House Arrest……..for accident prone Bec!

Although we had a great Easter holiday, I was looking forward to getting back into some sort of routine (did I actually say that?)….my motive was getting stuck into my MA again in the hope that I can submit it soon.

The phone rang early Monday morning and it was the teaching agency, asking if Paul would work a week at a local school.  The answer, of course, was YES! and he bundled Lucy into the car and they both set off.  The ONLY thing I had to do was figure out how to get Lucy from school at 3.30pm.  I was feeling pretty good and the weather was glorious – its been around 26oC here – and its still Autumn!  Anyway, I decided to use Lucy’s scooter to scoot the 2km to her school to pick her up.

I took it easy and ambled along, wind blowing in my hair and sun shining down on me.  I knew people were staring at me….the grown woman on the kids scooter…..but didn’t care, after all, I don’t exactly know many people yet!!  It took me about 25 minutes to scoot to the school and I was doing fine until I arrived and started walking with the scooter.  Somehow, that naughty scooter jumped in front of me and I managed to trip OVER the damn thing! I stacked it big time and really hurt my knees and hands – ouch! 

By the time I had been scraped off the school floor and had time to recover, my knight in shining armour, aka Paul, came to collect us on his way back from work.  I  got told off for trying to do so much (I was also made to stand in the corner and write ‘I will not do stupid things just after an operation’)  It’s so annoying……I just want to feel well enough to do normal things (like scooter to school!!).  Anyway, we have now enrolled Lucy in the ‘before and after school’ club so that I don’t have to break any more bones…..and Paul will collect Lucy on his way home!!  The club is great and is run by the school.  You can take your child in from 7am until school starts and the children can then go there after school from 3.30pm – 6pm and its.  The pleasant surprise came when I was told it was only $8 for the morning slot and $10 for the after school slot……how reasonable…..I might even enrol myself!!

So, after my accident, Paul gave me detention and put me under HOUSE ARREST….I was grounded for the rest of the week!  I am desperately trying to get well for when I go to Tasmania for the week in May…….watch this space……

My week indoors seemed to skip by and I managed to crack on with my MA.  On Friday, Paul had the day off but was then asked to work in Lucy’s school for the afternoon.  Luckily, I had not managed to injure myself since Monday, so Paul let me out on Friday morning for good behaviour!  We went to get our Victorian driving licences……no, not from the Victorian era, but licences to allow you to drive in the state of Victoria.  We can use our UK licences during our stay, but for ID purposes over here, its much easier to have an Oz licence.  Luckily, our application was successful – unluckily we left $90 lighter……

After Paul went into school on Friday afternoon, my friend called to ask if I wanted a lift to school for the ‘whole school assembly’.  It seems that when the whole school has an assembly, all parents are invited to attend.  Having said yes, I decided to get ready and went to fix my hair.  I plugged my hair straightners in and….SHOCK…..HORROR…….they had STOPPED WORKING.  I went into a blind panic, with lots of questions ripping through my head:  how could I got out without straightening my hair? where could I buy some new hair straightners? How would I explain to Paul that he had to work FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE to pay for some new GHD straightners??!! AAARGH!!  Once I had calmed down, I realised that I could go to the whole school assembly in the guise of a frizzball, or wear a hat! I then went on the internet to locate GHD stockists in the local area.  BINGO!  A stockist was located in the local shopping centre…..and YES….they had the pair of straightners that I was after……all I needed to do now was break the news gently to Paul……!

I enjoyed going in to see the whole school assembly (although, it was weird seeing Paul there teaching!!) and, luckily, no one seemed to notice that I hadn’t fixed my hair!!  Phew!  After school, Lucy had a friend round to play and we had dinner…..and I broke the news to Paul.  Luckily, he was understanding of my hair needs……and agreed to visit the shopping centre that evening so that we could collect a pair.  YIPPEE!  I skipped out of that shop after my purchase and felt safe in the knowledge that I could, once again, ruin my hair in the comfort of my own home using a stupidly expensive tool!!  Perhaps I need to get out more……..??!!

On Saturday, we went to buy a filing cabinet and an office chair…..but we also came away with a new desk…..well, I do need to sit in comfort when doing my MA!  Then we went to Portarlington.  It was a very blustery day.  We walked down the jetty and the waves crashed into it and over on to us.  As we got to the end of the jetty, we realised that the water was getting more choppy and we should go back.  Lucy and I began screaming and ran for our lives back down the jetty towards the shore (I know it sounds dramatic, but it was exciting for Lucy hearing me scream! and funny for her to see me run, too!!).  We left Paul behind taking pictures….and as we turned around Lucy spotted a pelican.  So, taking our lives in our hands we ran back up the jetty to look at the pelican.  It still amazes us to see these creatures in the wild!!  After our exhilarating adventure, we went for hot chocolate in the seaside cafe and then took Lucy (and Paul) to explore all the local play parks.

   

On Sunday, Lucy had her swimming lesson and was invited to go out with her new friend, also called Lucy.  They went bowling and she had a great time.  It is nice to see her happy.  Paul and I went shopping to kit out the guest bedroom since the bed for it arrived on Friday.  In the evening we had friends round for dinner and Lucy’s tooth fell out during main course……lovely.

So, Lucy’s first week at school went well and she is loving it.  Paul has picked up some more teaching work – he has been hired all this week too (27th April).  The agency said that the schools are actually asking for him – so that is great news.  He also has been offered a six week teaching contract in July….which is also great news.  Well done, Paul!  If you keep working, I can keep spending…….when I am eventually allowed out!!

H 2, Ohhhh, where is it?

On Sunday 19th April ‘09 we ventured out to a place called Colac which is about 75Kms away from where we are living at the moment. It is inland of us and probably about 45Kms from the nearest beach. As we drove into this large town we saw signs for its Botanic Gardens, so we followed them, found the gardens and ended up taking a walk through a small, yet well maintained, park. It wasn’t anything like Sydney’s Botanical Gardens but it was pleasant enough and had a wonderfully spacious playpark that Lucy took full advantage of.

After a pleasant stroll back to the car in temperatures reaching the mid-twenties we decided to indulge in some late afternoon tea with scones and jam (and fresh cream) in a nearby tea-room. It was delicious. However, one tends to tire of food like this once you get past the fifteenth scone. So, with husband in wheelbarrow, Bec helped me back to the car and we headed off to view Colac’s lake.

Fortunately the lake was only two minutes from where we had our afternoon tea, and before you knew it Bec was tipping me out of my wheelbarrow and we were all staring at a vast area of wilderness (see the picture above). With no water in sight we wondered if we had taken a wrong turn and ended up somewhere completely different, but after a little more walking we came across an information board that confirmed we were gazing across Lake Colac; minus the lake.

Now, this lake, or the space that it was meant to occupy, went on for as far as the eye could see and is / was probably the size of the bay that runs from Dungeness point right round to Dymchurch (apologies to any readers that have no idea about the geography of where we moved from in England). Just imagine rolling up there and not seeing the sea, only sand. Way spooky. We walked along the footpath and continued to stare out across the lake and mused about what it must have been like when it was replete with H2O. We ended our ambulation at a very apt landmark upon the water’s edge: Colac Rowing Club’s boathouse. It was a tired looking building that seemed as if it had been forgotten by its users, a redundant image no longer in the forefront of people’s minds. However, there was no doubt in our minds, if Rod Stewart turned up and started singing ‘Sailing’ he would have an audience comparable to that which witnessed the death of Elvis Presley.

Our day had come to an end and we now fully realised why severe water restrictions are in place across many parts of Victoria, but, with the onset of autumn, maybe the rain will fall and return Lake Colac back to its former glory (and, therefore, if Rod Stewart did turn up he would have an audience worth performing to).

Tutty bye.

Down in Tasmania……for the day!

During my recent visit to Melbourne, my best friend Jayne asked me to assist with the management of a conference for the national organisation she is CEO for. Of course, I agreed (well, she is my BFF after all!). The conference is in Tasmania and takes place during the week of 11 May 2009. Tasmania is the smallest of Australia’s six states, and is an island lying off the south-east corner of the Australian mainland. It is quite a small place and the main island compares in size to West Virginia, or the Republic of Ireland and is home to about 500,000 people.

On 16^th April 2009, Jayne asked me to go to Tasmania FOR THE DAY(!) to meet and work with the conference co-ordinator. Its approximately 787km from our house in Geelong to Tasmania and would take some 15 hours to drive! As I am only used to going to Brussels for the day(!) I opted for corporate taxis and aeroplanes! I was collected at 05:30 and driven to Melbourne International Airport. I arrived in Tasmania approx an hour and a quarter later. We ate breakfast in a lovely cafe in Salamanca Place which is in Hobart (the second oldest city in Australia – founded in 1804 – so isn’t really that old by UK standards!). The day was then jammed full of meetings and we spent lots of time reviewing the conference details and liaising with the hotel staff in order to set things up for the conference. Unfortunately, thanks to Jet Star Airlines, my return flight was delayed and I didn’t get back to Geelong until 22:30 that evening. Even though I was exhausted, I felt pleased to have been of use to an organisation again! Watch the blog during May for an update of how I got on at the conference – and exploring more of Tasmania!  Here are a few pictures – not brilliant – but you get the idea…… !

The end of the Easter holiday crept up on us and, following our thrilling visit to the Circus and my quick trip to Tasmania, we still managed squeeze a few more exciting things in before school started!

We visited the local cinema to watch ‘Inkheart’ and Lucy also finished off her intensive swimming lessons. She has passed all her initial exams for swimming and is on to the next level! Well done Lucy! We have enrolled her into term time lessons so that she can progress further.

A friend of Lucy’s (also called Lucy – which was easy to remember!) came to play on Friday 17^th April. The girls went swimming first and then we went to Jirrahlinga Wildlife Sanctuary. It was great fun – there were lots of funny talking Cockatoos and cuddly Koalas! Following that, the girls had a play in the park, a scooter ride along the seafront at Barwon Heads and then we ended the day with fish and chips!

 

On Saturday, we went shopping…..and bought a bed for the guest room! So, come on now, no excuses. Just let us know when you want to visit and we will schedule you in! We have a few reservations already….but if you fancy a visit…just get in touch!

The Big Top

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls; welcome to the big top. Guess where we have been avid blog readers? Yep, the circus.

Tuesday 14th April 2009: By 2pm we were in the big top, our bums were on our seats and the MC’s voice was booming out welcoming us to the Silvers Circus. It was so exciting I nearly jumped out of my seat and cuddled everyone that walked by, but unfortunately Bec had kept my reins on to stop just such a thing from happening. Damn and blast those pesky adults. So, after promising not to run around and spoil the show for everyone we patiently awaited the first act. Suddenly, loud music filled the big top and the first act entered and began their performance. It was an African acrobatic group that did some amazing dances and stunts, with a bit of humour chucked into the mix for free. Wow! Wahoooo! Yeh! Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap,clap. Boy, were they good. In fact the whole afternoon was good and all the acts offered great entertainment, especially the last one. It was amazing. It was called the Cage of Death, and involved three motorcyclists riding around in a circular steel cage that had a diameter of about five meters. There was hardly any room for them to ride around in their steel cage but they did it, and at speed. The engines revved, the bikes hurtled around and my eyes were fixed on them hoping nothing would go wrong. Then they began to slow down, ‘Oh no! Surely they can’t have finished their act already?’ No, they hadn’t. They were just going to make it more exciting, but how? Could my heart, and eyes, take this excitement anymore? Probably not but I’d give it a go. By now the bikes had stopped speeding around the cage and the gate into it opened up, ‘Surely they weren’t going to get another bike in their?’ No, something far more exciting was going to enter the cage: A foxy young minx dressed in bike leathers (cue wolf whistles and other fetching female attraction rituals, plus a bash on the head from Bec). Alas this fine example of the female variety was far more interested in entering the cage with the biker boys than coming to play parlour games with me. The cage’s gate closed, the bike engines revved into life and the leather clad temptress stood at the bottom of the cage as all three bikes roared around her in different directions. Blimey, she must have a skeleton like Wolverine’s, or be made from some other indestructible material to go and do something as insane as that. However, her part of the spectacle certainly ramped up the excitement levels and was a great way to end the show, and sadly it was the end of the show. The bikes left the arena, the lights came on and I felt disappointed that our trip to the circus was over, in fact I was as disappointed as Billy Bunter missing out on an all-you-can-eat-for-a-dollar deal at Hungry Jacks (Burger King with a different name). However, we all came away with great memories of our time at Silvers Circus and look forward to the next time they are in town.

‘Now, I wonder if they need a one man lion taming act? Yoohoo! Ringmaster.’

The Sand That Time Forgot (sort of)

On Good Friday we ventured off to a place called Frankston for the sole purpose of seeing a display of sand sculptures themed around dinosaurs. We didn’t know what to expect but we knew it would be an experience not to be missed. At just after 9:30am we were on the road with about 120Kms to travel before Frankston would role into view. Around 70Km into the journey the futuristic skyline of Melbourne strolled into our gaze and persisted to follow us about for a while as we traversed the roads that took us past this magnificent city. Our destination wasn’t far away now.

As the last few miles of our journey to Frankston were upon us we began to notice how busy everything had suddenly become. The roadsides were packed with people and cars and parking spaces were as hard to find as a penguin at a polar bear party. However, we did find one (a parking space, not the penguin) and after locking the car twenty times (you can never check enough) we were off to find a long lost land made from lots of sand.

After walking against the flow of a Christian Good Friday parade, and then going with it once we realised we were heading the wrong way, eventually we made it to the exhibition, paid the entrance fee, read about the Easter egg hunt and happily ambled in to Mr. Bucket and Mrs. Spade’s dream holiday destination.

Wooooooow! That’s the only thing you can say as you see these sculptures for the first time. The detail in them is truly remarkable and then you remember that it is all done with sand. We slowly walked around each display and marvelled at their size and splendour. My camera was hardly away from my eye as I snapped everything from every conceivable angle (I had to cover my tracks on some of the exhibits, and the T-Rex scene doesn’t look the same after my little accident with it; still, a Tellytubby is a good substitute). As I became David Bailey for the day the girls checked the scenes for decorated Easter eggs (made from sand) that had been placed in some of the exhibits to make up the egg hunt. Once you thought you had found all of them it was time to submit your entry for checking, and if you found all of them you were entered into a raffle to be drawn at a later date (let’s hope the prize isn’t a year’s supply of glass in its natural state). Dotted around the event were some workshops and other attractions for kids to get stuck into. After studying them and weighing up their enjoyment levels Lucy decided to fill a heart shaped bottle with layers of different coloured sand. It was great fun and I wish I had done one. The end result was very pretty.

We left the event with big smiles on our faces and made our way over to a noisy Christian Easter parade (the one we got caught up in earlier on) that had finished its march and established a small fair on a green near the beach. There was lots of singing about God, praising Him and hand waving to celebrate His good name. Of equal importance was the snack van and coffee mobile which we placed orders at, and then went away and enjoyed their merchandise whilst listening to the Christian musings.

After a stroll along the beachfront, and a play in a park, we were back in our car to head off home, and an hour-and-a-half later we pulled up on our driveway, buzzed the electronic garage door and gently entered our dwelling to end another amazing day in Oz. Phew!

Until the next time, keep well good readers.

Beccy Does Melbourne (but not Dallas)

On Monday, we took Lucy for her first swimming lesson.  She did really well for a beginner and the teacher was excellent with her.

On Tuesday, after Lucy’s swimming lesson, I went by train into Melbourne to meet my best friend Jayne.  She was on a work visit from Sydney and had invited me to stay over in the city and have dinner.  It was GREAT to catch up again and we went to the casino on Southbank and had a ‘Super Cocktail’.  In all my time in the USA, I have never had a cosmopolitan cocktail so big!  I raised the glass (not easy, if you check out the size of the thing) to all my lovely colleagues from Kent and Virginia who have shared a cosmo, or two, with me in the past! I especially thought of Chip Mann who introduced me to Cosmos!  Lots of love to you all xx.  Melbourne is a great place with lots to do and the fact it only costs less than £6 to get there by train, it will be somewhere that we will be able to easily explore from Geelong!

Paul and Lucy had been exploring more of Geelong whilst I was in Melbourne, they visited the Art Gallery and the library.  On my return on Wednesday I went to the hospital for my check up and everything seems to be OK.  I won’t bore you with the details, but it seems that it was not a ‘usual’ appendicitis (I can NEVER do things normally can I?) but all in all, the results were OK.  I am still TRYING to take things easy, but there is SO much to see and do over here it is quite difficult to do that!

As I had been in Melbourne over night, I had missed Lucy’s swimming lesson on Wednesday, so I was interested to see what progress she had made when we went on Thursday…..and I was shocked!  There she was, little miss mermaid, swimming underwater and jumping in like she didn’t have a care in the world!  I could not believe how far she had advanced in only four days – she enjoyed it so much that we have enrolled her for a second week!  It is money well spent as not only do they teach swimming but they also teach survival skills too.  I know it seems a strange thing to be excited about (to come to the other side of the world, just to learn to swim!) – but the fact that we have both been able to witness her progress (and in such a short space of time) makes it all worthwhile being here.

A Fairy Good Day Indeed

So, Fairy Park. A thirty-five minute journey from where we live and pretty much in the middle of some fairyly rural countryside (you could still see some signs of life). The brochure for the attraction was well presented and promised a lot of fun for those that ventured into this playful world.

After playing spot-the-bend-in-the-road for most of the journey we arrived at Fairy Park in good spirits and leapt out of the car, donned our wings and skipped merrily over to the park entrance in order to begin our trip around a world inhabited by Tinkerbell’s best friends.

We all wondered what the fairies would be like and what they might be up to. Would they be lazing about on flowering roses brushing each other’s hair? Perhaps they might be capturing sunlight and washing their clothes with it to give them the shine that they seem to eradiate. Since they work nights, they might even be getting ready to jump in between layers of fluffy lamb’s wool for a well earned rest. Who knows what we might see, the possibilities were endless.

The park itself is set on a hillside with paths winding around it that eventually lead to the summit (called Devil’s Leap).

Along the pathways on you way to the summit  you were taken through some scenes from famous fairy tales. Each one was animated and was accompanied by an abbreviated version of the fairy tale. In all, there were some thirty-one dioramas to interact with and every one of them was tastefully constructed (we did wonder if this attraction might be a tad tacky considering its geographical location and lack of clientele). Sadly, there weren’t many fairies to see but that was to be expected, after all it was a tad windy on the hillside.

Once we had reached the castle at the summit it was time to throw some refreshments down our throats and then head off to the playpark at the bottom of the hill. For quite some time Lucy and I raced around the Camelot themed recreational area for children of all ages. The slides were slippery and fast, the roundabouts were sick inducing, the swings were, well, swings and the ramparts and corridors allowed you to journey back to a time of maidens, knights, dragons, witches and enchantment. ‘Bec! Don’t eat the apple given to you buy that old hag.’

Sadly, Old Father Time had let the sand trickle through his timer and we had to depart for home. As we drove out of the park gates we all looked back at Fairy Park and smiled, it had been a marvellous place to visit and brought out the kid in all of us (although  mine hasn’t gone back in yet). Did we see any fairies? Probably,  there was always something moving out the corner of your eye. I wonder if you would see any if you visited Fairy Park?

BFN

Knock, Knock. Is that Mr. Mundane at the Door?

Well, if I had to answer the question in the title of this blog I would have to say nooooooooooooo; with maybe a tiny tinge of yes. A lot of time has passed since our last blog entry because our life has slowly started to get a structure. The day-to-day and ordinary have entered our lives and left their mark. Food shopping, paying bills, cooking meals and school runs are now firmly camped out in our lifestyle like a tramp in a cardboard factory. However, even this aspect of Australian life is exciting because it is in Australia. Food shopping in a store called Woolworths is weird, but fun, because of all the new brands of food there are to try. The cereal aisle is stunning and full of wonderfully coloured boxes that contain food equally as colourful. Kellog’s Fruit Loops are like eating a grated up rainbow, and you should see the colour the milk goes too. So although we are thousands of miles away from England, and in a country that was made by playful cherubs, there is still a little bit of ordinary to deal with (which is easy to do, you just look around). One thing I will say though is that there isn’t room for the word bored out here, there is always somewhere to go or something to do. Read on to see what we have been busying ourselves with over the past few weeks. Take it away pretty wife:

On the first day I got out of hospital Paul took me to see the house for the first time – which was lovely – I was panicking slightly, thinking of all the cleaning an extra large house would need but, thankfully, it is just the right size for us three + guests. It is a two storey, detached ‘town’ house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and three toilets! On the ground floor there is the lounge, which is a good size for us and it leads to a lovely kitchen (and dishwasher, thankfully!) and a good sized dining area – it is all open plan. Our bedroom is also downstairs and it has an en-suite, with a massive walk in wardrobe! Also downstairs is a huge cupboard under the stairs a linen cupboard a toilet and a laundry room (which is the size of a small bedroom!) and has a sink, cupboards etc. There is also an integral electric double garage, which has been great fun! Our garden gets the sun on it from left to right all day and is full of roses, which adds wonderful colour to the outside. Upstairs is a play area/retreat/study area which has a spectacular view of Geelong and you can also see the sky line of Melbourne too, which is a constant reminder of how close we are to the other City on our doorstep! Also upstairs is Lucy’s bedroom, guest bedroom (all with walk in robes) and a bathroom with shower and bath and separate toilet. So, a great choice by Paul….and all for the same rent for a one-bedroom flat in Littlestone! One thing which came as a pleasant surprise to us is that, when you rent a property, you don’t pay the council tax on top (that is for the landlord to pay). So, the money we pay for the rent is all we have to pay….except for the utilities of course.

Beep, beep. Make way for my comments: the house is banging. It has sooooooo much room and could fit our old house in it twice over. Our cinema sized TV still looks like a portable in this place. The view from upstairs is amazing and being able to see the Melbourne skyscrapers on a clear day is something I’ll never get tired of. The only thing I am slightly apprehensive about is the insect world, and in particular the arachnids. Now, spiders never really bothered me back in England because they can’t harm you, but over here it is a different story altogether. The other day I went into the back yard, turned towards the patio doors to close them and saw a . . . . . . . . . REDBACK. Oh! My! God! Aaaaaarrrrgggggh (followed by a lot more screaming and running around uncontrollably until I hyperventilated)! After calming down I summoned up the courage to approach the eight-legged syringe of death to take a closer look at it, and then whacked it into the afterlife with the force of Thor’s hammer. After this encounter I visited our local DIY shop (called Bunnings, but isn’t actually run by bunnies of any sort) to peruse their Vietnam-war-like-arsenal-of-insect-death-in-a-can aisle to buy some meet-your-insect-maker spray. I returned home to dispense the can’s contents wherever I saw a cobweb and watched the spiders (and any other insect that had hired a spider’s suit for the day) fall to the floor like overripe apples from a tree. Ha! Job done (well, until the effects of the spray wear off in a few months time).

On the afternoon that I got out of hospital we called to see some friends….they have a pool and as it was such a sunny day, Lucy went swimming whilst I sat on the side of the pool with my feet in the water feeling lucky to be alive!

 

My first night out of hospital was interesting….Paul decided not to sleep in the same bed as me as I was still in pain from the operation and could not get comfortable, so he slept in Lucy’s room. I took some hard drugs to help me sleep and ended up having hallucinations…..so, in the early hours, I telephoned Paul on my mobile phone and told him he had to come and stay with me!

Excuse me please, may I slip some words in here? Getting a phone call in the middle of the night from your wife in the next room is quite bizarre to say the least, but what worried me was the fact that she had been hallucinating about all types of stuff up to this point. What was going to happen to me once she fell back to sleep and started doing it again? Needless to say I was as worried as a Guinea Pig that had got on the wrong bus and ended up at the Fox of the Year contest at lunchtime. So, what did I do? What cunning plan did I come up with to keep my wife comfortable and myself safe? This: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

The next day we went to Barwon Heads where they had a seaside fete on. There was your usual pony rides, bouncy castle and face painting BUT, this is AUSTRALIA, so they also had CAMEL rides on the beach and they also had a duck race where they tipped 500 yellow plastic ducks from the bridge into the sea to see which one would reach the shore first!!

Monday was spent shopping for the house; it was like supermarket sweep at one point with us grabbing four trolleys and loading items into them. Paul and I had many discussions about what to get and I am sure he was very pleased that I was hospitalised for the TV part of his previous shopping experience!! We got some really good deals in the sales and felt happy that it didn’t seem to be costing too much of the earth to kit our house out!

The new furniture arrived at the house on Tuesday and Paul spent the day building the beds, while I did some light tidying up…..whilst still trying to rest…..not easy for me, as many of you will know! We stayed at the house for the first time that night and I can tell you that it felt wonderful to have somewhere to call our own after such a long period of time being homeless! Our bedroom is on the ground floor and Lucy has the run of the upstairs, which I am sure will be nice when she has sleep overs! It felt strange for her to be up there on her own, but I think it made her feel quite proud.

Okay good readers, time for me to puff my chest out with pride. I managed to build all the furniture without cursing or using a hammer. Wahoo! It was a fantastic achievement and I even printed myself off a certificate to celebrate my success.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent sorting out the house and then on Friday, we decided that it would be good to look at some schools. Lucy made a good choice on school; it is well resourced has a school uniform shop on site together with a large gym, computer suite, mountain bikes, web books (mini laptops) for the children and a full time canteen where you can get a hot lunch every day if you wish – a relief to Lucy as she loved her school dinners! All the staff were friendly and the children seemed happy. So when the Principal said he wanted Lucy to start on Monday so she could pick up a few play dates before the Easter holiday, she jumped at the chance! For those of you who would like to know the name of the school, please e-mail us and we will gladly let you know so you can check it out on the web. However, in order to be safe on the Internet we feel that it is best not to post the name of her school in our blog. It could seem a bit too cautious but it is better to be safe than sorry, we all know about the WWW’s darker side.

That weekend, we went exploring some more; Lucy has made a list of all the places she would like to visit….including ‘the chocolate room’…..so that’s where we ended up! YUM! We visited Queenscliff and then went to Ocean Grove reserve. Paul wanted to do some bush walking….”not a good idea,” I hear you cry, having only been out of hospital for a week……but I gave it a go. It didn’t last long as I could not walk far and Lucy was not impressed by walking full stop! Also, I was being bitten a lot by mosquitoes…..so we headed back and then took Lucy to a place called A Maze N Games (also on her list), which had golf and a Maze. I sat in the tea rooms and had a lovely cuppa, whilst Paul and Lucy pounded the maze…..

Mind out readers, here comes another blast of PC world: The trek through the reserve was not what I had anticipated and thought it was going to be a bit like a wildlife park where Skippy and his friends would be on show for feeding and petting, and we would be able to meet some of Australia’s more well known wildlife without too much effort. This was not the case though and we soon found out that we were in some of Ocean Grove’s last remaining bush land, complete with creepy silence, armies of ants, colourful butterflies and mosquitoes that behaved like vampires. This bush land was truly eerie and after a fifteen minute walk into it we decided to turn back and head for the car before we became material for the next emergency services television programme.

 

After wrestling with the Grim Reaper at Ocean Grove Nature Reserve, and coming out victorious, we headed off to try our luck at finding our way around Australia’s largest three dimensional timber maze. This place was a great experience and a real challenge to get around, but I remembered what Dazza S. told me and kept a wall on my left at all times and followed it all the way round; and it worked (apart from when we were near the exit and ducked underneath the partitions to get out because we had had enough). Lucy and I strode into the tea-room-come-maze-exit to claim our prize and meet up with Bec who had been recovering from the bush walk. It was now time to make our way home for a bite to eat before holding a street party to celebrate the day’s triumphs with the inhabitants of our neighbourhood.

Sunday night we had friends round for dinner and it was lovely to entertain again…..however, we forgot that we only have a limited amount of crockery until our set arrives (our shipping is due on 17^th April), so Lucy ended up eating from a side plate…..don’t think she noticed though, bless her!

On the Monday, Lucy started school and we were welcomed in to take her to her class. She was fine and the Principal commented how well adjusted she was! He then took Paul’s details and said he would call him if there was any supply work at the school. Paul and I took the opportunity to go to the cinema on our own during the day which was a novelty. The cinema is within walking distance of our house which is even more of a novelty. We saw ‘Knowing’ and as we looked around the cinema, we realised we were only two of five people in there……! The day zoomed by and we collected a beaming Lucy from school. She had made friends with lots of children and one of them was a boy from Ashford, in Kent, who moved here two years ago!!

Remember the mosquito bites I mentioned? Well, by the time Monday lunch time came around, I realised that my right arm was swelling and I had no elbow! So off we trotted to the local pharmacy to get some anti-histamine and anti-itchy cream!! It was quite amusing, however, I got the feeling that Paul was trying to test me out some more: hospitalisation, bush walking, mosquito bites, walking in 32oc heat (see below)….whatever next?

That night, Paul got a phone call from Lucy’s school asking him to go in on Tuesday to teach year 5. On Tuesday morning, they both departed to go to the same school and left me home alone!! It felt weird, but nice to have some time on my own! They both arrived home that evening really happy – Paul was chuffed that he had at last managed to teach in an Australian school and also that he had earned some money!

It was Paul’s birthday on Wednesday and we sprung a surprise present on him…..a coveted RED XBOX…..well, he has been going on about it for AGES and I thought that, as he had done so well over here and looked after Lucy and I so wonderfully, he deserved one. Needless to say, he was beaming – his eyes got bigger when he realised that it would look spectacular on his beloved 50” TV…..little things, hey! To celebrate Paul’s birthday we went with some friends to ‘Pizzaland’…..which pleased Paul enormously too! Lucy and I had also ordered him a ‘birthday doughnut’ from Doughnut King – and it was superb!!

Here I am again. I had a great birthday and loved my presents, and as far as I am concerned you can never have enough XBox 360s (roll on Microsoft’s domination of the electronic world). Thank you to all the readers that sent me birthday wishes in one form or another, they were greatly appreciated. The day was a lot of fun and my first celebration of the onslaught of time in Oz.

I should also let you avid readers know that my wonderful washing machine arrived on Paul’s birthday too! And YES – it did it for me! It was everything I wanted in a washing machine and I proceeded to use if about 6,000 times that day! I cannot wait for the years supply of free washing powder to arrive….if we put a mattress on the top of the boxes, our guests could sleep on them……

On Thursday, the phone rang early in the morning and it was a call from the supply agency which Paul has registered with asking him to work in another school – teaching PE all day (let me just say that this establishment was like being in Beirut and a world away from what I have been used to working in, but kids are kids and schools are great places to be because of them)! So, he dropped Lucy off at school and whizzed off there. However, we quickly realised that we needed to collect Lucy from school that afternoon and that I would have to WALK there to get her, as Paul would not make it in time. Not usually a problem for me…..but I am still not up to strength yet……so I planned to leave myself an hour and a half to do it!! Then, I had a call from a lovely lady called Alison…..the Mum of the boy from Ashford who is in Lucy’s class!! Strangely, they live in the next street to us and she offered to pick me up and take me to the school.  I am glad I did, I had not realised that it was 32oc and when Lucy and I later started to walk towards the shopping centre to meet Paul, who was on his way home from school, I only walked slowly for 20 minutes and I was flagging!

I should have mentioned that, on Thursday, Lucy completed her first cross country run at school – she got a ribbon and was really pleased with herself! Well done Lucy!

On Friday, Paul visited some schools to drop his CV off and introduce himself to the Principals. He got his pay cheque from his first day of teaching and was really pleased with himself…..he worked out that he only needs to teach supply for ten days a month for us to be comfortable….Mmmm, not sure about that one Paul! Lucy finished school early (1430) for the holiday and came out of school beaming – she had got all of her spellings right, had been given an Easter Basket with chocolate eggs in…..and…..in full assembly, she was welcomed by the Principal….what more could a little girl ask for?! Apparently, in assembly the Principal also thanked Paul for teaching there and made a comment about hoping he would come back soon……so all in all, Lucy is happy…which makes us enormously happy too. To top it all, that afternoon, Lucy got a call from Callum (the boy from Ashford), who asked if he could come and play…..which made Lucy even happier!

Later, we took Lucy to the cinema to see Monsters Vs Aliens, which was fun. For those of you who know Paul well, he HAS to be at the cinema almost A DAY before the film starts. However, because Callum was here playing with Lucy, we left a bit later…..so….we screeched up to the cinema with only ten minutes to go until the film starts…..still needing to buy tickets AND food……AAAGH! However, when we got there, there was only a handful of people….and we got tickets AND food AND seated within minutes of us walking through the door…..phew! After the cinema, we decided to treat ourselves to a Kentucky drive-thru. Paul will tell you more about the ‘potatoes in gravy’ experience…but I wanted to tell you that, it was a bit breezy here on Friday night and when the lady gave Paul the change for the food, the wind whipped the notes out of his hand and down the street…..he quickly jumped out of the car and ran down the road to retrieve the money…..it was quite amusing……although I tried not to chuckle too much…..!!

Being able to go to a cinema that is only five minutes away is always going to amuse me as I no longer have leave home five hours before the film starts. However, let me tell you about the new product KFC do over here (well, new to us): Potatoes in gravy. Over here in Oz KFC do not do side orders of baked beans (control your screaming good readers), instead you get mashed potato with lashings of gravy on top of it all warmed up with the aid of a microwave. Mmmmmmm! Was it tasty? It was okay but it just wasn’t the right side dish to go with our deep-fried-turkey’s-poor-relation in a crispy coating, chips, coleslaw and Pepsi. Chasing my change down the drive-in was amusing and I did laugh about it myself even though I probably looked like someone looking for fag butts.

On Saturday, we went for a tour of Anglesea and Lorne – it was lovely to see Lucy play in the wonderful parks, run along the beaches and bounce on the trampolines.  I don’t think we have ever been out exploring so much……..!

 

On Sunday we went to ‘Fairy Park’, which is also on Lucy’s wish list.  I will leave it to Paul to describe the park (I’ll do that another time) ……..

On our return from Fairy Park, I took Lucy for a walk around the estate to check out the local park.  It took us half an hour to walk around only a small part of the estate as we kept stopping to look at all the different types and styles of houses – they are all so HUGE!

We are busy planning what to do during the Easter holiday.  Lucy is enrolled in swimming lessons for the first week….and I have my check-up at hospital on the 8^th April…..but we will let you know what we get up to on the next entry!