Hungry Hungry Hippos...well lions

Hungry lion
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Today the man and I went to The Melbourne Zoo and it was brilliant. Admittedly after having ridden on an elephant in Thailand the one elephant that was saw lying down (possibly dead) really wasn't that interesting but we did get to see some other really cool animals! We saw animals like lemurs, turtles, Karma the Chameleon, a platypus, red pandas, bears, gorillas, tigers, jaguars and also lions!

We somehow managed to score a great spot during lion feeding time...they were really hungry too. The two we saw ripped off the meat TIED to a stump and a tyre with pretty sturdy looking rope. They looked really strong..not the kind of animals you'd want to mess with.

Since we have been together the man and I have been saying "one day we will go to the zoo".. and now we finally have!



- Jen

Santa found Berrigan!

Well I think as you get older Christmas definitely becomes less about the presents. This is definitely not a bad thing because I actually detest getting presents. Not as much as the man but I always feel awkward about getting them. Christmas is more about being merry, relaxing a little, eating a lot, remembering 39 other people's names (which becomes increasingly difficult the more merry you become) and generally having a good time. I went to the "Fankhauser" Christmas this year which was in Berrigan (uh oh now you know the man's surname) and it was a jolly good time. There were about 8 kids probably under the age of 7 who were very excited early in the day but prone to scooter crashes, falling over and tantrums due to excessive tiredness, soft-drink consumption and confectionary abuse later in the day.

The presents I did get were/are great! A gold necklace, a book, some clothes and 'the young ones' dvd which I haven't seen yet!
It was actually exciting/funny watching all the kids open their presents. Especially the man's nephew Zeke who hurtled into the loungeroom on Christmas morning before everyone was up..saw what he thought was a carrot half eaten by "rats" (according to him), threw it behind the t.v. and kept examining the rest of his presents. Very funny!

Now that I/we are back in Melbourne and the man has time off until after new years the days will be packed with adventures such as shopping, beaching, zooing and narnia watching (did I mention shopping?).

- Jen

Buddha my buddy

19 m high gold budda
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

As they say "a 3 day drive in a minibus in not complete without a visit to a 19m high gold buddha". Seriously though we visited Wat* Phanan Choeng which is in the Ayutthaya region and this buddha was pretty impressive. The picture doesn't really do the size of the buddha justice but if you look carefully you can see the top of people's heads...at the bottom of the photo.

* Wat = Temple

Thaied up!

Snake...sssss
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

Well no trip to Thailand is complete without a visit to the Mae Rim snake farm. Thats for sure. With guides who poke the snakes with sticks to stir them up (trust me let a sleeping cobra lie) and the curious lack of other visitors (perhaps they were all bitten* during the snake shows)..it certainly is an attraction NOT to be missed.

* Shell and I were nearly bitten twice when snakes escaped during the snake show...one snake MAY have been a piece of rope thrown at us...nonetheless we did nearly pee our pants.

Ch-ch-changes

I have to apologise to any readers that I have left. I have been back from Thailand for SIX days and haven't updated. Honestly I have felt a bit overwhelmed by everything I have to mention in here because so much has happened in the last 2 and a bit weeks.

I will get to Thailand later but in the interests of keeping with my blogs "mission statement' if you like I will begin with the most important.

Firstly I will not be moving to Melbourne and I will not be moving in with the man. Don't fret avid readers this is not what it seems. The lovely folks over at the ATO have offered me a position in their 2006 graduate program and unfortuantely for me it is in Albury (hopefully only for the first 6 months). This really is the opportunity of a lifetime what with the training and the salary is NOTHING to be sneezed at! Although I will admit I was more than a little upset intially not to be moving in with the man he did have a good point that we have done the 'long distance thing' for more than a year now so what is another few months or so?

Secondly and relating to the first piece of news is my uni results. 3 distinctions and 2 credits (the same as last semester). Which I was really really happy with.

Well I am in Melbourne until February at least (when I start work) and so far it has been great...except for the weather. If I was in Albury I could be WARM right now. Instead while not being 'cold', I am well 'tepid' I suppose.

I'm keeping this one short but will update soon with stories of Thailand and hopefully some pictures as well.

- Jen