Like England with Parrots

I have almost reached the end of my stay in Australia, so I feel I ought to do a little summing up piece about the land of our convict cousins.

Firstly, the weather has not been all that I expected from Oz. The name 'Bullaburra' (the village in which I am staying with my cousins) means 'Blue Skies Village'. For the three weeks I have been here it could not have been more of a misnomer. Not only has the weather been bad but I arrived in New South Wales a few days after the driest May in recent history. Bah! However there are definitely positive points to Australia. I have really appreciated the abundance of exotic flora and fauna. It's difficult to imagine how strange it was for an Englishman who has spent three months in the land of brown birds and rats (Henan province) to see bright green and red parrots (Rosellas) in the garden. Then there are the marsupials which when you think about it, are just weird. They have pockets for Christ's sake!

Unfortunately the weather has somewhat hampered my ability to appreciate the Blue Mountains. For anyone who doesn't know what or where the Blue Mountains are, they are heavily gum-forested hills west of Sydney. The first crossing, to the plains inland was made in 1831 (I think) and before that many of the convicts believed that if they could cross the mountains they would reach China and freedom. Anyway, the scenery is awesome and the potential for adventure sport in the area is huge and therefore the main source of income is the tourist industry. Despite the weather I have managed to fit in a night camping, a day canyoning and plenty of walks. Tomorrow is (nearby town) Katoomba's Winter Magic Festival (http://www.wintermagic.com.au/) which promises to be a good laugh. I have been promised a heady mix of beer and hippies which can only result in fun.

My future abroad remains uncertain; the already unnecessarily stringent Chinese visa regulations have been made stricter for the Olympics so I am not sure whether I will be able to return as planned. I will fly to Hong Kong on Monday and will see what can be achieved there. But, as I am constantly reminding myself, it could be a lot worse. I have had an awesome time, with very few real troubles and I still have plenty of time before I really have to get my head down at university. Life is good (naa naa na naa naa!)