Southwest Australia

Hi All,

Am currently living in Bunbury, WA and working with the Green Corps as a Team Leader! You can check it out here if you're interested in finding out the type of things they do: http://www.greencorps.gov.au/

After I left Perth, I spent a couple of days in Fremantle. It was nice enough there but I just wasn't really feeling the good vibes. The hostel I stayed at was full of backpackers who just worked a day or two, here and there in order to make money to buy alcohol and drugs. It was just a constant party every night... way too full-on for me! I do like my sleep :)

So I headed on down the coast to Bunbury. The main reason I stopped here was because I worked with a lovely girl in Sydney called Jo who is originally from here. She still has family and friends here and she put me in touch with them so I thought it would be nice to drop by for a couple of days and say hi. Obviously a couple of days has turned into 10 days and a full-time job for the next 3 months :)

Bunbury is great - it's tecnically considered to be a city but it's way more like a town. It's small and quiet but big enough that it has things to do. But best of all, I just get really good vibes here. As soon as I got off the train and sat on the bus into the town centre, I had a gut instinct that I'd like it here and want to stay. I'm also staying in the loveliest hostel. It's run by a great Kiwi couple who actually live in the hostel too. There are also quite a few people who are living here while working which is great for a couple of reasons: firstly, you get to actually make friends with people and not just see them for a day or two before they move on. Secondly, it means that there isn't a really full-on party vibe and you don't feel like you're getting sucked into a life of constant drinking and waking up at 2pm!

In terms of the job, the more I think about it, the more I realise how lucky I am to have landed it. It's a good one :)
I just got offered it yesterday and I'll be starting on Thursday. It's a three month contract with the Green Corps. I'll be working as a Team Leader which means that I'll be supervising a group of 8 young people between the ages of 17-20 while they do environmental work. As far as I'm aware, it could be anything from planting trees, weeding, fence-building, helping with animal conservation etc. So this means that I'll be working with a team of young Australian people, learning about the Australian environment and landscape, working outdoors and getting paid for it! Speaking about getting paid... the pay is great - it's more than I was earning in Sydney and as far as I'm aware I also don't get taxed as much as I did over there (but even I did, it's ok because I get almost all of it back when I leave here anyway - yay!) And to top it all off... I get every second Friday off and still get paid for it. SWEET! Ooo and I also get to drive a 12-seater bus :)

So, although the weather here is horrendous (rain, thunder storms, freezing cold) I'm doing well and feeling positive.

Lots of love,

xxxxxxxx

Post Sydney Post

Sydney is now a place of the past for me... for a while anyway.

I left early on Thursday morning last week and set off to Uluru (Ayers Rock) with Sherene and Susan. It was beautiful there. The weather was lovely - very hot and dry - and the rocks were stunning.

Arrived in Perth on Monday afternoon to glorious sunshine and heat. Sadly it was not to last and it was pouring rain the next morning (and is still damp and cold even now). Perth is small and quiet. I think it's probably the type of place that is best enjoyed in the warm weather. The WA Museum and the Art Gallery here are both great though. I've started to really appreciate Aboriginal culture and art much more since I left Sydney... not much of it to be found in the Eastern Suburbs :)

I'm off to Fremantle today and will stay there for a couple of nights before I head on down to Bunbury and then on to the Margaret River. Been thinking about taking a trip up to Broome, but that might have to wait until I earn a bit more money!

xxxx

Moving On...

Ok, I know. I've been too slack with the updating.

Quick rundown of my life in Sydney:

• Working in the Entertainment Quarter which was great. Worked with lovely people and had some big nights out with a couple of the girls from there. Worked on reception mainly and I can say without prejudice that generally speaking, Australian women are RUDE on the phone! (No offense to any of the fabulous Aussie girls I know and love, who are always sweet and polite!)
• On that note... met some lovely new people. Not that many, but the ones I did meet and befriend were Quality :)
  
• Went to Trivia every Tuesday... awesome. Nerdy, but awesome.
  
• Watched too much reality tv.
• Bitched about the weather (this country is cold and doesn't even realise it)
• Didn't swim in the sea - it's scary!
• Did all the main touristy things.
• Ate lots of yummy food - I'll never be able to enjoy a meal in any other country. The food over here is unbelievable yumyumyumyumyum.
• Abstained from shopping (until yesterday) which is difficult because there's a great fashion scene over here.
• Got my hair cut short! (well a bit shorter...)

Leaving Sydney tomorrow. I'm a bit sad about it because I've settled in here now. But it's good to be leaving and on the move again. More adventures to be had in the big wide world.
Visiting Uluru first and then on to Perth, for who knows how long....? Might come back to Sydney, might not...

Still missing all my lovely people back home - getting a few homesick pangs lately. Nothing serious though! It'll all be over too soon and I'll be back home before I know it.

Lots of love,

Jen

xxx

Sydney Update

Everything is going grand here. Still working for the Entertainment Quarter, still living on Campbell Parade.

The weather has definitely changed for the better and it's nice and warm here now. The sun is incredibly strong and you have to wear sunnies to prevent sore, blinded eyes. It's lovely :)

Went to Sydney Aquarium yesterday and saw some seals and sharks and gigantic fish like Barramundi and Murray River cod. Scary stuff. You think that cod is a fairly innocent fish, minding its own business... not these cods. Apparently, they eat ducks and possums. Bleugh! Eeep! G.R.O.S.S.

In other news, I'm addicted to Australian Big Brother. So, so sad :( But soooo good!

Lots of love

xxx

Still here

Moved into a new place on Campbell Parade - right on the beach. It's nice and I feel very grown up and independent :) I'm working in the Entertainment Quarter of Fox Studios here in Sydney. It's receptionist/admin stuff but the people are nice and the pay is fine.

Also... it stopped raining: YYAAAAYYY!

Nice sunny days :)

Missing everyone quite a bit now that I've stopped and am back to normal life. I'll be back on the road in no time though.

Lots of love

xxx

See... I'm not a slacker!

I got a job. Yay for me!



I'm temping. Not the best job in the world but perfectly adequate for my needs.

The weather has picked up a good bit here. There were storms last week that were the worst that New South Wales has seen for 20 years. It didn't stop raining for three days and there were terrible floods north of Sydney. It's still quite cold but the sun is out most days so that's good enough for me.
Got tickets for some films at the Sydney Film Festival. There's a John Huston retrospective so I've already seen The Maltese Falcon and I'm going to see The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen. Old school black and white looks great on a big screen :)
Life is a lot calmer now that I'm not running around from country to country so I don't have as much news. But I'll keep you all updated on anything exciting that happens.

xxxx

Bondi

Am currently encamped at Bondi Beach in Sherene's place. It's fabulous and she's fabulous! Still no sign of a job though. Boo for jobs :( So y'know, if anyone feels in the mood to donate to the Jenny Doesn't Want To Get a Job Fund, feel free. ... No? Fine.

Anyway, have had some fun times since I've been here. Been to the Opera House to see a Beethoven Concert, had a walk around the Botanical Gardens, seen the Sydney Harbour sights and skyline at night (stunning), been bumming around on the beach checking out the surfers :), eaten some amazing Asian food and been drinking far too much delicious wine.

Life is good.

xxxx

New Photos

Photos of Rarotonga are now up on Flickr and I got three of New Zealand before I lost my camera! :)

xxx

Sydney

Arrived in Sydney safe and sound last night. Been walking around the city a little bit today. Weather is lovely - sunny and not too hot. New Zealand was freezing so it's nice to get a bit of warmth again. Liking the vibe in Sydney so far although I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I think it has to do with the fact that I'm aware that I'm going to have to start working again - noooo! But maybe I'll get something that I really enjoy. Fingers crossed.

Had a great week in New Zealand. Got to do my sky dive in the end! Scariest thing I've ever done. Hands down. Also went horse riding, rafting (which is fantastic and I can't wait to do it again), wine tasting (yum, yum) and got to ride in a helicopter :)

Lost my camera while horse riding. They found it again but it had been sitting in mud and water for two days so it's likely that it's totally banjaxed. Don't know yet though because they didn't get it out to me in time so the lovely people in the hostel are going to send it to me here during the week. Which sadly means that I won't have any Sydney photos up for a while. However, I do have some photos of Rarotonga that I burned onto a disc so I'll try and get them up soon.

Lots of love

xxx

Rainy rain rain

Yep, it's raining again and my sky dive was cancelled :( I'm booked in for tomorrow morning though and I'm still on for white water rafting this afternoon so I won't be bored. Actually, it's lucky that the sky dive was cancelled because it turns out that I've been an hour behind for the last two days and actually arrived an hour late for it haha :) I got to the desk this morning and the girl was all looking at me like "um, ok..."

If you want to see my photos, my flickr account is www.flickr.com/photos/jennybourke however I'm not sure if you have to have your own account to view them... if you do then let me know and I'll change it so it's public.

Mwah!

New Zealand

Arrived in Queenstown, which is on the South Island of New Zealand, yesterday. Was up at 4 in the morning, took 3 flights to get here and lost a day in the process (the mystery that is the international date line).

New Zealand is very pretty. I didn't have much in the way of expectations about this country so I've been pleasantly surprised. Queenstown particularly is lovely. It's right on a big lake and is surrounded by hills and mountains. The weather is fine. A bit chilly but sunny today.

The hostel is nice and clean and I'm sharing a room with two friendly London guys and a girl who I've never seen because she's been out early and back late.

For those of you who are interested, I'm 11 hours ahead of you now.

Going to book my activity stuff today - sky diving, horse riding, white water rafting, jet boating, day tour to Milford Sound. yay!

Mosquitoes, Rainforest and Sea Slugs

THE MOSQUITOES ARE EVERYWHERE!

I'm getting eaten alive by damn mozzies. Boo :(

The beginning of the week was difficult trying to settle in to the slower pace of life here. I also found out very quickly how little there is to do here. Really there is nothing to do. Nothing. I'm getting a lot of reading done though. And sleeping. I also met some lovely backpackers here and they're keeping me amused as well.

Yesterday I went on a cross-island walk. I'm not sure of the distance but it took about 3 hours of climbing through the rainforest to get to the other side. It was beautiful and I'm really glad I did it. It was very strenuous and also quite treacherous. Some of the path (and I use that term in the loosest way possible) was no more than a 10 inch wide shelf of mud and if you lost your footing you would have been straight down a hundred foot or more sheer drop. A lot of the path also invoved grabbing onto vegitation and pulling yourself up an extremely steep incline by stepping from tree root to tree root. At one part, there were just little footholds in a rock face that was on the other side of a river so you had to jump from a tiny slippery rock onto an almost flat rock surface and climb up to the jungle path. Scary!

Needless to say my muscles are aching badly today. I was considering going for a swim in the ocean to loosen them out but yesterday I discovered Sea Slugs: gross, gross, G.R.O.S.S. They're the most hideous thing I've ever seen. They're exactly like slugs except they're about 15 times the size (cucumber-sized) and they can camoflage themselves so that you've just stepped on one before you realised it was there. (You can imagine the squeals and screams and shuddering that followed that lovely incident). And they're not just randomly about every once in a while. They're ALL over the ocean floor. Yuk, yuk, yuk. Bleugh :(

Will probably blog again from New Zealand - leaving for there on Monday.

Keep in touch everyone - email me with news and stuff!

Lots of love

xxxxx

Rarotonga

Just arrived in Rarotonga this morning. It's absolutely beautiful so I'll be taking lots of photos. Sadly, I'm not contactable by phone here. My US mobile is now officially defunct and my Irish one doesn't get coverage here so it will be email all the way for my time here.

I'm really sad to have left the US. I had such a fantastic time and it's a wonderful country. It's also just really disorientating to be in a completely new place. However, onwards and upwards.

My first impression of Raro is that it fits into the very stereotypical idea that I had of a tropical pacific Island: sleepy, laid back, not very urbanised, beautiful beaches, lush tropical forest inland, palm trees surrounding the hostel. I'm staying right on the beach - there are sliding doors in my room that lead straight onto a deck over the ocean :) I got here just at dawn and saw the sun rise over the lagoon. It was spectacular but unfortunately I was really spaced after the 9 and 1/2 hour flight and don't think I appreciated it enough!

I reckon I'm going to find it difficult to be on my own again after 3 and 1/2 weeks of company. But it will be good for me - toughen me up again! And I'm sure I'll meet some nice new people too.

Will keep you posted.
Lots of love

xxxxx

Back in San Fran

See, now I've left it so long it's going to be really difficult to tell you all what's been happening.
I've become really lazy with the whole keeping in touch and up to date thing. Last couple of weeks in a few sentences:
Went to San Francisco. Loved it.
Went to LA. Loved it slightly less but still had a great time. Edwina was there with me so that made it good :)
The Coachella Music Fest was amazing. The heat nearly killed me but we got to see RAGE and KINGS OF LEON. WOO!
Extended my flights by a week so I could come back to San Francisco and am going to be really sad to leave. I'm having so much fun here. It's definitely the most beautiful city I've been to. But Rarotonga is next on the list and I know it will be great too.


Gotta go. Going to a street fair on Howard Street called the How Weird Street fair. It's going to be a good day :)

Love you all loads

xxxxxx

Am a little bit drunk at the moment

Edwina arrived today. Having a ball. Had amazing time in San Francisco. LA is great. Have lots more to say but will do it at another time when I'm not quite as inebriated :) Lots of love xxx

Recap and Arrival in San Fransisco

Well, here I am in San Francisco... SUNSHINE! YAY!

Luckily I missed the worst of the storms in the North East. Got out just in time. Didn't completely escape though.

Washington DC was fantastic in the end (my grouchy mood only lasted until I met up with Annie). The weather was still fairly shitty but we did get a decent enough Saturday that allowed us to visit Arlington Cemetery. I say "we/us" because as I mentioned above, I was lucky enough to stay with my friend Annie and her boyfriend Scott in their home. They took me out to fun places and cooked for me and gave me beer and were just generally kind and lovely. Thanks guys :)

DC is a lovely city. Very pretty. The war memorials are especially beautiful and very moving. Going around looking at the memorials for WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam and seeing all the headstones and memorials at Arlington really shocked me. I realised then how huge the number of lives is that have been lost in so many wars, in such a short space of time, in such a young country. It's very sad and it's only when I was standing in front of these structures reading the names of those who died or looking at "dead numbers" in the tens of thousands that I fully appreciated that the people of this country have in fact suffered a lot through war. Even though there hasn't been a war on American soil for a long, long time they feel the effects of war a lot more than we would in Ireland for example purely through the fact that there are very few Americans who don't have a family member or friend or colleague or college friend who has served at some point or is serving now or who, sadly has died. All this might seem obvious to many of you reading this. But for me, it's a revelation and I'm very glad it happened because it's helping me to gain a better understanding of American culture and people, which to be honest I wasn't expecting to find.

I'm feeling a little bit tired today and I can feel a sore throat coming on but I'll struggle on! :) So, today I reckon I might go for a stroll around the city and get my bearings. Might try and visit Alcatraz tomorrow.

Am getting my car on Friday. Driving down to LA Friday/Saturday. AGH! Will definitely try to update again before that though.

Siobhan - I can't believe I missed the PAV! I LOVE the Pav. Frisbee and Bavaria... mmmm...

HJ ... it's really hard to find nice shoes/boots in this country. Shoulda bought some in NYC! That'll learn me to think I'll find better shopping elsewhere :)

Erin - sorry about the spelling. I'm still kind of confused haha I LOVE YOU!

Miss you and love you all loads!

Quick Recap

Better make this a long one. (ish)

I found my travel journal - yay! But then I lost my Mets cap - boooo :(

Siobhan - the food in NYC is yummy. There's every kind of food you could want. But the easiest and cheapest stuff is fast food or deli food. Not very healthy but delicious. I had bagels frequently. I also had sushi, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian etc.

On my last full day in New York I went up the Empire State Building. It was so beautiful and inspiring. The images of the city from up there are firmly imprinted on my mind. I'm already pining for it and can't wait to go back.

I'm sad to have left NYC, but Plimoth (where Erin lives) is beautiful - loads of coastline and trees! That's a bad description though because it's actually completely different to anywhere I've ever been in terms of the architecture and landscape. There are wooden houses and it all looks very pretty and very "American". Like I said to Erin, I felt like I was in TV.

I stayed with Erin and her family in their home (which is completely gorgeous) and she showed me around and looked after me for my whole time there (except when I ventured out into Boston city on my own for a day - nice and historical).
One of the best parts of the trip (besides crying laughing at Erin's stories - woman you crack me up) was that I learned loads about American history because we went to the Plymoth Plantation. Completely weird but very cool. Plymouth (today spelled Plimoth) was where the ship Mayflower landed and it was also the site of the first thanksgiving meal. It's a famous town, historically speaking and so to mark this, they have a recreation of the first Plymouth Plantation. Not weird at all - yes you're right. I like a good historical recreation as much as the next person. However this just went that one little step further. There were people involved in the recreation and their job was to inhabit the Pilgrim village as the 17th Century pilgrims would have done. They interact with the visitors in character at all times - so you're having a conversation with them about history but you're phrasing the questions like: "what's it like living here?" and they're answering as if they're living in the 1600s. Bizarre. I also got to chat with some Native Americans about their history and their life now in terms of language and values etc. I found this really interesting also as I knew almost nothing about the Native Communities in North America.

Got to DC yesterday morning and immediately was in a bad mood. I hadn't eaten for hours and I was tired and lugging a huge case around with me. I got lost for about an hour and a half and had to ring my mom and get her to ask my auntie Mary to ring me because she and her family had visited DC last year and would be able to locate where I was! So eventually I got my bearings and chilled out in some bookstores for a while. DC is nice but the amount of time I had people look at me about to walk through a door with a big suitcase and not hold the door for me or walk in front of me and let the door swing back in my face, is shocking. I've never experienced anything like that kind of rudeness before. Normally it wouldn't bother me too much. But it was very much accentuated in my mind because I was really struggling with my case. Hopefully I'll meet some more polite people today.

Hope you're all well and had a great Easter Weekend and a good week this week.

Lots of love xxxx

OH NO!

I lost my travel journal! Nooooo!

But I think I might know where I left it. Fingers crossed it's actually still in the bar and that nobody took it :(

Come on babe why don't we paint the town...

Still having a blast here in NYC. The weather is really bad (it was snowing yesterday) but I'm struggling on! I hear is gorgeous at home. Typical!

Have done quite a bit of touristy stuff at this stage - Walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, went to the Museum of Modern Art, the Met, Natural History Museum, walked through Central Park etc. Am going to go to the Rockerfeller Centre this afternoon.

Am so glad I'm keeping a travel journal (thanks to all of you who strongly encouraged me to do so!) because I can barely remember what I did a couple of hours ago, let alone a couple of days. Honestly, in a few weeks I'll be like "New York City?... never heard of it" haha :)

Last night I met up with a couple of friends from London and joined them in a tiny piano/cabaret bar. It was amazing - everyone sitting or standing around the piano singing songs from musicals. "Doe, a deer, a female deer. Ray - a drop of golden suuuunn....." LOVED IT!

I do have more news and tales of adventure but I'm paying by the minute for internet access so have to run!

Lots of love and kisses for everyone! :) xxxx

All about the Middle East

Tonight was strange. I just happened to meet several Middle-Easterners.

I met two guys from Bangladesh in a pub I went to and spent the evening chatting to them. They were very nice and chatty.

But then when I got into a taxi back to the hostel, it turned out that the driver was from Cairo - Yay! I love Egypt (as most of you know) so I was chatting all about it and when I got to the hostel, he wouldn't take any money from me! Sweet! Free taxi ride and he also said that any time I went back to Cairo I could stay with his family. Love it!

Then I was hungry and went into the little deli/grocery store beside the hostel and the cashier guy was from Yemen... and I was all like "No way! I was going to go and work in Yemen!" and he's now determined to teach me Arabic so I can go and teach English in Yemen and stay with his family. This city is completely insane. And fabulous.

Also, today I bought a necklace in Tiffany's. Far too expensive; but wonderful nonetheless :)

Oh yeah and I got offered a green card from an Indian taxi driver who said we could get married if I wanted a green card. Nice.

Sleeping on a Bench in Central Park...

That was my prospect last night as I desperately searched Hostelz.com to try and find a hostel in NYC that had rooms for the next 5 nights. My search criteria went from somewhere with good reviews and available beds, to available beds. So I found a small little place, 7 blocks down from where I am now. I'll be checking in to it this after noon. So fingers crossed it will be clean, safe and friendly!

I'm DEFINITELY doing some touristy stuff today - it's raining so I have a good reason to spend time in museums and not wander the streets!

AGH!

Too much is happening for me to be able to keep up! I've done so much stuff over the last few days (none of it involving sight-seeing, by the way). I think I'll have to take a good hour tonight and actually write it all out for you lot.
I'll give you a little preview here though - spent all of yesterday with a Canadian girl shopping in Chinatown and then drinking Guinness in a bar run by a Dubliner chatting up Irish American boys from the Bronx. Nice.
More to come later...

Ok. Now I have some time. Phew.

So, where was I? Oh yeah... when last I left you, I was considering going for brunch.
Well, I did go for brunch and it was delicious (but expensive). I then went downtown to see if there was anything good on in the cinema. But there wasn't. Went back to the hostel and was feeling a bit lonely at this point (boo hoo) when all of a sudden there appeared a very chatty roommate from Canada (living in Wales). She was lovely and more than a bit crazy (but in the good way) and we went out to get some food.

Yesterday then we had very noble intentions to go to the Natural History Museum and Ground Zero. However, as with all the best laid plans, they didn't quite work out. We did go to the Natural History Museum. For about an hour. It's an ok place but I found the general lay-out, the lighting and amount of provided information a disappointment.
So after an hour of cultural saturation, we succumbed to our girlie impluses and went shopping! Yay, yay, yay! (cue jumping up and down, clapping hands and squealing).
We started with a sushi lunch and then spent the day strolling around Chinatown and surrounding areas; trying stuff on, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at sparkly things and occasionally purchasing.
After a very long and arduous day we were dying of the thirst and found our way accidentally to a lovely little pub called Josie Green's. It's somewhere off Broadway, north of Bleeker Street: can't quite remember where... We went in and after about an hour met a lovely group of guys from the Bronx who were all "Irish". Ended up blabbering on with them for hours and generally having a laugh. Great night and no hangover today! Yay! No idea how this happened as I had a good few pints but not complaining :)
Tanis (Canadian girl) left today so I'm all alone again. I'm getting a bit braver about making friends though so I'll be fine.

Suppose I should do some touristy stuff. Went to go up the Empire State Building this afternoon but there was a big queue so we had coffee instead.
Yeah, I need to do actually DO some touristy stuff haha :)

Again, I'm sorry about the lack of pics - the computers don't actually have any USB ports :(
And Google Chat doesn't work on them either, so I apologise to those of you who have tried to IM me - I'm not ignoring you, I swear!

Hugs and kisses xxxx

It's my fourth day already!

Am a small, little, tiny, baby bit hungover today. Had a fantastic day with Hyo-Jung yesterday (thank you! and it's still a shame about those shoes...); strolling leisurely around, chatting and eventually ending up in a lovely bar drinking cocktails :)
Ate a cannoli - it was magnificent. Delicious.
Going to go for brunch today and then maybe do some sightseeing. Maybe.
Or I might just sit somewhere in a corner somewhere nice drinking coffee and reading/dozing... it's a hard life.

Where to start...

Firstly, I left my camera in the hostel room and I'm not going back up to get it so this won't have any pics. Sorry. Next one. Promise

A few things I've seen that have struck me include:

• A group of American people meeting up in a bar and high-fiving each other hello. Without a shred of insincerity. Honestly. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. It was a genuine greeting. I always thought that was a joke. Turns out, it's not.
• Woman standing in her apartment window, shaking the maracas and dancing happily around to some extremely loud Spanish-y music.
• Homeless guy giving a speech on the subway. Touching.
• Woman in the middle of street crying hysterically down the phone, saying/sobbing "but I DIDN'T break the remote! I DIDN'T! I woulda told you if I did. I'm not that kind of person..."
• Old Asian guy in a moon-suit playing the drums on a trash can to the beat of the tune he was listening to on his ghetto-blaster.

I also made a total arse of myself today by tripping over a curb while drinking some water. The water spurted everywhere, but mostly over me. Needless to say there were two lovely young men behind me who promptly proceeded to take the complete piss out of me for the next block. It was funny though.

I spent most of today just walking around. Got into the queue for the Museum of Modern Art but jumped out again because it was such a nice day and I didn't feel like staying inside. So I strolled down 5th Ave. and ended up spending about an hour in Madison Square Park people-watching. Then I got on the wrong train and had to walk through Harlem to get back to the hostel hahaha - never felt so much like a tourist in my life!

I like New York. It doesn't seem to belong to anyone, which is nice. But I have to take issue with the fact that people don't smile very easily. You have to drag it out of 'em. I don't mind though - it's like a challenge :)

Thanks for all your lovely comments and greetings - keep up the good work.

NYC

Arrived a couple of hours ago. Am completely wrecked. Still on Irish time. Seems like a great place. Have already seen some funny things. Will try and get a full post up tomorrow or the next day.
Sleep time... zzzZZZZzzz....

Shambolic

It's all so stressful!

I'm leaving very early on Thursday morning and I haven't even started packing or anything. And I rang Virgin Atlantic to confirm my flights and they were all like "you don't need to confirm your flights" but of course I don't believe a word of it and I'm scared I'll get to check in and they'll ask me for some Confirmation Code and I'll be standing there incoherently blubbering and blaming it all on Richard Branson.

Not to worry. It'll all work out in the end.

Countdown to Departure

7 days...