Vegas....

After christmas in San Diego it was time to move on to the bright lights of Vegas....the drive took about two hours more than expected due to xmas traffic but (thanks to Michaels all american driving) we arrived eventually.
Vegas is great, its so tacky but I love it. Greg, Michael and I stayed in the pyramid in the luxor, v. nice rooms. We somehow managed to get free tickets to see Dame Edna, I suspect its due to being Aussie (note the american accent there), which was a good show but I feel bad for all those poor tourists who forked out $80 to see it. We also, god nows how managed to only spend $20 each on gambling, not because we are cheap but there were so many other great things to do...one of which is going on a roller coaster on the top of a tower, which almost ended in tears, but we all kissed and made up and had fun at the top.
Sadly now I must kiss the boys goodbye and head off to NY to meet up with Jo who is over here for new years (now living in Guernsey).

This is the luxurious LUXOR that we stayed in, good job it has a bright light at the top so we could find our way home.
The bright lights of Las Vegas Blvd, crazy place!
The Stratosphere Tower...see those red lights on the top thats a roller-coaster, yikes.
...and this is the view from the roller-coaster, so many more times scary than a big one on the ground.

Kissmas in San Diego

We hit the road for an all american road trip from LA to San Diego for xmas at Natalie and Terry's place (friends of Michaels) and somehow I drew the short straw and ended up driving...I may have gone slowly but those freeways are scary. Xmas finally arrived and they put on quite a feast for us tourists, with probably the biggest turkey I have ever seen cant imagine what it must have been fed....followed by pressie opening where I think Greg probably scored the best (stupid pineapples). The following night we got into some fancy Mexican tequilla which was very yummy, dont think I'll ever drink cheap stuff again.

Suz attempting to drive on the wrong side of the road.
Of course we had to have xmas pressies. and look at this great kissmas tree in San Diego at Kess and Terry's place.
Oh my god are you alright!

Hollywood with the Stars

We left Hawaii in style....
and arrived in Hollywood with more style.

A quick stroll through Rodeo Drive was all we could afford
and Beverly Hills was full of too many expensive cars.

Conference activities

This is my talk at PacificChem conference, dont I look professional!
...And this is us all working really hard in Waikiki.

Sunset Beach

15 foot waves at Sunset beach on the north shore ....oh and some romantik moments with the boys!

DrG and Mikey

...dont forget to check out more pickies at drgandmikey.blogspot.com

Hanauma Bay Snorkelling

Snorkelling at possibly the most tourist infested place I have ever been to, however once they finally let us get into the water after promising not to drown it was lovely.

Michael and I look very classy in snorkelling gear as you can see!

Also check out Simons pictures http://www.chem.usyd.edu.au/~iremon_s/index_files/Hawaii/index.html
there are some really amusing ones of the waterslide park

Waikiki Beach

The lovely view from the greg and michael penthouse, looking over Waikiki Beach, where we have spent many nights watching the sunset in hawaian style.

The Spiegeltent

Went to The Spiegeltent last week and saw 'La Clique'....and I think the paper put it perfectly.
"Its the place where circus meet vaudeville and it never has been, could never be, sexier"

The two german acrobatic brothers look like they are joined at the hip, and well what can I say about the 'hide the hankie' act...hmmm!

Flying High

When I woke up this morning and looked out the window I got a smile on my face....beautiful blue sky and no wind, today is flying day.

Went flying today out at Morrabbin airfields with Marty and Mike in a tiny little plane. Mike (from work) has his pilots license and Marty and I wanted some air shots of Melbourne, so he offered to take us up...thanks Mike.






Marty (shh dont tell) took over the flying for a while...what a natural! But the best bit was the tight turns which felt like being on a roller coaster.

It was great fun, but I have to admit I prefer my feet on the ground....sorry guys theres never going to be a Pilot Sneville.







Oh...and look, the aim of the day was achieved...a lovely shot of Melbourne to go next to my Sydney one :)

zoom zoom zoom

I have now officially completed Defensive Driving Level 1. Sunday was spent zooming around Sandown Racecourse, well not overly zooming but braking. I had my first experience of ABS brakes, there great fun. We manouvered around many witches hats, however, I did have a rather large hit rate, oops! Overall, it was quite clear that all the guys were speed demons and the girls liked the brakes. I fall into the girlie category, not that its a bad thing :)

Friends getting married

Back in Sydney again last weekend, this time for a friends wedding. Oh no, this is the first of the friends getting married, it has begun...I suppose next is babies!
Kirsten and I go a long way back, all the way to primary school, so I couldnt miss her in a lovely white dress. They actually technically got married in Sri Lanka (see lovely picture) but wanted friends and fam in Sydney to be part of it also...lovely day, great weekend, hopefully thats it for trips to Sydney this year!

Dr SNeville at last!

2005(PhD).................................2000 (BSc)....any change?

Finally after nearly ten years of study I have become Dr Suz...or Dr Sneville it has apparently turned into.

so why is it then that I still have no idea what to do? Oh well, at least its been fun!

A well travelled Suz...

Just arrived back from Sydney again....over the last six months I have done way too many miles up in the big blue sky. I must be one of virgin blues most frequent flyers!

day out at the races.....

DARBY DAY......

it all started out very sofistikated in dresses, ties and silly feathers.










....which soon turned to silly photo taking, talking to random people, and much betting. Which if I do say so myself I'm pretty good at, taking home most of the winnings for the day...yeah yeah giddyup!










.....but by the end of the day all was looking a bit like this.

bowling time again

check out this classy bowling action by my little sister, who came down to Melbourne for the weekend to visit, before flying off into the setting sun to the UK....we miss you already!









....heres the really serious side of bowls, deciding who won. In our case if wasnt so easy to decide as we were so far from the pin :)











looks like the birthday boy knows what he's doing......showing us all up with a drive.

netball anyone?

Had my first game of netball last week in my new team....and too my surprise I had to wear one of these sexy outfits, I know your all jealous!

Well all I can say is, on the surface anyway, its a but of an upgrade from the old netball team :) but certainly not as entertaining.

Living near the beach?

OK, so I live one street from the beach just an easy five minute stroll away from my front door. This picture I took on Saturday of Elwood beach (my local), I couldnt believe it the smell was awful and look at the rubbish...yuck! how am I going to go swimming there?

Off with the boys to Adelaide

Holiday time again...this time to Adelaide, with me and six boys. You may very well ask why and now that I've been there I agree, what a ghost town it was difficult to even find a pub that was open!

Day 1: Barrossa Valley Wine Tasting - Dont we just look like a bunch of wine experts!

Day 2: A hung over game of footie with the boys - dont let them tell you I cant play look at this professional catching style and determination...


Day 3: Road trip to Glen Elg - Unlike the city this place actually had an atmosphere and people...and who might this be?

sydney invades melbourne

Jarrod (skinny flat white) and Mark (innocent honours student!) have infiltrated my house for the past week on a 'work' holiday. My lovely clean house is now officially warmed including a lovely red wine stain on the carpet and a redecorated bathroom, for which the picture below only shows the beginnings of....I assure you I wasnt grinning that much by the next morning :(

We also managed to take my not so new car for a spin around the bay to the Mornington Peninsular and owing to excessive but predicable VIC storms had to resort to hanging out in wineries for hours :)

Sydney vs Melbourne

There was an article in The Age last weekend giving a travel guide on Sydney. The writter evidently does not like Sydney which shone through loud and clear in the negative undertone of the article. The only positive thing he/she had to say was that Sydney has better drivers, which by the way, I agree with but thats besides the point.

What really baffles me is the line "....we are supposed to snear at Sydney with the equal sneerability Sydney applies to us." Since moving to Melbourne I have gathered that this is a very common notion, however every Sydneysider I have ever spoken too doesnt really mind Melbourne (or Melbournians) and indeed quite like the city??? Where has this one sided distain for Sydney come from?

Anyway, from my point of view you shouldnt even try to compare the two cities because they are so different in size, location and atmosphere...I think their both great and Melbournians should get over it and enjoy!!!

Sydney: emerald-city-or-zircon-town?

Bar at Buena Vista

Another last minute invitation....went to 'her majesty's theatre' to see a cuban music and dance show. Wasnt sure what to expect but its a mix of music, dance and theatre, they had everyone up and dancing at the end. Thoroughly recommended!!

catching up #4 - Mt Bulla

Yes I am in Melbourne to work but I cant say no to a ski trip, so when the opportunity came up I kindly asked if two days off work would be OK....evidently it was.

We stayed at the Monash Uni lodge at Mt Bulla just a short stroll from the ski lifts. The first day was great I decided to have a lesson to remind myself how it all works and after that all was fine. I didnt have too many stacks, however, to be perfectly honest I didnt really go fast enough to crash too hard. The second day it was almost a blizzard and by lunch time they shut down the lifts and that was the end of that...