mindblower

[ :[/QUOTE]

Your a toughie Daunted- well done thro adversity.

Dave

nightnurse2

Hope your flu is better today
That's great about your new house - good luck with the moving

vickys

Well dearest Mandy i hope you are feeling better now, remember that advice you used to take and offer whilst you waiting to get where you are... a glass of wine always helps. Chin up chick it really is worth it and it could be far worse, i'm in Burnley and it's miserable as sin, throwing it down and really dark... and the fuel is up to 129.9 a litre now too.

have fun and try to enjoy
Vic's x

daunted

………… YES! YES I know it’s been ages since the last update but we’ve been out having fun, moving house and working all hours but here we go…………………

Streuth that was a very quick 3 months if ever I’ve known one! Scott’s now safely back in the UK. Looking back trying to remember all that we have done my mind has gone blank, Shark Bay was the highlight for me, endless blue skies in the middle of winter is something I am more than happy to endure. Monkey Mia was quite and experience with the dolphins coming right into the shore line, Rachels’ face was a picture when she was asked to go and feed one of them. Whilst I like dolphins I love Pelicans and was fascinated by the ones at Monkey Mia. They are obviously very intelligent creatures, following the dolphins around knowing full well that they are going to be fed and then picking up the scraps or nicking in and catching the fish that the dolphins have rounded up!

The long awaited magazine article is now in the shops, if there are any left on the shelves after Mum and her friends have finished their treasure hunt Lol. It’s the August 10th edition of Living Abroad Magazine just in case you haven’t seen it. We were all really pleased with the result even if I do look like a garden ornament sat on top of the letter box! The magazine is also available on line but it hadn’t been updated with the current issue last time I looked. www.livingabroadmagazine.co.uk (at least I think that’s the web address LOL) Hopefully the photographs will be up on this site along with my ramblings if my web mistress is not too busy this evening!

Rachel has now had her plaster caste off her ankle and has made and excellent recovery. Thankfully there was no ligament damage as feared so there is no reason she won’t be back out on the netball court next season. In the final couple of days before the plaster came off Rachel finally relented and let us decorate it. She must have had the most elegant caste the hospital had seen, none of that scribbled mess all over it for Rachel – she’s got class (just like me of course!) We had drawn a lovely dotted line down the centre with ‘cut here’ clearly written – Now you would have thought that those instructions were clear enough but ‘apparently not’ we thought as the nursing assistant sawed it off looking like an extra from a horror movie! Unfortunately the netball has now finished so she will have to wait until next season to get back onto a netball court BUT she is signing up for basketball so will still be out there having fun and keeping fit.
Mark is still playing soccer for the local team and they have now won the league with a couple of games remaining!! He has been selected to go up to Perth for a Soccer tournament in September so will be away all week staying at a Youth Hostel in Fremantle. Along with most of his team he went to some trials to get into the Bunbury Soccer Academy last week

We are finally in our own house and it feels wonderful!! From the very first time I looked around it had a really good ‘feel’ about it and I knew it was ‘the one!’ There have been many times I didn't think it would ever happen with all the mess ups and delays in getting the finance sorted, but on 5th August I got the keys to our home and a home, not a house, it has felt like from day one. I think the only other person who was probably nearly as excited as I, was poor ole Dan the Man! Dan was the real estate agent who got landed with showing me around what felt like hundreds of potential homes and ultimately got it in the ear when ever there was a hiccup with the purchase of this one. I justify it by knowing that he would have been heading to the bank with commission earned courtesy of little ole me – oh well he earned it! It was good that Scott & Joss were here to help us with the big move, more so that Scott now has a mental image of where we are and the area we are living in. I hired a 3 tonne truck for the big move (which was an experience to say the least!) and with help from very good friends Jackie and John we had it all finished by mid afternoon.
Never being known for my patience I am sure you wont be surprised to hear that it is pretty much decorated through out now, with just the bedrooms left to do. Rachel has picked a lovely deep maroon colour for one feature wall, the rest being a neutral colour but Mark is adamant he wants black and silver!! Think this is one battle I am definitely going to win hey?
We have inherited a pale ginger female cat with the house (Biscuit would probably approve – she is pretty good looking) but Rolf the budgie isn’t too impressed and the cat has to stay outside. By the way Rolf can now wolf whistle which is a great confidence boost when I am wandering around in my scruff feeling like Cinderella before her transformation!
Oh yeah and we also inherited 2 Koi carp – which I keep forgetting to feed much to the kids disgust!
The house has a massive double workshop at the end of the drive way which I have handed over to Rachel and Mark, except for when we have BBQs (coz it’s got a built in bar in it!) and they have a sofa along with a big Tv and the play station, they have a dart board on the wall and we are going to get a Pool table, along with the basket ball stand they now have on the drive way it will be quite the little den to escape from Mum, and will be great for kids sleepovers in the summer.
Telstra have been a nightmare trying to get the phone line sorted, I won’t go into it all for fear of being sued BUT finally it is up and running and we are still on the same phone number from the old house. Don’t want to post it here but if you haven’t got it and want it you can email me.
I will end with stories of my midlife crisis back packing post 40years old style! I’m off to Sydney for a couple of days in September, (when Allan is visiting –nothing personal) then fly down to Melbourne for a couple of days before flying back to Perth!! Whoohoo!! Guess the next update will have pics of me walking the Harbour Bridge looking very very sick!!

daunted

some photos for you ....couple of our new house and one from the magazine article

mindblower

Hey, your coming on leaps and bounds- well done.

Dave

Cheetah7

That looks gorgeous. I cant ever imagine owning a house like that.

egghead4

your house looks lovely and you and the family look really happy
good on you
bec

hughes

What a great read this thread has been. would love to see your website, will pm for password now

Good luck in everything

Laura and family x

Jasonmb

Great read as usual Mandy, everything really seems to be coming together for you all and the new house looks FAB, have been waiting for the pics on facebook. Have you changed your password on your blog?

Tracy
xxxxx

daunted

Thanks Tracy - we are still on dial up so takes forever to put pics on face book LOL - will try again over the weekend. Yes have changed password - will PM you now xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

daunted

September 2008

Unfortunately I need to start this update with sad news. Biscuit, the Wonder Cat had to be put to sleep a couple of weeks ago. He had contracted a viral infection of his heart which had caused a clot meaning the blood couldn’t flow to his back legs. After several days in the Vets it was decided that there was nothing further they could do for him and the nicest thing would be to put him to sleep. It would be a hard decision for anyone to make, and I know James was very upset by it but without a doubt it was the best thing to do, and we are thankful that James prevented him suffering any longer than necessary.
When we got our visa we toyed with the idea of bringing him with us but ultimately it was too expensive so he went to live with James, a very good friend of mine, in Hellifield. We always joked that they were two ginger Toms living together and by all accounts it seems they had a pretty good thing going on! Or more to the fact, Biscuit did, having his own personal butler in the form of James. We were all very impressed at the way Biscuit learnt to write and enjoyed getting his regular emails, normally hassling us at not updating the website often enough. Biscuit had many talents and we always considered him more human than feline but no one was more surprised than me to receive emails from him!

Ok……. On to happier news!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
More to the point Australind Blues are the Champions!! Having won the league several matches back all thoughts were on winning the Cup too and boy did they make us sweat attaining the previously unachieved ‘double’!! The final score was 2 -1 with Mark sending the second goal into the back of the net!! It was a fantastic morning but tinged with sadness as it is the final time that group of lads will play together as a team. Never before have I known a group of lads who get along so well together. They are a scream and have such fun together but all know when to knuckle down and work hard. Much of the credit has to go to their Coach who whipped them into shape and got them to where they were. His attitude to the kids is great, encouraging and supporting them and not once have I ever heard him yell or lose his cool with any of them when I am sure there must have been occasions he could easily have done so.
The majority of the Australind Blues, along with a couple of other lads are all off to Fremantle tomorrow lunchtime to compete at the Country Week Soccer competition. It seems it is a really big event over here with it giving the kids from rural Australia a chance to play the City teams. They will be staying in the Back Packers Youth Hostel in Fremantle all week and travelling into the City each day to play. Unfortunately I am working all week so wont be able to go up and watch. It sounds like it could be good fun so next year I plan to have the date firmly in my diary.
Whilst still on the subject of Soccer (yes SOCCER not Football!), you may remember from the last update that Mark was doing some trials for the Soccer Academy. Well – he made it in! After a couple of weeks rushing home from school to check the letter box and finding nothing, eventually it arrived and Thank goodness it was good news! It’s going to be a big commitment but it’s a great opportunity, and maybe the seminars on nutrition etc may go some way to convince him that I am in fact telling the truth when I say Pizza and Chips is not the healthiest of meals!

Despite thinking that Rachels’ netball season was well and truly over she is in fact still playing! A friend of hers plays in an adult league and Rachel has joined in, loving every minute of it! She had the opportunity to play right back at the beginning of the season but wasn’t feeling confident playing against adults, despite all my best words of reassurance she chose not to play but now is wishing she had had the confidence to sign up. We all live and learn hey? Basketball is about to kick off (or whatever they call it) so she is going to be very busy back and forth to the sports centre! Thankfully the Sports Centre is only a couple of minutes walk from our house so both kids are able to take themselves there if I am working or as is more likely, in bed early LOL

Allan arrived on 19th September (in perfect time to watch the soccer final!) so I have been off Back packing ‘with style!’ I have always wanted to Back Pack around Australia but the reality of it is that I am very unlikely too for a few more years so I used the opportunity of Allan being here to get on out there and see a bit of this huge country. I didn't go so far as to have a back pack and working for Accor Hotels has its benefits World wide in terms of cheap accommodation! I left Australind Sunday night to stay overnight in a Perth hotel near the airport ready for a 6am flight the following day to Sydney. I would be spending 2 nights in Sydney followed by 2 in Melbourne.
Getting up at ‘silly o clock’ has long become routine with my work so it wasn’t too much of a shock to hear the alarm going off at 4.15am. Having a quick shower and chucking everything into my suitcase I arrived at Perth Domestic airport at around 4.45am, perfect for checking in at 5am, an hour before my flight. BUT have you ever tried getting into long term parking at Perth Domestic? They sure don’t make it easy you know! I drove round and round, seeing exactly where I needed to be but at every entrance gate there seemed to be building work going on and the entrance was shut! Don’t ask me how, but finally I found my way in and parked up. NOW take it from me – ALWAYS take a minute to write down exactly where you leave your car in a long stay car park coz I can pretty confidently predict that when you return to it 5 days later it won’t be where you thought you left it!! More on that one later!
Check in was pretty uneventful and after a quick, very expensive Cheese and Ham Croissant and a very strong cup of coffee, I was on the plane ready for take off. Streuth! I had forgotten how little room you get on short haul flights! The seats were that really hard plastic coating that I remember being on the buses when I was a kid. Now I have long legs, 34” inside leg, and for the most part I enjoy being tall, on flights however I would give anything to be a midget! Long haul flights with all that advertised added leg room seem spacious at first, until all of a sudden it kicks in that there really is no more positions to try and get your legs in to get comfortable, on my flight to Sydney that realisation kicked in straight away! The flight was 4 hours and they were long hours, if that is possible. I had taken along a copy of the Western Australian Newspaper and after having flicked through it decided that the puzzle page would be fun, or at least help the time pass quicker. After initial panic, you will be glad to hear that I am in fact a ‘genius’ for getting so many 4 or more lettered words out of the grid of 9 letters. Probably best not to mention the crossword though coz that only made me realise that perhaps I need to start using my brain more frequently or its going to melt down sooner rather than later!
Sydney airport is pretty much like any other airport I have visited so grabbed my bag and headed off to the railway station to head into the CBD. It seems that Sydney has a pretty good little earner going on in that some of the stations are privately owned and you have to pay $11 for the pleasure of passing through! Damned cheek if you ask me – it’s not like you have much choice if the station you need is either side of a privately owned station hey? Anyway I made it onto the train, double storey train I hasten to add, and found my way from the airport to Central Station where I then swapped to the footpaths and walked to the Sofitel Wentworth Hotel on Philip Street. It wasn’t that far really but dragging my suitcase behind me I was beginning to suffer from sense of humour failure. The Sofitel Hotel was 5* luxury with the kind of entrance lobby where you felt you perhaps needed to change into something smart just to walk through to the lift, but everyone was nice and welcoming if a little ‘stiff’. You couldn’t walk through the lobby with out being approached by a young lad resembling Buttons from a pantomime asking if he could get you a taxi or help you with your bags, but it made a nice change to do things properly. I had a beautiful King size bed which felt like marshmallow to sleep in and a huge marble shower which could have been lots of fun had I not been on my own LOL (Mother – don’t read that last sentence I’m still a good girl!)
Right back at the planning stage of my trip I knew it was going to be hard work getting everything done that I wanted to do so had made a list.

• Sydney Opera House
• Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge
• Go visit George Lombard (our migration agent)
• Bondi Beach

Monday afternoon after a quick shower and change I set off to the train station, directions firmly in my hand, to go pay Agent 007 The Lombard (as he became known to us through the whole visa application process). I had always said that IF we ever got our visa and IF I ever got to Sydney I would take him and his staff a bottle of Champagne. There had been many times when I thought perhaps I wouldn’t make it and it was great to finally meet the people who I had ‘spoken’ to so much over the past 12 months or so. With bottle of Moet & Chardon tucked firmly under my arm I found Austimmigration above a gym called ‘Hips don’t lie’ – what a fantastic name for a gym hey? George and Ruly, who I had had most dealings with, were lovely, funny, very welcoming people and we had a few giggles remembering some of the stress I went through, particularly when putting together my Trades Assessment papers. I lost count of the number of times I read an email, or put the phone down after being told that there still wasn’t enough information in it all and wanting to cry, convinced everyone was conspiring against me and surely there wasn’t anything else I could add. When the phone call came through that I had passed the assessment I could almost hear the relief in their voices too that at least they wouldn’t have to listen to me stressing out anymore! Through out the process there had been a banter and exchange of recipes. George and Ruly, knowing how much I hated Shrimps always managed to find recipes incorporating them and the day before the Visa finally came through I emailed saying that if they would be kind enough to tell me my visa had been granted then I would be more than happy to make shrimp fiesta for everyone!! As it turned out I was far too excited to make anything but on Australia Day this year Rachel made some Anzac biscuits and duly posted one off to their office, which I am told they shared around the office LOL. Talking of biscuits, George and his son had made some triple chocolate cookies especially for my visit! They were great and I am sure that if George junior ever decided to take baking up as a career he would be very successful.
After leaving Georges office I headed back on the train to Circular Quay, to get my first glimpse of the Sydney Opera house and Harbour Bridge. Until I could see them I was finding it very hard to believe that I was infact in Sydney at all. I had already long since come to the conclusion that once you have seen one city you have seen them all – I am sure some of you will disagree but I think spending so much of my youth in or around London was more than enough and whilst I occasionally like to go into them, I much prefer the route out!
My first glimpse of the Opera House blew me away! It was just as I had imagined only the roof was much whiter than I thought and was made up of small tiles which I hadn’t expected. I could just imagine the atmosphere there on New Years Eve with all the fireworks and people crowded along the harbour wall. The inside of the Opera House was as you would imagine it – very shiny and classy and an air of excitement with people queuing to see a show. I met a couple of Irish girls on the steps outside who took pity on me being Billy no mates and offered to take a couple of pics, I met them again later on the bridge climb.
The Harbour Bridge wasn’t quite what I had imagined. It was much longer than I thought and the arch wasn’t as curved as I expected. I felt it needed to be pushed in at either end forcing the arch to bend higher, and it was darker than I thought it would be. As I stood in front of the Opera House looking up it was a bit daunting to think that in a little over 12 hours I would be stood at the very top of it looking out over the whole of Sydney!
I ordered room service that night (just because I am so used to cooking it for guests I wanted to be on the receiving end for once!) and fell into a very deep, much needed sleep.
I was booked in to do the bridge walk at 10.25 on Tuesday morning and true to form it was peeing down with rain! I set off, grabbing a cup of coffee along the way and feeling slightly anxious about the whole thing. Edith and her mum (cant remember her name), the Irish girls who had taken my pic the day before, were already at the Climb centre when I arrived, seeing a couple of friendly faces was reassuring and we quickly got talking to alleviate the nerves.
Before you get kitted out with all your climb gear you have to take a compulsory breath test. If you are over the 0.05 (legal limit for driving) then you are not allowed to climb – maybe it was a good job I was travelling alone and hadn’t been out partying the night before hey? We were all issued with jumpsuits and wet weather trousers before all sorts of equipment were clipped onto us. A fleece was hanging off the left hip, a rain coat off the right hip. A baseball hat was clipped to back of jump suit and hanging over left shoulder and a beanie hat clipped and hanging over our right. A rather fetching blue hankie was put over our wrists attached to a piece of elastic and then fleece gloves clipped to the wrists of our jump suits. A harness was well and truly strapped around our waists and a very heavy ball contraption was hooked through the whole lot which was going to be clipped onto the steel safety rail of the bridge, ensuring that at all times we were secure. There was absolutely no way on earth that anyone was going to fall or jump from that bridge. Incidentally we were informed that if you fell/jumped from the very top of the bridge it would take 5 seconds to hit the water! As no one was prepared to test the theory we decided to take James (our climb leader) word for it. Everything was clipped to our suits to prevent anything being dropped onto the traffic and trains passing below us, even hair clips had to be removed and replaced with the soft ones they handed out!
The route up wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. In fact I have had much harder climbs when living in the Yorkshire Dales and going for a walk over the hills. The first part of the climb is ladders and in places you have to squeeze through some tight places but once you are onto the main span of the bridge it really is a steady and very enjoyable walk! James constantly reassured us that if we didn't like heights to just keep focused on the horizon but even the chaps at the front who had expressed concerns were chatting away and happily having a peek over the edge! Standing at the top, between the two Australian flags flapping proudly in the wind, was a fantastic achievement! We had photos taken and had various places of interest pointed out before starting a steady descent back to ground level.
Walking away from the Bridge I felt a slight spring in my step knowing that I had ticked off yet another thing on my ‘things to do before I die list’. Come to think of it I don’t wanna be getting through that list too quickly hey!
After a quick change of clothes and a hurried lunch I jumped back on the train and headed off to Bondi Beach to see if I could find myself an Aussie Hunk in tight red trunks! Sorry to offend anyone but I was seriously underwhelmed with Bondi Beach. Maybe its cos I am now so lucky to have seen so many beautiful beaches already that this one was just another gorgeous beach, and to top it all the beautiful toned bronzed bodies that you see on Bondi Beach rescue on TV were in fact incognito! I left wondering if maybe they have a secret stash of fit surf lifesavers that are bought out only when filming?? Now if I only knew where they were hidden I could be a very rich, popular lady hey?
Well apart from having my hair cut short in a rather swanky salon by a very effeminate man – that was my trip to Sydney. Early to bed with a bit of a lie in before getting the Concierge to hail me a taxi (felt really important I can tell you!) and heading back to the airport………..it was Wednesday so it had to be Melbourne!

Arriving at Sydney airport I checked in and set off to buy the compulsory ‘Krispy Kreame’ donuts!! I had had strict instructions from Rachel and Cindy Lee at work that my life would be very uncomfortable if I returned home without them! The problem was I didn't know if I had to get them in Sydney and keep them until I returned or whether I would be able to buy them on my way out of Melbourne on the return trip. Having got no reply from my frantic text message to Diane, in Melbourne, who it turns out was working, I decided that it would be better to arrive with slightly stale donuts than none at all, so purchased a selection of delicious looking donuts and headed off for the boarding gate. There isn’t very much to say about yet another flight, except I was sat next to a rather large foreign lady who despite my best efforts did not understand me enough to make conversation with so I closed my eyes and tried to get some much needed sleep after all the physical exertion of the previous couple of days!
My trip to Melbourne was never planned to be a big sight seeing trip, it was all about catching up with my friend Di and her daughter Chloe who lived in Garstang, near us in UK, and had migrated a couple of months before us. It was great to see them both again and Di and I picked up where we left off a couple of months earlier when they both visited us in Australind. The weather was beautiful in Melbourne and after having a trip to St Kilda for coffee we sat outside most of the night drinking wine and putting the world to rights – one day the world may just sit up and take notice hey? On Thursday we spent the day at the Royal Melbourne Show. It was along the lines to a County Show in the UK but done in the sunshine and despite being very busy you didn't feel like you were permanently fighting oncoming crowds. Di is thinking about getting a dog and we had a good look around the Dog Show tent which contained the biggest collection of ugly dogs I have ever seen!! You know the sort – those little pug dogs that look like they have been given a good bashing between cymbals!! I find it hard to see the attraction in them but Di and Chloe begged to differ finding them really cute LOL. One of the funniest things we saw in that tent was a big stall devoted to doggy clothing! Now I have seen lots of pictures of little dogs wearing allsorts of coats etc but nothing prepared me for the sight of doggy underwear on sale!! Not just any old underwear but bright sparkly lurex pants for dogs, complete with a cut out for the bits and pieces to hang out of! What on earth is the world coming to when dogs have custom made underwear! Pig diving!! Have you ever heard of it before? Nah – me neither, must be an Australian thing I guess! I didn't actually witness it cos I couldn’t get close enough to the front to watch BUT I did see a large cage enclosed diving platform for a pig to dive off onto a hopefully, well positioned landing net!! Strange but true!

My flight back to Perth was one of the worst flights I have ever had and I was grateful it wasn’t a long haul one! The flight should have taken 4 hours but due to very strong head winds it took 5 hours and we spent the whole time bouncing up and down. The landing was very rough and on landing the whole plane erupted into a very happy and loud round of applause.
Remember me mentioning that it is a good idea to write down where you leave your car in a long stay car park? Well take my word for it – a couple of seconds of thought when you park up saves nearly an hour of wandering up and down every single bloody lane in the car park. At one point I could have quite happily have rung someone to come and pick me up and just leave the damned car where it was. After 45 mins I plonked myself down on my suitcase in the middle of the car park and devoured a chocolate covered donut whilst fishing around in my hand bag for my car keys, donut gone I then walked round and round the car park with keys above my head clicking the button until eventually Spartacus kindly flashed his lights at me!!

After a good nights sleep I thought perhaps I would be really nice and show Allan a bit of the South West, he hadn’t managed to get a hire car, so we all hopped back into Spartacus to head down to Dunsborough in the hope of spotting some migrating Humpbacked Whales. Unfortunately the whales were not playing the game so we didn't actually spot any but we did find some beautiful secluded beaches with water that was still as blue as I remember it in the middle of summer. We will definitely be heading down there again!

Ok, that’s all folks! My fingers are cramped and I reckon 6 pages is pretty good don’t you! I am going to sign off and let Rachel get this all uploaded before she heads off to Fremantle and Perth for the week with Allan. (cos I don’t know how to upload it LOL) Mark is in the Den playing on the play station in the hope that time will pass faster until we take him to get on the coach to head off for Country Week in a couple of hours. Little ole me is going back to work tomorrow to keep this country ticking over and save enough money for our next trip. The next one’s gonna be to Uluru! (Ayres Rock) I just gotta work out how to get there LOL

katsmajic

WOW, you've achieved so much - well done.
I bet it was a fab adventure - sounds like it.
Kat xxx

Fly Away

Fantastic!

daunted

Thanks guys - still living the dream and loving every minute of it. Keep feeling the need to pinch myself just to make sure im not dreaming!