One year today!

We arrived in Australia, one year ago today! It's been quite hard work, understandably as this year we have:

• Bought two cars, one dead, one alive but hurting.
• Got iPhones (Only 3GS, but Yeeehawww!)
• Secured ourselves somewhere to live (temporarily)
• Had three different jobs between us
• Enrolled Zoe in School and seen her rise to the dizzy heights of class Student Representative Council rep.
• Enrolled Esme in two pre-schools
• Seen both kids learn to swim front crawl (Zoe with breathing, Esme without)
• Enrolled Zoe in Little Nippers
• Drank 14 bottles of Whiskey
• Passed one Physics exam with a high distinction (Well done Hannah)
• ...oh and I almost forgot, Moved our entire lives to the other side of the world!

Targets for the current year:

A History of Australian and Korean BBQs

It’s interesting. I started off in Australia telling myself that life here was great and at some point this positive frame of mind eroded until all I could see was the negative. My last blog article gave me the chance to confront this and convinced me that the negative effect on my health was largely due to my state of mind although mould, damp and excessive consumption of beer probably also contributed.


With these thoughts, for the past six weeks, I’ve been trying to climb out of the mental hole I have fallen into and look on the positive. At last, it seems to be working. I’m beginning to feel a bit better, I can see a number of steps which we will take to improve our quality of life and I’m becoming more and more interested in the various projects I am getting at work.

With this new found positivity, I am beginning to feel better, less lethargic and happier more of the time. If I can feel this way now, just imagine how happy I will be when we are living in a real house and Hannah has finished her course and is able to devote some of her time to the family again.

News and Photos

I'm just about to post a longer arrticle, but here are a few photos which depict a few things we've been doing recently:

Tough going

It's my birthday, today.  I'm 36 and I've been at home all day today, trying to work while looking after daughter Zoe who is off school.  Yesterday they were both off with different illnesses.  Since the time is past 5.30, I'm going to see what I can write in sixty minutes while having a birthday drink.

We've witnessed a few more Australian phenomena since my last post, so I have things to write about.  The election and house hunting are the most recent experiences but I'm finding my current state of mind is not conducive to writing.  I've had a really hard six weeks and I find myself without much hope of good things in the future.

Sport in Australia

What's going on in Australia at the moment? Well, Julia Gillard did the dirty on Kevin Rudd (What would you expect from a girl from Barry) and now she is fighting it out with Tony Abbot to be the next legitimate Prime Minister. For those who don't know him, he is my local MP (or equivalent) and is famous for competing in triathlons wearing speedos or "Budgie Smugglers" as they are described so aptly. Far more important to the Australian public than the outcome of the election though was the outcome of Masterchef last night. Hannah and I tuned in to watch two hours of some really good cooking and the crowning of Adam as this year's top Australian amateur cook.

We have now been in Australia for almost nine months and are halfway through the winter and this is where things are getting mundane. We are making less effort to go to the beach and enjoy the experience of being in Australia and there are less "new things to do." We are beginning to miss people and wonder if we made the right decision, it almost feels like we are getting into a rut again and owning our own home doesn't feel like something we can take for granted anymore.

East Anglian Popular Fiction

Having not had much time recently to write things on the blog, I find myself in a position of news delivery again, I’m not able to discuss random aspects of life as I prefer to spend my time doing because so many important things have happened in the two months since my last article.  These include my new job and I do mean a new job, I only lasted in the previous one for three months.  Also Hannah has regular work, we have a social life, and Zoe has had her first school report, which I might say was very good.

Where did all the love go?

Having been a bit negative recently, I thought I'd make a quick post on a more positive note.  I was listening to a Kasabian track called "Where did all the love go?" and I was thinking, "Yeah, where did it all go?" No-one is nice to anyone else anymore."

Just then, the bus pulled up outside the QVB on York Street and I pulled out my earphones in preparation for donning my tie and security card when the bus driver stood up and announced "Happy Easter Everyone!  I hope you all have a great weekend and I see you again soon".  Everyone on the bus then proceeded to wish the driver a happy Easter and thank him for being such a good bus driver!

Wow, so that's your answer Kasabian.  All the love went to Australia and you know the best thing.  When I got to the office, the Easter Bunny had been in the night and there was chocolate everywhere.  What a nice place to be!

Don't Panic

I've not posted for two months.  Its funny really because I started to write this a week ago and that seems just like yesterday, but as I read over my musings from last week I realise that the seven days has completely changed the way I feel about being here and that this experience is still a roller coaster for me.

This week has been good and the weekend has just ended on a high of wading in big surf at Narabeen with Hannah, Dave and Lucy with the warm Autumn sunshine causing us to lose track of time,not leaving until almost 6.00 p.m. on a school night!.

Independence by the skin of our teeth

We are here to stay (for now.) Having been reliant on friends and family now for too long for our own sanity, let alone theirs, we are now independent again.  Hannah and I live together with our two girls in a two bedroom apartment in Killarney Heights and I can just afford to fund it and sustain us from the salary I will earn from February.  Zoe will start school on Thursday and we are looking for a place in nursery for Esme.  Hannah remains optimistic of the Australian system accepting her qualification bolstered by numerous further university qualification before the turn of the decade.

This is a time for questions though.  Did we do the right thing?  For me it is too late to ask that question for practical reasons, but interesting none the less for its academic value.

Coffs Harbour: Above and Beyond

Christmas and New Year are now out of the way and things are returning back to normal.  We have now found a house which all-importantly will allow us to send Zoe to the school with a bilingual English-French programme. Also, I had my third interview with a company in Sydney yesterday.  Actually it was a test which lasted three hours and reminded me of being at school.  Still, I passed that so I now have a final interview with the New South Wales regional director on Tuesday.

I'm looking forwards to writing my next article more than this one because it will be my latest "Observations on Australia" which is far more interesting to write than a diary of events.  Still, we had a great time in Coffs Harbour and north of there on our summer road trip and I want to make a record of it for my future enjoyment.  This is a fantastic place to be.