Will the last Englishman out of the country turn the lights out please ?

Job sorted

After a few weeks of inactivity, just like London buses, they all come at once. After a day of 4 interviews back to back, and getting pretty close to getting 4 offers, the one we were waiting for has come in. I now work for Australia's leading investment bank. So, that's the final piece of the puzzle, house, jobs, dogs, and even friends !

So, today is the last day of the holiday, and it's raining ! Still got the weekend tho I suppose. The pool would not have been in use today anyway, as it kind of blew up. The pool sweep has never been that good since we have been here, and when the filter also started making noises, we called in the pool man. Both the polaris, and the pump are back in the shop, but will be back shiny and new for the weekend. The kitchen hob also blew up. That was old too, and since we dont pay for any of the repairs, to get a nice new one will be great.

Going into the CBD today to sign all the contracts etc, and have lunch somewhere. Hopefully the weather will look up. The dogs have got a shock coming Monday. All day on their own ! No doubt Toby will be pining and peeing himself when we get back, that's what he usually does ! He still does not have full control of his bladder poor soul, and when we come home, or the doorbell rings, he loses it in the excitement. Little cherub.

We have also started house hunting, not for rent this time, but to buy. There are some beautiful places near here, some reasonably priced, some fairly expensive. Even so, we are so much better off here than in the UK. Although we earn less if you convert the dollars back to pounds, on a 1 to 1 basis we earn a lot more, and cost of living is cheaper here, so we have more disposable income, or more money for K's shoes

Tivo upgrade pretty much done. It's recording, getting all it's programme info from those kind chaps at Oztivo, and all for free ! It's wireless, but I am going to get the cachecard in there, and send it wireless through a gaming adapter. I can connect the Xbox360 as well then.

To finish, a little story. I have been doing a fair bit of PC fixing for our neighbours. Anyway, we had to pop in the other night to let them know about one of their issues, and was on the way back from walking the dogs. They are dog lovers, and said, come in, bring the dogs. So, they have lush white carpets, and I was so scared Toby would pee on it. No, it was worse, far worse. They behaved real well, nothing happened for 20 mins, then Leelu.......wait for it....... puked on their carpet. Lovely ! Still, at least Toby did clear it up by eating it. He is one sick puppy.

Australia Day - Wow Wow Wow

In Sandra's very own words, "Wow wow wow". Australia Day, our first, was amazing.

Started off at a bbq in a park in Collaroy, on the beach. There was a game of cricket going on in the middle, if the ball came your way, and you caught it, you were in to bat. Everyone in the whole park joining in, young lads, old people, kids, the works. Someone hit a six, straight into a small groups dinners. They tried to knick the ball cos their chips got squashed . The whole park just shouted "Get over it", "It's Australia Day". No fights, no bad blood, just a lovely atmosphere. I can remember when it was like that in the UK.........

So, I wait 2 hours for a catch, then there it is. An attempted six. Its coming for me ! My chance to restore some English pride and despatch an Aussie from the crease. I am gonna get it, this ball is mine. Here it comes, watching it all the way, it's gonna be a dive, but well catchable. No, before I continue the story, a disclaimer. I had had 5 beers by this point. The ball I was going for, may well have been the right one, of the three I could see, I was sure it was. So, I dive, I must have it. Erm, I dont. The whole park erupts in laughter, my only retorte was to get up brush myself off and say, "Well, that's what you get for putting a pom in to field". Everyone laughed, and one Aussie said "We could tell you were a pom by the way you flapped your arms". I cant remember the last time in the UK I felt at home, and 2 months in here, in the middle of a park full of non-English, I felt more at home than ever. What a great country this is.

Next, we went into town, to Darling Harbour. The place is stunning anyway, but with the fireworks, it was just amazing. People waving Aussie flags, all cheering the fireworks, a real sense of national identity. The speech that went with the fireworks was all about being Australian. Love Australia, be part of a united country. That is why we moved here, and it was quite emotional to stand there and be part of it.

Everyone got drunk, there were no fights, and people talked to people they did not know all night. OK, we got turfed from one bar for not having ID, can you believe that ! Oz is not perfect then it seems, but it's pretty damn close.

Australia Day Update

Have not updated the blog in a while, so cant remember all that has gone on, but here goes.

Sandra and Jim have gone home, with Sandra almost getting charged an extra levy on her fare with Malaysian due to the amount of tissues she used on the way home apparently. Tears from the gate to Kuala Lumpar, poor luv. K had tears too, it was real hard to see them go home. The house felt a little empty for a while, but normal service has resumed now. It kinda feels like big brother to me living over here, we can see people on webcam, and every now and again they are let into the house. Then, as quickly as they came, they go back through the door, only to appear on webcam again 24 hours later.

Before they left, we did the bridgeclimb with Jim, a night climb. It was great, the second time for me. Tell you what Robson, I am getting soft in my old age, as I was a little worried on the catwalk last time, but this time I was pretty scared. Not so good with heights any more.

Dogs have started puppy pre-school. Leelu is much bigger than anything there. There was a little arab bull cross lab there, who was totally mad. It kept barking and biting all the dogs. Tried it once with Leelu, got twatted across the vets floor, and started to behave a bit more after that ! Toby is a little shy, and doesn't really like other dogs too much, but is getting braver every day.

K has started work. She got 2 offers, one from a major Investment Bank, and one from a friend who owns a property company. 2 interviews and 2 job offers cant be bad.

We've met some lovely people here, and went to a bbq last Saturday which was really nice. We are also going to meet up with some of them in town later today for Australia Day.

The tivo upgrade is ongoing. I think the disk is ready, the OzTivo guys have made it so easy to do with their install, but I messed up the wireless side of things. You need a specific card, which I discovered after spending all day working on why it would not even connect. Found the card on ebay, and is coming from the States. Also bought a cache card over here, so we will see what arrives first.

Still loving life here. We went to a local restaurant last night, opposite the park by Wahroonga station. It was just so lovely to sit there, outside, warm evening, lovely people. We definately want to buy here in Wahroonga, and have started house hunting to get a grip on what the market is doing.

Right, off now for a quick bike ride, then we are going to a park for a quick Australia Day lunch time bbq with Shay and Rhys.

Hangover from hell, Web, and TIVO UPGRADE !!!!

Sunday was a blur. Shay Rhys and the pair of us got totally slaughtered on Saturday. I dont remember going to bed, but I do remember getting up. God my head hurt. It cleared quite quickly tho, which was strange. I did drink half a bottle of corked champers, maybe that had something to do with it ?

Anyway, we had a great night. In the pool and the hot tub for the most of it. A glass tumbler was at the bottom of the pool next morning, not broken, dont know how that got there. K made Char-Sui pork chops for the bbq. They were lush. Rhys and I cooked em, me taking hints from him how to use Aussie barbies. Done to perfection !

Sandra and Jim reached Brisbane, went to Noosa Heads, and Mooloolaba. So now, we can all tell my old Dad we have finally been there ! They are in the Hunter Valley tonight, before returning tomorrow. No doubt Toby will piss himself again when he sees them, he pissed himself when the dog food man came round today !

Speaking of that, check this out. I ordered a hard disk for my tivo yesterday at 14:00 (Yes, I am doing some work on the Tivo, more of that soon). It was here at 08:00 this morning, and I did not even pay for priority handling ! If I had, it was an option, I wonder when it would have got here ? Even better, K ordered some dog food off the web at 08:30, it was here at 10:30 !!!!!!!!! The guy's website emails his blackberry, he is constantly driving round, so he just came over. All those shit ParcelForce and DHL issues we had in the UK trying to get packages. See, if you employ people who want to do the job, the job gets done. A lesson for the Royal Mail in there somewhere !

Right, the Tivo. It's being upgraded to 400GB, yes, 400. Over 200 hours of best quality tv. Now Narf, before you start telling me that's not possible (Dont think it is in the UK), the OzTivo guys have done some great work over here. Cant believe they have completely re-written the app. Some serious egg-heads there I can tell ya, but love em. Foxtel arrives next Friday, so we need to be wireless OzTivo by then, thats the plan.

K is doing burgers from scratch tonight, and as I write, the smell of beef, parsley, and bbq sauce is wafting into the lounge. The get the bbq on cry has just rung out, so I am off. Next update post tivo upgrade, hopefully !

New Year, New Country, New Life

Happy New Year !

Bit late in updating the blog. We had a small issue with emails being sent, so you would not have got the spider update. Check out the full blog at http://britishexpats.com/blogs/TheAshleys

Happy New Year all ! We spent NYE at Bradleys Point, overlooking Sydney Harbour. Sandra was moved to text "wow wow wow" to the family on the quiet, trouble is she text me too, so now she has let slip she loves it here !

The fireworks were amazing. Here is a pic to show you all :



Its the second time I have seen them, but they are just so so beautiful. We got an excellent spot on the grass, and cracked a bottle of bubbly at midnight. There was 2 possoms in the tree above us, which was really nice to see. There was no trouble, no swearing, beautiful clear night. Just the sort of NYE you get in the UK, NOT . No traffic on the way in, or the way out either. Aus really knows how to put on a show.

We had lunch in Darling Harbour today. Fresh scampi, fried fish, it was so so good. I love it down there. Went past Pontoon Bar, where Robson and I spent many a night last time we were here. Did not pop in for a drink this time, but will do soon old son to honour our last trip here !

San and Jim are off to Brissie soon, so it will just be us and the dogs again. Off for a hot tub now, it wakes the dogs up as they like to sit next to it, and with the buggers getting us up at 05:30 every day, the longer we keep them awake, the better !

Shit the bed Fred, SPIDER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The myth that spiders are not that big over here, dont get in your shoes, etc etc, that I spun K to get her here, is shattered. Why ? As we were travelling down the Highway at 80kph, the car next door had a massive Huntsman crawling all over it trying to get in ! Check out the pic :



When they stopped at the lights, we took this pic, before it disappeared into the boot. We told the woman driving, who looked a little scared. She had already seen it on her window !

Next set of lights, K is still in convulsions, as I shout, "THERE IT IS !", and lunge at her. She screams the second loudest I have ever heard. Why second loudest ? As the loudest came 2 minutes later, when she thought she again felt the spider, and screamed twice, jumping out of her seat, almost causing me to have an accident. Seriously, I am not that worried by Spiders, but after the redback on the deck the other night, and now this, it does look pretty dodgy over here.

We're off to the city this afternoon to watch the fireworks. Weather is a little on the dodgy side, but the sight of the bridge and fireworks will be worth getting wet, even if it does rain a little . Fingers crossed.

Sydney Tower

Had lunch in Sydney Tower yesterday, the photos are being uploaded for you all to see now. It was amazing. It takes around 1 and a half hours to spin completely round, so you get a 360 degree view of all of Sydney, as you take in your champagne and grub. It was a beautiful day, and Sydney looked amazing from up there I can tell you.

Sandra and Jim loved the town centre. Took them down to the Opera House and Circular Quay. Jim actually enjoyed shopping down there it was so nice. Some shoes and stuff bought, we headed back to see what damage the pups had done. My barbeque cleaner took a pasting, and a cardboard box had been shredded, but no major damage.

Went and met Shay and Rhys in Collaroy last night, which was funny. Had a few beers in the sun, while England were taking a pasting on the cricket. It seems they cant even get that right now .

Only 2 days to New Years Eve, and the fireworks in Sydney Harbour. Cant wait.

Sandra's shoes

Christmas here, our first, was amazing. All day by the pool, turkey, cooked on the barbeque rotisserie was so succlent. We also did the ham on the bbq, all in all a real good day. Hot tub with more champagne in the evening, dogs running around, it was such a refreshing change from cold, miserable food fests and tv in the UK.

For boxing day, we then went to Sydney Harbour to watch the Sydney Hobart boat race start. People having picnics on the grass, or on the beach. Everyone so happy, no yobs causing trouble. It really is such a lovely place to live, we feel very lucky to be here.

Spent yesterday afternoon with the neighbours, we all got a bit merry round their house. D got smashed, and after bear hugging Nicola, the woman next door, staggered back to home and promptly passed out for the evening.

Woke up this morning to find one of Sandra's shoes, or what was left of it, on the living room floor. Oh dear puppies. Had to shop for a new pair, which was amusing. 1 hour in a shop trying on 15 pairs of shoes, only to find the right pair, then get to the checkout, and change her mind ! Next shop, it was only 20 minutes, which was a godsend. The woman in the first shop was not too impressed I can tell you.

We now have a UK landline number too, so you can all call us. You only pay local call charges then, and the call comes through the internet to us. We will email the number out shortly.

Sandra and Jim seem to be loving it here. After the pep talk from the neighbours yesterday who are a similar age, they were even looking at properties in estate agents windows today. Dont know why though, there aren't any properties in Melbourne for sale up here !

North Sydney early morning alarm call

Northen Sydney residents were awoken by a strange shriek this morning. Avid bird watchers would not have recognised this cry, as it was certainly not from these shores. No, the shriek came from San, as at around 07:30 this morning, while admiring the view over the valley, she forgot she had a pool behind her, stepped back in awe to take in the amazing vista, and fell promptly in the pool

Fully clothed she was too, we all had to wait for her to get ready again. The house is coming together, not 1 broken or missing item from the journey. The LCD screen is back up and running, the surround sound is pumping. My life consists of putting furniture back together that we dismantled, and changing plugs on electricals. I've done 8 plugs already this morning !

Dogs are fine, really muggy today, so they are sleeping. We are reading with interest the chaos in the UK with the fog . Makes me laugh the way some numpty's on BE rave on about how great the UK is, then a bit of weather brings the country to a standstill.

Well, that's it from me, I've got to go and put some chicken wire up along the bottom of the house to stop Toblerone getting under there. While I am at it, maybe I should put some round the pool for Sandra. Now there's a thought !

Wow, Doree Bonner just made our Christmas !

On the second to last day that our goods could be delivered, a phone call early this morning, and guess what ? Our goods will be here in 2 hours.  Back of the net ! What a Christmas present that is, thanks so much to all at Doree Bonner and Grace Removals. They have really pulled out all the stops for us, as they were fully fully booked, but they have jammed us in there somehow. The near 3 weeks in the UK on a blow up bed, and sleeping here on the floor last night was all worthwhile.

The dogs will have so many new things to chew now, a leather sofa, my tv stand, all those scart cables to get their teeth into ! Actually, they are being angels. I dont think we told them off once yesterday for the first day since we had them. Leelu has really come to accept Toby, and he is also toning down the fighting. They seem to really really love each other, and it is wonderful to see.

San and Jim were troopers, and stayed up until 21:00 last night, and have slept through, so they are now on the timezone. Well done them, they loved the hot tub last night, San seemed to be settling into the Aussie lifestyle very nicely !

Next blog update will be from the comfort of an armchair. What is that all about ? I've not seen one of those for nearly 2 months !

Our first guests

Skippy for dinner

K and I tried roo meat for the first time the other night. I have had ostrich before in a swanky London bar, but roo meat, it was hard to take that first mouthful. We just kept thinking of the little buggers hopping around. Anyway, we did, and it is quite nice. Dont think we will make a habit of it though, the thought of kangaroos is just too much for us. Silly we know, but there you go.

I had to go into town yesterday for 2 interviews. The job market is buzzing here, only agency stuff at this point, but they wanted to see me immediately, and apparently there may be some interviews before Christmas ! Salaries sound amazing, so we shall see. It would be good for the container to be released now, so I could get access to my suits, ah yes, the container.

AQIS (Aussie customs) are working this week, apparently. We say apparently, as they have not inspected our container yet, despite being here nearly a week, and it being marked as urgent by Grace Removals (Apparently). I know a week is not long compared to others, but we were promised a fast track service to get the stuff here for Xmas. I did put on the blog, I would be happy with a pool, and a bbq for Xmas a while ago, and it looks like that is what I will have !

The beloved campervan went back yesterday. For those considering it, I would recommend Britz. The vans are slightly older than the Maui (Same company actually), or Apollo vans, but the difference in price, $1500 for us, outweighs the newer fittings. Van was absolutely perfect, a pleasure to drive, and ran faultlessly. They do sting you for everything though, so make sure you stick to the rules. We got stung for $50.00 extra insurance even though it said we had it already on our booking. Apparently an oversight in their agents system, and I still had to pay. Could not be arsed to argue, as I had forgot to keep my fuel docket showing I had filled it up, so they could have charged me for that.

Big 4 parks are the way forward for campervans. The ones we saw were all well appointed, and well kept. You are taking a chance if you go to an independant from what we saw.

So, today is clear up day. Sandra and Jim are boarding the plane in Heathrow as I write. No doubt Sandra is like a cat on a hot tin roof at the thought of 24 hours on a plane right now. That is gonna be one tired MIL when she gets here, as I bet she wont sleep. Jim will be bright as a button, after nodding off on takeoff, and waking up here !

Dogs are being rascals. My webcam was nearly chewed to bits last night, and the Vinnie Jones biography took a pasting, all in the time it took to go to Blockbusters and back. Sorry Vinnie, I dont like your book too much, and clearly Toby thought the same.

I'm not a celebrity, but I am sh*t scared

Today, I faced my very own bush tucka trial. Dean Gaffney, you've got nothing on me son. No health and safety people here, just me, and the Aussie spiders, head to head. I had to lift the floor to the deck, for reasons too long to explain here, but I had to run a new cable. I opened up the deck, nothing but spiders webs. After composing myself, I taped loads of kitchen roll to my arms, and dived in. Cables run, job done. Dont fancy doing it again though.

Spent all afternoon in the hot tub, with a bottle of bubbly, as it was a bit overcast. Toby decided to go an inspect my cable run, by slipping under the trellis, and under the house. K had a real tremor in her voice as she was trying to lure him back with a chicken neck, fearing a funnel web spider may bite him or something.

Weather has broken here now, so tomorrow is due to be sunny. We've gotta get our tans on the go before the arrival of Jim and San, otherwise we will never hear the last of it !

Small update, and comparison to the UK so far

It's early Saturday morning here. The dogs, having got poor K up at 06:00, and me up at the same time really, although I did manage half an hours extra lay in, have now decided to go back to sleep. I did contemplate licking them to death, so they could not, but I am going to be the bigger person. They are not sleeping too much this avo though, as I am not doing these early mornings for much longer. It was a scrum at 03:30 this morning to get them back in the house, after they decided they both needed toilet time then.

Nothing much happening here at the moment. The container is here, hoorah, customs may or may not pass it next week, hmmmmm, Grace Removals probably wont have a driver before Christmas, F*ck it ! I am doing all I can to get the stuff here, and they already have us top of the pile apparently after our little telephone conversation yesterday. I am also going to be calling Customs for updates, so I know whether Grace are telling me porkies or not.

Weather was crap yesterday, for the first time since we have been here. We've seen showers, but yesterday could have been a day from the UK, other than it was 17 degrees while it rained all day, not 3 degrees or whatever it is in old blighty yesterday.

The good old UK banking systems have been up to their usual tricks, and now all of our cards from the UK have pretty much been stopped, as all the banks think they have been stolen. Countless dollars spent on calls back to the UK to tell them, no, it is us using them, and can we have some money please ? No, does not work. Call centres in India, no idea what is going on, etc, etc. Waste of time. So, we need our Aus cards, and we need them quick. The first lot, thanks to a stupid bank clerk, got sent to the UK. Great. We now get the second ones, and guess what. K and I sign the wrong cards, I sign hers, she signs mine. Arghhh ! We did not check. Anyhow, we can still use them as cash cards, and the new ones will be here early next week, so we are nearly there.

So, are we missing anything ? We miss our friends ofcourse, but a lot of you are scheduled to come and see us, which we are looking forward to. We are making new friends, which is great, we seem to have lovely neighbours. Some things are better over here, and some worse. You have to shop around here more, but if you do, things are really cheap. Then there are things like Coco Pops at $6.00 for a small box ! Basically, Coco Pops are off the menu, there is no point paying $6 for something that was £1.50 odd in the UK. We look to buy Australian where we can anyway, so cereal is now Weet-bix, which is pretty much the same as Weetabix. If it's good enough for the Aussie cricket team, it's good enough for me.

The meat over here is far far better, but you would expect that from the bbq capital of the world. We got 2 of the biggest pork chops you have ever seen in your life, twice the size I have ever seen in the UK, and they were $2.00 each, or 80p in English !

Some things seem backwards, like you cant load your own shopping bags at the supermaket, the checkout girl does it. This obviously slows the whole process down, which at first we thought was silly. But, you have to realise why. Over here, life is slower. There is also a really big push to keep people in jobs, and to keep the whole economy going. It's real refreshing, and once you stop living life at a UK pace, tearing around, stressing, you find yourself settling into a peaceful existence. Walking the dogs at 7:00 am, birds singing, everyone saying hello as they pass, it really is a nice life.

So, overall, in our opinion, once you accept the small things like you cant get Yorkshire tea (K has to use 2 teabags in her tea here now to get it to taste right), and you make the small adjustments needed to fit in here, it's a wonderful place.

Another puppy dog !

Puppy heaven. A second one has appeared, almost 3 months early ! K ordered a Welsh Springer Spaniel for delivery in Feb, but once Leelu arrived, she could not wait. So, even though we already knew there were no pups of that breed in NSW before Feb, K decides to thumb through the Yellow Pages to see if she can find anything. She cant. Then, I get a call from an Alsatian breeder saying she has 2 more pups at 8 weeks old. K, after a few glasses of wine, decides she now wants an Alsatian. Realising the wine was pulling at her heart strings, I asked to wait until morning, which we did. So, the next day, we agree to try and find a Springer. I managed to find a link to the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club NSW, and gave them a call. Low and behold, a puppy just became available due to a cancelled order !!!!!

Next morning, Leelu was despatched to the neighbours, which we thought would be traumatic, but she loved it. We went 2 hours down the road, and we have a new puppy, called Toby. Leelu did take to him at first, but she is twice the size, so playing resulted in Toby being batted across the living room floor. They have polished floorboards here, so one wipe of the paw, and as we sit on our bed, and Wslshie goes sliding across the room, ears flapping in the wind. We've put a stop to that, after we found poor Toby with his head in Leelu's mouth, looking like he'd just been through a pre-wash cycle in a washing machine.

Most of our time is now taken up with supervising the dogs. So far, we have lost Toby under the house, took us 10 minutes to get him back. Leelu has started digging the swimming pool in the back garden, very nice of her, but she's dug it in the wrong place, and we already have one here, so I will have to fill that back in. No point doing it now, I've already tried, and she can dig faster than I can shovel, and when she gets tired, she just bites the spade.

The “There are no big spiders in Aus” myth I sold K has also been exploded. Yesterday, cleaning the outside of the house, I noticed something in a runner for one of the doors. Looking a bit sus, I got a long screwdriver and poked it. Out of a hole came the biggest spider you have ever seen. From leg to leg it was over 10cm, and was apparently a Huntsman. Not dangerous we understand, but certainly made us jump. K damn nearly spilled her wine she was so frightened !

Today, the glorious table arrives. For the time we have been here, we have spent more time searching for this table than anything else, and that includes renting a house. It has cost us near $100 in phone calls phoning shop after shop for this table. K would not settle for anything else. To be fair, it is nice. In the end, we managed to persuade a shop to sell us their show model, as there is no stock even with the supplier until Feb next year, so why have it in the shop we asked ?

Not only does the table arrive, but far more interesting for me, BROADBAND ! We are back in the land of the living today, no more 33.6k modems. Has Australia never heard of 52k ? I can see all the girls reading this skipping to the next paragraph at this point......

Sun is well and truly out now. Yesterday was a bit cloudy, but got up to 27 degrees in the end. It's around 25 already today, at 8am, so it's gonna be a hot one. Polaris is whizzing round the pool, sucking up all the leaves. I am getting in that bad boy this morning.

Finally, this time next week, San and Jim will be here. Wow, that has gone quick. Filled the hot tub all ready for you last night, and K and I was in it to test it out. You are gonna enjoy it, if the dogs let you !

Puppy Dog !

Just to let you all know, thanks for all the emails. We will respond asap, but we have only just got internet back, and it is dial up ! I cant believe they still have it over here, and worse, we have to pay for it ! Jeez ! Anyhow, it's workable, but slow, so no pictures for a while, or video calls, but MSN may be a go-er, and skype voice calls will work, so not all bad.

Big news is the puppy has arrived. Leelu is her name, after the woman in the movie Fifth Element, she is the supreme being. She is a pedigree German Shepherd, or Alsatian, whatever you like to call them. She is beautiful, and really cheeky. The first night we were up with her until 03:30, she was so scared to be away from her family. Now, she is happy as Larry. We have walks every day, and she loves it. She had a bit of a paddy yesterday in the shopping precinct, when she got hot, and refused to walk another step, so we had to carry her back to the car !

The rest of the time we have been assembling various bits and pieces. The BBQ, beds, awnings, gazebos, furniture, you name it, we've bought it. It takes ages to buy things here, as the haggling process seems to go on all day before you get the lowest price. Good fun though, they never reckoned on my Del-boy like negotiating skills. My favourite was getting the electricals deal done, then telling the guy the deal was off, as they did not include the gas, and bbq kit in with the bbq. Ofcourse, I got it free, and then he asked, “Are we really finished with the free stuff now, I dont need to find a dog with 12 legs or anything for you do I ?”.

We had our neighbours in yesterday, Trevor and Nicola. Had a really nice afternoon. They are expats too, and we are having some more people over at the weekend, who we think are Spanish. We have not met any of our aussie neighbours yet, but we've only been here 4 days, so plenty of time.

The pool is lush. Yesterday and today, 30 degrees, blue skies. Dont want to make you too jealous, but it really is paradise here. K and I are so so happy, even things like going to the local DIY store is an event. People are so friendly, we spend ages just chatting to people.

Sandra and Jim arrive in a week and 2 days. The house should be ready by then, assuming our stuff turns up on time. If not, it's sun loungers and deck chairs, but we do have an outside table, which is absolutely beautiful, coming on Wednesday, so we have somewhere to eat !

We have an aussie landline number now, so we will email it out. If you register with telesavers (Just google them), you can call us for 0.5p p1er minute ! That's 2 hours for 60p San ! Loads of chatting !

Right, going now, Leelu wants to play.

Brisbane Update

Wow. So much has happened since the last update, where do I start ?

OK, we went to Brisbane (Brissie), which is a 12 hour drive from Sydney. To break the journey up, very slightly, we stopped at the Hunter Valley, 2 hours north of Sydney. We stayed at Tranquil Vale, which is owned by an English couple. Wine tasting was ace, and we managed to sink 3 bottles of an excellent Semillon while sitting round their pool. They have a river at the bottom of their vineyard, and the guy said to go and take a look. As we left he said, “Oh yeah, mind the snakes, plenty of noise”. I thought he was taking the piss, K was not so sure. I thought, well, they wont be in the vineyard anyway, as there are paths, but maybe on the riverbank. So, we start walking. We have only gone fifty feet, still almost in their back garden, and K decides she is being attacked. I heard a scream, and saw K in a fit of convulsions, and as she swung her arm, this snake like thing went up in the air. I thought, SHIT, K has been bitten by a bloody snake. It was not a snake. It was K's bracelet, as she swung her arm so hard, the clasp undone, it unwound to it's full length, and flew through the air. The snake that attacked her was not a snake, but a long piece of grass. Close call that one.

So, a long long drive followed. Got to Brisbane, stayed at the Brisbane Holiday Village. We thought it was not as nice as the Big4 camps, and guess what. NO INTERNET. We have been cut off for near a week ! Brisbane is defo different. The South Bank is lovely, those on the pics email will see it, and there are a lot of good things about Brisbane. It's not for us right now though, although who knows in the future. We went to Steve Irwins Australia Zoo. Very very sad, to see his daughter on TV there with him, to know he has sadly passed. I will say that guy has built an amazing park there, and his family are rightly proud of that. Then, on the way out, a turn of fate happened. A woman offered us a free paper. I said no thanks, and K for some reason took a paper. Normally it would be the other way round. So, we gets back to the van and I decide to read it. Subaru it seems are doing a sale, as Christmas is a very slow period. There is a cross between an Estate car and mini jeep, called a Forrester. They are knocking AUD $7500.00 off the list price on selected models. So, we go down, have a look, and we only bloody buy one. A brand spanker, off the forecourt. It is lovely, we are real happy with it. The dogs, and hopefully soon, the kids, will go into that perfectly. God, listen to us, gone are the days of Mercs and 206 cc's ! Oh yeah, K's car went from Ebay, over £7000.00, so that was good.

It rained a fair bit in Brissie. We had a tropical storm one night, the same night I left the vents open in the top of the van, so we got absolutely soaked. I woke up, hearing the rain. Thought, hmmm, my legs feel wet. Hang on, I am under a duvet, how are they wet. Hands feeling around in the dark, shit, I've pissed myself. No I have not, I left the bloody vents open. Lights on, duvet change, vents closed, back to sleep.

Went to a Koala sanctuary. K fell in love with them. Loads of photos to send. K also fell in love with the wallabies, and was stroking them in their enclosure at Australia Zoo.

We are keeping it Australian over here. If we can, we buy Australian. We bought an aussie mattress direct from an aussie mattress manufacturer. It's in the van, which makes things interesting moving around. We are on the way back to the house to drop it off. We did another 10 hour drive yesterday, and are now 2 hours north of Sydney in another nice park. Had a swim in their lush pool last night, and sat in the sun until 8pm, then had a barbie. Right, sun is coming up, so we need to get off to our house and pick up the keys. How exciting. We have a house, car, bed (Well a mattress). All we need to get is our double fridge freezer thing, an iron, and a bbq, and we are done. We are gonna haggle like mad on those to get a deal. He who dares Rodders, he who dares.

Wine women and song. Well, ok, wine, and maybe song.

Last night in our Park here in Sydney, tomorrow we are off on our travels again. We are off to stay at Tranquil Vale Winery in Hunter Valley (Lizzie, dont worry, we will not drink it dry, we'll leave some for you in Feb). It's run by an English couple, you can read all about it at :

http://www.tranquilvale.com.au/accommodation.htm

Looks real amazing, so looking forward to it. A proper bed for a night, luxury ! From there, it's back to Sydney to pick up the keys to our new house, yipeeeee. Quick dip in the pool, go and buy a bed at Ikea, bed down for the night, then up early to hit Brisbane. From there, probably will head for Noosa, just so we can see what Dad has raved on about for the past 6 years for. The pics we have seen so far do look real amazing.

Had a minor disaster today. Went to the local shopping mall. Parked in a bay (This van aint easy to maneuver let me tell ya), and the woman opposite pulled out. Lovely, I can have 2 bays, as the van is real long. When we come back, paying no attention to the overhead sun shields, which are like big sails on their sides, I drive straight forward, and attempt to leave the car park. Now, I was screwed at this point, but also very very lucky. I was now in an area of the car park where the van is nearly 1 metre too tall to be in, but had hit nothing ! The area of the car park we drive into is uncovered, I paid no attention when I went under these cover things. The air conditioner should have been ripped off the roof, but I had managed to find the one way into this covered car park that would allow me to keep the van in one piece. Trouble is, 1 way in, 1 way out. Had to reverse, and by the time we got to the space we came through, someone was parked there. An hour passed before another woman came back to her car to release us from the car park. Freedom was sweet.

Funny thing about Aus. While we were there, 2 different people came up and asked to help. One woman was going to get all manner of stuff moved for us so we could get out. When did that last happen in the UK ? Not to me in the last 10 years, defo. Everyone is so nice here. We get up in the morning, everyone says hello to us at the park here, it's just a really really nice life.

Tonight's dinner is Chicken skewers, chicken thighs, and beef sausages, all on the good old barbie. We bought a disposable one today, the the camp ones are rubbish. All the real campers here have their own.

We may not update for a while, as there is unlikely to be Internet access in the Hunter Valley, but we think there is in the park at Brisbane, so hang on a few days, and we will be back on line. Jode, that means you have to wait for a picture of K in her thongs, but let me tell you, it is worth the wait. Still not smoking my the way, that's nearly a week now. Feel so much better for it, not.

Sorry Robson !

Right, first and foremost. A big apology to my old mate Robson. We missed possibly the greatest show on earth last time in Aus mate, the Blue Mountains. Wow, that place is amazing son, I can tell ya.

Took us 2 hours to 4drive there, had a funny moment with our beloved Satnav. I put in Blue Mountains, and it took us to the Blue Mountains. Nowhere near where we wanted to go mind. We ended up off road, no signs, me looking at K saying “This cant be right babe”. Turns out we were 20k's short of the 3 Sisters. Once we reached the end of this dirt track, we punched 3 Sisters into Sylvia (Sylvia is the Satnav), and she took us right there.

We started off, batting flies off our faces, looking out from the main deck overlooking the valley. Stunning, for those on the pictures distribution, you will see it, and know what we are talking about ! Then we spoke to an aussie couple who told us we could actually walk down to the first Sister. So, we walked down the path, no problem (But for those bloody flies). Then we gets to the top of the steps. There are steps ? Nobody mentioned steps ! Well, when I say steps, I mean more like a bloody ladder, only 200 metres up, on the side of a cliff. Aus has never heard of health and safety obviously, as if you took a tumble there, you are off the side, no problem. The railing at the end was 3 feet high. So, if I go bouncing down these 30 near vertical steps, that is gonna stop me right ? Yeah, whatever. So, with this in my mind, I decided not to go down when at the top. K looked at me and said “Man or mouse ?”, so, I sucked my clucking bottom in, and made for the stairs. I have never been so scared in my life. I made it to the rock, and sat down, just looking at the floor. K was strolling backwards and forwards across the bridge, me, bricking it. I got back up the steps a lot quicker than I went down.

Once we got back to terra firma, we drove up to Scenic World. This place rocks. Cable cars, trains, the works. We went across a ridge, 200metres up, glass bottomed cable car. Then we went down the steepest cable car in the world, and finally, K's favourite, my least. This million year old train, no safety bars, nothing. Backwards, 70 degree angle, bloody hanging out of my seat as we shot up the mountain. K laughed all the way, I closed my eyes. This was worse than the walk to the 3 Sisters. It IS the steepest train ride in the world, OFFICIAL. It's insane. The scenery is lush apparently, I never saw it (Eyes closed), K could not photograph it (Needed both hands to hang on), so we cant show you. We are gonna show all of you who come out though, or should I say K is, as there is no way, so long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west that I am ever getting on that thing again. No way, dot. I was stupid once, never again.

Anyway, that was the last ride we did. K loved it, and raved all the way back. Sun has gone down now, and spent the last hour reading all the msn's K was answering from the UK. We miss you all.

Update again soon.