Laid down low

We've been laid down low with what we thought was food poisoning, but judging by the number of people with similar symptoms we now reckon to be a bug. And to think I was oscillating between blaming our friend Ubergay for the BBQ at his fabulous apartment and castigating myself for the improper heating-up of our hangover ready-meal.

So that pretty much wrote off a whole week - and what a week to write off too, what with a bunchof pre-Christmas do's lined up and - more importantly - the long-awaited trip to see Kylie. We still made it to the Rod Laver Arena, and despite the dizzy spells and the urgent clambering over the middle-aged ladies next to us to get to the bathroom, it was still a good night.

Before the bug hit, Steven and I made it to Q&A. Having previously met Jay there, this time we bumped into the twin stars of the Melbourne blogging scene, R*yan and D.U.P. They were both excellent value - and my time here would have felt incomplete if I'd left without meeting them. Man about Town was a fabulous Mistress of Ceremonies as ever - thanks for the Eurythmics track!

We're now back in rude health for our Christmas and New Year jaunt to Queensland.

Whatever you're doing, have a happy one.

The final frontier

Why is this picture from the International Space Station causing excitement amongst Apple-heads?

Because if you select the high-res version on the NASA website, you can see the guy's iPod to the right of his head.

An apology

To the reader in Paris who came here (two days in a row) via a Google search for "pecs torture" - Sorry. I suspect my post on the tribulations of joining a gym wasn't quite what you were after.

Fire

We live right in the middle of the city. And we can smell the smoke from here. Much respect and good luck to everyone fighting the fires.

A vision in khaki

On December 1st, game rangers Vernon Gibbs and Tony Halls became South Africa's first gay couple to tie the knot. According to one of them, "We did not have a very romantic wedding night because we have two baby bat-eared foxes that kept us up all night wanting to be fed and cuddled. And then someone brought in a black eagle with a broken wing and we had to take care of that." Bless.

Come on, Australia. Your turn next. Get those civil unions on the statute books and don't let Howard overrule it this time.

Cover me slow

You know when you hear a cover version that's a really slowed down version of the original, so that it kind of sounds like the song's been left outside and it snowed and the song froze and it's only now starting to thaw out again, and it's covered in particles of frost that glint in the pale winter sunlight and make you see the shape of the thing in a way you never did before? Well, Steven put a CD on with one such track on it (the first on the list), and it made me think of a few others that I like:

Temptation - the Moby cover of the New Order song
Sweet Jane - the Cowboy Junkies cover of the Velvet Underground song
Mad World - the Gary Jules cover of the Tears for Fears song (as featured in Donnie Darko)
Let's Dance - the M Ward cover of the David Bowie song
Baby One More Time - the Travis cover of the Britney Spears song

Nice.

Oldbus

Every other blogger in Melbourne has been banging on about how Shortbus is a must-see movie, so on Saturday afternoon we finally caved in and went down the road to the Kino Dendy to see it.

Now I don't know if the Dendy people have a special afternoon deal for pensioners, or if the lure of "unsimulated" sex is particularly strong for old people, but we were pretty much the only ones there under 60. The cinema was fairly empty, but here and there were groups of old women, old couples, and a rather worrying group of old men in the back row.

This was, quite frankly, a little disconcerting. I was suddenly reminded of an uncomfortable occasion watching Not the Nine O'Clock News with my grandmother back in the Eighties. A pastiche of Olivia Newton-John's 'Let's Get Physical' video came on screen, with Pamela Stephenson in a leotard riding a stuffed sheep rather suggestively. Awkwardness filled the room.

There was no awkwardness this time round, though. The oldies cackled with mirth at every new combination and contortion that flashed on screen. I enjoyed the film. By the sounds of things, they enjoyed it even more.

(If you do visit a Dendy cinema, try the choc-tops. To. Die. For.)

Heidi at Bondi

So what do you do when you fancy a nice healthy breakfast at home, but want something a bit special because it's the weekend? Why, you whip up some of bill's (the Sydney restaurateur always refers to himself in lower case) Bircher (the Swiss doctor favoured the traditional upper-case B) muesli. "A little bit Heidi, a little bit Bondi," says bill.

At the risk of incurring a lower-case law-suit from the bills empire, here's what you do: Soak a cup of rolled oats in half a cup of apple juice overnight. Sleep well. In the morning, add half a cup of grated apple, a quarter cup of natural yoghurt and the juice of half a lemon. Mix it up good and proper and spoon into two bowls. Top with sliced peaches and nectarines, throw in some berries and drizzle (such a recipe word) with honey. Lovely.

The trip of a lifetime

So it's almost the end of 2006. And what a year I've had. It was always going to be a bit special, what with it being the year of my once-in-a-lifetime round-the-world trip. (A five-hyphen trip, no less.) It was going to be full of adventure.

It didn't disappoint.

The adventures, as it turned out, weren't all quite the kind I expected. Sure, I got lost on the LA freeways, hiked up a New Zealand mountain and danced in a Bollywood movie.

But I had other adventures too, things that I never thought could possibly be adventures, things that involved eating in restaurants, watching DVDs and buying shoes.

In short, I did the one thing I hadn't planned on doing this year. I fell in love.

Soon, 2006 will pack up its wheelie-case and head off to the departure lounge. Shortly after that, I'll return to London, to my apartment, to work. But I'll take with me a very special souvenir. A guy by the name of Steven.

The trip will be over. But the journey will just be beginning.