Sunday was my little niece's 3rd birthday.. She's back in the UK, so needless to say, I missed it.. much as I did her 2nd one too..

I'm feeling like I'm doing a lousy job as an uncle, and godfather, and really missing not being there to witness her growing up and childhood.

I spoke briefly with her on the phone, but it was clear she had no real idea who I was, and if she remembers me at all, it'll no doubt just be vague memories by now..

This is me and Amelia

Sorry Amelia!

I've probably said this already, but looks still very likely that Kveta and I will be staying in Sydney until around September 2009. All things considered, it seems the safest bet still, and the path of least resistance while my visa issues get sorted and until my foot is firmly in the door, so to speak.

The job I've been doing I've decided to quit on Friday. I've been weighing up the pros and cons of it, and despite enjoying the walking, being my own boss, with no dress code to be adhered to or need for shoes, it's always been a nagging issue with me about the whole ethics of delivering junk mail.. Like, all of it ends up in some land fill, not to mention the poor trees.. And it isn't paying me enough either..

So I really need to find myself some other work.. Something more suitable.. Not sure what yet.. Something local, flexible, outdoor when the weather's right, with no worries that my feet are unshod or that my hair is wild and unkempt..

Hopefully I might get some more extras work too.. That'd be good as that pay's pretty well and is relatively easy.

Peace to all,
Mango

So yeah, I got myself a temporary visa that should see me through until September 2009, and which should then get me a permanent Aussie visa..

I came over to Australia for the first time in about 1997, I think it was.. And fell in love with the place pretty much immediately, but getting to live here indefinitely never really seemed feasible, as I fell short a point or 2 (immigration laws work on a points based system,and without enough of them, there's fat chance of getting ones foot in the door)..

But I put out for it.. Sent a silent prayer to the universe, and then dropped it..

And the universe listens, kveta came in to my life making it possible and offering me a hand to hold too. Thanks Kveta.

It's on going.. and miracles continuously happen..

Take my work, I really wanted to get something that'd bring in a little income, allow me to be my own boss of hours, and not complain that I was bare foot, as money had once more become a stressful issue in my life, so there it was.. Perfect, a delivery job available for the area I live in.. Not paying a fortune, but bags me between $64 and $100 a week, which may be enough for me to live on.

And the first day I started on it, I was using a trolley that Kveta had, carrying 200 catalogues, when the wheels buckled, and I was stranded 3 streets from home thinking oh shit.. then it started raining, and I wondered how I was going to carry everything home without wheels, when there it was in front of me, a toddlers pram.. just what I needed, abandoned by some bins.

The Divine really does provide..

Footsteps in the Sand

Hugs,
Mango.

No, noone has dropped a bomb anywhere.. at least not in this neck of the woods..

But some days ago, I got a letter dated 1st April, stating that my application for a visa to Australia has been approved and granted!!

Wow, after 7 and a half months wait, I finally got it.!!.

After reading the small print though, I realised that us escaping Sydney will not be as easy as we had hoped..It seems we have to have a forwarding address before we leave. And we had hoped to just up and explore the tropical yonder..

My visa is a 2 year temporary visa, beginning the date the visa application was lodged, so that means that from around september 2009, I get a permanent ozzy residency visa, and will be able to travel around the country as I desire.. So a slight spanner in our plans, as we may be sticking around here until that time.

More news..

I got some more work as an extra coming up in May.. Once more for the movie Wolverine being filmed here in Sydney.. And I also have some catalog delivery work, so finally a few pennies should start coming in soon..

....

Kveta and I are on day 6 of juices..

THIRSTY?

hugs,
Mango.

Yes, still no news.The immigration office are really not keeping me informed at all as to the progress of my visa application. It's been 7 monts now since the application was lodged..

I guess there is no real hurry..

Recently I have started working on my book again. It's been a while since I did anything constructive with it, but now it seems I am finally getting drawn into it again..- I'm wishfully thinking to get it done before we finally get the all clear and leave Sydney.

A voice from the Far North of Queensland rang me a few days ago..My good friend Jef. Been a while since I heard from him, so nice to catch up on all the gossip from that area..

Also, I noticed that that advert I was working in, mentioned in my last post, is now airing on TV. You can see it on Youtube too.. 

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsaxSpv9lmU

I am only very briefly visible in it on several occasions, but you'ld really have to know my looks pretty well and be ready with the pause button to have any chance of spotting me..

They still haven't paid me for that.

Autumn's here, and temperature has dropped a little, the sea feels like someone has thrown a bucket full of icebergs into it..

hugs,
 Mango.

OK.. I signed up with an Extras agency back in September, about 5 months ago..

I didn't hear anything from them again until a couple of weeks or so back, when they called and asked me to turn up at Fox Studios for a costume fitting... That finally happened on the 25th of February, and on Friday night (29th Feb), I did a night shift at some park in Glebe..

The movie being filmed was something called Wolverine, I gather connected to another movie called Xmen, which apparently there have been 3 of, none of which I have really seen, although I vaguely recall watching bits of the first one.

Anyhow, it was a long night, from 18:00 to 04:30, and most of it was spent standing around waiting - which i gather is retty normal for this sort of thing..

My role, was to be a carnival stall holder, and just stand at the front of the stall with the air of trying to encourage people to come in and view whatever it was that I was supposed to be showing.. It was all set in the 70s I think, so dress was appropriate for the era..

The star, Huge Ackman I think his name is, came onto the set briefly, but it seemed to me that the only shots filmed on the night were, with extras, and no other actors were present..I'm not sure if I got my face into any shots.. I Have a feeling I didn't, and if I did, it would be for no more than a fleeting second or so.. I would imagine that the whole night was spent filming just a few seconds of footage..

..

Actually, that wasn't the only work I had this week.. I was also called up to be an extra in an AFL advert (Australian Rugby). That was thursday.. I had to drive out to the middle of nowhere at 4 in the morning, and spent most of the day standing around in the rain, dressed in period costume from the 1860s.. I am pretty sure that my mug got it's fair share of being fully in the picture on that one....

..

So, finally a little paid work.. It's been a while.. I hope that I can get more Extra work, as it is pretty easy stuff..

Hugs to all,
Mango

They (the days) seem to drift slowly past, but then suddenly I realise another month has gone by, and I get the opposite impression that things are moving really fast.. time wise..

Well.. they say time flies like an arrow, whereas fruit flies like a pineapple.

I got a telephone call from a movie extra casting agency yesterday. Looks like I may be getting a little "Extra" work in a movie being filmed here in Sydney called Wolverine, or Wolverines, or something like that.. Anyhow, I'm to go in for a wardrobe fitting on Monday.

It'll be a relief having a little cash coming in, even if it is just for a few hours work on one day.

I really wish that I didn't have to think about money at all.. That'd be nice.

We're missing the summer here. Lots of rainy days, and lesser temperatures, preventing us from enjoying the beach as we'd like and adding to the pressure of us being stuck in a place we'd ultimately rather be escaping from.

So yeah,days drift pretty uneventfully past.. We ate the first watermelon from the garden.. Now that was my size watermelon.. Cut in half it fitted snugly into the palm of the hand, and tasted very sweet.

The tomatoes from the garden we are still eating a bowl a day, but the plants are looking somewhat withered recently, so that season will be ending soon.

Fingers crossed, wish us luck, say a prayer or 2..

and hugs and smiles back at you.

Mango.

Since Friday (1st Feb), We've been minimally eating.. 2 days of fasting, and now we are on just watermelon juice.. 2nd day today.. We are well stocked up with them..

On Monday, the 2nd day of fasting, I dropped off Kveta in Kingsford, so she could catch a bus into the city to see her friend.

On the way back, I pulled over and threw up. My stomach was empty, so not much came out. I felt pretty clear headed afterward, but on the way to pay the monthly phone bill, I had to throw up again..

Minor detox. I felt OK the rest of the day, although slightly more tired than normal.

I don't normally feel queasy like that on the 2nd day of a fast, but must have been something in there shifting around.

Anyhow, all's well today. We have a house full of watermelon, and no other fruit in it.. I think I counted 27 watermelon! Don't know how long we will stay on it for, but I'd guess at least for the week..

Hugs,
Mango

Ever since I was a small kid, I have dreamt of travelling and exploring..

As a teenager, I starting doing long summer trips through Europe, travelling by rail.. To begin with,together with a friend, but later alone, with occasional excursions well off the beaten track..

I always loved walking through forests, or scrambling up mountains.. heading to hilltops off the beaten track..

When I look back at my life so far, the events that stand out the most for me, are the time I spent homeless travelling around Europe on my bicycle.. (What an experience, waking up in the morning, and not really ever knowing which direction I was headed..

I loved every minute of it, and often day dream about doing something similar, one day, again)..

And 2ndly (but only chronologically!), the time I lived out in the Australian bush for a year and a half.. I had the time of my life.. My camp was about 5 minutes walk to the nearest dirt track.. And about an hour long walk along that before one hit a sealed road..

From that sealed road, a hitch to the nearest town took a good hour and a half.. sometimes 2 hours or more..

I was truly in my element. I was actually living on an old semi-abandoned fruit orchard.. There we had jackfruit growing, black sapote, white sapote, mangoes, bananas, akee, pawpaw,.. to name but a few of the fruits..

I only wish that I'd kept a journal back then, or at least had a camera and taken some pictures.. but alas, all that is left of that time, are fond memories..

We still didn't have enough to satisfy all my needs, so a weekly or sometimes fortnightly trip into town yielded me a box of avos or 2 and various other fruits that appealed on the day..

Recently I've been pining for such times again.. I know that there will be some, but I am getting impatient.. Kveta and I have been waiting for all this paper work to finish, and it is certainly taking its time..

Meanwhile, it hasn't helped that we've been watching some inspiring TV.. This "Tribe" show certainly has me fascinated.. there's the guy, Bruce, who is going around the world, living with the most out of the way tribes one can find (see my previous blog entry), and then we've been watching "The Long Way Round" with Ewan McGreggar.. He and his pal Charlie decided to bike from London to New York, via Russia and Mongolia/Kazakhstan.. Fascinating.. Last year they did London to South Africa too, but we've yet to watch that one..

Anyhow, that and watching reruns of Steve Irwin and some other Aussie adventurer, really have me dreaming..

I soo love to go places where others don't.. It's just an ingrained part of my nature.. The jungle fascinates me..

Oh how I dream of the earth covered in fruit trees, and for the ability to walk where i please without real land ownership or neurotically imposed borders! .. with an abundance of fruit in whichever direct I might head..

I dream of making videos of my travels, and exploring exotic fruit markets, discovering new fruits.. This one at least could be done. But much as I want to make the videos, I have to heal my arms first..

Which brings me back down to earth.. I am sitting on the carpet, using the laptop.. instead of climbing trees.. That's quite sad..

But I have faith that'll change. I'm full of faith.

More another day..

Hugs,
Mango the dreamer..