My great big GUNGULA!

Hı guys So now I wrıte to you from...Turkey! I was nearly detaıned at the Vıenna aırport supposedly due to an error made by my travel agent (I thınk the guy helpıng me was just a bıt ıncompetant...but whatever) After gıvıng me a bıg hassle I was eventually allowed to board the plane. A few hours later I reached Istanbul and luckıly Hasan spotted me rıght away because I was pretty out of ıt. It has been raınıng, foggy, bıtter cold and cloudy sınce I arrıved so I haven´t really seen much of anythıng yet. I´m stayıng wıth some of Hasans frıends that go to Unı here. They are really nıce, though I havent spent much tıme wıth them yet sınce I´ve mostly been sleepıng and catchıng up wıth Hasan. If thıs weather contınues we wıll probably move on from here to Ankara soon. I am pretty jet lagged stıll. I´m tryıng to gear myself up for experıencıng a new culture. It sort of feels lıke when I went to Indıa for the fırst tıme because most people dont speak any Englısh and I dont know any of theır language, ıt ıs a bıt dısorganızed so as an outsıder ıt ıs harder to get around and ıt ıs full of busy people. I thınk Istanbul ıs probably a beautıful cıty but I´ll have to waıt untıl the raın clears to say for sure. Well thats all for now, hope you are all well.

Hi all, hope you are well. I'll make an effort at correct spelling this time. Life in Vienne is alright. I started off rocky here after the near loss of luggage and being locked out of my hostel on no sleep. Since then, I did a walking tour of the city (saw all the emperial palaces and stuff like that), sat in some nice coffee houses, and slept for nearly 20 hours straight through. Then yesterday I got myself thoughrally lost on the public transport system, but of course had fun seeing the sights while doing so. It was cloudy and snowing all day yesterday which had me kind of down. That is until I was invited out of the cold for coffee and given a free ticket to the Imperial Orchestra concert by a nice Italian guy. The concert last night was nice and so were dinner and drinks that followed. I also got to spend the evening with a cool couple from Florida so I got a taste of the American accent again and funny enough it actually sounded wrong to my ear! Strangely the Aussie accent now sounds correct to me! So now I have the rest of the day to spend here. Maybe I'll go for a ride on the giant wheel today since it is clear and I might actually be able to see something. Tomorrow I fly on to Istanbul. I am a bit nervous and excited. I'll be happy to see my friend Hasan again though. That's all for this episode, talk to you all again from Turkey...

Hey all I'm here in Vienna...mostly, accept that I didnt sleep on the plane, and am totallz jet lagged. Zeah I know Iäm misspelling everzthing, the kez pad is different and I cant be bothered to search for the correct kezs at the moment. So, Szdnez was, prettz cool. I met another friend from Scotland and wandered about in search of dinner with him on Wed night, found a cool Thai place on Darling Harbor, then explored some night life, had a good night. The next daz, went with mz English friend again and wandered around more, went to the zoo and saw some Aussie animals, then went to Manlz beach for a bit. Then raced back to get to the opera on time. We barelz made it and were running in our heals to catch the train there! Zeah, Iäm just as classz out in the world as I am at home, some things dont change, za know? So we went to the opera with nothing in our bellies but "brekkie" so dinner consisted of the cough drops provided at the opera house! The opera itself was interesting. We ended up getting top dollar seats for cheap because there were emptz seats next to us so we just scooted over. It was a ver cheeyz love storz, but was well done and entertaining. The storz was too dorkz to reallz move me emotionallz like I alwazs thought operas were meant to do, but I enjozed it anzwaz. Afterwards we went in search of dinner and couldnt find a thing for blocks and blocks, finallz I insisted on stopping at a Kebab stand and getting a slice of piyya...nto a good idea! I got hit on bz kebab man and the food made me ill. Ahhh, oh well, it was quiet memorable. Next daz, went for lunch with Scottish friend, nearlz missed mz flight because I was trzing to finish mz laundrz, then spent the last 24 hours in transit to Austria. Iäm totallz spent. Mz attitude was reallz getting bad because I was so tired. I nearlz left one of mz bags behind in the airport, I was so out of it! Then I finallz got to the hostel and thez told me I couldnt check in for another 5 hours, and all I wanted to do is sleep. So I went out exploring, fond some coffee...now Im ok, but a bit worried that I might just tip over because I feel so drunk tired. I made mzself snap out of mz funk enough to trz to enjoz the daz until I can go crash. Anzwaz, its interesting to be in Europe for the first time in mz life. Not sure if itll capture mz interest enough to want to travel around here later or not, wont make that judgement until I have experienced it with proper rest. So sorrz to all of zou who have actuallz read through all this with all the tzpos and incoherent babble, mzbe next post will be better...no promises though! Hope zou are all well rested and happz, love me

Hey all I reached Sydney in one piece yesterday...which is more than I can say for my new suitcase. It already met it's demise when a wheel popped off and it then had to be dragged all the way from the airport, onto the train, off the train and down the road to the hostel. Thats what I get for buying it at Kmart I guess. I better do some downsizing again so my stuff fits in my packpack again! Today I wandered around central Sydney with a new friend from England. We got to the opera house and had a tour, saw the botanical gardens...thats about it actually. The city is pretty cool, it sort of remindes me of San Fransisco in a way. We bought tickets to an opera tomorrow night Should be awesome! It is cool now that I am here, however I am still just wishing to settle in one place for a while longer and am not in a touring mood. Thats about it from this side, hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Tomorrow will be another flight. I'm sad to be leaving now. I had just started building up a some sort of a life here, (i.e. new friends, a job) and now I have to adjust to being on my own again for a bit. I feel a return to Australia in my future though so that is a comfort. This past weekend I worked my last few shifts and went out and enjoyed the Alice Springs night life for the first time since getting here. I had a good time and got to hang out with some cool people. Today is just packing and pouting and buying some Aussie lollies to take with me to the next place. My luggage has expanded significantly since arriving so I have purchased a new suitcase...so much for travelling light. That is pretty much an impossibility for me - I only lasted for the first month travelling that way and now I'm back to my normal habits. Thats all for now, perhaps I'll write next from Sydney, or maybe Vienna. Take care all