#australian beach house plans

[vaastudesigners]

Vaastu Designers understands that townhouse living offers a unique blend of convenience, functionality, and contemporary style. With their expertise in architectural design, Vaastu Designers offers an array of thoughtfully crafted townhouse plans that cater to the diverse needs and preferences of homeowners.

[marlenesluv]

hi there. can i request a fluff one shot with Max Verstappen? Where basically he is secretly dating Danny Rich’s sister, and one time Daniel wanted to surprise her sister back in Perth when he noticed that the house felt different. Like she has like 5 dogs that would always happily greet him, but they didn’t that time cause the dogs were happily with Max and Daniel’s sister. Cheers x.

Puppy Love. (MV)

note: awe, this is so cute!! for sure i can do this :) i hope you like it! (sorry this took so long) also, i made it so daniel didn't know about them at first, hope that's okay!

pairing: max verstappen x ricciardo!reader

warnings: none! this is j fluff

masterlist here -> masterlist link

^ check my list for all posts! ^

Daniel Ricciardo knew his sister never wanted to move out of Perth. She loved the beaches and the warm weather. So visiting Monaco was usually out of the question. But when he saw his sisters Instagram story, he questioned that logic.

She posted a photo of dinner with Carmen, George, and someone he couldn't make out due to the photo being too blurry. Which, he figured, was on purpose.

Y/n, on the other hand, was enjoying her night out with Max, George, and Carmen. Carmen was the only person who knew that her and Max had been secretly dating for about six months now. She assured Y/n that George wouldn't tell anyone, despite some people thinking he's a gossip...which he is. But he swore to keep it private. He understood them being nervous.

"You okay, liefde?" Max asked, seeing you look at your phone with furrowed brows as you bit your bottom lip.

Exhaling, and sending your response to Daniel, you smiled up at Max and nodded. "Daniel's just texting me. He saw my story, wanted to know why I was in Monaco randomly." Max hummed and nodded, putting his hand on your thigh to try to ease the anxiety.

"Y/n, did you hear me?" Carmen smiled, watching the interaction between you and Max. George took a large gulp of his water as he sputtered, "Guys, these fries are way too seasoned-" he coughed again, Carmen smacking his back.

Max laughed quietly, sipping his water as you took a bite of your food and shook your head and smiled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt with my cough. Go on." George wiped his mouth and sipped some water.

"Sorry, Carm. I didn't hear what you said, what's up?"

"It's okay! I just asked what time you and Max were planning on leaving and going back to Perth."

"Oh, um.... Max? What time did you want to leave again?"

Max leaned back, "It's up to you. We need to get back to the dogs soon. Jimmy and Sassy want to go this time I think." You smiled at his response, "I guess we're leaving tonight."

Carmen smiled and nodded, George and Max now conversing about the next season. You were excited to go back home to the dogs and Daniel, knowing he probably wanted to see you too.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"Do you think the dogs missed us? Because I missed them- hey! Don't set Jimmy down, I'll hold him." Max frowned as your eyes went wide. "Okay...um, yeah. I'm sure they missed us."

Immediately as the door opened, all five dogs came running towards the door, leaving you just enough time to shut the door so they couldn't run out. Chasing dogs was not fun.

Having the dogs, however, was the best. Scout was an eight-year-old Border Collie. He was your first dog, which you bought when you moved into your apartment seven years ago at the age of eighteen. Scout was one of the calmest dogs you would ever meet. He really was the biggest cuddle dog.

Then, there was Rocco. Rocco was rambunctious, to say the least. He's a chocolate lab that's six years old. Rocco, fun fact, actually met Roscoe, Lewis' dog. You brought Rocco when he was a puppy to the Australian Grand Prix when you got him. Lewis, coincidently, had Roscoe with him. It really was an adorable sight.

Marley was your sweet girl. She's a four-year-old cocker spaniel. She's a sweetheart, really. You loved the way her tail went about a hundred miles per hour when you came home, even if just for going for a run. Max would argue that Marley has attachment issues, but you just ignore that.

Then, there were the two goldens you adopted last year from the rescue: Mochi and Sushi. You may have named them when you were hungry...but who cares. They are both one, and Mochi, a girl. Sushi, a boy. They both kind of looked like Charles and Alexandras dog, Leo.

Maybe you had too many dogs in some people's eyes. But you had a big apartment, and living alone was a little depressing. Yeah, Max flew out to stay over a lot. If he wasn't racing, he was in Perth with you. And you usually came to the races with Daniel. Heidi was a busy woman, and you wanted Daniel to feel supported.

Not to mention how most of the girls loved your apartment. Carmen came to visit a lot, along with Kika and Lily. Alexandra just started coming over as well, usually with Charles, Joris, and Leo. Rebecca also started coming over as well. Let's just put it this way, everyone saw your apartment as a great hangout spot.

You had a lot of windows, all overlooking the beautiful beaches and buildings in Perth. Being smack in the middle of the big city made for gorgeous nights as well. The kitchen was huge and spacious. Your apartment was your safe haven, always making it comfortable to come home and relax.

When you started dating Max six months ago, you brought him to see your apartment. He knew you loved it from previous conversations you had with Daniel when Max was around about when you first moved in.

Max was basically there from the beginning. He knew you since you were both teens. From your first breakup, your failed exam grade in uni, and arguments with Daniel. Max loved hearing you talk; he knew that for sure.

Since the day he first met you, he knew he wanted to try to date you. Your smile drew him in, your laugh made his day, and your personality was addicting. He loved you from the second he saw you.

"Liefje, do you want to watch a movie?" Max asked, looking at you as you grabbed two waters from the fridge. "Yeah, sure. How about Stepbrothers?" You smiled, sitting down next to him on the sectional.

Max laughed, "Alright. Scout? Come here, bud." Scout jumped onto the couch beside you, Jimmy and Sassy on the blanket next to Max. It's like Scout knew that even when Max called him, he knew Max was calling him for you.

As the movie started, Mochi and Sushi went to lay down at the opposite end of the couch. They fell asleep on each other in a matter of seconds.

Marley and Rocco were walking around the house, occasionally entertaining each other by chasing each other around. As you and Max cuddled on the couch and watched your movie, Daniel planned to surprise you.

He knew you were home, you told him that you had landed back in Perth and that you'd be home for a while. And since it had felt like forever, he thought he would show up to your apartment with the key you gave him and cook you guys some dinner.

What he didn't know was that you were already busy, and he didn't expect it.

As he took the private elevator up to your floor, he checked his watch, it read 10:03pm. A little late, but the number of times you guys showed up at each other's home late into the night was plentiful.

Daniel walked up to your door, pausing as he thought he heard something. He thought about texting you but figured it might be the dog sitter. So he unlocked the door and stepped in, trying not to make too much noise to scare the dog sitter.

He found it weird that as he walked in, the dogs didn't come greet him, though. The dogs always ran to the door and jumped on him, happy to see him. He was confused.

What Daniel didn't expect to see when he walked into the living room was you and Max. You and Max cuddled up on the couch watching one of your favorite movies. Not to mention his cats. Neither of you even noticed Daniel.

"What's this?" Daniel spoke, earning a yelp from you and Max jumping off the couch, thinking there was an intruder.

"What the fuck, Daniel?! You can't just break in like that!" You yelled, throwing the blanket off of you to stand next to Max as he paused the movie.

"It isn't breaking in, Y/n. You gave me a key." He said, dangling the key between his fingers.

"Oh.." you bit your lip, Max exhaling as he ran his fingers through the top of his hair.

"You didn't answer my original question. What is this?" Daniel asked again, pointing between you and Max.

"Um.. Daniel, I really don't want you to freak out-"

Daniel cut you off, "What?" Max sighed, "Mate, it's not a big deal, okay? We've only been dating for six months, and she was going to tell you soon."

You sighed, watching Daniel take a deep breath and nod. "Okay, fine. You're happy then?" Daniel asked you.

"Mhmm, I really am, Dan."

Daniel nodded again, "Good. I guess it really only was a matter of time."

To this, you and Max shared a confused look and looked back at Daniel.

"What? You guys seriously think I haven't noticed the way Y/n leaves every race to go 'check out the other garages.' and how you guys talk after almost every race?"

"I mean, I didn't think you noticed..." You trailed off, Marley barking for pets from Daniel.

"Hi, Mars." Daniel cooed, petting Marley as he laughed. "I guess if you're going to date someone, I'm glad it's Max."

Max perked up, "Really?"

"Yeah, man. I trust you; I know you. I also know where you live if I need to come break your toes if you hurt her." Daniel raised his brows.

"I'm not going to hurt her you, nimrod. But thanks."

You smiled; glad Daniel didn't make a big deal. "Okay, um, I kind of want to finish my movie... want to stay, Dan?"

Daniel shook his head, "Nah, I'll go. We can get lunch tomorrow. I'll bring Heidi?" Daniel asked, walking towards the front door.

"Yeah, I'll text you. Thank you, Daniel." You gave him a hug as he ruffled your hair, "Yeah, whatever. Have fun-" You started to close the door as he spoke again, "Wait! Not too much fun!" The door was shut now.

Daniel smacked on the door, "Hey! Y/N? Max? Damnit." Daniel let his head fall on the door as someone on the same floor as you looked at Daniel strangely and sighed.

"I'm her brother- I just, yeah you don't care." Daniel sighed, leaving you and Max alone...something he still shudders at to this day.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

(reposts, comments, and likes are appreciated!^-^)

[batshit-auspol]

1975: There is mass panic in Adelaide after a house painter / part time psychic claimed God was about to send a tsunami to wipe out the city, should a plan to legalise homosexuality become law, with news reports reaching as far as London.

In response to the media frenzy, and to reassure the public, Premier Don Dunstan announced that he will be travelling to the beach to fight the sea, where he was met by hundreds of locals who had used the apocalypse as an excuse to take the day off work.

Follow for more Batshit Moments in Australian Politics

[twobluejeans]

HEARTBREAK ON TOUR!

charles leclerc x famous!reader

summary: in which the lavender haze has been lifted. or in which america’s it couple splits.

part 11: 1997 y/n’s version promo series masterlist

faceclaim: madison beer

ally’s radio 📻: PART 11! i’m sorry for starving y’all, hope this makes up 💀💗.

july 22, 2023

By Glamour

july 22, 2023 8:16AM

Just a few weeks ago, Charles Leclerc seemed to be shimmering with joy about his relationship with Lola Ransdell. “He’s happier than he’s been in a long time,” one insider told Us Weekly. Friends of Leclerc and Ransdell were texting a New Yorker writer who profiled Ransdell to say, off the record, that “this time, it’s real.” 

Close insiders  were reporting that the Ferrari driver and Youtuber were even planning to share Leclerc’s estate in Monaco, a house he once shared with singing scarlet ex, Y/n L/n.  In a recent youtube video, Ransdell herself told her fanbase, “I’ve just never been this happy in my life, in all aspects of my life, ever before.” 

Just weeks later, Leclerc’s and Ransdell’s relationship is over. So how did things go from sparks flying to their last kiss so quickly? Let’s hear from the sources.

Shortly after TMZ first reported the breakup, without a reason, a source had more for Entertainment Tonight. “They are both extremely busy and realized they’re not really compatible with each other,” they said.

That checks out — Leclerc had been off the road when their relationship went public, but the summer season of formula one recently kicked off a marathon in Britain, early July, leaving little time for their rendezvous between Ransdell’s own schedule. 

But immediately, Leclerc’s split looked and sounded like a bit of image rehabilitation given the multiple controversies following Ransdell. Their relationship became controversial as soon as it began, as fans were quick to note that Randell shared uncanny similarities to ex, Y/n L/n.

Left to right: Ransdell, L/n via instagram

As more insider comments poured in post-split, a narrative seemed to form that their relationship was just a low-key rebound all along.

“It was always casual,” a source told People. “It was never serious,” another told Us. And in an instantly memed quote, another insider told People, “They were never boyfriend-girlfriend or exclusive.” If you read between the lines of the reporting during their relationship, though, this doesn’t seem too far off. 

That source who told Us how much “happier” Leclerc was with Ransdell did go on to add, “It’s hard to tell if they’ll go the distance.” And another seemed to tell People that Ransdell was just Leclerc’s sidepiece while he was away from his main squeeze, the Hungary Grand Prix  itself. “He’s very focused on his job but is enjoying hanging out with Ransdell when he is off,” they said.

Sure, not all the insiders saw things that way. The source who initially confirmed their relationship to the The Sun said Leclerc and Ransdell were “madly in love” at the time. (Maybe they even said as much themselves.) Another had told Us that the couple was “moving fast,” adding, “They really enjoy each other’s company and want to spend as much time together as possible.” And even we saw the public kissing, cuddling, and late nights at Leclerc’s apartment.

Leclerc and Ransdell spotted at a beach in Malibu last week via@tmz

Nearly every source who confirmed Leclerc’s breakup added that he was just having “fun” with Ransdell. “He wasn’t ready for another serious relationship just yet,” a source told Us, after his previous split from six-year girlfriend Y/n L/n. 

Leclerc and L/n spotted at the same beach in malibu, just a year before Leclerc revisited the spot with the Australian Influencer via@tmz

Crucially, that source added that his friends weren’t surprised by the split, echoing a detail from that initial ET report. “Charles’s friends want what’s best for him and aren’t shocked that their relationship fizzled out,” the ET source said. “In fact, some of them even encouraged him to break up with her—his family included.”

So, the classic case of friends and family supporting a relationship in the moment even though they can already see the end. Take it from a “Page Six” source: “Everyone who really knows him has been saying all along that this was a fun, good-time thing that would last as long as it lasted and would be no big deal once it was done.”

 That insider went on to call the relationship “a summertime thing,” comparing it to his 2015 fling with Charlotte Siné.

Leclerc and Sine back in 2015, via @charlottesiine on instagram in now deleted posts.

To this unusually chatty and surprisingly profound insider, this wasn’t even a proper breakup. “It’s a natural evolution of a fun little thing whose moment is over,” they said.

Or, at least, whose moment is over for now. As one of People’s sources added after the split, “Who knows what could happen again.”

SEE MORE RELATED POSTS:

• Lola Ransdell seen leaving Charles Leclerc’s Home crying moments before news of breakup.

• Charles Leclerc and Lola Ransdell have unfollowed each other on instagram

• A look back at Charles Leclerc’s Relationships..so far

TWITTER, july 22

INSTAGRAM, july 22

liked by sabrinacarpenter, aarontaylorjohnson, gigihadid, and 8,829,184 others

yourinstagram good in goodbye. single & music video out 7/28. meet me behind the mall.

View all 17,828 comments

y/nserastour GIRL WHAT THE FUCK

lovinghimwasred i understood that reference ☝️

peteparkerml WHAT IS DREW STARKEY DOING HERE???

madisonbaileybabe my favs in one room omg

obxstarkey it’s just a music video 😀 it’s just a music video 😀 it’s just a music video 😀

obxscenes the devil (and kris jenner) work hard but y/n l/n works harder.

drewstarkey so much for summer love

y/nswizzle i just know this song is abt charles..

charlesleclercfan11 y/nswizzle she needs to leave him alone atp like it’s so obvious and embarrassing. she’s just so obsessed and using his name to stay relevant.

yourinstagram charlesleclercfan11 if you listened closely, you'd know my music's about my life, not a single person. but hey, i guess 'obsession' sells records, right?

madelyncline lowkey offended u didn’t chose me as your love interest

yourinstagram madelyncline dw babe you can be it in the next one 💘

libray/n yourinstagram WHAT DO U MEAN NEXT ONE???

TWITTER, july 22

INSTAGRAM, july 22

liked by landonorris, bejeweledleclerc, and 789,174 others

tmz_tv #Y/nL/n appears to have confirmed the dating rumors about her and #AaronTaylorJohnson! See video of Y/n and Aaron driving the getaway car from dior’s backstage after party to a private dinner near the singer scarlet’s manhattan apartment.

view all 137,929 comments

landonorris OH SHIT

szasbutterfly the 1997 y/n’s version promo is insane

kardashianclips I dont understand why it's a big thing ...like she's always dating somebody

kanye_ontop she wrote 10 songs that night

goatwest kanye_ontop 1. "London Love Story" 2. "Stage Lights and Tea" 3. "Theatrical Love Affair" 4. "Leading Man" 5. "Behind the Scenes" 6. "Silver Screen Across the Sea" 7. "Cinema Nights" 8. "West End Serenade" 9. "Take One" 10. "Scene Stealer"

salvatoredelrey this relationship is so 2010s coded

bellyxconrad the beginning of another beautiful song for us #your/fandoms/name

user31 maybe y/n should focus on her music and less on her love life. It's getting old 😒

TWITTER, july 22

ally's radio 📻 : HI GUYS IM BACK! sorry for the two month hiatus 💀 anywyas, SECRETS OUT ATJ IS THE NEW LOVERRR (bless up) (henry was so, so close) drew isn’t going to interfere w the story, just thought it’d be fun to throw him in there bc he’s hot😍. what do we think? also what do we think charles’s reaction is gonna be? lmk bc i’m so curious how y’all think this is gonna play out. i have an idea, but i’m welcome to others ofc.

taglist:@incoherenciass@dakotali@405rry@topaz125@sassyheroneckgiant@hevburn@itsmytimetoodream@ivegotparticulartaste@crowdedimagines @asterianax @haydee5010@scenesofobx@christinabae@magical-spit@dessxoxsworld@myareadsbooks@honethatty12@hopefulinlove@diasnohibng@gentlemonsterjennie1@hummusxx@eugene-emt-roe@taestrwbrry @perjarma @cxcewg@chimchimjiminie16@glow-ish@allywthsr @millyswife@mrsmaybank13@black-swan-blog27 @stargaryenx@lilsiz@ohthemisssery@leclerclvr

[wyattjohnston]

stay forever - jake debrusk

summary: the real reason jake was scratched against l.a. on october 21.

word count: 2.9k

note: have been absolutely fascinated by him pulling a tyler seguin for 9 months and started this fic back in october...

An emptiness overwhelmed Juliet’s house as it always did when her parents had returned back to Connecticut. It was a purchase she regularly regretted—three bedrooms more than one person needed and more living spaces than she could ever fill—but people had gotten to her with their constant comments about needing to grow up. Needing to prepare for a family.

She hoped that her future husband would appreciate its location on the Pacific Coast Highway because that wasn’t something she regretted.

For the time being, she owned a very unnecessarily large house which she only lived in part time when her filming schedule allowed. She spent a lot of time on her own waiting for company to arrive.

Juliet’s company for the evening was someone she didn’t see very often at all—mostly when he was in California for work, or when she visited her parents—but someone she always wanted to see more often than she could.

She sat down at her kitchen bar, a poorly made cocktail sitting in front of her, and her feet swinging around the base of the chair as she waited for Jake to arrive at her door. By the time the GPS tracker was outside her house, her drink was empty, and she was filled with nervous excitement. She waited by the intercom, no longer embarrassed to open the gate the second he pressed the buzzer, and then opened the front door to wait for him to walk up her driveway.

“That drive feels longer every time,” Juliet told him, reaching for his belt buckle as soon as he was in reach so that she could tug him closer until they were chest-to-chest.

With the door closed and the car disappearing out of the gate, he nodded, saying, “I think I learnt the entire history of the Pacific Coast Highway.”

“I can send a car to pick you up,” she reminded him as she did every time he was in California.

“But how would I know that The Beach Boys released a song about it in 2012? Or the Australian pop punk band who mentioned it in one of their songs? Or—”

“I get it,” Juliet cut him off, still leading him through the house with her hands on his belt. “You like facts about the Highway. Music about the Highway, specifically.”

Before he could get any more words out, Juliet pressed her mouth to his, still keeping him close with her hands on his belt.

They had the whole afternoon together—the whole night—which was a luxury that they were rarely afforded, and Juliet was overwhelmed by all the things they could do together. As was usually the case when near Jake, she never got any further than an arm’s length away.

The Pacific Ocean stretched out beyond Juliet’s balcony as they sat and watched the waves roll onto the shore beneath them. Being cuddled up under the warm afternoon sun was more than she could ask for. She fit so naturally in the space between Jake’s legs, her back pressed against his chest and his fingers hiding underneath the hem of her cropped shirt and across her rib cage.

There wasn’t much to talk about that they hadn’t already spoken about in their daily phone calls or their frequent texts, but the silence wasn’t so bad. Just being with each other, in each other’s space, pressed up against each other on her surprisingly comfortable outdoor couch was enough. Juliet caught him just smiling at her on more than one occasion. It was nice to just see him in person rather than on a phone screen.

The sun had sunk below the horizon, leaving behind the pink sky Juliet so adored about Malibu. She looked over her shoulder at Jake and melted into the instantaneous kiss.

“Do you want dinner? Abbey made you the chicken one you said you liked last time. The one that fit with your nutrition plan?”

Jake’s forehead came to rest against the back of hers. He asked, “You remembered that?”

“I wrote it down and you hadn’t said your plan had changed. I hoped.”

Her fingers started to tap against her ribs.

“God, I need her to be in Boston to be my chef.”

“I can ask her if she wants to,” Juliet said without hesitation.

“Do you come with her?” he asked, his mouth pressed against the back of Juliet’s neck. “Because the only person I want to move to Boston is you.”

Juliet hummed. She didn’t want to rehash the conversation they’d had all summer, not on their first night together since he left for training camp. She’d thought about moving back to New England, about being closer to her parents and her sister, about being closer to Jake. Her house might have been too large for just her, but it was a better alternative than uprooting herself for a relationship where they hadn’t even said they love each other after nearly twelve months.

Her sister’s commentary about them being unable to say the L word because they spent too much time apart always fell on deaf ears.

“Jake—Jake,” Juliet panicked, shaking his shoulder viciously. “Jake. Your alarm didn’t go off.”

He woke all at once, a violent flail sending his limbs in all directions as he sat up. His first instinct was to reach for his phone on the bedside table; his phone that wasn’t there.

Typically, on the rare occasions when they woke up in the same bed, Juliet was wrapped up in his arms before she’d even woken up and before either of them even thought about getting out of bed there was slow, lazy, but oh-so-good, morning sex and a healthy amount of cuddling.

That morning, though, she watched him launch out of bed so quickly he nearly tripped over the top sheet he didn’t take time to remove. She couldn’t fault him.

She tried not to follow him around the bedroom too closely as he dressed, nor throughout the rest of the house, but she found herself picking up things that fell out of his overnight bag and slotting them back in gingerly.

It was the lack of speaking that was the most unnerving. Jake wasn’t a typically angry person, in fact Juliet couldn’t recall a time where she’d seen him mad, but the heavy footsteps and the tension in everything he did made her hesitant to speak.

On the kitchen counter downstairs, next to an empty bottle of red, was Jake’s phone which he swiped off the counter with such fervour that it crashed to the floor, causing Juliet to recoil. Jake didn’t seem to notice.

Standing in just the shirt she’d managed to throw on, Juliet kept her distance as Jake scooped up his phone and ordered an Uber. If Juliet were to be petty, she’d have mentioned that if he’d let her organise a car then none of this would have happened. Except, she wasn’t petty, nor was she interested in stoking fires, so she stretched out the bottom of her shirt as she nervously wrung it through her hands.

The silence remained until Jake looked like he was readying to leave, standing up from where he’d been leaning across the island and texting furiously. He didn’t look away from the screen.

“I’ll see you after the game,” Juliet said, tentative to break the silence but not at all wanting to let him leave without saying anything at all.

Jake scoffed, “I’m not gonna play so don’t even bother.”

Juliet stepped towards him, the space reducing to only a couple of paces, reaching out to him with her eyebrows pulling together. She asked, soft, scared, “What? Why? Are you injured?”

“I’m late, Juliet,” he snapped, still not looking up from his phone. “They’re not gonna let me play.”

“Oh, well, I’ll still come,” Juliet said, harried. While she was relieved that he wasn’t keeping injuries from her, her brain was reeling to create a solution. “Maybe I can talk to somebody and tell them I had an emergency—”

“Don’t do that. Whatever you fucking do, do not do that.”

“Okay… I don’t have to do that.”

Jake used the buzzer to open the gate to let the Uber driver in and Juliet’s eyes began to well up with tears as she heard it get closer to the house. Their perfect night shattering before her eyes was creating a tightness in her chest she hadn’t felt in years.

She reached out to him, despite him being too far away, and asked, desperately, “I’ll see you after the game, though?”

“Sure, whatever you want, Juliet.”

“Jake.”

He didn’t respond, only pulled open the front door as the Uber stopped in front of it.

Juliet, panicked and incapable of thinking anything else, ran to him and gripped the loose sleeve of Jake’s hoodie and said, “I love you.”

“Okay.”

He didn’t so much as look at her before he shrugged her off, got into the Uber and closed the door, his phone immediately pressed to his ear.

It wasn’t the confession she’d imagined, that was for sure.

Juliet had considered cancelling her car and watching the game from her couch. Through the entire process of getting ready—which was getting longer and longer every day as the comments she was seeing got worse and worse with every second she aged—she stared at her phone for any sign of Jake. Whether he was going to beg her to show up or tell her to not come at all, she wanted something. She got nothing.

Sitting at her kitchen island, staring at the ugly painting her agent had bought her to congratulate her on an Oscar nomination the year prior, she didn’t think she’d ever felt more pathetic—and losing that Best Actress Oscar when it was universally agreed that she would win was the previous champion for that category.

With the car arriving shortly to pick her up, Juliet knew she had made an unconscious decision to go to the game. She had her jersey across her lap, the 74 hidden, and was the least excited she’d ever been for a hockey game.

As with every public appearance, Juliet made sure she was at least able to fake a smile before she got out of the car. Oliver, her driver, was her greatest confidant and the best secret keeper she knew. He’d seen her in some truly horrible states and, while it may have just been the ironclad NDA, not even her agent or PR manager had heard about the worst breakdowns. She was hugely grateful for him and the minor adjustments he suggested to make her seem realistically happy.

It was always a while before she was noticed at games; most people weren’t in the target demographic for her movies, and those that were weren’t expecting her to be there, so she was able to walk the concourse, get a beer and sit down before the whispers and photos started. She wasn’t hidden with centre-ice, bench-side seats and it was only a matter of time before the camera operators found her—she stood out enough being the only yellow jersey in a sea of black without being famous.

She shouldn’t have gone alone was her main takeaway before the first period even started. She’d never had the problem before, but never before had she felt a dull ache in her chest and never before had she so desperately wanted a buffer.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the second, when LA scored their first goal, that Juliet’s face was plastered across the screens. It was, at least, a good enough reason for being caught looking as miserable as she felt. She smiled, nonetheless, throwing her hands up into the air as if to ask what can you do and also to show everyone that she was wearing what she deemed to be the correct jersey. Even if they booed her for it.

The texts that started coming through weren’t a surprise. It wasn’t unheard of that someone she knew was also at the game, though they were much more likely to be rooting for the Kings and in a box where they wouldn’t be bothered.

Juliet made a point to not pull out her phone until intermission because too many people had opinions on her not paying attention when she was out anywhere, and she didn’t need to give them anymore ammo. So, she waited until she was standing in line for another beer before she pulled it out of her pocket. Most of the texts she ignored because they were from people she never really spoke to asking her to get drinks after the game, one was from her sister with a tweet mentioning her being at the game which she reacted to with a thumbs down, and, finally, one from Jake.

He had been scratched, just as he said he would be, and the text was almost definitely sent at the exact time she was shown on the screen.

Thanks for still coming. Will you hang around after?

She sent back a text and closed her phone, ready to order another beer and ignore her phone for the final period.

Do you want me to?

Yes. Course I do.

It was something. That’s what Juliet was forcing herself to think, anyway.

Juliet didn’t need much to get past security; not when someone had come for her. It meant that, despite Jake’s disinterest in her being there that morning he hadn’t gone to the trouble of calling off her escort.

Her way down to the locker rooms was filled with people stopping her for photos. It wasn’t like her to deny people, and she hadn’t any other time she’d been caught at a hockey game, but she had somewhere to be and when she didn’t know exactly what was waiting for her.

There was no Family Room for her to wait in, unless she wanted to crash the Kings’ room uninvited and face more questions than she’d already been hounded with that night, so she bravely stood in the hallway unaccompanied as she waited for the coach to address the team and for Jake to be free enough to come and meet her. The few very confused Kings staff and partners she passed were to be expected, at least.

Juliet was ready to open up her burner account and search her own name in Twitter—she was already in a bad enough mood that any comments she read about her cellulite or the confusion about her cellulite when she was allegedly too skinny after her last role couldn’t do any further damage—when the visitor’s locker room door opened with a groan. Jake had the decency to look sheepish, repentant, when he stepped out. He didn’t look at anybody but Juliet as he crossed the hall to meet her.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice low and shy. “For still coming. I don’t think I would have if I was you.”

“I nearly didn’t,” she admitted, trying to act cool when she knew that she could only look as desperate as she felt. “You really hurt me, Jake.”

“Yeah, I—I know, Juliet. I shouldn’t have taken any of that out on you.”

The door opened again, the agonising groan rattling whatever small amount of composure Juliet had been able to pull together, and she looked down at her feet.

Jake closed the gap between them, making room for the wave of people to exit the locker room, and Juliet put hand on his chest to steady herself at the unexpected movement—she hadn’t realised how good it would feel to touch him and felt herself lean ever closer.

“Do you have to stick around? Or can we go somewhere a little less noisy?”

“I have to get on the bus, Jules,” he said, his head lowering. He put his hand over hers on her chest to keep her close. “I want to go back to Malibu. I don’t want to sleep by myself in a hotel room when you’re in the same city…”

Juliet sighed. “But you had one chance.”

He started to look around and Juliet knew he was looking for somewhere more private for them. He opted for slightly around a corner, not quiet by any means but at least out of the thoroughfare. Juliet was long past being caught in a compromising position with anybody—and, truth be told, any positions she’d been caught in were hardly scandalous and all with serious partners—so she wasn’t worried about effectively being boxed in against the wall, with Jake leaning down to talk to her.

“God, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “None of it was your fault; you didn’t deserve to be treated like that. I love you and I treated you like shit.”

She tilted her chin down and looked up at him sheepishly through her eyelashes as she asked, “You love me?”

Jake’s laugh was abrupt and aborted just as suddenly as it started, the realisation that it was not the right time was clear on his face. “Well, yeah. Yes, Juliet. I don’t think that should be the thing that gets me over the line, though.”

“I’m still really mad at you,” Juliet said, even as she slipped her arms around his waist. “But I think I’m just going to enjoy you while I have you.”

Juliet was delighted to share a photo sent to her by her sister of her and Jake leaving Honda Center hand-in-hand, mostly so she could caption it ‘I want to be @/taylorswift when I grow up’.

She was even more delighted when less than ten minutes later she opened up Jake’s story to see that he’d reposted it with a caption that just said ‘same’.

[lovesosweeet]

better left unsaid // cth

chapter thirty one

in which orion has leukemia, and calum doesn’t know.

calum hood x fem!oc

read other chapters

october 2, 2018 san diego, california calum

I feel bad for my Uber driver. He’s got some blubbering man crying in his backseat at 7 am on a Tuesday. When he drops me off at the hotel, I tell him thank you through quiet sobs, and I make sure to tip him incredibly well on the app. He didn’t ask any questions, although I’m sure he had plenty. 

I don’t know why I choose Emelia over any of my friends to go to, but I do. I bang on the door to her hotel room until she annoyedly swings it open, her eyes flooded with concern. I don’t wait for her to hug me, instead I just clumsily throw my body against hers and start crying.

I’ve cried more in the past two days than I have in the past five years. 

“What’s going on?” She asks, her voice just barely louder than a whisper. 

“She broke up with me.” Even though they’re true, the words sound like a lie. I don’t even know if Emelia will believe me.

“You’re shitting me,” is how she responds, and I just cry, confirming the truth without words. 

She lets me cry for a few minutes while she processes what I said.

��Cal, I swear, I had no idea that she would do that. I’m sorry.”

I just keep crying.

“Here, come in,” Em says. She opens her hotel room door wider and steps in, pulling me with her. I let her guide me to her bed and she pushes me down by the shoulders to sit. “I’m gonna go get the boys, okay?”

I want to yell after her not to bring Ashton, but I can’t make myself say the words. I hear her banging on doors and then whispering in the hallway, and before I know it, my bandmates and their girlfriends are all streaming into the room. Everyone looks floored and they look at me with immense pity. I hate it.

They all just stare, but KayKay is the first one to break out of the pack, coming over and sitting next to me, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. I let my emotions go again, letting the sadness ooze out of me in hot tears that undoubtedly fall onto Kay’s sweatshirt. She doesn’t say anything, but she just holds me as I cry. 

The room feels deafeningly silent aside from my cries.

I want to be mad again. I want to yell at them all for letting this happen. How could none of us have known? How could none of us have sensed this all happening? I know Orion is to blame for keeping secrets, but Ashton is who I blame overall. He knew. He knew and he didn’t tell me. He’s my best friend. He should have told me.

Even though I want to be mad, all I can feel is the sheer heartbreak. The love of my life… isn’t even mine anymore. She doesn’t want to be mine. I never thought this day would come. We were supposed to grow old together. We were supposed to get married. I figured I’d propose in a year or so, and then once she was out of law school, we would get married.

We’d elope, probably in Spain, but then we’d have an Australian reception and an American one, both still small small, with professional photographers to capture every single second of the elopement and the parties. We’d take pictures in Retiro and celebrate at Space Monkey. We’d watch the sun rise from the park, just the two of us, on our first morning as husband and wife.

Orion and I had talked about all of it. She’d shown me a Pinterest board of engagement rings she’d like. 

We had plans to buy a house on the beach in a few years, once we didn’t need to be close to any college campuses. We wanted to get another dog, and maybe even a few cats. We didn’t want kids, but we did want to rescue as many animals as we had the time, space, and money for. 

None of it matters now. She doesn’t even want to be my girlfriend anymore. 

I never thought there’d be a world without Orion being mine, and here I am, living in that very world. She won’t even be in the world at all once she inevitably dies.

“Cal? Are you okay?” Michael’s voice brings me back to reality, and then I realize that I’ve temporarily stopped crying.

“I don’t even know.”

–

5SOS Cancel San Diego Concert!

Everyone’s favorite Aussie band was slated to perform in San Diego tonight as part of their Meet You There world tour, but the band has canceled the show without much explanation, citing a ‘family emergency.’ This is the message they posted to Twitter just a few moments ago.

“San Diego, we’re so sorry to say we won’t be performing tonight. We’ve had a family emergency come up. We promise to come back very soon and we apologize for the inconvenience.

We love you! Xx -Ash, Luke, Mike, and Cal”

Fans are immediately speculating after images were posted of bassist Calum Hood at the beach having an emotional breakdown yesterday afternoon, only to be followed by images of Hood’s long term girlfriend, Orion Moss, doing the same thing at a different beach. Allegedly, Moss was approached by police before fleeing the scene.

Whatever is going on, to say that fans are concerned would be an understatement.

read next chapter

[bidean-byedean]

fanfic friday; sad baby buck. 2.1k.

Listened to Aisle 6 by Sadie Jean and got feels about Buck being alone for the first time

When I was six, I dreamed of this In a rosier light, now it's fluorescent white Stuck in between myself and me What I'm feeling right now, I think it's lettin' her down Won't somebody tell me it's time to come back home 'Cause it's too late at night to be alone? Oh Why is nobody angry or asking, "Where'd she go?" No one's waiting for me by the phone Won't somebody tell me to come home?

Teen. pre-canon ramblings.

Five weeks. That's how long it takes for Evan to stumble, not counting that first night.

Once he'd stopped driving for long enough to actually take a breath, he panicked. Hungry. Tired. Scared. He had never really imagined doing this without someone by his side. In his head, the open road was filled with laughter, fighting over the radio, and the silence of someone sleeping beside you.

In the short time that Maddie's yes meant something, he'd already planned it out, so close he could taste it.

But Maddie wasn't there. She wouldn't even see him. What kind of goodbye was that? What kind of sister did that? The anger fuelled the first miles, racing down highways, unsteady behind the wheel of the Jeep that he'd never been allowed to drive. Now it was all he had.

That and a duffle bag that looked over-stuffed when he left but now he can't think of a single useful thing in it. After a full cycle of his clothes, Evan missed a hundred things he'd been forced to leave behind. And he still doesn't understand how to not run out of underwear alarmingly fast. And yes, he's considered giving it up entirely.

"Man, I'm telling you! Underwear is part of governmental overreach."

"I don't think Obama gives a shit if you wear briefs," Evan laughs, but Bryan looks livid.

"Of course, you don't get it, rich kid from the white suburbs. Mommy probably bought all your undies."

Evan wants to argue but he doesn't know how without stepping in some weird trap. So he bites his tongue and goes back to scrolling on his phone. Without Bryan's ranting, the TV comes into focus. Some gameshow is on, the one his parents always watch.

If he folds in on himself, Evan can almost imagine he's back home. The soft sounds of canned laughter and cha-ching! when someone wins float by as if coming from downstairs, his parents contentedly not paying attention to him. The blessing and curse that plagued his existence in that house.

"I know a guy who got the clap from not wearing underwear to the gym."

Both of their heads snap toward the new voice. It belongs to a girl Evan's noticed around; she has big sun-kissed curls and her face is covered in freckles. Other than the fact she's hot, Evan wonders what an Australian could possibly find interesting about North Carolina. Coming from a landlocked state, Evan thinks the concept of a coastline is pretty cool, but he imagines that the muddy, estuary-riddled beaches here don't live up to her home.

"That's disgusting," Bryan says as if this whole conversation isn't gross. "Commercial gyms are exploitative anyway."

She shrugs. "You know what they say, if you're gonna get fucked, wear protection. Same thing here."

Evan snorts and she winks at him, which Bryan really doesn't like. Something about alpha males and privileged fuckboys, and who cares because she's got a smile that makes him forget about the hollow feeling in his chest.

About four pints, half a hip flask, three sticky cocktails, and an indeterminate number of shots later, Evan finds himself stuffed into her bunk bed. Thankfully, it's the bottom, so he doesn't have to risk smashing his head open for a lay. She's under him making tiny noises like a kitten mewling, which is more distracting than he anticipated.

He has no idea if there is someone above them but he does his best not to rock the bed too much, fucking into her tightly, her arms around his shoulders. Every time he closes his eyes the world spins and his stomach churns, so he stares at the light on someone's charger, the little green light his anchor as he tries to finish. But every time he thinks he's getting there, his attention slips and he has to start again.

"Hey, can we just sleep?" She asks with a hand on his sweaty chest.

"Oh, yeah, sure."

Surprisingly, she pulls him into her back, his arm draped over her waist. It's nice. He listens to the snoring, the tapping of fingers on phones, the laughter coming up from the street, and holds onto her tighter. Against her warm body, he falls asleep faster than he has in weeks.

The next night, he picks up a bar shift, desperate for cash to put more distance between him and Pennsylvania. In five weeks, he hasn't got nearly as far as he wants.

His venture up into Maine ate up a lot of his momentum before he realised he was just backing himself into a corner, literally, and then he came back down the coast. Enjoying the scenic drive but not stopping for much, even New York. Margaret and Phillip Buckley enjoyed the city, they took Maddie all the time when she was still at home, but Evan only got a few trips before they decided he wasn't worth the effort. So when the sign for NYC comes up, he speeds past it with his jaw tight.

Leaning across his bar is a familiar head of curls and he grins up at her.

"What brings a nice girl like you to a place like this?"

She scrunches her nose and laughs at him. "Cheese on cheese, mate. Vodka soda, please."

Maybe he gives her a few drinks on the house, each with a wink and his best pretty-boy smile, which is fun as long as his manager doesn't clock on. But as the night wears on, the gaps between her drinks become longer and longer, until it's been hours since he caught sight of her. The disappointment is weird. They're strangers, just a drunken fumble between them, but he likes her freckles and her big vowels and the fact she's seen so much of the world he hasn't.

When he clocks out, the manager shoves an envelope of cash in his hand, he goes to the hostel, packs up his shit, and drives south until he stops crying.

Somewhere around sunrise, he pulls into a gas station. He eats an energy bar he can't taste and uses a bathroom that will haunt his nightmares. And calls Maddie. It's not the first or fiftieth time, he's stopped counting. But he keeps calling. It used to ring out.

"The number you have dialled is no longer in service. Please try another."

There is no other number. This is the one in his phone under Mads. It even has a picture of her, an unflattering picture that he screenshotted from the background of some other shot, but it's still her. He's got the scar on his forearm from where she tried to grab his phone from him, screaming at him to delete it.

Okay, they fought a lot. He annoyed her, mostly on purpose and sometimes just by virtue of being her little brother, but they loved each other. There's a reason he begged her to come with him. If she turned up today, he'd forgive her in a second, ready for the real adventure to begin. But all he gets is automated messages and silence.

There's a lot of silence in Evan's life now. Not real silence, of course, he sleeps in dorms that resemble barracks and works in bars and clubs loud enough to leave his head ringing and the Jeep is loud, especially on the wide, endless freeways. But sometimes he finds himself going days without talking to anyone apart from niceties and it leaves him feeling something sickly.

A few of his friends followed up on him when he left, seeming genuinely interested in his great escape. But they have lives, college and actual jobs that take up their time, so the conversations become more and more sporadic.

Honestly, he can't remember the last time someone asked him how he was or where he was.

Did anyone know? Did anyone give a shit?

For a while, he posted on Instagram pretty regularly, updating everyone on his life. But then his aunt commented on something and he got spooked - it wasn't really running away if your parents could spy on your every move - so he stopped. That made things lonelier. He scrolls through everyone else's lives and feels sick when he sees everyone living. His friends grab drinks together at a bar he doesn't know, the girl he liked from his humanities class has a new boyfriend, someone from his high school is in Italy…

He should be in Italy, but he's not. He's in the middle of nowhere on the border of Georgia and Florida, nothing but pine trees and potholes. And no one fucking cares.

No one cares when he has beer for dinner. No one cares when he doesn't come home until the morning. No one cares when he doesn't show up to a shift or skips out on the rest of his dorm booking. No one cares when he keeps driving deep into the night. No one cares what he does or where he is or anything.

And this is how Evan Buckley ends up having a panic attack sitting on the ground at 6:23am.

Because truthfully, he knows that it’s not that no one cares, it's that certain people don't. It's that deep down, he knows the reason Maddie isn't picking up his calls is the same she never let him visit her in Boston and why she gave him the Jeep but couldn't give him her. The guilt is almost too much so it’s easier to be angry at her. It's that the only people who should be blowing up his phone aren't.

Growing up, Evan had limits. Sometimes it felt like he was livestock, surrounded by an electric fence but not quite understanding where the lines were or what the punishment would be. His parents were distant until they weren't. They didn't want him around but he still had a curfew, still couldn't just disappear with his friends for hours on end, eventually the Buckleys would recall him like a farm dog to be locked up for the night.

He gnawed at the bars for years until he figured out the lock. A grazed knee. A chipped tooth. A broken arm. A broken leg. A broken arm and leg. Concussion. Letting the backdoor slam when he snuck in at 2am. Joining the football team; bruised ribs, black eyes, torn ligaments. If he slammed his head against the bars hard enough, someone would let him lie on their lap until he stopped bleeding.

There was no softness for his pain now.

All the bars he should never have been in, too late, too sketchy even for locals, all the alleys he took as shortcuts, all the sofas he crashed on too drunk to keep his eyes open. There were so many pretty words and ready mouths and greedy hands, and Evan fell into all of them. Disregarding the fact that any hurts he collected now were not going to be met with a loving hand, there was no one waiting to pick him up again.

He heaves for breath against the hot metal of the Jeep, his heart too big for his chest or his throat too small for air, or something. Evan has had a panic attack before, many. The world falling away from under his feet, everything too close and too far away, his spiralling thoughts pulling him under like a rip tide. Every wave breaks over his head before he can take a breath, his mouth full of water and salt and regret.

Would his parents ever call?

Would they ever care?

Did he make a mistake?

Is he the mistake?

Can he ever make up for being him?

How far does he need to go before he feels something new?

Is it all a delusion?

Should he turn back?

Would he be allowed?

It's so fucking stupid. All he's ever wanted is to be free, to put as much distance between him and that house, and now he's here, he hates it.

There he said it.

He hates the wandering. The aimlessness. The constantly being new and on the back foot. Evan likes people, he's good with people but for the past few weeks, it feels like everyone is in on a joke that he just doesn't get. Maybe it's him. Maybe everyone knows that deep down he wants his mom to call and ask him if he's coming home.

Suddenly, he thinks of Maddie. The Maddie who always told him there was a world out there waiting for him. The Maddie who said yes to this trip The Maddie who no longer has a way to leave, even if she wanted to. The Maddie his parents didn’t show up for. The Maddie they let drift away from them until she was lost in the fog of Doug. The Maddie who still did her best to show up for him.

Maybe she can't be here, maybe she can't tell him she's worried, but maybe she's still waiting for him to tell her he's okay somehow. He made it out. For the both of them.

Eventually, he can breathe again.

Eventually, he can drive again.

"Welcome to Jacksonville! Where are you joining us from?"

"Hershey."

"Like the chocolate?"

Evan looks at the desk guy blankly and then back at the stack of postcards on the rack. They're kinda silly, very kitschy; beaches, high rises, oranges, all the stereotypes. Maddie would love them.

"Dime a card. We're trying to get rid of them."

"Can I borrow a pen?"

[yeli-renrong]

When Ken Hale sent the Jabugay tape, he'd urged me to try to find aspeaker of Barbaram, the apparently aberrant language that Lizzie Simmons had declined to speak to us. Certainly Dyirbal and Jabugay had very normal Australian grammar and vocabulary, not radically different from the Western Desert language, almost two thousand miles away. But from the few words that Norman Tindale had published of Barbaram, that language looked really different.

People at Mareeba had mentioned Albert Bennett, at Petford, and early one Sunday morning I set out to try to locate him. I followed the winding bitumen road through Mareeba to Dimbulah, a small Italian-dominated town whose main crop was tobacco, usually with a few fields of marijuana hidden away round the back. From there it became a faint sandy track with no signposts at all. ...

Albert was an oldish, square-framed man with curly grey hair. He was sitting stolidly on a bench just outside his open front door. I introduced myself, but he really wasn't very interested. He didn't remember any Barbaram language, but who'd want it anyway? What good was it?

Now Stephen Wurm had prepared me for questions of this sort. Don't talk about universities, Wurm had said, they won't know what they are. Tell them you come from the museum in Canberra. Everyone knows what museums are, and everyone thinks they are good things. Say you want to put their language in the museum because it's something important. So that it can be preserved - one day their grandchildren can come and listen to it, and see how the old people spoke.

I tried this line on Albert Bennett and he seemed to soften a little. But he still sat quietly chewing on a piece of grass, on the end of the wooden bench, just in the shade. I stood in the sun and hoped. Finally he volunteered a word.

"You know what we call 'dog'?" he asked. I waited anxiously. "We call it dog." My heart sank - he'd pronounced it just like the English word, except that the fInal g was forcefully released. I wrote it down anyway. ...

Barbaram was still a major priority. Following Albert Bennett's suggestion, I'd located Mick Burns, living with his daughter's family in a house on tall stilts at the south end of Edmonton. He was a tall, light-skinned man, very old. He hadn't thought about his language in years, and didn't think he could help me. But I persisted, mentioned a few of the words Albert had given, and he grudgingly thought a bit. Mick Burns sat on the top step, leaning against the door frame, and I squatted on the step below. He remembered twenty-seven words. ... When I did go back the next week, he declined to talk at all. He'd done a bit of thinking, he said, and could remember nothing else. I'd have to go back to Albert.

At her suggestion, I had telephoned Mrs McGrath and asked her to pass on a message to Albert about when I was planning to come, so that he wouldn't go out fishing. Albert seemed quite happy - if not pleased - to see me, and made room for me to sit on the bench with him, out of the sun.

"I don't think I can help you much more ," he said, when I told him about Mick. "I did remember three more words, but I can't think of them now. Oh, heck." ...

Four years later, when I was spending a year at Harvard and first met Ken Hale, he pointed out that the e and o had developed in Mbabaram in the same sort of way as in some languages he had worked on from further up the Cape York Peninsula. An a in the second syllable of a word had become o if the word had originally begun with g. So from guwa "west", Mbabaram had derived wo. We were sitting on a beach near Gloucester, Massachusetts one Sunday in September when Ken suddenly saw the etymology for dog "dog". It came from an original gudaga, which is still the word for dog in Yidin (Dyirbal has shortened it to guda). The initial g would have raised the a in the second syllable to o, the initial ga dropped and so did the final a (another common change in the development of Mbabaram). Ergo, gudaga became dog ­- a one in a million accidental similarity of form and meaning in two unrelated languages. It was because this was such an interesting coincidence, that Albert Bennett had thought of it as the first word to give me.

R. M. W. Dixon, Memoirs of a Field Worker

[vaastudesigners]

Vaastu Designers presents an exceptional opportunity for those seeking elegant and sophisticated townhouse living in the vibrant city of Melbourne. With their expertise in architectural design and a keen understanding of urban lifestyles, Vaastu Designers has crafted a collection of exquisite townhouse designs that perfectly balance style, functionality, and comfort.

[umichenginabroad]

Parents Weekend! (Week 10)

As soon as I landed on Sydney as my study abroad destination, my parents began planning their trip to visit. Traveling and intercultural experiences have always been a priority for my family, so the opportunity for me to spend a semester abroad was something we were all excited about. Even more exciting was the chance to show my parents and brother around my new home - something I had been looking forward to since the day I arrived. Having just over one full weekend with them before they continued their travels, I planned to hit all my favorite spots and walks. The Friday they landed I met them at their hotel in Randwick, a nearby suburb and the location of my university, and we went straight to Thaithae which has one of the most flavorful Massamun Chicken Curries I’ve ever had. From there, we took the bus to Coogee where I showed off my hostel accommodation, Coogee Bay Road, and most importantly, Coogee Beach! Needless to say, the fam was thrilled. The shining sun and calm ocean water were like paid actors in a film, ready to play their part and impress. The jellyfish, on the other hand, were like TV extras gone rogue – they just wanted their time in the spotlight. I had never seen many jellyfish at Coogee before, but they didn’t stop us from taking a dip and soaking in the sun. After a few hours, we embarked on the coastal walk to Bondi where we planned on eating dinner. The journey, though gnarly at times, is one I would recommend to all visitors, especially as the sun starts to set and the blue sky turns into a whole palette of colors ranging from pink to yellow. I’ve walked the path countless times and each trek I feel the need to take more pictures that never quite capture the beauty. After dinner, we made our way to Bondi beach where we treated ourselves to Anita Gelato, the best gelato in town (or, at least, the gelato with the longest line in town)! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a loyal customer to Gelato Messina (an Australian classic), but something about Anita’s just never disappoints. 

^^ Just another picture of the Coogee-Bondi walk!

Saturday was just as packed. We woke up early and made our way into the city where we had an opera show booked in none other than the Sydney Opera House!! This was my first time getting up close to Sydney’s most renowned landmark, so I was very excited to share the moment with my family. This was also my first time watching an opera! I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I was sorely disappointed by the lack of monocles in the audience. That said, I was incredibly impressed with the production of La Traviata, a dramatic love story set in 19th century Paris in which a dying courtesan, Violetta, finds true love with a young nobleman and they flee to the countryside together only to be forced apart by the man’s father. Upon reconnection, she passed away. Though in a different language, the singing and performing was one-of-a-kind and the screens with a rolling translation to English made the show very accessible. I was also enamored by the view of the city and water from inside the Opera house despite the architecture being slightly less impressive on the inside compared to the beautiful exterior. 

^^ Pic with my Dad and brother!

^^ Pic with mom and brother!

The rest of the day was filled with a quick visit to the Museum of Sydney and a long walk through the city. Even without a concrete plan, I love walking around the city and finding my own little detours, foods to try, and adventures to embark on. We made our way down Pitt street and ended up in the bustling Chinatown full of restaurants and desserts.

On our last full day together, I was adamant that we take the ferry to Manly where we could chill on the beach all day and explore a different part of Sydney. I also just love the ferry ride which takes you down the Sydney Harbor and showcases all the coastal neighborhoods atop hills and cliffs along the water. In Manly, we walked over to Shelly beach which is actually known to be one of the best snorkeling spots in Sydney, but we sought it out for the calmer water. Catching the sunset ferry back proved harder to time than expected, but we came pretty darn close!

^^ Sydney Harbor during sunset as seen from the ferry.

Before their flight to Melbourne, my parents and I walked around the University of New South Wales campus in Randwick and then we went up to Paddington to see the Art and Design campus where I have my photography class. We also visited the Sydney Jewish Museum in Paddington which was very educational regarding the culture and history of Judaism in Sydney. We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the museum constantly hosts students on class field trips as we were met with hundreds of students on tours making their way through the exhibits. I highly recommend this museum to anyone in the area!

Showing my family around my favorite and most frequented spots in Sydney was extremely rewarding and made me so happy throughout the weekend. I would never have made it out here without my parents’ support and I am extremely grateful for everything they have done to get me to Sydney and ensure I enjoy my time here. Thank you, Mom and Dad!

David Bayer

Biomedical Engineering

University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia

[latibvles]

running late.

another day of playing in the vicki sandbox with @almost-a-class-act leading to … these postwar shenanigans , in which the boys go visit their pal in Loogootee and he forgoes telling them some news, of sorts. Thank Sam for some of this dialogue , too, and you can read the first piece of work with miss Vicki here.

Bob liked to accredit himself with noticing finer details of things. It helped him write, helped him find a purpose, back during the war. He certainly wasn’t blind by any means. Lew and Wilbur almost didn’t believe him, at first, but after staring at her long enough to earn one of those warning glares from Bill — they all came to the same collective conclusion.

Whether Bill planned to fess up or not, was a different matter entirely.

Taking up seats at a table in the corner of the bar, the radio crackling, stories exchanged about the drive and the traffic. About school, for those of them who went back to that sort of thing to see what they could make of themselves.

“Bet she filled out that application for you. Those big words must’ve really stumped you.” Bob shoots at Bill, who rolls his eyes, his beer bottle sweaty with condensation and his knuckles curling around the neck of it to take a sip before firing back.

“Yeah well I figured if a guy who can’t read can be a reporter then anything’s possible.” He drawls out, to Wilbur and Lew’s snickering. He doesn’t outright deny it, which is as much of a confirmation of, yeah, she might’ve had something to do with it as anything. And it’s enough for Bob, who’s gotten used to Bill’s tendency to keep things quiet. Which is ironically, why he was the last to find out about the girl staying in Bill’s house now.

It’d been one of those jokes thrown that went completely over his head back when they were doing that three-day march to Melbourne. Wilbur asked if she’d still like him with that nasty shit on his feet.

Come to find out Bill, apparently, had a red-headed ‘somebody’ in Melbourne with a camera and a sharp-tongue — a somebody that became a girlfriend, sometime between that march to Melbourne and shipping out to Gloucester. While the rest of them settled into something like civilian life, once the war was actually over, Bill went back to Melbourne and was all but radio silent for several months.

And now they’re here, in a bar in Loogootee, Bill as tight-lipped as ever about whatever the hell he’s gotten up to.

“How is Vick, anyway?” Lew asks, less inclined to coaxing what they already know out of him and more curious than anything.

“She’s fine.”

“She’s fine, he says.” Wilbur laments melodramatically. “Shit I would hope so since she looked fine. What’s she been up to?” Bill looks at Wilbur with a raised brow, almost suspicious, before dismissing it. Bob, on the other hand, has his gaze fixed on Bill’s hand.

“She’s got a job offer in Indianapolis for the Star, taking pictures.” Bob whistles, low and impressed. Her photos were all over the house — ones of what he assumed were her friends, of pretty Australian beaches, and several well-loved photos of Bill and herself in one of those frames with the different sized panels. A few newspaper clippings of photos, too, held together by a paper clip, sat on the coffee table.

“Shit Hoos, you moving out there, then?” He shakes his head.

“She likes the drive and she’s sick of apartments.” Bill’s lip curls into a grin as he says it, and Lew orders them all another round of beers. Bob can hear her say it, as quick and sharp as she was when she told them to take their shoes off so they don’t track dirt in the house. Bob takes a swig, eyeing Bill up and down with narrowed eyes.

“And Melbourne? How was that? Had us thinkin’ you were moving out there for a second.” Lew jests. There’s a few snorts at that, the thought of Bill pinkened from the heat and playing rugby on his days off. And Bill, with one of those lazy shrugs of his and glances towards the ceiling, twisting the bottle in a circle, says something that makes Bob almost want to reach across the table and strangle him.

“It was good.”

“Jesus Christ Bill, would you just say it already?! We all saw the ring!” Bob huffs. Hoosier’s brows shoot up and with Bob’s go-ahead Lew and Wilbur are also bombarding him with their own complaints — about not being the first to know, about his silence on the whole thing.

When Bob came to the door, he expected Bill to answer it. Instead, it was the pretty redhead he’d heard bits and pieces about, her hair tied up, curious expression on her face. He noticed her eyes first — a mix of green and brown, and then he noticed the ring on her finger, the gem in the middle catching the sun from her spot leaned against the doorframe. It was a simple thing, just the band and the stone and no further embellishments to take away from it. Very Hoosier.

Lew and Wilbur noticed when she got them all water from the kitchen, while they waited on Bill, and with all the concern of a bride-to-be, asked who was going to be driving. Lew volunteered with one of his grins that made her roll her eyes with an underlying affection.

“When the hell were you planning on telling us?! ‘Cause you were gonna tell us, right?!”

“When’d you even buy the goddamn thing?!”

“Quit fuckin’ shoutin’ would’ja? I actually like this place.” Bill’s warning comes out as a hiss, with another roll of his eyes. Lew takes in a breath, and then folds his arms across his chest.

“Alright, damn, at least tell us how it happened.” Bill looks at the three of them, before realizing he’s been effectively backed into a corner.

“Hell, I don’t know. I just asked her!” Bob rolls his eyes.

“Oh you asked her. Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Riveting stuff, Bill.” Wilbur adds, his grin growing wider and a flush creeping up Bill’s neck in response.

“Of course you asked her.” Bob continues.

“We want details.” Wilbur finally finishes. He watches as Bill reaches up to rub the nape of his neck, letting out a huff as he looks around, like he’s trying to pluck all the details from thin air. Lew bumps Bill’s arm with his elbow, a nonverbal sign of encouragement. He sighs, brows knitting together and lips pressing into a line.

“Got off the boat, went straight to the uh… this jewelry place. Couldn’t even fuckin’ find it and got three different sets of directions—”

“You went without a ring?!” Wilbur gapes, Bob watches as Lew holds up a four to the waitress that no one else seems to notice. Bill gives Wilbur a pointed half-glare before continuing.

“Anyways I couldn’t even find it so I was runnin’ around till I did. Almost made me late, I couldn’t even catch a goddamn tram. But I bought it and just… booked. She was waitin’ at the bakery and yelled at me for barging in with a goddamn limp. Was almost midnight. Stopped hollering when I pulled out the ring, though.” His hard glare melts away a little, a bit of a smile creeping onto his face.

“You were almost late or you were late?” Bob asks. The prickly glare comes back.

“Almost, Peaches. And it was only like… ten, fifteen minutes.” In that way that’s bordering on defensive. Still, Wilbur chimes in, amused as ever, and begins to pant as though he’s just run a mile.

“Lucky, Lucky,” a hard swallow, Bob’s lip is quivering with a contained laugh at his friend’s dramatic. “Will you… will…whew, one sec,” another pause, as Runner sips from his bottle. Bob looks across at Lew, who’s got a knowing smirk on his face. Lew reaches over to ruffle Bill’s hair. Bill, who’s shoulders have gone stiff with embarrassment.

“Just messing with ya, Hoos. C’mon, round’s on me.” Their laughter is exchanged for the clinking of shot glasses, the pleasant burn of dark liquor slipping down their throats.

The next several rounds, are also on Lew, and it only takes two more for Leckie to realize what they’re doing, as Leckie slides another shot glass towards Bill.

“It’s your unofficial engagement party.” He justifies, all but sealing Bill’s fate for the rest of the night.

Luckily, they’ve all shared drinks long enough to know Bill’s drinking habits — and know that even if he looks entirely put together, he’s anything but. Between beers and occasional shots — it’s fairly late into the night when Bill’s got those half-lidded eyes and a lazy grin. Wilbur’s giddy and giggling like someone’s little sister, and it takes both Lew and Bon wrestling them into the backseat.

Bill’s muttering about how they’ve gotta take him home to his fiancée, and glancing into the rear view, Bob just grins.

“Yeah you’ve got it buddy.”

The house isn’t too far from the bar — Wilbur passed out in the backseat somewhere on the way, snoring loud. Bill’s head is slumped against the window, and Bob reaches back to stick his hand in Bill’s pocket to grab his keys as Lew pulls into the drive. Bill reaches up, weakly grabbing Bob’s wrist.

“Hands off… Lucky… I have a fiancée.” He mutters. Bob rolls his eyes as Lew begins to snicker.

“Really? Tell me about her,” he unceremoniously sticks his hand in Bill’s pocket, pulling out the house key as Bill begins to mutter incoherently. Lew lets out a small chuckle as the two get out to pull Bill out of the backseat, each of them taking an arm and yanking him out of the car. He stumbles, almost faceplants on the grass, but Lew and Bob are quick to grab him before that happens.

Getting up the short stairs and to the door is a… slightly difficult, rather loud affair — with Bill proclaiming that they need to let him go because I have a fiancée and she’s g’na get real mad at you — the accent to his voice becoming all the more prominent.

Before Bob can figure out how to open the door with half of Bill’s weight on him, the door opens.

“Great, you guys woke up my fiancée!” Bill bemoans in drunken anger. Vicki rolls her eyes, half-fond, looking to Lew.

“Got an early wedding present for you. Congratulations by the way,” he offers, and she rolls her eyes with a small smile.

“Here I was thinking you’d keep him out all night and I’d get the bed to myself,” she sighs with a grin, as Bill stares at her with knitted brows and pouty lips. “Bring him in, I’ll hold the door. Room’s upstairs.”

The two men comply, but before they can make it towards the stairs that lead  up to the bedroom, Bill’s collapsing onto the couch, cheek squished into the pillow, and Bob watches as Vicki sighs and moves to sit on the armrest closest to his head, carding her fingers through his hair for a moment and giving them a bit of a bewildered look.

“Bill, honey,” She begins, and he grunts in response. “Let’s go to bed, yeah? Up the stairs, I’ll help you.” Bob watches as he shakes his head with a drawled out whine.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Cause I have a fiancée.” He mutters, half drunk and half drowsy. Bob watches as Vicki clicks her tongue, grabbing the throw blanket and draping it over him, before moving to grab one of the throw pillows. Bill whines, muttering about how his girl will get mad if she keeps touching him like that, as Vicki props his head on the pillow.

“I assure you she isn’t nearly as jealous as you might think,” she mutters, before looking at Bob and Bill. “Give it like… five minutes. Once he’s asleep we’ll move ‘em. Yeah?”

“Yes ma’am.” Bob chuckles, as she wipes her hands on what he can assume is one of Bill’s shirts, since its too big for her anyway.

“Can I… get you anything? I’m assuming you’ve got a hotel somewhere but if you don’t… once he’s off the couch. Is Runner in the car?”

“He’ll be out for the next thirteen hours at least,” Bob quips, and she chuckles, rolling her eyes before her gaze falls back to the man on the couch, who’s begun to snore. “Congratulations. Hoos didn’t really… mention it.” Vicki shakes her head, but her smile is soft and fond.

“I told him you would’ve figured out one way or another,” she admits, leaning against one of the small dining chairs. “Y’know he was almost late that day? Only a minute to spare.” Bob looks over at Lew, who’s got one of those mischievous, bordering-on-wicked grins of his. Lew makes his way over, leaning against the back of the couch and looking at her curious.

“No actually, he didn’t mention that. How’d it go down?”

[coolasakuhncumber]

Narratives of 2023

Books

- We've got this, edited by Eliza Hull

- Never Say Die, Anthony Horowitz

- The Making of Us - Sheridan Voysey

- Before the Coffee goes Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Films

- Admission

- Notting Hill

- Seriously Red

- Empire Records

- The Pretend One

- I Wanna Dance with Somebody

- The Green Book

- Palm Beach

- All My Life

- You People

- The Menu (well, half of it)

- 10 Things I Hate About You

- The Art of Racing in the Rain

- Jerry and Marge Go Large

- Steel Magnolias

- Marriage Story

- At Midnight

- The Truman Show

- Everything Everywhere All at Once

- Ticket to Paradise

- A Tourists' Guide to Love

- Good Will Hunting

- Charlie's Angel's (2019)

- Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

- Death on the Nile

- Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

- The Outlaws

- Barbie

- Happiness for Beginners

- White House Down

- Past Lives

- Oppenheimer

- West Side Story

- You Are So Not Inivited To My Bat Mitzvah

- Love is in the Air

- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

- Family Switch

- Best. Christmas. Ever.

- The Heart of the Holidays

- The Muppets Christmas Carol

- 8 Bit Christmas

- Love at the Christmas Table

- Jones Family Christmas

- The Family Plan

TV

- Black Snow

- Hacks S1, S2

- Home Economics s3e11 - s3e13

- Modern Family s1e1 - s10e14

- Abbott Elementary s1, s2

- Kim's Convenience a few episodes in s4 rewatch

- That 90s Show s1

- Better Date than Never s1

- Aftertaste s1, s2

- How I Met Your Father s2

- Summer Love s1

- Physical 100 s1

- Latecomers s1

- Below Deck s5, s6, s9, s10

- Not Dead Yet s1

- The Mandalorian s3

- Cunk on Earth

- Seachange s1e1 - s1e6

- Ted Lasso s3

- Firefly Lane (s2e10 - end)

- Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

- Heartland s16

- Alone Australia s1

- In Limbo

- Five Bedrooms s4

- Never Have I Ever... s4

- Year Of s1

- Black Divaz

- Ahsoka s1

- The Traitors (a few episodes)

- Below Deck Down Under s2

- Surviving Summer s2

- Sex Education s4

- Old People's Home for Teenagers s2

- Starstruck s3

- Queen of Oz s1

- Heartstopper s2

- Doctor Who specials

- My Life with the Walter Boys s1

- Carols in the Domain

- Carols by Candlelight

- Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas

- Bump s4

Gigs/Plays/etc

- Feared and Revered Exhibition

- Drag Cabaret, Summer Lovin'

- Elton John

- Daniel Champagne

- Sons of the East

- Brass Knuckle Brass Band

- The Zackerbilks

- Multi Cultural Comedy Showcase

- Peking Duk

- The Women's Room 2 - Just Add Esteogen

- Koori Comedy Showcase

- Sarah Ison and Laura Johnston - Would We Lie to You

- Josie Long - Re-Enchantment

- Julia

- Wine Machine aka KLP, Northeast Party House, Vera Blue, Lime Cordiale, Bliss N Esso

- Choirboy

- A Day on the Green aka Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper, Jon Stevens (from INXS) and DACY

- Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap

- A Reconciliation Day Eve concert aka Yothu Yindi, Alinta Barlow, Stewart Barton, Tahalianna Soward-Mahanga

- Monkey Sparrow & This Way Orkestra

- Come From Away

- Brass Knuckle Brass Band, Lucy Ridge & the Derby Widows

- Footloose: The Musical

- Australian National Botanic Gardens: MEGAfauna After Dark feat Dead Puppets Society

- Reflections on Country Exhibition Opening, Kayannie Denigan

- Unchartered Territory Festival: innovation, art and science

- Rubber Necker & White Knuckle Band

- Soul Lab

- West Side Story

- Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers

- The Visitors

- The War on 2023

- Campell's Ramble

- A Very Canberra Comedy Festival Christmas

[alexracheltravel]

Island Paradise

We awoke to our first island resort. While we only had a brief stay in Koh Samui, that didn't make it any less beautiful. We enjoyed breakfast beside the beach, sipping coffee and dipping our toes into the yellow sand. Stray dogs walked beside our table. Signs told us deliberately not to feed them. We've seen a lot of wild/strays on our trip in each country we've visited.

Although we were staying in the Gulf of Thailand, our plan was not to stay on the larger island of Koh Samui, but on the more remote, secluded island of Koh Tao. The only way to get there is by ferry. We purposely checked into a hotel in Koh Samui because of its proximity to the ferry. The ferry was smooth and quick. We traversed 60km in an hour and a half, including stops. The television screens on the ferry advertised tourism in Thailand. Some of our favorites included:

-A influencer-style travelogue of a couple (westerners, possibly Australians) who spent two days in Bangkok and then in Phuket. We noticed they omitted jet-lag, getting sick, and financial concerns. We were also pretty sure they were actors. Not even a real couple.

-Some sort of "discover Thailand" series of commercials, stylized in movie commercials. The first imagined discovering Thailand as a sci-fi/horror film. It did not make us want to visit Thailand, but they were innovative.

At last, we arrived at Koh Tao, where we will ring in the new year! Our resort, Jamahkiri, is incredible. It is at the top of a hill on the south end of the island, overlooking an inlet called "Shark Bay." We have our own villa with an incredible living room with multiple couches, dining room, and full kitchen with doors that completely open onto our private deck with private infinity pool overlooking the ocean. One of the more beautiful views we could have asked for. 

We ordered an easy room service, Alex got a spicy green curry and Rachel got laarb and both got a coconut cocktail. We spent the day relaxing in our pool, reading in our covered outdoor couches, and generally relaxing. Rachel booked an in room massage for tomorrow and we both decided to call it a night early, but kept our shades open so we could see the stars from our floor to ceiling windows. 

As we reflect on 2022, which, aside from this trip, was not the best year, we decided to talk about the things we did love from this year. So, instead of our usual conversation, we decided to think about some of our favorite things from 2022. Read our rankings of our End of Year Best lists:

Movies/TV

A

1- Inu-Oh

2- Mad God

3- Cha Cha Real Smooth

4- Cyberpunk 2099

5- Neptune Frost

R

1- Severance S1

2- Heartstoppers S1

3- Sex Education S4

4- Sex Lives of College Girls S2

5- The Rings of Power S1

Books

A

1- Dilla Time

2- Life Ceremony 

3- Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

4- Shuna's Journey 

5- It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World that Made Him

R

1- Hook, Line, and Sinker

2- Princess Trap

3- Get a Life, Chloe Brown

4- Heart stoppers v4

5- From Blood and Ash

Albums

A

1- Kumoyo Island - Kikagaku Moyo

2- Renaissance - Beyonce

3- Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam - The Comet is Coming

4- Motomami - Rosalia

R

1- Renaissance - Beyonce

2- Harry's House - Harry Styles

3- Special - Lizzo

Food/Meals

Note: for fairness we're not including any meals from this trip. We'll do a final ranking of our favorite Honeytrip meals next week!

A

1- whole roasted cauliflower from Zohara in West Hartford

2- vegan burrito at Ursula 

3- pan seared soup dumplings f om Dumplings House in SF

4- An epic reast at Skewers by Miriam with Lyndsi, Alon, Leo and Vicki

5- Turkey Ramen made by Mr. Alex Moser (probably the best thing he's cooked this yr)

R

1- Pan-seared soup dumplings from Dumpling House in SF

2- whole roasted cauliflower from Zohara in West Hartford

3- turkey ramen made by Mr. Alex Moser 

4- Strawberry White Chocolate Layer Cake - Clementine

5- New Year's Charcuterie Board Upstate (might have been 12/31 but who's counting)

Honorable Mention: Dairy-free Boursin (shout out to Wine Squad for this epic discovery)

Happy new year, family and friends. Onward to year 2566 B.E.!

[bergens-adventure-tours]

Week 1: February 12th-19th, 2023 // First Week Down Under; Time to revive the old blog…

Well, I made it!! Managed to stay sane during 32hours of travel time, got to experience running through the airport for fear of missing my next flight, read 1.5 books, slept 8+ hours, and survived my first Australian spider encounter!

I had my first full day on the 15th in Hobart, Tasmania, and it was truly such an incredible way to start off my trip!  My friend Alissa took me all around town while she ran some errands – got myself a phone number and bank account set up, checked out the local climbing gym (it’s 3 floors with the absolute coolest set ups!), explored the multitude of outdoor stores all in just a 2 block radius (I’m convinced DT Hobart is at least 25% outdoor stores), and visited one of the local zero waste stores (where I also got told to apply to their location…might land a job sooner than expected lol).

First full day also included getting Peg, my new home on wheels!! A 2003 Kia Pregio that has been given a lot of love and been on many adventures already; still got lots of adventuring left in her.  She’s pretty minimal right now, so while I’m staying in Tassie for the next couple months I’ll be getting her set up for my adventures on the mainland.

---

The 17th was a pinnacle day for me because it involved some trials and tribulations… braving the Aussie roads in the middle of the day completely solo… That was an adventure in and of itself but I managed to get “petrol” (they look at you funny when you call it gas lol), go to a thrift store (up a very steep hill – involved practicing using the e-brake to start + not roll backwards lol) to get some things for the van, and my first Aussie beach – Kingston Beach! It was a HOT day (35˚C) so swimming was very much necessary, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Tassie waters are actually quite cold! Like Vancouver cold… I’ve also learned that the weather + temperature changes more frequently in a day than it does in Vancouver, so if you thought figuring out how to dress for a day in Canada was hard, just come to Hobart haha.

---

Some other fun notable things from this week included getting back on the yoga mat for the first time in a month, bouldering at the local climbing gym, meeting a bunch of Alissa’s friends at one of their house warming parties, big 5-hour round trip to a nearby town to pick up some things for Alissa (lots of highway practice), and visiting a cute market called the Salamanca Market that happens every Saturday.  

This upcoming week is going to involve some camping and first time taking the van out for a proper mini adventure, so I’m really looking forward to spending some time really getting to know her and begin drafting up plans to make her more my own!

Stay passionate and curious, Hunter♡

02/19/2023

[starseedfxofficial]

Aussie Spending Surge: Forex Traders, Are You Ready? Aussie Capital Expenditure & Kiwi Confidence: What It Means for Your Forex Trades Ever felt like trying to predict the Forex market is as tricky as guessing when your coffee machine will finally stop leaking? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The latest economic updates from Australia and New Zealand bring some surprises — and hidden gems that can give your trading strategy an edge. Let’s dive in with some humor and insight, like only a real Forex insider can. The Great Down Under Spending Spree First up, we’ve got some big news from Australia. Private Capital Expenditure is estimated at a whopping 178.2 billion AUD for 2024-25, up from 170.7 billion AUD. That’s like Australia deciding to upgrade from a cozy studio apartment to a sprawling beach house. What’s driving this surge? Well, it signals that businesses down under are feeling optimistic — and when companies are willing to spend more on equipment and infrastructure, it’s a pretty solid bet they’re expecting the economy to grow. For Forex traders, this bump in capital expenditure can strengthen the Aussie dollar. Think of it as Australia flexing its muscles, showing the world that it’s gearing up for some serious economic gains. But here’s where the real magic happens: timing is everything. Capital expenditure doesn’t translate to immediate results in currency movement, but the expectation alone can create opportunities for those who know how to read the signs. Quarterly Surprise: Q3 Capital Expenditure Beats Expectations The Australian economy also pulled a rabbit out of its hat this quarter, with Q3 Capital Expenditure rising by 1.1%, surpassing expectations of 0.9%. To put it in perspective, it’s like when you find extra fries at the bottom of your takeout bag — a pleasant surprise that makes the meal just a bit better. This growth, while small in percentage terms, is significant because it’s reversing the previous quarter’s dip of -2.2%. This could mean the Australian economy is rebounding faster than anticipated. Forex traders should keep a close eye on upcoming Reserve Bank of Australia meetings, as this data could influence the central bank’s outlook on future interest rate decisions. If you’re trading AUD, consider looking at cross pairs with a weaker counterpart. The increased business confidence could provide a boost, making AUD an attractive currency for buyers. But remember — nothing is guaranteed in Forex, except maybe the certainty that you’ll wish you made your moves just a bit sooner. Kiwi Confidence Dips, But Activity Outlook Rises Over in New Zealand, things aren’t all smooth sailing. The ANZ Business Confidence index for November dropped to 64.9 from 65.7, suggesting that business sentiment has taken a small hit. It’s like realizing your favorite band’s latest album just isn’t as great as the last one — it’s still good, but not exactly what you’d hoped for. However, there’s a twist. The ANZ Activity Outlook has jumped up to 48.0 from 45.9. Imagine you’re at a concert, and while the opening act isn’t amazing, the main performance gets everyone back on their feet. That’s the Activity Outlook — a more direct measure of economic performance, showing that businesses are planning on expanding their activities in the near future. For Forex traders, this mixed picture could mean volatility for NZD. The dip in confidence might weigh on the Kiwi initially, but the improved Activity Outlook could be a sign of brighter times ahead. Advanced traders can look to exploit the divergence between confidence and activity by focusing on short-term opportunities that capitalize on market overreactions. The Real Takeaway: Hidden Opportunities in Plain Sight So, what does all of this mean for you, the savvy Forex trader? It’s about reading between the lines and understanding that not all numbers are created equal. Australian businesses are throwing their hats back into the ring with increased spending, and New Zealand’s economic pulse, though erratic, shows underlying strength. Here’s a secret: markets often overreact to business confidence drops like the one in New Zealand. Savvy traders know to keep their eyes peeled for corrections as more concrete activity data comes in. Think of it like buying into a dip before a rally — just as you’d stock up on your favorite snacks before they go viral and disappear from store shelves. How to Play It Like a Pro - AUD Pairs: Watch for opportunities in pairs like AUD/USD and AUD/JPY, especially if risk sentiment stays positive. Capital expenditure growth could mean underlying strength that’s not fully priced in. - NZD Volatility: Look for short-term corrections in NZD/USD. The disparity between confidence and activity could mean sharp moves that advanced traders can exploit. - Stay Informed: Economic indicators like these can shift sentiment rapidly. To stay ahead of the curve, consider joining a community that keeps you updated in real-time with exclusive insights, like StarseedFX Community. Navigating Forex can feel like trying to dance on a moving boat, but with the right insights, you can turn those waves into a rhythm. Australia’s capital spending surge and New Zealand’s mixed bag are just the latest in a string of opportunities for those who know where to look. Want more? Stay in the loop with exclusive Forex updates and join a community that’s always a step ahead. Check out StarseedFX’s Forex News Today and make sure you’re getting the real inside scoop, every single day. —————– Image Credits: Cover image at the top is AI-generated   Read the full article

[shiva1906]

A Complete Guide to Moving from the UK to Australia: Opportunities, Requirements, and Steps

Thinking about making the big move and looking to immigrate to Australia from UK? Australia offers an attractive lifestyle, robust job market, and high quality of life, making it a popular choice for many UK residents. Whether you're motivated by career growth, a warm climate, or simply a fresh start, relocating to Australia can be a rewarding experience. This article explores the essential steps, visa options, and tips for a smooth transition to life down under.

1. Understanding Australia’s Visa Options

Australia offers a variety of visa options, depending on your circumstances and goals. The most common visa types for UK citizens are the Skilled Independent Visa (subclass 189), Skilled Nominated Visa (subclass 190), and Temporary Skill Shortage Visa (subclass 482). Each has unique requirements, and selecting the right one depends on factors like your skills, job offers, and whether you meet Australia’s demand for specific occupations.

2. Meeting Eligibility Requirements

For most skilled visas, the Australian government requires a skills assessment, demonstrating proficiency in your field of work. You may also need to take an English proficiency test and prove your qualifications align with Australia's professional standards. Ensuring you meet these criteria is crucial, as they are vital parts of the immigration process.

3. Planning Your Move: From Financials to Relocation Logistics

Relocating to Australia entails careful financial planning, as it can be costly to cover travel, initial living expenses, and potential application fees. Additionally, arranging housing and understanding the cost of living in your chosen city can help set realistic expectations. Cities like Sydney and Melbourne have higher living costs, while places like Brisbane or Adelaide may offer more affordable living options.

4. Adjusting to Australia’s Lifestyle and Culture

Australia's lifestyle often appeals to those who value work-life balance, outdoor activities, and a relaxed pace of life. With beautiful beaches, diverse landscapes, and a welcoming community, Australia offers plenty to explore and enjoy. Embracing the local culture, making connections, and exploring local opportunities can help make the transition smoother.

Conclusion:

Making the decision to migrate to Australia from UK can be life-changing. With the right preparation, resources, and guidance, your move can lead to exciting personal and professional growth in one of the world's most welcoming countries.