Today is the last day of the school Spring break and ellie's none too impressed at having to go back to school tomorrow.  Hmmmm, wish us luck for that one lol.

 

Anyway, we've had a REALLY busy holiday and the time's flown by.  Here's some of the things we got up too....

 

We had a night out at Sandra and Jim's to celebrate them being in Oz a year already.  We met quite a few new faces that night and the kids had a ball.

 

The following day, Campbell and Lynn met us in Chinatown for dinner as they were staying overnight in Melbourne for work.  The kids loved getting to stay up late in the city.  The next day, after dropping Becca off at kindy, Ellie and I took the train into the city and met Lynn and the boys for a wander.  Lynn also introduced us to the Treats From Home shop in Melbourne that day and I bought Mike some Revels, the kids got Midget Gems and I got 2 Twirls which I've given Mike to hide under strict instructions to hand them over on demand lol.  You know how much of a chocaholic I am, but it just doesn't taste the same here - apparently it's got extra additives to protect it in the heat!

 

We also had Josie down from Sydney for a few days and we took her for a quick trip into the city.  It was Grand Final Day which is quite something here and that night we visited a local restaurant which is really nice.  However, we completely underestimated the effect of the Grand Final, I can only compare it to Hogmanay.  Guess how long we waited fro a taxi....nearly 2 hours!!!!  The staff in the restaurant were about to take us home in their cars as they felt so sorry for us!  We had Margaret and her girls round for lunch while Josie was here too and she brought a couple who've just moved over that they knew at home with her.  It turns out that one of them is best friend's with a guy Mike knows in from work in Glasgow who's now in Sydney.  On her last day here, Ellie and I took Josie for a wander at Williamstowwn and we had a lovely lunch in the sun.  We really loved having Josie down to stay, it's just like when Lynn and Campbell come - it's so good to talk to people who actually know us well, and with whom we've got a history.

 

We've had a few trips to the cinema - the girls and I went to see Ratatouille and Ellie and I went to see the Bratz movie too.

 

We've had some picnics - one at the zoo where they were also showing the new Barbie movie followed by s song session with the lady herself and then the kids all got to meet her and get their photos taken.  We were actually at the zoo for 5 hours that day and it only cost us the equivalent of £10 plus some ice lollies.  The kids also got to touch a snake and pet a kangaroo while we were there.  It was all fine until the kangaroo stepped on Becca's toe and she lost the plot!!!

 

Another picnic was at a local park with some friends we've met in Caroline Springs.  It was about 6 mum's and their kids and we had a BBQ and the kids played football (the Aussie kind).  3 of the other kids go to school with Ellie so it was a handy trip for her helping her to make more friends.  One of them in particular is actually called Ellie too and get this....despite her parents being from Flatlandshire, they lived in Glasgow for a while and Ellie was actually born in the same hospital and Ellie and Becca (talk about a small world eh?).  Sandra works in Ellie's school and she told me that Ellie and Ellie had already been introduced at school and are becoming quite good friends.  We've also been invited to her birthday tea in 2 weeks so that's a treat for the girls.

 

Yesterday we travelled to Mornington again (about a one and a half hour drive) for a Britvics meet.  Brtivics is a site we use which brings together expats from the UK who are in Victoria.  There was a huge turout and it was nice to see a few of the faces we've met on our travels here and also meet some new friends.  It was a bit chilly but great fun and the girls had a blast flying kites with Margret's girls Emily and Lorna.

 

I've got a few phtos to upload so I'll try and get them done asap.

 

Yesterday we were all a little homesick as it was Abbie's birthday and we really missed being there with her for that.  We called just before bedtime but Pam was just heading out so we didn't chat for long and we'll call back tonight for a decent blether.  During last night's call to Pam we actually found our first BIG spider in the house...right above my bed!!!!!!!!!!!  Suffice to say, today we bought the biggest can of spider spray we could find and the whole house is getting sprayed tonight, inside and out.  Not nice! :-(

 

Next weekend we're going camping with Lynn and Campbell and the boys to Philip Island for the Moto GP.  We spent today going through our camping gear to see what we had and then we went out to get a few new bits and pieces.  We've had a trial of getting it all in the car and it fits...just.  It's going to be a tight squeeze but not worth buying a roofbox for. 

 

One final thing, we are now signed up to a new service which allows UK callers to call us on a UK number for just 3p a minute.  If you want the number just drop us an email and we'll pass it on.  There are other services around which are cheaper but you need to dial their numbers first.  I guess it's just a case of whatever you find easiest.