The (festive) creative director approves of the interior work below...

The old interior - new subfloor being fitted.

The finished kitchen cupboards

New fridge cupboard (uncoated) and parquetry floor

The old porta fridge

Jaffa the Kombi

The weather is just fantastic - and we've picked up 'Jaffa' - the 1977 Kombi that's "Orange on the outside and Chocolate on the inside".

Time to go camping at the beach before the holiday hoardes move in.

Sambo.

Stinkin' Hippy.

The supervisor.

Yep - Kelby likes it. Won't be getting dog hair all over too often though!

The end is nigh - and a new beginning

Its seems I'm about to rejoin the working world! I have verbally accepted a role with a Telecommunications corporation which is a bit of a sideways industry step - nothing that I'm not used to. We're looking forward to city life (Paula can finally teach me the rules to Aussie Football!).

January 16th is the start date being touted, which allows a bit of time to get my body clock back into the swing of getting up during single digit hours. Oh suffer the little children...

What an awesome year it's been to travel around Europe and pay yourself first. Very ready to start working hard again though. Chafing at the bit....

Lots of travel in the Kombi for the next four weeks! Pick it up on friday as it needs a few things to complete the roadworthy process. Hope the weather's nice on the weekend...
Sambo.

Weather's fine - time for beach fishing

Didnt drag up any gummy sharks, but I caught 5 small salmon and a mullet. Not the Billy-Ray kind. Not with my hairline (refer hat in below photo...)

Paid a deposit for the '77 kombi on friday - the current owner is off to have it roadworthied on tuesday. Wannabe hippies keep an eye out for photos on the site.

Time to roll.
Sambo.

Beach Fishing near Port Fairy

December is here, and it's Christmas just around the corner

It's about time for another update. Apart from whizzing around on the Aprilia electric bike, I've been into more job interviews in Melbourne and doing all sorts of stuff.

Paula and I managed to finally spot a nice Kombi today for a really good price, so tomorrow we hand over a deposit and wait for the usual dragged out roadworthy process. That'll be fun over the coming summer. It's got a few dents and the interior needs sprucing, so that'll help keep us just as busy. I'll be sure to post a picture of course.

Gotta go, it's dinner time.
Sambo.

November

It's about time I did an update. There's a few pics below. Sorry Rich, I couldnt find any good clean jokes!

Had two job interviews last week, both down in Mentone. One for a Telco and one for an Automotive company. I'm learning a lot after being out of the loop for 10 years. Placement agencies really differ, and it sure pays to get a good one. A couple I've dealt with seem to have few Time Management or Customer Management skills. But one has been excellent with so much proactive follow up it's easy to see how they have so much market share. No-one seems to mind that I've had 8 months off! I could write a blog on the whole topic of my jobsearching.

We've also been updating our knowledge of the Melbourne property market in case one of the jobs comes off. Think we'll rent awhile. Not holding my breath though for "Aussie John's" prediction that prices will fall in 6 months.

I've also finished off my electric power unit for my mountain bike. It looks really cool, and goes pretty well. I've got two really long range high power batteries so I might take it out thru the bush today. I'll put some pictures on.

We've also set up a little home business focusing on import and resale. It's no great money spinner, but it's been interesting getting the ABN and tax structure right etc etc. We have to make sure John Howard gets his little bit!

Still no sale on our old motorhome in England if you're thinking of making a change in life! Well thats November. CYA!
Sam.

Ballarat Relay for Life

On Saturday we participated in the Ballarat Relay for Life. We're getting to be veterans, but somehow managed to get out of most of the walking this time, which is a bit cheeky. But the team raised several thousand bucks, and the whole event raised about 50 grand for cancer research. With a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer, how could you not participate?

From the mouth of (B)Abe's.

Noticed this on a trip thru Brighton recently. He must have really ticked some people off. Some old colleagues may get a laugh out of it. Seemed to be on every power pole east of the Melbourne GPO.

There's bottle lids in them thar hills..

What better way to celebrate the anniversary of the eureka uprising than to but a cheapo metal detector off ebay and wander around the Victorian bush.

I even bought a miner's right, with the usual crappy historical artwork one expects of these things...

Can't say if I have found anything or not, a goldie never tells..


Prospecting in the bush behind Ballarat 11Nov.

Whats up with the coastal theme?

I've missed the ocean a great deal. We've been hanging out in Warrnambool today babysitting my sisters house. And trying to eat our way thru the entire menu at Fishtales. Which is impossible. You'd just start again if you did.

The weather has been wet again, with the occasional lull. Perfect for shopping really. Which requires cash so tomorrow its time to read the Age and start looking for jobs in Melbourne.

Have been hoping to do some more camping again if the weather fines up. Funny that we'd miss it. I've had a lot of questions from fellow aussies who're still thinking of taking the plunge and travelling for an extended period, so we're still thinking a lot about writing a book or online website to capture all the ins and outs. I'm gonna add a link at the to Campervans4U.co.uk site also - they bought our rig and she's on the lot. Dont miss out on 'a bewdy'!

Better go, the Managing Director is calling.

Sambo.

Warrnambool harbour, dead flat.

Port Fairy beach, just west of 'Pea Soup'.

Help, there's monkeys on the wharf.

Last week

On thursday it was my birthday - 33 years young. I'd have a midlife crisis but frankly I've been too darn busy being unemployed. ;)

Paula and I went to Queenscliff and stayed a few nights at Athelstane House to celebrate. Awesome. If you want a few quiet nights out near Geelong and some really good food and coffee, go there.

Caught a nice little Pinky snapper off the end of the Queenscliff pier - and had him for tea last night, which was great. It's nice to have some time to go fishing again. There's a photo below.

Have been spending a little bit of time building bits and pieces which should eventually become an electic power unit for my pushbike. I'm not sure that OPEC will notice the sudden drop in petrol sales, but it's nice to keep my brain turning over.

Stay good!
Sambo.

Looking out along Queenscliff pier

A delicious baby snapper (a "pinkie")

Queenscliff peir looking around towards Swan Bay

(Still) back in Oz!

For some reason our blog entry from earlier in the week isnt loading, so here it is again.
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Hello, we're back in the big country! We've both managed to pick up colds as well as the jet lag (we went right thru from London non-stop).

We'll get around to visiting and calling some folks soon, have spent this week just recovering and spending time with our families. We've pilfered a great idea from some other other Aussies we met overseas - here's some statistics:
Days away: 212
SMS messages sent: 902
Kilometers driven: 21,000
Countries visited: 17
Photos taken: 3300
Skipbo games played: 168
Number BLOG hits to date: 3542

Thanks so much to all of you who sent us emails and posts to keep us going! We're compiling a list of our favourite places to visit, and will post it soon. We've had a few requests to keep the site going. Tell us what you think!
Sam and Paula.

Guess who won a 'Snubby' for 20P?

Oaula lazing around in Herne Bay

Dinner at the North African restaurant in Canterbury

Crossing back to 'the dark side'

The wall of Fame in the van

Beautiful Brugge

A new Morgan in Brugge

The van at Brugge campground

Building sized street art in my Dad's old birth town of Eindhoven.

Paula Outside Koln cathedral last week.

Castle in Rhine Valley

Town square in beautiful Rothenburg

Wurst Cigars in Germany

Castle in Rothenburg

We're back in the Uk.

We 'crossed back' today. And almost ended up driving on the wrong side of the road again!

3 weeks to sell the van. Theres a bunch of photos from the last few weeks below - sorry for the folks on dialup connections! Go make a coffee...

Met some more great aussies in the last few days - night to have a glimpse of home!
Will post some more photos from the last week soon.
Sam and P.

The devils footprint at Munich Cathedral. No, no really.

All you can eat Sushi bar in Munich. Nice spot for Munchin'

Munich food markets

Water got a bit close to the freeway in Interlaken

SXIlt leaving Lauterbrunnen in fields

Silt leaving Lauterbrunnen in fields

Interlaken lake

Leaving Lauterbrunnen. A view at last.

The van dangerously close to the river.

Underwater camping in Lauterbrunnen

Camping at Lauterbrunnen.

Its still raining in Lauterbrunnen

Contiki guys in Lauterbrunnen

Interlaken lake

The Van in Bodensee.

Zurich nightlife.

Small German country town..

Paulas favourite Stuttgart Merc