The Happy Event

Here we are at long last - the ghosts of Heather past, present and future gathered together to eat, drink and celebrate. For the absent friends who missed out, come see what you missed.


First, check out the frock!


Heather Hukins dressed by George Gross and Christopher Shaw - the best shopping pal a girl ever had. Half the staff of the Sydney CBD David Jones think I should have married him.

There were guests from the family and people who have been friends so long that they're like family. Below from left to right: my brother Chris, family friends Hank and Chris, my mother Vickie, grandmother Enid and sister-in-law Stacie.


Below: Gary, Patricia, the Daddy Boss, Viv, Christo and Wendy.



Below: Nat, Blake, Tiff, Yuki, Eric and Marcus.


Below: Darrell, Caroline, James, Matt and Rachel.


Public service convention clockwise from top left: Edmund, Anita, Steve, Marcus (token non-government employee), me and Christopher.


For those of you who have been keeping count, Christopher is indeed the fourth Chris-variant on the guest list. I have decided that I need to either rationalise my Chris collection or insist that most of them change their names.


Something about weddings always makes people want to pose in pairs.


My dear old friend Blake poses above with his girlfriend Tiff (who took the photos at my farewell party much earlier in the history of this blog).


Matt and Rachel, who works with Marcus, are pictured above early in the night. This is before the Sambuca shots.

Yuki (chief photographer) and Eric came from San Francisco for the happy event. Some people really will go a long way for a party.


While technically not "a couple," the Daddy Boss did get up close and personal with the Clown. They do look strangely comfortable together.


Above: the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I seated Anita and Edmund together, confident that they would hit it off almost at once. Based on this photo, I was right.


Above: the middle of a beautiful friendship. My dear friends Anita and Christopher keep me more or less sane all week so that I can properly enjoy the odd mad party.


Above: a rather strange stage in an otherwise perfectly sensible friendship.


Above: the beginning of the end. It was all downhill from here.


Spot the Sambuca drinker in this happy family ...

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, okay, I know it's been a month since I last posted anything on this journal, and that the blog now lags not only half a continent, but half a world behind my actual location. To regular readers I apologise for this unforgivably long fast in my already rather bulimic writing pattern.

There's just been so much going on! I kept travelling to the very last hours of my time in the USA, looping back around the southern half of the country, then cruising to the Bahamas and even flying to Panama for a few days. Then once I managed to get back to Fresno, I squeezed in quick trips to Las Vegas and San Francisco in the week before I headed back to Sydney. I also managed to squeeze in a cracking good farewell party (big hugs to everyone who came).

For the last seven days I've been back in Sydney, trying to assemble my life before I go back to work in just a few more, despite suffering from the curiously symmetrical sibling flu to the one that afflicted me when I first arrived in Fresno. Marcus and I were both flattened by it in San Francisco and have been collapsed under its considerable weight ever since.

Now that I can almost breathe through my nose again I have had time to reflect on the past year. It's been quite an adventure, and difficult enough to live through, let alone catalogue faithfully. Nevertheless, do not fear that you will not have the opportunity to "share" my adventure through the world wide whinge. I kept a small paper journal with me throughout my travels and noted many and varied blogworthy stories for your interest and amusement. It is still my intention to chronicle the entire epic saga, even if only so that I might look back over it for the occasional nostalgic stroll down amnesia lane. Bear with me just a little longer, I promise to pick up the road trip trail right where I left off.