The Grindstone

It had to happen eventually, back to work... Which is why I've been neglecting the blog lately, cos there's not much going on at the moment. Actually really enjoying it, well, as much as anyone can enjoy doing fillings! I'm working in a public health system clinic outside Sydney, in a great location just on the beach, literally. Staff really nice and work pretty relaxed which is what I was looking for while I was here, I am on a year out after all. And I've put down two weeks of it already! Will be getting my first paycheck on Wednesday :-) which is good news because without telling me, AIB Visa started charging for Visa withdrawals and I ended up being charged 60 quid in charges, and an aussie atm stole $200 from me!! This kind of money only becomes life changingly important when you're a backpacker...

Was out sailing again yesterday with one of the oral surgeons who works part-time in the clinic. Got a surprise last week when part of the sail got caught on a big metal buoy and bent back one of the poles sticking out from the side of the mast, I was standing beside it when it happened and was lucky to survive! Ahem! We had to had to have glasses of Bundie (Oz rum) and jugs of beer to calm our nerves after... Derek's working with Amnesty International and works Saturdays so it's a good way to pass the time.

Went to the Live Earth concert with James and Amanda, who I met in Cardiff. Not really sure if anyone there understood what the concert was really for though... Was a fun day out but I kind of underestimated the Sydney winter night-time temperature drop (it was warm and sunny when I left the flat) and I nearly froze to death! Cue rum and beer.

Not really much else going on at the moment. Met Tsholo randomly at the NSW Dental Board office, she's over here working in a private practice for a year, just started. Regina's got a job up in Cairns somewhere, and Anne Maria's out in the bush somewhere sleeping under the stars. Isabel's out in 3 weeks, counting down the days! And my parents will be visiting about the same time for a few days, looking forward to that too. Apart from that not much else to tell, just taking it easy, meant to start jogging to get fit again, but the couch is so much more enticing... Anyway, back to the couch, it's Sunday and it's raining so what better way to spend it than curled up in front of the tv for the day.