Me and Bec have booked our tickets to Sweden for Christmas and I’ll probably sell my car. As I wrote a couple of days ago I won’t be coming home to Sweden in summer du to rules about the new visa I’m trying to get. On Wednesday me and Bec booked our tickets to Sweden for christmas at least. I’m coming home in the end of November (29th?) and Bec flies in on the 19th December. On the way back to Australia in the end of January we have a five day stop in Thailand to relax and have fun, before our very likely move to Sydney where Bec is planning to do her Grad year. We are not exactly sure when it starts, but most likely it’s in the middle of February. I’m not too happy about my car, It seemed good when I bought it even if I don’t really like automatics, but it takes a shitload of petrol (~1.3l/10km) and after spending almost $700 on services and a new fuelpump two weeks ago, it has now leaked out all the power steering fluid and is due for another appointment with the mechanic on Monday. I got it for a good price though and should be able to get all the money I spend on it back and buy a smaller car instead.

I got a spot in the A-team after all and scored my first goal. My preparations for my debut in Surf Coast Soccer Clubs A-team could have been better. I believed that I was in the B-team that was playing on Sunday so at the end of season bbq with the surf school on Friday night I ended up having a few of the free beers. Just after getting out of bed around 10.30 on Saturday I got a phone call from the coach telling me to be at Deakin Uni’s home ground at 12 ready to play. Not really in perfect shape I got to play the second half of the game and score my first goal but the last fifteen minutes I was soo tired. We won the game 4-1 but it could have been more. Last night quite a few of the Soccer guys got together to see the FA cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United, due to time differences the game started here at midnight. Man U dominated the game but where unable to score so in the end the Gunners won 5-4 after a penalty shootout.

I didn’t make it into the A-Team is soccer this week, hopefully I’ll get a full game with the B’s though. On Friday we are having a end of season party with the Surf School, Graham is organising a classic Aussie bbq, and free beer

Due to Australian Immigration rules, unfortunately I won’t be coming home to Sweden in July . To get the Visa I want in September, me and Bec have to prove that we have been in a serious relationship for 12 months before we apply. After talking to three people at Immigration Australia and one immigration agent, we have found out that most likely Immigration will see it as a sign that we are not in a serious relationship if I go home and visit my friends and family for three weeks. Totally insane if you ask me, but unfortunately I don’t make the rules. I miss you all back home and will be home and visit as soon as possible.

I played my first soccer game today, and the trip to look for a mountainbike ended up with a broken fuel pump on my ford. My car is now staying at Surf Coast Auto for a few days, the fuel pump gave up abot 15 km outside of Torquay. Fortunately I have free roadside assist so after about two hours it was towed to the lokal mechanic and it should be fit for fight again on Monday. Yesterday I drove a bunch of more or less drunk girls around the area. Bec had organised a wine tasting tour to the local wineries for her birthday so we picked up a 12 seater mini bus in the morning. The trip started of with lunch in Geelong and then we visited 4 different wineries and the day ended up with a bbq at our house. Some people went to the pub afterwords but I wanted to be in good shape for my soccer premiere today so I went to bed instead. It was my first game and I had a spot in the B-Team, since it was the fourth round of the series the guys who had played more games got to start, but I got to play the whole second half of the game. Unfortunately we lost the game 4-3 after a few misstakes from our goalie, but I had a good game and was involved in our two goals in the second half and had a chance to score myself so next week I expect to start or even get into the A-Team.

A nice and sunny day in Torquay, I’m off to look for a new mountainbike for myself. On Sunday it’s finally time for my first game with Surf Coast Soccer Club, a spot on the midfield of the B-team is mine.

Yesterday was both my dad’s (72) and Bec’s (23) birthdays, happy birthday to both of you! I made Bec a really nice dinner and chocholate cake, and it seems like I’ll be giving her a mountainbike.

We’re back from Newcastle. We had a really nice couple of days but the city wasn’t really what we was hoping for. In mine and Bec’s opinion Newcastle had some very good things and some very bad. Basicly the area itself with lush forests and nice sandy beaches is great, unfortunately the city isn’t, if we had to describe it in one word it would be “dodgy”. Newcastle have a lot of industries but that doesn’t matter to much since they are located north of the city. As we travelled on the airport bus into the city we thought it seemed pretty nice, but as we saw more and more of the central parts of the city we started to change our minds. Troughout the city there’s a lot of blocked up shops covered vith grafitti, and the general perception of it wasn’t one of a happy friendly place. The same has to be said of the people you saw on the streets, there where quite a few homeless and “unhealthy” looking people. I’m not someone who needs hip and cool people around me but it gave the place a certain vibe which made you feel a bit uneasy. There wasn’t much to do at night so the main thing seemed to be driving around town and doing burnouts and stuff. As you have probably already figured out we are not moving to Newcastle, even if the hospital seemed nice. We are now planning a trip to check out Sydney’s north east part.

I’ve finally finished at the powerplant and tomorrow morning Bec and I are going on a three day trip to Newcastle. It’s really nice to be finished at the powerplant, but the work wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and the money was great. I now have enough money to come back to Sweden a few weeks in June-July. Tomorrow morning Bec and I are leaving for a little holiday to Newcastle (north of Sydney), we are staying for three days and are planning on hiring a car and look around the area. One reason that we ended up going to just Newcastle is that we are thinking of moving up there next year. Bec is doing her “grad year” which is like a sort of internship at a hospital for a year and she didn’t want to do it in Geelong. We’ll see if we like the town and if the hostipal is good, but at least it will be fun to go on a little holiday together.