Darwin: gotta love it.

Ok, ok, I know its been a bit ridiculous, but we're still here, and I've made a new promise to myself to keep this thing up. So probably the main reason we haven't written in a while is beacause: we haven't done sh*t.

Ok, not completely true, but we arrived in Darwin Australia at 7am on a hot August morning, and haven't left. Darwin is a small town, lets' say somewhat like Barhaven. Rich suburbs, 2 Universities and an Army and naval base...which means lots of young boys. Which means the bar scene here is booming, and not much else. Although you can all imagine that does keep Carla and I entertained.

So recap for the last two months:

We arrived amid the Darwin Cup, a massive celebration, which meant the entire town was fully booked. We thought we were going to have to sleep in the streets until the nice receptionist at the Youth Shack slipped us in the back. We stayed there for two weeks, but it was loud, busy, huge and impersonal...and expensive. Although I took the very glamorous job of cleaning rooms right away to pay for our own. So after two weeks of that we moved to a long term housing in the back of another backpackers lodge, Elkes, where we still are today. We love it. Now I will say, it is more like a shack and if I had seen the state of the kitchen before we moved in, or tested the beds I would have run in the other direction. But as it was we showed up here with all our stuff in a stolen shopping cart with a hangover and 3 hours of sleep and that was that. There was no turning back.

The house turned out to be great. Hence the two month stay. There were 14 people from all over the world living there and it was a party. The perfect communal living, where every evening brought the house together in our outdoor living room to drink and sing to OJ's guitar playing. Although things have gotten quiet lately, the weather here is sooo hot. And I mean like you are stuck in the desert withought a breeze hot, so most of the house has moved on.

Suposedly the wet season was to start about a month ago, and we are experiencing the worst drought in Aussie history and also getting into cyclone season. So you may be asking yourself: if everyone else has left town what the hell are the two of us still doing here....good question.

I guess it's partly because we couldn't afford to leave. Not until now. And now we really like it. I was working my butt off at three jobs for a while. Acting as a slave at Energy2Go, a sandwich shop run by the new entrpreneur Kat, who has some serious social impairments that pretty much make her the worst boss ever! I'd come home feeling like "I know how to make a sandwich!" She would pretty much tell me how many peieces of bread to use every day....so irritating. And also I was doing time at Darwin Souvenirs and Gifts. The most boring, unchallenging job in the world. Where my boss, who saw the fact that I had a degree and past working expierience on my CV would be so surprised if it took me under 20 minutes to fold 5 tshirts! I think she's just never had an inteligent employee in her life. So frustrating. But in the end the boring retail job won over the stressful Deli. Why stress when I can spend the day sitting on my ass and get paid the same.

Although about two weeks ago I left them both for the classy position of supermarket checkout girl. A job I was also juggling along wit the rest. You can imagine my social life with three jobs: not much past a movie and a home cooked meal in the good company of Jun, my new number one. Actually Carla and I are just packing up and ready to hit the road. We've got ourselves a 3 week work contract in an Aboriginal community on an island in the north, Elcho Island working at a take-away food shop. Sounds beautiful, and should be an amazing cultural experience. There is no industry up there, and it is a very traditional lifestyle. As our boss describes it, the people like to paint themselves and jump around and sign all the time. Sounds good to me. I have to perfect my digereedoo playing at some point.

So we are leaving on our charter plane tomorrow morning and will be back in Darwin at the end of November. I am hoping to fit in a few more days at Coles Supermarket to secure a transefer to Perth...where we'll be heading next. And hopefully we'll be able to go to Kakadu national Park as well, which is pretty much the and the only reason people actually come up here.

We did make it to Litchfield camping, where we saw the giant magnetic termite mounds and swam in the various picturesque crocodile free waterfalls. Although there was an oversized lizard or two bathing with us, no crocs yet. It is beautiful up here. I do reccomend it fr the scenery and sunsets and markets.

So I am sad to be leaving. I've grown very comfortable and happy here in Darwin. But it is easier knowing that I'll be back soon and don't plan on cutting any ties in the meantime. PLus I think ou should all be a little affraid for me: Carla is quitting smoking! the island is dry, with no smoking or drinking at all. So that's it. Cold turkey. Carla is very confident and determined, as I am stalking up on chocolate and sedatives....that's not pecimistic is it?

love you all. xxR

Faye's little princess

This is Miss Emily Lyn Pears for all of you who haven't met her. Faye and Peter's little Princess, and so adorable I just had to show her off to all of you.