I am at the airport travelling home from Mission Beach. I had a great time and will definitely be heading back up there again.

Apart from just lazing about on the beaches and drinking cocktails with the girls, we managed to squeeze in some activity too. Namely white water rafting, rainforest walks and snorkelling. Next time I will need to try and do the skydive onto the beach, as well as spend time at the Great Barrier Reef.

Tomorrow is back to work.

Merry Christmas! No photos to download today due to camera still being broken. I have bought a disposable one for the holiday and intend to get the shots developed when I get back to Adelaide, and then I will try and scan them into the computer. So until then you may just have to imagine what it looks like.

Christmas Day was fun. We went for a swim in the sea, had a walk down to the main part of Mission Beach and had lunch at a cafe. Before returning to the beach for some sunbathing and our picnic of champagne, prawns, olives, bread etc. The weather is more humid here than Adelaide. But it was a lovely temperature.

Today (Boxing Day) we are due to go to the tourist info place to see if we can book a couple of trips. The favoured ones so far are to go snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef and White Water Rafting.

Tropical Beach holiday is getting off to a shaky start....

Firstly my camera malfunctioned last night. The lens won't retract and I get an error message each time I try and take a photo. Terrible timing. It's still under warranty so I will send it back. But I may just have to buy a cheap disposable one for my holiday.

And arrived at the airport this morning to find that my flight has been delayed by 5hours! O no! I'm sat at the airport currently. I hope it's not delayed any further.

Hope things improve from here!!!

Here is our neighbour laying fake grass outside his house. It's like the AstroTurf Dad and Gary may play football on at home. With the lack of rain the real grass dries and shrivels up, leaving just brown dust.

It was due to get to a sweltering 42 degrees here today. But I don't think we did. Maybe mid 30's, I think.

I fly to Cairns tomorrow morning. I will be taking my laptop so will be able to Skype on Christmas Day.

My pronunciation of Cairns has caused much hilarity in the office. It's not KAY-URNS they say, it's CAN-ZZZ!

Hey Gary, I have added you on Skype. I see you are online now. Me too. Skype me now if you have the chance!

What's going on with Kelly down under..? Not much this week; I've just been working and at the gym. You are getting a blog from me tonight because I bailed out after only 2 classes at the gym today. I have been trying to aim for 3 a day. But tonight the lure of toasted muesli was too much and I came home! Yes, I am eating cereal for my dinner. That's laziness I know. But I may have carrots dunked in peanut butter as well! Haute cuisine! I'm been thinking this week that I may become vegetarian. I so rarely eat meat these days I'm not sure it would make much difference to my diet.

I guess maybe this week has been a bit quieter because it is Christmas next week. I think I am prepared. I sent little parcels to you all a wee while ago. So expect them by Easter. And I just need to get for my flat mate and the girls I'm heading to Mission Beach with. We're doing a Secret Santa thing. So I only have one to get. Down here Secret Santa gets called Chris Gringle...! I have no idea why. I saw that whoever has bought my Chris Gringle at work seems to have got me a couple of CD's. I'm hoping they are not bagpipe music or some other Gaelic music thing!

This weekend I am having another international night thing with some Hungarians and Brazilians. This time I am giving the stinking Cullen Skink a miss and making tattie scones instead. And on Sunday I have my gym's social and then I am heading to my room mates parents house for a pool party/ BBQ. Will get the camera out then for some photos.

Hope you are all well.
Lots of love,
K xx

Got up early this morning (Saturday) to Skype... but no-one was online... :(

I've attached some photos of Perth, Australia. The loneliest city on Earth. Perth sits alone on the Pacific Coast. Closer to Singapore than Sydney apparently. My chum Sophie has been out there for about 5years now. I've booked flights to go and visit her there at the end of January. We have a Public Holiday then- Australia Day. So I have taken the opportunity of the long weekend for the visit. Allegedly Australia day tends to involve a lot of drinking!

On Thursday night I went out to the Graduation Ball for my new girlsfriends in the RAF. It was at a place called Ayers House in Adelaide. It was a fun night. The dress code was cocktail again. So I wheeled out my one fancy dress and bought some new accessories. I was aiming for a 1920's vibe. Although you'll just need to take my word for it, because I didn't get any pictures! Sorry!

That may be the last time I see those girls though as they are all now being deployed to various places around the globe (mainly in the Middle East I think). What a life, eh..?

Tonight is my work's Christmas Party. We're having a pool party, rather than going out in town. Although, its pretty grey here this morning, so it'll need to brighten up soon! This week the weather has been mainly in the mid 20's, so relatively cool, but nice and sunny. Next week we hot up again to hit a high of 39 on Wed. Before it cools off to 21 (Brr..!!) on Thursday!

Photo's of Gepps Cross market this morning where I get my fruit and veg at the weekend. The cakes are Lamington's, an Aussie favourite. I think they are sponge with an icing on top. Not had them yet. Still burning off the Vietnamese coffee from the other night.

I have been noticing that Aussies tend to shorten words... so we all know about 'this 'avo' meaning this afternoon..... also for example, 'are your rellies coming over for christmas...?' (relatives).... 'can you stretch your hammies now...?' (hamstrings).... both things said to me today. This relaxed use of language is not just spoken. I was reading an article this weekend in a paper about changes to alcohol licensing rules, and the journalist referred to it as 'grog' in the article! I like it!

Continuing on the language theme, I also learned this week that giving someone a 'dinky' on your bike... is giving them a backie. And bogan (say bo-gun)... which sounds a little like our boggin... means someone who is undereducated, lives generally in the outback, wears checked shirts and has a mullet. I discovered this word when I went out for drinks and asked for a rum and ginger beer. The bar man looked honestly shocked... I thought he hadn't understood me at first, because of my accent. But then a friend explained that only bogans drink rum in Australia.

There is mainly one kind of rum here...Bundaberg. Made in the place in Queensland of the same name. Commonly thought of as cowboy fighting juice. Hence the funny look when I asked for it! I may have to consider changing my drink!

I've taken more photos of Adelaide today. But you'll need to check Facebook to see them. Not posting everything twice! Sorry Gary. Whilst I am on the subject Gary... I thought your blog was hilarious! I never thought the sounds of farts was my butt cheeks vibrating!!!! I am about 10 hours ahead of you Gary.. so if you are home alone again Skype me.. it will be my morning time.

Went out for a Vietnamese meal last night. It was very good. Best meal I've had in ages. The picture of the flat roof building with the parasols outside is the restaurant. I know. Terrible picture. Sorry!

Highlights of the meal included the cold rolls (starter... or entree as they say here). Which were veg and pork in a thin wrap. Salt and pepper thin shell crab (crab with a thin shell..funnily enough!... so you eat it all, shell included!) and vietnamese coffee (which is strong coffee with... condensed milk! help! I need to get back the gym!).

We sat and watched this fire blaze away in someone's backgarden for a while. We thought they were just burning stuff, until the fire brigade arrived! Oops! We had just sat there and not done anything! The two guys pictured are Patrick and Graham, two of the people I was out with. Remember these faces. Not very good in an emergency.

The other picture is of Ramsay Street. Where is Harold..?

Interesting fact (well, sort of...)... Australia has banned Guy Fawkes Night.

And even less interesting than that... but I thought worthy of mention, Patrick and Graham have never seen snow.

O dear... would you look at this place...? I can't imagine anyone wanting to go here... the sacrifices I make....

If you have not already stopped reading in disgust, I have just booked my flights to Mission beach in Queensland (pictured) for Christmas.

A few pictures taken tonight on my way to, and in Chinatown.

It was 'International Night' tonight. The soup in the picture is the Cullen Skink I made for a Scottish contribution to the meal. There were two Malaysians who made the most amazing chicken curry and flatbreads, an Aussie who brought the wine and a German who baked these little cakes for dessert. Yum!

I'm glad it's over now though. I made the Skink yesterday before work. Bad mistake. All day I could smell fish on my hands. At the gym after work I took a boxing class and the instructor was giving me some tuition on my upper cut. Each time my hand went past my face I smelt... fish!! Bad!

The gym instructor was right... it was cold here this weekend. Check out the grey skies in the pictures for proof. I had a long sleeve t shirt on! If it doesn't sort itself out, I'm coming home!

I have attached a picture of my new car... which I am wondering what to name... I probably should call it after a character in Neighbours or Home Away I think. Hmmm.... Daphne, or Charlene....??!! Or maybe Willy, after that really cheesy sketch where Charlene calls her new mini Willy.... meaning 'will he go or won't he'...??!! O the comedy!

I have also put on a picture of the place where I spend the most time... it's not Subway, no, it's The Zone (aka my gym).

I have no photos of the fancy dress ball on Friday I'm afraid (thankfully!). The only one I took before we went out didn't come out well. Which is good because I was in an Elvis outfit. I did get chatted up by my young Indian taxi driver on the way home from the ball. Which was hilarious! I guess the white spandex with gold trim and big side burns were not a turn off for him!!! Ha!

Love to all. K xx

Quote of the day- said by my gym instructor this morning:

"Now make sure you put your jumpers on today, it s gonna be cold out there... 23 degrees!!"

Does that make anyone want to cry? This man has obviously never been to Scotland, where we slap on the baby oil and strip down to our undies whe it gets to 16 degrees!

Do you know that in Australia it is common for men to grow moustaches in November. It is in aid of raising awareness and cash for men's health issues. They call it Mo-vember. Everywhere I go at the moment there are men sporting taches. It's like we' ve gone back in time to the 70's to the scene of a cheesy porn movie!

Australia is pretty starved of decent bands coming to play I am starting to think. This was pretty evident this week when a really big fuss was made over Pearl Jam coming to play. Errr... what...? Pearl Jam....?? Nickelback are coming to play this weekend which has lead seemingly normal people to get excited about this too!

Nothing much else to say today I'm afraid. I've been spending a lot of time at the gym this week and not doing much else. So all I have to chat about are how much I enjoyed the boxing class and how I think the core work is really helping... so nothing of interest to anyone bar Lucy! Who will get all the details when I do my Skype-fest this weekend. It's due to be cool this weekend... yes, cool! So make yourselves available for I will be Skyping!

The cool down allegedly starts tonight.. it was about 40 again today... but as I write this an electrical storm has started and there is lightening! I think it might even rain! Australia in rain shocker!

Ok, so am going to go... hope everyone is well. Keep sooking that cereal Dad!

Lots of love,
K xxx

The house

Some pictures of the house. These are old ones, so in the garden the trees that have just been planted when the photo was taken are now pretty big. In the living room, there is a new sofa and TV. But apart from that, it is pretty much the same. It's nice, isn't it...??

Went to work annual AGM dinner last night. Everything was free (food and booze)! There was an Arabian nights theme so they had belly dancers and I now have a henna tattoo on my arm. Apparently it could last up to 3 weeks (depending on how much of a shedder of skin I am!). I wish I had known that before I got it! I only asked once she'd started. Lesson learned there!!

New car is on the road. There were a few insurance companies who wouldn't insure me because I am still on my UK license. Managed to get one in the end. But I spent a few fun hours on the net filling out insurance applications! They only tell you they won't insure you at the end of filling all their forms! O what fun that was!! Can I do it again..?? Can I, can I..??!! ;)

The cool down is due to happen this week I hear. We should be going down to about 28 degrees. So much nicer. Yes, you heard... DOWN to 28 degrees. How often have I been able to say that..??! That is apparently more consistent with the seasonal average here.

Went out this afternoon to Glenelg, another beach in the area. Just to do a bit of exploring and have a walk. There were lots of clothes shops, cafes etc. It has a very young, surfy vibe to it. I know where I can get beach wear now if I decide I am going to go to Mission Beach at Christmas with Lou and pals. I've been looking into it more this week. Lou has said I can sleep in her room, so all I would need is flight and spending money. So I am seriously considering it. Mission Beach is in north Queensland and is marketed as a tropical paradise. So that sounds alright I suppose, eh..?! Suppose I could drag myself up there if I really had to... ;)

Cathy Ogden (now Gascoyne) from Banchory... (Dad, do you know her dad..?) befriended me on Facebook this week. She lives in Rockhampton (about a 12hr drive south of Mission Beach). She is having an 'orphans' Christmas again this year apparently (where those with no family all get together for the holidays) so she has invited me to hers. So I may try and organise to meet up with her too, perhaps. If I can figure out the logistics.

OK, so I am going to go and wash my face and head to bed. I have had the AC on in the bedroom whilst I write this, so I hope it'll be nice and cool when I get in there. Hope you are all well. Lots of love n hugs n stuff. Kelly xxx

http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/search/vehicle-details/D_13237420/vehicle-search/@N=4294962119+419+475+42&No=165&searchType=1&vehicleType=1

and do not get too excited.. but here is my second post in one day... you lucky things!

click on the link and you will (hopefully!) see my new car too. its just a little one. but i think quite cute, and will be cheap on fuel. its a 2000 model daihatsu sirion. its done 130,000KMS.

Would you trust this woman with your problems..???!!

Here are a few pictures of the area where I am staying. I took these this morning as I was driving to and from the gym. The one of me is a self portrait in one of the doctor's rooms as I was waiting for a client to arrive. I'm wondering how I still manage to have bags under my eyes despite going to be really early the night before??!!

The one taken at dawn, and the one with the palm trees are of the main street/area in Mawson Lakes.

The street with the houses with the pillars is the street I live in. Our house is on the right in the photo.

And the last one is just a shot taken whilst driving on my way to one of my surgeries this morning. Look how dry it is! Apparently by the end of summer (March) th ground will be even more scorched looking than this. They don't recknow we'll have any rain for the next FEW MONTHS!! Cornwall could do a roaring trade exporting some of it's rain!

Hello....

So welcome to my new solo blog. I couldn't take the pressure any longer, so I finally got round to setting one up!

Cover your ears if it's cold and rainy where you are, but we are having a heat wave here this week. We ve been wavering about the 40 degree mark! Which is apparently a little hotter than they usually get at this time of year. It is still spring. Not even summer yet! OMG!

I am needless to say, loving it! Lots of people here appear to hate the heat, so are complaining a lot. I have offered them to go and stay in Scotland for a bit, and then see if they moan about sunshine and warmth! Mum and dad you may have some visitors soon! Ha! ;)

Travis, my flat mate, is back from Nepal now. He arrived back on Monday and went into work on Tuesday to be told that they are sending him away this weekend for two weeks into the desert (had to check my spelling there... i am meaning the hot, dry, sandy place and not something delicious to eat!!). So I will have the house to myself again for another fortnight. He goes away to Switzerland for a holiday in December too!

I have my work's annual AGM dinner this weekend. It's free food and drink. So I am thinking I will probably go. It's cocktail wear. So I have bought a dress, but I'm not sure if it is fancy enough. Fingers crossed it's ok. Not everyone is taking partners so I won't be like a lemon on my own, so that's good. I would have invited Trav to come with me, if he wasn't heading away.

So that's all I've got time to update. I'm just back from the gym and I am supposed to be getting ready for work!

Hope you are all well....
Lots of Love,
K xxx