priorities

Had a good time last night at my friend's birthday bash! Had a few drinks at the Fox pub, met some new people and caught up with some old friends. I must be getting old 'cos almost everyone in that bar looked like under age drinkers! Brisbane is a fairly young city, the average age being 33yrs according to statistics.....I'm a little above average!

We then went on to a nice Punjabi restaurant and got the banquet, I always get worried when people want to order the banquet because the vegetarian selection isn't always great but last night there were a few vegetarians in the group so it worked out perfectly.

This morning we went to the local market to get our veggies for the week and I decided to pop in to the Yamaha dealer across the road and sitting outside was this really nice Dyna Super Glide 1998 with only 46,000ks on it, there were wonderful Harley details, the saddle was a Harley custom made as were the saddle bags...it was a gorgeous black with just enough chrome to get it noticed. I wandered inside to see if I could get a glimpse of the owner but there was no one around, I spoke to the Yamaha guy and he said the Harley was for sale for $15,500....I was so tempted. I had a good look at it and he started it up, it had that distinctive Harley sound that stops everyone in their tracks and sends a shiver down my spine...I so wanted to buy it there and then but the voice of reason came into my head.....you have no job yet, there is no money coming in and there is a puddle of oil under the bike! I backed away slowly trying to convince myself that the fluid dripping from the bike and collecting on the floor was not a good sign!

I have to prioritize things and unfortunately my bike is not very high on my necessities list! When the time is right the bike will appear....and there will be no puddle of oil under it!

For those of you riding, have fun and ride for those of us who are currently bikeless!!

One week....

OK..been home for a week, I am now ready to get a job and 'get on with things', I know I should take advantage of this beautiful weather and not having to work but there is something stirring in me that wont let me be idle for a few weeks.

I have been searching for a car, firstly I can't decide what type of car I want to buy, I am quite interested in the VW Golf, its a cute sporty little number and good on gas and I think VW is a good make, might be a little bit more expensive to maintain being a European car but its worth it for the reliability and comfort. The other type of car I was interested in was the Subaru Outback, I saw a very nice one at a dealer the other day when I was car shopping but something in the back of my mind was telling me I don't really want such a big car yet. When it is time for a big car it will be some kind of ute, which will prove to be very practical around the property when I get it.

Now...my motorcycle....I know exactly what type of bike I am looking for, there aren't as many to choose from here than there is in the States so the search may take a while. Saw a nice 2003 Dyna Superglide online and it had done 16,739kms which I think is about 10,000 miles the guy who is selling it is almost 2 hours drive away..I don't have a car yet so it would be a very long walk!!!

I feel so dependent on my friends right now which is so out of my character, it is amazing how we take our independence for granted when we don't rely on anyone for anything.....but if you think about it really hard we are all dependent on each other for our everyday necessities.

I am reading my favourite book again, Shantaram, and the advice one of the guys is given about living in India (he is an escaped convict from Australia and took off to India - true story) is... sometimes you have to surrender before you win....I guess that is how I am feeling right now, I am surrendering to the help of my friends.

Anyway....I am off to the cop shop to get fingerprinted so I can send them to USA to get a criminal check....got every other bit of paper I could have thought of before I left California, but I never thought for one minute to get a record of my criminal activities, now I have to deal with getting it from over here.

Its my friend's birthday this weekend and we are off for drinks and dinner tonight...one thing about relying on friends for rides is that I can have a couple of beers and not worry about it!

Cheers from Australia!

Honey, I'm home!

I made it back to Brissie with no problems, it wasn't too bad a trip, the thought of travelling for 14 hours on a plane is worse than actually doing it!

I must say that Qantas really do look after their customers. The food and the entertainment was fabulous on the plane, being a vegetarian I order a veggie meal and it's always a gamble what I will end up with but on Qantas I very much enjoyed their food. After they served the food and before they turned the lights out for a nap they offered us hot chocolate or mint tea....how civil I thought and I ordered another wine!

I have been home for 3 days now and its doesn't appear I am suffering from jet lag, I've been awake during the day and sleeping soundly at night. The temperature has been around 20 - 22C or 70 - 74F, not bad for the middle of winter! Today I sat on the balcony and think I even got a tan!

I polished off a six pack of my favourite Aussie Beer......Victoria Bitter or VB, they went down a treat! We went around the supermarket and it was so nice to see all the old favourites and some new exciting stuff that I can't wait to try!

My friends have been great and it is so good to catch up with them and see the changes in their lives. The girls I am staying with bought a beautiful old Queenlander home a couple of years ago and are slowly doing it up, it has all the original features in it and its a real beauty.

It still feels like I am here on a holiday but I am sure when it comes time to starting a job and all that 'reality' stuff kicks in it wont feel like a holiday anymore!

I am still trying to decide what kind of car I am going to buy, I would love another Audi but they are very expensive here I think it is out of the question for now. I haven't seen a Harley on the road yet, I am told they are not very popular here as they are so expensive, we will be visiting the Harley showroom soon! There was one Harley for sale in the newspaper for $13,500, it was a superglide 2004 with 66,000ks on the clock, a wideglide front end and new paint job......might have to go take a look at it.

Anyway, we're staying in tonight, ordering Thai food for delivery and going to laugh and cry about times gone by!

End of a chapter.

Whoa what a few weeks I've had, it has been non stop sorting, donating, cleaning, selling, packing.....you get the picture! I can't believe the shippers are coming tomorrow to take my stuff away ready for the trip to Australia!

Tomorrow night I'll spend in a hotel in the city, then Tuesday I'll head off to the airport to catch my flight to LA then on to Brisbane, Australia!

I'm looking forward to rekindling old friendships and making new ones and exploring a changed city! I'm excited to look for a property and spending time getting down and dirty on the land, thats something I have missed since living in an apartment, I have been lucky living in Sonoma though, it's been wonderful, its a great little town and the vineyards and farms are spectacular, I just love the open space, I'm not really a city girl.

My work mates took me out for a gorgeous East Indian meal at a restaurant in Petaluma called the 'Himalayan Kabob & Curry House' on Western Avenue. The place has only been opened for a few months, the food was absolutely delicious, the service was efficient and friendly. We enjoyed a few bottles of the Kenwood Old Vine Zinfandel...highly recommend that drop! They got me a beautiful gift for the Harley I will buy when I get home, they gave me a bell in the shape of a bunch of grapes with the Harley Davidson emblem on it....it almost looked custom made and will remind me of Sonoma, it's beautiful and so special.

I sold my bike to a new rider, she had recently taken the MC course and was looking for a learner bike and my riding buddy introduced us, she was so excited about the bike. After she made the purchase the bike was still sitting at my place 3 days later and she kept making excuses for not being able to pick it up. It reminded me of when I first got the bike how nervous I was at the thought of riding it home that I asked one of the guys in the shop to ride it home for me, I wondered if the girl who bought the bike felt that way too so I offered to ride it to her place for her.....she was so happy! I was also happy that I could help her, I remember how grateful I was, and still am, to all the people who helped me out when I was a new rider, it felt good to help a new rider. I have seen her since I sold the bike and she is a changed woman, she explained that having the bike and riding it even a little bit has made her feel so alive and free and she just loves riding.......her husband is still getting used to the idea, although she said to me he gets this look in his eye when he looks at her on the bike and she knows he is thinking....she's one hot mama!!!!!! You go girl!

Well another chapter in my life comes to a close and a new one will begin 'down under'.