My name is Bonnie, I'm 40 years old, and living with my fiancé in Sunderland, UK. I met him in an internet chat room, #australia to be specific. We decided to meet and I flew from Melbourne, Australia to Heathrow to do so. It was the scariest and best thing I've ever done.

I was born and grew up around Perth, Western Australia. I married in 1984, had a son, David, in 1986, and moved to Dandaragan, a small country town in the wheatbelt north of Perth. Then I had my daughter, Katie, and a couple of years later we moved to Moora, a slightly larger town about 50km away.

We lived in Moora for several years. David and Katie both went to school there. We survived the 1999 flood where almost the entire town was under water.

Moora Montage

Shortly after that I started my own Bookkeeping and Secretarial Service, working from home. I found this work very rewarding. It gave me a chance to work with many of the town's small business people and I have a great respect now for 'the little guy' owning his own business.

Unfortunately it was during my time in Moora that my marriage failed and I felt it necessary to move away. I decided I needed a complete break and moved to stay with some friends in Melbourne, Victoria.

I got work as a temp, and shared a house with an online friend for a few months. It was during this time that I met Dave.

Dave had recently lost his father to asbestosis and we were both dreading Christmas. He invited me over to visit him for the festive season on a return ticket and I never went back.

Now Dave and I live together in our home in Sunderland, England. He works for a computing firm and I work 5 minutes from home in the purchasing department of the largest independent chain of travel agencies in the north east.

I continue to spend much of my free time chatting to my online friends in IRC. I have gained 'operator' status in some of the channels I frequent, giving me some of the responsibility for making those channels safe and comfortable places to chat.

I enjoy building websites and have included links to some of my work on the links page.

When I'm not chatting or website building I still spend a lot of time reading my favourite fantasy/sci-fi books, playing roleplaying computer games, and merrily stitching on several different cross stitch projects at once. I also do some dressmaking and soft furnishings when I need to.

Easter 2003 I took Dave over for his first glimpse of Australia. He met my children and saw a few of the places that are important to me. He had an absolute ball and in spite of his fears that I wouldn't come home, it was he who had to be dragged onto the plane home kicking and screaming.