Back in Sydney it was time to return the car and start looking for work. We stayed at Lisa's place and had the caravan all to ourselves to sleep in until we found work and another place to live (closer to town).

Jules had a Working Holiday Visa so she was able to pick up work fairly easily. She hooked up with a local placement agency that specializes in desktop publishing and graphic design, and they had her working within a few days. Marc spent about three weeks trying to find someone who was willing to sponsor his working visa, and eventually succeeded with IT&T Careers. His first one-week contract turned into a seven month contract with AGC Finance by the time it was over.

Once we were both gainfully employed and the visa issues had been sorted, we started looking for a place to live. Lisa was also looking to move closer to work, and we were looking for something close to the city and the rail lines for an easy commute, so we decided to move out of her paren'ts place together.

We thought we had found a really nice place with a pool, gym, balcony, great view and was fairly new, but a few days before we were scheduled to move in we were told that the new owner decided not to purchase the flat and we were left homeless. Back to the search... A couple weeks later, and after a whole lot more looking, we came across a flat at a complex across the road from the one we originally wanted that was only a couple years older and almost as nice. We got it and moved in right away. It was very Melrose Place-ish with the apartments centered around the courtyard and pool.

Now that we were living close to the city, our social life improved dramatically! It was now a 5 minute train ride into the city instead of a 45 minute ride. And we even have a view of the city from our balcony.

Now that we had found employment and a place to live, it was time to arrange for some transportation. Our friend Fish had left his car near Melbourne while he went home to New Zealand for a while. He was kind enough to let us use his car while he was gone. After a morning flight to Melbourne, and a train ride to Pakenham, I was back on the road and returned to Sydney. I got home just before midnight after a long day of travelling.

On one fine evening in April, South Sydney was hit with one of the worst hail storms in it's history. It caused over $350 million damage, most of which was to roofs and cars. Entire car lots were complete write-offs, and two jets at Sydney airport had to be grounded because of the damage! The hail-stones were the size of tennis balls, and by the time I found the camera, they'd already half melted. The damage to the roof of the pool house was pretty typical of the area.

In early May we took a nostalgic trip back to Cataract Scout Park (aaah, where it all began...) for the Sydney Area Rover Ball. It was a disco theme and everybody (well, almost everybody) dressed the part. Jules picked out a nice little number for Marc with pin-stripped polyester flared pants and an open weave shirt with pin-stripping to match the pants. Jules had a short glittery red dress that caught everyone's attention (according to Marc).

Over Easter we drove down to Mafeking Rover Park in Victoria for Mud-Bash. It was cold and wet, but you can't let that stop you from having a good time. We ran into lots of people we knew, and most of them were surprised that we were still around. There were hill-climbing races, obstacle courses, and tug-o-wars for the participants, and we tried our hand at being DJ's for the Moot radio station with a two hour Canadian Music Special!

While Marc was working at AGC, a group of staff from the IT department challenged the Help-Desk staff at Westpac Bank to a day of Skirmish (Paintball). We pretty much smoked them, but they put up a valiant fight.
A few weeks later, they were back for revenge with some help from their IT Department, but we still managed to squeak by with a victorious day. Most of us did have a few battle-scars to remember they day by.

The Canadian consulate sponsored a Canada Day party at the Victoria Cross Hotel on July 1st. They had a pancake and maple syrup breakfast in the morning, and Canadian beer, hockey on the televisions, and lots of decoration to remind us of home. Too bad the DJ was a twit and wouldn't play much Canadian music, no matter how much he was asked. Jason and Leonie were there, and they even dressed up a few Aussies in Canadian hockey jerseys. Cynthia was still hanging around so she showed up as well.

Al took us on a tour of the Qantas Jet Base in July including the maintenance shops, and out onto the tarmac to tour a couple of jets being prepared for their next flights. The highlight was the modern cockpit of a new 747-400. Jules checked out the comforts of first class and decided that we have to travel this way from now on (better make more money soon!).

A week later we were off to Wee Jasper for the Rover Speleogical Society (RSS) annual friends caving week-end. On Saturday we explored Punchbowl cave. Angus set up the rigging for our 35 metre abseil into the cave, and we spent the rest of the day underground. There were lots of tight squeezes, some beautiful formations, and a few difficult holes like this one down the 'Laundry Chute'. There were also opportunities to relax and take it all in.

The climb out was the most exhausting part of the day. It was a difficult 35 metre climb up the steal ladder, but we all made it. We were rewarded with a great meal at Wee Jasper's only restaurant, and we partied until late back at the cabin. Jules took in a cave called 'Rubbish Tip' on Sunday to round out the weekend.

We finally bought our own car! And to no surprise to anyone it is a Mazda RX7! This one is a 1979 model know as a 1st Gen in North America, and a Series 1 in Australia. It is a Japanese import with a few options that were not available on the local models. The body and interior are mint, however, I'm not completely happy with the mechanicals, but that can be fixed.

Julie's old roomie, Janine, and her beau, Kim, had a housewarming party that was definitely out of the ordinary. It was an Austin Powers party and guests showed up in all manner of Power's era clothing.

The RSS hosted this year's annual Caver's Dinner. We were on hand to assist with all the setup which included hundreds of pieces of climbing and other safety gear hanging from the ceiling. There was also an art auction to support the RSS with donated works from around the world.

Jules surprised me with a helicopter tour of Sydney for his birthday. Our good friend Diz was our pilot for the
1 hour flight from Bankstown, up the Parramatta River to the City, around Manly's North Head, and up the coast to Palm Beach. It was great flight and the views were fantastic. The chopper was a small two-man aircraft with an air-cooled motor. It felt like we were flying in a Volkswagen Beetle.

We finally had a housewarming party in October. Lots of friends showed up; many of whom haven't seen each other in ages. We had lots of great food all night long, and luckily we didn't have to drive home as it would have been impossible by the end of the night. A bunch of party animals stayed the night and Marc made his legendary breakfast for everyone the next morning.

Marc's contract with AGC ended just before our trip home, but Jules was lucky to have hers extended with Mercer. Marc will look for a new contract when we return.

We flew home for a short vacation to see friends and family in October. Jules went to Montreal for a couple of weeks before joining Marc in Vancouver. We had a great time surprising everyone as almost no-one in Vancouver knew we were coming into town. After catching up on a big to-do list, we found a bit of time to party hard before flying back to Australia. A big thanks to all our friends and family for proving just how lucky we are to have you to come home to!

We had far too much stuff on our return trip. Not only did we max out on our checked luggage, we also had to check in our bicycles, which ended up costing more than anticipated.

On our way back to Oz, we made our now ritualistic stopover in the Cook Islands. We stayed at the ever-fabulous Tiare Village Dive Hostel and Mary and Lily were still the wonderful hosts we came to know last year. Despite the fact that we had three days of off-an-on-again rain, we still managed to have a great time. Jules and another girl managed to convince one of the guys to let them make him up. We draped Jules' hair over his nearly bald head for that added touch.

The highlight of the stay was when we went back to the beach where we took the picture of Jules in the hammock. We had our usual lunch at 'The Fruits of Rarotonga' before heading to the beach.

Marc tried to convince Jules to come out for a snorkel, but no amount of coaxing could get her into the water. She complained it was just too grey and cool out. Well, that put Marc's plans into disarray and he had to think fast. We went for a walk down the beach and when we returned to our starting point Marc did it. She did not see this coming and he's glad because the reaction was priceless.

Marc reached into his pocket and pulled out an engagement ring and popped the question. It doesn't seem that she really heard anything he said after she saw the ring and realized what it was. First she was speechless, the she started to cry. Of course she finally got around to saying yes (at least 20 times!!) and all was well in our tropical paradise. Marc had planned on bringing out the ring and presenting it to her underwater, but alas not all plans go as they are intended.

We rode back to the hostel to break the news after picking up a bottle of champagne on the way,and enjoyed it with everybody at the hostel. Mary bought us a small bottle of champagne as well as our first engagement card.

We had a great dinner at Trader Jack's to celebrate our engagement. After dinner a large group from the hostel came down to have drinks with us and party the night away. Little did we know what they had in mind. All the guys showed up dressed in drag that they scrounged from the ladies at the hostel. The were complete with high heels and makeup! What a show they put on for the locals. We ended up at two other clubs that night and we don't think the locals knew what to make of them. What a blast!

After 4 days on Rarotonga, it was time to return to Australia and Air New Zealand had a little surprise for us. One of our bags (a large box, actually) was two kilograms over the weight limit and we had to repack it. We also had to pay for the bikes to continue onto Sydney. Luckily for us, the computer systems were down at the airport and they were so far behind in getting everyone checked in that they just pushed it all through without any additional charges or repacks. Our lucky day indeed!

A week after we returned to Sydney, we went to Jenolan Caves for a weekend of caving with the RSS helping out on their 'Signatures Project'. The goal of this weekend was to document any signatures we find in the caves and have some fun at the same time. Some of the signatures dated back to 1879! On day 1, Angus took us tramping all over a hillside looking for the entrance to an elusive cave. We finally found some, even though they weren't the ones we were looking for. Angus found a link between two cave entrances that was not documented, and Marc went down the other entrance to see if they would meet. It was hard work making his way back out of that particular hole!

At the end of the day, we returned to the cabin for some dinner and entertainment. Everyone had a go at making the highest stack of phone books. Sounds easy you say? Well, the object of this game was to build the stack while you're standing on it. We think the record stood at about 18 phone books. There were other games like passing the bar around you body without releasing your grip, and placing the bottle as far away from you with only one hand and two feet touching the ground, and then standing back up again without using the other hand or falling over. All these games were completed only after a required number of drinks had been consumed...

Day 2 found us in another cave, and we found this one more easily than yesterday's caves. We discovered several different signatures, including these ones that Marc found by accident at the bottom of a deep hole. Ask Jules and Dave, it's not all easy work climbing around underground all day. But at the end of the day, we always make time to admire all the beautiful formations.

A few weeks later, we had our engagement party. It was difficult to award the long distance award as we had Brother Colin from Brisbane, Dean and Veronique from Auckland, and Sue and Jim from Melbourne, all attend our party. There were also lots of locals to help fill up our living room. It was great having everyone over to help us celebrate. Too bad we have to wait until next July to celebrate with everyone back in Vancouver.

On December 13, Marc began a new full-time job with Powerlan. He was hired as a senior network engineer with Microsoft Exchange, NT, and server hardware as his specialties. It looks like a great move from the contracting work that he's been doing and a good chance to upgrade his skills and qualifications.

On December 19, we took off for our ill fated trip to Yileen Canyon. It all started off well with great views of the Blue Mountains and great friends as we made our way through the canyon. It started off as an overgrown creek and slowly opened up into a nice little canyon. Nothing too difficult, but lots of fun.

Then our luck changed for the worse. Marc decided to avoid some deep water and take a higher route through one section when he lost his footing on a sandy ledge and dropped about 5m onto some very solid rock. He could tell that it was going to hurt long before hitting the ground. After the impact, Marc rolled around a lot and yelled a bit more, and made up a few new four letter words to describe the pain. All-in-all it was not a happy experience.

Eventually other members of our party arrived and helped move Marc to a safer spot where he could lay down and be a little more comfortable. It was obvious he had broken something in his right foot and done some damage to his back. It was a good thing a few of us, including Jules, had first aid training, although at the bottom of a canyon, all we could really do is splint Marc's leg, make him comfortable, and cover him up to keep him warm and avoid shock. Because Marc decided against bringing thermals and warm clothes, we had to squeeze him into Jules' polar fleece jumper and cover him in a wetsuit vest. Fortunately, Glen had the forethought to bring a space blanket which provided an amazing amount of warmth.

Angus and Anthony were the lucky ones who got to hike back out and call for help while the rest hung around treating the victim and getting colder as time wore on. The accident happened about 11:30AM, and by 3:30PM we heard the wonderful sounds of the Westpac Care-flight helicopter approaching. After a few passes overhead, we finally managed to get their attention and they lowered a doctor and paramedic into the canyon about 100 metres downstream.
The helicopter created quite the windstorm in the canyon and Marc needed a little help to keep the blanket on.

With a everyone's help, they managed to move Marc downstream to the pickup point. From there he was strapped into the harness and hoisted up to the helicopter. Luckily they got him out when they did, as soon after the rain and fog set into the canyon, and they would have had to abandon the rescue until the morning. However, this also meant that they could not make a return trip to pick up the rest of our group, so cold and weary, we had to make our way through the rest of the canyon, down a few waterfalls, and finally back up to the cars. It was dark and rainy, and we still had to get to the hospital to see Marc. Fortunately Jules had Rohan in the car with her, because as they were coming through Faulconbridge, all hell broke loose with the car, as the alternator seized and the fan belt disintegrated. Jules managed to limp the car into the Caltex parking lot, but with the heavy rain and darkness, there wasn't much they could do. Rohan called Marc at the hospital to tell him what happened (Jules was too hysterical!) and to get the rest of the group to turn around and pick us up.

Meanwhile, Marc was resting a little more comfortably at Nepean Hospital. It turned out he had shattered his heel, and fractured the second lumbar vertebrae. After spending 6 days in the hospital he was let out on Christmas day under the understanding that he would go home and stay in bed. Jules was able to get some time off from work for a few weeks to look after him, as well as take care of things around the house.

One word of advice to anyone who is traveling: Make sure you have got travel medical insurance! Ours had just run out and we had not yet signed up for some more when this happened. We were lucky to get off easy and be out of the hospital in only six days with no surgery. It still cost us almost $5000 in the end (not including lost wages). You can bet we're covered now!

We watched a lot of movies over the Christmas break, since Marc couldn't do anything else, and were lucky to have several friends come visit.

Although we had planned to see the fireworks on the harbour to ring in the new millenium, we were not able to get Marc down there, so Gus, Al and Loretta came over instead. From our balcony, we were able to see quite a few of the fireworks going over the city and the higher ones over the harbour and bridge.

So although it wasn't the best way to end a year, Marc and I still enjoyed our first year in Sydney, and are lucky to have had so many wonderful friends to share it with.