Planning Africa

Mostly my life is ticking over, going through all the usual routines, with nothing groundbreaking going on. Hence why I haven't been blogging much. I'm still really liking my new house and I really haven't missed the old place at all which is nice. I've been messing about heaps in my pocket sized garden and have the rest of the house sorted out the way I want it.

I've been thinking about trying to make some more definite plans for my trip to Africa now that I've got through the hectic moving house saga. Unfortunately, events have conspired against me and I won't be going to Egypt to play tourist on the way home from my Cheetah work now. I'm quite miffed about that, but it can't be helped and there are obviously a lot of people that it effects so very much worse than it effects me.

I've been trying to come up with a list of places that I want to go and sights that I want to see while I'm in Africa. Hopefully, this won't be my only trip to Africa, but just in case I never make it back I want to try and get as much as possible out of it while I'm there. The difficult thing is that I pretty much want to go everywhere and see everything. I put seeing gorillas on the top of my list because there is a terribly real risk that within my life time they will disappear, but now I'm a bit torn about whether I can actually do it or not. I would obviously love to, but in order to see gorillas you have to be in either Uganda or Rwanda, both of which are countries that are currently considered unsafe by the Australian government. Thankfully, Namibia hasn't had any sort of national meltdown so at least my Cheetah adventure still has the green light. Even if I do nothing more than my month in Namibia the flights will still be worth it, but I'm still determined to try and squeeze more in if possible.

Then there's the other factor, how much time do I really want to be on the other side of the world for? A month can be a very long time if you're feeling a bit homesick so maybe I don't really want to extend it for too long. Its all very complicated. The biggest problem is that I really have no idea how I'm going to be feeling about it until I get there. In my past experience of amazing experiences that I've had away from home, I usually am incredibly excited about it right up until a couple of weeks before hand (or a couple of days before hand for the smaller adventures), then I'm terrified, then I get there and have an amazing time while I'm busy, but every time I stop and have a break I get homesick, I usually get about three quarters of the way through my trip and then just want it to be over so that I can get home, then I get home and immediately decide that it was the best experience ever and want to go back.

Anyhow, I'm rambling again. In conclusion, this is pretty much just saying that I don't have anything to tell you at the moment - no concrete plans, only scattered ideas. I'm going to talk to a travel agent on Tuesday to see if they can help me sort out my thoughts a bit.

In other news, its just under 2 weeks until our annual escape to somewhere sunnier where the work can't find us. This year we're off to Coffs Harbour. It has a lot to live up to because the last few years have had some really good locations, but I'm optimistic.

The Importance of Being at Earnest

I've moved house!

I signed the lease for a little unit in Earnest Street last Friday. I was busy for the weekend, but I started moving stuff across from my old house before and after work for the next few days (and all day Tuesday on my day off). I ended up not having enough stuff in either house to really make it liveable (for example, my tv and couch were in seperate suburbs), but I managed to survive it for a few days, Then, on Thursday, Mum, Dad, and Rob, came over after work and slaved away carting stuff down the stairs at my old house, across a couple of suburbs, and up the stairs at my new house. They were absolute legends. They even supplied pizza at intermission. I really love my family.

So, on Thursday night, Darcy and I spent our first night at our new house. Since then, I've managed to unpack and sort out almost everything despite working every day. I finally have a day off tomorrow. I would like nothing more than to spend the day slobbing around in my new house and recovering a bit, maybe playing around with my plants in my cute little backyard, but unfortunately I still have some cleaning to do at my old house before I give the keys back on Thursday morning. I am so looking forward to giving the keys back. I enjoyed living in my old house and I had some great times there, but it is too big and too much work to live there without housemates. If I was moving out and leaving my housemates there, I'd be pretty sad about it all, but as everyone else has moved on already, I'm really loving it. I will probably miss the garden, but down grading from a garden that size and requiring that amount of work to a little courtyard with only daffodils and cactuses feels like a holiday.

I only have 2 more days left until this whole moving thing is officially over, and only a bit more cleaning to do at the old place. I can't wait until its all over and I can finally spend some time just slobbing around at my new place.