Sheree and the Welsh Rugby Team

Ha ha

Wolverhampton Races 28/04/07

Myself and Kate

Me Soaking Up the Sun

By the pool in Mallorca

Braving the freezing cold water!!

Zoe on the left, Leonie on the right

Dan, Myself and Brett

In a club in Santa Ponsa

Tammy and Farron

Sheree and Zoe

Restaurant in Santa Ponsa 05/04/07

Sheree in Mallorca

Leonie and Farron

Gatwick Airport 05/04/07

Katy and Zoe

Gatwick Airport - some ungodly hour of the morning 05/04/2007

Ok, so I'm not too good at keeping this whole journal thing...

Sheree and Zoe

So I've decided to give it a miss. No more text, just photos, and keep the photos updated. Sorry all.

Some Scandinavia Photos

The Cathedral in Helsinki. It is pretty awe-inspiring. Hard to imagine how they built something so big all those years ago with out all the technology that we have available today. From memory its actually the lutheran cathedral. We spent about half an hour here just hanging out in front of it and admiring its beauty. Helsinki was beautiful, I can't wait to go back there soon.
Renee and I at one of the look out points in Tallinn. This is looking out to the ocean, you can see right over the city from here.
This photo is taken whilst standing in the middle of the town square in Tallinn. Tallinn has some absolutely beautiful architecture, a lot of it from the medievil period. The town is rich with culture and the locals are extremely hospitable.
Renee thought this sign was very fitting for me. All be it written in a foreign language, we were still smart enough to figure out what it said!!!

More Scotland photos!

The sunset going down over the hills. Absolutely beautiful. It really didn't even get dark there. It was as though the sun was already coming up before the it had even gone down.
I found Nessie. It's true. He exists. This is the proof. I'm a believer now. And an advocate.
He he he. Me and a scotsman
This is the view looking out from above over Urquhart castle and the Loch. It is absolutely beautiful up here. Highly recommend everyone visiting the highlands. I definately want to go back there.

Scotland Photos

I have never really been a 'Fatboy Slim' fan until going to the Rockness Gig at Loch ness. After seeing him live in person and seeing how he really gets a crowd rocking, I really like him. I had an absolute ball it was an awesome day. Though the 7 mile walk home left a bit to be desired.

Finally some photos!

Ok, shocking photo I know, but I will admit that I occasionally look shocking. Believe it or not, in this photo I am sober! Yay!

I've been having trouble uploading photos lately, but this appears to be working now. In may, Brian turned 30 (how old!! Joking Brian). I caught the train to Reading where he lives, and went out with him and some of his mates. Was an excellent night. I got to see what the night life in Reading was like. It didn't seem that spectacular, but I was in very entertaining company so that was good.

I have since also accompanied Brian to his company ball. And yes people - I had to dress up. 'Oh my' I can hear some of you gasping. But yes, I gave up my jeans and t-shirt for a night. I scrubbed up ok too I think, considering I got ready on the packed train full of commuters from Paddington Station in London to Reading. Was a good night out. Didn't drink too much. Good band too, but a bit for the oldies. Got fed a meal and all.

Unfortunately this was the last time I have seen Brian. Still keep in regular contact by email, but we'll have to catch up soon. I'm forgetting what a Scottish accent sounds like.

Fighting Unfitness!!!

Well its amazing what 7 months in London can do to ones fitness level. Well its amazing what it can do to you when you stop playing sport and don't go to the gym or anything. I recently (ok a couple of months ago) joined the gym and have been going, though my attendance has dropped to 2-3 times a week. At least I was keeping health y I though. Well that was until I volunteered to umpire in a netball tournament on Saturday. I was originally scheduled to umpire 8 games. The day before the tournament I got a call from the organiser asking if I could umpire the whole day instead. I agreed (silently reluctant) and had an early night on the Friday. Was down at the courts at 8:30am on Saturday, ready and raring to go.

Lets put it this way, I should have just stuck to the original 8 games. Because after 8 games I was knackered. But I soldiered on. Right though until 13 games. After the 13th game I could hardly run, and decided it wasn't fair on the players (especially now that they were down to finals etc) for me not to be running but rather walking up and down the side line. So luckily there were fill in refs there to give people breaks etc throughout the day, and one of them was able to umpire the last 3 games.

Afterward we headed to a bar in Covent garden for prizegiving (and a bit of drinking) and I think I was practically one of the first to leave about 4 hours later when I realised I would be better off in bed.

On Sunday I could hardly move. Every muscle in my body was achy. I could feel groin muscles and Ab muscles that have obviously been dormant for the last 8 months! Spent the day in a drunken stupor to try and fade out the pain. Did not work.

Tuesday was straight back into umpiring and it was 4 games after work. Wednesday I umpired 3 and played one and last night I umpired another four. I am actually still sore, but at least I know it is doing good for my body and working those dormant muscles. C'mon muscles wake up.
Feels great to be back on the netball scene, I think that's possibly something that's been missing from my life and making London not as enjoyable as it can be!

Best part about it all is I get paid to umpire - so that's some extra money in the bank. Am at work at the moment and struggling to stay awake tho, so its straight home to bed for a quiet Friday night for me!

Well just a quick one. Still having problems uploading photos but will try again this weekend.

Love to everyone
Sheree

I've been to Scotland!!!!

That’s it! I’ve been to Scotland. Spent the weekend in Loch Ness on the 24-26 June and absolutely loved it. Beautiful. If it had a beach it would be perfect. By beach I mean beach with big waves and surf etc, oh and hot weather!

Flew to Inverness with Brian (my first Scottish friend yay!) and went and saw Fat Boy Slim play on the shores of Loch Ness on the Saturday night. Although its not really my kinda music, I have to admit that man is quite a musical genius. The crowd was absolutely pumping, it was amazing. The crowd was about 25,000 people, and it was crazy! The little town of Dores where the concert was obviously wasn’t too sure what to expect however, because at the end of the night they only had about 30 buses to try and get the 25,000 people back to Inverness. So a large number of people decided to start walking. Myself and Brian included. It’s eight miles from Inverness to Dores, we thought after a few miles the buses might have taken the majority of people back and pick us up on the way, but we were sadly mistaken!

There is only one road in/out of the town to Inverness, so with people walking all over the road and buses trying to make there way in and out as well as police and events people etc, it was absolute mayhem. To cut a long story short, we walked about seven miles before we finally managed to jump in a taxi with two people that were walking a wee way infront of us, and the taxi took us the remainder of the short distance home. I was absolutely knackered! After jumping around and dancing in a paddock like a mad woman all day and then walking seven miles, I think a lot of people would be exhausted.

The next day we headed to Fort Augustus at the top of Loch Ness and spent two days on Brian’s parents yacht. It was awesome. So relaxing and got to see the scenery first hand. We spent Sunday sailing around the Loch, you can’t actually drop anchor because it is so deep the anchor’s don’t reach the bottom. Later in the evening we went to the pub and had a few drinks with his parents before having dinner. The food was nice, I had steak pie and vegetables which went down so well having a hot dinner after a cold day out on the water.

It was a late night to bed as it didn’t actually get dark up there. The sun just sorta goes down a little bit before it comes back up again, but it doesn’t go all the way down. The next day we got up and went up the canal through the locks. This was an interesting thing to watch. I think those locks are the work of a genius the way they fill up and empty out the way they do! I was given the job of guiding the yacht from the front to make sure it didn’t hit any other boats in the locks. I didn’t do a bad job for my first time I reckon! Geordie (Brian’s dad might beg to differ!)

In the afternoon it was very unfortunate that I had to go back to London. Brian and I got back in the car and drove back to Inverness where a neighbour of his parents dropped us off at Inverness to get our flight back to Gatwick. Landing in London it was slightly warmer than at Loch Ness, but it was rainy and drizzly. I spent the next week seriously considering why I came back to London. Scotland was really beautiful. The kind of place I reckon my Pop would like.

I will definatley go back there. There are just so many places on my 'to see' list. Speaking of which, Paris is next!!!

Still can't figure out why it won't let me upload photos at the moment. Blog is looking very bland at the moment with all this text. I was always good at writing essays..........

Take care all. More soon.

Its sorta like summer - written mid June

Well its like summer has been and gone in London already. On arrival back from my Spring Bank Holiday trip to Scandinavia, the weather was pretty glorious (by London standards anyway.) We’ve spent a day down by the Thames, we’ve had a BBQ, we’ve sat out the back in the sun reading a book. And well, then it sorta started to be not so warm. The sun was not so bright, and there are now these grey smoggy clouds in the sky again. On Saturday Andrew and Huw (new flattie) decided it was still summer, no matter what. On a grocery shopping expedition, they some how ended up at ‘Pound Stretcher’ (sort of like a $2 shop) and came home with a kids blow up paddling pool. It was quite hilarious watching Huw and Andrew fill the pool by bucket from the kitchen sink, due to the fact that London presently has a hosepipe ban.

It lasted a good couple of hours until someone spilt beer in it and the water turned manky.
I’ve got to say I am thoroughly enjoying the weather, and we have all tried to make the most of it. We’ve spent a day down on the Thames having a picnic, the boys have played the occasional street football, and we all like to sit outside at night time and have a chat and a cold drink. All in all I can notice the difference in people’s attitudes, everyone seems a lot happier.
On another front, I’ve had pneumonia. (As if I don’t have enough health issues already!). Basically I felt like I’d had a cold for a couple of months and just couldn’t shake it. So I visited the GP who listened to my lungs and promptly informed me that’s because I had pneumonia. Nothing too serious though. Two weeks worth of some strong antibiotics and I was fine. GP reckons I probably had it for at least a good month before I went and sore him though. But oh well life goes on….

(I'm having some trouble uploading photos to my blog, but will keep trying. Please check back regularly for photos.)

Scandinavian Escapade

Welcome to another update of Sheree’s travel adventures. The “Spring Bank Holiday” weekend, as its known over here, meant that we all got Monday last week off work as a public holiday – Yay! So like so many other people in the UK I’m sure, I took off on a bit of a whirlwind adventure. The destination was Scandinavia.

Friday night I did some overtime at work. I was here until 7:30pm (how geeky of me). I came to work all packed up with my big backpack and ready for my weekend. After work I headed to Renee’s place. Renee was a little shocked at the size of my bag since we were only going away for three days. Needless to say she helped me cull some things, and I ended up with just my small backpack that zips on the front of my big backpack.

Saturday morning we were out the door at 6am and heading towards Gatwick. We caught the overland train from London Bridge station and met our tour guide Tim (who runs Tim the Tourman tours – visit timthetourman.com) who gave us our tickets. We all checked in and made our way to the gate.

After two and a half hours in the air we landed in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. We were met by a private coach and taken to our Hostel. On the way Tim informed us that his offsider had ended up staying behind, as they were the last to arrive at the check in counter with four other blokes from a bucks party and there were only 4 seats left. So basically they compromised – 6 people for 4 seats. Tim got on and so did three of the bucks party (the rest of them were already checked in). The person that got left behind from the Bucks party was the Buck himself!!! (Note: Greg the offsider and the Buck were financially compensated for this, and flew free from Heathrow airport later in the day!)

After checking in we went for a walk around the city and learnt about the history and legends. We went to some lookouts and did the touristy things like take photos. We stayed in the ‘old town’ where all the roads are cobblestone, the buildings are from the olden times (I’m not exactly sure what century). That evening we met in a bar to watch the Super 14 final that Tim had lined the bar owner up to tape for us. (Wasn’t the weather shocking??!!) They had a ladies cocktails list which was two for the price of one, and they went down well. Afterwards we all went to Olde Hansa for a medieval dinner. It was in an old building with the sorts of tables and chairs they used in those times. The waiters were dressed up in costume and they served us the sorts of food they ate in those days.

After dinner I was so full there was no way I could go out clubbing like the majority of others did. Instead Renee and I hit the hay. This was good because the next day we were up bright and early feeling fresh. We walked around town some more and did a little shopping. We went to the reception of Hotel Viru (the hotel that the KGB spied on dignitaries etc from other countries during the 1980 Moscow Olympics) and asked if we could go to the 23rd floor (this is where the secret room where the KGB hid is.). We were escorted to level 22 in the lift by a security guard and the hotel manager, then we went through a door and climbed to the 23rd floor. They showed us the view from both sides. Then Renee asked them if we could see the ‘secret room’. To our delight they did. It was dark and dingy. There were yellowed newspapers from 1989, which is the year they fled Estonia. There is a bed in there which is hardly made, a table and cigarette ash in the ashtray. It is exactly as they left it over 15 years ago. This was one of the highlights of the trip. Being able to go and see a bit of history. To see a part where the KGB spied on the rest of the world.

At 11am it was off to the port to get the Nordic Jet (which is actually a ferry) across the Baltic sea to Helsinki (the capital of Finland). The trip took an hour and a half, In this time I enjoyed a couple of bourbons and just generally relaxed and chilled out. We went through many islands along the way. Arriving in Helsinki we got off the ferry and walked around the main attractions for a couple of hours. At 1700 hours we went to a different part of the port and got on our cruise ship where we would spend the night – the Viking Line Gabriella. I’ve never been on a cruise ship before, but after only one night I was in love with it. My next big holiday definitely has to be a cruise I’ve decided. They had every thing you could want or need on board – duty free, Jacuzzi, bar, pub, nightclub, a couple of restaurants. We all went to a buffet dinner. They had free beer, wine and soft drink as part of the buffet, so I swallowed my bourbon loyal pride and got into spritzers – half wine, half lemonade. Not at all bad I must say. Infact I think if I am ever in a bourbon drought again that is what I might drink. After dinner we headed to the Irish pub that was on board. There was a guy playing guitar and piano etc as entertainment. He soon cottoned on to the fact that there were over 40 Aussies in probably his 100 or so crowd, and started playing all the good songs you would hear in a pub back home. Needless to say this went down really well. Renee had a ball with her “Fun Club” swizzle sticks and a lot of the girls had fun pretending to be secret service and the like with straws in their ears. (Check out photos on my website at bebo.com for more pictures)

On this night I met a couple of Finnish guys, Lauri and Kalle. They were good fun to talk to and dance with. Later we went up to the nightclub. It was mainly teenagers in there having a dance off with each other. So we just sorta danced in our own little area. Was a good night. They were very entertaining blokes and I was quite surprised at how well they could speak English. Full of local knowledge as well which meant I actually learnt something informative out of getting to know them.

In the morning we docked in Stockholm. Feeling a little worse for wear (after returning to my cabin from the nightclub sometime after 4am) we left the Gabriella. It was a sad farewell as I was instantly in love with her once on board. We caught the transfer bus into the city, and then went off exploring. We saw the ‘old town’ the royal palace and a real Viking ship. Then we were let loose to do what we wanted. Some people took off to museums etc, but Renee and I decided to walk the shops and more of the old town. Judging by what we saw in Stockholm, I guess you could say Sweden is definitely overcome with World Cup fever at the moment. It was beautiful. Stockholm has a great feel about it and I would definitely go there again. We bought the best ice-cream I have ever eaten, and ate it down on the river. At 6pm we all met up again and went to the ice bar in the ice hotel. The beds etc are literally made out of blocks of ice. Why anyone would want to stay there who knows. After about 10 minutes in the icebar we all left, it was pretty boring. Good to see but they only served vodka!

Just after 7pm we all got on the airport bus that took us to Vastera’s airport in Stockholm. Funnily enough this airport takes about an hour of countryside driving to get to. Our flight was delayed for some unknown reason, and we didn’t end up leaving until after 11pm. This meant a late arrival into Luton airport in London. We then all squeezed into a taxi and went back to Renee’s for the night.
It was an early start in the morning, up and off to work. All in all it was a fabulous weekend. And I definitely would like to go back to all three cities and countries again!!

Photos from Turkey

I hope this picture makes the water look cold. Because it sure looked cold when I was there in person. This is taken from the beach/shore at ANZAC cove in Gallipoli
The famous speech made by Prime Minister Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1934. Is now on this big plaque at Gallipoli
Our diggers made it from all the way down there, to all the way up here where I stood to take this photo, with enemy fire coming down on them.
A cemetary down by the water. Many graves remain un-named.
Majority of the dead were between 17-24. Really hits home how young they were, and how brave they were at such a young age.

Well I finally got around to being able to post some photos from Turkey to this blog (thanks Brian!). Unfortunately I had to delete most of them off my memory card, (though they are saved on my laptop). This here is at dawn with the sun coming up behind us, we were sitting on the hill at ANZAC Cove during the dawn service. Gives you an idea of what the landscape was like.
Here I am holding the Australian flag at ANZAC Cove. Needless to say, it was really really really really cold. Very surreal experience.
The Australian, New Zealand and Turkish flags, at ANZAC Cove just after the Dawn Service had finished.

The General London Update - boring really!

Hey everyone!!! Well aren’t I doing well? An update on my latest London adventures. Things have slipped into a bit of a routine – which has its advantages and disadvantages.

Still working. Monday to Friday. Which is ok as it gives me my weekends free. Have been doing the usual socialising type stuff. As you can imagine, in our house everything is very social. It makes it a little bit hard at times. Sometimes I just get to the point where I have had enough of people in general, and lock myself in my room and read and listen to music! Music is always good for the soul!!!

Mr MD, you’ll be glad to know that I have been steering relatively clear of the RedBack. One thing I will never forget is you asking me to promise I would never go there before I came. But I have been there on the odd occasion. Though not as often as some of my friends. I have probably been there 4 times in total. Which is pretty good I think, considering its pretty much a 2-3 minute walk around the corner. So very dodgy characters inhabit that place!

We had a BBQ on Saturday at home. Was nice to do something a bit more mature, besides just drinking for a change. So the women spent the afternoon in the kitchen preparing salads and vegetables etc (what a good job we did too!), whilst the men stood at the BBQ, beer in hand! How traditionally Australian can you get?! We ate good food, were all thoroughly stuffed, and then drank! I will confess now to drinking so much I ended up totally legless, before people start to hear stories. I have definitely not been that intoxicated in a very long time, my University of Auckland days being the last time I can remember being that bad! We also had fireworks, which were probably the highlight of the night for those of us that didn’t continue on to the rave at about 3am. Needless to say, Sunday was spent with the worst hangover of my life. There were bricks bashing around in my head and I couldn’t walk 5 steps without feeling like I was really going to be sick!

Two weekends ago I went to Bristol on Saturday for a girls trip. We stayed at a guys place that Carla did Trek America with in 2001. The poor guy, 5 girls totally over took his home, made a mess etc. He took us out that night with a friend of his and showed us the hot spots to go out at. Was an awesome night out. I pretty much danced the night away. I really liked Bristol as a city! Didn’t get to see too much of it, but what I saw, I definitely liked!

Am gearing up for my trip to Scandinavia at the end of this month. But to be honest I’m more excited about seeing ‘The Eagles’ farewell concert on June 18th. Poor Gerri (my friend that I’m going with), I think if she hears me mention it one more time, she probably won’t want to come anymore – Haha.

I’ve joined the gym – shock horror! But I’ve decided its time to get fit again, and start building some muscle. I’ve lost some weight since coming here, but not much size compared to the amount of weight, so I’m concluding in my infinite wisdom, that it is all muscle mass that is being lost – not a good thing. So its back to the gym to build it all back up again. I’ve enjoyed being back in there so far. I was expecting I would hate it, so its nice to enjoy it for a change!

We’ve had a couple of nice days here in London. Last Thursday and Friday were really great, things were definitely looking up for London. Then the weather turned nasty on Saturday, Sunday, Monday. But today things are looking up again. Its about 23 outside.

Oh some other big news (well big for me anyway) – I resigned from the CBA. I really thought I would work in that bank for the rest of my life. So much opportunity in an organisation with over 30,000 employees. I know a lot of people think the saw it coming when I applied for leave without pay, but I had every intention of being back there on June 13th. I’m really going to miss that place. First place I can say I used to wake up every morning and look forward to going to work. I’m gutted, but still, life must go on. I’m just not ready to go home yet – there are still more places I want to see here first!

Well I must stop rambling. Thinking about going back to netball maybe in the second half of the summer. Hopefully this gym work will strengthen my ankle enough. My life just isn’t quite the same without netball, I have to admit.

Ok, I’m off now. People can’t email me and tell me I’m slack just yet!!

Hope all are well back home. Miss everyone lots. I miss my girls (cousins) and Ben heaps. I miss family and I miss Ebony and Bella, and I miss little baby Danger next door (who probably isn’t so little any more). Take care, as always.
Love Ree

Commemorating ANZAC Day - Lest We Forget

Well, this time I'm slightly more up to speed, and sitting here ready to give you the low down on my trip to Turkey!! Be prepared for a long read!

As I'm sure the majority of you know, I made the journey to Turkey to visit Gallipoli for the ANZAC day commemorations. We started out early on Sunday morning of the 23rd April, and headed for Heathrow to catch our flight to Istanbul. All ran smoothly, apart from the fact that Burger King on the other side of customs wasn't open that early in the morning, that seemingly made the male contingent of our expedition party unhappy.

The flight there was nice and smooth, though we did find out that Sheriee has an incredible fear of flying. Doctors usually prescribe her drugs to keep her calm when she is going to fly, but she didn't get any this time, and that was not a good thing. She definitely could have used some! A few drinks on the plane livened everyone up. Upon arriving at Ataturk airport in Istanbul, the NZers in our group sailed right through immigration - however Andrew and myself got stopped because we didn't have visas. Assuming that Aussies would be the same as Kiwis (well we certainly won't make that assumption again) we didn't bother to look into whether we would need a visa or not prior to leaving. Luckily enough, we were able to get one at the airport there, and 30Lira later, we were ready to roll!

We spent that afternoon wandering around Istanbul, and being harassed by restauranteurs, and I made for an early night whilst the others went out and had a few drinks etc! The next day we left on our coach at 8am and headed towards Gallipoli. The bus ride was long, and uncomfortable. Our saving grace was perhaps the fact that our bus was only half full so we were able to stretch out a little. We stopped on the way once for a toilet and food break, and happened to stop at a petrol station where every other bus on its way to Gallipoli was stopping.

Arriving at Gallipoli (finally) we made our way to ANZAC cove, and then went around the hill and visited Lone Pine and Chunuk Bair, as well as the museum that is up there. I think the thing that stood out the most to me during this time was all the scrub that was around - I knew it was apparently mountainous type terrain, but I wasn't expecting to see so much scrub, as in low lying trees and prickly bushes etc. My mind just kept wondering how the ANZAC's ever made it up as high as they did when they had to get through all that scrub with enemy fire coming their way from the top of the hill. We also took the chance to visit some cemeteries. This was a very sombre experience. The thing that really hit home here is just how young the majority of our troops were. On the gravestones it says their names, what regiment etc they were from, and their age. Majority appeared to be between 17-23 or 24. Being 22 myself, you can imagine what a wake up call this was for me. Some graves are lucky enough to have a small nice quote or saying at the bottom of the stone, obviously written by those that had family etc.

In the evening we made our way back to ANZAC cove by bus, and set up on the hill, prepared for a long cold night. I was by far the most prepared patron on my particular tour, and I rugged up with thermals, jeans, two pairs of socks, long sleeve top, jumper and then my big blue fleece and wind proof jacket. All of this and then I hopped in my sleeping bag and lay there with my head on my pillow. The excitement made it hard to sleep, though I probably managed to grab about an hours worth of sleep in total.

I thought the commemorations were put together really well. There were two big screens up, and all throughout the evening they played parts of documentaries relating to the history of WW1 etc. They were very informative. The Australian Defence Force Band also played music from that era, and there were also quiet parts of the evening when we could try and grab a little bit of sleep. Even Andrew Denton was there and interviewed some people. It really didn’t start to get freezing until about 1-2am in the morning. And then boy did it get freezing – I even felt the cold through all of my re-enforcements! The boys kept going to the kebab stands; they managed to eat an average of 5 kebabs each throughout the evening (disgusting I know, but what can I say – they are blokes). Some people listed to music, others read by torchlight. All in all it was generally pretty quiet. I’ve heard that in past years they have had bands etc to play there the night through, but this year they had an alcohol ban (which was a jolly good idea in my opinion) and the organisers felt that having bands would only promote people towards breaking the rules and sneaking alcohol into the area.
At around 4:30am in the morning, you could feel the atmosphere get a bit tenser, as people eagerly awaited the dawn service to start at 5:30am. 4:30am was the time that the first troops rowed into shore and started to try and make their way up the hill. Many of them didn’t even make it out of the water. Gunfire from the Turkish started immediately. To be honest, after everything that I learnt at Gallipoli, I realise we never stood a chance. We were greatly outnumbered, and the Turkish definitely were in a better position, location wise.

At 5:30am it was still dark, and the dawn service started. The crowd was incredibly silent. You could tell everyone was hanging on every word, every prayer, every song and hymn. It really was moving. Along came the last post, nearing the end of the ceremony, and the tears started to flow. I’m not sure what it is about a bugle player standing there alone amongst a silent crowd playing that song, but it was like every body started to tear up at the same time. You could see people wiping away the tears pretending they weren’t crying. It was amazing. At that moment everyone was remembering the men and women that died for our country, the events that took place in that battle that really gave Australia its first sense of identity as a nation. The sun was out by the end of the ceremony.

Afterwards we all headed back up the road towards the buses where the majority of people dumped their stuff to be picked up by our coach, and walked towards Lone Pine, the Australian memorial. I however chose to get on the bus, as I had more than just a sleeping bag to dump, I had a pillow and a million layers of clothing!!! The bus dropped me and the other couple of slackers off at Lone Pine, and I took a seat with Bec, another girl from our tour, and we waited for the service to start at 10:30am.

The Lone Pine service was amazing. It was nice to have a service that was geared just towards the Aussie troops. Whilst waiting for the service, the Defence Force Band played some songs, and the crowd joined in with singing such things as Waltzing Matilda. I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud to be Australian. It was sooo packed at Lone Pine that people even had to sit in amongst the gravestones. Nobody sat on them, but just in amongst them.

The Lone Pine service went a bit more in depth into Australia’s involvement in the Gallipoli campaign, and just how it came to be that the ANZAC’s landed at the place where they did. They did not have proper maps; they only had a tourist type map, as man before had never really occupied the area. Seeing the landscape, it is easy to see why. I still find it quite hard to understand how war works – history documents the fact that on a couple of occasions the ANZAC’s and the Turkish agreed not to fight for a day, so that they could retrieve and bury the dead etc. Also on particular days, they would stop fighting and play soccer together! I just find it so hard to fathom how one day you can be shooting at people and killing them, and the next day you can play a friendly game of soccer with them, only to return to all the shooting and carnage the following day. This is something I don’t think I will ever understand.

After the Lone Pine service, Bec and I walked up the hill (which is now a narrow tarred and windy road) towards Chunuk Bair, to wait for our NZ counterparts to finish their service which had started at 12:30pm. There were a couple of things made clear to me on this walk, which according to our map was 3.3km (though I wouldn’t have guessed it that long). Point number one: I haven’t done any exercise in a long time, might be about time I got around to joining the gym again. Point number two: my respect for our diggers multiplied ten fold. As if I struggled on a tarred road with no scrub to get through, imagine what it must have been like for them, with having to struggle through all the scrub up the hilly terrain often with weights of between 30-40kgs on their backs, with enemy fire raining down on them.

We finally made it to the top, and I didn’t complain once, (I was determined not to complain) and we waited for the Kiwi contingent. Then after waiting what seemed like an eternity for our bus to make it to the front of the queue, we boarded and headed towards the Helles monument – after our bus driver made a couple of wrong turns and got us lost of course!

Helles is where the British troops landed, ready to do battle. I have to make the point that the British lost many more times the amount of troops than the ANZAC’s did, and the Turkish lost even more again. Something in the vicinity of 90,000 if my memory serves me right. Helles is kind of like a memorial to both these sides, and it stands 70 metres in the air. I’m really disappointed as my camera battery went flat so I didn’t get a chance to take any photos after the dawn service started. But the monument at Helles really is worth seeing. The view from there is breath taking.

We then boarded the bus to head back towards Istanbul. There were lots of sleeping bodies on the bus, as most of us had only managed to grab 2-3 hours sleep in total in the 48 hours leading up to that point in time.

Back in Istanbul we all crashed pretty much straight away, and were up early the next morning to do some sight seeing. Led by our not so crash hot tour leader Bulent, we visited the hippodrome, where there are monuments that were presents to Turkey in the ancient times from other emperors etc. We also visited the cistern, which is like a big ancient underground water tank, and we went to the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. We spent Wednesday afternoon on the roof of a dodgy Turkish bar, where the Jim Beam was incredibly expensive, but worked a treat. Needless to say having a few drinks in the sun on an empty stomach is not a wise idea. Nor is trying to get back to your hotel by yourself after a few drinks in a foreign city where you don’t speak the language – I have learnt my lesson, nothing more to be said on this.

Thursday was spent wandering through the Grand Bazaar. I’m sure most people know but for those that don’t (I didn’t until I actually went), the Grand Bazaar is the largest type market place in the world. It’s enormous and so easy to get lost in there. 8 of us went in together, and we all got separated from the group at some stage during the day. The one rule of the Grand Bazaar (from our point of view) never pay the asking price. Always bargain with the shop keepers, as the majority of them are out to rip the tourists off. As an example, my flatmate Andrew wanted to buy a necklace for his girlfriend, and got the guy down to about a quarter of the original asking price!

That night followed with a couple of drinks again, but mainly we all had a pretty early one. We were absolutely stuffed after 5 days of being on the go all the time. Friday morning it was an early start and we returned to Heathrow about 11am. A few drinks on the plane, and we were termed ‘trouble in row 17’ by the cabin crew. We weren’t disruptive in any way shape or form, they just couldn’t believe we were drinking so early in the morning.

We returned home and continued to have a few drinks, and indeed it was a nice end to our trip to Turkey!!! Pictures to follow as I am again at work (shows how much work I actually must be doing when I can find the time to type out 2000 words here). Will try and upload some pictures during the week. Otherwise checkout my bebo.com website for more pictures.

Take care all, as always, Ree

Its been a long time....

Well this is quite possibly the most slack I have been so far. Though I am good at emailing mum pretty much every day as I promised her!

I don't have any photos to add with this post, as I am at work and don't have the capability to do so here. But I will give you an idea of what I've been up to anyway...

First and foremost, a large part of the last 6 weeks or so have been spent working. Monday to Friday, 8:30-5:30 that is most likely where you will find me. However I did get the chance to have a nice 5 day break over easter.

Easter I went away with 7 others to the fabulously relaxing island of Mallorca. The weather was nice, generally about 23-24 degrees celcius. The sun was awesome, and most afternoons were spent by the pool, with a drink in hand. Needless to say after sun down each night, we all got up to a bit of mischief. We stayed in the small town of Santa Ponsa, and by the end of our 4 nights there, I'm pretty sure we were well known at the majority of bars. Well known by both staff and patrons. This is probably due to our fashion sense, and the fact that we all wore 'aviator sunglasses' out together. The old "avi's" as they have been termed, definately attracted a lot of attention.

On easter sudnay we hired a van, and drove to what looked like the nicest place in our guide book. That was Port de Formentor at the most northern point of the Island. Our good mum Mrs Murray (aka Laura) was the only person in any fit state to drive, and so she skillfully tackled the extremely narrow and windy mountainous roads to get us right to the tip. It was well worth it when we got there, the view was amazing. Just ocean for as far as the eye could see, and we were up in the clounds as well which was pretty breath-taking.

We didn't quite manage our general McD's hangover cure this particular day, as every one we came across had not yet opened, this may have had something to do with the fact that it was Easter Sunday!! This of course didn't sit well with young Andrew, who only wanted McDonald's for his hangover and refused to eat anything else!!

To drive around half of the Island only took us about 2 and a half hours in total. So that gives you an idea of just how small the island is. They also don't speak strictly spanish there. There speak mainly Catalan and Mallorqui. They do speak some spanish, but my speaking spanish only managed to order myself chicken, chips and salad when I thought I was indeed ordering Pizza!!!

Sadly though our mad and crazy adventure had to come to an end. On the last day it rained, which was a shame, but that's the way god intended it obviously. I decided to pass they day by continuing my love affair with Jim Beam in the Hotel Lobby, and I think a couple of the girls were a bit concerned that I wouldn't be let on the plane due to intoxication, but I was fine - I swear!!

Well I'll have to leave it at that - as its time to go home now. But I will update on Gallipoli at the next chance I get. Hope everyone is well, as always.

Nearly at freezing point!

Its nearly 7 weeks in London for me, and I think I'm almost at freezing (aka breaking) point! I'm thoroughly sick of the weather. Just when it warms up a tiny bit (ie we have 8-9-10 degrees) for a few days in a row, it will all of a sudden plummet back down to the 0-1-2-3 degrees. I'm not sure if anyone has infact bothered to tell the person 'upstairs' in charge of weather that it is now SPRING which means things should be getting warmer!

I've been laying pretty low lately. Trying not to spend too much money. I'm finding it difficult when it comes to grocery shopping, simply because when I buy veges and perishable goods, they go off before I can use them all, which seems pointless and a waste of money - but what is one to do? I buy the smallest packets/portions available! Not to mention the amount of space in our fridge at home is minimal!

There are 3 pubs in close walking distance (max 5 minute walk) from where I live. I think this is quite possibly potentially a bad thing, tho so far not too bad. Go to the Mill Hill a couple of times a week, as they have a special which is 2 burgers for £5.45. Seeing as its £4.99 for one, this is a pretty good deal, and they are good hearty pub type burgers, not real fast food type stuff. Its also good to get out of the house at night rather than vege in front of the TV.

Living in the house I'm living in is going well. I get along with a few of my housemates really well in particular Carla (from Brisabane), Andrew (from Sydney) and Gareth (good old token kiwi from Hamilton). Carla and Andrew have gone to Ireland today for the weekend, as it is St Patricks day tomorrow. The house will definately be quieter without them.

I have got some trips booked. I am going to Majorca which is an island in the Baleric Islands off the south coast of Spain for easter. I am going for 4 nights with Carla, Tania and Tania's friend from home Kathryn. We are all desperately some sun, Majorca is a popular holiday destination with Brits. We have done our homework and the average April temperature is 21 degrees, which isn't as warm as we may like, but its definatlely an improvement on here.

I'm off to Turkey for 5 nights over ANZAC day to visit Gallipoli. Going with Andrew, Gareth and one of my flatmate Louises friend whose name is also Sheree. That should be amazing, a truely once in a life time thing I think.

And maybe the good old people in the Gold Coast LSU would be interested to know that at the end of May, just before I am due back at work, I am off to Finland, Sweden and Estonia with Renee! That should be a pretty good trip. Its for 3 days so its pretty much flying through the main parts and seeing the main sites, but at least I will be able to say that I have been there, and I've heard that Estonia is dirt cheap.

Not sure when I am going to fit in all these other places I had planned to visit as soon as I got here. Definately need to get Paris done, and really would like to see Barcelona as well. I will have to see how things pan out.

So that is pretty much all I have to update on. Apart from hating the cold, and the fact that sometimes its like cattle are herding through the streets, London isn't so bad!

Well I've finally found the time to sit down and write a bit about what I have been up to here. First of all, I have moved out of my great aunts, and am now living in Acton which is in west London. Living in a house with 5 Aussies and 4 Kiwis so there are 9 of us in total. This is the house where I am living.

I am sharing a room with Nicola who is one of Hope's friends. Was so grateful for her offering the spare spot with her to me! I haven't yet met everyone, though those that I have met seem nice which is all good. I'm waiting to see what the rivalry is like come rugby time though!

I am working as well which is good as it means I will have £ coming in so I am not spending my hard earnt Aussie$. The people I work with are fantastic, very socialable bunch, we all went to the pub after work on Thursday which was only my second day, and it was a good way to get to know what people are really like.

Have spent a bit of time around at Tania's house. Her flatmates are very welcoming so I now feel comfortable just rocking up and making myself at home. I went out last night with Tania and her flatmate Liz and some other girls they know. We went into Regent St in the city to some club called 'Strawberry Moons'. It was pretty good after we eventually got in there! Needless to say I drank a little too much, but so did we all and it was an awesome night.

Going to meet up with Renee (who I used to work with at the CBA) tonight, so that should be good. Anyway I best be off. Just thought that I should update this as mum said some people have actually been checking it, and I haven't updated it in a while!!

I know I'm slack, but here is an update

Well I do apologise for not updating. I know a few people do actually read this page. First of all, the last 4 weeks or so before I left Aussie were really busy! Everything was just mad, including work. I managed to leave Brisbane still sane though. I spent a few days down at Pop's before I left, which was great. Also got to spend some time with my two favourite girls, being Flick and Mahl's. There had been a fair bit of rain out there a few days before I arrived there and the river was up a bit. I went boogie boarding down the river with Felicity, and yes Flick, I'm still sporting the bruises and cuts and scratches from the rocks to prove it.

After Pops me Nanna and Pop at Nambucca Heads for a couple of nights. Its absolutely beautiful down there, and the RSL does a mean chicken and bacon pizza! Was great to catch up with them before I left. Returned home on the Wednesday before I flew out, and spent the afternoon renewing my drivers license and little things like that.

Had my last BBQ meal the night before I left, as always, Dads BBQ was up to its usual high standards.

Flew out of Brisbane without any hassles, except that I had to take my money belt off to go through security and I left in on the conveyor and forgot about it. Lucky when I remembered and went back it was still there, and all money accounted for!

Flight to Korea not to bad. Stayed at the Hyatt at Incheon airport. 5 * luxury. It was absolutely gorgeous. Flew out the next day bound for Heathrow. That 2nd leg of the journey was an absolute killer. Don't want to have to be doing a flight that long again anytime soon.

I've been here a week, and so far the first thing that comes to mind to tell you all is its REALLY REALLY cold.

Went for an interview with a recruitment agency to do some temping, so hopefully something will come of that this week. Friday I went to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. Sooo many people there. And I got my photo taken with a Bobby there!

Friday night I went out with Tania and her flatmates to the Walkabout at Shepherds Bush. Now Mike D, I know you told me to steer clear of that place, but it really wasn't too bad I didn't think. Definitely reminded me of my nights out in Auckland though.

Saturday I made myself a temporary kiwi for the day, and joined in on the circle line pub crawl. I heard it was actually on the news in NZ - thousands of kiwis on a pub crawl all ended up gathering at Westminster at 4pm for the Haka. Didn't actually see or hear the haka, due to the huge crowds but it was awesome just to be a part of it. Oh and by the way, its legal to drink in public here! I think I'm going to like it here very much! Many a tube station was shut down on the circle line due to the crowds of kiwis, and the kiwi songs were being sung everywhere you went. The poor coppers, I don't think they knew what hit them, all of a sudden they were trying to cordon off streets and stuff to cope with the crowds.

Well and that brings me to today, tired, hungover and cold. But all worth it! I miss everyone heaps, and will keep in touch by email as I usually do.

Till next time!