Dragon Boat Paddlers!

Chloe and I have decided to give dragon boat paddling a go.

We've been to a couple of training sessions and, boy, does your back hurt after an hour paddling!!!! Our boat takes about 20 people sitting in pairs and we train on Currumbin Creek - very picturesque.

We've been invited to dinner at Palm Beach Surf Club tonight to meet the other crews which will be nice.

Southern Cross 10k 2009

After an absence of probably more than 3 years I decided a few months ago that I'd like to do more running.

When we first arrived in Australia I gave it a go but found the climate was hard to cope with. In Scotland I used to run with Jog Scotland and was always the first to strip down to vest and shorts even on a frosty night (it didn't take me long to heat up!). So I really struggled with the heat when I started running here.

I joined the Twin Towns Running and Walking Club early this year and started off walking with them twice a week for about 6kms each time. I enjoyed it but always wanted to start jogging as I felt that brisk walking was more difficult. We walked in the evenings when it was cooler which helped alot. It didn't take too long before I decided to go for it and start jogging the 6k then 8k then 10k!

Last July Ken and I watched the Gold Coast marathon finishers and I'm sure some of the half marathon and 10k runners too, and I decided there and then that I would enter the 10k the following year.

I'm glad to say that I did just that and completed the race on Sunday, 5th July. It was a big milestone for me as I had always watched the race from (very) afar before coming over here and wished that I could join in.

On Sunday, I left the house at 5am - in the dark - and made my way up to Southport for the start of the race at 6.45am. By that time the sun had come up. There were more than 23,000 participants in total for the 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon and wheelchair marathon. There were approx 7,000 in my race. We started running in Southport and the route took us into Surfers Paradise and back. Some of the route was along side the beach which was lovely and the rest was on road. I must admit it was the first 10k run I have ever enjoyed and I think that this was partly because of the scenery.

I managed the run in 1 hour 8 minutes which is not exactly a record breaker but, considering I haven't ran for a while, I was very pleased with myself.

Each finisher received a medal and a t-shirt and I'll put a photo of the medal on here when I get organised. If you click on the title of this post it will take you to the Marathon website.

Twin Town Walking and Running Club have been very supportive of me and helped me gain confidence enough to take part in the 10k which I am very thankful to them for.

I will definitely be entering next years 10k!

We've got Foxtel :o)

After enduring Australian tv for 15 months we've finally given in and installed Foxtel. It's very similar to Sky (it even has the same remote control) and there are lots of the same UK programmes on with a few American ones thrown in.

We can also watch Sky news from home and keep an eye on your weather over there!

A Very Clean Pussycat

Here is our daft cat Libby after she jumped into the washing machine.

Scottie Dogs in Kilts

Paul and I took part in the RSPCA's "Million Paws Walk" a few weeks ago at Miami. It's held every year and is a bit like a sponsored walk, but for dogs, to raise money for the RSPCA. As you can imagine we saw dogs of all shapes and sizes. Here's a picture of Paul clapping some westies dressed in kilts. Their names were Hamish, Bonnie, Tommy and Mac!

Palm Beach After the Wild Weather

Remember the wild weather I wrote about at the end of May? Kenny and I had a walk on the beach at Palm Beach the other day and we could still see the erosion it left. Lots of houses at the beach had much smaller gardens due to erosion. I bet the owners were s@#$$@*g themselves!




Oops how did this one get in here?!!

Rainforest Attire

Today we went for a drive to Springbrook National Park. Our silver wedding anniversary is coming up soon and we're on the look out for somewhere to spend it. We'd seen some lovely log cabins in the rain forest at Springbrook on the internet so we decided to have a drive up there and take a look at them.

Springbrook is only 38k's away from us so it didn't take long to get there. We had to drive up some windey roads though with scarey drops over the side at times.

Turns out the cabins were not as nice in real life so we decided against them.

On the way down we stopped at Purling Brook Falls. The water falls over 100 metres into the valley. We also stopped at some lookouts to take in the view of the rainforest.

After one of these stops I felt an itch on my foot and looked down and saw a leech having a munch on me. Panic set in and I demanded the car be pulled over while screaming at my feet. Kenny managed to flick it off but it took me about an hour to calm down.

That'll teach me not to wear flip flops on a rain forest walk!

Winter Has Arrived!

1st June is officially the first day of winter in the southern hemisphere. This time last year we were still in holiday mode and laughing at all the winter woolies in the shops. This year we're feeling the cooler temperatures a bit more. Doesn't take long to acclimatise!

We were at our friends, Angela and Peter, at the weekend as they were having a barbie to celebrate their first year in Oz. The temperature really dropped about 7pm and we all had to rug up to keep warm. I even had gloves on! Before coming to Australia I wouldn't have believed that I would need gloves here. Mind you, I wouldn't have been able to sit outside in winter in Scotland without a few layers and a winter coat on!

We still have UK summer temperature's during the day - averaging 24 degrees - so it's not all bad. Shorts and t-shirts are still worn during the day but I usually get the joggers on in the evenings. Needless to say the pool hasn't seen much action for a few weeks!

Wild Weather

Over the last week we've had some really terrible weather.

We've had very heavy rain along with winds of up to 100km an hour. Lots of trees have come down and traffic lights have stopped working.

I had to drive down from Southport through Surfers Paradise on Wednesday and the police were re-directing traffic. It wasn't til I got home and watched the news that I found out the reason why. There are lots of high rise buildings in Surfers with roof top pools. The news coverage showed the pool furniture (including heavy glass top tables) blowing off one of the roofs!!!

One of my friends lives on Springbrook Road in the hinterland and she couldn't get out of her property as the creek at the bottom of her garden was overflowing the road out. She also had no power or phone for a couple of days. We didn't have anything as bad as that thank goodness.

The beaches have all been closed due to dangerous surf and sand erosion. Some poor souls car was dragged into the sea by the waves and was lying upside down in the sand when I passed by.

The weather has improved here but the storms have continued on down the coast and north NSW is getting it now.

Kenny's Home :o)

After 4 and a half months working in Kalgoorlie Kenny has finally accummulated enough days to take a fortnight holiday. He came home on Friday after a long journey home - 3 flights from Kalgoorlie to Perth to Sydney to Gold Coast.

I've taken the fortnight off too so we'll be able to spend the time together. Not much planned except for a few day trips, maybe some house hunting and catching up with friends.

Running a 10k

I'm thinking about running the 10k in the Gold Coast marathon in July (see map above). Do you think I should give it a go?

Jetboat Pics

Jetboat Extreme and Cold Rock

Last weekend we had a great time on Jetboat Extreme in Surfers Paradise for Kyle's going home pressie. They took us out past all the millionaires homes (one sold for $20 million!) and had a good nose at them. Once we were out past the residential area the guy put his foot down. We whizzed up and down the Broadwater and did a few donuts - getting soaked at the same time. Here's the web site www.jetboatextreme.com.au We had our photo taken and I'll put them on here later so you can have a laugh. ;o)

Afterwards we went for a Cold Rock ice cream. This is an Australian ice cream parlour where you choose which flavour ice cream you want. Then there is a choice of loads of other stuff to go with it, eg. Snickers, choc brownies, m&m's, fruit, nuts, freddo's, fudge, gummies, etc. The ice cream is mashed up with whatever sweets/fruit you want on a cold slab then put in to a tub with chocolate or caramel sauce. Yummy yummy. Have a look here www.coldrock.com.au

Sick Laptop

Just a quick note to say our laptop is not feeling very well and has been sent to laptop hospital.

Will post again when he's feeling better.

x

12 months, 1 day and 23 hours in Oz

We've waited a long time to say that. 28 years to be exact. It's been a year of surprises, a roller coaster of emotions and lots of adventures.

When we arrived at Brisbane airport last March with our 7 suitcases and not much else, we had just gone through more than 2 years of red tape that is the immigration application. There were lots of hurdles to get over and after jumping each one there was always another hurdle waiting for us. We had also gone through a very strange set of emotions saying our goodbyes to family and friends. Because we had been kept so busy with each step of our application we hadn't thought how we would react to this. I felt very guilty when Kenny's sisters and brother were upset. I felt as if I was taking him away from them and that they would resent me for it. I don't think that is the case (is it Noreen, Ann and Tommy?!!!) but it's funny the things that go through your head. Hopefully we will see them soon when they decide to come over for a holiday.

After a 2 week stay in a lovely holiday apartment in Kirra we found our first long term rental in Elanora. Paul started school after the easter holidays and we set about looking for jobs. Little did we know how fruitless that would turn out! More about that later.

Elanora is on the Gold Coast which is in the south east corner of Queensland. We are about 15 minutes from the border with New South Wales which can be very confusing at times as they have daylight savings and Queensland doesn't. Should be back to normal now as their clocks changed this weekend :-) We're 100 kms south of Brisbane and about half an hour away from the Palazzo Versace where all the 'I'm a Celebrity' people go when they are booted out! The nearest beach is about 3 minutes drive away if the traffic lights are in our favour and we're within a 10-15 minute drive from the hinterland and rain forests. It's a lovely place to live.

When we arrived it was early Autumn and the day time temps were averaging 28 degrees. We were showering twice and three times a day because we just weren't used to those temps on a daily basis 7 days a week.

We were amazed at the wildlife here. There was a family of possums that used to visit us every night at our first house. We watched the baby grow from a tiny thing on it's mums back to just about the size of it's mum and still on her back. Hope the new tenants have been looking after them. Mind you, the locals are not so keen on them. They can be pests if they manage to get into roof spaces and thump their way round the roofs during the night. We also had a HUGE spider in a web in our back garden. We whacked it down with a big stick and killed it. When we told the real estate people they couldn't believe what we'd done. They said that Golden Orb spiders are good to have as they eat all the mozzies. NOW they tell us :-( We've seen a couple of redbacks and disposed of them right away as they bite and can kill small children and pets, and we don't want that to happen to our pussycats do we? Especially after the small fortune it cost for them to be transported over here!!!More about them later too. For the first month or so we always checked under the toilet seat for any spiders that might be lurking but we don't even think about that now.

We've seen kangaroos lazing in the sun and bouncing in front of us on the roads, and we've just recently seen our first koala in the wild. They haven't been doing so well here as they are often injured or killed by cars, dogs and cats.

We went to the Anzac Day parade on April 25th at Currumbin RSL and were amazed at how patriotic the Aussies are for their 'diggers'.

Between the months of May and November Humpback whales swim up the east coast of Australia on their way to breeding and birthing grounds. We went on a whale watching trip in May and saw them. Didn't manage to get any good photos unfortunately.

In July Janice, David and Neil came to visit. We had a lovely time together showing them some of the Gold Coast. It was much more difficult to say goodbye when their time came to go. We also had a visit from Jean from New Zealand who is Kenny's distant cousin and we also had Kyle's friend over for a visit only last week.

In August, after lots of failed job applications, Kenny decided to take a trip to Kalgoorlie to see if it would help his chances of finding a job in the gold mine there. He flew from the Gold Coast to Sydney to Perth with an emergency landing at Adelaide because of a cracked windscreen!!! He hired a car and drove the 600km+ to Kalgoorlie and handed in his resume. He came away thinking that was a lot of time and expense just to hand in his resume but had a good feeling about it.

After hearing nothing from Kalgoorlie we thought we would have a trip up north in October and a stop off at Gladstone where Kyle was working on a fishing charter boat. It took 8 hours to drive to Gladstone and nearly another 8 took us up to Mackay. That was when it hit us how big this country really is. 16 hours and we were only half way up the east coast of Queensland. It gave us a chance to see what some of Australia looked like away from the suburbs,(lots of roadkill too!). We took a crazy boat trip out to Lady Musgrave Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Crazy because the sea was wild. The waves were going over the boat and I have never felt so sick in all my life - as did most of the passengers. The crew were running up and down the aisles with sick bags. However, the destination was like something out of a movie. The sea was calm as we were surrounded by the reef and the water was turquoise. We toured the island and snorkelled on the reef - one of my ambitions ticked off!

Back home in Elanora and things were hotting up for summer. We had just gone through a winter with average daily temps of around 25 but cool nights of about 15-18. I had been working at Kmart since July and still had no success finding admin work. Kenny had no success finding work either. Despite these setbacks we were still enjoying our new country and settling in to our new way of living. We moved into another house in the same street which had a pool - something we had always promised ourselves - and we're making good use of it ;-)

On my birthday I had a wonderful present. Kenny got the phone call he had been waiting for. He got the job in Kalgoorlie and was to start on January 6th.

We spent Christmas day on the beach at Kirra straight across the road from the holiday rental we first lived in. I think we will always think of that apartment as being a special place. Instead of the roast turkey and trimmings we had a cold buffet and spent the rest of day playing board games with the kids (and having a wee drink now and again).

We were invited to a new year party by Angela and Peter from Newcastle (in England not NSW!) who came over a couple of months after us. We knew them from a discussion forum we had all used about moving to Australia from before we all came over here. We've made some good expat friends which is nice as we all know what each other is going through.

3 days later Kenny was off to Kalgoorlie. His work put him up for the first couple of months until he found his own place. Now we had a bit of security though not quite what we had planned for our new lives here.

The next 3 months were more of the same - Chloe and Kyle completed a bar and gaming course and are ready to get to work! Paul is enjoying his school and has made some good friends. He has become very patriotic and now is the very proud owner of a full kilt outfit exported from Kirkcaldy would you believe! I'm still working at Kmart though now in the cash office which is much more interesting for me.

I attended a citizen initiation ceremony on Australia Day (January 26th) just to be nosey. It will be a few years before we can apply for citizenship but I really wanted to see what goes on at these ceremonies. Australia Day is a popular day for them. Family and friends can come along to watch everyone taking the oath and being presented with their certificates and Aussie flags. We then had Lamington cake, Anzac biscuits and tea to keep in with the theme of the day :-) No vegemite sandwiches though!

The move over here has been quite a revelation. It has taught us alot about ourselves. The hardest thing for me has been realising that I don't enjoy my own company quite as much as I thought I did! If you want to make friends you have to go out there and look for them and not just wait for them to come to you. I've joined a quilting club (and made some good Aussie friends there), a running/walking club, I'm going to swimming lessons at our local outdoor pool being coached by an Olympian gold medalist's wife (!), I'm the secretary of the Parents and Citizens group at Paul's school and I've recently joined a public speaking forum group - mainly to help with interview techniques for when I finally get an interview! So I am trying!

The second hardest thing is communication. I might be speaking the same language as the natives but you'd never know it. I know that this is something I will have to get used to but I do get exasperated at them at times!!! I didn't think I had a strong accent but apparently I do. Kenny never has this problem. I spoke to a Scot the other day who had 3/4 Scots accent and 1/4 Aussie. She said she'd been here 40 years!!!!!! It's braw (;-)) when I can speak to another Scot but they are few and far between.

Every day, when I drive by the ocean, I appreciate my new home. I have a beautiful coastline with golden sandy beaches 3 minutes from my front door on one side and rain forests full of wonderful wildlife on the other. My only regret is that we didn't do this a long time ago.

A Year Down Under!!!!

A year ago today we arrived in Australia from a freezing cold Scotland. What a whirlwind it's been. Only seems like 5 minutes since we left Edinburgh. I'll have to write a post on our year here. Watch this space ;-)

The Mother Tongue

While I was at work today a customer overheard me talking to another customer. When we finished our conversation he came over to me and said "How'z it gawn?".

I can't explain the relief it feels to be able to talk normally to someone without having to slow down, or spell my name out as L E U R E because they think an 'A' is an 'E' and vice versa.

We had a guid auld blether about the mother country and all the snow (hee hee) they've been having back home.

He told me that one day, when he was in a shop, there seemed to be someone following him and his wife all over the place. They were very intimidated and felt like shop lifters. Eventually the couple stopped, turned round to the stalker and asked what the hell was going on. The answer they got was "I'm from Whitburn and I just wanted to hear your accent!" The couple have been in Australia for 26 years and he still sounds like he's just off the boat.

I must admit, it is like meeting a long lost friend when you hear another Scottish accent. Thing is, they might not even be the type of people you would have as friends back home. But it still feels good.

I think it will take me a long time to get used to heads turning whenever I speak. Even if they do tell me constantly that they love my accent!

My Wonderful Singing Washing Machine

When we came over to Australia for a holiday in 2000 we spent some time with my sister on the Gold Coast.

One day, while we were sitting outside having a coffee, I heard what I thought was someone playing a xylophone (yes, I did have to spell check that word!). As Carol's boys were a bit old for those kind of toys I was a bit surprised to hear it. I was then informed that the noise had been the washing machine finishing it's cycle. I couldn't believe it. A singing washing machine! I had to have one!

You guessed it, one of our first purchases when we moved over was to buy my very own singing washing machine. Yes, I am a complete saddo.

The cats love it too. They sing along!

'Pinch Me' Moments

It seems that we have always been waiting to go and live in Australia and that we lived in limbo for such a long time, that now it's taking a wee while to sink in that we're actually here.

I have lots of 'pinch me, I must be dreaming' moments.

A few months ago I was watching a programme on tv about tourist spots in Oz. It was about a wildlife sanctuary and they were showing Cassowary birds. They're not the cutest looking birds I've ever seen!

Anyway, I was sitting watching the tv and thinking "they've got those birds in Australia". Then all of a sudden CLAAAANGGGG!!!!! the penny dropped - we are IN Australia! WE GET THOSE BIRDS HERE!!!

Here are some more pinch me moments: -

- Looking at the pile of shoes lying next to the front door and realising they're all thongs/flip flops and I own 6 pairs!

- Lying on my back on my sun bed floating around the pool (lucky me), looking up to the skies and watching some birds fly over. Then I realise they're PELICANS!

- Tears in my eyes when I heard the song 'Caledonia' - please don't play that at new year!

- Ordering Paul's birthday present (a full kilt outfit) from an ONLINE store in Edinburgh!

- Opening my wardrobe and wondering when I'll ever wear my jeans again.

- Cutting down the dead leaves from the palm trees round the pool.

- Going to the supermarket after tea time, enjoying the aircon then coming out to sauna temperatures!

- Realising, after the event, that it's too hot to walk 20 minutes to work at 8.30am.

- For the first time, Paul will have an ice cream birthday cake this week.

- Jumping in the car and driving 2 minutes down to the beach and it's empty - except on Sunday mornings for nipper training :-(

- Reading the newspaper and not knowing any of the people featured in the stories.

- Looking for somewhere in the shade to park the car.

- Walking around in bare feet all the time.

- Being woken up by the Kookaburra's laughing!

- Watching the electric storms (when it rains here it really chucks it down).

- Seeing our first Koala in the wild.

- Trying to plug in my hairdryer I brought with me from home without the adaptor.

- Paying under a dollar per litre for petrol.

- Asking for payments in pounds by mistake instead of dollars at work.

- Hearing Gordon Brown speaking on the news and thinking "He's awffie broad"!

- Having to leave my trolley packed with food outside the bottle shop because they're not allowed inside, then going out expecting it to be pinched and it's still there!!!!

- Being told "I love your accent".

- On hearing our accents people assume we're here on holiday and ask how long we're here for and the answer is FOREVER!!!

I'm sure there will be more to add to this list!

Early morning views of Currumbin Creek and Wildlife

An Early Morning Walk

I used to do a bit of running before we came to Australia but I haven't done much for 2 or 3 years. So it was with much trepidation that I decided to join the Twin Towns Services Club for their Sunday morning walk/run.

A very big downside of this was having to get up at 4.45am!!!! When the alarm went off I felt like I'd had 20 minutes sleep. I managed it though even though it was still dark and the Kookaburras were laughing merrily as I started the car up.

I was welcomed very warmly by all and I decided that I should start off walking until I get some fitness back, so off we set at 6am along Currumbin Valley.

The scenery was breathtaking and I've inserted a slide show with some of the local kangaroos. One of them looked like he wanted to box my ears in when I got too close to take his photo! He stood up and banged his tail on the ground. Didn't take me long to get the photo!

Afterwards we went to one of the members homes in the Echo Village and had a lovely bbq breakfast.

I got home at 9am feeling like it should be lunchtime! It had started heating up by then so I can understand why the walk was planned for so early in the day. I wouldn't have managed it when the temperature reached 30.

A very enjoyable morning was had by all.

I'll probably be in bed for 7pm tonight!

Bushfires in Victoria

I have been putting off posting on this topic as I don't believe a blog is the proper platform to discuss it and I don't think I am able to show enough respect in putting a few words together about it. However, I think it wouldn't be right to 'ignore' what has happened either.

A week ago today I was sitting in front of the laptop in the same place I am sitting now, not realising what was going on in Victoria. A week later 181 people have been declared dead in the wake of the bushfires with many more expected to be found. Houses, wildlife and irreplaceable belongings have been destroyed. Thousands of people have been directly affected by the fires.

Australia used to be a country on the opposite side of the world to me. Bushfires only burned in areas that were thick in vegetation, in the middle of nowhere, where no houses stood. Or so I thought. Watching the television this week has brought it home to me how diverse a country this is. Bushfires down south, floods up north. My family in the middle. There but for the grace of God .......

Cost of Living in Oz

We have a great farmers market held locally every week from 6am to 11am. They all get out of bed soooooooooo early here! I'm lucky if I make it there before it closes but when I do I find some real bargains.

Here's a picture of what I bought there today: -Grapes, tomatoes, rock melon, pineapple, eggs, peaches, nectarines, oranges and apples. That little lot costs me $22.50 all together which, at todays rate is equal to 10 pounds (sorry, I don't have a 'pound' sign on my keyboard). Not a bad price. The supermarkets are more expensive obviously but it gives you an idea of what the cost of living is like around here.

My weekly shopping bill at the supermarket is around $180 - $220 for the 4 of us which converts to 80 - 100 pounds. It used to cost us about 130 pounds at home. The prices are not as good as they were in comparison to the UK when we were here on holiday 8 years ago but they're still not bad.

A litre of petrol is curently costing us $1.11 (50p). It has been as low as 80c but it tends to go up and down all the time. Thursday's are when the prices are increased, then it comes down gradually until the following Thursday. Even so, we don't see queues at the pumps on Wednesday nights. The Aussies still think it's expensive! It costs me $50 -$60 per week to fill the car up (usually about 3/4 a tank unless we've been doing lots of miles in a week).

House prices are scarey! I'm still converting to pounds all the time and when I see a price tag of $400,000 I'm thinking in pounds instead of $'s. It's not so bad when it's converted. You get a lot more for your money though. Hopefully we'll be able to become house owners soon :o)

Watchout Budgie's About

I got an awful fright today.

I was driving along, minding my own business, thinking - do I have to go to work today? - when, all of a sudden, this sight appeared to my left hanging onto a child.

Well, I have been brought up on the saying "nobody's perfect" but this guy certainly thought he was!

I would say (to be kind) that he was on the verge of middle age nearing old age. He was doing the dutiful father thing (or was it grandfather thing) by taking his daughter/granddaughter to school.

She was oblivious to the shock and horror that her companion was bestowing on me, poor thing.

He was standing there by the side of the road in a pair of Speedos (otherwise known as budgie smugglers). There was hardly any fabric there to be seen they were that skimpy. His beer belly was hanging over the top of them and to top it off he looked like he'd been tangoed.

Now, I know that when I have been taking the kids to school I haven't always looked my best but I have never had the inclination to drop them off dressed in a bikini. And now that I am 40 something I don't think I will ever attempt such a thing!

I'm sure he thought he was the bees knees what with all the looks he was getting from the ladies.

You will be pleased to hear that I didn't break my camera by photographing this sight and continued on my journey to Kmart albeit a little ashen faced!

If you'd like to see some examples of how budgie smugglers should look on a real Aussie bloke take a look at this ;o) http://www.budgysmuggler.com.au/

Barefoot Scotswoman

I'm getting the hang of the Aussie way of life, somewhat.

Yesterday I got out of bed early (9am on a Sunday is early for me!) and went down to the beach for a swim even though it looked a bit overcast outside. I have not yet mastered the art of going to bed at 8pm and awakening at the crack of dawn to escape the heat. I packed up my sun shelta, thongs and sunnies and merrily went on my way to the beach at Tugun.

Strewth! I didn't realise it was nipper time. They were out on the beach taking up all my peace and quiet running round like flies round a cow pat. Mind you, it was fun to watch. Shame we didn't come over here when the kids were younger, they might have enjoyed coming along to these sessions.

I managed to put up my sun shelta after saying a few choice words under my breath to the nasty wind, then sat down to read my book until I heard the call of the waves.

As a responsible beach go'er I always read the SLSC boards to check out the conditions before dipping my toes. Sure enough there were strong rips today and we were to stay close to the shore. Not much chance of me going further out what with all the hungry sharks that have been in the news lately!!! I practiced the perfecting of my wave diving whilst trying to keep my dignity by hanging on to my swimmer top - not an easy task. Sorry to all those Kiwi's with VERY good eye sight if I gave you a fright once or twice - ok, you try to keep hold of your swimmer while the waves are bashing you and you're just about drowning and you're trying to look graceful!!!

After a couple of hours I decided that I would call it a day so I packed up and attempted to squash the shelta back into the minute bag that it came in. Why do manufacturers of tents and sleeping bags always make the bags way too small?

I got back to the car and threw my stuff in the boot only to panic when I couldn't find my thongs. After a few minutes of hot sweats thinking that I would never find them if they were buried under the sand I realised that they were in my bag in the boot. Then I thought, what the hey, I'll drive like an Aussie and do it barefoot. I started up the car and on the way home stopped at a supermarket to buy something nice for lunch. This barefoot driving is a dawdle.

Unfortunately, there were no spaces on the road nearest the supermarket so I had to park on the other side and cross over. I didn't bank on the road being so busy and I had to stop in the middle of the road. When I say stop what I really mean is hop. My poor wee Scottish feet aren't used to standing on red hot tarmac! Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long, not long enough for blisters to form anyway. What the other drivers must have thought of me I don't know. Probably something along the lines of "bloody tourists!".

I checked the notice on the shop door to make sure I would not be arrested on sight for not wearing footwear and was relieved to read that skateboards, bikes and scooters were the baddies today. My feet were so glad to be touching air conditioned floors I can tell you!

After making my selections I went to the checkout and was greeted by an embryo who asked if I'd been down to the beach and was it hot? How did he know I'd been down there? Could it be something to do with the wild and wet hair? My sand covered legs - surely this young dude would not be eyeing up the legs of someone older than his granny!?

Anyway, after this attempt at trying to fit in with the locals, I have to say that I didn't feel quite right about shopping barefoot. Maybe it's something to do with my good old Britishness. It didn't feel hygienic and although no-one looked twice at me I kept waiting for a hand on my shoulder.

Given time I'm sure I'll end up with soles like leather ;o)

This is where we bide!

Just to give you an idea of where we are in Oz. Have a look at this map:-

We live in Elanora (right in the centre of the map). Our house looks down onto Pine Lake (to the left of 'Elanora'). Paul's school is on the corner of Avocado Street and Nineteenth Avenue (top left). The nearest beach is only a few minutes drive away. There's a good website for watching Currumbin Beach from the web cam. If you time it right we can give you a wave!!! Here's the web site - http://www.coastalwatch.com/camera/cameras_large.aspx?cam=1600&state=QLD&t=4:56:56%20PM&camName=Currumbin

The Journey and our first 10 months

I've always wanted to live in Australia for as long as I remember. When I was little I used to read library books about it thinking that I wanted to be there. I don't know what it was about the place. Maybe watching Skippy on tv had something to do with it! I even had the application forms in my hand when I was 16 but was unable to apply as I was under age.

Well, we took our time but we got here in the end. We left Edinburgh airport on 25th March 2008 after a very emotional couple of days saying goodbye to everyone. Lots of people told us we were very brave to be moving our family across to the other side of the world. We certainly didn't feel brave, only excited about the adventure we were about to go on after only speaking about it for all those years.

We flew to Heathrow leaving Scotland and the snow flurrys behind along with temperatures in single figures. At Heathrow we were lucky enough to board the new Singapore Airlines A380. It was only the second week that they had been in service so that was an added bonus for us. We boarded our connection in Singapore and after 24 hours of travelling we made it to Brisbane on 27th March 2008.We were met at Brisbane airport by my sister Carol and nephew Ross and we picked up our rental car then loaded both the car and Ross's van with our 7 suitcases!

I had to kiss the ground again as we left the airport just as I did when we arrived in Melbourne on holiday 8 years earlier. Chloe was very embarrassed at her daft mum's antics.

It took us an hour and a half to drive down from Brisbane to Kirra where we had booked a unit for 2 weeks while we found our bearings and a long term rental. The unit was just as nice as it looked online so we were all as pleased as punch.

Our first morning in Australia as permanent residents was a wet one! We should have asked for our money back :o/ The view from the balcony made up for it though. It didn't matter that it was raining cats and dogs, we were straight across the road from Kirra beach.

We spent the first 2 weeks running around getting things organised - tax file numbers, driving licences, medicare, buying a car, etc. And we also managed to find a rental which we moved into on 14th April.

Paul started at Elanora State High School (the same one his cousins Dean and Ross went to) after the Easter holidays. He hated school at home even since primary school. He says school here is ok so that's an improvement! Teachers seem to much more pleasant to the kids and they in turn are respected more by the kids so it's a win win situation. It isn't absolutely perfect I'm sure, but Paul likes it better so that's good enough for me. I wish I'd gone to that school especially as the options for PE are the usual rugby, tennis, basketball, etc but with beach walking, visits to Currumbin Wildlife, fishing, etc thrown in too!

Chloe decided that she'd like to study a short college course in fashion illustration. She's always been good at art so it was something that she really enjoyed. Her boyfriend Kyle arrived in May on a temporary 12 month working holiday visa and they have been on holiday ever since!!!!

Both the cats arrived safely after spending a month in quarantine near Sydney. Of course, they were a bit strange with us to start with and their new surroundings. Who wouldn't be after being locked up in a tiny box, then shoved in the cargo hold of a plane for 24 hours? It doesn't seem to have done them any long term damage though. Georgie is still a very sleepy cat except for at breakfast and dinner time, and Libby is still Princess Libby! The heat has been bothering them a bit though. It's very warm in this house (there's no aircon and we've had to buy some fans). They get a bath when it gets really warm to help them cool down. I don't know what they hate most - being hot or the bath.

We've even had our first overseas visitors. Janice, David and Neil came over last winter (our winter) and we really enjoyed seeing them and spending time together. Hope to see you all back here one day ;o) We are always looking for emails from home as we love to hear about what has been happening with everyone so keep them coming.

After 7 months we moved down the street into another rental. This time with a pool ;o) We're happy here but it doesn't feel like ours - that's because it isn't ours! We can't wait until we can buy our own house - our own little bit of Australia that we can do whatever we like to. In the meantime we'll make do here and make good use of the pool.

We've packed alot into our 10 months so far. Our trip to the Great Barrier Reef has been one of our highlights. The lowlight was the sea sickness some of us had to endure on the 2 hour trip out to it :o(

Our Christmas was very different for us - for one thing it was 34 degrees, though not the first one here so we had an idea of what to expect. After everyone had opened their presents we went down to the beach, back to Kirra where we first lived. We spent a couple of hours there and then we came back to the house and had a cold buffet and lots of nice cold alcoholic drinks ;0)

We've made some really nice friends - mainly expats and a few Aussies - and spent new year at Angela and Peter's from Washington (the one in England!). We have found the Aussie's a hard bunch to try to get to know. It might be something to do with the fact that the Gold Coast's population is made up of a lot of 'incomers'. They are all very friendly and want to know our story about why we wanted to move over here but they are hard to make friends with. Hopefully, in time, we will learn their ways and overcome that hurdle. We'll have to get used to a different culture as well as a different country.

We'll also have to get used to the tv programmes! And adverts!! There is no such thing as the watershed here!!!! Or good tv!

One of the things that we have found very difficult here is finding jobs which came as a big surprise to us. It took Kenny 9 months to find work. He applied for more than 500 and didn't get many replies out of that lot. In the end he flew over to Kalgoorlie and handed in his resume in person. That's what got him the job. He started working for KCGM (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines) on 6th January and is really enjoying being back at work. See http://www.superpit.com.au/ I'm working in Kmart on a casual basis. Not my ideal job but it'll do for now. Working with the public has never been my favourite past time. Still doing lots of job hunting. Keep you posted on that one.

The area we live in has lots of beaches, surf clubs, lots of fishing, sports clubs, lots of good shopping malls, theme parks, walking trails, is very scenic and is within easy driving distance of the hinterland and the city. There are lots of lovely places to visit like Byron Bay (great shops as well as the beach), Mount Tamborine and Lamington and Springbrook National Parks. It's a lovely area and lots of Aussies come here on holiday but we live here now so we feel like we're on holiday 24/7! We can't wait to show it off to more visitors, so hurry up and come over!!!! We've got plenty of room :o)

I promise my next post wont be as long as this one!

Why Do This?

The reason I want to start this blog is to make it easy for us to keep in touch with friends and family and to keep them up to date with how we're all doing. It's so expensive for everyone to be phoning home all the time if people are not on Skype so it makes sense to do this and then you can decide when, and if, you want to catch up with how we all are.

It also helps all those other people out there who have decided to start the ball rolling in the big adventure called emigrating. I know that we benefited from reading about other people's experiences in this long, drawn out process so if I can help anyone with any of the red tape issues I'll be more than happy.

I wont start off by boring everyone with all the issues we had to go through before coming here but if anyone thinks it might help them just ask.

Next instalment soon! Bet you can't wait!

A Work In Progress

Hi all

I've found a new way to keep everyone updated - once I've found out how to use the thing!
Watch this space.