AAhhhhh!!! What, I ask you, would Sydney be without the harbour bridge and Opera House. Anothe big ugly city positioned on a harbour. What makes it better than other cities of the same size and stature??? I don't know, but it really is different to Brisbane and the Gold Coast and Berlin (etc.)

And hey, for a week it was pretty good to me. Although I found that the public transport was pretty expensive, or not, depending on what you're used to.

I guess that I'm too used to having my bike and not having to adhere to any plans/timetables.

Also being as it lies 1000 kms south of Brisbane, I held the mis-conception that I could ride it in less than 2 half days. But with the partial Pacific Highway, said "Main" road between Brisvegas and Sydney, constantly interrupted by villages, roadworks, speed-zones, roadworks, detours due to closed roads (the floods are history man, get over it) and of course more roadworks. The short thousand kms becomes a marathon. I would also like to add that despite being in australia, I have discovered temperatures similar to those of Europe. No, not Greece etc at the moment (45° plus) but I am talking about cold. Freeze your arse off cold, White fingers and toes cold. The likes of which I hadn't experienced in quite a while. I guess it was close to 0° out there, and what with the "wind-chill" factor. My little pinkies didn't enjoy the ride so much. Despite my newest addition to the Sebastabator family facial deformity, I was still cold. I had hoped that the mO would protect my body as the slain creature was used to by Han Solo to protect ánd revive Luke. Unfortunately all it did was cause me to have a mouth full of cold and wet hair, reminding me of a certain interlude overseas with a young lady.

But hey, I knew there was a reason my bike comes with heated grips and ...well, that's about it really. I decided against the ABS (It don't get Icy here) and the computer (who needs all that malarky?)

But hey, despite the cold and the shitty roads, when the sun shone, it was a great ride. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Maybe next time Melbourne or Canberra or both (Maybe I'll wait till summer though) I like it up here in our mediocre winter, wearing jumpers if I wish, not because I HAVE to.

Anyway, back to Sydney, I did catch up with a few friends. Katrina and her sisters family, in the south-east, near Randwick raceway. And Henning, Larissa and Antje, in Collaroy. The two places sparated only by the world's biggest Harbour and 40 kms of road. If it was Summer, who knows, maybe I would have swum it :-)

We did the manditory Sydney things. Aquarium, Tangaloma Zoo, Hyde park, Ferrry ride, Bridge, tunnel, going for a mid-night stroll on the beach (despite the cold, cold sand) etc.

Well that's about it for my stay.

Oh, apart from the Hostel, it was impressive, big, near Dee Why, across the road from the Beach (great in summer), no curfews (that affected us) big kitchen with loads of room and a Fridge that was something else (okay, okay it was a cold room), the beds were...beds.

Well, apart from all the bitchin' all-in-all it was a pretty groovy trip.

As I look out the window and smile, the sky's blue and the sun is shining.

I might just go for a ride and visit the Cooks.

You may think that seven 12 hour shifts in a week is not detrimental to one's health. Well think again. After one week of solid night duty, I have grown a Moustache (oberlippenbart) got myself some great oversize sunglasses and plan to ride my motorcycle to Sydney in the next few days.

It wasn't constanty saving lives by holding the grimm-reaper at bay, as many of you out there in blogger-land might think. it did have it's moments of comic-relief. Attempting to navigate the ward in a wheelchair and accomplish the many tasks required of me at 2 in the morning, whilst attempting to accertain whether or not my place of work is in-fact wheelchair-friendly. Which I, unfortunately, have proven NOT to be the case.

Work (loosely termed) was Punctuated briefly by periods of Le Tour de Doping. Aargh, sorry, the newly reformed and clean Le Tour de France. So clean that all propaganda slips off it's shiny surface. Who bloody cares, really? With or without drugs, it's still a bloody punishing race. Pushing the Human body to it's limits and sometimes beyond. Young guys having "un-forseen" heart attacks, strokes, DVTs, TIAs etc. Hey, like they say, "You gotta break a few eggs to make an omlette"

Where was I??? Oh yeah, my newfound "Porno"look. Why? Jason made a bet with me. "Let's see who has the best Mo after a month." Sounds like a good enough reason to me.

Anyhoo, now that I've made sweeping, unsubstantiated, unbelievable and mis-informed statements about certian well-paid international superstars, I might go to bed.

Enjoy your week, peeps

Abwarten und Tee trinken.

Well peeps. I'm off to work soon and because of that interruption shall be away for about a week. Oh, that coupled with the fact that Bugs has dial-up *shudder*
A most exciting week is anticipated.
Apparently, Allamanda has become the "Neoro-central" of SE Qld. Man I tell you, Neuro isn't my thing. But then again, opportunity to learn...Write letters...read...think...sleep...do stuff (yeah right)

7 Nights. You might think that when one works nights one has plenty of time to "do stuff" Think again. I work 12hour shifts. When one gets to bed after catching up on the news, cycling for an hour or so. Don't forget 3 days to the start of the Tour de France, highlights must be seen.
With all that going on, I really don't see when I'll get much time to sleep. But, sleep I must. Without that my body shall begin to decay, delerium shall set in resulting in madness. Hummm...Have I not experienced this type of thing before? (Everyday?)
Na ja, all you night sleeping-day waking people, have a great week

hey, a part-time student I now am. What does that mean? I'm only half qualified to lie in bed all day doing nothing, or does it mean that I'm twice as qualified to do half as much???

hummm...

I do know this, I can get stuff at a student discount :-)´such as... Movie tickets and shit.

I don't know but I'm sure it has it's advantages.

So what am I a student of? I hear you ask.

I have enrolled in a "Masters of Advanced Practice" (Nursing)...Whoa!!! I hear you exclaim. But stopp, Hammertime!!! It's not what you think. I'm not that motivated and am not gonna stick around for the whole thing, Bugger that. What, me with a masters??? MY attention span isn't that long. I'll stick with it for about a year and exit with a Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing. What does this all mean???

1. I get to spend about 1% of my pay (okay, okay maybe a bit less)

2. Sit around chit-chatting with nurses from other hospitals and disciplines (Now we're seeing the up-side)

3. Stress myself with stuff like assignments, exams, presentions (I thought powerpoint was for e-mail attachments and nudity!!!)

4. Act like a student, with no responsibilities or accountability (Alright, give justification for...)

5. to eventually increase ny pay by about 1% (Good investment I hear you say)

6. Justify and fast-track ICU applications to foreign lands (that's right ultimate goal - TRAVEL)

Scary, I actually have now set myself a goal that seems achievable and realistic. And to top it all off have started the ball rolling, Und ab!!!

26 of July I get to find what it's all about :-)

Until then, I have to persuade people that I'm practicing to be a real student.