A loophole?

As of yesterday I have my full Heavy-Combination Drivers license. To the un-educated: That means I can drive Semi-Trailers (but not B-Doubles) anywhere in Australia. I still have 1 more year on my P's before I get my full car license.

FINAL YEAR

So, I'm heading back to Ballarat tomorrow. To embark upon my FINAL YEAR OF UNI! (How does that feel Prof-praccers?) Anyway, I have to say. Mixed feelings all around. It's good that I'm going back to see my Uni mates, it's good that I'm going to be doing something productive with my time & not wasting it. It's UNREAL that I'm a final year. So close to a real job, real money & a real life. At the location of my choosing. I can't believe all that is laid out before me & all I have to do is take it. The possibility of moving to Adelaide is one that is almost too good to be true.

Yet, every time I think of this possibility three very distinct things happen:

1. I think of how awesome being that close to Tiarnee would be.
2. I get this horrible taste of the remaining dregs of the Murray River in my mouth.
3. I remember a saying that I once heard "we make sacrifices for what we love." 1 Corinthians 13 sums that all up really.

The flip side to those mixed feelings is that: Tiarnee will be 600km away, holidays are fun and I hate packing. (& unpacking!) Oh & the Internet isn't free any more.

Quote of the Day

"He [Saddam Hussein] has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to use conventional power against his neighbors ... The [U.S] policy of containment has effictively disarmed the Iraqi dictator."

- U.S. Secretary of State. Colin Powell.

As quoted during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt on the 24th of February, 2001

So.......

An Englishman (Pom), a Scottsman, an Irishman, a Rabbi, a Priest and a Blonde all walk into a bar.
The bartender looks at them all and asks: "What is this? Some kind of joke?"

Thought for today.....

It's so easy to intellectualise God, to acknowledge his power without ever experiencing it, to believe in his supremacy without ever calling on him to do mighty things in our presence. We see him with our minds but not our hearts. We never embrace the power that we preach to be true. We never call on God to move mightily in our presence - to take our ounce of faith and use it to lift a mountain off its pedestal and hurl it in to the bottom of the sea!

- Nicky Cruz

I read that today. I think this bloke is onto something.....

Arrivals

Sydney: A Summary of the best city in Australia.

Day 1: When Anthony arrived at my place to leave it was 6:45 am. We where leaving early because we where embarking on what would become a ~1,250km trip to Sydney. When we arrived at Hay (NSW) it was lunch time & we'd burnt 1 tank of fuel. When we arrived in Sydney we found ourselves heading into the city along Pitt St. (Think Bourke St in Melb, or North Tce in Adelaide.) We got through that drama and then found ourselves driving around Kings Cross (think St Kilda in Melb) trying to get onto the right street in the right direction at 10pm at night. Needless to say, after arriving in Sydney, we where happy and tired.

Day 2: After arriving at Circular Quay (read: Key!) we learned that the Opera House & Sydney Harbor Bridge really are the coolest buildings in Australia, & that all the hype about them is completely justified! Jet Boating across Sydney Harbor is very cool. After tea that night, we realized how cool Monorails are! So after doing a complete loop of the monorail, we arrived at Darling Harbor, which is a very cool place, (like Southbank in Melbourne, except better!)

Day 3: After arriving at the Taronga (as opposed to my home, Tooronga!) Zoo we would spend over 5 hours looking at all sorts of weird and wonderful animals that live on Gods earth. After walking seemingly many kilometers around what really is a great zoo, we caught the ferry back to Circular Quay again.

Day 4: By this stage tiredness is starting to set-in and arriving at a stage of consciousness proves difficult, especially given that this is the coolest night (ie. best for sleeping) since we arrived. After arriving via Ferry to Manly (Who was insecure enough to name a place that?) we cruised around what was a fairly nice beach, and some nice cliff face sorta things as well. Later that night, when we arrived at the top of Centrepoint tower, we saw a very pretty view of the Sydney night skyline.

Day 5: When we finally arrived at the markets at 'The Rocks' we saw some weird and wonderful crafty creations. It was about 1pm when we'd finished there. It was by far the hottest day of our trip t0 date, and what better thing to do on a hot day than go to the beach? So that's what we did. Took a bus out to Bondi and managed to fill in the rest of the afternoon at what we rekon is a fairly cool, but mostly overrated Bondi beach. When the sun went down, we went back and changed before heading to the Hard Rock cafe Sydeny for tea. Best eating out experience ever. Funnest atmosphere & best food. American Brownies are really good!

Day 6: After arriving in Canberra, it was late in the afternoon on a day in which we had: Driven across the Harbour Bridge. Driven back across the Harbour Bridge & then spent over 1 hour trapped under the Sydney Airport in the M5 East tunnel because of an accident. It was hilarious watching people get frustrated because they where running late. As if getting annoyed was gunna get the accident cleared faster. Anthony & I had a whale of a time drinking coke and memorizing the warning message: "This is the M5 East Tunnel Control Room. There has been an 'incident' in the M5 East Tunnel. For your safety, please observe all signs, including the reduced speed limits. (The traffic was backed up for well over 1km & at a standstill!) M5 East Thanks you for your co-operation."

Day 7: After arriving at the Australian War Memorial, we learnt that the Australian love of a 'souvy' ( souviner) was even extended to the battlefield. Apparently there is more WWII German Artillery in Australia than in any country in the world. There's even a piece of artillery on display in Kaniva. Our diggers really are legends. Learning about war odly fascinates me. Somthing about focusing the best of humanity's technology, manpower & ingenuity into somthing that is such a fallacy. Imagine if we put the same effort into usefull things, like reducing greenhouse emmissions, finding a cure for AIDs or reducing poverty.
After a brief look at the mint, we would arrive in Albury 3 hours or so later, to an awesome cabin & some Hungry Jacks for tea.

Day 8: After arriving home, we had traveled almost 2,700kms for the trip and spent at least $210 on fuel. After arriving in Bendigo we had lunch and briefly caught up with Sammy, one of the locals. We where pretty tired and glad to be home, but we had an amazing time & saw some really cool things. It's one of the best things I've done in a long time.