Xmas Day

That's Xmas day (nearly) over. In the end it warmed up for the afternoon and we ate our dinner (bbq'd salmon and king prawns with various salads, followed by frozen pineapple sherbet and yogurt for desert) outside under the parasol.

Amelia had no sleep all day, and so gave up during supper...

thank you

A special thank you to our readers in Mid Lothian (and Australian Post for not pinching the cash :-))

Xmas Eve

How very British - grey and wet :-)



How are we supposed to have a barbie in this? (tomorrow looks much better though)

a different xmas

You know it's going to be a different Christmas when:

• you remember you need to clean the BBQ for the main meal
• you can't decide if you are going to brave the traffic and go to the beach, or just sit around the pool
• you are praying it won't hit 40D, as you don't have air con
• you are wondering which Tshirt would be best to wear on the day, and if shorts are too formal
• garlic prawns or snapper?
• plum pudding or icecream?
• people are singing christmas carols and sweating from the effort
• the earliest you are going to phone the rellies is 11pm....

More pictures...

It's Friday, so time for some more pictures, especially for those that don't get our emails...

warm again

It's friday, and it looked a little cool this morning so I took a jacket to work. Why???

Now, (late lunch time) it is about 35d outside, and a very dry heat.

because of the dry/hot/wind, there is now a total "fire ban" in the Greater Syndey area:

Warning: A Fire Weather Warning for Very High to Extreme Fire danger. A Total Fire Ban is current. Refer to Fire Weather Warning for the latest Rural Fire Service Total Fire Ban information.

Total Fire Ban Rules


During a Total Fire Ban no fire may be lit in the open. Fire permits are suspended during a Total Fire Ban. This includes incinerators and barbecues which burn solid fuel, e.g. wood or charcoal.

You may use a gas or electric barbeque, but only if:

• it is on a residential property within 20m of the house or dwelling
• if it is a picnic area and the appliance is approved by council, National Park or State Forest
• it is under the direct control of an adult
• the ground within 2m of the barbecue is cleared of all materials which could burn
• you have an immediate and continuous supply of water available.

Finally some pics of Callum...

Sorry for the delay...


(Amelia seems to be getting on well!)

The local wildlife

We now have a couple of new visitors to the pool - 2 Eastern Water Dragons!

One has a stumpy tail, the other still whole. They seem to like lounging on the far wall of the pool, and going for swims in the water...

(Amelia loves them.)

Callum is

One month old :-)

The weather again

Yesterday was Tuesday, so, I must have been in Melbourne. Where it was 38degrees (well, it is Spring!).

On the flight back to Sydney this evening, the captain informed us that due to a change in the wind direction the temperature at Sydney had dropped - 10 degrees in 20 minutes!

busy

Well, I've been a bit busy, and so the blog hasn't been updated recently; Callum Nathan was born at 12.17am on the 26th October...

baby, baby, baby...

... Still not here - 6 days overdue and counting...

(still, i did get to sleep on the sofa in the birthing suite on Sunday night.)

weather again

Well, back at work now, although my 'wound' is still healing.


This weekend was interesting for weather. Friday/Saturday were two of the hotest October days on record - reaching 38degrees. Hot enough on Saturday for Louise and Amelia to go swiming in the pool (and for me to discover the large number of dangerous looking spiders living on the fence next to the pool!).

Then sunday a change in the weather - drizzling and only (!) 20degrees - in fact the car claimed it was only 16degrees when we went out to get a newspaper...

Hospital Checkup

Today was my checkup with one of the surgeons. Everything is ok, but still need to take it easy - no heavy lifting etc.

So what happened?

Well, perforated appendix with abscess, and acute appendicitis; my appendix had ruptured inside my abdomen, leading to gangrene, abscess and pus. Far too messy for keyhole work (bet the surgeon got a surprise).

Apparently particularly bad/messy; I would have been in hospital in a matter of days if we hadn't gone to the GP...

Discharged today

Got let out today. Still hurt, can't stand up straight, but have had the drain removed, and the last of the heparin jabs (which leave very nice bruises in your thigh). Signed off work for the next week, and not allowed to lift anything of great weight (unless I want the subcutaneous stiches to tear...).

I now weigh less...

Well, that's it done - appendix is out, big cut*, self administered morphine (PCA - patient-controlled analgesia, and a very dry mouth.

Keep getting woken up for IV shots of antibiotics:

• Gentamicin
• Flagyl
• Ampicillin

And 12 hourly jabs of heparin to stop me getting DVT (on top of the powered leg compression bandages!)

*didn't get the keyhole surgery - not sure why. Got a nice drain in my side though...

Ho Hum - I'm actually pretty ill!

4pm.
We went to a GP/surgery in Hornsby; I'm really feeling a bit crap.
Great - possible appendicitis, off to A&E (round the corner) for a second opinion.

5pm.
Very busy at A&E - still waiting.

6pm.
Still busy - been seen by triage nurse who things I look a little 'peaky'.

7pm.
Give me the drugs - it hurts!

7.30pm.
Calmed down - morphine is good.

9pm.
Off to X-ray. Probably appendicitis, but could be divirticulitis (not great, long term condition)

11.30pm.
Off to X-ray again, for a CT scan.

Going to be scheduled for appendectomy early tomorrow, probably keyhole.

I feel crap

Feeling crap since 10am today - Louise is coming to pick me up from work - I'm going home...

I don't feel great

Wednesday Evening

Nope - I don't feel great. But not bad enough to do anything about it.

Thursday Evening

Felt fine during the day, but my stomach aches a little tonight

Taxis

Hints and tips about taxis in Sydney for anyone coming over...

1. They are much cheaper than the UK!
2. If you pick up a taxi at the Airport, you pay an additional $2 - this is actually to cover the cost of the facilities onsite for the drivers!
3. Tolls are added to the meter reading at the end of the trip.
4. If you go over the Harbour Bridge or through the Harbour Tunnel, you have to pay the toll as part of your fare - regardless of which direction you go (as a normal driver you only pay one way. However as a Taxi can't garentee a fare going in the other direction, everyone pays in a Taxi).
5. If you pay by credit card, there is an additional fee (10% + GST =11%) for the privaledge
6. Most Taxi's have a EFTPOS machine for payment - if they don't, and you have to fill in a paper docket/bill, make sure you check your credit card at a later date (don't forget the service charge) to make sure you have only been charged once, and for the correct amount
7. Check that the meter is running the correct rate - daytime or nightime (higher charge)

The weather again

How very English/British - commenting on the weather again.

So, after the stupidly wet weather at the start of the month, Spring is back in the air - yesterday (Tuesday) saw the mercury hit 30 degrees.

Can't wait 'till summer :-)

Olympic Park & British Expats

We spent much of this afternoon out at Homebush, at Sydney Olypmic Park - Bicentennial Park, which was nice in the sun.

Amelia had lots of fun running to the childrens area, and hiding in the tunnels, and going down the slide.

Alas, the parking was a nightmare, and we ended up with a $77 parking fine to end the day off.

More British weather :-)

Wow - has it ever been wet!!! At this rate I'll have to drain some more water out of the pool! Overnight "parts of Sydney received more than their September average in the space of a few hours, while the 107.2mm of rain that fell at Observatory Hill was the greatest 24-hour September drenching there since 1883, the Bureau of Meteorology said".

http://www.smh.com.au/news/NATIONAL/One-man-dead-as-wild-weather-lashes-NSW/2006/09/07/1157222228209.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/deluge-hits-commuters-hard-but-not-the-dams/2006/09/11/1157826847972.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/blown-away--winter-returns-with-a-vengeance/2006/09/07/1157222262761.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/NATIONAL/Rain-not-falling-where-its-needed/2006/09/10/1157826809895.html


Update - I did empty some more water out of the pool in the end

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day in Australia, so yesterday (to avoid the rushes), we went out for breakfast in Balmain (an 'expensive' suburb just west of the city centre), then to Darling Harbour and the PowerHouse Museum, followed by dinner at a (tourist!) restaurant at Cockle Bay Wharf (also at Darling Harbour).


Amelia really enjoyed the museum, which has a hands on area for kids...

6 months

Hard to believe - so much has changed - we've now been here in Sydney for 6 months!

BlueMountains

Sunday saw a drive out to the Blue Mountains and more specifically Katoomba, home of the 3 Sisters rock formation .

In the morning we walked around echo point and marvelled at the view from Echo Point lookout. Lunch was at one of Katoomba's many art deco cafe's.

In the afternoon, we went to Scenic World, home of the world's steepest incline railway - 52degrees at the max!

At the bottom we walked around the rainforest, where Amelia had fun running and jumping...

photos:

today is bin day

Exciting I know. last night I had to put the bins on the nature strip (or they won't empty them.) This week it is 'general', 'paper' and 'glass/plastic' - here in St Ives we have four (really!) waste bins - the 4th being the big green garden waste bin. Unsurprisingly, the general one is the smallest, the aim being to force everyone to try to recycle (or rather, to presort so the council can do the recycling) their rubbish.

The first lorry arrived at about 7am...

Winter...

Who said that Sydney was all sun and sand...?
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/winter-suddenly-wallops-sydney/2006/08/15/1155407798255.html and http://www.smh.com.au/ftimages/2006/08/16/1155407848025.html

Sleepy St Ives

The suburb we live in - St Ives - is a very sleepy area.

Or is it: Drugs in St Ives and Ram Raiders (where we shop!!)

Some pics from Dunk

2006 census

Looks like we are now going to be officially recorded as resident in Australia...
(8th August is the date)

holiday last week

Well, back in sunny Sydney after our week in Dunk Island.

Weather was great (once we had got there - it was crap on the way out). Amelia was really good on the flight from Sydney to Cairns (3 hours with Qantas on the Sydney->Cairns->Tokyo flight - very strang sitting on a international flight but only doing the domestic bit), and then fell asleep on the 30 minute hop from Cairns to Dunk. Alas, she was a complete nightmare on the way back - crying very loudly in the small plane to Cairns, then again for some of the time on the Virgin-Blue flight back to Sydney.

The food at Dunk Island was surprisingly good, but the pools were a bit too cold at this time of year. One night was set up as a 'fish buffet', with such a range and quantity of fish (ocean trout, salmon) and shellfish (giant shrimp, crayfish, mussles and oysters), it would have cost 100's in the UK!

On one of the days we went out to the Great Barrier Reef with Calypso Dive - the journey out wasn't fun, with a number of guests loosing their breakfast. Out at the reef Louise went snorkling, which I think she really enjoyed.

(We got back to St Ives to discover a small leak in the kitchen, and the pool is close to overflowing due to the rain here!)

on holiday this week

Ahh - bliss - a week at Dunk Island, in the sun...

Pictures in due course.

Tuesday - must be Melbourne

It's Tuesday, so I must be in my new second home, Melbourne.

At the moment I'm sitting on the 39th floor of Melbourne Central, where Ericsson have their Australian head office. From here I can see the iconic MGC (Melbourne Cricket Ground) , the very strange looking Eureka Tower, and the Southbank Arts Centre.

2006/2007 Household Travel Survey

We have been (randomly) selected to take part in the NSW Government Department of Planning "2006/2007 Household Travel Survey".

To that end we both have little blue bits of paper to write down all the 'travelling' we do. Fascinating*!


*Yup, I'm lying. it's dead boring

middle of winter...

It might be the middle of winter (or near enough), but the weather is still favourable. I've just been outside to get some lunch - not a cloud in the sky, and very warm in the sunshine...

Melbourne

Because I don't have enough work to do, I flew out to Melbourne yesterday, for a 3 hour meeting at another Ericsson office, then flew back home.

Still - think of the points...

(and it wasn't as bad as the problems on Friday, when many flights were cancelled, or very delayed due to fog in Sydney in the morning)

Wildflower Garden

For lunch we met up with friends at the Wildflower Garden for a BBQ. Think we all had a good time, even if the kookaburras did try to eat the meat straight from the bbq's (gas powered units provided by the council - presumably to ensure there are no bushfires!)

Amelia did lots of running, and pram pushing - and was a tired bunny after walking up the slope back to the carpark.

back in doncaster (for the week)

And it is COLD!

(had fun yesterday at the St Ives "festival on the Green")

more on tv...

"coming up, the new series of..."
"later, all new...."

I don't understand why Seven insists on talking about new episodes of an ongoing series as if it is the very first episode, and no-one was aware that it was on. Last night was an episode of 'the new series of Desperate Housewives' (about number 12 of 18) followed by 'an all new episode of Commands in Chief' (possibly the last episode - next week is something different in its place, and no word on where CinC is being moved to), the 'all new Boston Legal with william shatner' (must be half way through the series at least), and that was followed by 'premier Scrubs' (which is so unloved it has been moved to a grave yard shift of 11.30pm).

Wildlife of Sydney - Fact File - Leopard Slug

Really didn't expect to find one of these crawling across the bedroom floor last night.... Leopard Slug!

EDIT: a couple of people haven't reallise - I nearly crushed one under my bare feet when we were going to bed that night - it had sneeked out from under the bed!

rain

Back in Sydney now - the weekend in Melbourne was a nice break.

but now we are back - my god it is wet!!

I think it has rained steadily since last night, with very little break in the downpour!

Typically, though, none of the rain is likely to help the availability of drinking water..

the weekend...

It's been a tough week working here in Doncaster, but the weekend is nearly here - with L&A are coming down to Melbourne and we are going to spend the weekend in the city (the Rialto Hotel), which should be a nice little break.

Pics of Amelia

BBC NEWS | MARKET DATA

and back down goes the exchange rate - BBC NEWS | MARKET DATA - it was nice whilst it lasted... :-)

doncaster again

back in Doncaster again - for the next week or so! Joy. (not :-) )

Staying at The Tudor, Box Hill....

Vaucluse House

Sunday saw a trip out to the very nice Vaucluse suburb, and Vaucluse House, followed by a visit to the park at Watson's Bay and a view of the crowds at Doyles :-)

(the view from Watson's Bay)

scented toilet paper

Most loo rolls have a "scented core" - Whyy!???

Away on Business

Today I am in Doncaster! :-)

licorice

What is it about licorice here - chewy sweets which have a "black" version don't use blackcurrent/blackberry/purple grape. No - they use licorice!!!

There is a chocolate shop chain - Darrell Lea - half their stock is actually licorice!!!
(I hate the stuff!)

LÂMB - A fragrance for women...

hilarious - http://www.temptingfragrance.com/

nature strips

I think I mentioned nature strips a while back - the big of land that in the UK would be called the verge, and may have a concrete pavement (or in my suburb, more likely not).

As well as being the defacto pavement, they are also the place where you put stuff that you don't want anymore, but others might....

Because recycling is "a good thing" and waste disposal is chargable (if it won't go in one of your 4 wheelie bins - general, glass and plastic, garden and paper) people put stuff like old(er) tvs, tables, chairs, even sofas and cookers out on the strip in front of their house, in the hope that someone else will want it.
(I did see a very nice 50's tumble dryer the otherday....)

school bags

Now that I'm getting the bus to work (which was interesting on the way home yesterday when one of the main roads was closed due to a crash which tool out a power line!), I get to share the bus with loads of school kids.

What is amazing though is the bags some of them have. There is one 6 or 7 year old who carries a rucksack that must bigger than standard airplane carryon luggage AND then has a trumpet or similar in a box as well. The bag is nearly as big as him!

bbq

Another weekend gone..
Sunday was spent sorting and moving stuff around; I now have the "tv room" laid out nicely. Still clothes, books, CDs to sort :-(

Sunday saw us host our first aussie bbq - our new friends from last week came round with their daughter. My bbq isn't a patch on theirs though!

BBQs from UK
Be warned that UK LPG gas fittings are different to those in the UK. We bought our UK bbq over with us (having cleaned it first!), and discovered this when we went to Bunnings (B&Q'like). The regulator is completely different and not compatible. Thankfully, you can by replacement regulators - just needed to remove the existing hose and replace it with an aussie version ($31).

Oz fuel prices

Buying petrol in Sydney is great - it is cheaper than the UK, and if you buy on the right day, you can get it cheaper still.

On the right day?

Yup - the price varies per day and even by hour, dependent on the day of week and the demand for fuel. The cheapest day is usually Tuesday, and the most expensive is Friday/Saturday (eg the weekend). Prices can vary from $1.19 a litre at cheapest to as much as $1.35 at peak. That said, the recent increase in crude oil prices has pushed the average price up to about $1.40 a litre.

The following pic shows the average price over the last 60 days:
(have a look here for details on NSW prices) .

As well as the price varying by day, you can also get discount vouchers if you buy goods at certain shops (coles/woolworths)/petrol stations (7-11) - usually 4c a litre, which whilst not much, is better than nothing.

unpacking

that's about 90% of the boxes now unpacked, and most of the flatpack furniture reassembled. Still clothes to sort out, and books to put on shelves.

Saturday evening we went round to new friends; Sandra from NZ and Gary from SA and their daughter for a barbie.

UPDATE:

I need to be clear about the unpacking :-)

Whilst most of the boxes are unpacked, the house does look like a bomb has hit a number of rooms.

Shipping Container

Well - it has finally been delivered, emptied and taken away.

The house is now "busy" with boxes, and furniture. I've spent a couple of hours replacing UK plugs with Australian ones. Joy :-)

(TV is up and running off the PVR, and the PC is plugged into the Internet)

ANZAC Day

Today is ANZAC Day - a much bigger day than Remberence Sunday in the UK.

drinks with the neighbours...

Saturday - we were invited round for a drink by our next door neighbours. He is an expat from 50 years ago, and she is a true aussie. We had a great chat (and picked up some emergency babysitters as well) ...

Sunday - off to get some more wool for louise - but the store was closed (it is hard to tell if somewhere will be open on a Sunday here). We bought two oil filled electric heaters instead - it is getting quite cool at night.

Week ahead -
Builder, plumber and gas man coming on Monday to make sure the house is safe;
ANZAC day on Tuesday (so day off)
Shipping container arrives at the house on Wednesday*.
Jon probably flys to Melbourne on Thursday.

ADSL - now enabled but can't properly test it until the home pc arrives (or a major reset of the adsl router/modem, losing all the settings I have from the old network.
Discovered that the two ethernet cables that poke out the floor in the back bedroom are run under the house - one to the study, and one to one of the other bedrooms.

Still don't know where the aerial extender in our bedroom pops up, nor what the 3 cat5 ethernet connectors are in various rooms (possibly Optus data/phone connectors??). Also don't know what the phone lines in the study are connected to...


*WHOOHOOO!!!!!

Amelia at the Beach

As promised a couple of pics of Amelia at Whale Beach on Monday:

House Pics

A Couple of pics of the house (borrowed from on-line so apologies about the quality)

Beached Whales

We spent the afternoon at Whale Beach (near Palm Beach).

Amelia now /loves/ the beach, and the sand, and the water. We had to drag her out of the ocean before the waves took her for good!

pictures to follow...

Saturday

we drove out to waroonga mall to pick up the outside canopy/umbrella we got at the same time as the patio set - only just fits into the car of course (once we have found the Myer "parcel pickup" area).

Will be nice for next summer :-)

Amelia was obviously tired from the trip out yesterday - instead of the usual 6.30am wakeup call, we didn't hear anything until gone 9am!
(which was lovely)

Friday - The Sydney Easter Show

Well - that was interesting; we spent the day at the Royal Easter Show - much like a UK County Show - lots of animals to see (altough when you've seen one goat, you've seen all 231 of them!).
We got a bus from the nearest stop to us - there are special buses run for events at the Sydney Olympic showground. Pay on the bus for a single ticket that gets you to and from the show, and into it as well (Amelia is free). 45 minutes later we were there - the show is located around the NAB Arena, next to the Telsta Stadium, all part of the venue that Sydney built for the 2000 Olympics.

We did spend the day there - Amelia enjoyed seeing the various animals, including getting to walk in the Dairy Farmers nursery (did I mention the fact that /everything/ was sponsored), and stroking lambs, goats, and a piglet.

We also (just to get into the Ozie way of life) went into the Showbags arena - Showbags are plastic bags with sweets/gifts/stickers etc in them - that you pay for. The bags claim that they are a bargin, and give you the RRP of the contents as well as the actual sale price. But I just don't get it - there were thousands of kids (and adults I must add) going round with 3 or 4 (or more) bags of sweets that they had bought. Outside there were fields of kids sitting eating the sweets looking sickly...

Showbags are such a big thing that the show guide ($5 on top of the entry fee) has half the guide dedicated to listing each of the bags, the contents, the sale price, and the RRP for the contents.

A typical bag:
Cadbury King Size - $10 (total retail value: $14.75)
Contents: 1x75gm Cadbury King Size Dairy Milk, 1x80gm Cadbury Boost, 1x55gms Turkish Delight, 1x50gm Cadbury Picnic, 1x55gm Cadbury Cherry Ripe, 1x50gm Cadbury Crunchie, 1xCadbury Cow Mascot, 1xPGA Childrens Golf Lesson.

So - $10 gets you 6 bars of chocolate, a small (nasty) stuffed toy, and a voucher for a golf lesson that you will almost certainly never use - saving you $4.75
That said, chocolate bars are much more expensive here - maybe the toy and golf lesson are valued at less than the $4.75, and you really are getting a saving on the sweets. Bugger - maybe they were good value!!??

We think Ameila really loved the Rodeo - we queued up to get into the NAB Arena and watched NSW vs Queensland "ride it out" against each other. Anyway, she went completely loopy watching the horses and riders, waving here arms and squealing loudly. She even clapped at one point, along with the crowds.

[btw - there were no Waland's competing in the 2000 olympics - we know as Louise checked the posts outside the Telstra Stadium which are marked with the names of all the athletes).

Roaches

Well, that was fun - Louise went to get Amelia up this morning, and just about stepped on a 1.5" cockroach making it's way across the floor :-)

(it's dead now of course)

Slow Blog

I've worked out why the blog was so slow - and fixed it.

(any slowness now is either blogger, or your internet connection)

Preistley Close

Moving.
Well, we have moved into Preistley Close now - 4 bedrooms, bathroom (with a separate shower), an en-suite, a "family room", study (also known as a little room at the side of the house with no function), and an unheated pool.

Not bad!

Now all we need is our possessions!!! (which should now have arrived in Sydney - just have to wait 2-5 weeks for AQIS to do the quarantine bit).

RealEstate Agent
We spent over 2 hours on Sunday afternoon going though the document from the realestate agent about the state of each room of the house - first point - the cleaners they apparently employed neglected to touch the floors and windows, and the gas heater has an interesting collection of dust on the air filter. Second Point - "minor marks" does not equate to great big scratch on the polished floors, which we will not be held responsible for when we eventually move out...

Fridge
After being messed around by Retravision Chatswood (who we will not be dealing with again, even if they did give us a great price), we now have a fridge - a Samsung SRS618DP- we haven't had the water/ice bit plumbed in yet, but it works, and we can actually buy chilled/frozen food when we go shopping (at Woolworths, St ives Shopping village) .

Credit Card
Got a letter from Westpac saying my credit card application has been accepted; this is good as without a credit history, it is proving difficult for somethings (plus the Westpac Handycard is crap for actually using as a debit card - a max of $2000 worth of payments or ATM withdrawals per day, and then a max of $5000 worth of payments online - if you request it and wait 5 days!!). Will try to pick it up at lunch time today - they need 3 payslips, I only have 2.

Phone Line
The realestate agent left no details about the provision of phone/cable at the house - looks like the Cable connection is through Optus, and the phone though Telstra - will have to have a think about what/who we want to use for broadband and then decide if we get the main phone line reconnected, or use the phone lines which I think are hosted off the cable connection.
(so still no internet at home, plus no pc unless I bring my work laptop home with me)

Mmm - New Shoes
We also did some more shopping at the weekend, this time at Hornsby - Amelia got her first shoes - nice pink Clarkes, which she had trouble with to start - she walked like they were moon boots. However, when we came to take them off last night during dinner, there were screams...
Also got a "quilt" (oz name for a duvet) - it is getting far too cold at night to just have sheets on the bed.


Commute to Work
I had a half day yesterday due to the extra hours in Melbourne (and also see below), the drive into work from home at lunch time only took 10 minutes! Bliss. This morning during the rush hour the same journey took 45 minutes!!! And it is increasingly looking like there is no simple public transport option.

Ultrasound
As well as a half day because of Melbourne, we went to Hornsby Hospital to get Louise's first ultrasound. Baby-two appears ok, and confirmed a due date of the 3rd week in October.

:-)

ClustrMaps - information visualization of visitor locations - zoom map

ClustrMaps - information visualization of visitor locations - zoom map

Someone asked who the Swedish fan club were - mainly ex-collegues in Ericsson UK - their web proxy is in Sweden...

Melbourne

If it is thursday, then I must be in Melbourne (again). It is, and I am.

Another 3 days in Melbourne, reliving UK weather :-)

Meanwhile back in Sydney, Louise is packing all our stuff from the appartment in North Sydney, and driving it over to our new (rented) house in St Ives. Thanks Louise - I know it is difficult because I'm not there to help.

Meanwhile, our new bed should arrive (in St Ives) today so that we have something to sleep on, as well as the new patio furniture, so we have something to sit at!

(If we are really lucky, we might even have the fridge delivered!!)

Walking

Forgot to say yesterday/over the weekend - Got back from Melbourne to be greeted by Ameila - walking to me across the lounge!!

When I left on Wednesday she was still doing one to two steps then realising she was walking; and sitting down on the floor.

Now, it is toddling everywhere, any number of steps, with or without a little bucket in her hands :-)


(she is also really enjoying playing with an empty Huggies* nappy box, using it as a walker, or a car, or a table!)


*Huggies are expensive here - but much better that other brands!! see http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3379772 for more info

Bus home from Ericsson to North Sydney

Just discovered that there are two buses on route 290 that I can get home from Macquarie Park to North Sydney - the normal one, which gets me home directly, and the "via the freeway" bus that completely skips North Sydney, and drops me off in the CBD, where upon I have to get the train up to North Sydney!!!

that was a surprise!!

Weekend

Back at work now - spent much of the weekend looking for a good deal on Garden Furniture, so we have
a) something to sit on before our container arrives, and
b) something for the garden (obviously).

Being Autumn we hoped that we could get a good deal, and looked at a number of places on the North Shores.

In the end we got a display set at Myers in Waringah Mall - plus a nice parasol thingy for next summer - (seems very strange to be saying that in April!!!)

Should get delivered on Thursday at the new place.

Melbourne

If today is Thursday (which it is!), then I'm in Melbourne.

Arrived yesterday, return to Sydney tomorrow, so will miss the GrandPrix.

J

Public Transport

Tried to get the bus from North Sydney to work (Macquarie park) this morning - what a disaster!

Left early to find the bus-stop - no problems. Bus turns up (7.33), and I realise I don't have a ticket - believing I can't buy one on the bus, I get off (the driver neglects to mention I could just buy a single journey one there and then).

Buy a 10 journey RED ticket - the shop isn't sure if it will cover the distance I require, but suggests asking, and if it doesn't, bring it back an get a refund.

Wait for the next bus (8.03) - it doesn't arrive.

Wait for the one after that (8.33) - it is full, and refuses to stop!

Walk back to flat, and get Louise to drive me in!

Will give it another go tomorrow.

UPDATE: "tomorrow" was much better - bus arrived, I got on. Got work, I got off.

Bed

Well, thats a new bed* ordered - hopefuly it will turn up on the day we move into the next house - otherwise we might be sleeping on the floor!


*an australian king size bed - next one up from a UK king size apparently!)

Some pictures

Some pictures....

The view from our room at the hotel...

At the zoo, looking at dinner...

In the cable car at the zoo (look at my hat!)

What a week...

What a week.

Monday:
Jon has an informal chat with a guy from Ericsson’ which beforehand Jon thinks might lead to something or is going to be a waste of time. Less than an hour later Jon has been offered a contract position for 6mths.

In the afternoon we sign the lease for the house (4 Priestly Close, St Ives, Sydney 2075) for the next 12 mths. We move in on the 6th April.

Tuesday:
Jon signs contract for job.

We picked up our new car – Mazda 6 wagon (estate)

Wednesday:
Jon started new job

Amelia
She is sleeping better now given the temperatures have dropped (now around 18-20 at night) and it is not as humid.

In the sun we have had to get her use to wearing a hat, which she is slowly accepting. Now in the flat she will show off by putting her hat on and wandering around in it.

We took her to the Zoo last Friday and whilst she did not always know what she was looking for in all the foliage, some of the larger animals she took notice of and at time got very excited. She especially enjoyed the cable car ride over the zoo, so much so we went round again.

Then on Saturday we meet up with some other expats down on the beach – Amelia 2nd visit to a beach (the first one being in North Wales). We changed her thinking she would like the sand and sea, but instead we had cries every time her feet touched the sand (didn’t like the sand moving when she stood on it).

She is taking her time figuring out walking. Standing up a lot, taking at most 1 or 2 steps, and then falling forward to crawl off at speed. However since the weekend she has increased the number of steps up to around 10 and is trying out walking a bit more often.

Her word at the moment is ‘tickle’ – might have something to do with the number of times Mummy & Daddy tickle her! There are now 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth, so getting lovely smiles. Also getting lots of hugs and kisses, even Roo and teddy do.

tv, tv, tv

TV
We were warned about the dismal quality of Aussie TV, and the USA level of advert breaks on the commercial channels (we only have ABC, 7, 9, 10 here - no foxtel), but I did expect the ads to stop once the programme restarted. Instead we have to put up with little DOG's (digital onscreen graphics) all the time - the channel ident in the corner, a "whats on next" after /every/ ad break, "comming soon, on this channel" and "in case you forgot, there's a similar program on tomorrow night too"...

The ad's themselves are a whole different story - you have the usual "buy this, it's great, but we can't actually say that" as for the UK. But the commericals done up as interviews are the best "So, Mrs Aussie with a full time job, /and/ 3 kids - why do you use these very reasonably priced ready meals, which taste just like your mum's cooking??"

Saturday@ Balmoral Beach
Went to our first Aussie Britishexpats meet yesterday at Balmoral Beach. Weather was ok, but very cloudy. Amelia currently doesn't like sand we have discovered - hope she does better with the pool at the next place. Was interesting meeting other expats - we were the newest expats there, but I expect that will change at the next meet.

Work
Looks like I have some short term work via a UK company (thanks Bryan/Terry), and also have a "coffee meeting" with Ericsson over at North Ryde - so think we'll pick up the new car on Monday (still have auto insurance to sort out of course).

Paddys Market
We drove into Sydney today, parked at Darling Harbour (very expensive - won't do that again), and bought a load of fresh veg and fruit from the Paddy's Martket next to china town.

house & car

Good day yesterday - put down the deposit on a nice new Mazda 6 Wagon (estate for all you brits :-) ), and had a call confirming that we will be the next tenants of the house we want to rent.

horrah!

time for another update

Still limited access to the internet. Anyways, here goes:

CARS
We've got it down to two cars - either a Mazda 6 or a Subaru liberty/legacy - both in the wagon version (estate!). Given the price of reasonable second hand cars here*, we will probably end up buying a new car. (then we can get rid of the stupid holden commodore hire car, with it's strange quirks)

*cars don't depreciate as fast as they do in the UK - depreciation does start from when the car was built, not registered (so a new unsold 2005 car is automatically worth less than the 2006 car next to it in the show room), but it is nowhere near as steep as the UK.

HOUSES
We've found a place we like in St Ives, for rent. It has a pool, and some garden for amelia. No aircon (I think), but was nice and cool when we went for an 'inspection'. So, we've given the real estate place our references and a holding deposit, and we are just waiting for confirmation that we are acceptable tenants. It takes ages to look at houses and find something you are happy with. Lots of rental places are ok, until you see the kitchen/bathroom... then you remember that they are rental, and some landlords don't want to invest in the building...

MONEY
Have a bank account with westpac (no fees as long as you keep $5k in the account at all times). Transfered some UK money over last week - however the $$$'s don't arrive until the forex company has been paid - this takes 3 working days from our UK account (done online using normal BACS transfer), and so it's not here yet...

FOOD
Been to COLES (a bit like waitrose) and WOOLWORTHS (a bit like tesco's) - ack - both stores were much smaller than you would get in an express store in the UK, and the layout is a little all over the place. The 2nd COLES we went to was 2/3 through a refit - which was being done whilst the store was open, so there were whole isles with only a few items on them. OK - there are a lot more "speciality" shops, but when you are in a hurry and want to do a single shop, a supermarket makes more sense (especially with a baby). And what is it with the person on the till putting only a few items in the plastic bag when packing for you - and they make such a fuss about the number of plastic bags Aus uses!

WEATHER
Unseasonally warm - 7 degrees higher than normal for this time of year (autumn) - about 30d in the day, and 22d at night.

quick update

Sorry for the lack of updates - very little internet access at the moment.

We have now moved into our temporary furnished appartment; have a temp medicare number, bank account, have a hire car, and have applied for tax numbers.

now just need to get a job, more permanent house, and move some money from the UK!

weather is great etc, all are fine.


J

first morning

A long night's sleep. not sure how amelia feels about getting up in the middle of the night for breakfast!

We went out for dinner last night at Darling Harbour - it was a clear balmy night at 25degrees (or so). Amelia slept all the way though. And then got her revenge throughout the night :-)

we made it

tired, lots of luggage etc.

but we made it.


Sitting in the "horizon club lounge' at the Shangri-la, in Sydney - got a view of the bridge and the opera house. lovely.

more beer please sir.

Yesterday

Forgot to mention - leaving the house was "interesting" - last minute running around as expected.

Biggest pain was CRAPPY UKonline who neglected to mention to me that when I cancel my ADSL with them, it will take 10-15 working days to actually remove it. A bigger pain is that BT cannot/will not cancel my BT account (and thus the line in my name) until the ADSL is removed.

so a fraught time on the phone to them both, then on to the estate agent.

not good.

Changi Airport, Singapore

It is 16:05 local time - and 33C (outside - nice aircon inside).


We are booked in for the 5-7pm cultural tour of singapore, then maybe taking Amelia for a Swim.

The flight LHR->Singapore was ok - very quiet on the plane, so Louise managed to get 3 seats together for a sleep. Amelia was good, although unsetled - didn't hear anyone complaining about her (or they just muttered under their breath ;-)

bed time

for the last time in UK (for a while at least).

busy day tomorrow.

Car (nearly) sold

Louise is driving it over to the dealer in Swindon - less than 24 hours left in the house. We spent some time this morning in Reading - ho hum :-) - where I bumped into someone I went to University with - and haven't seen in about 9 years!

Sunday Evening

Less than 48 hours before we fly now.

Spent today in London and Colchester seeing friends.

Waiting to see if we have the (furnished) flat we have requested for the first month.
(Georgia has read my email, but not responded yet!)

Tomorrow the car dealer guy comes to buy the car (which we collected yesterday - just in time)

car

is back - horrah! Dealer is (hopefully!) buying it on Monday.

Pics of container from yesterday

Finally got the pics off the camera..