Us, recently.

 Tumbalong Park - all new and very exciting

 Our old haunt - Taronga Zoo - being members has meant this is about visit number 12.  We pretty much find something new to see each time.

 My little girl just before she turned 3!

 Boating for the 1st time in Lane Cove National Park

Wild and free in Lane Cove NP

 Rower and 'chief helpers'!

 Isla as a festival goer!  Crave food festival.

 The amazing and beautiful Botanical Gardens, we spent the day, played, lazed, ate and drank a little....

 Oh...those eyes...

The sign says it all - Night Noodle Markets, the 2nd of two visits for us.  We all like the noodles!

 All of us.  Happy days....

 An early rise and breakfast at West Head lookout, great vantage point over the Northern beaches.

 Looking out over 'Summer Bay'.

 Our pet for the day, Larry, who had been absent mindedly sunbathing in the children's wheelbarrow.

 Quite a hot one, lunch outside, the first of many

 Longreef beach and my little sun worshippers...Love the lagoon here

 Dee Why for tea!

Rockpooling and exploring around the coves at Dee Why.

So life is getting back to normal after a busy time for us, now we are busy doing lovely things again!

Life got a little bit too busy

September was the 1st month since I started this blog that I didn't blog.  The time just wasn't there as there was so much going on as at the beginning of the month we moved house.  There is nothing like the upheaval of moving all your stuff 15k's.  Or the expense come to that....

We decided that after our year in the Hills of Sydney we would like to be a bit more 'in it' and be closer to the train line for Andy to get in and out of work.  The commute on a motorbike although pretty quick for Sydney at 50 mins to an hour we concluded was in fact a little bit dangerous.  As always it wasn't Andy's riding that was the problem as he is super careful but everyone else.  A few close shaves were had and more road rage experienced than is desirable.  So we have moved over to the Upper North Shore.  The commute is fab as we are close to the train station and then it's 1/2 an hour in to the CBD.  We felt the benefits straight away and we are closer to the beach which I love.  We can just go for a walk now rather than having to make a day of it.

So, much time has been spent packing, unpacking organising and exploring our new area.  Shortly after that 'Operation Camping' came into play and we spent a fair bit of time procuring and testing our new camping gear ready for a trip to Dubbo over the Labour Day long weekend.

We drove out to Dubbo and over the 5 hours we saw an awful lot of rain.  We were worrying about getting the tent up but as luck would have it the rain stopped as we arrived...phew!  We set up camp at our site and it was like a little home away from home, Finn & Isla had bunk beds - too cute!  The nights were forecast to be quite cold so we had a fan heater kicking out the heat.  It made for a very pleasant camping experience!  We are now planning the next one.....

We are just coming to the end of the school holidays and so Finn hasn't been at pre school which has meant we have been able to catch up with things.  They both did an intensive swim week which means going in for a 1/2 hour lesson every day which really brings them on.  They are both now swimming away from the platform with no floatation aids, popping up to take a breath and then swimming on.  They can do this for about 5 meters each which is pretty awesome.  They are learning body shape, streamlining, breathing, and floating.  It won't be long before Finn moves up to the next class and they start to teach for different swimming strokes.  I hope they continue to love it and get better and better as there are lots of opportunities to join swim squads which would be so good for them.

Anyway, enough waffle and now for some pictures from the last 6 weeks.

Finn, Isla & Billy beach bound...

 ...and sleeping all the way home!

 At our new local beach enjoying the locality.

 It warmed up enough to get the paddling pool out

 On our adventures to the Australian Museum to see the dinosaurs after a ride on the train.

 ...and a splash in the fountain in Hyde Park after seeing the dinosaurs

At swimming lessons, perfecting rockets!

 Western plains zoo - Dubbo camping trip

 Checking out the animals

 Awesome golf buggy to zip around the zoo in

 Caught picking camellias on the veranda!

 Hmmmmm...they smell good....

Nothing melts the heart like sibling love....

P.S.  They do a fair amount of arguing too!

1 Year expativersary!

Yes, the 24th August 2011 has rolled around and we have done 1 roller coaster of a year on Antipodean soil.  What a ride!

We have had homesickness, turmoil, visitors, departures, joy, tears, growth, job changes, soon to be a house move, new school, swimming lessons and adventures left, right and centre.  Extreme highs and some lows.

Here we are now 1 year down the track and we have learnt so much.  Some bullet pointed thoughts, I love bullet points....so efficient and tidy....!

• Australia is expensive.  Everybody says it before you come but it really is!  However if you have a reasonable income then the life you have here is amazing and so, so rich.  You just need to be prepared for the expense compared to the UK which is admittedly in the grip of a recession.  Rent is super high and house prices are even higher!
• The climate is amazing.  We have adapted our lives over the last year around the seasons which has actually really been a joy.  Seasonal food is of the best quality and very cheap.  So we eat with the seasons.  This meant that after the Queensland floods late last year we didn't eat bananas for 8 months as they were way too expensive!  However we ate tons of pears and apples when they were in season and the same goes for pumpkins and squash.  It has made me more produce aware to live like this and I like the change.  In the heat of the Summer we didn't go for great big long walks and stuck pretty close to air con/water/the beach which was great for 3 months, then just as you feel the need for a change the temperature drops and it's 'Hello Autumn'.  Cooler, sunny days that lend themselves to exploring, walking and park playing.  Winter arrives and it's lovely to wrap up in a jumper and a scarf, maybe a coat once in a while.  Right now we are heading into Spring and I cannot wait!  The days are lengthening and becoming warm, everything is starting to wake up a bit and I am ready!
• People are friendly.  I talk to far more people here in a 'pass the time of day' kind of way.  A 5 minute chat here and there and people want to do it.  There is now stand offishness and people seem genuinely interested and are interesting to talk to.
• It's an awful long way from home.  So the catch of an expat is that you know that you have left behind.  That is hard.  There are so many super sweet spot moments but also pangs for people that cannot be abated.  Although time does help.  On the whole our lives are much richer here but it's the old adage of missing the people you have left behind.  Especially when something happens to remind you that you can't actually be with people when they need you.
• What doesn't kill you makes you stronger....ha ha ha....I have no doubt that over the last year we have experienced more stress and uncertainty then ever before, however, each obstacle we cross the better we feel about our challenges and the stronger we become.
• Oz ain't England!  It's Westernised but we are basically in Asia and that is reflected in it's culture and population.  Hardly anything is the same here from the media and shopping to cuisine. Coming from sleepy Somerset it's all very different and that broadens the mind which is good.
• There is so much to do every weekend it truly is never ending!  We were definitely in a bit of a rut before we came here and did the same old thing each weekend.  That has all changed and now we explore this vast landscape frequently.  The natural beauty of this environment is immense and we are tripping over parks to see, places to BBQ, beaches to explore, museums to visit, entertainment to experience, food to sample etc.....

There is so much more that I could write about but for now, enough.

 So, back to today.  Our one year expativersary.  Andy was at work so as the forecast was a cracker for the time of year (23 degrees and sunny) I decided a beach trip with a picnic was in order.  Palm beach is one of my favourites and that was our destination.  I loaded up the car with beach toys, picnic, rug, chair etc and off we headed.  We arrived at the beach and were greeted by a film crew and cast in the throws of filming the latest Home & Away episode.  After a quick look we headed down onto the sand and set up camp.  That was when the entertainment started in the form of a pod of around 10 dolphins in the bay 100 meters from the shore.  They frolicked and played for an amazing two hours showing me what they enjoyed to do and something you only normally see in an Attenborough documentary.  It was breathtaking and no matter how I describe it here won't do it justice.  They jumped and played and surfed in the waves.  Twice I was faced with 7 dolphins riding in a wave towards me and then they jumped out of the back of the wave and continued to splash around.  Just amazing.  It was one of those moments when I thought, Wow, this is Australia, here we are and what an amazing experience and childhood for Finn & Isla.  

 That's Isla mid fondant removal from her biscuit.

I had to include this random one because 'how cute are they?'

West Head Lookout

Today in the midst of looking for a new place to live we visited a little peace of gorgeousness called West Head Lookout in the Ku-ring-gai National Park.

It is known for being a good place to see the whales migrating, we didn't see any today but we sat and looked out over the ocean which was like a mill pond and watched the boats moving around the headland.  We were very high up and could see over to Palm Beach and around to the beaches on the Central Coast.  This afternoon has been one of those days that really makes me think how amazing the environment is in Australia and wow, we get to see this all the time.  We discover new things every weekend that we get out and about and I really love that.

 Not sure about these sunglasses....Andy says I look like Maverick....hmmmm!