Sydney 16th March 2009

April. There's something about April. It seems to be a month for big changes in my life!

After 3 months of fervently job-hunting in an increasingly desperate climate, I'm forced to concede that I can't get a job here in Australia (or probably anywhere else) and I need to leave soon. This is and isn't a happy prospect. It isn't because I really love Australia and want to live here but it is because I'll soon be seeing some very dear people in...South Africa!

Yup, after 15 years of being away, I'm finally going back. And here's the funny thing...it's almost 15 years to the day. I left SA on 4th April 1994 to go and live in England. Then, I left England on 6th April 2008 to come and live in Austalia and now, I'm leaving Australia exactly one year and one day later on the 7th April 2009 to go to South Africa. Weird hey!

I won't bore you all with the visa situation but the government here has just announced that they are cutting Skilled Migrant Worker visas from 133,500 to 115,000 next year. This is the visa that I've been intending to apply for, once my skills assessment is through. Which was supposed to take 10 weeks and has been now been over a year.

Anyway, I'm going to spend my last 3 weeks here doing some sight-seeing and probably couchsurfing around the place as I've hardly seen anything or been anywhere and there's so much to see. However, I did finally have a go at surfing yesterday which was more scary than I thought it was going to be and I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art at the weekend which was really, really good. There was also a Paddys day parade yesterday which was fun to watch, especially the dogs - Irish setters and Irish wolfhounds. Lovely!

So I'm back at The Broadway Inn backpackers in Chippendale for the week, after which, we'll see where the couchsurfing takes me. I'll start taking more photos again and try to round off my blog with a bang. So, my lovely friends, my travels are nearly over, for now. I can hardly believe it's been a whole year! Feelings are very mixed at the moment with fond memories bringing a smile but recent inactivity on the job front bringing me down. Looking forward to some happy reunions but tinged with the fear of a future of uncertainty. At least the sun is shining so I think I'll go out and enjoy it. Bye for now.