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Published: December 14th 2008
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I can't believe that as I am writing this we have been in Australia for over a year! It has flown by so fast and I still can't believe I live here!
We have finally moved into our own home - it was such a relief to get out of the rental house and finally have somewhere we can call 'home' after all this time! We live in such a lovely area and as it is a brand new development there is always something going on such as festivals and get togethers. It also means that there are a lot of migrants so you can talk to other English people and find out how to do things out here and also catch up on the UK gossip!
We got the keys to the house on the 31st October (Hallowe'en!!) and I was so excited I felt like a kid again! We spent a couple of weeks getting the house sprayed (still scared of spiders and other such nasty creepy crawlies!) and cleaning it up before finally moving in over a weekend.
I asked Doug to arrange a van to move us and left this up to him as
he is in the transport business I expected a huge van with an electronic trailer on the back to make life easier but oh no as Doug has fully embraced the aussie lifestyle he turns up in a battered old rusty ute!! With the furniture on the back it looked like that tv show from years ago with the Clampits all that was missing was the grandma on the back in the rocking chair (you would have looked right at home Ann!!!).
So in about 30 degree heat we made about 10 trips between the 2 houses with all our furniture and boxes on the back of the ute and in my little golf! By the the Sunday night we were so tired and aching and the house was in total chaos with boxes and furniture everywhere. It took ages to sort everything out and also unpack some of the stuff that hadn't been touched since the UK so was a bit emotional as well! The only thing is the furniture from the UK that fitted so nice in our little house there looks completely lost in the house here as the rooms are so big! We actually have
a whole room with nothing in it as we don't have enough furniture so any excuse to go shopping for me I think!
So now we have been in the house for approx a month and we are loving it - the dogs seem a lot happier as well here than they were in the rental as they can see what is going on outside the house! Plus it is so bright and light here and we are also going to be nearer to the beach - once it has been built!
We are quite a way up north from the city and the freeway doesn't come this far up yet so it takes about 40 mins to get to the city but it is nice drive and we go in most weekends (of course via IKEA!!). Perth City Centre isn't like a city centre in the UK and is so quiet compared to Manchester city centre especially at the weekends! I do sometimes miss the hustle and bustle of the UK as sometimes it is so quiet over here in Oz but I suppose I will get used to it eventually!
All is going well at
work and I am enjoying the shorter commute but I really miss my mates at Crown. I have met up with them a few times including a baby shower and a meal out and hopefully will keep in touch with them all :0) Doug is really enjoying his job and is doing really well - he has been promoted and gets on really well with everyone there! We were even invited to a football match to watch Perth Glory FC and was invited into a corporate box as Doug's company sponser the football team - not quite Manchester Utd but it was fun and nice to meet new people and it was free food and drinks so very civilised!
Doug went on a charity motorbike ride last week to help out for the Salvation Army and all these really tough bikey people turned up with cuddly toys strapped to their bikes to hand in for underpriviledged children in the area - needless to say Doug and I had a great fun choosing a cuddly toy for him to take - in the end he took 3 of them as we couldn't make our minds up between the reindeer, dog
Perth Glory Football Match
View from the AV Truck's Corporate Box! and the father christmas toy!
We are really looking forward to Christmas in the house and have finally bought our christmas tree! In the UK we used to buy a real tree every year from the farms and spend ages finding the biggest, bushiest tree we could get and then heaving it back home to squeeze into the house and then spend all night decorating it with everything we could find until it looked like it had been attacked by 3 year olds! So nothing has changed out here and it looks like those 3 year olds have followed us out here to attack the tree :0) This year we have bought a fake one but it looks good and twinkles in the air conditioning - very strange! It is so weird decorating a christmas tree and listening to christmas songs whilst outside it is 35 degree heat and you can see a swimming pool in your backgarden - not too sure I will ever get used to a 'warm and sunny christmas' and it does make me homesick a little bit!
Well, with a week and a bit to go to Christmas we are getting the garden ready and have had the pool cleaned. The parcels have arrived from the UK and these will go under the tree also received lots of cards from mates and family back home which is so nice to receive! We are looking forward to a trip to the beach on christmas day morning and then back to the house for a barbie and a dip in the pool - very different from our Christmas back home but as always an experience.
Happy Christmas to everyone in the UK and also out here in Perth - hope everyone has a great time!
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anonymous
non-member comment
Congratulations on moving in and your one year anniversary ! Yeah, I have not got used to the Aussie Christmas yet.......have had two here. It always makes me laugh that there is snow and snow flakes on the Christmas cards. They had a charity motor bike ride here in Hobart.........with soft toys. It took us half an hour to get across a road as literally thousands of bikers drove past. It must be an Aussie thing. It is so funny, because you always come out with the same observations as me.........be great if we could meet at some point. You should have moed to Melbourne or Adelaide.......................would have been easy !!!!!! Sarahxxxx