yes - i'm back in australia! and whilst the business of traipsing about the globe has met a most unwelcome hiatus, the adventure continues...
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i'm living in brisbane now, a large country town on the central east australian coast. melbourne was left for want of change, but brisbane was decided upon because of the suspicious looking character in the photo on the left. not me - the other one. big s. of course brisbane's weather lubricated the decision-making process - i've developed an unshakeable addiction to HOT.
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i've found a little studio apartment in new farm that i'm loving myself sick over.
airy and spacious and delicious and nutritious. replete with psychotically paranoid neighbour to keep me on my toes. in my first week he really let me have it after my fridge delivery-man allegedly damaged some tiles on common property with his trolley. i was given the silence treatment for a while, but he's been really nice since i video-taped him hosing down a gutter during the worst drought in queensland in over 100 years, in which the government has instituted a total ban on outdoor hosing. the video-taping was unintentional, but i can bring it out of my armoury as a weapon of mass embarrassment if he lets rip with another diatribe ;)
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new farm is an inner city suburb in a bend of the wide and beautiful brisbane river, and is walking distance from the city and the main nightlife area. it's only about a half hour walk to the hospital too, so my cup is definitely running over. the picture above shows three rainbow stickers and a 'honk if you're a homo' sticker adorning the suburb's name sign. looks promising! but the gayest thing about new farm is the sign itself - like many things in life, appearances are deceptive, and reality falls short of expectation.
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i had a lightning 10 days in melbourne, during which i was mainly sorting out my queensland medical regist
ration (which came through the week before work started), and my bloody iliopsoas tendinopathy (two MRIs, an intra-articular local anaesthetic injection and a lot of physio later, it has almost resolved).
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mum and i went on a road trip through country NSW to get here. adam was magnificent, and only ran out of petrol once.
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we then spent the first week trying to find a place for me to live in. the process was so harrowing and anxiety-provoking that my immune system crashed and i got sick, with heinous bacterial conjunctivitis to boot. these real-estate agents were not just sub-human: they were sub-mammalian.
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i was planning to dynamite their main offices as an act of retribution, but i just couldn't work out how to get my hands on the dynamite itself, so the plans have been shelved.
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a few vicious spending sprees at IKEA and k-mart later, my new place had become my palace :)
my first day back at work after 7 months off rated up there among the 10 worst days of my life. as i
crawled home that night, i was forced to consider faking my own death and fleeing the country with false documentation to avoid
another shift. for one reason or another i couldn't get my papers organised in time, and it was just as well: things got better. a lot better - so much so that the rush and satisfaction of patient contact now reigns supreme.
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but don't be concerned - i haven't settled down and become a homebody! my feet started itching the moment they touched australian soil - an itch that soon became unbearable. associated symptoms
include wistfully browsing through atlases and loitering with intent in the travel sections of local bookstores. i have been anxious for treatment and have attended a number of therapy sessions at the travel agent.
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and so i am pleased to announce that plans are afoot for more adventures in early 2007! the destination is not yet guaranteed, but what is certain is this: ondrej will be joining none other than the dazzling company of
phuong - australia's favourite son - idolised and yearned for by legions of men and women (including everyone's mother) - for the journey. all forecasts predict a wonderful time to be had by all :)
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life is definitely not on hold until then. there is simply too much fun and excitement to be squeezed out of brisbane in the meantime :)
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pic 1 - big s and little b
pic 2 - false advertising
pic 3 - mum HOing into two icecreams at once
pic 4 - nick and vov at a nearby beach
pic 5 - my sexy look
pic 6 - mum and her two babies looking rather sick and damaged at the airport
pic 7 - new fun, boys and adventure in brisvegas :)
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`Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy afternoon` Susan Ertz
a decision has been made, a destination has been confirmed and finalised: hello-ondrej is excited to announce that 2007 will be kicked off with an east african adventure!
