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.