~Australia~

I arrived at Sydney airport at lunchtime on February 16th, after the most horrible flight ever.

Apologies for starting on a rather negative note, but in short, there were no TV screens for entertainment, rude hostesses, no vegetarian meal that I had ordered in advance, (they fed me pots of salad and a tiny bread roll) a screaming baby next to me, a guy with horrible breath on the other side of me, the guy in front who put his seat all the way back, and then... I threw up all over myself. Literally. And wasn't allowed to go and get cleaned up.

But, at least I got the bad part over with at the beginning! The rest of the holiday was perfect :)

Running away from the evil Japanese cabin crew as fast as I could, and still a bit paranoid about smelling like vomit, I met Noreen at the other side of customs, and we stepped out into the hot, hot heat. We were picked up by Sam, who then drove us back to the house.

~Casa Meiklejohn~

The Meiklejohns' house where I stayed for the majority of my time in Australia is situated in the suburb of Heathcote, in the middle of Royal National Parkland, so the surroundings were really beautiful. The first thing that I noticed, actually, was how different Australian trees and plants were, and also the way in which things were laid out.

Around the house:



The view from the front porch



The front garden



View from the back garden



The sloping street (look at all the trees!)

I was introduced to the family pets:



Kirby: Pretends to hate people but doesn't really; likes to pose for photographs



Hoover: Hobbies include eating, sleeping, miaowing; survived accidental assassination attempt



Taz: Enjoys walking, protecting his territory, eating cat food; believes that he is a water creature

That evening, I met the boys, Stephen and Matthew, and Steve's girlfriend Bec, and we all had a family meal, with Noreen cooking me yummy vegetarian food (although she didn't have to... most people really would have put me out to graze...) and then I went to bed exhausted, in Matt's room, which I stole for the duration. (Thanks again Matt! :) )

More soon...