Monday 19th Feb 07 - Alicia got a call from Julie (our landlady) today saying that the boys (Al and Rob)couldnt stay because it was a fire risk.......i think that having no fire alarms in the flat is probably more of a problem to be honest!!! The boys decided they would hire a van and head up the coast for a couple of weeks....however, not as easy as it sounds. They could get a van but would have to wait til saturday...nearly another week away........"oh sod it" we said, just stay anyway, we pay our rent on time, we're good tennants we'll just stay out of her way for a while...and so they stayed for another week..... without any agro!!!

Tuesday 20th Feb 07 - Arranged to meet Georgia (Chri's house mate from Vietnam) at the Habour for a few drinks as she was due to leave Aussie in a few days after her 3 month stint. The Habour seemed alot busier than normal for a Tuesday night, once we strated walking round we realised why......The QEII and The Quuen Mary II were docked in the Habour for just a few hours and people had come out in there 1000's to see the biggest ship in the world (and its English...get in!!!). I couldnt believe the size of these boats (ships i should say) they were like buildings!! It made me feel very proud to be English. Of course coming straight from work and planning a quiet drink i didnt have my camera on me...typical, but Alicia did and we managed to get a few good shots. As always in Sydney, any excuse for a fire works display, which again as always was amazing, they made a really big deal of the boats being there, i think it might have been the first time they had docked in the Sydney Habour?.....Anyway all in all not bad for a Tuesday night !!!!

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful until the weekend of course!!! Friday night was Al and Robs last night before heading up the coast, so of course had to bid them fairwell with a few drinks. We went over to the Vic (the local pub) for $7 meals played a few games of Pig (another good drinking game) before getting ready to go out in Newtown. Walking round to the bus stop we decided it would be a really good idea to go into the Vic for a drink before getting into town....now, the Vic is not your usual pub, although it looks like it from the outside and in....the fact that a really busy night has about 10 people (including the bar staff) says it all!!! It turns out there was Karaoke and in the spirit of things me and Alicia decided to grace the rest of the pub (the whole 10 people...thats right) with our singing.........people in there made even me sound like Madona!!!!! We headed into Newtown and spent the rest of the night (and some of the morning) in an Irish Bar (always a guarenteed good night out).

Saturday we said goodbye to the boys and the place felt empty without them, it was like having your 2 big brothers around with those 2. We decided on a night out at Darling Habour (where all the posh people go dont you know) and ended up in a place called Bungalow 8, really good music and for a change not completly filled with English people. After a few drinks and a dance i pointed out to Alicia that there was a drummer-less drum kit and that she should put what she had learnt in her drum lessons (all 2 of them) to good practice...never one to turn down a "challenge" lich was there thrashing away, all in all a very good night..........apart from loosing the footy.......again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26th Feb - 03rd March 07 - A fairly quiet week (up until Sat) all in all, started going swimming 3 times a week, dont want to let that "Sydney Stone" sneak up on me............ Saturday came around pretty fast and it was the day of the Mardi Gras festival. One of the biggest events in sydney, bigger than new years and the only day of the year you can "officially" drink on the streets. Mardi Gras started off as a protest march in the 80's but soon became one of the biggest street party's ever! Gay or not this is a wicked event with a great atmosphere and an "anything goes" attitude. We had been told earlier in the week that a milk crate was essential to take with us.........when we got there we was thankful for the tip, without them we would have been able to see nothing!!! 3 people back and with our milk crates we had a really good view...sometimes too good!!!!Decked out in Mardi Gras gear we had hats, masks, feather bowers and glitter....we fitted in a treat, apart from the pvc, gimp masks and sometimes nothing that other people were wearing!!! The parade, the floats and the music were excellent and after 2 and half hours the parade was over. We sat around for a while people watching, the street was filled with a million crates and a million tonns of rubbish. We eventually made our way back to Newtown for some grub and setlled on a nice Ruby Murry :)