January 2009 Heather says After 6 months in our tiny but fabulous Euston flat we've decided to hunt around for something slightly bigger and (here's hoping!) slightly cheaper. After a bit of online research and phone calls to real estate agents we braved the cold to inspect a couple of places. As soon as we walked out of the agents office in Paddington he turned to us and said "Look, the place you wanted to see is pretty nasty, flea infested flat but i have something else which is bigger ... better...and cheaper!" Brendan & I exchanged a few sceptical looks [View Full Entry]

---

---

Amsterdam 2008/09 Spending New Years in Amsterdam meant some LONG traveling time.... Perth to Melbourne, Melbourne to Hong Kong, stuck on tarmac in Hong Kong for 2 hours (engine problems - words I'm never fond of hearing!!), Hong Kong to London, train to Harwich, overnight ferry to Holland, 2 trains to get into Amsterdam. I'm exhausted just reading this back! On the short stroll to our hotel we walk past a Vodka museum, a sex shop, Dutch version of Hooters and a number of coffee shops (read : places to get high).... Welcome to Amsterdam! It's New Years Eve and we've [View Full Entry]

---

---

Heather says Arrive in Perth exhausted from flying and hungry for some home cooking & some Aussie sunshine! So wonderful to see mum who picks us up at the airport to drive us to our respective homes (we'll be staying with my mum for the first few days but Brendan is obviously keen to see his own parents - And to surprise Katie!). Brendan says (reminiscing) It's quite exciting flying home to see some sun, our family and mates - travelling sure does make you appreciate your home town. Heather says Fabulous to see the family but after a quick meal [View Full Entry]

---

---

A Journey to Trieste (Italy), Zejane (Croatia), Ljubljana (Slovenia) & Lake Bled (Slovenia) Confusion in Trieste We're very excited about our first European trip away and to make it even more special we are trying to locate Nanna Mac's home town - not as easy as it seems considering the town was situated in the former Yugoslavia and left when she was 6 years old. After a short flight to Trieste we head to pick up a hire car. 1st problem - very little english spoken by the lady behind the counter and no Italian on our part made for a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Heather’s B’Day & a Timely Family Visit Heather’s Birthday I actually worked the night before my big day at the Bar and finished at 2:30am so I was made a couple of shots & cocktails as it ticked over to midnight. When I wandered home my lovely husband (who was a work himself) had decorated our flat in cut out love hearts complete with home-made card! It was a rare sunny day the next morning and i spent the day wandering around Camden markets eating home-made fudge .... hmmmmm In the evening Brendan & I shared a bottle of wine before [View Full Entry]

---

---

After being here for a month it's time to let you all in on our observations: Observation One: Rent is expensive (duh!) Heather says After initially staying in some rather interesting hostel accommodation (see photos) it was time to start looking for a permanent place to set up home. I was already working full time so it was left mostly in Brendan's capable hands to flat hunt. We narrowed down our search to areas on the tube lines for super easy transport. We looked at a couple of places around Bayswater, Elephant & Castle, Notting Hill (could go on) but the [View Full Entry]

---

---

5 Days in New York! Heather says After having the company of Foxy Moron (the car) and Chesty LaRue (the navigation) it was time to say a sad farewell in Connecticut. Back to good old public transport .... bugger! We arrived on Thursday 17th July after another long day driving by Brendan and were picked up at the car hire by Janene (Newton's wife). We collected Newton from the train station and headed back to their house which is only about 1 minute drive away (laxy newton!! ha-ha) Their house is this goegeous collonial style house built in the 1920's. The [View Full Entry]

---

---

Heather Says After an overnight stop in Knoxville we headed to the Smoky Mountains for a bit of hiking and fresh air. Ummmmm well not exactly, when we first entered the "nature reserve" area I felt like we'd entered a tackier, kiddy version of Vegas. It was all about crap theme parks, crappier "family" cabaret shows and themed hotels. After fighting our way through the white trash and traffic jams, we drove into the mountains where we thankfully found some peace and quiet. The scenery was INCREDIBLE - lush green forest with droplets of rain left from an earlier downpour glisten [View Full Entry]

---

---

Heather Says Really, really wish we had more time here! This town has such an awesome vibe... we start with early dinner on Beale Street (the hottest street in town!) at one of the many Blues Bars followed by a ride in a horse pulled carriage to take in the scenery and nightlife. Brendan Says Heather skipped the fact that this "dinner" was our first real fried dinner.... bust was awesome, check out the fried green tomatoes, gumbo, rack of ribs, and catfish! Heather Says Afterwards we head back to Beale street to hit the bars. They shut the street down [View Full Entry]

---

---

Heather Says Hit the road for the long haul up to New York (Thursday 10 July) and stopped in a place called Greenville, Mississippi, for the night before heading to Memphis on Friday. Some Beautiful scenery on the way. Picture this: Colonial style houses, endless corn fields capped by moody grey skies and misty eerie looking lakes surrounded by trees. Brendan Says This was a very tactical move, we took the Great River Road, that follows the Mississippi River, rather than the highway. Driving a Mazda Tribute SUV..... just keep right, just keep right....... Heathe [View Full Entry]

---

---