Testing out the new company policy on smacking up the car...

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Well, settling into the Australian way of life hasn't been without adventure... My weekend day trips have been somewhat limited because John had an incident with his car that left us without wheels for a couple of weeks, but its somewhat back in business now, and we were able to get out to explore the Sunshine Coast hinterlands yesterday. This is basically the green part of Australia, rolling hills with sporadic mountains and forests of Eucalyptus, Radiata Pine and Palm trees. I have yet to see a Kangaroo or Koala bear, but I know they're out there, and I'll see them eventually. On route, we checked out another Winery and did some more wine tasting. Did I mention the wine is fabulous, and Uncle Craig, I can only be held partly responsible for the decrease in exports of Australian Shiraz... Next weekend I'm going back to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast for Easter and am going to live it up in a hostel there (I'm missing my backpacking days already).

The job is going well, considering... Lets just say, my boss had a bit of a slip up, and I had to drive the company car to do the banking at a moments notice. Lets look at the math here: I haven't driven since Italy, 5 months ago (and that was only for one trip), other than that, I haven't driven since I sold my car at the end of July. On top of that, I have never driven on the wrong side of the road, on top of that, the company car is a whale. So what does all this equal --> SMACK - and right into a Mercedes that was going to be sold that day - lovely! Just when you don't think it can get any worse, I don't have a permit to drive in Australia! Lets just say my boss scooted me down to the driving office asap to get me my permit... All in all, it wasn't so bad, as the company owner was more concerned with me being shaken up than what happened to the cars (no 3 day suspension!). He's a great guy and even gave me free tickets to a Super 14 rugby game.

Australian receptionist fashion tip of the week (for Gary,): Always carry an off-white manilla envelope to the post office when you go to collect the mail. The other colours attract too much attention.

I've moved into a new place in a beautiful little suburb called Newfarm, about 30 minutes walk from work and live with 4 other people and a cute little bull dog. They are all very nice, and am making me feel right at home.

I guess that's it for catching up at the moment. Hope all is well, wherever you are,
Love Shauna

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