Australia's best butt

I had an unusual experience on the weekend. I was a judge at the Mount Isa heat of Australia's Best Butt Competition.

Yep, you heard me. Australia's Best Butt Competition. It's part of the program for the Dirt 'n' Dust Festival, which is heard in a little town called Julia Creek.

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As you can read in The North West Star, it's not the size of the butt that counts, it's how you use it. Basically, people are encouraged to get up and wiggle their butt as best they can to encourage an audience reaction.

There were pole dancing moves, hand stands and everywhere in between. Naturally, some require a few beers before they think it's a good idea.

So yes, it was an interesting night, to say the least. I became a judge because I was doing a story on it mid week, and was asked by the organiser.

Um, yeh. Butts.

Birthday celebrations

It was my birthday yesterday!

It was a pretty good day. The people in Mount Isa remembered, and I got a lot of phone calls and text messages from people back home who remembered too. A good balance!

I must make special mention of Brad Thompson, who walked out still very much asleep, unable to open his eyes, and mumbled "happy birthday Steve." What a great effort to remember, he really dug deep.

I also got page one on my birthday. Okay, so the story isn't going to win me a Walkley Award, but a page one is a page one.

It was also really nice that the people at work remembered. We shared a cup cake and I even got a present!
So, Nicola and I have been having the occasional Disney movie night, much to the amusement of people in the office. So that was my present... And I loved it!

Last night was all about beer and pizza at the Isa Hotel. Work people and a few other friends came out and bought me drinks! It was a pretty good night.

Thanks to everyone who called and messaged. It was much appreciated.

And as promised, here's a picture credit for Brad Thompson. Thanks for taking the photos Brad.

Back in Mount Isa

Well, I'm back in Mount Isa where it's 34º with a UV rating of about four million. But at least it's a dry heat, which has the added bonus of drying my washing in ten minutes (that's not actually exaggerating).

Being back home was awesome, as was the training that I went to. The best part was getting a tour of The Sydney Morning Herald office, and getting to sit down with the editor for half an hour and ask questions. There was also a really good session on photography, and a lot of stuff on writing. Also, I learned the beginnings of shorthand and now have to practice a lot so I can try to get it up to speed.

The week after the training I went to Mum and Dad's at Moss Vale, and borrowed a car to go to Newcastle to see some people. I also went down to Kiama for a day, which was absolutely lovely. Then back to Sydney for a night, and I've flown back to Mount Isa via Brisbane today.

So here I am, absolutely exhausted, waiting for my washing to finish. There are a lot of mixed feelings about coming back. Part of me really didn't want to, but part of me was excited to come back and see my friends up here again.

But back I am, so I will just have to make the most of it. Actually, one of the things that I realised when I was back is that I actually have grown fond of the place, or at least some of the people. If I contrast that with how I was feeling in the first few weeks, it is a big, big change. I wouldn't say I love it or want to spend the rest of my life here, but I'm two months into a twelve month cadetship already, and I want to make the most of my time in the north west.

So it's back to The North West Star tomorrow, back to getting up early and ironing shirts. But there's also a lot to look forward to.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to catch up with me, I really appreciate it.

Back in NSW

Well I'm back in New South Wales for two weeks.

I've got a training week next week, but have also managed to get the week afterward off, so it's a chance see everyone and not have to pay for flights! Win-win.

I'm sitting in my friends Nic and Eve's place, and just finished a few stories I hadn't quite done and emailed them back to Mount Isa. It's raining gently here, and the funny thing is I think it's the same weather system that was making Mount Isa wet for a few days before I left that has moved down here. I'm just following the bad weather.

I'm really looking forward to seeing people. I'm going to be in Newcastle for a few days and then in Moss Vale for a few days which will be nice. It's weird to be back in Sydney after only a few hours on planes, as opposed to three days driving.

I stayed overnight in Brisbane last night because you can't get a connection if you catch the last flight out of Mount Isa. I stayed at the YHA in the city, and shared a room with this old Irish guy name Tom, who was a bit of a character. I don't know Brisbane at all, but it was so late by the time I got there I went and had a beer at the pub down the road and just wanted to go to bed.

But anyway, I'm here now.