I know, I've been bad. I just have been very busy since I got back to Sweden and without Internet at home updating the blog as not been prioritised I'm afraid. I do apologize.

Not really a proper update now either but I just thought I will share the link to the photos from my holiday in Queensland with you since I’ve uploaded them to my web album at Picasa.

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Queensland Holiday

And that goes for this holiday too. But it's not quite over yet. We just arrived in Byron Bay south of Brisbane and we plan on staying the last couple of days here before we depart from Brisbane back to Melbourne on Wednesday. The weather is a disappointment today. We are used to 30 degrees and sun and today's weather is about 24 degrees, cloudy and with risk of showers :( To add to our disappointment both Maria and I have managed to catch a nasty cold. Stuffy nose, headache, fever and soar throat is not something that enlightens your holiday, trust me.

Enough complaining, my update has to be short as always since it's rather expensive at the Internet cafe's (especially in Noosa where you had to pay $8 an hour...which me and Maria though was outrageous). So what's been going on since last time...well we sailed in Whitsundays which was awesome and we visited the most gorgeous beach I've ever seen, the Whitehaven Beach. I can totally recommend going sailing in Whitsundays, we had a great time and met lots of cool people. We ended up staying in Airlie Beach another night once we got ashore again and drove south towards Town of 1770 on the Wednesday.

Agnes Water and 1770 are very small but nice towns but we ended up not staying at all. The plan was to stay and take surfing lessons since they are only $17 but since we both started to get sick we decided not to and continued our trip south to Bundaberg instead. Stopped in for a short visit at the distillery were they make the famous Bundaberg Rum and then continued south. We spend the day on Friday in Noosa doing absolutely nothing which was nice. Noosa is a very posh place but really nice. Very expensive though. Found a great camp site to stay the night at right by a lake and got of to an early start yesterday visiting a big market in Eumundi (really nice and worth a visit if you have the oppportunity, over 500 stalls and it's held on Wednesdays and Saturdays). After the market visit we spent the rest of the day yesterday at Australian Zoo (the crocodile hunter's zoo). A really nice experience and we got to pat both koalas and kangaroos.  And now we are here, in Byron Bay.

That's the very short and somewhat boring update people (sorry about that). I will give a better travel review once I have more time (probably once I'm home in Sweden again) and I will upload pictures as well. But until then here is a sneak peak :P

Rum tasting at Bundaberg Rum Distillery

Super short update. Currently in Airlie Beach and heading out on a two days, two nights sailing trip in the Whitsundays Islands just after lunch. I can think of worse ways to spend my birthday on. It's truly beautiful here with azur blue water and sunny. Airlie Beach is what I thought Cairns would be. Very touristy though with a lot of backpackers but still nice for a short period of time. Warm weather, beautiful views and pubs to party at, what else do you need :) Starting to get a little bit of a tan too and hopefully it will be even better after the sailing. The sun is very strong though and sunscreen is used A LOT....imagine using SPF 30+ back home in Sweden.

Since last time we picked up our Jucy campervan and have been driving south visiting Townsville and Magnetic Island (not bery impressive) among other places on the way down. It's a great way to travel, we can go were ever we want whenever we want which is great. We try to combine nightly stays at camp sites with nights at rest stops (were camping over night is allowed and above all free). The only downside to the holiday so far is that it's rather expensive to travel in Australia but other than that I have no complains!

Airlie Beach is only about 630 km from Cairns so we still have a long way to go (about 1100 km I would guess) and we continue our journey on Tuesday when we get back from the sailing. Not sure if we'll end up visiting Fraser Island but Noosa, Town of 1770 (said to have the cheapest surfing lessons in Australia), Brisbane and Byron Bay are on the schedule. We leave the campervan in Brisbane on the 21st and head back to Melbourne the same day.

That's all for now folks. Take care!

Finally, it's here....my update that is. You have been waiting haven't you?!

Don't have that much time so I'll try to keep it short. Sitting at a really nice backpackers in Yungaburra about 80 km west of Cairns. My fifth day of travelling is almost at an end. All is good and Maria and I are having a great time so far.

We begun our journey on Thursday morning flying up to Cairns. It was quite a chock stepping out of the plan into the heat (about 29 degrees)...but a nice chock ;) We got our luggage and caught a shuttle bus that took us right to our hostel. Changed our clothes, went out and got some lunch and then we explored Cairns a little bit. Not much to explore though. We were both a little disapointed about the fact that the city didn't even have a beach close by (you have to catch a bus to get to the nice beaches). They do have a lagoon though wich basically is a public pool by the water :P Anyway, we went to the tourist information center to get some more information about what to see and do both in Cairns and for the rest of the trip. With lots of broscures we went for a cold beer and decided to go on an overnight tour to the Great Barrier Reef. We choose the company Rum Runner which I truly can recommend, it was a great experience.

The reef trip was Saturdat-Sunday so we had to find something to do for the Friday. We soon realised that we didn't want to spend it in Cairns so we rented bikes and went for a nice bike ride to Crystal Cascades, a secluded freshwater swimming hole, hidden in a tropical rainforest. A series of small waterfalls flow into large pools surrounded by boulders, just around 20-25 km from Cairns I would guess. A nice day indeed but my butt was sore after that :P We had an early night since we had to be at the pier to go on the reef tour at 7 am.

The reef tour was truly an amazing experience, don't really have time to explain it in detail now but I believe it will be one of the absolute highlights of the trip. Since the Rum Runner is a sailboat that carries a maximum of 16 people it is a nice small group which means the water isn't crowded when you're snorkelling/diving, you get to know the people and have a great time. The food was great, you got a lot of time in the water at a couple of different locations of the reef, the crew was wonderful and the reef.....the reef was absolutely AWESOME! We hired an underwater camera so we took lots of pictures (will show you later) which was fun. Saw beautiful fishes, corals, turtles and sharks.

But enough about that, I'm running out of time here. We got back to Cairns Sunday arvo and picked up the rental car that we booked before the reef trip and then we headed up north towards Cape Tribulation, the goal of the day being Port Douglas were we stayed at another nice hostel, Dougies.

We got of to an ealy start today driving from Port Douglas to Cape Tribulation were we went for a walk in the rainforest (which is very dry at the moment since it's just before the wet season). It was still nice though and before leaving we went for a boat tour on the creek were we spotted some crocs. Very cool!! After these adventures the trip continued to Yungaburra were we're right now. We'll spend the day tomorrow driving around on the Tablelands looking at some nice waterfalls among other things before we head back to Cairns tomorrow arvo.

We decided to drive the distance down to Brisbane and we've booked a campervan that we'll be picking up in Cairns tomorrow. The story about the decision to drive is long and I don't have to tell you about it either right now. But from tomorrow our mean of transportation will be a Jucy campervan and I'll think the trip will be great doing it that way (driving that is instead of taking the Greyhound bus). It will be more flexible, we can see and do whatever we want and we can sleep in the car (= don't have to pay for accomodation unless we have to stay at camp sites). :)

That's all for now folks, only 3 minutes left on my internet time. But at least you know that we are alive and well, starting to get a little tanned or should I say pink?! Hopefully I'll have a little bit of a tan to show of before I get home :P

P.S Sorry about all my spelling mistakes...no time for proofreading

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ACCOMODATION
Cairns
Dreamtime Travellers Rest $24 pp

Port Douglas
Dougies Backpackers Resort $25 pp

Yungaburra
On the Wallaby Backpackers Lounge $24 pp

It's almost here, the day I have planned for so long. Today is the last day of work here in Melbourne before I go away on my holiday. I feel excited but at the same time sad. I will miss working here, miss my wonderful co-workers, the everyday dramas and the laughters. I'm going home to Sweden, to do...yes, I still don't have a clue what I'll be doing...some work of some sort I presume, the future will tell. :P

I don't really care about that now. Right now I'm focused on getting all my stuff together both for my holiday and for the trip home. I think I'll try to send most of the stuff home to Sweden when I get back to Melbourne and maybe travel with an empty backpack to Bangkok (an advice my dear brother gave me...ta!). Otherwise I'll have no room for the shopping I plan on doing :P I have to sort it out once I know how much stuff we're talking about. I think I'll be able to send the whole suitcase home, don't you reckon? And then maybe an extra box of stuff if necessary. I can't really be bothered having both a backpack and a suitcase with me to Bangkok. If you do have tips or recommendations regarding sending stuff from Australia please let me know.

Maria is arriving tonight. I'm very excited! We leave for Cairns tomorrow morning, I think our flight is at 9.30 am. We'll spend the first couple of days up in Cairns just relaxing and planning the trip. My guess is that Maria will be pretty jet lagged the first couple of days but I don't mind spending a couple of days relaxing in the sun. It's around 30 degrees Celsius up there right now, sounds rather pleasant to me :) If you want to look at the weather in Cairns (and get jealous), HERE is a good site.

What else is new, Kylie got an addition to her family yesterday with Isabelle moving in to the house. My heart melted directly for this little cutie and she reminded me of Trulsan being a kitten (just about 17 years ago...lol). Simon who doesn't like cats that much at all wasn't that impressed and Ajax wasn't that thrilled about the idea of getting a sister either. But how can you not fall in love with a little kitten :P

The updates of the blog will not be as frequent during my holiday as you probably realise but I'll try to give you a couple of updates along the way.

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Positive today:

• The upcoming trip to Queensland.
• Maria arriving tonight. *jumping up and down in excitement*
• The joy experiencing new things, travelling to new places, meeting new friends bring to life. How sad it might feel right now I wouldn't have wanted to be without this experience!!

Negative today:

• That every meeting in life always is followed by a farewell. Leaving Australia will be hard. *holding my thumps that someone will come up with an idea how to move Australia closer to Europe* LOL

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Only 1 day until my holiday...

It's all about the Grand Final  here in Australia right now and especially here in Melbourne. Since I didn't have a clue what people were talking about before I'll thought I would explain to you what's all about.

The AFL Grand Final is an annual Australian rules football match, traditionally held on the final Saturday in September at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne, Australia to determine the Australian Football League premiership champions. (This year the game is between St Kilda and Geelong)

The game has become significant to Australian culture, spawning a number of traditions and surrounding activities which have grown in popularity since the VFL/AFL went national in the 1980s. In 2006, the Sweeney Sports Report concluded that the AFL Grand Final became Australia's most important sporting event, with the largest attendance, metropolitan television audience and overall interest of any annual Australian sporting event.

With an official attendance of 100,012 at the 2008 AFL Grand Final, it's currently the best attended domestic club championship event in the world.

There have been many events during the week leading up to the Grand Final tomorrow. The Bronlow Medal Ceremony was held this Monday for example. The Bronlow is the medal awarded to the "fairest and best" player in the AFL during the regular season (ie not including finals matches) determined by votes cast by the officiating field umpires  (judges) after each game. It is the most prestigious award for individual players in the AFL. It's also widely acknowledged as the highest individual honour in the sport of Australian rules football. This year the medal went to Geelong player Gary Ablett. The glitz and glamour on the blue carpet of the ceremony is also a big event looking at the girlfriend's and wives' fancy dresses.

Apparently there is a Grand Final Parade held in Melbourne city today (the Friday before the game). The parade features the players from the competing sides and regularly attracts crowds estimated to be over 300,000 people. Not a good day for it today though since it's both rainy and windy (as always :P)

And of course there will be Grand Final Parties held tomorrow. We'll be having a BBQ at our house watching the game of course. So now you at least have a clue to what Grand Final Day is all about. I'm really looking forward to having a nice relaxed weekend...my last one in Melbourne before my holiday so I'll try to prepare my packing a little bit too.

Enjoy your weekend, I know I will!

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Since there have been complaints (again) about the “top list” being absent, I’ll give it another go and revive it.

Positive today:

1. Having fundraiser BBQs at work (we had a BBQ for lunch today raising money for prostate cancer)
2. Grand Final Weekend coming up!
3. 25^th of the month equals pay day!

Negative today:

1. The constant rainy and windy weather we’ve had this week. Can't wait for the change of weather I'll experience in QLD.

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Only 6 days until my holiday....

Our first two nights of accomodation in Cairns are now booked - two beds in a Triple Share room for $24 per person. According to forums that we've read it's suppose to be a nice hostel. A bit of a walk into the "fun part" of the city (only about 10 min) but we don't mind walking! Click on the picture above to go to their website.

 

Did you hear about this on the other side of the world?

 

Eight years of drought and record temperatures that have baked outback soils bone-dry were blamed for yesterday's dust storm that turned Sydney's sky red and the sun blue.

Scientists estimated 75,000 tonnes of dust were being blown across New South Wales every hour in what may have been the most severe dust storm Sydney has seen since the droughts of the 1940s. By noon, satellite imagery showed the dust stretching over thousands of kilometres, from the Victorian border, north to Goondiwindi and Bundaberg in Queensland.

Air quality in Sydney's east yesterday was about 40 times what is regarded as ''poor'' and about 20 times the ''hazardous'' level - the worst conditions in about 70 years. The Health Department advised people not to exercise - even indoors - and sent an advisory to preschools and schools to keep children inside.

Source: The Age

Kind of creepy don't you think!?

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By the way, only 7 days until my holiday :)

 

Organised as I am of course I made a packing list for my upcoming trip. Please help me and remind me if I forgot something or if there might be things you think I really don't need on it. And yes it is written in both Swedish and English to make everyone happy :)

VIKTIGT/ IMPORTANT

• Pass (+kopia på pass)/ Passport (+ copy of passport)
• Kontokort/ ATM/credit card
• Körkort (svenskt+internationellt)/ Driving license+International driving permit
• Försäkringshandlingar/ Insurance papers
• Hänglås/ Padlocks (for bag and lockers at hostels)
• Mobil+laddare/ Mobile phone+charger
• Biljetter/ Tickets
• Adapter/ Plug adapters
• Kamera m tbh (+laddare, xtr minneskort, xtr batteri)/ Camera (+charger, xtra memory card, xtra battery)
• Bankdosa/ Banking device
• Ev portabel hårddisk/ Portable hard drive (maybe)
• Reseplånbok/ Travel organiser

KLÄDER/ CLOTHES

• Bikini
• Linnen/ Singlets
• Shorts
• Kjolar/Skirts
• Underkläder+BH/ Undies+Bras
• Strumpor/Socks
• Byxor/ Pants
• Varm tröja/ Jumper
• Gore Tex Jacka/ Gore Tex jacket
• Keps/ Cap
• Sarong
• Tunn långärmad tröja/ Long sleeve shirt
• Mysbyxor/ Trackies
• Sjal/ Scarf
• Kofta/ Cardigan

SKOR/ SHOES

• Gympadojjor/ Trainers
• Flip flops/ Thongs
• Sandaler/ Sandals (for walking)
• "Finskor" (för utekvällar)/ Dress shoes for nights out

NECCESÄR/ TOILETRY BAG

• Solkräm/ Sunblock
• Aloe Vera kräm/ Aloe Vera cream
• Plåster/ Plasters
• Compeed/ Compeed blister plaster
• Myggmedel/ Mosquito Repellent
• Våtservetter/ Wet wipes
• Handdesinfiktion/ Hand sanitizer
• Schampo+balsam+tvål/ Shampoo+conditioner+body wash
• Hårborste/ Hairbrush
• Alvedon/ Pain killers
• Ev Mediciner eller P-piller/ any medicines or contraceptive pill
• Smink/ Make-up
• Tandborste/ Tooth brush
• Tandkräm/ Tooth paste
• Parfym/ Perfume
• Deo/ Deodorant
• Rakhyvel/ Razor
• Glasögon/ Glasses
• Linser/ Contact lenses
• Nagelfil/ Nail file
• Manikyrset/ Manicure set
• Pincett/ Tweezers
• Tamponger+trosskydd/ Tampons+sanitary towels

ÖVRIGT/ MISCELLANEOUS

• Ryggsäck för dagsturer/ Daypack
• Handduk/ Towel
• Guidebok/ Guide book
• Mp3 spelare +laddare/ MP3 player+charger
• Tvättmedel/ Laundry detergent
• Öronproppar/ Ear plugs
• Ögonmask/ Sleep mask
• Dagbok/ Journal
• Kortlek+spel/ Pack of cards+travel games
• Penna+block/ Pen/notebook
• Bok/ Book
• Solglasögon/ Sunnies
• Plattång/ Hair straightner
• Adresslista/ List of addresses (though I'm not very good at sending post cards)
• Klädlina/ Travel washing line (maybe)
• Toapapper/ Toilet paper
• Ficklampa/Torch
• Sykit/ Sewing kit
• Handväska/Hand bag

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Only 8 days until my holiday....

Another eventful weekend has past this one spent in Adelaide visiting Simon’s family. Since the flights were so expensive we decided to drive there which in real life means 8 hours in the car covering a distance of about 730 km. We had Friday off so we left straight after work on Thursday, stocked up on lollies and drinks and arrived tired in Adelaide around 1.30 am.

 

A wine tasting tour with family and friends through McLaren Vale Wine Region was on the schedule on Friday. We had a beautiful sunny day and visited five different wineries: Rosemount Estate, d’Arenberg Winery, OliverHill Winery, Settlement Wines and Coriole Vineyards. We had some dinner at Simon’s parents house, watched the sunset and then we met up with some of Simon’s friends at a place called the Highway.

 

 

That’s my weekend people, eventful as always :) I really did enjoy the weekend getting a chance to meet Simon's family and friends and see where he grew up and I'm glad Simon brought me with him to meet them. I feel pretty tired today though and I feel like I could sleep for days. I have so much on my mind right now being torn between being excited about my upcoming holiday and sad about leaving Simon. It’s only for a couple of weeks you might think, what’s the big deal. That’s true but I only have a couple of days left in Melbourne once I do get back again, then I have to leave Australia and go back home to Sweden. Something I’m excited about because I can’t wait to see family, friends and my animals again but at the same time I will miss Simon soooo much. I have no idea what I’ll be doing at work once I get back which doesn’t exactly help the situation and my future seems very blurry at the moment. I wish someone else would come up with a master plan that magically would solve my dilemmas but I guess that’s not going to happen. I just have to take the days at they come, allow myself to be excited and happy about my holiday and enjoy it to the max, cherish the days I can spend with Simon before I leave and hope that the rest will work out in the end too.

 

So enough whining, the road of my life has always been winding full of challenges ready to be overcome so why would this be an exception. I think I’ve done pretty well so far so I believe this will work out in the end too!

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

 

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Pictures from the weekend can be found in the Picasa album namned Adelaide.

Adelaide (2009-09-17 to 2009-09-20 )

 

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The countdown has officially begun - only 9 days until my holiday!

 

First of all an update on the bank situation: after a lot of head scratching, grief and a couple of tears the whole situation resolved itself on Thursday night. My mum’s bank man (and also my bank man when it comes to my loans), who works at a local bank office independent from Swedbank but still within the same business group, contacted my Swedbank office and got them to approve that my bank accounts in their bank gets connected to a bank device issued by the local bank. Complicated I know but he basically certified that I was I and then handed my mum a new device.  So I will get access to my money after all. Puh! What does everything around me has to be so complicated?!

Sydney Opera House

But enough about that, let’s talk about the great weekend I had in Sydney instead. After receiving the good news about the money issue on the way to the airport a big weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

We landed in Sydney after a smooth one hour and a half flight and took a taxi to Nettan and Gareth’s place out in Russel Lea (a suburb west of CBD). A drink and a chat later we went to bed.  Started the Friday rather early and took the bus into the city. We spent the day walking around in the city looking at sights and managed squeeze in the Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, the Rocks and Harbour Bridge as well as the Circular Quay with the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens in our schedule. The weather was a wonderful 25-27 degrees and the sun shined on us the whole day. That was the first warm day I’ve had since I arrived in Australia and it was the first day I could walk around in just a short sleeved shirt and a skirt. So this is what the Australian spring and summer is all about, once again I realised I was sent to this wonderful country at the totally wrong season.

A lot of walking (and photographing) later we returned back to Nettan & Gareth’s for a little rest before we headed out to dinner together at Chopsticks, a Thai restaurant located in Balmain. Wonderful food and the first time I experienced the Australian phenomenon: BYO – Bring Your Own...very handy idea :P

Slept in a little on Saturday morning and started the day with a bacon and egg breakfast. Yum! Took the bus into the city again but this time we started the sightseeing in Darling Harbour. Walked around, enjoyed the sun (around 29 degrees both Saturday and Sunday) and the sights before we cold down at the Aquarium for an hour or so. A place well worth a visit by the way. After that we headed to Circular Quay again to catch a ferry to Manly. Got a beautiful view of the city from the ferry. Enjoyed a lunch and then headed to Manly beach. Lovely place, reminded me of Spain or something. Lots of people at the beach and a couple of brave souls in the water as well.  Time flies when  you’re having a good time and  after the visit to the beach we decided to go back “home” to have a little rest before heading back to the city for dinner.

Cute, huh?!

Simon at the Aquarium

The evening was hard for  Simon who wasn’t able to watch the footy game between Adelaide and Collingwood (especially since it being the semi-final and all). He was pretty preoccupied during dinner getting text updates about the score every minute though (I realise that he made a big sacrifice giving up the footy for me so I can’t really be upset...lol). Sadly Adelaide lost (Collingwood scoring the decisive goal with only one minute left of the game) and to cheer up a grumpy Simon we went to the Opera bar for a drink. Nice to see the views of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House at night, truly beautiful!  A lot of “skanky dressed” girls though :P Felt tired after being out in the sun walking around sightseeing for two days so we had a pretty early night.

We felt like we’ve done pretty much all the touristy things we wanted to do so we packed our stuff and brought our luggage with us into the city. Strolled around the Sunday Market in the Rocks for a bit before we camped out at the Australian Heritage Hotel. We had lunch and a couple of drinks before we had to head to the airport to return to Melbourne. Arrived in a cold Melbourne around 7 pm,  13 degrees, windy and cold...brr!

Sydney truly is a wonderful city! Melbourne as well as Sydney is located by the water but the way the city is built up is totally different. I guess the wonderful weather did play a big part in the fact that I fell in love with Sydney. But I still love Melbourne too, just in a different way, and it is nice to be back home again :P

A big thank you to Nettan & Gareth for letting us stay at your place and to Simon for spending the weekend with me and making it a special memory to treasure when I’m back in Sweden again. Our first trip together (and hopefully there will be many more to come) :)

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Over 300 photos taken over the weekend, a selection of the best ones can be found in the newly created Picasa album not so suprisingly namned Sydney. Enjoy!

Sydney (2009-09-10 to 2009-09-13)

Finally, the album is updated with pictures from the previous weekend's sightseeing in Melbourne.

Melbourne

Read the post about the weekend HERE

I have big problems right now regarding my Swedish bank. The bank security device used to give me a code that I need to log in to my internet banking went flat (without any warning). Change the batteries would have been an easy solution but unfortunately that doesn’t work on my device (I tried it with the result being the device being reset.) You have to go into the bank office and change the whole device.

I used to have phone banking as well so I tried calling that and tried to enter what I thought was my pin code just to find out it had expired. Apparently the codes have been changed from 4 digits to 5 digits lately and if you didn’t use the service during a transition period and changed your code the old one was expired (this has probably been taking place while I’ve been here). Give me a break!!

Fine, the realisation had me worried but I didn’t really panic by then but after talking to the bank office I sure did. The information I got was that I do need to go into the office to exchange the device (hard since I’m in Australia), no devices are sent through the mail and without an authorization no one else can get a new device for you.  The authorization cannot be done through fax or e-mail or anything like that you have to personally go to the bank to get this fixed (once again hard when I’m in Australia) and it can’t be done through any other bank offices outside Sweden either.

The bank can’t tell me the amount of money I have in my account either through the phone and they can’t help me transfer money from my e-accounts to the account connected to my VISA-card. They can’t tell me what invoices I have received into the internet bank either but suggested I call the companies I get invoices from electronically and ask them to send me paper invoices instead. Basically they can’t help me at all. Once again, give me a break!! I think I’ll change my bank when I get home, to one with some customer service, which Swedbank obviously lack.

I so regret not following up on the “arrange for my mum to get authorization to my bank accounts in case anything happens” on my to-do list before I left Sweden. I ran out of time and didn’t think it would matter since I can do everything from my internet banking. Was I wrong or what!! So my advice to all your travellers out there is to make sure to give someone else access to your accounts because otherwise in case anything like this happens you’re screwed....like me! :(

So my situation right now is as follows: I can’t access my accounts so at the moment I don’t know how much money there is in my account (can’t get a bank statement through the ATM’s here either), I can’t see the invoices I only receive electronically to my internet bank which makes it hard to pay them, the money I transferred to my accounts only reached through the internet bank can’t be reached either (money I put away every month to use on my holiday in October).

On the positive side, I can still withdraw money with my VISA card (I just don’t know how much there is to withdraw). Yeah, that’s about all the positive sides of the story I can think of...oh yeah, it’s not the end of the month either so there shouldn’t be any unpaid bills...yet.  And it’s not May it’s September, this would have been an even bigger disaster if it would have happened when I just got here, now it’s only two months left before I’m home and can sort it out. Things I try to tell myself in order to cheer myself up....to tell you the truth it’s not really working.

If you have any smart solutions how to solve this dilemma, please let me know, I consider myself being desperate at the moment. But I will try not to let this ruin my weekend in Sydney and I’ll deal with it when I get back next week.

Because of the drama around this yesterday I still haven’t uploaded the photos from last weekend so I’m afraid you have to wait until the end of the weekend since I’m leaving for Sydney straight from work today.

Take care and have a nice weekend!

Spent another nice weekend in Melbourne, my second to last before my holiday actually since I’ll be spending the two upcoming weekends in Sydney and Adelaide.

I ended the work week with a night out in the city on Friday. We went for a couple of drinks at a place called the Cabana Club. A pretty cool place, tucked away in a basement in an ally just of Exhibition Street.  Finished off the night spending a couple of hours at CQ before I called it the night.

Saturday started with a couple of episodes of Sex and the City on the couch before I did anything productive. Went to the camera store and bought a new camera bag that fits both my camera and the extra lens. A mission for the day was to find lights for Simon’s house too so we ended up taking a trip to IKEA. Didn’t find any lights that we liked but I stocked up on some lollies and chocolate (mmm Ahlgrens bilar and Marabou Daim chocolate).  Dinner at the Waterfront Seafood Restaurant in the Crown Entertainment Complex together with Simon’s mum ended a nice Saturday. I had a beautiful barramundi dish (a fish from Northern Australia).

Since my mission every weekend is to try to experience something new and do something touristy, Sunday was scheduled to be the day. Started off by heading to the city and Mitchells Adventure to try on the backpack I’ve found there one more time. It still felt like a perfect fit and I ended up buying it so now I’m one step closer to being ready for my holiday.

A quick trip to another lighting store and pick up some light we found there the other day for Simon before our lunch date with Julie and Terry. We tried a new place (new to us that is) on Brunswick Street in Fitzroy called the Cherry lounge which was really nice.

Simon and I then headed to Eureka Skydeck. The weather wasn’t too bad (read at least it wasn’t raining) so we got a nice 360 degree view of the city. It looks so different from above! Eureka Skydeck has a unique offer called The Edge – a glass cube which projects 3 meters out from the building with you in it (suspended almost 300 metres above the ground). Something we ended up NOT doing even if it would have been cool since the Skydeck is the only observation deck in the world that offers anything like this but the wait for this was 1 hour and 30 minutes which seemed a little too long. We just had to settle with walking out on the windy balcony instead, not as cool but cool enough :P

Our next stop once we felt that we had seen enough of the view was the Shrine of Remembrance. The Shrine of Remembrance is Victoria’s largest and most visited war memorial located on St Kilda Road just south of the CBD. The Shrine was built between July 1928 and November 1934 in remembrance of the men and women of Victoria who served and those who died in the Great War of 1914-1918. It now serves as a memorial for all Australians who served in war and it is the site of annual observances of ANZAC Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November).

The Shrine of Remembrance

View of the City from the balcony of the Shrine

To top off the day we took a walk through the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG).  RBG Melbourne was  founded in 1846 and is recognised as one of the world’s finest botanic gardens. And I must admit it was really nice even though a lot of the flowers aren’t really flowering at the moment. There are over 10,000 species and 50,000 individual plants in the 38 hectare gardens, including trees and plants of great cultural value. Many of these plants are irreplaceable, endangered or even extinct in the wild.

View of the RBG with the Eureka Tower in the background


Bush Lily

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More photos from the day can be found in the updated Picasa album Melbourne. (*NOW UPDATED*)

Melbourne