Good morning/afternoon/evening (depending on where you are in the world!)

How is everyone?

All is good here, has been a while since a good Ellen Update, so having just had my One Year Away From Home, thought it would be an appropriate time to update you on the goings on over a very busy Christmas here in Sydney!

Well James’ arrival proved to be the start of a very busy, very expensive Christmas and New Year. Christmas Day…….we rose early, and Cath, Paul and I head to 9am mass at the Chapel By The Sea……the weather was dull, cloudy, and not looking at its best. Had been a miserable weekend, and although we had hoped for a sunny Crimbo it didn’t look like it was on the cards! After mass we went into a café next door where our friend Kiwi Jen was working (unfortunately!) and so we kept her company for an hour or so before heading back to the flat to wake that lazy bum of a brother of mine and Danesh!!!!! At 11am we popped our first bottle of champagne and John and Paul arrived and we all indulged in a champagne breakfast with strawberries whilst opening our pressies!!! Wasn’t quite a true English Crimbo, but was certainly different…….

As midday hit and we’d all opened our presents and cracked onto our third bottle of champers, like a big thank you from god for dragging ourselves out of bed that morning for mass……THE SUN CAME OUT!!!!!! And it turned into a corker of a day, so by 12.30pm we had donned our swim stuff and we had a prime spot on the beach for our picnic and Christmas day swim………….was a fantastic day, topped off by me cooking my first roast dinner for everyone…….was a mission considering the cooking facilities we have in our flat, but with a turkey and a ham, and roasties and stuffing……..everyone was full to the brim and in true Christmas day style, we watched cheesy tv/dvds and were in bed by midnight!!!!

Due to having Christmas week off work, we all made the most of the nice weather and spent the week out and about, including meeting up with Bonzo, Wes and Dave, some friends of James’ from home, and also Claire, Caroline and Katie, some other local girls…….and low and behold we go for dinner in the Sydney Tower on the Friday night and we surprise the hell out of a very old blast from the past…..whom some of you will know very well…..MR GARY SKINNER!!!!! Well, he is an old friend of James and I’s who we worked with when we were just teenagers……and he was here for just a few days with his girlfriend Hannah………so we all had a great night catching up, and continued the night in a karaoke bar as it was also our friend Joanne’s leaving do!!!! What a great venue, and even more entertaining was the amount the boys LOVED the microphone that night- never let a man say he won’t sing…….its a LIE!!!!!

Soon enough, New Years Eve approached, and the fireworks and lights over the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge were a must see!!! So we made a day of it and got a fantastic spot in The Botanical Gardens over looking the whole harbour!!! The place was packed, but it is such a large area that everyone had plenty of space and a great view……….midnight came and the fireworks were…….well just amazing!! A New Year to remember, and we finished off the evening back in Bondi with a party on the beach and James and I phoned all the Moriarty clan who were still hours away from 2007……….was a brilliant night!!!

As you will have all seen by now, the 3rd January saw James and I jump out of a plane……as you do……………to say I was nervous is an understatement, and certain people (not mentioning any names PAUL COONEY!!!!) did not help my nerves by making the sounds of planes crashing all around the house for the 2 days prior to my jump!!!!!! However, the day came, my nerves disappeared, and oh my, oh my, it was without a doubt the best experience of my trip so far!!! Hard to beat free falling from 14,000 feet for 60 seconds……was mental and a true must by everybody……..

James flew home on the 9th January after a jam packed 3 and a half weeks here in Sydney…..was sad to see him go as he was my last visitor for a while…….but he has got himself all sorted now and has got the travel bug too….so wont be long til he’s off I’m sure……which is great……as it means I get my bedroom back!!!!! Ha ha ha- James you didn’t think I actually wanted you to go travelling for the ‘experience’ did you????!!?? You Mug!!!!!

The 10th January John and I took a day off work and went to the Sydney International Tennis….it is the big warm-up tournament for the Aussie Open, and wow what an amazing day that was!!! We saw some great stars including Blake, Cljisters and Maresmo, and some great tennis was played as well………….

And that brings me up to this weekend, where Cat and I went to see our first performance at the Opera House, and what a performance it was….it was a company called Stomp. For those of you in England they are the guys and gals who did the BBC advert, they are amazing tap dancers who use all sorts of materials and objects to create music…..wow, it was amazing…..just fantastic…….

And then came the 20th January…..a year since I left home…..and to celebrate we all head into the city to my favourite city bar, Lowenbrau. The music was good, the night was good and for the first time on Sunday I really felt like I’d been away from home, friends and family for ages………

So, six months to go…….better make the most of it……..so will leave you now, have a lovely day, and hope to hear from you soon!

Much love Me xxx

PS New Year pics are now on website, and plenty more of recent weeks to be loaded up soon……. www.ellenmoriarty.com xx