Yadda Yadda Yadda

Today is my Goddaughter's 2nd birthday! She's such a big girl now! I spent the day with Naomi (her mum and my friend) and Yuna. How fun! Now for some cute photos! Part of the present I got her was that blue and green dress. I also got her a massive monkey soft toy that looks very anime.

It's quite surreal being home. I've been home for 4 days now. I know I was only gone for 2 and a half months. It's not that long. But it felt like a long time when I was there. It's a small community where you feel at home very quickly. You live and breathe each other and it feels familiar and comfortable very quickly. Now that I'm back it feels like I never left, which is weird. It's almost like that patch of my life has been erased. It's like it never happened. I can pick up my life in Melbourne where I left off and it's like I never went away. But it was a significant experience and I hate that it feels like it's been negated. I know that's a bit ridiculous but that's how it feels, like a significant part of my life has been taken from me. No one here was there, so no one can relate to it and coz I wasn't gone that long, my friendships just pick up where they left off, like I never left. I feel like part of my life has been taken from me. It's all surreal and strange. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it all.

By the way, I'm not massively upset about it, just thinking out loud. It just feels weird is all.

Honey I'm home!

I've been a bit of a tourist lately. It's been great! Yesterday I went to Uluru with Jess & Tiff and we walked around the base of the rock. It was hot and long, but beautiful and worthwhile. It took a bit over 3 hours to walk the 9.4km. Then we headed over to the cultural centre to have a look around. Then back home for a swim and back to the sunset viewing point at sunset for a lovely view of Uluru with wine and nibbles. Lovely! Then this morning I got up to watch the sunrise from a sand dune, then had a lovely buffet breakfast, then off to Kata Tjuta! I wandered around there for a couple of hours, only did 3.5km today. It was so lovely. They are such bizaare and beautiful landmarks in the middle of flat desert. I've loved spending the last couple of days up close enjoying them.

Tonight is my going away party. Yay! Should be heaps of fun! Although I am very tired... might need to get some caffine into me so I can last the night!

I get home on Tuesday. Yay!

I had my last day of work today! Whoo!!! I'm free!!!

I went on a sunset camel ride the other day. So lovely! It went for about an hour and we trotted over some dunes watching Uluru and Kata Tjuta while the sun set. I'm exhausted today. I'm having a bit of a homesick day. My first one in 8 and a half weeks. By the way I've been here for 8 and a half weeks now! Photos ahoy!


This is the first souvenir I bought. He's called Sterlo. After the camel I rode!


A lovely sunset over Kata Tjuta


CAMEL!


Tiff & I with Uluru in the background. It looks like I have my arms around her waist or something, but I'm just holding on to the bar. Weird photo.


Sunset over Kata Tjuta again


Me with my sexy helmut.


Just a shot of the camels in front of us.

So it was a fun night. I'm glad I did it. Quite different really. I've never ridden a camel before.

Just some more photos


Sunrise one morning over a dune


Sunrise over staff housing


Some typical landscape around here


Just another pretty picture


Kate, Olivia & I when they came to visit

I booked my flight home last night! Tues 28th of October is the date! I was planning on coming home the day before, but the flight sold out. Oops....

So things here have been good lately. Apart from being totally exhausted from work that is. This is the hardest job I've ever had and the lowest I've ever been paid. Go figure. I'll be leaving in about 3 weeks though. I'll be home at the end of the month. Yay! I'm glad I came up here, but 9.5 weeks is long enough for me! It's getting hotter all the time and the work is just so hard! Did I mention that it's really hard work?!

Kate left yesterday and Olivia left the day before. It was great to see some faces from home. I enjoyed hanging out with them and letting them see where I live and work. Kate & I played a gig at the resident's club here on Wed night. Lots of fun! I've been getting so much positive feedback about it, so that's good! We even got paid for it! Whoo!

That's all from me for now. I'm hanging out for my day off on Tuesday!
Love you to all!

Kate arrives tomorrow. Yay! It'll be nice to see some familiar faces. Olivia arrives soon too.

It's now been 5 weeks since I arrive at Yulara. Things are pretty much as they were. Work is still exhausting, the people are still nice. But I'm feeling like I don't fit in. For starters, I'm about 5 years older than most people. There are a few people my age, but most (where I live at least) are early 20's, still 'finding themselves'. A lot of them basically get as drunk as possible as often as possible. I'm way past all that stuff. I don't mind a few drinks, but I'm not up for getting smashed all the time. I guess I have other priorities and a different respective on life. A lot of people here are very selfish and one outworking of that is that people get things stolen a lot. I do have some friends here that I connect with, but I'm still feeling out of place. I'm not sure I'll stay the full 12 weeks I was intending to stay. I'm not sure I want to spend another 7 weeks in this environment.

Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible, it's just not quite right. There are lots of good things about being here too. I love the weather (I even have a bit of a tan!), the scenery is stunning (see photos), the people are nice (well some of them are!) and it's nice to do something a bit different for a while. I just think I might be ready to come home soon. Maybe I'll come home in a couple of weeks. We'll see. Kate is coming to visit on Sunday. I'm looking forward to a familiar face! We'll play a couple of gigs while we're here which I've set up. That'll be fun! I'm really looking forward to that!

That's about all I've got to report for now. Now for some more photos!


The sunset last night at the oval. So pretty!


Gerrard & I the other night at the res.


Tiff & Maddy spinning around on the oval last night at sunset. Lots of fun!


The hotel I work at at sunset the other night. Lovely!


Card on the head game! I taught Tiff & Maddy the other night. Awesome fun!



Uluru at sunset the other night viewed from a sand dune

Tiff & I with our sexy upside down sunnies!


Tiff on a sand dune at sunset the other night.

Today is the 4 week mark. And Thursday will be a month that I've been here.
I have nothing else to report really. Things here rarely change. More work, more of the same.
Apart from the fact that I keep getting sicker. I thought I was getting better, but no. The last 3 days I've been having uncontrollable nose bleeds. They last most of the night, and sometimes during the day. Usually lasting 3-4 hours at a time. It stopping me sleeping which means I'm exhausted. I went back to the doctor today. He said now I have an ear infection, a minor eye infection and an infection in my nose which is contributing to my nose bleeds. Great. How fun it is to be me right now. I know this sounds like a whingy, sympathy seeking post, but I honestly feel like utter crap. I am tired all the time and feel really sick. I have today and tomorrow off work again. My eyes are all bloodshot and I look awful.

If I'm still sick in 2 weeks I've decided I'm just going to pack up and go home. I'm not getting better. I feel so awful and I'm having to take time off work without pay because I don't have any sick hours saved up yet. Today is my 3rd sick day in 4 weeks. And I have tomorrow off too. I've been trying to go to work sick, but it's making me sicker. I feel guilty for taking so much time off when I'm so new to the job. But my bosses are being really understanding which is great. But I'm sure they'd still rather not have a sick worker...

Anyway, now that you've read my whinging rant I'll leave you to do something more fun with your time!

Today is my last day off before I go back to work...
I've enjoyed having time off. Some people say they get bored up here with lots of time off, but not me! There are lots of great people to hang out with and I've done a bit of reading which has been nice.

Speaking of which. I got a BARGAIN!!!! I went to the library the other day to get some books to read and they had a shelf of books they were getting rid of for 50c. I'd never heard of any of them, but then I saw the 5th Harry Potter book. They had excess copies, so they sold it to me for 50c! Oh yeah! I finished the 7th book about 3 weeks ago, but I don't own any of them. So I might start buying the books seeing as I have one now. Bargain! I LOVED the series!!! So addictive and compelling!

I'm almost better now. I'm feeling so much better than I have been, but I'm still not 100%. It shouldn't be long now!

I've been getting to know some different people which has been good. I've made some great friends! As you can see from lots of my photos! I have more photos on facebook if you want to check those out.

The weather has been stunning! It's low 30's at the moment, fine and sunny! I love it! All dry heat! I'm not a fan of the humidity. But the nights are hot, so yay! Best of both worlds! I might even get a tan if the weather keeps up!

The girl I'm sharing with in my half of the house is moving house next week, so I'll have half a house to myself which will be nice. She's great, don't get me wrong, but it'll be nice to have some more space.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more of the adventures of Megan!

So I'm pretty sick at the moment...
I've been sick for about 2 weeks now and I finally went to the doctor yesterday. I'm not on any medication (he said it wouldn't help), but I do have some time off work so I can rest and get better. The problem is that I haven't been sleeping since I got here so I'm not getting the rest I need to get better. I'm not sure why I can't sleep. All I can figure is it's a psychological thing to do with being in a new environment. So the doc gave me a low dose of valium to help me sleep. I took some last night. That stuff is completely useless! I slept even worse last night than I normally do. All I need is a few good nights sleep I think...

Today it was nice to see some familiar faces! A family from my church, the Gawler's are up here at the moment as part of their caravan tour of Australia and we spent the afternoon together. We'll catch up again tomorrow after I finish work. It's nice seeing some faces from home!

I also started a new job tonight. I'm working at Tali bar when I've got some free time. Get some extra cash. It's good so far. It's a small bar in the 5 star hotel I'm working in.

Now for some photos! There are photos on facebook too. These are just some of the gang I've been hanging out with up here.



















These last 2 are from the sand dune I walk over on my way to work. On one side, Uluru, the other Kata Tjuta. Stunning! Not great photos though unfortunately... I'll have to take some better ones.

Today marks 2 weeks since I arrived.
So far so good. In general that is. There are a handful of downers...
1. Being sick and not being able to afford the doctor...
2. Having it rain for the first time in 8 months and having the water get into the electrics so the fire alarm goes off in your room at 1am for aaaaaaaages when you have to get up at 6:45am for work the next day, and having the fire fighers not able to turn it off for aaaaaages
3. Having insane idiots who like to party super loud near your house.

Ok, so 3 has only happened once, but it's still enough...

Apart from that, it's going great up there. People are lovely and so is the place. Work is exhuasting, but I'll cope.

I hope to get more photos up soon, but I'm having trouble uploading.

So things are going well.
I have a day off tomorrow!!! Whoo!!! I am sooooo looking forward to a sleep in! I'm getting up at 6:45am each day and I'm finding myself rather exhausted. I'm NOT a morning person as anyone who knows me will tell you...
People here are nice, so that's a big plus!
It's not what I expected, but it's not a bad thing. Just different.
I'll attempt to upload some photos again!


Lyndal, Gerrard & I at my place one night


My morning walk to work


Just near where I live as the sun is rising


Part of Uluru, where people can climb


Some of the gang at Uluru


Uluru again

Hey hey fellow bloggers. I finally have some photos. Oh yeah! It’s not really a blog from me without photos eh?

Things up here are good so far. On Tuesday we had an afternoon tea thingy where they showed us around the hotel and we met the people we’ll be working with. Then on Wednesday we had our orientation day. That was with the new people from all over the resort, whereas Tuesday was just people from my hotel (Sails in the Desert). There are about 30 of us who arrived this week, so there were lots of new people to meet who didn’t really know anyone. So now I have some friends. Yay! They took us out to the rock where we did a bit of a short tour thing, then went to the cultural centre to learn a bit more about the area. Then back to the resort for the legal orientation stuff. Not so much fun, but we did get paid for it! Then we spent the rest of the day hanging out around the resort getting to know people. There are 5 hotels here and a town square, so lots of places to go!

Then on Thursday I started my job. I’m just doing housekeeping at the moment. Not very exciting, but the people I’m working with are really nice, so that always makes a huge difference. The work is relatively easy, but not very interesting. At least I’ll be able to save lots of money while I’m here! There isn’t much to spend your money on!!! Although some people manage to drink it away…

There is a residents area that has a gym, pool and pub which we spend a lot of time in. Wireless internet is there too. Yay! It’s a great place to meet up with other people who have time off. No one here works a Mon – Fri job. We work 5 days a week, but it changes each week, so all sense of time disappears. It’s just what days you have on and off, weekends don’t really matter here. So anyway, so far so good. Now for some photos!

Ok, so it looks like I can't get the photos to upload...
I'll post some soon! If your'e on facebook, I've managed to upload some there!

It's official! I'm at Yalara living in the housing area of the resort. I'm living with 3 other people in a share house. We have an intro afternoon tea this afternoon, then a full day of orientation tomorrow. Then on Thursday I get trained to do my actual job. So far so good!

I'm moving in 4 days! Aaarrrggghhh!

Sometimes you just want to reassess your life.

Well I'm definitely moving to Uluru for a while! I got a phone call yesterday late arvo offering me the job! I'm leaving on the 18th and staying for 3 months!

Well it looks like I may be heading off to Uluru soon for a 3 months stint. I applied for a job up there ages ago. A friend mine is cheffing up there and I thought it'd be a nice place to go do something different for a while. I had resigned myself to not going seeing as I hadn't heard back from them. The first time I applied to go up there was about 5 months ago. And again 2 months ago. Finally yesterday they rang and it looks like they want me to go up soon. Maybe even as soon as 2 weeks! I've got a second phone interview today so I'll let you know how it goes! This is the resort.



EDIT:
I just had my second phone interview. However I still don't know what's going on... Not sure if they are officially offering me a job yet... They said they'd call me back in a couple of days. I guess I'll know then.

I'm feeling conflicted...
I've been watching Dexter...



For those of you that don't know, here is a quick summary of Dexter. The idea behind the story (it's a book turned tv series) was to create a likable serial killer. Seems impossible right? Well not really.

This guy, Dexter, is a blood splatter expert who works for the Miami police. He tracks down serial killers, then, on his own time, kills them. The idea is that he's some sort of weird, disconnected guy who does not experience empathy or sympathy. He has been trained by his (now dead) foster father to fake human connection so as to fit in with society. However, he feels disconnected from everyone and has an urge to hurt and kill. He has managed to channel this urge so that he kills those who 'deserve it'. Very interesting concept.

So is he a good guy that does bad things or a bad guy who does good things?

To me it seems absurd and I totally disagree with everything about it. There is never an excuse for murder. However, I find myself liking Dexter. Even though I disagree with what he does. Conflicting right? Although I'm sure it's just conflicting because it's a 'romanticised' tv show. If it was real I can't see myself being conflicted. I would disagree with Dexter entirely. However in fictional form I find the show, and character of Dexter, intriguing...

If you haven't seen this show you either live overseas or just haven't been exposed to the awesomeness that is The Hollowmen! It's on ABC1 Wednesdays @ 9:30pm and ABC2 Thursdays @ 9pm. The Hollowmen is an Australian television comedy series set in the offices of the Central Policy unit, a special think tank personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. It's produced by Working Dog Productions who also made Frontline, The Panel and Thank God You're Here. It is a very clever show showing how politics can often lead to ridiculous outcomes! Things don't get done, yet there is still the appearance that things are getting done. There are so many clashes behind the scenes between various departments that someone is always upset with the course of action. Hilarious stuff. Rob Sitch is perfect as Tony, only concerned with tomorrows headlines and no idea of what it takes to create lasting change. He is both hilarious and infuriating! Lachy Hulme is perfect as Murph who's job it is to mediate between everyone and somehow get some policy up and happening whilst still keeping everyone happy. Very funny stuff! And lots of people are saying how scary it is because it's probably pretty damn close to reality! Maybe slightly exaggerated, but it can't be too far off! Anyway, do your self a favour and watch this show!



Oh, and this has definitely reinvigorated my massive crush on Lachy Hulme....

I just saw "The Dark Knight", the new batman movie for those of you living under a rock. I don't want to spoil any of this movie for anyone, so I'm not even going to review it. I'm not going to say anything about it, other than it is seriously awesome and you have to go see it!

Last night we played a gig at Ruby's Lounge in Belgrave. Great venue that has heaps of massive acts! We really, really enjoyed playing there! Great sound, great vibe, heaps of people. It was just awesome! We're playing there again in about 3 weeks as part of an unsigned band comp. Yay! Should be great! If you can, please come along, because the audience decide the winner and we would love all the support we can get! There are some massive prizes up for grabs and we want them!

After we got off stage last night a couple of girls from Sydney got up and they were brilliant! I recommend you check out Sam & Sarah's music!

And don't forget tonight! Very exciting! The Hollowmen premieres on ABC1 @ 9:30pm. This is the new Working Dog project which looks just awesome! I can't wait!!!

So I have a couple of new album's.
Let's start with Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida'



Now I'm a big Coldplay fan, but this latest album is disappointing. It's not a bad album, but it's not a good album either. It's ok I guess, but I'm not that impressed. The songs don't really grab me as being anything exciting or inventive. It's more of the same. It's actually very U2-esque. Lots of strings and a full sound. I like the song "Viva La Vida', and Violet Hill is good too, but the rest is just a bit meh. Disappointing from such a good band. My favourite Coldplay song of all time is still 'Warning Sign'. So this album is ok, but don't expect great, new things from the guys.



The other new album I bought was Newton Faulkner's 'Hand build by robots'. Now this is a brilliant album! And if you want value for money, it has 17 tracks! This guy is very inventive with the way he plays his guitar, his chord progressions as well as his melodies. I'm a huge fan! Lots of fascinating, intertwining vocals with difficult, inventive guitar work. If you're a fan of good acoustic tunes, then go out and get this one! His lyrics don't always grab me, but what they lack, the music makes up. Although, having said that, he has some very good lyrics too. These tunes really grab me and hold my interest. They are interesting and catchy all at once. I highly recommend this one!