Wow, its been a while since my last post and lots have happened since then. I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the coast and recommend to anyone who has a spare couple of weeks and a need to just chill out, to try the NSW north coast. For May, the weather was amazing, days in the low 20s and the ocean was still warm enough to swim in daily. My time there was spent just relaxing, long beach walks, joined the gym and went daily and managed to straighten out my sleeping pattern. Stayed a couple of days on the way back with Erin and Richie in Sydney and it was nice just to hang out together before heading down to cold Melbourne.
On a whim, I booked flights to the US, so only had a week from flying out of Coffs before I was back on a plane again, although this time for considerably longer considering it was Melbourne, Brisbane, LAX to JFK (thank you Qantas frequent flyer program). I don't think I've ever done as much flying as I have in the last 3 months. Although the planes were pretty much packed on each flight, I was fortunate to sit next to some interesting characters which made the journey entertaining if not bearable. The two weeks there went all too fast. Managed a day trip Yale on my first full day, having thankfully managed to avoid any serious jet lag set backs other than feeling tired all the time (but sleeping at 'normal' times and all through the night). Went to the Guggenheim, Met and MoMA. Saw the athletics, went for a Sunday drive to Litchfield.
Took the train down to Washington for 2 nights there. Its hard to describe how big everything is. The city is well planned out (and it would be quite difficult to get lost there) and everything is in walking distance, as long as you have comfortable shoes. It was bloody hot when I was there - in the early 30s and I was relieved not to get burnt. Saw the Whitehouse (and a group protesting out the front. When they had finished for the day, the leader explained to whoever was listening, that they were about to go home but would be back tomorrow and thanked Barak for listening - it really was quite amusing). The Lincoln statue and the Washington Monument are massive, I didn't know there was that much marble in the world. And of course, the US Capital building was also impressive. The next two days went to the national archives and saw the Magna Carta & the Declaration of Independence, the National Gallery, the Air and Space Museum (including the planetarium) and the Museum on Natural History (although nothing came alive). There was just so much to see and do, I could have easily spent the whole week there and still not covered everything.
The last weekend included a massive road trip. Starting at a fun run in Shelton and then to Rhode Island and the Mansions at Newport (absolutely beautiful), arriving very late in Boston. Had a quick walk around in the morning (saw the Cheers bar) and then it was off to Montreal - CANADA! Arrived just in time to watch the sunset on Mont Royal. Was happy to back in a land where everything was in kilometres and not miles - although my French needs much improvement. It was a lovely city and had the whole day to explore. The drive back was long but the highlight was the hour and a half where I actually got to drive - I was very excited, this being the first time I'd driven on the right hand side of the road!
Before I knew it, it was time for the long journey back to Melb, Australia. It is always nice to arrive home to some good news and we are all looking forward to Erin & Richie moving down south at the end of the year. I didn't have much time to acclimatise to Melbourne as 2 days later, I was off to Canberra for predeployment training.
A week in Canberra in June is not my idea of a holiday and was not really looking forward to it, however, the weather was good (for winter in the ACT), beautiful clear days and the trees were all losing their leaves so it was very pretty. Had a lovely view from the hotel of Black Mountain and shared the room with Jo - one of the 12 girls heading to Cambodia (about 8 of which will be heading to Phnom Penh). It was a great opportunity to met the other 11 going as well as people heading to other countries (and meet the other bean counters) plus finally got a whole hour on "capacity building" which appears to be the next buzz term. The official farewell at Old Parliament House was a bit disappointing. Met a few people from AusAid and the like but everyone pretty much behaved themselves and there were no interesting pollies there as they were all at the big do at Parliament House.
Its only a week now until I leave - I can't believe how quickly the time has come. Hopefully I'll keep this a little more up todate in the coming months. Wish me luck!
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