Happy New Year!

New Years Eve and the temperature soared today to about 34 degrees. Mads, Sophia and I went down to the local swimming pool which consisits of 4 pools, three outdoor and one indoor (covered) and believe it or not, heated!! The girls spent 3 hours in the water getting shriveled and exhausted and then returned home via a pizza in the local pizzaria. Harvey has gone round a mates so A;ex and I came home to have a few glasses of vino and celebrate the end of 2008.

With a few seconds to go and another 10 hours until the UK raises it's glasses to celebrate the start of 2009, I would like to say Happy New Year to everyone and just because we are far away, doesn't mean we don't think about you all back at home.

Lots of love

Ali

"I am Very Good at Not Sinking"

For those of you who are aware of Charlie and Lola, we did laugh when Sophia came out with this Lola-esque comment whilst on the phone to Granny. We went to the beach on Christmas Day. It had to be done really! I took a bottle of bubbly down and after a swim, sat down and poured a glass or two whilst watching everyone else enjoy the waves. We took the body boards and Sophia in particular was enjoying hanging on, riding the waves, falling off and swimming back. For 5 she is pretty fearless, so we have renamed her No-Fia! There were lots of other people down the beach with gazebos and tables who looked like they had made a good day of it.

So our first hot Christmas Day started with Madeleine, who was up from about 5, and Sophia managed to wake us about 7. After stockings were opened and the children saw what Father Christmas had left each of them, (books, dvd's socks, sweets, games, colouring books, calendars etc etc) we had some breakfast and got up and dressed and then started on the pressies under the tree. The kids got a dvd's each, plus a board game each (thanks Grandma and Grandpa) a big box outdoor and pool games for the new house (thanks Nana and Grandad) electronic games, craft set and pyjamas from Shaun and Jitka and t-shirts and cookery books from Melinda and family. We got Harvey $40 top up for his phone and gave Sophia a Barbie with a horse and a game for her DS.

Madeleine saved up lots of money before we left England and we put in some extra and got her a camcorder which is what she wanted. I am sure once I get the hang of it, we will put some footage on the blog for all of you to see! I have managed to download it from the camera to the laptop, but once I move in into Picasa to download to the blog, I lose the sound.

For my present, Alex arranged for us to have two nights away in a tree house beside Lake Baroon. After the organisation of getting us all here, into schools, the house sorted, finding another house etc etc, it will be lovely to just chill and spend some time together. Mike and Bec are going to sit for us, which the kids will just love!

For Alex's present, I got him tickets to see Coldplay in Brisbane in March. I haven't arranged sitters for that night yet, but may call on the M&B sitting services once more. We did get books, singstar games, Alex got new sunglasses and a t-shirt and I got a beautiful vase of shells to replace my life long collection which I have had to leave back in the UK because of customs. I also got a glass ball in a metal spiral which hangs outside and twirls in the wind. It give the illusion that the ball is spiralling down but it never reaches the bottom. It is lovely to watch.

So after an evening meal of roast duck, (which I cooked in my bikini) we chilled out and watched Prince Caspian before finishing off the wine and retiring.

Boxing Day, we just stayed round here, playing on all the games and watching the DVD's we had got (Dark Knight, 27 dresses, Barbie, Kath and Kim) in Harvey’s room and the living room depending on age and suitability! I had a go on my singstar and Sophia tried her Disney singstar too!

So all in all, a fab Christmas. In nothing more than t-shirts and shorts!

And I will leave you with a couple of jokes from our crackers we enjoyed.

Q. Who invented the Round Table
A. Sir Cumference!

Q. What do solicitors wear to court?
A. Law Suits

Ho Ho Ho!!

Twas the night before Christmas

Yes, it's Christmas Eve and today is going to be a pleasant 27 degrees! We are going to head off to Emundi Market which is a village half an hour from us which gets taken over by colourful stalls, street performers, lovely food and we suspect will have a Christmassy feel to it today. Sadly I still have to do the food shopping for tomorrow, but it will be easy as we are having a very simple Christmas dinner of roast duck (if I can find it!) with icecream for pud! Tonight we are going round to Ed and Nicoles with Mike and Bec and have a meal and exchange a few pressies.

The last couple of days we have managed to get all the shopping done, whilst doing other things such as searching for cars, buying and taking delivery of a fridge, changing car hires, surfing lessons and generally remembering to cook, clean and do the washing!

On Monday we headed off to the Sunshine Plaza which is our version of Bluewater and Lakeside. Lots of shops all under one airconditioned roof and also a cinema, so the girls went to see High School Musical 3 then Harvey joined them for Madagascar 2 which gave Alex and I about 4 hours of kid free shopping.

Yesterday we dropped Harvey off at the beach for his surf lesson and then he met up with some mates and played for a bit, went and had some chips, walked around the plaza then caught the bus back to Nambour and then changed busses and came up to Mapleton. He said the bus was really cheap and it is great he is already exploring the area with mates and really confident about getting about. We have peace of mind as long as he has his phone.

We have signed the contract for our new place and plan to move on the 5th/6th January. Can't wait to have a pool!!

So if we don't manage to speak to you or Skype you over the next couple of days, have a fantastic Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day and we will update you again with all our Christmas pressie and activity news in a few days.

Merry Christmas to you all.

lots of love

Ali, Alex, Harvey, Mads and Sophia

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie, Decorating in a Bikini!

Our tree is now up. We did it yesterday, Madeleine in her bikini with her santa hat on! Have downloaded the photos so you can see! Alex went to his work do last night and then rang to say he was staying over with an Irish guy who had offered him a bed! Think he got to bed about 4am, after going clubbing. There is still life in the old dog yet!!

Keith (the Irish guy) is also an associate and has been here for seven years. Although Alex hasn't met anyone else who lives up this way, he has met a few people who say they want to and so his commuting is being monitored by workers (and wives) to see if he remains happy and on time! If Alex proves it's possible to commute, some of his colleagues may move here too! Keith is one of those whose wife wants to live up here. There is another chap who comes up this way to go Kite Surfing and his girlfriend keeps saying they should move here.

We haven't bought cars yet. Next on our list of things to do. I have extended our car until Monday and then have to change companies and hire another car until 3rd Jan. Hopefully by then we will have found at least 1 car. Am tempted to hang on until January sales.

Harvey had another surf lesson this morning. He is doing well, learning to turn and we may get him a board for Christmas. We were going to a BBQ this afternoon, but it is raining and colder outside so we are going to postpone it. We don't mind the rain as at least it is still quite warm, but we collect the water and our house is all hooked up to the water tanks. It is great for drinking and washing. You get heaps of bubbles and my hair is really soft. The best bit is that there are no water rates!


Alex is off for a massage at 5pm and we are just having a nice quiet afternoon. May make some rocky road later. Lovely with a cup of tea!!

Photo's

I think I have mastered the web photo's thing so you should be able to click on the links to the left to see our albums.

If you double click you should see our captions and descriptions.

Am tired today. We had possums arguing and clicking around on the roof so we woke up a few times.

Alex has been enjoying his work for the last couple of weeks. He has settled in and now has a couple of challenging projects to work on. He ended up going to a meetings on behalf of someone else and soon had problems solved. I am sure his experience and skill will be recognised in due course and he will end up running the department! He has met some nice colleagues and hopefully in time, we will invite some round and get to know them too.

He is off for two weeks after tomorrow so it will be great to have some time together and sort out some more stuff and go car hunting. Christmas is just a week away and so I need to sort tree, presents and food.

Just remembered I need to hang some washing out and do the washing up so that's all for now.

Broadband Skype and Getting in touch

We are connected! We have broadband, our laptop works with skype so I have already had conversations with my dad, Margaret and my sister Melinda. It's great. They even got a tour of the house as I carried the lap top along the deck. If you fancy downloading it or already have an account add me as a contact. You will find my name in the search.

Just a quickie as Harvey has a surf lesson in just over an hour. Apparantly he is a natural!

Surfing the net & the sea!

Friday 11th December

G’day! We have been here two weeks tomorrow and are celebrating with a BBQ at Mike and Bec’s house.

Madeleine and Sophia spent the week at school breaking up yesterday for the summer holidays. They have both been invited to parties with their new friends next week, which is lovely.

Harvey was accepted into St Johns Catholic College, which is one of the independent schools in Nambour. It came highly recommended and he has spent the last 24 hours with new friends who go there as well and will be his mates on the bus journey down the hill. I dropped him off yesterday before spending the day in Sophia’s classroom with her and other parents. He called later and asked if he could sleep over and I probably won’t see him much today!

At least it gets him out of his room playing with his new Xbox which he got on Tuesday.

We now have internet access from home but it is only temporary dial up until we get broadband next week. Hopefully I can learn how to put pictures of where we are onto an online album which is accessed through a link on this blog. Love to share stuff with all our friends.

Madeleine went to surf awareness yesterday at school. Can’t believe they do this as part of the curriculum! I am booking Harvey and Mads into a surf school next week which should be good fun, it’s a kids summer camp so they play games, learn to stand and also learn about the surf and how to be safe. It’s just a 90 minute lesson with about 10 kids each morning and the guy said they are normally standing by the end of lesson 1 and by the end of the week; they are catching waves and surfing!

So it will be surfboards for Christmas perhaps!!

Talking of Christmas, we are going in search of a tree today. Haven’t found anywhere that sells real trees, so will go on a search for an inoffensive fake one. We didn’t bring any lights or decorations, so we need to start completely from scratch and pick a colour & theme.

Off to do some cleaning. Aren’t Friday afternoons fun!

Fitting in at school and locally!

Just a quickie... Madeleine started school yesterday and came home having competed in the swimming gala and winning 3rd in back stroke, 2nd in front crawl and 1st in breast stroke! She thinks the school is great and is upset she will only be there a year!!

Sophia came home singing Waltzing Matilda. Classic!

Harvey got his X Box today so is busy shooting people in his bedroom.

Telstra (BT equivalent) have lost my broadband order. Funny, but I was in their shop an hour, then on the phone the following day for an hour so now to find out when I queried where my modem was, that there isn't an order for me, I am spitting feathers (well worse than that, but I can't write it on a blog!) So another week without internet which is really frustrating.

Thank you so much Ed and Nicole for letting me use their internet café (the tea and fresh blueberries are really good) and also their exclusive Laundromat service as my machine is playing up and being looked at tomorrow.

Booking kids in for surf school next week. Will keep you all posted on how they get on.

We also have Spangled Drongos in the garden. I will leave it up to you to google and find out what they are!

Beasties, Bites and BBQ’s

Monday 8th December 10.10am

It's a long Blog so grab a cuppa and have a read!

We have managed to get lots of stuff sorted and feel far more settled in our new home. Should get our modem in the next couple of days so we will be online and it will be much easier to do some emails and get in touch with people in the UK, both friends and people such as banks etc to tidy up a few things which still need doing.

On Weds, Alex started his job and the trip down the mountain range was just stunning at 6.30 in the morning. Brought tears to my eyes. Out to the left you look over the valley to the sea with the sun coming up and reflecting on the water. To the right, you pass views of Lake Baroon and then as you turn the corner in Maleny, spectacular views of the Glass House Mountains (picture above) I don’t think we will ever bore of this spectacular scenery.

Alex’s has now spent 3 days at his new job and has joined a team working on a new college campus just south of Brisbane. The team has some others from the uk and an American and some of them are newish too. His journey into Brisbane on the train is smooth, air conditioned and takes 1 hour 10 mins. There is free parking at the station and costs just $19 which is less than £8!

Harvey had an interview at a school in Nambour which is independent and been highly recommended. They liked the fact he enjoys music, drama, singing and rugby. He has met a few kids who go there already and so we are waiting for an offer letter to see if he has been accepted. Fingers crossed.

Sophia and Madeleine visited a lovely primary school on Thursday in Mapleton. Its slogan is ‘Top of the Range’ and it has huge grounds. Sophia started on Friday for the last few days in reception, so when she returns in the New Year, she will be in year 1. Madeleine is starting tomorrow and is joining in with the swimming gala. Watching first then swimming with them when the inflatable comes out after the races.

Thursday was an eventful day with the local wildlife. First I got bitten by a jumping ant which really hurts and then we had a huge huntsman in the car on our way out in the morning. Sophia was in tears. It was the biggest one I have ever seen and it was on the roof of the car on the inside. I got out, opened the boot and it took a few steps and ran out the back. We then want for a walk in the rainforest and met a lady who took us off the beaten track to a rock pool with a little waterfall. I got bitten by a baby leech, we all got eaten by mozzies and for a few moments, I thought how nice it would be to have a crisp white luxury apartment down on the coast with a pool, rather than be up some hill with nasty things that bite and frighten you. But then looking from our veranda you can see wallabies, we have a bush possum who sleeps on a cupboard on our deck, which jumps down when dusk comes and wanders across the deck and climbs up the railings and onto the roof. We also have a bush Turkey who trots about and all sorts of birds and bird song to entertain us.

Even though it’s summer, where we are is the rainy season. This means fantastic thunderstorms which light up the whole sky and valley. We collect our rainwater so after a few days of rain our water tanks are full.

We got a phone line on Thursday so we are now contactable and our modem should be coming any day now which means emails! Wahay!!

On Saturday, we had a BBQ with Ed, Nicole, Mike and Bec and their friends Scott, Cathy and daughter Maggie. Maggie will be in the same year as Harvey, so it’s nice for him to get to know a few kids his own age. I found some pink fizz which was a bargain at $5.99 (about £2.50) and extremely drinkable and we managed to get through 5 bottles as well as a few beers! Mike took charge of the cooking and Bec’s burgers, salads and other delights were rustled up in the kitchen. We even threw prawns on the barbie!

Today (Sunday) we went down to Mapleton to a Christmas fair in the village. Quite odd as it was glorious sunshine! There were Morris dancers with bells on their legs clacking sticks and doing their stuff and lots of stalls selling their wares. We were drawn to a stall with watercolours on, in the same style Alex’s grandfather had painted. When we spoke to the lady and looked at her details, she is from the UK and moved 8 years ago. Alex explained he grew up in a Camphill community where this style of painting is common and it turns out her and her husband were part of the Camphill and know his dad! What a small world!

It gets dark here about 6pm so we end up going to bed early. Queensland doesn’t have daylight savings, so it gets light about 4am. We are all up early for breakfast and can see Alex off before he goes to work. When Harvey starts school, the bus goes about 7am. That will be tough for him!

Just had a Skype conversation with Dad and Margaret which was great. I used Nicole's PC and headset and chatted for about half an hour. Once we are on line, we will get this too so can chat too, to anyone else with it.

Lack of Communications!

Tuesday 2nd December

Please don't worry if you haven't heard from us for a while but we have no landline telephone so no internet access, no emailing, no calling people and only one Aussie mobile, which Harvey has nabbed so he can text his mates! As soon as we are hooked up, there will be calls for all.

Happy Birthday Mike! Tonight we are off to the local pizzeria for a birthday meal with Mike, Bec, Nicole and Ed. Madeleine is having a little snooze before we go.

After staying at Ed and Nicole’s for a couple of days, yesterday we arrived at our home for the next 3 month. It is idyllic. The house is on a 2 acre plot, built into the slope and the owner Jamie is a landscape gardener so the gardens are lovely. Very different to the UK as there is no lawn just lots of bushes, shrubs, features, bamboo, paths, rocks and pebbles.

On the ground floor, there is a huge veranda sweeping all around the house with the most wonderful views across a valley over to Kondalilla National Park. There is wicker furniture and a huge gas bbq which we are going to try out this weekend. There is a fully equipped kitchen with a gas range fridge freezer, lots of work surface, a small pantry and even a jar of vegemite! The main living and dining area with wood burner, settee and chairs, a tv and CD player. The beds were all made up so we unloaded our stuff, had tea and then crashed out about 8pm.


Today we had to do some essential organising such as a phone line, sim cards for the phones. My phone works, but the rest need to be unlocked so we can use Aussie sims. We went to the bank to smile at them and show them our passports. We filled in forms for schools and bought some bed side lamps from a charity shop.

We are nearly recovered from our trip, though the tiredness hits at really strange times such as half way through filling out a form and you wonder what you were writing, or halfway through a sentence. Or is that just me getting on a bit!!

Hopefully the phone line will be working in the next 24 hours and broadband by early next week. We will then be able to email, talk and download and send pictures and will then sort out Skype and Harvey’s X-Box.

Alex is going to start his new job tomorrow and so we did a dry run drive to Landsborough Station earlier this morning. It takes 20 minutes and was quite easy.

I am sitting with my laptop on my knee on the veranda with the birds and cicadas chirping away. Think this is the way to live. We have possums scattering about on the roof, tree frogs croaking at night so it sounds like a machine humming and rainbow lorikeets flying around at dusk and sawn. The natural peace is only broken by Harvey shouting at the PS2 inside.

Off to shower, put on my face and wrap a present before we go to meet the birthday boy.