I didn't see a Yellow Brick Road in OZ!

My backside aches, I've been sitting for way too long. My eyes are sore, I've watched too many movies and day turned to night and night to day in the region of a few hours. Outside it's murky grey and I'm already dreading having packed my assortment of ‘skittles' inspired tiny shorts and other summer clothing!

So this is Oz, Australia at 8 am after all the travelling, after 7 meals and after those nauseous scents travelling in the cabin of the aircraft you feel eternally bound to, for those seemingly endless hours. I am more of a fan of driving. It's the only time I feel I can have some peace of mind and think and watch the world go by in ‘Real' time. Looking at the outside everything flashes by so fast, so that you cannot always savour your surroundings. The one thing which always mesmerizes me is the cables along the side of the road. It's truly beautiful the way they move and intertwine to make patterns, the way they dip low and suddenly move up, it just keeps me entertained for hours.

Ballina is a cute little place...and when I say little, that's not in Malta size but in ratio to the continent! In comparison Byron Bay is where everything's happening, undoubtedly it's got charm and you can tell why tons of back packers get roped into staying there for more than the one week they've planned there. The beach is gorgeous and the food is so tangy, genuine and rich in flavour. ( Mona's influence there!)

The highlight of being in Byron though is that every March the Roots Blues Fest happens and this year's line up was pretty impressive. Each performance I watched, it felt as though time stood still. For most of these artists it seems as though time did stand still, I'll tell ya! Never have I been more convinced that music keeps one young, especially after Ray Davies and John Fogerty took to the stage for over an hour of their greatest hits. They had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hand!

And if you want to give even more meaning to that expression to its full extent check out John Butler. I have witnessed sexual energy between two people, body language, the way two people stare at each other and all of that. This man has THAT sexual energy with his guitar! His voice is sexy, soothing and velvety all at one go and his guitar playing is out of this world!

I still remember getting my first CD player when I was 10 years old and the very first song I played on it was "Nothing Compares" sung by the infamous Sinead O'Connor, I used to warble through it endlessly. Nowadays, Sinead's put aside the pope picture tearing antics and still writes music and tours with her 3 kids. Although her set was a tad ploddy, she grabbed the audience's attention (mine included) when she sang the track, I obviously recorded the whole thing on my camera AND warbled along yet again.

Visiting Nimbin was a bit like stepping back into the 70s. Couples in dreads with barefooted kids eating organic carrot sticks, magical cookies and a museum which has barely 3 rooms in it, but the character of the place draws you to it! We ate lunch in a garden, while caterpillars strolled along our table and butterflies fluttered around. The lady behind the bar offered me a job in the café..I was half tempted to stay hehehe but then again I have a job to do here in Malta so I sulkily came back!

So it's back to the routine. Back to waking up at 8...ok ok 9 am....back to dead lines. Back to my mac...which I'm currently on surfing the net ...to book my holiday next year in Oz again!!!!!