Filling in the gaps

And once again, I'm practically unemployed - or at least I don't plan on working for another 4 months, anyway!

After a grand 6 months in Europe, work free, I had a whole 3 nights at home before flying up to Mount Isa (western Queensland) for 3 weeks of work. I surprised myself by enjoying being back at work even more than what I had expected. I guess I was a little disillusioned after leaving my last permanent position, but I was quickly reminded that mine surveying is something I really have an affinity with.

After Isa, I had a week in Sydney before heading out to Parkes (central west NSW) from which I've recently returned after about 6 weeks of work. I still enjoyed the work, but being in these country mining towns reminded me that the lifestyle doesn't suit, well, my lifestyle at the moment. There are aspects of regional Aus that I love - the relaxed pace, the beautiful, open landscapes, the simplicity of all ranges of things from navigating to interactions with locals, but the locals can also come across as pretty naive at times, and very insular. So much so that I find I'm often quick to be more critical than I really should.

The roster I was working in Parkes enabled me to get away a couple of times to the Blue Mountains. On one such break, I headed to the Wolgan Valley with a good friend, James, who happened to be working at Parkes. It was a good weekend of climbing, walking, drinking, and discussing all the World's issues - including how we'd managed to fill his ute up with all sorts of paraphernalia, yet found ourselves without any sort of fold out chairs, sitting on the ground.

On my next break I packed in a surveying conference, climbing with Kim (my Brother), seeing my Cousin's new house, meeting my companions for the next trip, and seeing the new Bond flick - another good weekend in the Bluies, punctuated by average weather.

And that was more or less it for the last 2.5 months. One thing I've found upon returning to Australia, is that I think I appreciate it far more than I used to. About a month after getting back, I felt a huge happiness at being where I was - in the Blue Mountains, a tree filled valley spreading out below after dropping off the escarpment, all the unique birds chirping in the trees - impossible to describe in words, but it just felt like home. And it always will.