Apocalypse now.

The Harbour bridge, mid dust storm

John's front yard by 7.30:

John banged on my door at 7am this morning.

'Get up, Simone. The world's ending.'

'That'd be bloody right,' I thought. I am so totally over 2009.

John is a mate here in Sydney. Where I am. For the foreseeable future. 'Cause when I arrived here to apply for my Saudi visa, the recruiters withdrew their job offer.

Yeeees.

My life in little pieces around the room. And elsewhere. My stuff is in Bahrain. My cat and car in Qatar. Emotionally I am 'there' but my life is - apparently - here. In Sydney. Or Brisbane. Or Melbourne. Or Adelaide.

Clearly there are decisions to be made in the coming... week.

No, I didn't ring the recruiters to find out why I'd been dumped. What on earth would be the point? Any organisation that treats people as they have treated me is clearly to be avoided - something I would have known if I'd done some online research. And why too would I allow myself to be evaluated by criteria for which I have no respect?

Time to move on. Or stay put as the case may be.

Picked up some casual teaching work in Sydney.

Caught up with some friends on Sydney's amazing waterways.

With Tor, assorted magpies and picnic lunch at Ball's Head Reserve on Sydney Harbour:

With Annie in Manly and coming back by ferry at night:

Cooked for people in John's house.

Cuddled the visiting baby bunny. Did you know that rabbits can purr? And lick you. Georgia's tongue is about one quarter the size of Ant's. Whom I'm missing terribly.

Me with visiting baby bunny, Georgia. May I recommend cuddling small furry creatures as a therapeutic technique when the world is collapsing around one?

Paraded round in the abayat and shayla I brought back from Bahrain's Carrefour supermarket when I thought I was moving to Saudi. Do yell if an abayat is something you have a need for.

Pick the Muslim. What? You know I'm an atheist... The gorgeous [Muslim] Cheria was also a house guest in the magical Burra Road.

You too can look Palestinian...

Freedom! I hate that head scarf.

On the upside, the air in Sydney is full of the scent of blossom.

Wisteria, cherry blossom, jasmine and camellias competeting with dust to fill the air - and winning!

And Australians seem to have found a solution to Qatari speeding, by blatantly connecting speeding with small penises. Tell me what other country would think they could get away with this? I'm so proud of us!

If only, IF ONLY, we could export this ad to Qatar. God, giving anyone the finger would be completely redundant...

An Australian solution to speeding.

And of the world ending? Apparently I came all the way home to witness Sydney's first major dust storm.

That'd be bloody right.

Not as invasive as Qatari dust storms but get this: the dust is ORANGE. The sky is ORANGE. Darling sweetie darling. How terribly Sydney.

Much love,

Simone, sadly, in Sydney.