I arrived in Mildura in time to see the end of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the building of the PS (Paddle Steamer) Melbourne, there are lots of pics here.. I have been relaxing by playing golf, some people think I have been over relaxing and that I may be endangering my health, but they wouldn't know.

Preparations for the big trip are going well, I have been practicing pitching and unpitching the tent. The first tip that I can pass on is that having a few beers and only giving the instructions a passing glance will lead to problems. Not serious ones but the tent won't look real flash when its up and you may not be able to get everything back into the carry bag. If you have no beers and read the instructions carefully, it will look much better when you erect it and it will fit back into its carry bag.

The main thing that I have noticed since leaving Sydney is how quiet it is at night. Living on a busy street in St Leonards, there are always traffic noises, ambulance and police car sirens, helicopters going into North Shore Hospital etc. Its background noise that you just get used to, at my sisters place here in Mildura it is just so quiet that it takes a bit of getting used to. There is also a lot, lot less ambient light, with the lights turned out in my apartment there was still enough light to find your way around, here it's very dark when the lights go out. As I move further away from populated areas these differences are only going to become more pronounced.

I am a supporter and sometime member of the Carlton football club (CFC). It would be fair to say that things haven't being going well for Carlton for a long time. This week we hit a new low when we appointed Mick Malthouse as coach. I don't have any problems with Mick as a person, but for heavens sake he coached Collingwood and as a player for Richmond was partly responsible for us losing a grand final. Surely they could have found somebody less objectionable. I am thinking of asking for a clearance from Carlton so that I can support another team.

Next week I will be taking the first tentative steps away from civilization. This will be a test run or shakedown trip or what ever you want to call it. You can read all about it here in the next thrilling installment, hopefully by then I will mastered the camera and I can provide some pictures.