Look Out Melbourne!

So I was finally offered a job in the city - Melbourne! And I start in about 3 weeks, so have to pack up my life here and get myself to Melbourne. I have a friend to stay with until Dundee and I find our own place. I'm hopeful about finding something with hardwood floors in an old house or building, and near the train/tram lines so I can take public transit to work. I'm rather excited about the prospect of moving to a big city again. It's been awhile. I last lived in Victoria, which isn't as big as Melbourne, but much bigger than Alice Springs. I'm looking forward to shopping, restaurants, cheaper travel, parks, and THE OCEAN! I can't tell you how excited I am about moving near the ocean again. I've missed it so. I know I'll miss the desert, but my heart has always been with the ocean. It's in my blood. Both of my parents came from fishing communities on the rawest parts of the ocean. I can smell the salt from here...I'll write more as things progress. I'm pretty tired, spent most of the weekend packing. I don't have much time and I have to go out bush for several days before I go as well. And someone has seen fit to share their germs with me and I'm going through boxes of tissues...ugh...off to bed it is...

For Finke's Sake!

 I went camping along the Finke Desert Race track with some friends again this year. Beautiful weather, just so warm and sunny most of the time. Cold at night, but no real big deal. We were all equipped and kept a good fire roaring at night. There is tons of deadwood in the desert. Many trees kill off branches in times of drought, and there are a ton of bushfires that kill off a lot of wood, so we could manage a good pile without going far. It was the usuall piss up with fireworks, lotsa dust, and racers everywhere. There were lots of neighbors nearby, including one interesting group that played the strangest mix of music late into the night - from death metal to heavy metal to kenny rogers The Gambler, to Neil Young, to Johnny Cash, to Rianna...wtf? I was down with most of it but the death metal and heavy metal. The first night was a bit ridiculous as they went til 6am. Bastards. At least they didn't get to sleep in late as the first buggies were down the track at about 7:40am. RRRRRRROOOOOOOARRRR!!! So we hung out for the day, watching the races, first the buggies and trucks, then the motorbikes and quads. It was good just to sit outdoors and not be sweating...yeah, that's just lovely. We're thinking of making it a regular annual event for us to get together now that we are living in different states.