I am now finally an Australian 1975 days after leaving England and what a great night it was. People from over 20 different countries became Australians tonight and I was only one of three people from the UK. We sang songs, we waved flags, and we applauded when people went up to collect the certificate and plant. read more
I received my passport this week, note under Nationality is Australian. The reason I am not smiling is that Australia has such strict guidelines on what constitutes a valid passport picture. It has been very painful this week and I am still unable to open my mouth fully and I am living on Heinz tomato soup, avocado and boiled potatoes. read more
Today is , so I went down to Barbeques Galore to purchase a BBQ only to discover they had . No BBQ on . I'm nearly a Fair dinkum aussie :) I was thinking this morning, why did I not get my citizenship done so I could have become an Australian on . read more
Friday was a public holiday for Australia Day so it has been a long weekend. Australia Day is Australia's official national day, 26th January. Aboriginal Australians however, call the day "Invasion Day" as they regard it as celebrating the decimation of their people. read more
I have just come home from the tennis after watching a great game , Australia vs USA. Eighth seed Venus Williams crashed out of the Open to the Australian Alicia Molik 7-5 7-6 7-3 She now plays Lindsay Davenport , also from the USA in the quarter finals on Wednesday which also happens to be Australia Day , a bank holiday!!! I left the tennis at 11PM after watching the first 20mins of the mens, I have no idea what time they are due to finished as they ... read more
This was the last part of my Australian Citizenship Ceremony, and Waving of Flags, sung by all and led by Richard Thomas, who had an amazing voice and sung with lots of passion. If you cannot see the video then come visit No breaking news, I am busy working on a prepaid mobile phone platform and trying to clean up simondonn.com but I keep changing my mind on the design and technology but jQuery ... read more
Wednesday night I went to the Australian Open to watch Roger Federer beat James Blake. Unfortunately we wanted to see either Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic and we got Federer. It is a long weekend here in Australia due to Australia day falling on a weekend and we are due very hot weather with thunderstorms. read more
I finally received my letter telling me when I can say my pledge to Australia and officially become an Australian Citizen. It is in September but I am not allowed to call them before my welcome pack arrives, it is all very exciting, who knows what it will contain. After saying my pledge which will complete the citizenship process I can then apply for my passport, I do not know anyone else who has had to wait 7 months from passing the test to saying the pledge but I ... read more
It is a long weekend in Australia as Monday is a public holiday for the Queens birthday and it is the start of the World Cup. Opening night of the World Cup was very positive, you can not complain when you get two goals in the first game and tonight, well 4am tomorrow England play and then Australia the night after :)I have printed my colour world cup chart with Australian times so I do not get confused half way through and miss a game or even worse agree to an early ... read more
Last week I reached the final stage of my permanent residency application to Australia, I now need to go offshore to an Australian Embassy to find out if it has been approved.
Australia could have got its nose in front in the eighth minute when Bresciano's shot from Kennedy's flick-on deflected off Demichelis' boot and into the arms of goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri.
Thompson showed he was at home in such company with lively runs and a preparedness to take on defenders,... read more
has arrived minus any clothing that goes beyond his elbows. I am going to wake him up in a bit and go to the Italian Quarter on Lygon Street for some dinner and maybe a few bars. Sunday I am taking him to Melbourne Zoo to see some native Australian Animals. read more
What do you do post World Cup and pre EPL, you go to the . My first Australian Football League Match was Carlton vs Western Bulldogs and I was supporting Carlton. I went out for some drinks on Friday night for someones birthday and then spent Saturday being sick so I am thinking about stopping drinking. read more
We have changed San Diego for . It is a bizarre town, described by my mum as a scene from Stepford Wives. It is beatifull here and so peaceful and it is the first time this holiday where we have been able to sit by a pool and sunbathe ( for australians this means sunbake). read more
This weekend I watched my first AFL (Australian Football League) game which was the Final. Prior to the game , beinga soccer club and AFL final day what else to play before the game but . Sydney Swans won it after 72 years soit was overdue. read more
Last weekends round up, I've not done anything this weekend as I have had a bad cold so I have been looking after myself this weekend. Sunday I met a girl who took me to the market and then we went to St Kilda foran afternoon walk around. She is a mad Steps fanwhich is very strange from an Australian. read more
Today I had the afternoon off work and Lonely Planet had a Family Xmas Party. We had a BBQ in the park with free booze and plenty of activities for the children. A jumping castle, fairy floss (Australian for candy floss), mobile zoo and of course, Santa Claus. read more
I have sent off my passport application so hopefully that will arrive within the next 3 weeks. Another great weekend from the city boys, the only let down was that Spurs could not hang on for a draw to complete a 7 game accumulator. I walked to the market this afternoon listening to the phone in from the UK and it was all about . read more
This weekend was ANZAC day and for the first time since I came to Australia it fell on a weekend so we missed out on a public holiday. Another amazing weekend for sport, great win for City and remarkable comeback for United to complete my quadruple accumulator :) After a hard 3 weeks I am now very close to finishing off my flex enhancements for the Do Not Call Register. Welcome Twitters who should now be seeing this. read more
I took my for immigration to Australia and passed with a score of 90% and I managed to complete it under 4mins when I had 45mins. I felt a bit sorry for the people who were already doing the test when I walked into the room and then 5mins later I was gone. From this time forward, I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its People, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey. read more
What a crazy week in Melbourne. I woke up to find my water bed had burst a leak and then remembered I don't have a water bed! LOL It is very hard to fry (my oven is broke) and then discover your flat is full of smoke , so you have to open the balcony before the smoke alarm goes off but it is like opening an oven and getting a blast of hot air rushing in. read more
My laptop finally decided to call it a day and committed suicide. Cause of Death: Hard drive failure and burnt out motherboard caused by overheating. I managed to remove the hard drive and plug it into my new laptop so I still have my data. read more
On Sunday the temperature rose to 110 so getting to the beach was not even an option, so i locked myself in my flat, put the air con on and watched tv all day. I discover after that Charlize Theron was there but I missed her :( I watched NO.8 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne's beat Lindsay Davenport in the quarter-finals and watched some of Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. The mens match was almost like a football match, with a strong Greek and Croatian community here they ... read more
Today, headlines around the world include: "Miss Universe Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction" "Moon Dance: Miss Universe Loses Her Skirt" " Thong-Gate" "The 'Thong' View of Miss Universe" "Cheap Thrills As Jen Goes Undie-Cover" "Miss Universe's Dress Goes Thong" "Cheeky Slip-Up for Miss Universe" "Miss Universe Gets Maximum Exposure" and my favorite from "Miss Universe Bares Assets.... read more
