The Final Stretch

This is it. This week is our final week of work. We came, we worked, and now we're just about to get the heck out.

It's been a good time here in Aus, let us recap:

Arrived December 15 2007: acquired furnished apartment
Traveled to NZ March 2008: acquired work and holiday visas
Got jobs in April and May 2008 (Angie and Kane respectively)
Signed 9 month contract and received sponsorship for long-term work visa August 2008
Visit USA November 2008
Visit Tasmania December 2008

And now, May 2009 closes out 10 months of working on our long-term visas and begins our second round of travel adventures.

We will kick off our 4 month vacation with a 3-week road trip up the east coast of Australia. We will drive 3500 kilometers (approx 2500 miles) in 21 days and then fly over to Darwin in the Northern Territory for a short 4-day stint around the famous Kakadu National Park.

After that, in early July, we fly back to Melbourne to take care of any last odds and ends and say goodbye to our awesome Melbourne friends (sad face). On approximately July 9 (happy birthday Kane) we fly to Germany to begin European adventure.

European Adventure summary:
Fly to Munich: hang out with Jon
Fly to Stockholm, witness other blond people for 6 days, return to Munich
Pick up long term rental car in Munich
Road trip with Jon starting Munich: Vienna, Zagreb, Budapest, Krakow
Jon leaves us and we continue to: Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Brussels
Then through the ridiculously expensive Chunnel to England, Scotland, Ireland
Back through rip-off Chunnel: Paris, Switzerland, Italy
Then over to Greece sans automobile.

And that, my friends, is how you do it. Will be blogging the whole way through, please do join us.

How did we miss the Zombie Shuffle?

To my extreme dismay, we found out about the most awesome Melbourne event the week after it occurred. For three years in a row, hundreds of costumed citizens have taken to the streets disguised as the undead for no reason other than to profess their love for brains (yum!) and boast their knack for gruesome makeup. I speak of the Melbourne Zombie Shuffle.

I have no idea how this escaped my attention. As an avid zombie enthusiast, I thought I would be issued some sort of newsletter or email or at least a glimpse of a poster in an alleyway. How does one find out about the shuffle? The facebook page lays down the ground rules. From this information, I would assume this is a pathetic gathering of homely nerds who want to brush up against other would-be zombies (not altogether unlike those people who think they are vampires, maybe?). And perhaps on some level it is.

But, from the pictures and videos that I've seen, it looks awesome. People go all out. It's like Halloween but better - a whole gathering of dedicated people all wanting the same thing: brains. In fact, their slogan pretty much says it all: "What do we want? Brains! When do we want it? Brains!" Ah, rarely does one hear such eloquence as from a horde of zombies.



Basically, it looks like a whole heck of a lot of fun and I'm quite upset that we missed it. After all, I already have so much practice!

The Chop

Last weekend I finally did it*. I cut the mop off. It's been five years since the last time I cut over a foot of my hair off and donated it to Locks of Love. I like the long hair, but it really does get oppressive. God forbid a breeze come up and I'm suddenly entangled in a massive unforgiving spider web of hair. And the amount of hair that I shuffle through in my apartment on a daily basis becomes a task as irritating as it is unnecessary. I can't believe the amount of hair I lose in a day: in the shower, in my brush, on my clothes, on the couch, on the pillow, in my food, etc. etc. etc. And when each hair is as long as my arm, it becomes a problem.

But alas, no more. Not for a while at least. Short hair is so easy, there are just fewer options. And, thankfully, I can still fit it into a teeny spritz of a pony tail if need be. The only thing I don't really enjoy is the continual risk of looking like a child with a cute little bob cut. That's the main thing I've been pondering for the last week; do I look sophisticated and professional or like a 13 year old school girl? It seems to vary moment to moment. Thank you for tuning in for my ramblings about me.

Before:

*Please do note that the top picture is taken from above so the hair looks longer than it really is. It does not reach my shoulders and I'm happy about that. It comes just below the chin. And sorry for the weird expression, I just like the clarity of the picture more than anything.