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NATIONAL TOUR, June 2005

Sunday June 5th
Pt Lincoln is dry and sunny. We flew from Sydney to Adelaide in the afternoon with a mountain of gear. Sue Marley and Brian Cooper from Country Art SA got all our gear got on the same plane, thanks guys!
Andrew and Mark are meeting us in PL tomorrow and what a beautiful place it is. The Eyre Peninsula (Port Lincoln is on the southern tip) had dreadful fires about a year ago wiping out a lot of the bush and threatening some communities but it seems the town is unscathed and thriving. Besides Wheat, the main industry is fishing. It's the home of Dean Lukan, Olympic medallist and Tuna fisherman. We went to a fabulous hotel in the centre of the town for dinner and ate far too many Coffin Bay oysters and lovely local fish.
The next morning was a bit of a shocker. I was wandering around town when I realised I had a radio interview, OOOPS! The Flinders Theatre 1929 is a lovely local theatre just at the back on the waterfront. The Foreshore of the port is lined with pine trees that sort of reminded me of a more serene version of Manly Beach in Sydney. Just to give some historical background, Matthew Flinders (after whom the theatre is name) circumnavigated Australia in a boat called the Tom Thumb (about the size of a bloody rowboat) in the early 1800's and he obviously thought this was a pretty nice spot.
On the way to the airport, picking up Andrew (whose birthday it was yesterday) we past a very old pair of stone cottages. Except for the material the resemblance to buildings I'd seen in Ireland was not lost on me. It must have been very strange for our early European settlers and bringing familiarity of their original landscape and structures was I guess more an imperative to their well-being than the concept of adapting architecture to the heat of the Australia landscape.

Monday June 6th
Our first performance was in the Nautilus Theatre (right on the main street) with excellent acoustics and a terrific grand piano. The band is working on new material and I brought my laptop on the road to do some recording. A standing ovation is always a good way to start a tour. We met up with a mate of Andrew's who wants to take us to play out in the mining communities near Alice Springs. Unfortunately, we can't do it this tour, but next time...Whyalla next stop.

Tuesday June 7th
Outside Port Lincoln heading towards Whyalla the country is very dry and semi desert. The rainfall in this part of the country is enough to sustain a good farming community, but all the drinking water is pumped from way up near Port Augusta. We stopped at Cowell for a very nice pie and some magazines. Cowell is also known for oysters, as is the whole of Gulf of Saint Vincent. The oysters by the way are just incredible. We have two vehicles, a Tarago and a station wagon. We're playing heaps of lateral games and crosswords to pass the time. The music on the CD player ranges from John Prine to Derek and Clive! I love John Prine.. He says so much with so few words..so witty.
It's an interesting contrast to be listening to someone who lives in the village I just visited a month ago across the other side of the planet, driving in a Tarago through desert. The difference in the landscape is almost too much to comprehend. Every photo I took in Europe looks very soft with its colours. Australia is so bright; the colours leap out at you. It's not till you get to come back to Oz after some time away that you realize the difference in the light. I used the same camera on both my travels and the difference is there. I alway thought it was because of the shape of the planet and the fact the water goes down the plughole different ways!

Wednesday June 8th
We're playing at the Middleback Theatre tonight and guess what? It looks like a slightly smaller version of the Nautilus in Port Lincoln. Another great grand piano and standing ovation. We could get used to this. It's a pretty easy touring schedule. We are so used to driving far distances and then performing. Not so with this tour, I feel like royalty.
Whyalla is a steel-making town and the whole town is full of red dust. I drove into Whyalla about ten years ago on my way to Tumby Bay. It's amazing how time changes your perception of places. It's strange that what sticks out as a first impression about a town from our perspective is where we stay. Motels etc. We have had great accom... but see! isn't that a odd view of reality. I just love this part of the world. For those who don't understand the vast distances involved, we are half way between Sydney and Perth, about 26? hours by car travelling at 100kph to get to either city. Whyalla is about 250k from Port Lincoln and Cowell has about 1000? inhabitants. Okay, Tumby Bay (we past that just out of Port Lincoln) is a lovely place with huge population of 2000 people, but these places are so far apart!!!

Thursday June 9th
We drive from Whyalla through Port Augusta to Port Pirie. Before we leave Whyalla we stop at the local music store (violin strings) and wander around a bit. Mark and Andrew have gone snorkelling for Cuttlefish and it's started to rain. It's been so dry, the farmers will be delighted and with such a harsh drought, there are smiles all round. The countryside is changing from Iron Hills..we past Iron Duke and Iron Knob to our left as we travel north (this is the birthpalce of what was once a huge Austrlian Steel Making industry) and finally reaching the top of a rise where before you stretches an ancient sea bed. About half of the entire continent of Australia is an ancient seabed, stretching from near Mitchell in central Queensland all the way to Western Australia. It makes me chuckle to
think of young Irish lads and lasses, living in County Bondi, going to the Cock and Bull, spending their 12 months of freedom drinking, thinking that Bondi beach is the real Australia!!!! It's a vast country we live in. I have been travelling around Oz since I was 11. I have still only seen about 1/4 of this continent.
Nearing Port Augusta we see off in the distance the dreaded Baxter Detention Centre, a miserable looking facility in the middle of nowhere. What an awful place! About 2 years ago, I accompanied Pat Drummond (dedicated folkie and Amnesty International member) playing at Villawood...the Hilton of detention centres. I figured that everyone got a fair deal in all this and the centres were run very well, very humanely.... until I visited the maximum-security part. Now that was incredibly depressing! Baxter is 10 times worse!!!
Port Augusta has changed since I was last there. The city centre and the century-old buildings, once neglected have been given new life. There are OP shops galore.... I am calling this tour the LOCK UP YOUR OP SHOPS tour.
We reach Port Pirie in time for the sound check at the Keith Michell Theatre and guess what... it looks exactly the same as the other two with another great piano and more encores. Now, Keith Michell was a member of the Royal Shakespearian Theatre Company.. all the way from Port Pirie. Now there's a contrast. And what an incredible place. In the centre of the town is a lead smelter. It's a town with a long chequered history (and many OP Shops!).
You can imagine the miners and workers getting sick from lead poisoning, the development of unions, the community that developed. I lived in SA for a year or so (25 years ago), but just didn't get to see these centres and didn't understand how the history tied in with the present. Australian history is so tied up with our struggle to organize. I often wonder how our Anglo-Celtic (and European) traditions translated to Australian culture and it's seems obvious.... through the 19 century trade unions movement??? It's in Port Pirie that the best example of 100 year Railway Station I've ever seen still stands! The rail line used to run through the centre of the main street, all the way to the smelter!

Friday June 10th
It's clothes-hunting in the morning and Mark finds his usual brightly coloured gear that only he can wear. I get a pair of trousers and a shirt for two dollars. Andrew buys a pair of white overalls for $5, nothing fits Clare. We have to get to a radio interview in Adelaide by 5pm, but decide to drive through the Clare Valley for a change. The hills begin
to roll. We spend lunch eating in a bistro in the town of Clare with Clare! and Mark (Andrew and some of his friends dining with him) before getting to our accommodation in Kent Town just north of east Terrace in Adelaide. The Radio interview with the ABC goes great and we are on just after some Beatles tribute band. Sean O'Boyle and Mark Collier-Vickers are in town with their show the Leading Ladies (Ronda Birchmore, Judy Kenneally, Marina Prior. etc) and after the gig we all meet up at the Adelaide Festival Theatre for a chat. They (S and M?) are great characters and so the sounds of that incredible Sydney Gypsy Band, Msr. Camembert (with Jim Pennell, guitar and Marcello Maio, accordion). We spend some time catching up and eventually, we all end up at the Governor Hindmarsh (Adelaide's Folk Central) for a trad session. While Mark Oats is there being his wonderful Irish Trad playing self, Clare and I chat with Mick Albeck (ex Mr. Becky Cole) as well as Simon Johnstone and Norvall MacLean, who are all touring with Adam Brand. What a great night... Lots of partying and I end up lying in the spa at about 3.30 am after some overindulging.

Saturday June 11th
We are playing at Noarlunga in the College Theatre with the Minister of the Arts attending. It's also George Washingmachine's farewell party in Sydney... he's off to Europe for two months and as a regular FF member, we spend time chatting to him over the phone and giving him addresses of mates over there. Noarlunga is about an hour south of Adelaide and Andrew takes us via the scenic route past where he grew up... Andrew is great at giving directions...NOT! Please don't employ him as a navigator..."here's the storm water drain where I used to ride my bike and skateboard"... fascinating!! Everybody is thrilled with our performance and the band is really starting to employ dynamics, thanks in no small way to Rodney and John's wonderful playing. Poor Rod has been working on a project of devotional songs on the road with his laptop. As usual, he takes it all in his stride. More about this later.

Sunday June 12th Adelaide
I'm off to find a present for Robyn, whose birthday looms perilously close and we (Clare and I) comb the stores up and down Rundle St for suitable gifts. Thank God there is someone in the band helping me to choose presents! The restaurants around here are great and John and Rodney meet up with friends that have played in various bands in Sydney. They played on the Sydney Showboat for years as well as the Bourbon and Beefsteak (Kings Cross' legendary late night venue! Much partying going on. We all have friends here and the atmosphere of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival is fantastic. At night we go back to the Festival Theatre to watch Monsieur Camembert again. Looks like there's going to be a barbeque and session at Tony's (can't remember his last name) place in Glenelg tomorrow.

Monday June 13th
A bit of a slow start today. The barbie starts at 5pm, and loaded with instruments, etc, we head down the Glenelg highway. What a great session...there's about 8 fiddlers including Richard Tonkin from the Gov. (who turns out to be a bit of a political commentator as well), Linda Rankin, a great Scottish fiddler and a terrific Uillean piper called Tom. Andrew has gone to see his kids and grandchildren in Barmera and everyone in the Adelaide scene is asking after him. Adelaide has been a lot of fun this time round but it's back to work tomorrow. I get back to the motel at 1am. There is a knock on the door and Richard Tonkin has turned up somehow... I think I've missed something... anyway, he strolls off after a few beers and I take a rather fuzzy look at the recording work I have been doing with the band since we left Port Lincoln. I've been recording bits and pieces for the new CD and with the pieces we recorded in my studio before I went to Ireland, the CD is starting to take shape.

Tuesday June 14th
Mildura. A bit of a hike. The road goes through the Barossa, Nurioopta (great name) and crosses the Murray at Blanchetown. The cliffs dug by the Murray are spectacular it brings back the memories of my younger days travelling with a country band when I lived in Adelaide. We pick up Andrew at Barmera (bloody hell, now it's my fault we got lost!) and head towards Mildura. Jeez, Mandy (Andrew's eldest) has grown. When she was 13 years old, as tall as me. Now she's in her 20's, well over 6ft and with a new baby, Andrew is rapt with being a grandad, as well he should be. We are staying along the main road to the centre of Mildura and have a radio interview in the morning for the ABC. Mildura is a great place with very wide streets, lots of cafes and you guessed it, heaps of Op shops. I have now bought an entire wardrobe with $20! There is even a music venue called the Folk Music Cafe! In one of the espresso bars, we see what must be coffee freaks heaven, a dissolvable coffee flavoured gelatine square (like those Listerine ones) with about as much caffeine as two cups of coffee. Whoah!

Wednesday June 15th
The radio interview with Paula is before 9am and we are our usual silly selves. Hopefully we'll attract some like-minded people to the gig. After the spot, we're off for breakfast and another wander around this town. Food galore. It's a really big centre of agriculture and there are orchards for miles all over the place. The produce around the
Riverland is just amazing. We're playing tonight at the Old Mildura woolshed. It's right on the river and the Murray looks incredible. The light; the long slow lazy way the water flows; it's a beautiful still evening. The gig is warm and cosy and a perfect environment with the old wooden shed that has been restored by the Arts Council. The days have been warm, but the nights get cold and with the place full of people, you can imagine what it would have been like when the shearing was in full swing. The heat, the noise, the smell of sweat, sheep and everything else. The sheep were originally shorn with hand shearsbut eventually with steam engines, mechanical clipping would have made the job a lot easier. It was (and still is) backbreaking work and most shearers suffered from back pain and RSI before they got to the age of 40. Things have changed somewhat...
A young local fiddler (her name escapes me) says she remembers us from the Uniting Church
hall in Tamworth, when she was 13. She's 23 now! I was going to say I feel old... but I don't! The gig is great and yes another encore.

Thursday June 16th
We get up and leave Mildura by 9am for a 10.30am radio interview in Renmark (1 3/4 hours away). Puzzled... SA is 1/2 hour behind Victoria and NSW. If you think that's confusing then imagine what it's like with daylight saving. The radio interview is a ripper and Mark gets a CD of the chat but doesn't play it to me????? Actually he will, I just haven't had time to hear it. We are staying right on the river, well beside it and we'll be playing tonight at the Chaffey theatre. Now here's a bit of history. Correct me if I'm wrong. The Caffey bros built the locks in the Murray. With them, the rivers became the highway for a huge amount of wool and produce, people and livestock for well over a century. Renmark is the sort of town where I would like to hire a houseboat and sail up and down the Murray for a month or two or three.
The theatre is great, again. God, we are spoiled. Big crowd, great acoustics, it's amazing that these towns have such great auditoriums. Perfect for the Fiddlers Festival and lots of other productions I am sure. Next stop Mount Gambier.

Friday June 17th
Breakfast at a cafe and then off we go... It's a fair journey through a lot of sandy country.... Did I mention Andrew the navigator! He manages not only to give me wrong directions, but has told John and Rodney to head towards Adelaide. Later I hear they have
gone about an hour before they realize SOMEONE hasn't given them the correct information
and turn round. I find myself also taking a wrong turn (who's fault is it now?) but luckily figure it out a bit sooner.
The country turns to saltbush very quickly and a motor along at a good pace. The mind games
and puzzles are getting more bizarre and we are starting to make up cryptic clues for people's names... think about it!!!! On a short break Andrew videos a bone flying through the air in slo-mo (a la 2001?) and I get a shot of Clare doing a cartwheel and a great of
the three of them (Andrew, Mark and Clare). Back in the car to Bordertown and you guessed it
another wrong turn from Andrew! The countryside is starting to change and it reminds me of the backcountry around Wee Jasper (near Yass, NSW). And why shouldn't it. It's limestone country and you guessed it, we are getting towards the Coonawarra and vineyards! We get to Naracoorte just before 5pm and drive straight to the Caves outside of town. It's really worth a look. Some of the biggest Limestone caves in the southern hemisphere. We only have enough time to look through one cave, the Wet Cave. It's incredible. With a few smaller chambers before the main one, I am astounded to hear how good the acoustics are. I know it sounds silly but I would love to record a band down here. It would sound great! Back in the car and off to Mount Gambier. We pass through at least 20kms of wineries either side of the road as we go through Penola. It's a lot of grapes and just goes to show how big the Australian wine industry has become. We finally reach Mount Gambier a little after dark (having almost wet ourselves playing cryptic country stars!) and pull into the Commodore Motel (almost like the Little Feat song, Dixie Chicken). It's cold, but what a great town. We go off to dinner in the Mount Gambier Hotel. More Coffin bay oysters and we wander around listening to the local bands and checking out the pubs. We're here till Sunday night so we settle into our rooms and make plans for the days ahead.

Saturday June 18th
We explore the main street, which runs east west and spend time buying important things like... clothes, etc with a great juice/sushi bar and various second hand stores. There is an auction tomorrow and lo and behold there's what looks like a really good accordion for sale. I also track down a violin in another store so all is looking well.
Tonight's performance is in the newly refurbished Sir Robert Helpmann theatre. This is a beautiful place, with a great Yamaha Concert grand piano. I suggest to the band, we record some material on the stage and after a few phone calls we are set for tomorrow's recording. The whole of SA country arts will be at the show tonight along with the SA Minister for Arts. The band plays up a storm and everyone is overwhelming in their generosity. We attend a bit of a do after the show and the head of Country Arts SA, Ken Lord, and the minister heap praises on us. They also seem to be somewhat taken with the way they chose the colour of the theatre seat, they are very nice seats! A bit of a party back in my room for the assembled throng and lots of chat about what we can plan for the future.
Great night. It's the last gig we do in SA and we now head into Victoria.


Sunday June 19th
We stagger out of bed to the theatre to do some recording. I set up the laptop and mikes and we do some tracks with the piano. Andrew and Mark wander around Mt. Gambier while Rodney, John, Clare and I go to work. Most of what we set out to achieve is finished by 3.30pm, but during that time the bid on the accordion Clare has left is not enough and so the instrument goes to someone else, bugger! I collect the violin from the collectable shop and we head down towards Portland, via Port MacDonnell, which by the way has the best fish and chips ever. It dark and the road is a wild life park, there are roos and wallabies everywhere and Andrew (again!) is driving. He's only hit a couple of roos in his life!!!! I have to admit; I've never hit any and don't want to do so now. Arriving safely in Portland (phew!) at about 8pm we head to the Motel, right on the waterfront picking up some noodles on the way. It's quite cold, so this evening's entertainment is spent watching tele. The bottle shop at the hotel is selling cleanskins for $8.99 and a good drop they are too.

Monday June 20th
There are lighthouses, seal colonies, petrified forests and all sorts of things to see here. Portland is the home to an Aluminium smelter and the surrounding coast is very beautiful. Not much in the way of nightlife but the daytime vistas make up for that. The CEMA Arts Centres is a small venue with about 120 seats. By this part of the tour, we are all thankful the touring schedule hasn't been as busy as we expected with enough time to take in the sights of some very beautiful parts of the country. Over the past couple of weeks, we've gone from the coastal fringes of the Gulf of Saint Vincent, to Adelaide to the Riverland and on to western Victoria. The house tonight is small but again another standing ovation! Wow!

Tuesday June 21st
I want to get to Hamilton, but some of the crew opt for staying around Portland to see the sights. We arrive in town about lunchtime and check into a great motel outside town a bit. I tell you looks are deceiving. I thought this is sheep grazing town, not much to do. No Way! Hamilton has a heap of Op shops, a great deli/cafe and 3 antique stores. I must admit I'm a bit antiqued out but the cafe is amazing and sells everything from great food to deli stuff. We wander around a go to this wonderful place called the Big Wool Bale where the Ugg boots are locally made and very cheap. I get a polar fleece that's great and the others buy bits and pieces. There are some other great restaurants as well and as usual it's oysters and local fish to the rescue.

Wednesday June 22nd
The Hamilton PAC is bloody amazing. This is a town of 20,000 people. The hall is like a live recording studio with a Steinway grand piano and the best of the tour. $120K worth! The audience is big. We've been able to outsell a lot of the touring country acts and the staff of the theatre and the local arts council are very happy. So are we. It's such a
good venue. If anyone is ever thinking of where to perform around this area, this is an exceptional venue. We have been working on our recordings while on tour. Rodney has been slaving away with an album for a friend of his. He has become the master of a thing called auto tune, which can perform audio miracles. He's so diligent. I am thinking of getting him to do some of my editing. I have too many projects. I left CDs for Stuart to record some guitar for in Kinvara and now Clare and I are working on harmonies for the same project. The mike stand is a couple of ironing boards. I am hoping to get some more editing done over the next few days.

Thursday June 23rd
I am embedded in the editing process and the others have decided to go to the Grampians. It's a pretty foul day so, even though I would love to explore this part of the world, my obligations to other pursuits prevails. Work, work, work! I am starting to feel like I would like to get home.

Friday June 24th
The trip to sale is bloody long and we hit Melbourne traffic at peak hour. Bugger! We decide to stop for food in Collingwood and continue on to Sale after dinner. We arrive there at 8pm. Tomorrow morning we have a workshop so it's is going to be an early night... no Rodney is keen on bending my ear so at about 2am I finally persuade him to go home, only to have him come back again. Finally, I get rid of him. He and John are both fantastic blokes to have on the road but they seem to have spent some time at the pub at Sale before we arrived. No matter, they are such fun.

Saturday June 25th
Ouch, mumble, grumble... brekkie and workshop. There are about 25 players and we are having a ball. It's held in the Wellington PAC where we are playing that night. Everyone turns up and we all split into different groups. I have some students, which I teach in a dance studio full of mirrors. It's great to be able to show students what they look like when they play as a lot of technique on the violin relies on posture. We learn a simple tune and we all work on chords and rhythm parts. Clare and Mark teach the other class rolls and ornamentation. Andrew is working out a piece with the cellist and banjo player. It's great fun especially for Mark and Clare who haven't done a lot of this so we all get heaps form the experience. The night's performance is again a beauty. The auditorium is full and the people love it. Some of the audience are dancing in the aisles and Mark is running around being a madman, a usual. It's Andrew's last gig. He's off to San Francisco with Dya Sinh and Garry Steel will be with us in Alice Springs. Everyone is looking forward to getting home, myself especially. I have spent less than a week at home in nearly two months.

Sunday June 26th
Back to Melbourne. We've made some good friends here and I would love to have seen about to explore the coastline. The Thomson River flows through sale and empties into the ocean around Lakes Entrance. It's a 200km journey full of wildlife and stuff... another time. We drop off Andrew at Collingwood, head to Smith St for brekkie and get to the airport, drop off the car and get on the 2pm plane back home. Yippeee!!!!!

Wednesday June 29th
After three days' break we are heading to Alice Springs. There are a few hiccups getting onto the plane. One of us is running late and the security is very tight. The staff are checking our instrument cases, etc. After a 2 1/2 hour flight we arrive in Alice with Garry Steel replacing Andrew. We have a workshop at 4pm at the Araluen Centre, tonight I have a session at Red Dirt Recording Studios and there is a jam session at the Furkin and Hound after that.
Busy, busy. The workshop is great. Jane Coleman has got about 45 students together and Mark, Clare and I along with Jane and Sam (another teacher) spend a couple of hours teaching the students how to make up parts and rhythms for tunes. It all good stuff and very rewarding. The trad session in the pub is a chance to meet up with the locals one of which is a fiddler we met on the plane called Harry (I think?).

Thursday June 30th
Next morning we have enough time to relax and wander around the town. I have been trying to learn some tunes for my upcoming gig with Sean O'Boyle and Scotland the Brave, which does 2 shows at QPAC in Brisbane. I am also giving Sam a violin lesson trying to get his arm to relax a bit more. John and Rodney have driven out to Simpson's Gap and I am reminded of the time Robyn and I spent driving around in a campervan out here about 3 years
ago. I wish we could stay out here again; it's a special part of the world. Kirk, Garry's brother is out here with his wife Gale doing some gigs out at Glen Helen, a beautiful resort at the edge of the bitumen heading west. It's great to catch up with them both. The gig is a ripper. We've given Garry a bit of a hard task to learn some of the
nuances we rehearsed with Andrew, but Garry is has no trouble and the band sounds fantastic.
It's great to have him play with us again.

Friday June 30th
We have a radio interview in the morning at the Alice Springs show so at 11am after brekkie we head out of town and end up playing all sorts of madness on air amongst the chooks and cattle and pigs... what a blast! Then it's back to Sydney for everyone and I catch a plane to Brisbane from there. We are getting a lot of hassles with our violins. First the security officers tell us the strings can be used to garrotte people??? Well it all gets sorted out and off we go. I have about half an hour between flights and then the s&*t hits the fan. They won't allow my violin on the plane. Oh yes they will. I am so over this! You see the violin is a deadly weapon. Well, I can see that, in the hands of amateur... I get very irritated and get to the point I suggest to the staff that I won't fly if my violin doesn't go with me. I don't think they are used to people standing up to them. I actually have a rehearsal with an orchestra to get to. Bloody hell. Anyway, I get onboard. There was never any problem with my violin. I knew that. Off to rehearsal for Scotland the Brave. I am exhausted but have heaps of energy for the rehearsal and all goes well.

Saturday July 1st
Welcome to the new financial year. I've got another rehearsal and two performances today. After getting to bed at midnight, I have to get up at seven, gawd! I am looking forward to performing with an orchestra and yes don't the kilts look good! It's nerve racking but also exhilarating to perform with a good orchestra. I have so much fun playing in front of so many people. I have to play to narration which is a lot of fun. Make it up as you go. It's a bit of a trick to feel the ebb and flow of the voice and try to play empathetically (not pathetically!). A quick meal between shows and back on stage, the audience loves the fiddle tunes, it's all good. There are no cabs after the gig, so I walk from QPAC to Spring Hill past Albert Park, on Wigram Terrace. It brings back an old memory. In the early 80's I performed there with a country band to almost 100K people! It was a sea. I still remember the adrenalin! Off to bed for a well-earned rest!

Sunday July 2nd
Clare has been working with Brian Cadd on Bribie Island, so we meet up for breakfast at Brisbane. Talk about travelling. I will be glad to get home. I don't have any trouble with baggage this time. I don't think I could cope if there was. I have another three shows of Scotland the Brave next weekend at the Opera House in Sydney but for now it's finally home, after two months of touring. I'm really looking forward to sitting on the back deck and reading, just staring into space... I know that won't last!!!!!!
See you all soon, M