As of the 7/2 (Saturday) I have been on the road for two years. Lysey regularly points out that 'I am no longer on the road' as I am settled, but still, I have been away from home for 731 days now. How much more 'on the road' can I get?

On the subject of all things home, I must say, for the first time in a long time, I have been envious of the weather back in Blighty. The aforementioned day of my anniversary happened to be the day when NSW was officially deemed the hottest place on the planet. (Take that plains of Africa and deserts of the Middle East). Baking in 47degrees heat is ridiculous, and unlike England who has witnessed a couple of snowflakes, we don't get time off work.

I have not stopped banging on about the snow back home. I have been keeping abreast of the weather, especially in Somerset, for the past week and I read that my old secondary school - Heathfield - closed because of the severity. Why did that never happen when I was there? Moreover, on the Beeb's Somerset news section, there are a number of webcams allowing viewers to watch the world go by from a variety Somerset townships. I know, it's a little intrusive, but for all the saddos out there (yes, I fall into this category) it offers a great way to pass the time whilst at work. (I remember, in a previous job for which I will not mention, I along with a colleague, watched the on-goings from the main street in Burnham-on-sea for over an hour. It was shocking, and the job wasn't much better).

Anyway, during my working week in the blistering heat, I logged on to the Richard Huish College webcam available on the aforementioned website. Lo and behold, the roofs were covered in snow, but because of the angle of the camera and the darkness, not a lot else was going on. (Not much happens on the bike-shed roof, especially at 2.36am, which was 1.36pm my end) I stopped watching after twenty minutes and returned to my work.

As you may have witnessed, Australia, and in particular the state of Victoria, is currently awash with bushfires. Tragically, over 170 people have died; having read their various tales it left me feeling numb – a feeling echoed by the entire nation. The worst of the fires, according to a few media outlets, was over 80km's long and it swarmed people's properties in minutes. With the gusting winds spreading the firing embers people also noted how it was literally raining fire. During my stay here of almost two years I have never known Australia suffer any disaster, but the national response has been overwhelming. I would draw comparisons to the response effort that occurred during the tsunami. Admittedly, it seems that only Australians have been affected, but the parallels between the response then and now can definitely be drawn. (Moreover, the worldwide attention it has received highlights this, plus America are sending experts in planning and reconstruction) Hopefully the forecasted rains will arrive soon.

On the subject of rain, the state of Queensland has been battered by cyclones and severe rain. Again, there have been loses of lives, and because of the raising waters crocodiles have been spotted in some towns. (A five-year-old boy, searching for his dog in a burst lake, was taken by a crocodile this weekend) It's amazing to think that on the south of the country they are fighting the worst bushfires in the nation's history, yet at the north-eastern side of the land they are battling a completely contrasting disaster. Admittedly, to fly from Melbourne (Victoria's capital) to Brisbane (Queensland's equivalent) would take roughly four-five hours; if one was to fly from London for such a similar amount of time they would end up in Egypt - a different continent. That offers a scale of how big Australia is. Being in NSW (where Sydney reigns as its capital) I am bang in the middle of the two; we've had a fair few bushfires within the state, but most of them have occurred in forests away from urban areas. The rain is due this week, and my incessant bleating aside of complaining about the climate, the whole of NSW and Victoria needs it badly. Queensland, on the other hand, needs no more.

K Rudd, or Kevin 747 as he's affectionately known to his detractors (simply because he's always abroad) has been, as you can assume, appearing in the news for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the PM showed a responsive approach to the bushfires by immediately enlisting the army's help, and providing $10ml in aid. (I suspect this figure will rise within time, especially as he public donations have so far exceeded $14ml) He has also been dealing with another on-going crisis - the economy. Earlier last week, in a bold attempt to stimulate the ailing economy, he introduced a $42bl stimulus plan with the intention of creating jobs and providing Australia with the opportunity to work itself out of the global downturn. He has also appealed to the average Joe Bloggs, too, by giving every tax-paying Australian (or student) a $950 cash bonus. The words 'every Australia' act as my downfall even though I have paid tax along with the rest of society. Opinions are divided amongst my social circle as to whether I will actually receive anything. I am not holding my breath, but I know Lysey will qualify for it. Politicians are divided on the issue too; the opposition are fearing that everyone will go and blow it on either plasma's or in the pokies, but I suppose you could argue that if they do just that they're stimulating the economy.

Politics aside, Lysey reached the grand old age of 24 last week (3/2 - a day after our first year anniversary. I'll never forget either dates that's for sure). One of her requests was that I cooked a meal, which I duly obliged in doing so. However, as I am no Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen I had to enlist the help of our housemate, who is a culinary genius. (However, I am better than her at telling people to **** off!) The meal, something involving pasta and prawns, tasted superb if I don't mind saying so myself. I cooked for four, and I think they were all in agreement with my biased assessment.

Another request of hers was to have an ice cream cake for dessert. Considering I have never heard of it before I wasn’t going to attempt to make one, so instead I bought one. The most appealing one on offer at the supermarket was a Freddo the Frog cake, but I don't think anyone minded. Besides, if I had have made one I only would have decorated it in frogs.

On the day she received a silver ring, a gold chain, a Trans-Siberian Lonely Planet plus some other stuff from yours truly. I have also ordered a few DVD's online, but because Australia is so behind the times, I wasn't allowed to get them sent directly to Sydney; one nameless DVD is yet to be released here, and as Amazon put it, 'this title isn't available in your region'. Therefore, I had to get them sent to my parent's house in England with the intention mother would forward them. However, because of the snow they were first delayed in arriving, and as I gather, mother has suffered because of the same conditions. Therefore, by the time Lysey receives them they probably will be 'available in our region'. (I am not having a dig at anyone - the snow cannot be helped. Mother, I really do appreciate you posting them on to us, you know I do.)

To also help celebrate, Saturday (7/2) the pair of us spent the day at Coogee Beach. The mercury has constantly been between 30-40 degrees during the summer, but this was the first time we have been to the beach. Nonetheless, the water was still freezing - and I mean freezing. We both struggled in the tepid temperature and an hour later I was getting annoyed the sand was sticking to me (which is definitely the reason why this was my first venture to the beach this summer) so we left. However, we had a good reason to do so - we were going out in Kings Cross with six of her friends to further celebrate.

Starting at a pizza restaurant, the eight of us all had a great time. We duly ended up in some back street joint in Sydney's red-light district (it's not as bad as it sounds, honestly) where we drunk the night away. Feeling slightly hung over the following day (8/2) we both went to the cinema, largely to escape the predicted 47 degree heat, and secondly to watch a film. Our choice of flick was the Changling; after leaving the cinema I commented to Lysey that the film was literally bleeding Oscars, such was the quality of the film and the acting. Set in America in the 1920s the film depicts the kidnapping of a boy and the corrupt attempts made by the police to help trace the lad. I could talk and talk about the storyline, but I don't want to say much more as I would reveal the plot to anyone who intends to see it. (However, because I watched it in 'our region' the Changling probably appeared in British cinemas in 2008).