Blogs from Essendon, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

Lesson 1) Never ever go the cruise seats on Spirit of Tasmania. The most uncomfortable thing I have ever had the displeasure of sitting/attempting to sleep in. Phil & I got to Chris & Bec's around 7.30am this morning & went out for a nice breakfast at the Golden Arches. From there it was back to Chris' to undertake the 10 minute job of installing some new seats in the Maverick. Two hours later we were done, or at least close enough to it. The girls & kids are going to be coming late this afternoon (bloody Jetstar) & from there we are off to Echuca for the night. At least with the families being late we get to have a little more quiet time........drinking beer!... read more

One subtle difference between Oz and Canada is the disticnt and ubiquitous lack of wifi and internet access. Where access exists the price is astoundingly higher than at home and we are currently paying 7$ an hour which is laughable in Hamilton where internet is free with a coffee purchase. The abiltiy to communicate makes the cost negligible anyways but it is annoying to have so little internet available. All in all it is a minor problem and Tasmania is so beautiful that you forget about little things like the internet. Oh yes,we are in Tasmania now and the journeyt here from Adelaide was windy, wet and wonderful. The great ocean road is about as different a drive from crossing the outback as noodle is to a lightbulb. Starting from Adelaide we crossed southeastern South Australia ... read more

17 Days to go and Richard is busily preparing the trailer (while renovating his home) I'm trying to organize the outboard servicing....boat shop still waiting on some parts from Honda.... read more

Day -1. We've just about finished packing, the boxes are all sealed, and we're almost ready to go. Starting a blog is number 1325 on the list, but here it is anyways. Needed to be started. Airport tomorrow. Likely to be a few tears.... read more

Not long now. And it still seems so abstract. So distant. I booked my flight to India nearly six months ago. Extended my stay a month or so later. Decided to extend it indefinately about five weeks ago now. It has been difficult, and not less by the rather impulsive and irrational nature of the listed decisions. But it is the right thing to do. I think. I am oscillating somewhere between the years of 29 and 30 - This seems to be a lucrative age for philosophers and artists who attempt to say something about the human condition. As though several streams of existential anxiety and insight may intersect at this stage of embodied and psychic development, destabilising and disrupting the subject as it has existed until this point. Sartre's Nausea charts the impossible anxieties ... read more

Hi folks, we are now back in Lalor, near Melbourne. We arrived back on Wednesday and have enjoyed a few days rest from travelling. Today we are visiting Janice, our niece, who hasd let me use her computer, hence this message. We have downloaded some of my pictures onto disc and I am going to attempt tp put spmw on this blog. The Kalgoorlie gold mine was amazing, an open cast mine that visitors could look down on. The big lorries looked like little Dinky toys. We visited Burra copper mine, which was veryinteresting even though it was no longer in use. We also visited an iron ore mine which is still in use at Broken Hill. A memorial to past workers who had lost their lives was interesting recording names, ages and cause of death ... read more

Hi All, here some updating have spare couple of hours in my job hunting to download a couple of pics of the flat, moved in again with the Aussies (same lads I was with in Camden St. in Dublin) but I have to find a materass cos here most of the hous are unfurnished (but u can always rely on a BBQ in the backyard. bye..... read more

still at home this entry is for dad to activative my account... read more