so i drag myself down to the river for an 8am (yes, EIGHT A.M) race start. i was determined to watch it, however rough i felt. most people dont bother! as there are heaps of different categories there are heaps of starts that last about an hour. as there has hardly been any rain here (dryest july and august on record!) it was touch and go whether the race would even go ahead. so after a race started they were in the water for about a minute before they got to a weir. as there wasnt enough water for the boats to go over they all had to get out of their boats and run around the banks, then hop back in the water! quite funny!

as i hadnt had any sleep from last night i thought it would be a good idea to rest my weary eyes before our barbie tonight. well, that plan didnt work did it! had to say goodbye to rob and di as they were off to perth, and heaps of people in and out of house so had to do my social bit!

so tina and shane had a barbie up on mount dick (yes, it really is called that!) as a kind of goodbye. also, the fact that i never managed to get up there on the horse to see the views! apart from the near-death ride on the back of the ute up the hill (it stalled on the steepest part and started rolling back down) it was an ace night. good food, good company and maybe one beer! a bit sad saying goodbye to everyone though.

packed my bag and fell in to bed ready for my adventures ahead!

so tommorrow is the avon descent that starts here in northam so the tradition is for the whole town to get plastered the night before! sounds good eh?! oh, the avon descent by the way is the longest white water raft in the world, it goes over two days, blah blah blah.

heaps of the usual stalls, ace fireworks and (eventually) lots of alcohol! as im leaving on sunday this was a good farewell celebration!

just a quickie as im here with lisa! yes, from back home! just some pics of a plane flight that di's friend dennis took us up on. was wicked! very scary at points, especially when i hear the last time di went up they had to make an emergency landing- oh great! it was a real nice treat and something ive never done before so enjoyed it heaps. and the views were amazing!

hmm, jelly and ice cream- what more does a girl need?!

ok, chocolate cake!

went to a place called the jenna tavern in jennacubine. the pub is well known for its food, you go select what you want from the fridge and he barbeques it in front of you. a good night out!

so this is what greeted me on my way to work this morning! the area im in, avon valley, is where they do ballooning, skydiving, gliding, etc. dont be fooled by the weather, it was freezing this morning! there was actually a frost last night! A FROST.... IN AUSTRALIA!! i hear its boiling hot back in blighty- thats not fair dinkum!

we travel back through mount barker which is a well known wine region. so it would be rude of not to stop at  least once, dont you think?! we get a few bottles from goundrey wines, a well known label over here. will look forward to enjoying it!

i went to another afl match today- west coast eagles (w.a. team) against western bulldogs (melbourne team). the stadium (subiaco oval) was huge, much bigger than the other match i'd been to. and we had seats right behind the goal! the atmosphere was excellent! unfortunately the eagles lost, only just though. im really loving the football here- definitely miss it when i get home, i reckon!

hooray! at last ive managed to add more photos! they go back as far as about 20th may. broken arm, scar and dolphin feeding among the highlights!

so after a few bevvies at the grass valley tavern (my 1st time back since leaving) and catching up with people, tina, shane and i head back as there is a roast in the oven (it was already 9pm!)! despite the roast being lamb, it smelt delicious! and yes, i had some! im sure the beer helped in the decision process but it was well worth it! my dad will be so proud of me! oh, and i'd eaten a ton of olives at the pub- im becoming so experimental!

so over the weekend there was an olive festival held in york! (hence or the olive prep!). on the friday olivesmiths (tina and shanes olive company) won a silver award at an olive oil competition (what i helped to make!), and i helped out on the stand on saturday and sunday. it was actually a good weekend, the sun was out and there was lots of food tasting to be had! its taken a while but im actually starting to like olives!!

hooray, at last its my check up! its only been 2 weeks but feels like forever! as i only had a hard cast down the back of my arm and wrapped in bandage, where the swelling had gone down the cast had got too big and had become uncomfortable and generally a pain in the, well, arm! so im hoping they'll recast it.

i get a lift down in the hearse! yes, a hearse! with a 'customer' and all! tina and her dad had a funeral to do in perth so it made sense to go with them!

i have some spare time in the morning as my appointment isnt till the afternoon, so after scoffing a good ol' english scone with jam and cream i headed to the perth mint. i was only there an hour but it was really interesting. i got to see a gold pour, which was awesome! liquid gold then seconds later a solid bar of gold- amazing!

at the hospital i was expecting them to change my plaster (for a nice hard one so everyone could sign it!) but they took it off altogether! it felt very weird, i darent move my arm! i was really apprehensive about moving it around. i couldnt see the scar (or the massive bruise the nurse told me about!) but apparently its a beaut! i did get to see an xray of where they had pinned my arm- pretty weird! apparently i had just one break but it was a 'y' shaped break, hence why they had to pin it. so i have one big plate and a smaller one the other side, along with some dangerous looking pins! the nurse also took my staples out (yes, staples, not stitches, staples!) which stung lots. so i can just imagine what my arm looks like! oh, and the surgeon said im still not allowed to work (in pub), not even light duties! i mean, how hard is it to pull a pint with one and a half hands?!

im on tiptoes all the way home hoping that nobody bumps into me!

after being devastated (i couldnt eat for a week) about missing out on the first lot of robbie tickets, i managed to get 2 when they released more for the melbourne concert- woohoo! so what if im actually going to be in sydney, he's worth it! and so what if i have to sleep rough for a few weeks due to me spending the money on tickets and air fairs. i mean, if he's coming all this way to see me, the least i could do is travel down to him! ha, to u lot (yes you karen, claire, etc) who thought it hilarious i wasnt going to see him! not only is it going to be fab weather, its also the last gig of the tour and therefore will be the best. ner ner ne ner ner!!!

yep, you guessed it, more olives today! luckily not picking though! we had to go to york to the olive press to pick up the oil from all those lovely olives we had so lovingly picked! it was pretty neat to think that the oil we got, i had helped (if only an eensie bit!) to make.

so tina, hollie (tina's sister and nurse at the perth hospital i was in!) and me decided to celebrate by having a glass of homemade cider at spooky hall!

the night was spent drinking more champagne and labelling the wonderful bottles of olives, tapenade and olive oil. and eating pizza! oh, and watching england play naff soccer, sorry football, in the world cup!

offered to hoover for di- broke the hoover. enough said.