinda sums up Australians attitude and hospitality.
Mum, Dad, Lee and Russ for just always being there...still, after nearly two years since I've seen any of you.
Sasha, thanks for housing me for the last few months, and thanks for putting up with me many months prior. You've been awesome, and I hope you realise how much you've helped me out,, I will never forget this. I wish you all the best with everything you do., whatever you decide.
Danny G, you're time here (for me anyway) was awesome. Had a proper sweet time whilst you were here and some amazing adventures, two that stick in my head: Car Surfing up some mountain, and...."Is that, naaa, it looks like Dan's naked......'Oh Dan mate are you naked down there???'" "Erm yeah mate", at the top of a waterfall. Can't wait to get back to England and fill you in on more since you've left. RIP HNY, may your toll fines forever rise! And if you did ever have a Cook-Off, we all know you would've licked Faye's ass!
And anyone who's known me over the last year will know who my last thank you is for. What can I say really, Eagle, this year, AUSTRALIA, just wouldn't have been the same without ya. We've had some pretty crazy epic dangerous awesome times, usually repeated back as stories which at some point will include "....ah yeah I remember now, that was from the night of the.....". To pick a favourite time would be impossible. Thanks for everything EVERYTHING you've done for me over the last year, telling Gemma I wasn't too crap on my trail, hanging out with me, hooking me up with all you friends on all occasions all over, free festivals, letting me live with you twice (although I feel that we both gained on that choice), taking me on random trips to random places, and being a mate. Plus you're great on the eyes (yep even the Bat's eyes) which is why I benefit way more from this friendship! I really am gonna miss you so much, I really hold you so close as I hold my friends back home....but at least I hold a passport to their country, you and I is gonna be a lot harder. Really can't thank you enough. Now I have to keep on at you to get you in England, cos I failed at dragging you to New Zealand!
And thank you to anyone else who came into my life over the last 16 months, you have all made it what it was...GREAT TIMES. Much love to all. If your name's not mentioned here it means you need to try harder to make an impression.....na, it's really just cos I've been writing a load down! And thanks to anyone who's gonna make the last of my time here!
The list of things I will miss, that's probably huge. I've been here for 16 months and 4 days now, that's a lot of time to fall in love with new things, people, attitudes, landscapes, Kangaroo Meat, Kangaroos! But I would really really like to give a shout out to Geckos, you guys will be sorely missed, it's amazing how you always seem to amazing me with something else for me to learn about ya! Australia, you have a great attitude, atmosphere and feel about you!
I did this for America, so I should do it for Australia, I will definitely not miss:
- The green man that means you "can" cross the road, you are the most pointless and unsafe thing ever. Misleading mutha f..... "Jay Walking", like what's the deal with that, just a pointless fine....which I suppose brings me onto....
- Queensland Police, seriously, STOP NITPICKING AND DO SOME ACTUAL POLICING! In fact, any Queenslander with any sort of authority, you all abuse it!
I will also say that I made a point that Americans and Canadians miss the letter "u", but at least they're consistent with it. Some of you Aussies use it, but others just won't, and that's OK, that's just the way! Also even though the Americans are wrong when they say "football", at least I know what sport they are talking about, over here "football" can mean any one of four sports! When you say "I'm watching the footie final this weekend" I have not a clue which one you are talking about. For the record though, you're all wrong, football, as in FOOTball, so you use your feet.....what does Soccer even mean anyway you retards! (This is the only time you will find me using that word (I mean "soccer", not "retard" I will always throw that one around)).
Overall though, AUSTRALIA, YOU ARE AMAZING AND I WILL MISS YOU AND YOUR CITIZENS!
Oh, and one last thing: Rosie and Sac, sorry, I know it must have been soooooooooo annoying when I occasionally left the toilet seat up (because (apparently) I'm not perfect!?!?), it was never intentional, but still I'm sorry......having said that what's the deal with this.....
Just two of so many occasions!!! Including RIGHT NOW!
