Thank You Bonnie!

Last night Andy and I went out for dinner - ON OUR OWN! Bonnie (Andy's work colleague) kindly offered to babysit so we headed down to buzzing Fitzroy Street and after a 50 minute journey that should have taken 10 mins (combination of sat nav issues, 2 near miss car crashes and parking trouble) we had a fabulous meal in a gorgeous restaurant - just what the doctor ordered!
Yesterday also saw Celia start her new nursery which she'll attend one day a week and I'm glad to say she was very upset when I left her there. I know I shouldn't wallow in poor Celia's distress but it's the first time she's showed any signs of missing me. When she went to the childminder in London she would cry when I came to pick her up!
I was lucky to get the nursery place as childcare here is in really short supply. When I called the nurseries in our local area they asked me which year I was enquiring about as 2010 and 2011 were full - I only wanted one day! Anyway, she now goes to one in Elwood which is a 7 minute drive away so Max and I are going to start doing some exercise on a Thursday morning (Prams in the Park - yes, I am going to be one of those mugs who pays someone loads of money to tell them  how to jog round a park!)
Well, its a beautiful sunny day and the park is calling so I will just share one more thing with you - I was listening to my favourite radio station this morning (Gay FM I think its called) when they announced today's phone in "Call in all those who think Martina Navratilova is absolutely gorgeous" !?!......

My turn!

As Andy has done the previous 3 updates I thought it high time I gave it a go. I know we already did initial highs and lows but I have a few more I'd like to add, especially in the 'lows' section (ever the pessimist!)



LOWS

• Radio - have yet to find a decent radio station. The best I can find is the local Gay and Lesbian station which does have some amusing commercial breaks but the music makes Radio 2 look like the hippest thing out! 

• Fruit - I thought there would be stacks of lovely fruit and loads of variety here with it being a sunny country but the quality is rubbish and as moaned about before it is also really expensive ($2 or about £1.50 for 1 nectarine that tasted of nothing??)
• Parks - This in itself is actually a 'high' cause our local park is great and has 3 play areas but my 'low' is that they don't have cafes in their parks (london Mummy friends will appreciate this one) nor do they have sand pits or paddling pools - Queens Park we miss you!

• Broadband installation man - The rental agent called yesterday to advise that the owner was not happy about the new cable coming off his roof. When I explained that the BIM (Broadband installation man) told me this was the only way you can get broadband round here she laughed and said all the cabling was already intalled underground and that he was just being lazy which I didn't understand as how can drilling a hole in an extenal wall, fitting a new socket and running cable up the wall and over the roof then connecting it to the main pole across the road be the 'lazy' option?? 
• Max' weight problem - I know my pet nickname for him is Sumo but I was a bit alarmed when the nurse at this morning's immunisation session laughed when I took his clothes off and shouted  'Wow, its Budda himself!' He is just big boned (round the middle!?)......

Our little Sumo (aka Budda)

HIGHS


• Andy's colleague has offered to babysit some night this week
• A girl at playgroup invited us to a BBQ next week on Melbourne Cup day (they LOVE their racing here, so much so that it's a public holiday on Cup day) I'm not sure if the invite came out of pity or because she actually liked me or cause she just wanted to shut me up as I was harping on about having no friends but either way its our first social outing in two months so who cares!
• 'Next' now deliver to Oz - You may scoff but this was huge news among the expat mummy community last week (I got 2 e-mails about it from different Brit mums who live here - i.e. everyone I know e-mailed me about it!)
• That's it for the highs I'm afarid as not having a very positive week so far!  

Beach in winter - can't be bad

Contrary to popular opinion the weather can be great in Melbourne in Winter. Actually we have been to the beach three weekends in the last four.

Time to stop the shopping!

So there we go, another weekend been and gone and still the shopping isn't finished.
OK, so we knew moving from a flat in London to a house in Melbourne would require a bit of an upgrade on the furniture front, but it is fair to say we seriously underestimated the extent of the outlay that would be required.
This weekend saw the delivery of a new bookcase and coffee table for the lounge. Previous weeks saw sofa, TV unit, digibox, DVD, iPod docking station, stools, garden table and chairs, garden umbrella, a new bed and bedroom furniture for Celia, a new mattress, an office table and chairs, endless supplies of lamps - proper lighting is very important Lydia says!, bedside tables, special table and chairs for Celia, an easel for the little budding artist.
Transport has been interesting too. The past month has seen the arrival of a new car, two new baby seats (UK ones are illegal here!), a new double buggy for the bigger family, two new bikes and associated safety and transport equipment. All this and I haven't even hit the BBQ superstore yet.

After such a ridiculous amount of shopping we thought it was about time we visited the local church to remind ourselves that there is so much more to life than this crazy materialistic society we live in.
St Marys Anglican Church, Caulfield is a rather jovial, happy clappy sort of an affair with guitarists and singers who think they should be on X-factor and a number or rather strange middle aged women who like to wave flags during the singing. Not exactly the Ulster Presbyterianism of my youth but it sort of worked OK and Celia loves it as she also goes to the playgroup there in the week. As is the case everywhere we go the people were super-friendly and most important of all the pastor was very impressive. Good stuff.

So there we have it. The hectic stresses of the last few months are definitely drawing to a close and an air of normality is starting to decend. We spent a quiet afternoon in the sunshine at the stunning botanic gardens. The relief of being set free from furnitureshopland was a beautiful thing.

Next weekend I'll actually ride that new bike - especially as one of the analysts at my work told me I was looking a bit lardy on Friday!

Starting Out

Ok, so here goes our first ever attempt at blogging. Please be patient as we learn the ropes...

We hope this blog will serve a number of purposes.
First and foremost a record for ourselves of our experiences down under as we watch Celia and Max grow up very quickly. In addition of course we hope to inform and entertain our family and friends in the process and keep you up to date with how it's all going. If others who are thinking of making the move come across the blog and  find it helpful then all well and good. Enjoy!

In future posts we'll relive the ups and downs of the past few months in more detail but for now here's a quick summary...

Highs

• It was 29 degrees yesterday
• We have a lovely house (five times as big as London flat!)
• LAFHA...will explain another time
• friendly and relaxed people everywhere you go - London bus drivers could pick up some tips!
• driving...a complete pleasure compared to UK
• work...definitely more relaxed
• myP2p.eu, a lifesaver for the footie - thanks for that one Sukie
• Max now sleeps all night!
• Seeing Celia's face light up when she runs around on the beach
• Our new sofa
• Coffee
• Mega wine shops

Lows

• Skype connection a bit tempramental
• Melbourne's ridiculously unpredictable (and often freezing) weather
• No babysitters
• Full time parenting is tough with no social network
• Cost of living...makes London look cheap!
• Australian TV
• Choice and cost of children's clothing
• No social life...yet!