Itchy Feet

Finally I only have three days left of work, I cannot stand my supervisor so much she can make me feel sick with one look. I have enjoyed Melbourne and living in our house, life here is very easy there's lots of live music, festivals and events, eating out is cheap and good as well, However I find it slightly mundane and need to get away. I did enjoy and will miss some parts of work, like moaning about how shit it is, and laughing a lot about really childish things because we have all gone slightly insane with boredom, thankfully the people I work with are really cool.
Anyway we leave on Tuesday to Tasmania, it looks like a really beautiful place so next blog there should be some pictures, we are starting on a farm in Mount Creek as soon as we arrive which we will stay on for a week I just hope i don't they want me to put my hand up a cows arse, I don't know why but for some reason I always think of that, must be a childhood memory of Emmerdale Farm I have.
Paul

Nearly as beautiful as Port Albert...

but not quite Lisa! nah we had a fantastic time on the Great Ocean Road after a pretty lunatic time trying to pick up the car from the airport which included me stopping random passersby and offering them ten dollars to take us to Mareno Road - two people actually agreed to - one guy who was so baked he could hardly open his eyes and another guy who seemed almost physically distressed that he couldn't help us (the flaw in my genius plan being that I had no idea where Mareno Road actually was). After a perfect sunset we realised that making it to a campsite and setting up the tent in the dark was going to be interesting - we actually ended up camping in a carpark which was...cold and uncomfortable but did mean we got a perfect sunrise over Loch Ard Gorge, our favourite place on the Road. After that the whole trip was a bit less faulty towers except for the bit where it got really windy and the camping nerds on either side of us had their tent falls down, cue for me to stride around obnoxiously saying 'ours held up okay' (little did they know it was because paul woke me in the middle of the night going 'soph the tents falling down', and then fell asleep leaving me to crawl around in the dark banging in pegs, which was sweet of him) We also liked the Indian family who brought their own box of rice to the pizza restaurant to be microwaved and the 5 old ladies who brought 8 bottles of wine (this was after me and paul had been unsure to eat there cos we looked slightly scruffy). We also camped next to the angriest family in australia who only communicated with high volume swearing including to the five year old who got the sleeping bag a bit wet (he sure won't make that mistake again the 'STUPID LITTLE FUCKER', as he was apparently called) In between these comedy highlights there was a lot of beautiful scenery and being very overexcited and loving our car which was a beast and only 14 pounds a day to hire.
so we are now counting down the days till the end of work (i will actually miss mine cos the people are fun) and the start of our Tasmanian adventure. we have sorted out our farms and flights and the rest should be easy.
love to all and sorry for the gap between updates - when we get on the move again we should have more to report, not that Melbourne hasn't been wicked but average day to day happiness isn't easy to make witty and exciting entries of (and my entries are always witty and exciting right!?)
Most importantly Happy 21st to Harri, my all time favourite sister (!) Have a great day!
Sophie xxx

melbourne life

well there really isn't anything too exciting to report but we are very happy. made some good friends already and i may actually become employed by the tourist board because i do keep saying things like 'melbourne truly is one of the world's most livable cities'. but at one bar i walked in and asked in how much drinks were and she said 'oh they're free for the next half hour'. this does not happen in london. ooh that's really scary i heard a voice behind me and it was paulie also updating this blog so 2 for the price of one i guess. as you can read paul hates his job - mine is so boring that i am reduced to flirting with this 60 year old guy who looks like 'the penguin' from batman but with grey hair badly dyed ginger. it's a unique look. he also has the same laugh as danny devito, he's a real catch. but compared to the other weirdos i work with he seems quite normal (one guy brought in a book on birdwatching for the under tens by bill oddie for me to read and then sat by me to make sure i read it. interesting.)
we have seen many cool bands since we got here and i have discovered that i like a lot more music than i thought. however think we need a break from the city so we are going to go driving on the great ocean road weekend after next and then in a few weeks we are going organic farming in tasmania. some people wrote in to the registry for births, deaths and marriages (where i work) to change their names to rainbow and rhythm heart today. they were from tasmania so who knows we may get to stay with them!
love to all sophie xxx

Work Sucks

What a shit job I have, most of the people I like have left now only one remains, there's quite a cool aussie guy as well who reminds me of Laurie and he finds my jokes hillarious, so obviously I instantly like him. Reading Tom's comment has made me quite homesick, I am having a wicked time depite the job but the idea of an all day session with everyone and seeing Dee again makes me feel gutted, damn where's that teleportation device. So far these are the things I have been told off for at school...sorry work.

1. Don't talk (repeatedly)
2. Radio must be repetitive and cheesy all the time
3. If there is a small amount of ineligible writing on a box in the corner you must hand it straight to supervisor
4. You must get back to work on the second break finishes
5. You must work till 4.36 not 4.35
6. You must not smile of laugh (ok wasn't said but gets the evil eye)

and today was my favourite, Paul you must tell everyone when break is not just the person next to you.

As you can tell its a fun and laid back place, however I will not drag me down and I enjoy defying them by trying to piss them off.

I am also laughing because I am finished in a few weeks and then don't have to work for a long time and am going round Singapore, Malaysia Thailand Cambodia Loas and Vietnam.So Fuck you all

That felt better, would like to hear from some more people if your still reading, if you don't want to post it on the blog then send it to my address paul_gandolfi @hotmail.com

Sorry i've been lame but love you all

Just a quickie

i had hoped to get a job with a computer so i could finally email everyone i am meant to and update this occasionally. unfortunately i got a job with a little numeric machine which does not allow me to use the internet so i will now write down some random thoughts. poppy - agonda for chilled out beautifulness, arambol for nude sunbathing (well that's the only place i saw anyone do it although a secluded beach between villages might be the best idea as people aren't too keen on the whole idea, most people go swimming fully clothed. and yes i do suddenly start worrying about offending people when am not in the uk - i haven't told anyone they are going downtown since i left england). me and paulie are doing well except paul hates his job because it's the sort of place where they're only allowed to listen to pop music stations incase rock music is too difficult for people to listen to. went to a free outdoor classical music concert for valentines which was bit different and very nice especially the fireworks. ooh shit out of time love to all xxx

I Finally have time to blog

I have been very busy the last few weeks, mainly sorting, counting and packing baby clothes, recovering from rainbow serpent, cooking(i'm am now a master chef after cooking two wonderful meals which took longer than 5 minutes to prepare) and more recovering from rainbow serpent.
We have been enjoying our cultural exchange with the Koreans, they are impressed with both my darting abilities(we have a board in the garden)and my swingball skills also my ability to speak english to which I just tell them i'm just naturally brilliant and don't have to make much effort.
Yesterday they cooked us a traditional Korean meal which was delicious, we had pork and octopus and it was very hot, however not hot enough that we didn't finish much to the dissapointment of Chow the chef who was looking forward to seeing us clasping our throats and begging for water I think. Today we are cooking for them roast beef which should be interesting as they have never had European food before and its only the the third time I have cooked a meal with this much preparation.
We had a lovely meal at our friend Jana's on Friday, as usual we drank too much wine and shouted a lot but everyone seemed to have a good time.
Last night we went to see a band with two of the girls I work with, sophie liked them but I thought it was shit, although it was hilarious seeing all the young pretty girls in front of the stage staring lovingly at the band and not moving or dancing to the music in any way like a small army of stalkers.
Anyway I have another thrilling week of work ahead of me, my favourite job at the moment is cutting up boxes to go into recycling, I was so wasted as a fitness instructor.
We also have the St Kilda festival happening this week which is mostly free music, comedy and dance performance by the beach, it will also be above thirty and clear blue skies all week.
Hope everyone's enjoying the cold
Seriously wish you were here, I miss everyone
Love Paul

Would anyone not particiapting in the shamanic trance dance workshop please step outside the circle

We have been up to write a lot since the last blog. We are now both working, Paulie is still at the warehouse and I am working for the regsitry of births, marriages and deaths which is about as fun as it sounds, still we are earning a lot and saving a lot cos we are now staying in a very cheap house share. There are 7 of us in a three bedroom house but you could fit most London studios in our room and it has a garden. Our housemates are Jamie an Aussie receptionist and 3 Korean guys, Cho, a student, Issac, also a student and more excitingly for the house an excellent gardener, Teho again a student and a mysterious seventh individual who mainly hangs around the kitchen drinking beer and staring at the floor. He's Korean as well so I'm assuming someone know who he is. Either that or we've moved into a ridiculously polite house.... They all seem really nice anyway and we have had a very chilled week watching tennis together... We also went to the Rainbow Serpent festical which was really good if really, really cold (seriously if anyone thinks Australia has good weather, I promise you if this is summer, the UK isn't that bad). We met a few people there but we did spend a lot of time going 'it would be great if .... was here'. Think you need a big gang of mates to go to these things, or at least weather that doesn't mean everyone just stays in their tents. Still we had a good couple of nights dancing and saw some weird and wonderful things including Australia's version of Dean Gaffney using the hula hoop as a seduction technique, a very fucked lady playing violently with an 8 foot snake, an excellent band called Ganga Giri, the aforementioned shamanic trance dance ritual, a lecture on how everyone's personality is determined by their facial features which was just as hilarious as it sounds and Miss Rainbow Serpent who is a very cool old Aboriginal lady called Aunty Mona.
Melbourne is still wicked - everyone is out all the time so even the shittiest little bar has a great atmosphere and the food when you eat out, especially Chinese/Vietnamese, is amazing. Am off to a birthday party now - I am sure there were more exciting things to tell you but i hacve forgotten...another time xx
PS Lisa if you are still reading this I lost your email address and I never got the picture you sent me so I have no way of contacting you! E-mail me and we may hit the rocking venue that is Port Albert again! Sophie x

Paul and Sophie's Big Trip

Some Photos, our beloved Camper van, sunset in Gokarna, Sophie on the beach near sydney, some guys sitting over looking the sea in Mumbai and the Tennis and on the previous blog us by a beach just north of sydney,us as bollywood film stars,

I do not want a dog fucking my bed!!

We went to the Australian Open tennis yesterday which was fun, it sounds bad but luckily there were bush fires and the smoke blocked out the sun and made it cool as its 40 degrees today which is why i'm in a nice air conditioned Internet cafe writing this.
We watched Maresmo and Federer because we had centre court tickets then spent the rest of the time walking round watching the other courts, ot was a great atmosphere despite the Serbian fans attacking the Croatians shouting "die Croats die"
Tennis audiences are strange most people sit in silence with a round of applause or a few "come on's" or they are completely crazy and dress up in football shirts faces painted and sing after each point, Sophies favorite was a Serbian woman who screamed like she was in pain as if the Croats had got there own back.
We have been very busy apart from that looking for jobs and a room to accomadate, I have found my dream job packing childrens clothes in a warehouse(that sounds a bit strange now i've written it) and Sophie has an interview possibly teaching people to use a computer programme.
Our room hunting has been interesting we have walked half of melbourne on foot and had no luck, although we are waiting to here from this one lady we met yesterday, it didn't go that well from the start as she had two dogs and one was enormous ( I Hate Dogs) which I pretended to like as the room was only 130 dollars, The big dog then proceeded to want to play fetch showing me his huge sharp teeth which the lady joked that she had got her teeth caught in (how hillarious),.
The limit was hit when we got into a conversation about the dog masturbating against the bed, our bed that we would be sleeping in!! She said that he loves the bed but she has to stop him because once his dick was stuck out and he almost died with a permanent erection, and if this happens again with her not around she has frozen peas in the fridge to put on the area to cool him down.
We said we'd be in touch, room hunting continues
Paul