5 January 2009

Early Jan Update From Aus

Time for a quick update!

Its been a pretty full on last few weeks. And it is now only 2 weeks until we are due to depart!

19th December was our work xmas party. Barefoot bowls in the afternoon sun (with plenty of liquid refreshments) then on to dinner. Was an awesome day! I (Neal) made it to the bowls final but was outplayed in the final game. Toward the end we were getting a bit crazy (see pictures) and upset some of the old hardcore bowlers. Then on to dinner which was really nice but took forever to be served! Most had consumed more than their fair share of alcohol in the mean time. Things get a bit hazy from there on but lets just say I called Rochelle at 7am the next morning for a ride home!



Next we had Christmas. 5 days off work (AWESOME!). Our Christmas was fairly low key really. A big lunch with Rochelle, her family and the next door neighbors. Ate way too much but was sooo good! Lots of good xmas food - ham, roast chicken, pavlova, brandy snaps etc etc. Rochelle's parents gave us some awesome packs to take traveling! Rochelle got me a day at Stradbroke Island (more about that later), and I got her a MP3 player. Later that night we went around to Rochelle's Aunties house. Lots of family were there and we had some drinks and just chilled out for the evening.



Two days back at work then we had another 5 off over new years! Again we had a pretty quiet one - tried to go and watch fireworks but missed it! Then went to the casino and had a few drinks. Rochelle lost $10 in about 10 minutes and I lost $40 in about 5. The countdown was really cool and they had lots of balloons and stuff. We were home in bed by about 1am so nothing too crazy, but was good fun. Unfortunately not many pics!

Sunday just gone we went out to South Stradbroke Island - my xmas present from Rochelle. Was a really good day! Cruised over in the ferry in the morning, went on the kayaks and played in the water for a bit. Had a bbq lunch, went sand tobogganing, on a speedboat (Rochelle screamed haha), hand fed the wallaby's and chilled out by the pool. Pics and a funny vid below...



Click for video



An update on the visa situation... We FINALLY received our applications and passports back from Canberra on the 30th December. We traveled into Brisbane today to have our fingerprints and photo taken. We have now sent back our applications to Canberra to have them processed. We included a cover letter stating our case and pleading that they process them quickly - not sure how it will go. Not holding our breath as they have not been very accommodating so far. Wednesday the 14th is the last day we can change our bookings so we have to wait until then to see what is going to happen. One good thing is that we will still have work for a couple of weeks if we have to stay. Its been a stressful month - but when you break it down, its only money and having to put or trip off for a couple of weeks. Could be worse! And it'll all be worth it when we are on the other side of the world!


So that's the news. If you want to get in touch leave us a comment (button below this post). If you want to be kept up to date with where we are and what we are doing - click on 'Follow this blog' on the right hand side of this page. Also if you want to check out all our pictures click HERE

Ciao

2 comments:

  1. ok it wrks now... awesome pics neal, and what a hard case random wallaby!!! Looking quite hopeful for departure on the 19th (kerry's b/day) so that's good eh.
    Good 2 catch up on your news. We went to Cape Palliser (southerrn-most point of the north island) - see my pics on facebook. Back at wrk now :(

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  2. whoa impressive site guys!!! wicked fun from the sounds of it!! hope u guys enjoy your trip and all the best!!!! xo

    ReplyDelete

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