There's no place like home......

I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz....back from the glorious Technicolour of the Land of Oz to the black and white of England!!!! Everything seems to be so grey back at home....the sky, the buildings, the pavements, the people!!! Everyone looks exhausted and I guess that 5 weeks ago that's how I looked too.

I feel different now though. Not only do I look brown and sun kissed I also feel that way and I also feel healthy however, I can feel the grey drabness seeping back into my bones and leeching my tan away!! Cheerful thing aren't I??? I haven't started unpacking yet as I don't want to lose the smell of sunshine, beaches and suntan lotion and I can't even begin to think about where to put stuff. I think somewhere in the skies over the Middle East, on the journey home when I was sleeping somebody stole my 'get up and go' as it seems to have disappeared!!!

I'm struggling to adapt back to normal life. I am still sleeping on Australia time...waking up at 5am in the morning and not able to stay awake past 9.30pm!! When I wake up in the morning I'm disoriented and can't understand for a few seconds why it's so dark outside. Work is baffling me and I can't type in proper sentences let alone try and talk professionally yet we were only gone for 4 weeks. I feel unhappy but for no reason. I have nothing to be miserable about and I don't want to move to Oz. Maybe I'm suffering from SAD and need to buy an artificial light machine???

Chick is a completely different story. She is loving being home. I've never seen her so animated and so excited to be with all her friends. She missed school and Brownies and her Dad and is thrilled to be back amongst it all again although she too is suffering from the cold. And that's the other thing.....it's soooooo cold. I haven't been warm since we got to Hong Kong last Thursday. the cold is sitting on my bones and even with the heating and the fire going I don't feel warm!!!!

Tomorrow I promise I'll post warm happy stories from Oz rather than a miserable post....maybe by then I'll have my Mojo back!! Hope you've all stayed well whilst I've been gone??

Priceless

Flights......$3,000

Dresses......$1,500

Watching your best friend become Mrs. Nell.......

......Priceless

Melbourne

Yet again I only have 2 minutes to quickly write off the top of my head.
Sydney was awesome...drive here was ok but long. Finally got to see Dori for a couple of hours which was cool. Been staying with Blue for the last few days who has been a brilliant host. We've been:

- Wine tasting in the Yarra Valley....completely amazing
- Halesville (I think) wildlife sanctuary where we got to see Koalas and Dingoes
- Melbourne night market....possibly one of the best nights ever
- Moonlight cinema in the Botanical Gardens
- Phillip Island to see the penguins
- sunbathing today at St.Kilda
- Hen party tonight!!!

ok time's up so I gotta get going....hopefully will have time to update again soon!!!

Sydney

Ok so I have literally 10 mins in an internet cafe to write this so please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes!!! We've driven so far about 2,250kms on crap uneven roads but it hasn't been as bad as it sounds....some of the scenery is awesome especially on the little bit of freeway coming into Sydney. Unfortunately because the roads are so bad getting everywhere takes much longer than I first thought so we missed meeting up with Dori yesterday which is very sad as she is now working so we won't get to see her!

We arrived into Sydney yesterday and crossed the Harbour Bridge which was amazing apart from the fact that I got flashed by the speeding camera 'cos i was too busy staring at the Opera House and squealing like a litle girl. We also went to Bondi Beach but couldn't find anywhere to stay so ending up (after about 3 hours) driving back out of the City again...thankfully we managed to find a bed for the night.

Today we are off into the City to get some pictures by the Opera House and then to Bondi as Chick wants to try BodyBoarding in the waves. Tomorrow we are then making our way to Melbourne to stay with Blue. I cannot wait to see her!!

Anyways my time is about up so I have to get going! Hope that you all had a good start to the New Year xxx