.:Snow in August:.

Oh boy what a week! Just came home all bruised, but happy from our 3 days mountain trip which was indescribable! The week at work went by so quickly. Probably the reason for that is because I am so busy there at the moment. And bit by bit I am actually starting to like it there (sort of). On Wednesday I was supposed to go for movies with Christian (my Aussie mum’s nephew) but instead I ended up to have drinks and play pool with him and 2 of his (BIG) rugby team mates, which was a great fun! Before I even realized it was already Thursday evening and it was time for our snow trip. Chris picked me and Marko up from the city and we stayed the night at his parents place. The next morning we woke up early, packed the car and started our journey towards the mountains. The first stop was after 2,5 hours in Canberra, which is the capital of Australia. The city reminded me about Finnish towns, maybe it has something to do with the weather as well, because it was pouring and cold ;) The city it self holds approximately 200,000 inhabitants and the main attractions are the parliament house, heaps of different museums, porn and fireworks ;). We did a quick visit to the parliament house, which is enormous. The guide told us that the building holds 25km corridors space. Wouldn’t want to be the cleaning lady there ;) The next place we visited was the War memorial museum, which was really impressive and our guide, Brenda was really inspiring. We browsed through the 1st and the 2nd world war and wondered the enormous warships.
At 6’oclock we finally arrived to Thredbo ski resort, which is the biggest resort in New South Wales. We stayed at Vince’s (nice Italian man) winter unit, which was located right next to the slopes. We had the two upper floors just for us three (Chris, Marko and me) and happily I discovered that there was a big bath next to my room. JACKPOT! Later we went for a dinner with Chris’ brother (Darren) and one other guy and it felt so surreal when I was watching outside the window and it was snowing. Felt like Christmas and it is August. The dinner was yummy! After our stomachs were full we decided to go for a drink. The bar was packed and there was a nice live band playing the oldies from the 80’s. We really weren’t supposed to stay long, but yep the hours just went by so quickly and it was about 6am when I was comfy in my bed.
After 3 hours sleep we hit the slopes and I really didn’t even feel tired, because I was so excided to go snowboarding. The weather couldn’t be better, sunny, no wind and prob +15 in the sun. The sights were breathtaking from the top and we spent quite a while just sitting with our boards and admiring the beautiful nature from the heights of 2000m. My snowboarding skills were a bit rusty since it has been 2 years the last time I did it, but we still managed to be active the whole day there. At four o’clock the resort closed and my last run was so painful. Seriously after dozens of fallings on my knees I felt that I couldn’t take it any more and the whole last run I was just veining/crying, but eventually made it back to our cabin. Immediately after returning from the slopes I jumped in hot warm bubble bath and it felt sensational. Donno what it is, if I am getting old or what, because I remember we did this partying-nights, snowboarding-days every day for 5 days with the girls when we were in Levi in 2002, but now I was really feeling exhausted. Later we were invited downstairs to have a dinner with Vince (the owner of the cabin) and had some great pasta. The guys went out that night and I stayed home and fell asleep at eight. The next day our trip was about to come to the end and it was time to say goodbye to Tredbo. On our way back home we made a quick visit in Jindabyne, which is a small town nearby. It is also the place were the Aussie movie “Jindabyne” surprisingly was shot. We also visited again Canberra, but this time we saw the city in the heights of hundreds of meters, from Telstra tower. Yep, and the city looked a bit better now (when it was not raining ;)). Around at 7ish we came to Chris’ parents place and had a nice dinner with the whole family, some Chinese. Couldn’t believe that it was already Sunday and I would have to work the next day. Well only one month to go to our birthday trip to Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef ;) How are you all hanging there? Summer is over and the winter is threateningly getting there? Wendy how is your new apartment? Oh, and for my Dutch mum and dad I wanna wish great trip to Indonesia, ENJOY and remember to send a postcard for me ;) hugs & kisses!

City week

G’Day mates! I start to realize that I am getting a bit lazy for producing stories, but I assure you that next week’s story will be awesome. Yep, in 2 days we will hit the road again with my bro’s Marko and Chris and make our furthest trip so far, six hours drive to South… Snowy Mountains watch out! But before that let’s go back one week…

The highlight of the week was without a doubt, when my boss took me to the concert of Australian Chamber Orchestra on Wednesday. My first time ever and I absolutely loved it. I couldn’t talk the whole time, just sat in quiet and stared to the stage. I felt that my whole body was in a different level and I could feel the notes going in deep, all the way to my soul. Yeah, I know this may sound a bit cheesy, but trust me you would have been crying next to me and my boss during Hindemith’s “Trauermusik”.

The week went fast with working and training. On Friday my boss went to a seminar in Gold Coast and I was the first time alone the whole day in the office. It was quite nice to go work with casual clothes and without make-up and have the club-mix channel on =) and I was really productive besides organizing a dinner for ten people later that evening. After finishing at work I went to have a quick shower at home and at eight o’clock Chris picked me up. We met up with the others in Double Bay, restaurant called the Golden Sheaf. The place was really nice with a big terrace area, 3 bars, live music etc. Our group was again really international; Mette (an intern) and her boyfriend (both Danish), Cordula and Joanna (in the picture with me) are from Germany plus some other people, oh yes and Marko and Chris (regulars). From Golden Sheaf we went to one karaoke bar next to Hyde Park, but stayed there max 10mins and moved forward. The next stop was in Oxford Street in a bar called the Gaff. One Austrian girl, Susi, who I met last weekend, was organizing a birthday party for one girl. The place was full of Sydney Uni students and celebration got pretty wild in some point and the guys took me out from dancing on the stage (yep my dear friends the old wild Aino is back ;)) and we jumped in a taxi and headed towards Kings Cross. And again… The Empire! After 2 hours sleep Chris asked me if I would want to go to his parents place in the country and so we did. The day was gorgeous and I sobered my head by the pool. In the afternoon Chris and his brother took me around the neighbourhood and showed me the biggest dam in Australia, which provides all the water in New South Wales area, except the place Chris lives. To that neighbourhood they need to get the water from tank trucks… strange, but true. The rest of the day I was just sleeping, watching a movie and chatting with his parents, who are REALLY nice and friendly!

The next morning after a good and long night sleep I was ready and fresh for Sunday. Chris went to his fire brigade for few hours so I had a good time to get some tan for my milky skin. At mid day I met Julia (intern for Scandinavian Airlines) who finally arrived from Sweden, my new party girl. We had lunch in Darling harbour and after did some shopping and bought some nice tiny dresses for our coming holiday in Cairns ;) After spending too much money we decided to check out one apartment that Julia was deciding to move into. The apartment was located in Cremonre, which is a walking distance from my place. The place was quite nice and after we bargained the rent from 140AUD to 120AUD/week (good to have a man as a landlord ;)) she decided to take it. Later that evening I finally got some rest on the living room couch and watched some CSI with Jules.Millions of kisses to all you far far away… Still thinking about u!

Vino Tinto/Dead Kangaroos and luxlife ;)

Its Monday again, a whole week behind and again gained some awesome experiences. The first week of august started with a feedback session with my boss. The start was quite intimidating, but after a heavy discussion we reached the common tone and at least I was satisfied with the outcome. Well we will see how it goes, me and my big mouth again hehe. Days from Monday to Friday were relaxed and my days went pretty much like work, gym and watching telly with Jules.

On Friday I met Marko in the city after spending some time with my new heat rolls (what was the reason I was few hours late from my schedule) and we headed to Kings Cross where one of his colleague, Alex hosted a dinner party. The evening was lovely and I met some Spanish, Colombian, Mexican and Austrian people, it was almost as international as in Kiezel ;) Alex (Mexican guy) had prepared some delicious tortillas with beef or chicken, avocado salad, warm breads and some special Mexican desert (can’t
remember what was it called tho) and we washed the dish down from our throats with what else than tequila.

From there we took a taxi ended up in George Street a restaurant/bar/club called Establishment were Chris was already waiting for us for quite a while. The funniest thing was when we entered with Marko. I went first and the bouncers were just welcoming me in, but from our 26 years old mate they asked ID’s heheh. The place was quite different compared to our local place in X, full of men with suits, lot of gays, pretty people and wannabees, but it was nice for a change. After few hours we decided that it was time to move on and went to the next nightclub which happened to be the Hilton’s. The decoration was absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately people were missing, so it was pretty much like one drink and out. The next stop was in our faithful friend; The Empire and we met there also the people we were earlier dining with. In some point me and Chris took off and ended up in one more bar… something with monkeys, heheh. So it was quite a big night indeed.

The next morning I had scheduled to have a facial at 11am. I really needed it after Friday night. By accident I bumped into Marko who was on his way homefrom god knows where so we had a quick breakfast. At lunch time Chris picked us up and it was time to leave Sydney. This time we direct to North and the destination was called Huntervalley. It is famous for its huge wine regions and surprisingly we decided to stay over a night in one called Adina.

We stayed in this sensational newly constructed accommodation
with big terrace, barbi, beautiful living room with fireplace, two
big bedrooms with toilets and a case full of red wine ;) After settling down we headed to wine tasting to the main building,
where we started the evening with some red. My favourite was Shiraz yummy. From red it was good to try some rose and finally some white, what a mix indeed. The founder of the Adina vineyard was really helpful and told us all kinds of information about vines and olives. He used to work for IBM for decades, but after retiring from the corporate life decided to move and start up a vineyard, in other words he is living his dream. Could be my
future as well after 40 years ;)

After getting a bit taste of Adina wines we decided to continue
some tasting in our own lovely accommodation. Every one of us were quite tired from the night before so we enjoyed the evening just sitting in front of the fireplace and playing scrable and guess who won =) I was superior and poor guys didn’t have a change (well it was their first time to play and I explained the rules, but hey… I won)! Later on we went to have some Tapas in the restaurant across the street, but as usual I ate way too much and even we had planned to check out the local nightlife I was the first to give up and went to see the sandman already at 10pm.

Sunday morning we all woke up early and fresh and I took a quick walk to the vineyard. There was not much to see tho, because both the wine and olive season were over but the weather was great, sunny and +21. In the mean while the guys were already packing the car and we hit the road again after saying goodbye the vineyard staff and buying some “vino” togo. The next stop was some where middle of no where. One of Chris’ friends, Pete, was competing in W.E Rock. Yep, donno really how would I explain this extreme sport, but maybe the pictures tell more =) Never seen anything like that, “cage cars” trying to climb up on the cliff but most of the times they were just rolling down on their roofs, but luckily nobody got hurt.

The journey back home was shocking. On our way I saw my first time wild kangaroos, at least dozen, except they all were dead. Chris told me that during the nights they like to jump towards the light and BANG (u know the rest)! Besides kangaroos I saw 2
dead wombats and one opossum =( Before heading home we made a quick visit in Avoca beach, which is popular holiday spot for the wealthy people. Even Nicole Kidman used to have a flat there. Beautiful. It is so nice that the days are getting longer every day and in about a month time the summer is here!!! jeiiiih!

How are u doing in Europe? Missing me hopefully ;) well I miss u and I would love that all of you would experience some Aussie style of living. I LOVE IT and so would u! Oh, Happy Birthday to Wendy, my lovely Dutch sis, to Däni and Martina! BIG wet kiss from Down Under!

Escape to country

Heya my dear friends! Hope you had as nice week as I did. The whole week at work went quite fast and since Monday I was already looking so much forward the weekend because I knew we would leave Sydney and hit the country. Nothing really special happened during the week at work, except I had to go to the doctor because of my foot. She discovered that I am suffering from Achilles tendon and she told me to stop training for a whole week and that I should stop running for good. What a shock! Well I rested my heel for the weekend, but on Monday I have to go to gym, can’t wait any longer, hehe! Oh, almost forgot... On Tuesday I met one German and two Danish interns who are working here in Sydney as well. Marko joined us as well and we went for Tapas and movies, You, Me and Dupree (!which is hilarious!).

Our weekend trip kicked-off on Friday at 7pm when Chris (the Aussie guy) and Marko picked me up from home. We headed to Chris’ home which is about an hour away from Sydney to South-West. They have a sort of farm, a big house with huge yard, pool, few horses (which were not home) and 2 dogs and a parrot that doesn’t have a name, who almost pooped on my hand while trying to feed him. The night was really relaxed and we just watched some telly and chatted with his mother. We went to bed quite early because the next day we had to woke up early to hit the road.

At eight o’clock we were all up and happily surprised that the weather was nice and sunny. There was no sign of the heavy rain that bothered us the night before so we decided to go horse riding. It was a great fun and after a little struggle I got my horse, Misty to obey me and we even did some galloping =) Markos’ horse was called Polly and that girl was so lazy. We had a good laugh with Chris while watching his struggle to keep her going. An hour session cost 18€ in mountainous country. Definitely going to do it again soon.

After riding we headed to a town called Kiama, which is a small place by the coast. On our way we made a quick stop in one Buddish temple. We had a nice lunch in a café and enjoyed the afternoon while walking on the beach. We also went to see a sight called “Blow Hole” which is as the name says a whole in the cliff by the ocean which spits waves from that hole. It was pretty amazing so see the water coming out with such a huge power, even it wasn’t even that windy. It is also a quite dangerous place and many tourists have been sucked in the whole and got killed with the waves when they have reached too close the hole. Luckily they built a fence you are not allowed to cross.

We decided to stay in Kiama that night and rented a bungalow by the sea, a really nice place to stay with friends or family with sleeping places for total of 7 people, Jacuzzi, terrace and BBQ. Our bungalow was called the Friendship and honestly I am so grateful that I met these two guys. We have become extremely close and
have a great fun always together. They make my stay here so
much nicer and it’s also a good to be the only girl, because they kinda spoil me, heheh. So thanks guys you mean world to me!

Later on we ate some Barbie (BBQ) and me and Marko tasted the first time a kangaroo beef (I ate just a one piece), which was surprisingly nice, soft and a bit sweeter compared to another meets. We also got two guests coming over for dinner, Chris’ friend and his 14 years old son, who tried to teach me the rules of rugby and explain the difference with rugby league and rugby union. I must admit that so far I still can’t tell the difference. I also took a long bubble bath (most of you probably knows about my addiction to bubble baths) and enjoyed there with a bottle of red ;)

We also decided to make a quick visit in the local bar, where they got a live band playing. The next morning we hit the road again really early and decided to check out the markets nearby. Believe it or not but they were selling Dutch pancakes and we felt
obligated to eat some, yummy! I bought also a stone turtle to my Aussie mum, because she is really into gardening and I knew she would love it =) After the markets we stopped on our way home in two small villages and ate some Aussie meat pies (which are
really nice by the way). I almost bought a puppy from a pet shop… would have been a nice surprise to Julianne, hehe. They were so extremely cute… irresistible. On our way we stopped again at Chris’ place and his oldest brothers place who lives in Sydney. Such a great weekend, too bad that the time flew so fast and tomorrow it’s Monday again and a new week at work. Well luckily the time seems to fly here anyways and before I notice its weekend again. Luv u all!!! Cha cha…