Bec and I have pretty much booked our flights to come home to Gothenburg in the end of September for 2 weeks, not really as long as we wanted but it will be great anyway! We fly with Thai airways via Stockholm and arrive in Gothenburg on Sat 16 Sept for two probably hectic weeks of catching up with all my friends and family. Coming back to Aus won’t be to much fun though arriving in Melb at 8pm Mon night after a good 26h+ on the plane and then off to work the next morning…

Just got home and defrosted myself after being out kite boarding for about 1 1/2 hours, when I was packing up my feet were so cold that it hurt to walk on the concrete but it was definitely worth it! At the start the wind wasn’t very strong so I set up my 12m kite with almost full power but as the wind picked up it was getting a bit crazy with winds around 25 knots and gusts hitting 30 knots, and even after coming in to shore and depowering the kite I still produced the biggest jumps I’ve ever done and was almost scared I wouldn’t come back down sometimes (probably not very likely but anyway). It was probably about 2 months since I last went out and it was heaps of fun so bring on the winds!

Once again it’s coming up towards winter here down under and once again I’m faced with living in a city with temperatures down towards 0′C at night in a house without any type of insulation, and one little heater. Well the heater is actually really efficient, but the fact that it’s downstairs in the living room usually means that it’s nice and warm there but not really anywhere else in the house. I’ve again installed rubber weather seals around doors and windows to make the house a bit better and if we weren’t so cheap and only had the heater on in the afternoon it would probably be pretty nice in the house, but I don’t really feel confident to have a gas fire going in the house when we’re not home so investing in a little portable electrical on might be the go.

Otherwise everything is pretty good, with our one year anniversary coming up soon and we’re booked in for a night in a spa suite with dinner and a massage at Balgownie Estate in the Yarra Valley witch should be really nice. I’ve also updated the photo page with some more photos from the last couple of months, so have a look.

Well not too much on this site at least. Thought it was time for a little update. We really like our little place, there’s still some pictures to get up on the walls and stuff but in general it’s looking really nice, I’ve built my own little water recycling system out the back which disperses the water from our washing machine (we use environmentally friendly washing powder) and shower into the garden. There’s pretty strict water restrictions in place so you can hardly water outside at all. We have also finally got some fish for our little pond out the back, I’ve installed a solar panel driven water pump which creates a little waterfall and are just waiting for one more part to get a system with 2 solar panels and a battery hooked up so the pump can run 24h a day (if the days are sunny). We are both a bit tired today as we had an early birthday celebration for Bec yesterday, she’s not turning 25 until Thursday but last night we went out for dinner and drinks with about 10 of our friends which was really nice, I’m quite happy that none of the elevators has broken down today though, as I’m covering the call outs this week.

I took some little movies during our honeymoon to Africa and I’ve now uploaded them to Google videos

• Wilderbeast Migration
• Wilderbeast crossing road
• 3 Elephants walking
• Bec and the lions
• Flamingos starting on lake
• Pride of lions resting in sun

There are more videos uploaded but I can’t be bothered putting up links to all of them so just have a look at one and then press “from user” to the right and you’ll get a list of all my videos. Enjoy!

Well I’m now officially not twenty something anymore, and oh so such older i suddenly feel… We had a great camping trip over my birthday weekend that included my first two surfs since I dislocated my shoulder on my bucks night and also my first two rounds of golf. The surfing was great even if the waves weren’t that good and I don’t even think a type of bird exists for the numbers I produced on the golf course but I did manage a few “good” drives off the tee. Thanks for all the gratulations I’ve received, and tomorrow it’s time for the housewarming/30th party here, should be a good night!

We are now pretty much settled in to our new place in Brighton even if the suburb is a bit strange. There’s a lot of older rich people here, ladies with all their jewelery meeting up for coffees and being very posh and stuff like that but it gives you something to smile about at least. The place is great even if the cupboards in the kitchen smell a bit but we’ll sort that out somehow, it’s a bit older that our last place but a lot bigger and the garden is great to have even if it’s not exactly a green paradise in these times of water restrictions. I’ve set up a little system were we gather the water from the washing machine and use that to water with, I just hope it won’t overfertilize the garden but we’ve bought a washing powder witch brakes down 100% in nature so hopefully it’s ok.
The coming weekend is a long weekend (labour day) and also my birthday so we are going camping for three night with some friends, which will be really nice, and the weekend after that we’re having a little housewarming/birthday party here. Have to remember to let the neighbors know…

Today we got our application for a new apartment accepted and we’re moving a couple of km out from the city to Brighton. Our new place is a lot bigger then our current one with a back yard and lots of place to store bikes, surfboards, kiteboards etc and an outside clothesline which will give us a lot less clutter in the house. It’s a bit older but we’re both really excited, we’re signing the lease and paying bond tomorrow and we can move in next Friday. We will have to pay double rent for a few weeks as we have to give 4 weeks notice to our current landlors but that also means that we can take our time to move which is nice.

There’s also some more Honeymoon photos up on the Photo page

Back in Melbourne we have now started looking for a new apartment and Bec for a new job. We need some more space as Bec is starting to study again and our study is filled with washing racks, surfboards, kiteboards etc and not very good for studying at all, we also really want some sort of little garden/courtyard. It’s really hard to find something good at the moment as the rental market has gone a bit crazy but with a bit of luck, patience and some hard work I’m sure we’ll find something we like within our price range eventually. Bec’s jobhunting is going ok she’s found a couple of jobs that she’s applied for and she’s got her first interview on Monday… It’s a bit harder to find a good part time job as she has to have some time for her post graduate course but I’m sure she’ll find something good!

We’ve now been back in Melbourne for 3 days and I’ve done my first day back at work. It seems strange that we where hanging out with the lions and elephants a week or two ago. I’ve started to sort through the 950!! photos and movies I took in Africa and have put the first bunch up on the Photos page but there’s lots more to come when I have time…