We woke up yesterday morning to find sydney blanketed in an eerie orange/red glow, and like many others, presumed the aliens had come to fetch us..

But no such luck.. looks like we're stuck down here a while longer still..

Meanwhile, it turns out the orange haze was from severe winds in the northern territories and southern australian desert, that drifted over to NSW covering much of it with this weird dust reminiscent of the dust I used to see regularly in Spain (presumably transported from the african sahara), only the orange haze here was incomparably thicker than anything I've ever witnessed before..

See pictures of this peculiar happening here:

Sydney's Strange Orange Skies

People were wearing masks out on the street, and emergency wards were flooded with sudden hordes of overweight mucusly clogged up asthma sufferers..

Also, yesterday, Zalan got back from his Far North Queensland trip, and spent a few hours with us before getting back in to his car and heading south toward his home in central Victoria, - Hepburn Springs..

Meanwhile, too, paperwork and progress headway is slowly being made toward reaching our goal of leaving Sydney.. I have been to the immigration office, and had my passport stamped with my shiny new full residency permit, I've received my National Insurance Medicare card, and I've also gotten myself an Australian (NSW) Driving License.. It's only valid for 1 year, but pointless me getting one that lasts longer as once we change State to Queensland, I'll have to get myself a new license anyway.

Slow progress is also being made within our appartment, and the liberation of the many material junk stuff we have still remnant from our bygone market sundays..

today the strange orange fog has complettely lifted, and the day's back to a normal blue sunny colour, - just like it should be..

hugs,
Mango.

Funny how one day walking on the lawn is a shear pleasure for ones bared feet, and then suddenly, overnight, that self same lawn becomes so painful to walk on..

Yes, it's bindi season again, and the bindi spikes are suddenly sharpened, pointed and well, just generally spikey.. And such a contrast! - In the season when their spikes aren't out, the bindi plant is very soft under the feet, and a positive delight to walk on..


Green Tree Frog, smaller than half my thumb, Found in the reeds
(Click to Enlarge)
The frogs are out singing a lot. I discovered this little fellow hiding in the long grass on the local golf course - He was no bigger than half my thumb!!

This is the same frog:


Cute tiny green tree frog
(Click to Enlarge)
Also the golf course is currently teaming with new little bunnies. I crossed paths with the one in the picture below while crawling through the bushes. He sat startled for a while, allowing me to get 2 meters away and take a photo of it, before hopping off into the undergrowth..

Sadly though, the golf course management regularly cull them by spreading the painful cruel death of mixamatosis. Crazy as they are no harm to anyone, and keep their digging to the bushes creating an inconvenience for noone..


Wild Baby Rabbit
(Click to Enlarge)
Kveta and I are excited about leaving Sydney, and making slow headway toward that goal. The car has a cracked windscreen which we need to get fixed. Now that I have my full residency, I need to get an ozzy driving license. We have an apartment half full of junk still, that we are slowly sorting through and getting rid of.

It'll happen..

I've been hearing news about my little niece who's growing up fast and is very clever.. I miss her heaps and feel sad about not seeing her grow up.. I'm thinking I may return to Europe in 2011 for a visit, but would love to see close family migrate here to Australia, and hope that that they be a future possibility.. 


Amelia, 1 month ago
(Click to Enlarge)
Fruitwise we've got 2 boxes of oranges, some cuces, tomatoes, avos, watermelons, grapefruits and 2 durians..

Life's good,
Mango.

Hi all.

great news for us here...

I just received a letter from the department of immigration who say they are pleased to inform me that my request for permanent residency has been granted!!!

Well they may be pleased, but we are ecstatic!



YIPPPPEEEE!
I get to stay down under!!!!

hugs,
mango.

On Monday mornings, I drive out to Daceyville..


This is the cottage garden
Only takes me between 10 and 15 minutes to get there, and once there, I do an hour or 2 of gardening with Dulcey.. She's this elderly lady who owns a small cottage there, and each year she enters into one of those cottage garden competition things.

I've been helping her with her garden these past months, to get ready for this years competition and the images here I took yesterday..


Pink flower in Dulcey's garden
As you can see, the flowers are in full bloom right now..

Each ear, she gets rid of most of her flowers and turns the garden over ready for the next year, which's what I was doing there to begin with, and then planting all the new flowers..

She normally wins, and has done for the past decade or so, except last year she came 2nd.. She is getting on in years, and finds it difficult to work as much as she used to, so that's where I came into her life..


Yellow flower in Dulcey's garden
After Dulceys' I often walk across the road to another woman called Carmen, and do a little gardening for her too, but I prefer working with Dulcey as she's more hands on than Carmen..