Ringing in the New Year

Yesterday was New Year's Eve and I got to go to Canberra for a bit during the day. Rhys took us to a woodworking gallery because he has a passion for woodwork. This gallery displayed various works of practical art - meaning furniture, bowls, etc made out of wood that can actually be used. It was interesting to see the different types of wood there are including rare Australian ones. The one that really impressed me was a huge collection of miniature boots (about 2" x 3" each) that an artist had carved out from different types of trees around the world. You can distinctly see the unique patterns and colourings of the natural wood. All the works at this gallery could be purchased although they were too expensive for my taste.

After the gallery, we went to a lookout point above Canberra so we can see the city. It was a nicer day than the last time I was in this city (it was raining). Since this time the day was sunny, I was able to see everything.

In the evening, we had a BBQ dinner (no kangas this time) before heading over to the Goulburn Club to ring in the New Year with the locals. The Goulburn Club is a restaurant pub type place that has live music. Everyone in Goulburn is known for their friendliness and this is so true! While waiting in line for the bathroom, everyone was chatting and they also acknowledged me even though I was a stranger (I'm not used to this being a city girl). Another example was when I was sitting down and the woman behind me accidently bumped into me. She immediately apologized with great sincerity (which I would never have gotten in a big city) by saying "..I'm so sorry for sticking my bum in your face...". I love how Aussies use the word "bum" instead of "ass" or "butt". It sounds so much better. Anyways, my back was turned to her so her "bum" really wasn't in my face.

It was interesting to ring in the new year in a small town...it's really not that different in that there's always a colourful character at every party. This one had an older fellow with a mega mullet! His hair was so long it reached almost to his armpits. He was terribly intoxicated and knocking things over in front of the stage that the band was playing. At one point he ran into the room cuddlng up to a ratty old Teddy bear. I would think he was the highlight of the evening.

The band played some Aussie songs (which I didn't know) as well as 50's, heavy metal, and country. Rys and Allison were having a blast dancing and tried to convince me to dance too. Eventually with enough prodding, I went up and danced with them for a few songs. It was a lot of fun! At one point, a very drunk scrawny blonde was trying to pick a fight with Allison on the dance floor. It was quite funny actually, because blondie was being an idiot. Throughout the song she was the one bumping into Allison. As the song ended, she gave Allison one of those chicken staredowns. Allison thought it was funny so she just looked back at her with a smile. The little Napolean saw that Allison wasn't interested and turned away.

The countdown to midnight was quite disorganized. The band was on a break so no music was playing. All of a sudden, we hear "...7...6...5...4...3...2...1!". There was no warning whatsoever and the countdown didn't even start at 10. Secondly, they were 2 min early!!!! It wasn't even midnight yet! Apparently, they just pick someone's watch as the countdown time. Well, if they're gonna do that, they should at least use a cell phone! At least that's standardized by satellite.

Today (Jan 1st) I weeded the garden in the morning. I woke up at 9am (slept in 30 min -- woo hoo!) because we came home shortly after midnight. I was really tired by then...I think I'm getting old! LOL

Then at 4pm I rang in the new year again with my NY pals over the phone. It was so funny that I was in 2009 before my friends back home. After talking to them for a bit, I continued my sewing project of making medieval banners (flags).