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)