I love it here ... honest

Well Paul pointed out to me yesterday, that anyone reading through my last few posts would think that I didn't like it in Brisbane. So I thought I'd better point out before I go any further that I do love living here :-) It was definitely the right move for me! I guess as is normal when you move to a new place, I am still in the "compare with home" mode. I guess first things first I should probably stop calling NZ home - hah, yeah right! You could use that as a good Tui billboard aye ;-) NZ will always be home!
Funny - I wore my All Blacks jersey to a thing Paul and I had on last Sunday evening. I was very pleased to note the number of looks and comments I got from the locals - mwhahahahaahaha!

So - now for my exciting news. Paul and I bought a car yesterday. Yay! It's a 1997 silver 1.8l Hyundai Lantra Sportswagon. We wanted a wagon so that we can go tripping in it and have plenty space for our bikes etc. We bought the car from a car yard down the road from where we live (well - Gympie Road is really long so it felt like just down the road). We managed to talk the guy down by $900 so we were pretty happy. Being Aussie though you can't seem to eftpos more than $1K at a time, even if you personally ask for your limit to be extended for the day (*cough* backward *cough*). So we put down a $200 deposit and are getting a bank cheque tomorrow and picking it up just before 5pm. Very exciting! So the only pic I have is the one off the car yards website. But once i pick it up I'll get some nicer photos. But here is their pic anyway (it's nicer then that).

So, what else have I been up to?!? Working lots! Ummm ... Bob was in town for a conference during the week so I met up with him for a coffee on Friday after work. So it was great seeing a familiar face from NZ :-) Paul's mate Rose arrived from Sydney this afternoon and is staying through till Thursday so it'll be nice to have her around. Paul's not sure if he can take another flex day off work (flex leave being "saved up" work hours so he doesn't have to touch his holidays). But if he does then they might go out to Ipswich as apparently there are a few wineries out there. I'd take a day off but on Wednesday I'm off for a day trip to Sydney for work. Gee, don't I have the jet setting lifestyle aye ;-) The stink part of the trip is that (a) I've never been to Sydney before so would love to be there for longer and (b) Mr Bush is in town so half the city is set up as "security zones"- so traveling around is going to be a nightmare! Hopefully my next trip to Sydney will be for a few days and I can stay over the weekend and do some exploring :-)

Well this is a huge post so I'd better sign off.

Ange