G'Day!

Welcome to our blog! It's our way both of keeping a record of getting to know our new home, and also of keeping everyone at home in touch with what we are doing.

Love Wendy, Andrew, George and Anna xxx

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Monday, August 27, 2007

Catching Up....



Sophie, Anna, Milly and Georgie on the beach on Sunday. Georgie, Milly and Sophie are all sisters and live across the road.




The far end of the lagoon, nearest the beach.




Anna on the sandbank in the lagoon after school (and Gravity Youth) this afternoon. The sun sets at about 5pm - it is winter after all!




Anna again this afternoon.




Georgie kayaking out to Anna on the sandbank this afternoon.


It's been a busy time and I've got lots to tell you!

First things first - the Athletics Carnival went ahead on Friday, despite the fact that it was drizzling with rain. All the children compete in the 100m and 200m, and George and Anna did their best. George did in fact come fourth in his 100m race, which meant that he earnt points for his house (Chisholm), but as he pointed out - there were only 5 people in the heat! Anna really pushed herself by doing the non compulsory 800m and then competed in the Jumbo Javelin and the Shot Putt. George also did the long jump and although neither of them won their events, I was very pleased with them for taking part and having fun. I know I said I was going to take photos and put them on here and I did take the camera, but the usual story - no memory card. Oops.

Then it was off home to make myself beautiful for my trip into the city to meet up with my good friend from home, Caroline. Caroline works for BA and was in town for the evening. Obviously I was very excited to be seeing her, and to get all the news from home!

As George was at a sleepover, I took Anna into the city with me so she could see Caroline too. It took less than an hour to get from my house to Caroline's hotel by Circular Quay which has inspired me to think that I should venture over there more often. We went on the Jetcat, which gets you from Manly to the city in 15mins. It's rather an exciting ride too, if you can ignore all of Anna's predictions of doom! Certainly the city scape as you turn in through the Heads and see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge lit up in front of you is spectacular. Andrew came over after work and then took Anna out for dinner in China Town (Anna lurves chinese food), whilst Caroline and I had a few drinks and then went to a Japanese restaurant on Circular Quay. Unfortunately, Caroline was not able to furnish me with much in the way of gossip (well not anything I'm putting on here anyway - hehehehehehe) - she said there is no gossip in Milford anymore now Andrew and I don't live there. Now, we do know that Andrew and I were a rich vein of gasp inducing chit chat but really - you'd have thought someone else would have taken up the mantle in our absence!

I didn't get home until just before 1am, which is the latest I've been out since I got here. This meant that on Saturday I felt rather jaded and got up late - which was a pity as it was a glorious day. Anna spent most of the weekend in the lagoon, swimming, kayaking and screaming with her friends from across the road. We went to the beach as well, and the good weather has continued today with temperatures reaching 27 degrees. This is the equivalent month to February in the UK. Good eh? After school this evening Anna was in there again, playing on the sandbank. Haven't been able to persuade George in there as yet, but I'm working on it!

And so much to look forward to this week - my dad arrives on Friday!!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Man of the Match!



Well, it's been a while since I updated this, so there is plenty to say! Sorry about that folks!

So, more on the duck situation. Since our white duck has been bereaved, she/he has been frequenting our garden - and our house. She comes up to the sitting room doors at least a couple of times a day and quacks at us through the window until we go out and say hello. Then once when I went back in to get some bread, she came in too. Now she thinks she lives here and hops in whenever she gets the chance. Yesterday she even stole a sandwich off my plate from right under my nose! It's rather sweet, but I think that she has told all the other ducks on the lake what a soft touch we are, and now they are all congregating in the garden. It could get a bit spooky - we'll have to see how it goes...

You're probably wondering where the photos are of the Athletic's Carnival. Well it was cancelled. Because of the rain. Yes yes. I know you are chuckling...

They are trying again on Friday. I'll report back then.

We are now a proper sporting Aussie family. Anna has started netball (which means that I have to get George and Anna to two different places 10km apart at the same time - so no change there then!) and tonight George had his second ever basketball match. And he played a blinder! So much more confident than last week, really getting into the game, had possession a number of times, played some good passes, made a shot and had me standing up shouting encouragement on a number of occasions. The St Luke's Hotrods won 17 -8 and George was Man of the Match! How fabulous is that?

Although I haven't mentioned it on here, I've just come out of a period of terror. About a month ago, I think it finally occurred to me deep in my consciousness that I had indeed emigrated, and that everything I could be sure about (or at least that is how it felt) was thousands of miles away. I became almost literally paralysed with fears - largely irrational - torturing myself with 'what if' scenarios. I couldn't understand what had happened to me - all I knew was that I was really, really scared. Of everything. It was horrible. However....I've been to talk to someone and this is apparently a not uncommon response to moving continents and also to having major life change (like being ridiculously busy and then not really having very much to do). Even while it was going on, I knew that I didn't want to come home (sorry everyone!) but I did want to stop being afraid. And now, almost as insidiously as it arrived, it has gone away. The clouds have lifted and I'm loving it all again. I'm going to learn to enjoy today - which is something I've never been very good at. I'm going to stop having a plan, making goals, pushing myself forward and to the limit (at least for a while!). I'm going to stop looking backwards and feeling fearful. I'm going to sit back and enjoy my wonderful life, my wonderful children and my wonderful husband, and I'm not going to feel bad about it. So there...

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

St Luke's Hotrods








The big excitement this week has been George playing in his first ever basketball match - which was against the Manly West Tigers. It was a nerve-wracking event for both George and I. It was nerve wracking for George for the obvious reasons and nerve wracking for me because I so wanted him to do well and feel good about it. In the end, despite the fact that they didn't win (apparently this team thrashes everyone), George thoroughly enjoyed himself and was clearly feelin' good when the match was over. He now has games every Tuesday evening. It was also a good social event for me - lots of supporting mums to talk to and make coffee arrangements!

George has also signed up for junior cricket with the Collaroy Plateau Cricket Club. He's got the t shirt and the cap and everything. Andrew is going to play for the seniors. Interestingy, the team have a tour in the UK in 2009 - they wanted to know if Andrew could use his contacts to find them a game in the New Forest! Perhaps they could play against Milford!

So lots of sport going on, which is wonderful. I'm so pleased to have George involved in things. Speaking of which, we have the St Luke's Grammar Athletics Carnival on Monday. Sports Day to you and me. As the Australians are so obsessed with sport, Sports Day is really that - in that it lasts all day. And it takes place at the Sydney Academy of Sport on a proper athletics ground with a grandstand and everything. Obviously I will take photos and post them next week.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Fun, fun, fun...





It was a lovely weekend. The weather was glorious and we finally got out in the kayak. Well, when I say 'we', I mainly mean Anna, while the rest of us watched or fished, but it was fun anyway. Anna had her friend Keana over and they went out in it together, managed to tip it over and get very hysterical. Anna swam to shore, and Keana floated about on the upturned kayak until someone came past in a tinnie and helped her back. Most of the lagoon is very shallow, so they were never in any danger, but I suppose it was a bit of a shock.

There has been lots of fishing too, although not a lot of fish have been caught. We finally put my beautiful daybed out on the balcony, and spent a lot of the weekend sitting in the sun reading my book. Very relaxing, I must say.

There was a little bit of a tragedy though. I'm sure you will remember the pair of white ducks who come into the garden to be fed and occasionally make an ill considered foray into the Woollies car park? Well, they had become a permanent fixture on the lagoon at the back of the house, likely to come when called, and keen to get into the house. They were clearly a breeding pair and we were looking forward to having some fluffy ducklings in September. Until we came back from the shops on Sunday and found one of them floating dead in the shallow water. I felt so sad, and didn't want Anna to be upset, so I picked him (or her...not really sure...) up and moved him along the beach. The other duck kept going to look at him and quacking. Very sad. So I told Anna about it yesterday. She cried a little bit and asked me to show her where I had put him, which I did. Before I knew it, all the local children were knocking on the door, asking if I would take them to see the dead duck. I could have sold tickets. Children are...odd.





Recently Andrew and I have become a little fed up with the behaviour of our offspring (one of our offspring in particular...) and so we have just adopted a draconian set of rules to try to reinstate some order in our lives. We now have behaviour charts which can either reward or punish. As a result, the children are our slaves. They are literally arguing over who will do the next extravagantly helpful thing.

I give it till the end of the week....

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Routine Beauty..



It's been a pretty routine week, except that the weather has been wonderful. This takes a little getting used to - as I was discussing with Maria the other day, as English people, every time the sun comes out there is a tendency to drop everything and 'make the most of it'. Whilst in the UK this is an acceptable reason for not having done any housework, it has occurred to us that here this may lead to us living in rather squallid conditions. We need to get out of that mindset, and feel secure that if we spend today catching up with the washing and dashing about with the hoover, the sun will still be there tomorrow. Although, we are told with some authority that in the summer any sort of housework is pretty much out of the question due to the heat. Unless you are prepared to get up in the very wee hours of the morning and do it. Which of course I'm not.



But enough of this talk! On Wednesday the weather was beautiful - in fact so hot I had to move my chair on Maria's deck into the shade - and so we decided we needed to make the most of it and go for a walk. We took the round trip walk past Fishermans Beach (where I have seen fisherman with enormous fish fighting off the pelicans, and kite surfers performing near fatal tricks on the waves), around the headland of Long Reef, along the edge of Dee Why beach, and back to Maria's. From the headland you have fabulous views both up and down the coast, all the way along Collaroy and Narrabeen beaches on one side and looking the other way, all the way along Dee Why beach to the North Curl Curl headland. I took the photos above and below, but I particularly like the one of Maria - she was trying to stop me taking a picture by covering her head with that green scarf, but in doing so, didn't see that a wave was coming in and had drenched her feet. Made me giggle anyway.





We are nearly in the middle of August and I have so much exciting stuff coming up - our friends Hugh and Sue will be out here in a couple of weeks and we are hoping to catch up with them, and then my friend Caroline is here for a night (she works for BA) and then, most excitingly of all, my dad is coming for nine days on the 31st August. I can't wait to show him where we live and the life we have here - and also to be there when he fulfills his ambition to see the opera house and the harbour bridge!

And today it is Andrew's dad's birthday, so all together now....Happy Birthday to You......!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Early mornings

The usual morning routine is that the alarm goes off just before 6.25am. I put it on snooze and drag myself out of bed at 6.30am. I have a shower and do my beauty routine (hahahahahahaha) and am all ready by 7am. I then wake up the children and spend the next hour gently coaxing them (...shouting...) through the apparently totally unexpected requests of getting dressed, eating breakfast, cleaning their teeth, putting their shoes on etc. If any tasks are not completed, it is because I have not asked them to do it. It would seem that it is of no consequence that the same things happen EVERY SINGLE DAY...

And yet.....today, all of this was achieved between 6.30am and 7.15am, with a minimum of shouting from me. Miraculous. Admittedly, I had made the packed lunches last night, and Anna didn't have any breakfast, but all the same. I think we can quite reasonably feel rather proud. And George really enjoyed the basketball, so we will be doing it on a regular basis.

So by 7.35am, Anna and I were at the Lime and Latte on Dee Why seafront, ordering hot chocolates and toasted banana bread. We ate it watching the surfers (and even the small children already on the swings in the park) and chatting about life and all Anna's friendships.

Not a bad start to the day.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Bank Holiday?



Today is a Bank Holiday. Andrew and I were really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, in this country, Bank Holiday is exactly what it says on the box. A holiday for banks. And no one else. I had plans. They did not include doing the school run and lots of ironing. Devastated of Narrabeen.

However, the day was not a complete waste. The sun shone, a man came and fixed my internet connection (hurrah) and I rearranged the furniture in George's bedroom. What an exciting life I lead.

So - George said he wanted to do basketball, but then failed to fill in the application form at school. I went to see the head of the junior school, and told him how much George wanted to do it, and how keen Andrew and I were for him to be involved. Mr Staples said he would do what he could. Today he caught me at the school gate and said that they had managed to make a space for George in one of the teams and could I take him to practise tomorrow. Hurray! At 7.30am. Oh. Shit. I know I've said it before but I am utterly mystified by this early morning stuff. Not only because I don't like early mornings, but I mean really - I can't be the only mum wondering now what I am going to do with my other child between 7.30am and 8.45am when school starts. Andrew gets the bus just after 7am. And I am already getting up at 6.30am to get them to school at 8.30am. Does this mean that I have to get up at 5.30am??

Gutted...

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Long Weekend



It's been a very busy couple of days. Friday the weather broke - having had a few days of 22 and 23 degrees, we went back to grey and drizzle, although not really cold. Everyone tells us that spring is definitely around the corner and it is certainly starting to feel that way.

Saturday was busy, despite a very slow start as Andrew and I enjoyed a well deserved lie in. Andrew is still setting his internal clock straight after his latest trip to Abu Dhabi, and I've been getting up at 6.30am every morning (some hours before my natural clock would kick in!), so we'd been looking forward to getting a few extra hours. In the afternoon it was riding and then off to Sharon and Richard's for supper. We had lovely mussels, a fair bit to drink and a great time.

Now, virtually everyone who knows me will know that one of my most favourite people in all the world is my best friend Nugs, who I miss terribly. It was her 40th birthday party on Saturday, and by the wonders of modern technology, Andrew, myself, Sharon and Richard were able to attend - via Skype! She is very honoured to have had 'Happy Birthday' sung for her in both hemispheres simultaneously, and she deserves no less of a celebration. We were treated to a view of Johnny's bare bottom (thanks for that Johnny) and said hello to lots of people we haven't seen since we left in April. Lovely!

In order to make the time difference work, we ended up staying at Sharon and Richard's rather longer than was probably sensible for the children, and it was a very sleepy Anna and George we put to bed last night.

Today has been a family day. George has been wanting to go to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney (a sort of science museum with lots of hands on and interactive stuff for the kids), so after a big fry up, we set off. It is always impressive coming across the Harbour Bridge and into the city, and we got there in under 35 minutes, which was quicker than we had anticipated. At the museum there was an exhibition all about special fxs, which the children loved, along with all sorts of computer stuff (including an amusing dancing robot) and lots of interesting design.









Afterwards we went on a bit of a journey down memory lane for me, by going to have a look at the house in Glebe in which myself and my cousin Cathy lived when we came to Sydney 20 years ago. Glebe was quite changed - a lot more upmarket - but pretty much as I remembered it. We lived in the basement flat of 47 Wigram Road, and there it still was, although I think the balcony was not closed in when we lived there, and I think the rendering was a different colour (you'll have to correct me Cath!). Andrew and the children were amused that I had once lived in such a dungeon, but I have very happy memories of our time there! We went from there, down Ferry Road, to look at Glebe Rowing Club where Cathy and spent a lot of time - me mainly because male rowers have bodies which are really second to none, and Cathy because she was an excellent rower! - but it was all a bit confusing. The building which I am pretty sure was the rowing club is now the Sydney University Women's Rowing Club and upstairs is a rather swish restaurant. Next door is a building that I don't think existed when we were there, which now houses Glebe Rowing Club. I've taken photos of both and am waiting to Cathy to advise me! It was all very nostalgic, and it made me think of the days of my youth with no responsibilities and all my life in front of me.....

Sigh....







Friday, August 3, 2007

Red Light District



I've been asked to make a couple of clarifications and apologies regarding my last entry. First of all, it seems that there is a post box thingy outside Lymington Library to put your returning books in out of hours. I think someone might have told me this when I lived there. I paid enough in fines to fund a new wing.

Also, Lucy wants to know what Gravity Youth is...well....a sort of pilates class for children. We started Anna going because she stands like me with a big curve in her back and her bum sticking out, and we thought this might help her posture. And we have subsequently sent George because he isn't doing enough stuff and otherwise it is just an ongoing battle over the Playstation. It's not just pilates things - they do running about and games and they both seem to enjoy it. Hope that has been helpful Luce!

Speaking of pilates, I have had a very good week on the exercise front. It has always (sadly) been my dream to have a life where I could reasonably get to the gym every day in the week, and finally it's come true. So this week I have been at the gym every day, with the exception of Wednesday when I couldn't go because George was off school (more on that later).To make up for this, I did two classes back to back on Thursday - pilates and then Bodyjam. Although I enjoyed both of them, I was very tired later on in the day, and also found it hard training today, but I suppose the more often I do it, the easier it will get.

With regard to George's absence from school. He's having a bit of trouble adjusting. I was asked to go and collect him from school during Tuesday morning as he was feeling nauseous. He had been complaining of this for a couple of days on and off, though not really showing any other signs of illness, but he was definitely not himself. I had him at home for the rest of the day, and then again on Wednesday, when he didn't get any worse but didn't feel better either. In the evening I had a long chat with him in which something I said finally made him open up a little bit. He told me that he felt he didn't have any talents, and everyone else at his school does, and that he wants to be good at something. He cried and I thought my heart would break for him. I think that out of his comfort zone at Milford School, he is a little at sea and doesn't know where he fits. He has never had a lot of self confidence and obviously this very big change has been very challenging for him. George is generally happy, and says that he wouldn't want to go back to the UK, but underneath this he feels insecure I think. We've tried to impress on him that it is who he is that matters and not what he does (wish I could properly get a handle on this myself!), and that everything he does should be entered into with a positive attitude and his sense of fun, but it's a long journey isn't it? Thankfully since this conversation he hasn't felt sick anymore, and I've made arrangements to go in and talk to his teacher about things.

The only thing you really want for your children is for them to be happy, and when they are not........it's wretched.....

And if you are wondering what the title of this post is all about, it's because an extremely irritating thing has happened. Yesterday I received a letter in the post letting me know that I had gone through a red light at Brookvale, been caught on a camera (lots of traffic lights have cameras on them here) and was therefore being fine $308 and getting 3 demerit points. Now obviously, this isn't something that I would knowingly do. I don't recall doing it. And I can't find a way of making it Andrew's fault (v annoying this).

As if this wasn't bad enough, I can't help worrying that more letters are coming in the post about the driving misdemeanours I know I have committed.....ssshhhh though....don't tell Andrew.....