Darwin update

Well, things have somewhat come back to normal. Due to work and work, and more work, we have no longer had any naked parties :( not to say it won't came back though!!

My time is getting shorter here in Darwin, I have 5 more shifts left of work and I fly out of Darwin on October 8th to go to Brisbane for a bit then its off to Bali, again, for two weeks with friends from Darwin.
However, first, let me talk about the weather. More specifically, me riding my bike back and forth to work in this ridiculous weather. Not that I am complaining, as I am truly LOVING the warm weather - just not cycling 22km's daily. Wednesday morning, after my night shift, was probably to worst ride home. Well, I actually made it home in record time - 29 minutes, but when I got home, I was soaking wet, and didn't stop sweating for about 15 minutes!! I sat down outside with my laptop and could feel the sweat dripping off my face and down my arms and chest. I know you guys probably don't want to hear that, but seriously, I am not one who sweats a lot, and I was sweating buckets!! It was 86% humidity that morning, only to get worse as the days go on. I have yet to get stuck in the rain, however it did drizzle one evening as I was coming home. And I have yet to see a thunderstorm - although I did hear that there was one early early yesterday morning. Just a little fun filled fact about my cycling, by the time I have finished, I will have cycled approximately 1320km's!!!! That's like driving to Yellowknife or to Surrey BC and back!!!!! Craziness.

Alright, so, back to what I plan on doing when done work in Darwin. Well, actually, I don't really know. Things have been going really, really well with Rob, and we are thinking of traveling together. The problem is, he is having a bit of difficulty getting work here in Darwin. He worked one shift down at the docks cleaning a conveyor belt, and he might be back there again this weekend, however, that is not enough! There is not too much construction starting up, and he is a bricklayer by trade, and so not much in that area. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks more people will be leaving Darwin due to the build-up and wet season (on average, about 30,000 people leave Darwin during this time period) and work will become available. SO, my plans are a bit in the air right now as it all depends on Rob getting work. If he can get work for a couple of months, when I return from Bali I will get another short contract back on 3B at the Darwin hospital, and save more money. We could either get staff village accommodation at that time, or maybe stay with Zoe and Cieran if it is closer for Rob's work. Basically, I don't know what the hell I will be doing after I return from Bali in November!! My flight is also booked for me to go all the way back to Brisbane, so I might be changing that, or flying back to Brisbane, and renting a car and driving to Darwin. There is a website called relocate cars, and I could rent a car for a $1/day, approx $300 in fuel allowance, and drive it to Darwin - much cheaper option then flying!!

Things are also getting better in the 'house' situation. Coxy has now moved to Broome for work and won't be returning, and Kym is leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks of work. This leaves Cieran, Zoe, Matty, Rob and myself. Kym was staying in Coxy's room and he stayed there once Coxy left, with Rob and I still sleeping on the floor, so it will be nice to actually sleep on a bed for once! Rob is liking it right now as he gets to sleep on the couch while I work my night shifts, and when I get home I sleep in Zoe and Matty's room as they don't usually get home till 4:30. It has been a bit frustrating though with other people eat my food!!! Leave my cookies alone dammit!! haha Yeah, our bread and milk seems to disappear awful quickly as well as my cookies and even my coconut milk. We made curry the other night and I knew I had one can of coconut milk left, low and behold, it wasn't there. AND, we had just come from the grocery store. It was one of those days where I could have cried :( and there is no going to the store to get more, as I don't have a car. I think Coxy was most of the problem - the guy lived out of the local petrol station eating chips/pop and more chips, occasionally buying bread and milk. We believed that he was using more of our food then he should have been, I understand using it every once and awhile, we all do it, but it was a little extreme. Oh well. Not much I can do about it, and I will be leaving soon - which I am happy and sad about. Happy to be done work for a while and sad to be leaving Rob. Hopefully he can get work and come to Bali with me :)

I have also been looking into my second year working holiday visa. Word from home is that the work situation is not the greatest. More closing of beds and possibly lay-offs - not good. I would be coming home only to be heading back north again just to get work. If things work out well with Rob I am considering applying for my second year in November and just staying in Oz after my Visa expires in January, not going to New Zealand just yet. BUT, there are so many unknown's right now, I don't have any answers. If I do stay in January I will definitely be going home for a short visit in the summer so I can attend the bestest of the best family reunions :) but then returning for more fun and sun in Australia. Cieran is applying for permanent residency, and this is also crossing my mind to look into when I am on my second year - especially if things keep going the way they do in Calgary.

So much going on, good, bad, the unknown.....hopefully some answers soon :)

BUT, in the meantime.....keep working, and of course partying!!! don't worry, no more naked party stories will be told! LOL