Scary start to summer...

Halloween Aussie style was a very well organised and enjoyable event.  Three roads were identified for trick or treating and loads of kids and adults dressed up in their spookiest outfits and trawled the pavements.  Those who had the (mis)fortune of living on one of these three streets needed to invest in bucketloads of sweets to ensure they had enough stock to keep the little horrors at bay.  Vampire Juliette and Wicked Witch Christina LOVED the whole experience, and declared it their best dress up event ever!

Canberra

Spring Festival

Cockington Green

Floriade

A trip to Canberra to see the Floriade Spring Festival made for a fun weekend away.  Only a three hour drive from Sydney, we were interested to learn that the city of Canberra came about as a compromise location for the country's capital as it is halfway between Melbourne and Sydney.  It is only 100 years old, and the city is still creating it's personality and character.  Eerily quiet on the weekends, it is quite a contrast with the bustle of the work week as it's inhabitants tend to go elsewhere for their downtime.  We loved the hundreds of trees that have been planted throughout the city, and the beautiful parks.  It is also a great place for cycling as it is flat as a pancake, and even kids can manage to get around easily on wheels.

Beach weather has finally arrived.  Balmoral remains a favourite for swimming and stand up paddle boarding, but there are kilometres of gorgeous beaches here and it's easy to find one that suits you.

A year to remember

West Head Kuringai National Park with Alice

Doing the happy dance on Cockatoo Island with Mary

Rob channeling Mary Poppins

On the way to Shelley Beach, Manly with Alice

Bronte Beach

Taronga Zoo with Granny-Gran and Oupa

Road Trip in Leura

Pete has been in Australia a year this month, and the girls and I celebrate our one year anniversary next month.  Hard to believe, it seems to have gone fast yet at the same time a whole lot has happened!  Everyone we know who has ever done something similar to this warned us that the first year would be tough (so would the second.. thanks guys!) but of course advance notice does nothing to diminish the inevitable emotional roller coaster.  As a a family we are richer for it, and it has been a year we will never forget.  Meeting special people along the way makes life more enjoyable.  Grumbling about the tough times, and celebrating the good times is best shared with others around the braai with a decent bottle of wine to preserve sanity.  Lucky for us we have met some wonderful people to do just that with, and we have had some special visitors from home who can experience our life here and share in it with us.  All our visitors have fallen in love with Sydney, and Mosman without fail so we must have made a good choice!   Looking forward to seeing more friends and family next year.....??  

To read more about taking a break from life as you know it....and trying something different take a look at this mouthwatering blog by foodie and yogi Alice handstandsinasia.blogspot.com and also this one by my friend Sascha as she sails around the world with her family.  Her photos are a visual treat  http://smithtribesailing.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/an-epic-journey.html

When last did you have a picnic?

Australians love picnics, and we are re-acquainting ourselves with this quaint pastime.  While it requires  some culinary organisation....once you have the essentials it is a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours.  Roll on summer, and many more picnics....

Holidays !!!

Thanks to some very mild winter weather, the school holidays were great fun.  I'm not sure if this is a typical Sydney winter, but it has not been bad at all so far (touch wood!)  The girls and I saw a show at the Opera House, we visited Sydney Olympic Park, Mt Annan Botanical Gardens for an Aussie barbecue, the MCA museum for their great kid activities, the zoo, the chinese gardens and even the beach a couple of times! My favourite part of the school holidays is sleeping in later, and not making school lunches!  But really the best part of holidays is the promise of 'endless' time stretching ahead of you with nothing cast in stone.  One of our favourite afternoons was taking a couple of friends, a couple of cardboard boxes and sliding down a really steep hill over and over and over again!  Sometimes the simplest things....

Life in Mosman...

Autumn

It's been a balmy 26 degrees all week, and people are still rocking their shorts and slip slops until sundown.  Then it feels like winter is on the way!  The water dragons are also nowhere to be seen in the last two months, so they must be hibernating.  We have just said goodbye to our first set of visitors.  Pete's Mom and Dad flew all the way to see us, and spent 6 weeks discovering Mosman, and Sydney.  They were blessed with mostly good weather, and we hope they had a good time.  A highlight of the visit, was a trip to the Blue Mountains.  Even though we had rain and mist those few days, it is a beautiful area of Australia and we can't wait to return.  The Autumn colours were especially gorgeous with lots of beautiful trees in rich colours. 

The Blue Mountains were nothing like I expected. Rather than looking up at a huge moutain, we were looking down on them.  It is a vast area, and we had only travelled 1.5 hours into the Katoomba area.  I am sure with further driving the perspective would be quite different again.  Unfortunately we did not get a chance to run or ride, but no doubt there are some breathtaking tracks for both.

Pics

Life and Fun

So we are back into the school routine , 9 - 3.10 pm every day. It's time to make friends, learn some stuff and hopefully have some fun on the way. Juliette plays tennis once a week and has just joined club netball. She has a swimming carnival this week and school camp to look forward to next month. Her year also does Mandarin, Art and Music every week.

Christina does Mandarin, Art, Music, Gymnastics and Computers once a week. She will continue with her swimming which she loves and both girls also have PE once a week.

While the school has lots of interesting activities included in the school week, it doesn't have loads of sports after school like we are used to...like cricket, rugby, netball, soccer etc. They have clubs that service all the schools in the area, and you join your local club. So yesterday we went to the netball grading and they had about 50 ten year olds all playing netball and doing drills for 90 min. Very well organised, great facilities and you pay a once off annual fee for the year.

Our weather is completely unpredictable and schizophrenic! It's hot, sunny, then grey and rainy, then thunder and lightning and then sunny again all in a couple of hours. So you don't leave the house without sunscreen and an umbrella! It will be raining, but you will still get a sunburn with the high UV here!! Crazy! When the weather turns hot, we are LOVING the pool and it has been a real lifesaver on the humid days. We often take chairs, drinks and go hang out next to the marina and the girls swim for hours. We wave at the ferries going by, and can spy big fat fish swimming in the marina.

We are surrounded by boats and water, so a real highlight was when a friend took us fishing on his boat, and the girls both caught a fish. Pete went out with him for the day and turned out to be a natural at this fishing thing....catching several fish. When he offered to bring them home, I had to say No Thanks! I have no idea how to scale a fish.

Turns out, our balcony is Possum Central. Thanks to a couple of big trees alongside our building a couple of possums live in each one, and jump onto our balcony at night. We made the mistake of leaving our Cobb out there after braaing some meat on it, and that night I was woken up by all the noise and activity outside our door! They were having a party! Now we leave nothing out, but I know they still come every night and probably sit around on our chairs having a great time.

Christina's 7th Birthday at Luna Park

Looking back and beyond

It is a year ago this week that I first step foot on Australian soil. It is amazing now to reflect on the the last year, as so much has happened. Who would have thought that ffwd one year and here I am in Sydney (Mosman to be specific) with my wife and children.

The move came at the right time. I was stagnating in Cape Town and needed a new challenge. Whilst my heart will always be in Cape Town, a change is good as it gets you to take on new challenges and experience something a little different - something a little new.

I really miss my friends and family in Cape Town. My mates at work (TNS), my cycling mates, and of course the Hout Bay gang.

However, I have no regrets about making the move. This move has provided me and my family with so many opportunities and we are taking them with both hands.

The great news is that it looks like we have a tenant lined up for our place in Hout Bay from 1 Feb, so that will take a little pressure off me.

Also, after Cathy's accident in December where some geezer went into the back of her on a wet Monday evening before Christmas, the insurance looks like they will pay us out for our written-off Subaru on Monday. I thank God that nobody was hurt in the accident and whilst it was a frustration being car-less on my annual leave, I am thankful that we can move on past this.

If everything goes according to plan, Cathy will take delivery of a Honda CRV on Monday.

I am back to work on Monday after having two weeks off. I am now refreshed and ready to hit the new year.

To all my friends around the world, I wish you well for 2012.

'til later

Peter