Blogs from Brunswick, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

8 weeks in Australia. Snap. Just like that. I’m back at the airport in Melbourne waiting for my flight that will take me back to Europe. This time without travel partner. Mick has 3 more weeks in this magnificent country before he gets back. I’m happy for him. Me on the other hand will be back with my (other) family in my home country in about 40 hours. Also beautiful, just a bit smaller and a slightly change in temperature (only 35 degrees colder). My last weekend in Oz we (when I say me I mean Mick) decided to spoil us with a night in a hotel in central Melbourne. We spent Saturday evening strolling around the city, listening to street musicians, drinking in funky bars and had an absolute gorgeous meal in a Thai restaurant ... read more

Well it is the night before my big adventure starts. Today was supposed to be a bit of fun with repacking, checking a few details and sending a copy of all my docs off to Kal, Ry and Jane. I even had planned to have a massage! Ummmmm.....really should stop planning as I keep getting disappointed when it all goes skewif! I didn't have a massage...(guess that was pretty obvious), spent nearly all day on the computer trying to get my phone restored after getting it replace by Apple on Saturday. Conversations with the travel agent about accommodation weren't doing anything for my stress levels and as I type this, I still haven't got them confirmed in Lima. My printer didn't want to print; I can't get the shuttle to my hotel in Miami as I ... read more

Yo yo yo. Many apologies for the rather late entry (been having too much fun you see). So after a rather delayed entry into Melbourne we had a rather (one more time with the rather) great week! Except our poor little Bean managed to develop a temperature. Fortunately copious amounts of ibuprofen and paracetamol were consumed after nurse Sophie (following in mummy's footsteps) provided her travel thermometer to regularly check G's spiking fever (hmmm...). However, the week was filled with various cultural and some not so cultural pursuits. We visited the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground for a cheeky spot of T20 cricket. After employing the help of an entire tramfull of Aussies, Sophie eventually came to grips with the rules of cricket. It was Melbourne vs. Hobart and much to our delight, despite a very close ... read more

This is the starting point of our first overseas trip as a family. Heading to the airport it still seemed unreal. It had been a long time in the planning and called off 6 weeks before the date and then on again 1 week before our due departure date. A Big rush to finalise bookings, do the medical bits, organise home and do the packing. This is mostly about Doc's record of our trip. I will be typing most of it for him, to be quicker - a case of the blind leading the blind. During the day Doc tells us what he wants in the blog and you can imagine by the time we get to a WiFi point in our accommodation at night, Doc is too tired to concentrate on this task. We are ... read more

The last three months in Australia, I am sad to say have been pretty normal… I arrived in Melbourne the second week of May, Dave had found us a great house just north of the city in an area called Brunswick. It is an alternative neighborhood that reminds me a lot of a straight Capital Hill. The local pubs always have live music, and there a lots of little trendy shops in the neighborhood. Because of our location transportation was so easy. Melbourne’s public transit is awesome and I will miss it very much. We lived in the house with two Aussie’s. Brett was from Sydney and Rowena is from just four hours away from Melbourne. It was an awesome living arrangement, I couldn’t have asked for better roommates. There was also a lovely cat named ... read more