Melbourne, lets have Chai.

I landed 4 days ago now. They charged me 140 dollars for additional baggage. When it was my pillow and some towels. Dad saw me off at the airport, he gave me a small note that said he supported me and loved me. In this day and age, it means a lot, especially from fathers from the generation who had fathers who would never say that kind of thing. I am lucky in that. The flight attendant did not give me such a note. She did offer me a cookie, it had apricots in it.

I lugged these costly bags onto the sky bus and then a cab from the CBD to my very generous and awesome friends Matt and Nick's house. I sat a bit spunout and surreal for a bit and then woke up enough (yeah not even jetlagged, cant have that excuse) to head to the city. Met Dan outside Flinders St Station, and had dinner in a pub, discovered midis are now called pots and scooners are now back to Pints. Brilliant. Had a great first evening.

The following days have been a combo of job hunting, flat browsing and seeing friends and exploring. I also bought a new pack of gum and some maggi noodles from a dodgey convenience store which turned out to be really inconvenient.

It begins to hit home slightly that I have a new life, and wont be seeing people as often as I used to, in Sydney, but hey, life is life. And, thinking of those who are experiencing the horror of Cyclone Yasi, cannot even imagine.

I had a fantastic set of leaving drinks with a great bunch of friends, a few photos were taken. And I say.. "a few".

Final days..

So am sitting on my mattress on the floor and there is a cockroach that seemed to have been homing in the truss of my bed frame. He seems a bit agitated. Move on mate.

Oh wow, now it is a day later and I am sitting on dining room chair in my half empty dining room in my boxers and a bottle of wild berry cider. Went and saw Brooke Fraser tonight, she is an artist I first discovered back in 2004, with a christian background and subtle/not so subtle message of God. Fond memories of her music, along with having a mate who also likes her, meant we went along to see her tonight. She has an amazing presence and so talented. She also takes people for who they are and performed in a Newcastle Gay Bar to 40 people before a Drag performance, as she knew that is where some of her fans were. See this song, it is my favourite of hers:




I had my nephew's 1st birthday today. I went crazy with my new camera, I simply love just capturing the moments and story of an event or emotion in general. Both Mum and Dad came too, the beginning of family events where both come. It was good but naturally will only get better I hope. Jersey is such a cute little kid, cant wait to keep seeing how he keeps growing and who he becomes. A simple and amazing gift to watch this occur. And relfect on your own growth from being a kid. When making mud pies under the slippery dip WAS the event of the day.


I said bye to the family today, as I make the big move in 2 days.

Number 3 City.

I have realised that, this will be the second time I have gone on a city change, the first time was when my blog began, almost 6 years ago. That is like 1/7th of an elephant's life. And it is also 1/6th of a 6 year old's life as well.

Though when I began, it was all very travel journal like and the word gay didnt really come into it. Or the word triceratops but that only comes into play when you are speaking about dinosaurs, on late night TV.

So back to the blog.. my move is beginning to take shape as Melbourne gets closer. I began the hunt with my CV, with changes and changes. I find you send it to a friend, they give their feedback and then you like it even more. Then you send it to another friend, they criticise another aspect OR say the opposite of the last friend. So really, don't show it to too many, maybe just a few key people who know their stuff. Which I did this time around and am really happy with the result. When you think about it, two pages represent who you are, as a person and what you rock at. I apparently rock at ping pong ball hunting and filing. It was fun comparing my CV from 2005 to 2011. Its like reading your weekend summary in your creative writing book from grade 3, compared to your history essay in grade 11 on Trench Warfare.

Do I even finish the point of some stories on here? Sometimes no, as I dont even read through my entry, I just click "publish post".

Idealist and realist. Keeps people guessing supposedly. Its what I am. Have a perfect concept in my head, like.. lindt chocolate bunnies, the ones with the gold bell on them. But at same time, be happy with a Cadbury white chocolate bunny. OK, what was that analogy. And why isnt my question mark working. No really, idealist being I hope for the best and in good times it can be great. So Melbourne is going to be amazing and a perfect opportunity for me. Then realism will kick in and any opportunity will be great, not just the perfect ones. Did that make sense?

Mum told me she is selling her car and going with her gf around Australia in a van. The middle age person dream. When do you catch this dream? I dont really have a desire to do it JUST yet. The company would have to be good and... ok I am gonna stop there. I saw Black Swan tonight and I swear it is a mental mind blow and you feel you are insane yourself when you exit the cinema.

I had a fantastic weekend also, hung out with Dan, a Melbourne Welshman. He makes me laugh and he sucks at applying suncream, and swimming in the ocean. Other than that he is quality. Had a few adventures, like traveling to Cockatoo island and exploring an aspect of Sydney I never knew existed. Glad I can still do this, just as I leave this place. And get to know Melbourne. A few adventures I am yet to have I reckon.

Sydney was voted worst city by its own citizens. The Melbourne paper reported this today.

Me me me. I i i.

Farewell the aussie in the Bum

So today I resigned from work.

It was time, and it feels great. Enough was enough and my gut told me, to get out and jump into another adventure. What job do I go to next do you ask? I say, I got no idea. And am I silly for that? Depends on your attitude I guess. Is happiness based on what you do or what you feel? Or both? I have accepted it isnt about finding THAT career or what YOU do. Just making sure I enjoy it. So many people are given horrible circumstances and have so much more right to vent and say, life sucks. I am not one of those people and so thankful I am given the opportunities I am. Speak to the people I speak to and just watch what goes on around me.

I just had to chase a massive spider up the stairs, as my flatmate was hysterically screaming, demanding I kill it. I dont kill things. I do not feel that cause I am bigger etc, I should just take another life away. So I was upstairs pretending to stamp on the spider and spray it and destroy the existence of it. Then I placed a bit of twig (NO idea what a twig was doing in my other flatmate's room) and put it in a bottle. Then walk downstairs with flatmate screaming and I put it in the back yard. She then said that it has to be taken even further away. She said she was goin to drive to her parents, 40 mins away, to sleep, if it wasnt gone totally. So I found myself casually strolling up the street with a twig in a bottle. I released the twig, said goodbye and came back down. She let me in once she saw no evidence of the "spider". So Mr Spider upstairs, thank me. AND do not enter Karina's room.

The next step? I move to Melbourne. The gut says go, so I shall.

Heard this the other day, I feel this posting is very poppy and cheesy and inspirational, but hey, we all get em ;) This song just sums up how I feel right now. Hear hear.

2011: Its Gonna Chaaaange....

So it is a week and one day, into 2011.

Do you ever feel like on NYE the world is going to end? Nah... neither do I.

What have I achieved so far. The stronger desire to keep working on where I want to go. Whatever that is. One lesson that sounds cliche but is so true... go with your gut. If you gut feels sick everyday and you feel anxious, that is a definite sign things need to change. It may go away, but its just buried and will keep coming up until you make that change. Thats my tip for 2011 people. One I should really take on board myself.

I went to Melbourne a few days ago on a whim. Went by myself as usual and just strolled. I bought my first Canon SLR, it was a 60D (if that means anything to people) and I had a lot of fun playing with it. Me and my flatmates played Putt Putt Golf yesterday and even a simple game of that, the photos came up amazing. I was stoked. The HR lady at work suggested I focus on hobbies I like, cause a lot of the time, a career can grow out of it. So why not?? I am gonna book myself into a photography course and get into it.

Another resolution, I need to switch off all gay dating sites. It really is a struggle as it is so consuming. A bit lame that you need to get self assurance from.. well.. not yourself.. but from randoms online. When really, most of the time, there will not be anything natural and develop from an online experience. I have experienced it and it has been great, but just so so rare. But its easy to delete your profiles, harder to keep them offline.... Will keep trying here.

And an event just occured with a person that just told me once again, go. with. my gut.

OK, done.

Fa la la la la... New new year.

I find when I am feeling quite lost, I struggle to write here. If I got no clue then why express that.. but maybe there is some point to doing so.
I find I am doing anything BUT work out where I am headed. Jump online, browse, look at gay dating websites (cause that is where quality lives), I even bought a PS3 so I can play computer games again. What?

New Years Resolution. Buy a camera, a good camera, and enroll in a community college course on how to use it. Then USE it. Make this a hobby. Give myself more meaning, as I love taking photos. You ever thought, so many people take good photos so why should I follow this as a passion? Yeah kinda dumb, but its how I think. So I am going to do it anyways. And also not see others as a threat but a support in those who love photography, and learn off them.

Christmas has gone and past. New Years Eve is next. Christmas was good this year, laid back brunch with everyone and watching the next generation for the first time open presents. It is actually really fun buying presents for them and then watching them open them! And the slight competition from my siblings to see who bought the best present for the kids. I didnt win this year, the doctor set was the winner hands down. Poppy immediately knew what to do and began giving everyone injections.

My Dad retired this month. Went to his retirement party, and it was really inspiring to see the other side of my Dad, who was a boss and mentor to people and to see where he took a company for 30 years. Proud of him and what I can also achieve if I work to it.

So its now down to me and what on earth I want to do with my career. It is great at my work and so many opportunities.. I get anxious as there is so many different places I could go and part of the problem is that. My creative side is always stunted and shunned, and my side that likes to be in control does not allow anything.

My words suck today. Will try again soon.

Cold Water

So I havent posted for quite a while.. and as you can imagine, mainly cause of the lack of energy to adjust to everything here. You feel totally fine and pumped for the first few days and then you just run out of steam. When you start to feel like your holiday was surreal and so far away already and normality just keeps waving at you.

But had my Dad's 60th birthday a few weekends ago. That was just simply quality to see my Dad happy and content, after so much hurt he went through. He is in a place where he has so much love and fullness. Saw him get teary in his speech at the party and that just made my night, when you see your Dad show his emotions and its quite raw.

Saw random relatives at the party too, cousins and uncles and aunties. The hard thing these days is it has been quite a while since we were close, and so its just awkward when we used to know so much about each other. Sometimes its like talking to a stranger. We kind of look at each other and lots of nodding and silences occur. When I used to run around and catch lizards with my cousin Sarah and talk about how we felt about most parts of our life... now our conversation lasted 2 mins then standing there awkwardly. It makes me sad.. part of is it cause my life is so different to them now, being openly gay and non church related. Which is just a reality. But also understand if they simply just do not understand how to relate to me now.

Also had my nieces and nephew all there. Now I have three... its awesome. And its just amusing to look at myself and how fascinated and adoring I am of them. When I thought I never would be like that with kids. Just watching them learn and develop and find the coolest and simplest things just neat. We also went on a weekend away together, just us kids and their kids. Was great to get away. And think.

Another awesome (sarcasm usage of this word) was that facebook has deleted my account. I have to guess that is because I manage the aB facebook and uploaded a pic that was not appropriate. So I have been without it for 2 weeks now... and I am sad mainly cause of 4 years worth of photos and comments.. but at same time, shows how reliant we are on it, and so have decided if I DO get it back then I wont use it much at all. It is simply way too much of a consumer of my life and thoughts.

Blogs arent.

The DC and the Virginia.

So I am sitting in the LAX airport and my trip has come to an end. Who am I kidding when I say I plan to blog everyday when on holidays? I do that everytime, I believe this is 4th one in three weeks?? Pff I shame myself. ;)

The last leg of my trip was simply brilliant. I got to see one of my best buds Phil who I knew in Sydney and his partner Preston who I felt I have known for ages but never met. I got to witness a really quality relationship and gave me hope for the future. I saw where Phil had moved to and made a home, in Richmond, Virginia. A quaint city with beautiful architecture and rich in history as it was one of the first places USA began. Well THE place. From the site of the first thanksgiving and the first president this and the first president that, and lots of plaques and speeches. Another whole slice of the American life and experience.

I got to drive and spend time with Preston and get to know the fella Phil left his life in Australia for, and it was a highlight of the trip. A quality man, who is switched on and has sort out peace and answers to the christian world that has so easily shut us down sometimes. I respect him and that research he has done. Made me smile and also choke up. So thanks Preston, I know Phil is in good hands.


















Pizza, margaritas and a bed on the floor, along with lots of laughs. Us 3 all then went to DC to explore for the weekend. And Washington DC sure is impressive. Grand and almost royal like, I can understand more of why the USA is what it is. The Mall was beautiful and sure did place pride in national's hearts. OK enough of all this talk, I feel like am being subcontracted to write in another blog.

Went dancing, and I must highlight how much they overpour alcohol here. Before you know it, two drinks later you are finding the drag queen attractive. And Drag Queens are bloody scary!!

There is so much I could type and say but really, those memories are for me and wont be too interesting for anyone else. But I would suggest to visit DC, even for a day. You even get to see C3PO in the American History Museum. Woo.























I get on my plane to Sydney in an hour. and I am so thankful for this trip and the adventure that it was. I feel like it was much longer than it was as it had plenty of chapters and I saw so much. But now I look forward to getting back to Summer and the challenges ahead at work and life in general. I have a gut feeling there is a lot to look forward to, no, I KNOW there is a lot.

And dont get into a fight with a Korean woman about overhead luggage when she has a spikey bracelet.

NYC. The city.

So my flight was cancelled to NYC and ended up staying another day in South Dakota. Kinda odd after you had already mentally prepared for leaving. Saying bye to Tigh twice..

Landed finally and it was simply intense. My hotel was 20 metres from Times Square. And nothing can explain the feeling of being there totally alone in this square full of lights and people everywhere. You feel so so small and overwhelmed. Then you get over it.

I wondered around the city for a few days, and also had a night out with my mate Dan and his friend Kate in some awesome club. Overall NYC was fairly good, I couldnt live there and there is so much to do you would need a lot longer and I would probably go with someone else next time, cause being a loner is good sometimes and not others.

I was walking through a packed crowd on Halloween on 6th Avenue by myself when I didnt see a garden fence, and took myself out and landed in the garden bed and railing. In a big city, at night, in front of crowds of people, heaps of fun to do that. I had bruises for days.

One of my favourite moments on the trip in NYC was discovering St Pauls, the church next to the WTC site. It was so peaceful and full of this amazing energy. It actually upset me a bit, walking around and seeing the memorials and words about 9/11 as this was the church people went to, to grieve, pray, rest. But was peaceful all the same and that memory will stay with me.


























Halloween, as mentioned before, is massive. The subway was full of people dressed up, and everyone was in a cheery spirit. Loved witnessing this!! I dressed up in lame makeup and didnt even know what I was but hey, better than nothing right! Was a fun night and another taste of USA.

Now I am in Richmond, VA and its bloody beautiful. Seeing autumn leaves everywhere, bright colours and clean air. I am stoked at the choices I made in my trip as I have gotten to experience such different places. When I write more, I will write. For now I am off to see more.