shirlw

Arrived in OZ 4 weeks tommorrow and am celebrating my (21st )first Australian birthday today 27/12.

Flew in from Durban via Johannesburg then Singapore to Brisbane.First leg JHB to Singapore everyone on the plane practically had 3 seats each it was so empty.The whole journey was a breeze but pretty much an anti-climax as you touch down and reality sinks in.We have now joined the minions of immigrants who have gone before us and done the same old trip without pomp or ceremony,just friggin' knackered

Onwards we travelled via airport bus to some friends on the "unshine" coast very weary and smelly after 36 hours door to door to be welcomed with open arms.They were a sight for sore eyes I tell you.After a coffee and a shower we took ourselves off to bed as it was now nearly midnight.My 3 boys 15,13 and 7 did not sleep too well,they were found by my friends at 7 am looking like the 3 monkey's see no evil,hear no evil and speak no evil,a pitiful sight.I on the otherhand slept like a log even though OH snored loudly next to me for a while,clearly he too slept well.

The next day I was dropped off at our empty house to await the hired furniture arrival.They arrived on time but we had no electricity connection at this stage so fridge and TV sat as ornaments.Our friends insisted that we stayed another night because we still had no electricity as they would only connect us the next day.We hired a car and went and bought some essentials like kettle,toaster and toilet paper oh and some groceries.Onwards and upwards and off to the beach to let the kids get a bit of body surfing in and to tire them out to sleep better.The jetlag had not affected me at all which was great but our room was a bit bright in the morning for my liking.
After a day of rest,off we trooped to the Medicare office to apply for our cards,a truly efficient and painless experience.Next up was a trip to the bank to deposit some travellers cheques into our already opened account which we did on a previous trip last year.Changed our address and sorted a few things out there,too easy!

Our one business back in deepest darkest Africa has been left behind running in our absence.For how long is anybody's guess but we hope to sell by mid-2011.Before we left we had some strtegically placed cameras installed and set up online to view from afar.Playing Big Brother was pretty cool and we even caught a member of staff slacking off instead of helping a customer.To her dismay,we questioned her so now they know we are watching ,it should keep them on their toes a bit more.Our safety and security is a neccessary evil and theft is rife.We cannot possibly control it all from OZ but at least we can minimise risk and keep damage under control.Our feelings are that we have to still earn ourselves an income while we are here and getting settled so we cannot afford to let our guards down.Not ideal but heh ho we had to go as I had to get the visa stamped.We have been planning our move for 3 years and quite frankly I couldn't wait any longer.

Boring stuff aside, we set off to try and make our place look a wee bit christmassy .So,off we went to Rudolphs warehouse on the Gold Coast an awesome place to buy just about anything relating to Christmas.A fare few hundred dollars poorer but happy with our lot we headed back to the unshine coast to fetch the kids from our friends.So now we own our first Ozzy Christmas tree and it looks great too.By the end of week 2 we now have a telephone,internet connection,electricity,a medicare card,a waterlogged garden,3 kids with cabin fever,a very neccessary PS3 ,a christmas tree,akettle,toaster,Holden Captiva 7 LX ,a and a partridge in a pear tree!

Now can anyone tell me what is going on with this rain storyThe Sunshine Coast has had 5 days of sun and 23 of rain since our arrival.Was someone yanking my chain when it was named the "Sunshine Coast"! Enough already,the drought is over,can someone please tell that to the big man upstairs!

We're here to stay so I guess you have to take the rolls with the punches so to all of you near us(Sippy Downs),hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and let's pray for a drier New Year

tiger222

Amen to a drier New Year...

jad n rich

Its just the wet season the tropics/sub tropics get. But it is worse than usual.

Dec jan and feb are the worst months of weather in OZ, wet here, or you could have boiled in the 40 temps adelaide, perth and melb have had. Floods here, will be bushfires down south before you know it.

As for SC, nice weather is march till november usually, with the hot soggy bit inbetween.

Alfresco

Great update Shirl.


As for the rain...


Yesterday was beautiful and today drizzling again. Don't worry it will improve and maybe we'll have 9 more years of drought.

shirlw

Yeh I guess it's better too than -13 degrees in UK with snow drifts 3 ft up the front door and icicles 3 ft dangling down to meet in the middle-brrrrrrrr treacherous.

Jen1977ni

YAYYYY YOU'RE HERE!!! NAYYYY THE RAIN IS POO!!! XO

Sherlock Holmes

CONGRATS!

Don't worry, it will be dry day after day after day soon enough.

shirlw

We have now had 3 days in a row of sunshine with NO rain so I'll stop complaining now

Alfresco

Officer Dibble

Here in Adelaide, we've had a very weak summer with only a handful of days around the 40 degree mark. Not that Im complaining but weather Australia-wide has been very odd so far.

bcworld

How about now!?

shirlw

ok so it's back,the dreaded R_ _ _ word.But there are many who are much worse off than me so I'll keep my mouth shut ! Poor buggers