Into my 5th decade

This time 10 years ago I was enjoying turning 30 in the beautiful surroundings of New Zealand. Ten years on and it's Australia this time round as I enter decade number five.
A stark reminder this morning of just how short life can be when the news of the untimely death of the apparently happy 42-year-old Wales football manager Gary Speed hit the headlines. Definitely a footballer of my generation.Very sad.

On a happier note...what a month of celebrations that was.

It started with the aforementionned surprise appearance of Miss Cherry Devine. A one off event if ever there was one - not even a sniff of a reappearance since then.

Celebration stage two involved a quite blissful weekend in the sunshine up in Yarra Valley. Thanks to Roger and his new girlfriend (is this the one?) Amy for joining us. With hot weather, blue skies (most of the time) and some lovely wine in fantastic settings it was hard to imagine a better way to finish my thirties. Highlight of the weekend was undoubtably the Tempranillo at www.sevillehill.com.au accompanied by the live Sunday afternoon jazz band in the gardens overlooking the vineyards. Easily the best tempranillo I've had outside of Spain. Please check it out.

BBQ lunch at Seville Hill

Accomodation was at Blairgowrie estate. This also comes highly recommended.

Roger relaxes at Blairgowrie Estate

All the boys together...Healsville Hotel

Back in Melbourne I managed to rope in the client to a mini celebration on the roof terrace of the Emerald Peacock.

Finally, the weekend after the main Yarra event we managed to throw a BBQ for some 30 adults and 20 children in the pouring rain. Thanks to everyone for turning up.

 Somewhere along the way this month we also found time (thanks to Lydia's favourite Groupon website) to pose for some 'professional' photo shots. Needless to say, the children came out best.

 So there we are. 40 years old.

I can say with great pride that every decade has thrown up diverse and interesting experiences, but surely the thirties will have seen the most variety and meaningful memories of them all.
Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family for giving me so many memories to cherish

14th November 2001 - Bungee jumping with Olly in Queenstown, NZ
30th June 2002 - World Cup Final, Yokohama, Japan
24th December 2002 - Bullseye Coleraine, the night I met Lydia
25th August 2003 - Moved to wonderful Madrid for my MBA
July 2005 - Lydia joins me in London
25th August 2006 - down on one knee
7th May 2007 - Married
February 2008 - Honeymoon #2, Argentina and Chile
1st september 2008 - two became three - welcome to Celia
April 2009 - A few months in Geneva
28th June 2010 - The family is complete? Welcome to Max
31st August 2010 - A new chapter - off to Melbourne
21st February 2011 - A lucky escape from the Christchurch earthquake
13th November 2011 - The last day of my thirties, in the Yarra Valley

Too many people spend too much time worrying or complaining. I much prefer to keep moving, growing and enjoying. Here's to the next 10 fantastic years and the next round of wonderful memories.

Love you all

AK.

Miss Cherry Devine's debut

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I last posted an entry (the original intention was to do a post weekly) but we are just so busy, plus we got Foxtel installed so have been overdosing on trashy TV (eg. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding - the shame!)
My social life does seem to be a bit busier than Andy's, much to his annoyance, but us fulltime mothers need some time out for our sanity and since a babbysitter is about $100 a night, it is preferable for one of us to babbysit (Andy) and the other to go out (me).
So 3 weekends ago I had my night out with the Aussie mum's group at a lovely restaurant called Newmarket in St Kilda, then 2 weekends ago it was the UK playgroup's Quiz night at Hampton RSL plus Andy's Birthday surprise on the Sunday night (more on that later). This weekend it was my geordie friend Marie's birthday night out which involved cocktails in a very quirky bar (all the waiters are dressed in tennis whites and the roof terrace is decked out in faked grass) called Madame Brussels and then on to a fancy Japanese restaurant where we proceeded to lower the tone so a good night had by all.
Incase you were feeling sorry for Andy, he does get to have a night out this weekend at Moonee Pond races as it is Spring carnival season here and Melburnians are nuts about the races and all accompanying paraphernalia, also lets not forget he had a boys weekend in Auckland for the rugby!
Anyway, more about Andy's 40th birthday surprise - what do you get the man who has everything (when his wife is not earning)?? A surprise Burlesque performance by aforementioned wife of course. Andy thought I was going to Zumba classes for 10 weeks but all was revealed on Sunday the 16th Oct when I performed at a Burlesque Student Showcase at Red Bennies under the stage name of Cherry Devine (all very professional!) I have my friend Andrea to thank for persuading me to do it as I loved every minute of it and of course Andy appreciated it too (as you can see below)

Andy's 40th isn't actually until 14th November so next update will have more details on the birthday celebrations which he is streching out over 5 weeks! 

A lot can happen in a year

We celebrated our first anniversary this month (of arriving in Oz) and although the time has flown by, a lot has happened in that year - trips to New Zealand (including a 6.4 magnitude earthquake), Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula, Wilsons Prom and 3 transglobal flights!
Max has obviously changed the most as he was only 9 weeks old when we arrived and now he is a proper bloke hurling himself down the highest slide/climbing frame/clifftop he can find! Celia has changed too and not all for the better but I guess that's the terrible 3s for you. And as for us, Andy's hair has receeded a bit, mine has gone completely grey, but we've never regretted our move, and bar the first few weeks of understandable stress, we've loved our big adventure down under.
I've adjusted to being a fulltime mum and I can't think of anywhere better to do it. There's so much to do with the children and I have made such fantastic friends through the playgroups and mothers group I attend.
As for our future plans, we are still undecided but then we always said give it two years then decide and that's what we'll do.

The only other event worthy of note this week was my Huntsman spider encounter - I carried the beast in with the mail and got the shock of my life when this crawled out of a pamphlet onto the dinner table. Twenty hits with a Charlie and Lola library book later he was no more!
And for those sad people that actually follow this blog, a quick update on the outcome of our tribunal - the $5000 got reduced to $1750 so very happy bunnies!

Home sweet home

It has been a while since my last post but I think moving house with a 14 month old and a 36 month old gives me a valid excuse. We are pretty much settled in now (still a few teething problems as it's a new house - mainly with the central heating) but we're happy with our choice. The main source of stress is now the old house as the owners are looking for $5000 to cover damages which we think is just wear & tear so Andy is off to a tribunal next week to hopefully get a resolution in our favour.
We threw a party for Celia's 3rd birthday the weekend after we moved and as you can see from the below photos she had a great time.

Turning 3 has however resulted in my little angel turning into a diva / monster - tantrums every day, "No, don't want to!" is the phrase of choice. We have hourly battles as she refuses to eat, get dressed, brush teeth, go to bed etc. Patience was never my strong point so I am near breaking point! I am even trying out Jo Frost supernanny techniques (I swore after I found out that Gina Ford had no children never to listen to the advice of a childless person again!).
Anyway, I'm sure it's just a phase, I just hope the phase doesn't last 14 years or you will be seeing us in Utah on a future series of 'Bootcamp'.......

Rugby World Cup in 4 days time

Life is just so busy. Time for a holiday. Boys trip to New Zealand for Ireland v Australia.

We're on the move

Well we didn't see any other houses worth a second look so Bentleigh it is! As we move next Thursday I decided to book the kids into 'Occasional care' for the first time and start my packing this morning. Occasional care is a great childcare service over here that you just book a week in advance (or two in some places) and you can use it for a few hours whenever you need it. It's heavily funded by the government so it cost $44 for both Celia and Max for 3 hours - loads cheaper than nursery, although funding is due to stop in December - even Australia is feeling the global pinch.
By the time I had settled Celia (not Max - he was fine and it was his first time!), done a couple of errands and had a cup of tea, I only managed to get one hour of packing done - oops!

We have spent the past couple of weeks feeling very relieved that we no longer live in London. I know that the media can blow a few isolated incidents out of all proportion (everyone from Northern Ireland is only too aware of that!) but it really did seem that all hell had broken loose. If it makes those back home feel any better, life in Australia has it's downside too. Firstly there was the incident last week where a lady tried to run me and the double buggy off the pavement with her Doggy buggy (yep, she took her poodle for a walk in a stroller and expected us to move out of its way?!) Even more annoying, her dog was wearing a coat that was probably more expensive than Max and Celia's together and to top it off, it wasn't even cold enough for my children to have their coats on! The 'cold' thing is really starting to get to me. One day it was sunny and 18 degrees and we were on our way to the park in teeshirts when the lollypop lady, who was wrapped up in a fleece and woolly hat, said "oh, I hate those chilly breezes" then shivered....
I took Celia and Max to the beach for a picnic on Tuesday as it was a gorgeous day and the only other person I saw was a woman walking her dog and she also had a fleece and a woolly hat on (at least her dog didn't have a coat!) I started to think it must just be me but when I got back to the car the temperature gauge said 20 degrees??

One final annoyance was last week's Q&A (Australia's version of Question Time). They had the usual political and journalistic types on the panel but I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that one of the panelist was a 'Playschool' presenter - Carol Vodermann all is forgiven.
Doesn't quite compare to riots in your streets I know but all joking aside, I really did despair last week. Things can only get better..............

House-hunting continues.....

The search for the perfect pad down under is limping along and so far only one house has warranted an application but it's in Bentleigh not Bayside (which is a stones throw from Brighton East so only about 10 minutes drive to the sea) however the plus side is that it's got 4 bedrooms so all you potential visitors, get your flights booked!

There have been a couple of milstones regarding the children's development over the past week, the main ones being Celia ditching her dummy and Max walking (like a zombie from the Thiller video but walking all the same). There have also been some not so welcome developments, such as the deafening screeches from Max whenever he spies anyone eating (even if his own mouth is already crammed full of food!) and Celia's obsession with everything having to match from clothes and hair accessories to plates and cutlery and not just her own!

So as a reward for Celia binning the dummy we promised her a toy of her choosing and as Target were having a huge toy sale we popped along last Saturday. Whilst there we spied a lovely kitchen unit which would be perfect for her birthday in 4 weeks time so I duly sent Andy back the next day to get it. Unfortunately it was the last one in the shop so he bought the fully assembled demo which of course was twice the size of the car (he didn't realise until he got it out to the car park apparently!?) So there was no alternative but to walk about 2 miles home with it in the trolley which sounds relatively painless but when you consider he had to get the trolley over the security barrier in the car park, across the Princes highway, over the tram tracks (which incidentally also acted like a security barrier because of the metal) it was no mean feat. Needless to say, I just had to take a photo when he eventually got home. Which reminds me, we still have the trolley in the garage - oops!....

We're back!

Well we have been back in Melbourne for 5 days now after a lovely trip back to Northern Ireland and I am very pleased to say that everybody slept right through for the first time last night and I feel sooo much better for it. The flight back (or more specifically, the 4 flights back!) was as torturous as expected, mainly due to my stressed state of mind rather than the children playing up. Saying goodbye all over again was very hard especially as we don't know when the next trip back will be so I was not the best travel companion!
The day after we arrived back the mother group were having a joint 1st birthday party for all the babies so a fun afternoon was had by all. This was actually Max's third birthday party which is a bit excessive especially as poor Celia has never had any birthday parties and she is nearly 3!

So life has settled back into the normal routine with the exception of looking for a new house. We need to be out by 16th September and we are determined to find somewhere by the sea as that was the original search criteria but it seems that is everyone else's too hence there isn't much coming up. We have a few week's grace before we need to panic (me) or compromise (Andy)!

Happy first birthday Max - what a year!

Today is my wee man's first birthday...and he is 10,000 miles away in Coleraine.
It's been an interesting first year for my son...

Born in London, 28th June 2010
Lived in 3 countries
Visited 8 countries, plus Tasmania
Flew to Australia at 9 weeks old
Learned to crawl
Learned to swim
Learned to say mama (but not dada!)
Survived a massive earthquake

Goodness knows what year 2 will hold!

Daddy misses you loads wee man. Can't wait to give you a big hug on Saturday.

Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb

Last weekend it was time for a bit of man time. Friday night in the pub with work colleagues was followed by a bit of exercise in the morning (I'm doing the Global Corporate Challenge - it involves walking and running a lot) and then off to Sydney.
The best night for a long time started in Kiribilli, progressed through Surry Hills (some great bars in that neck of the woods) and ended up back north of the harbour at the famous Minsky's piano bar until 4am. Brilliant. I suggest Roger will revisit on many an occasion.

On a stunning warm 'winter' morning I took myself off on a long walk around the coastal paths of the North Shore ending up among the fantastic houses at Cremore Point and Mosman Bay. Much as we love Melbourne, I have to admit the scenery in Sydney is simply unbeatable by any city anywhere. That morning walk was simply stunning, and with 20,000 steps on Saturday it set me well on the way to a new record on Sunday too.

Sunday Morning Stroll

When the boys finally woke up from their single mens lie-ins (it will all change one day soon!) they surprised me again by taking me to another new and fantastically beautiful spot for lunch - Balmoral Beach. Definitely a hidden treasure away from the tourist track. Thanks for the tip boys. Loved it. Definitely a family location to aspire to.

Balmoral Beach, Sydney

An amazing weekend continued with a three hour Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb on just the clearest, hottest winters day ever. This was a wonderful experience and well worth the (expensive) price. If you get the chance do it.

Top of Sydney Harbour Bridge

My last weekend home alone was definitely a memorable one. Even the extra $325 to get home after Tiger Airlines cancelled all their flights with no explanation didn't put a dampner on it. Cheap airlines - same the world over. Fly the new Virgin Australia - very classy.

Northern Ireland - The new home of golf

What a proud day for Northern Ireland as Rory McIlroy becomes the second consecutive US Open winner from Northern Ireland. Fantastic performance and well worth the 4.30 am rise for a trip to the casino!

And what a difference a year makes.
Exactly 12 months ago en route to Belfast after missing the cut!

Home Alone

I'm all alone, in a big, sometimes cold, house on the other side of the world. My family have just flown 30 hours back to the UK while I remain in Melbourne for a few weeks work. I have to admit that I was quite looking forward to a few weeks on my own, but now that it's here it just feels, well, wrong! I'm missing my lovely wife and my noisy darling children. And I still wake up at 5.30am every morning anyway - force of habit I guess.

Lydia, Max and Celia have made it home safely. Sounds like Celia was a star on the flight while Max decided it would be a good idea to only sleep 3 hours out of 30 and consequently Lydia had no sleep whatsoever - oh dear! Still, it is over now and I'll be there to share the pain on the way back.

Just watched the apprentice. I think I'm the only person watching who still likes Jim. Not sure what that says about me? Isn't the new world fantastic that you can keep up with everything wherever you are.

The weekend is coming - and with work drinks (without a curfew), a round of golf and maybe some wine tasting on the cards I guess I won't get bored. Most of all though I'm looking forward to skyping my children at their grandparents - oh how one's priorities in life change!

hasta luego.

Winter in Melbourne

June is the first proper month of winter and although it's not cold by Northern Ireland standards it's chillier than I'd have imagined. I also wasn't expecting snow but it's forecast to be the best ski season in 10 years (not actually in Melbourne itself, but the slopes are under 3 hour's drive away).  Maybe we can fit in a weekend's skiing in September if the snowfall is good enough.

Anyway, back to winter in Melbourne - I must say the Australians are a woosy bunch.  When I was out running in my teeshirt and jogging pants last week I passed all these runners in woolly hats, fleeces and gloves - when I got home I checked the temperature and it was 10 degrees!



Well, it's only 1 week and 1 day to go before my first visit back home and although very excited, I am also extremely nervous about the flight over as it's just me and the 2 kids (Andy joins us on 2nd July). I will squeeze Max into a basinette, drug him, bribe Celia with chocolate and hope for the best!



Home away from home.....

Over the past week in particular it struck me that life in Melbourne is just a home away from home.  First and foremost there is the weather - we had hail, gale force wind and torrential rain that didn't let up all week. We could even have gone skiing/sledging 2 hours drive away if we'd been organised enough!
Then there is the fact that since my internet radio arrived I listen to Radio2 and 6Music all day, every day (except when Andy comes home and annoyingly changes it to Radio Clyde?!)  Even when I go out running I listen to Frank Skinner's podcasts from Absolute Radio - technology really is amazing! And of course nearly all the TV programmes are British. The top rated shows are Top Gear, Location Location Location and Grand Designs. For some reason Australians are fasinated by houses on the other side of the world??
Saturday was Eurovision night and yes, it's also huge in Australia?! On Friday, Saturday and Sunday night Eurovision took over, although we didn't have Graham Norton commentating unfortunately.   
On the theme of TV, I must tell you what the hilarious front page headline was today - 'New comedy from Little Britain stars too sophisticated for country viewers'. Would you believe they are only going to show 'Come fly with me' in the major cities and the simple country folk will get some trashy American sitcom in it's place - only in Australia!
Anyway, back to my home away from home theme....I am ashamed to say that nearly all my friends are British. Even the local playgroup now has more British families attending than Australian and every week a new UK family joins - is there anyone left back home?? (I'd like to point out that I do have a few Australian friends and we had a lovely night out on Friday so I am trying to redress the balance!)
Finally, I dress Celia and Max head to toe in M&S as even with the international delivery charge, the clothes are half the price of stuff over here (and far nicer - I get nonstop compliments on Celia's winter coat) so we are going home with 4 empty suitcases in June and will probably have to pay excess luggage charges on the way back!
  

4 happy years of marriage

Saturday 7th May represented the completion of four years of wedded bliss. A lot has changed in four years but all of it for the better.
Our evening of celebration began in a great little cocktail bar - Murmur. Amazing cocktails and a waitress wearing stockings (so Lydia noticed).
Next up, Red Spice Road and their famous spicy pork belly. The waitress was concerned we were ordering too much food...but there were so many great dishes to try (and we don't get out much!). A nice bottle of Pinot and eating very slowly did the trick and allowed us to finish the lot. Black zambucas finished us off as a nice digestif.
For Melbournian readers, RSR was excellent, really great, but Longrain still wins on the asian fusion stakes for me. Next time, Lyds!

Sunday, mother's day (in Australia) and a wife that wasn't feeling so great. Daddy took contol of parenting for the day and Celia seemed to get much faster on her bike that day. She even wore a helmet.

Also, a momentus occasion for Max. Finally, a tooth. And now, a few days later a second one. Rock and roll!

There's a lot going on down under

A lot can happen in a few weeks.
Since my last update there's been...

A week in Sydney, checking out the life of a single man through the eyes of my good friend Roger. Even his flatmates can't quite keep up with his love life so what chance have I got. You may have great fun my good friend but I'm too old for Thursday night drinking!

A week in Singapore and a few nights out with Gavin and Nicholas. Great to see you again guys again and the food over there is just the biz.  Singapore is a great city but a liittle too much like London for my liking...and stinking hot. You guys have a great life, but I'm a bit too old for Tuesday and Wednesday night drinking!

An overnight flight back from Singapore...ahh the joys of business class...movies and G&T and swiftly on to our lovely 5 day Easter break at Wilson's Promotory (aka "the 'Prom", but not like Portstewart on a Sunday night).
I have to say this was my favourite family holiday to date. Celia and Max together are becoming a great little comedy act. Everyone was very relaxed, the setting idyllic and the agenda very empty. Pure relaxation - well, as close as you get with children in tow.

Next up, back to Melbourne and 100% total Royal Wedding fever. If you think a republic is on the cards any time soon, it certainly doesn't feel that way. Coverage on all media was wall to wall. I have to say, as an unashamed royalist, I loved it. Lydia, Celia and Max seemed to be caught up in it too - with wedding parties galore.

The highlight of course was commentary Australian style from Dame Edna. Got to love it.

Royal wedding was quickly followed by Obama vs Osama with Obama striking the final blow (well watching it on TV anyway). 1st May 2011 will go down in history alongside 11th September 2001. Hopefully the world is safer now. I guess I have my doubts still.

Next up, wedding anniversary on Saturday and not too far down the line a little trip back to the UK.
All go, but still all good.
Have fun.

Gok comes to town



The view from my Friday morning run



The new nursery seems to have been a good move as Celia was so much happier when I left her off on Friday even though it was only her first day. This meant I had a guilt-free run along the Brighton coastal path, followed by coffee and croissants at North Point cafe overlooking the sea, reading my book while Max had a kip - bliss! Then I had a little bit of retail therapy in Elsternwick which is one of the many Melbourne suburbs where the local shopping street has really kept its charm and community feel so everyone chats to you and bends over backwards to help - chains like Starbucks wouldn't stand a chance!
This was followed in the afternoon by baby group in the park as it was such as a glorious day and Jess had made the most amazing cake. I was pretty much thinking life couldn't get much better when Andy arrived home to tell me he was off his nice city centre project where he gets home by 7pm most nights and was off to Sydney on Sunday for the week and Singapore the following week. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!

On Saturday me and some of the girls decided it would be a laugh to go and see Gok Wan doing his makeover show at the local shopping centre. Gok was quite funny and a bit risque for midday but the makeovers were awful. They put everyone in stilettos that were too big and leopard print & black, including the woman who needed a makeover to get some colour into her wardrobe?! Oh well, it was worth going just to get a few hours with the girls childfree.

Late Saturday afternoon Andy’s boss was hosting a Teddy Bear’s picnic for all the families with young kids so we headed over to her house where Celia overdosed on chocolate, Max tried his hardest to overdose on chocolate (and leaves, twigs, grass etc) and Andy overdosed on Mount Avoca shiraz as not only is Lisa head of Deloitte, she also owns a vineyard as you do! 

A week in the life of.....

I seem to talk a lot about our weekends on this blog and although we did have another lovely weekend (barbie at Andrea and Dan's on Saturday, and a daytrip to Dalesford which is Australia's answer toWoodstock, on Sunday) I thought I'd let you know what I get up to during the week.

Barbie at Andrea's

On Mondays we go to the local church playgroup where we have storytime, singing, craft activity, group morning tea (which I had to provide last week - very stressful as I've never fed 25 under 4's before!) and they have the best stocked toy cupboard I've ever seen. We also had an easter egg hunt in the church gardens this week which all the kids loved, including me as I got to eat lots of chocolate as poor Celia's couldn't manage more than 2 mini eggs or that's what I told her anyway. You pay an annual fee of $120 and it's well worth the money - makes a change from my usual whinging about the price of everything else!

On Tuesday's we go to rhymetime at the library which is much like the sessions we used to go to in london except that it is overseen by a mini-hitler type librarian who shouts at the mothers if they let their children stray from their laps for more than 2 seconds. She had one mum in tears a few weeks ago so she is great entertainment value. Luckily Celia is very well behaved but I can tell Max is going to be a 'bolter' very very soon so I'd better watch out!

It is the expat playgroup on a Wednesday and this is where I've met most of my new 'mummy friends'. Mind you, the Monday playgroup is rapidly becoming an expat playgroup as 4 new british families have joined in the past 3 weeks and on our night out last week, 8 out of 11 of us were Brits!

This playgroup is less structured than the Monday one and its really just an excuse for likeminded mums to get together and have a gossip/moan about the price of bananas and flights home.

We go to my 'Prams in the Park' exercise session on a Thursday and so far it has worked out OK. Celia plays happily on her own for an hour (I'm sure any day now I'll regret writing that) and Max normally has a sleep in the buggy so I actually get quite a good workout.

Celia starts a new nursery this Friday as she was still crying every time I left her off at the other one which can't be right after 5 months. Luckily the local council childcare centre had a space so it will be a nice 5 minute stroll away rather than a 15 minute drive plus it's a nice small group of 10 children. So Friday will be my cleaning, shopping, jogging day every other week as I have my mother's group on alternate Friday/Thursday afternoons. This is where I pretend to be a first time mum and Max gets to meet all his pals.

                                                    Mother's group round at ours

And somewhere in the weekly schedule I try to fit in a few park visits, cooking, cleaning, washing etc so the weeks are flying by and generally I'm enjoying life as a fulltime mum. There are of course a few days where I miss having a 'proper' job and I got halfway through an application form for Ikea on Monday before I had a quiet word with myself! The fact that we are having an indian summer right now also contributes to the appreciation of my current 'occupation' as what job allows you to sunbath in your back garden for an hour at lunchtime, then head off to the park where you can sit under a tree with a book for another hour (is it any wonder Celia is good at entertaining herself - what a bad mother!).......

   

  

    

Time for a little whinge

Although we had another lovely weekend (relaxing in the garden on Saturday and lunch in the countryside on Sunday with an old uni friend of Andy's and his Melburnian wife) I thought it was time for me to air a few grievances just because that is what I do best!
The main whinge this week must be about our ongoing possum problem. They've been living with us since December yet the pest control people only managed to come out to us this week. They blocked the hole in the roof with the intention of forcing them out the escape hatch but instead it sent them downstairs (favourite spots being behind the extractor fan in the kitchen and more alarmingly Max' bedroom) I think they have now escaped (or died) but it's typical the one week that Celia and Max both decide to sleep through all night, the possums keep us awake!
An ongoing whinge is of course the cost of living over here. I had to actually ration Max and Celia's banana intake this week as they have now reached $12 a kilo (that about £2.50 a banana)!  We also naturally  expected our favourite Australian wines to cost less than they did in London but some of them are as much as 50% more here?! The biggest price shock this week, however, was the cost of musicals (not an everyday essential item I grant you). How I regret not taking advantage of all the shows when I was in London. The only musical showing is Hairspray and it's about 3 times the price you'd pay in the West End.
I watched Australia's answer to 'Question Time' this week (called 'Q&A'). The format is pretty much identical except they run a constant ticker along the bottom of the screen showing all the incoming twitter comments and I mean all. So as I was listening to a very serious and well articulated debate on Libya I was amazed to see scrolling along the bottom of the screen such comments as "that Miss Devine is a bit of alright, mmmm...." How I miss the BBC!
And finally, I was peeved to discover that they have never heard of Aussie Miracle Moist shampoo over here - I feel like reporting them to the trading standards office as I'm poitive they don't really use Macadamia nuts from Queensland!

Back to Normality

The past 2 weeks have been blissfully uneventful in comparison to the previous 2 but that is not to say we haven't been making the most of our weekends. The Saturday before last we had a lovely barbie at Niamh and John's house (one of my expat playgroup friends) and the next day we headed into the countryside as Deloitte were hosting a family day at a fun park so more barbequing, rides on hobby horses, Celia went down her first 'big' water slide and she took part in a very early easter egg hunt.

This weekend was a long one as Monday was a public holiday (Labour day) so we went to the Moomba festival on Saturday which is held on the banks of the river Yarra in the city centre. As always this was free, family friendly and packed with things to do - they really know how to put on an event here.

On Sunday we went to Werribee Open range zoo which would have been more enjoyable if it hadn't been for the typical Melbourne weather (set off in blazing sunshine dressed accordingly, 10 minutes outside Melbourne the temperature drops 6 degrees and in the blink of an eye the storm clouds roll in and it pours for the next 3 hours!). Anyway, Celia loved the hippos and Max was a big fan of the wooden variety.

We ventured into the city centre on Monday to attend the Moomba festival parade in the morning and see a bit more of the city in the afternoon. Celia was a bit unsure of the stilt walkers but she loved the Melbourne Museum in the afternoon (once again this is free, child friendly and has stacks to see and do) plus it's next door to the beautiful Royal exibition building and is in cool and quirky Fitzroy so we have earmarked a few bars and restaurants for some return visits.

So a lovely way to spend a few days and appreciated all the more when we got home and witnessed the horrors the poor people in Japan are going through. Feels surreal.   

Sunshine, chilling out, old friends and a fab wedding - We Love New Zealand!

Before being caught in a certain earthquake in Christchurch, we actually had an amazing holiday in New Zealand. It really is one of the most stunning places we've ever been and I for one can't wait to go back.

As it was only 5 short weeks since our last holiday we really didn't feel ready for another trip. Consequently both Lydia and I were totally underwhelmed by the prospect of the planned 10 days of planes, hirecars and boats that awaited us in NZ.
Within 24 hours of reaching Queenstown however we were well and truly switched to holiday mode. Nine and a half years after my last visit (an adrenaline packed boys trip with my friend Olly) and once again I was in love with New Zealand. Our thanks for this must go in no small measure to the wonderful hosting of Julie Brown (and husband Julian) a good friend from distant Glasgow years. They laid on a fantastic barbeque and introduced us to their beautiful and carefree children. Sipping wine made from vines growing in your own garden whilst your children play on the lawn overlooking uninterupted lake and mountain views. You guys certainly have the life! Great to see you all - we'll be back come ski-season!

Why can't all gardens be like this?

BBQ and great company by Julie Brown.
Wine by Amisfield. http://www.amisfield.co.nz/

We spent four days in and around Queenstown and could easily have spent another week. Wanaka and Arrowtown are two other fantastically scenic towns and everywhere you go the people are incredible, the roads are empty and the views sensational. Celia loved the paddling (even if the water was freezing) and Max just seemed like a different wee boy thanks to the fresh air and a bit of daddy time!
We can't recommend it enough.

Nice!

Simon says - put your right hand up

From Queenstown, through a combination of plane, car and boat we made it to Marlborough Sound and the seclusion of Furneaux Lodge (http://furneaux.co.nz/accommodation) on the north coast of the North Island. This was the main reason for our trip to NZ - the wedding of another university friend Olly and his new kiwi wife Sarah. This was a four day affair in a location only accessable by boat (or a 3-day walk). The combination of fishing, diving, walking and wine on the veranda with mates I haven't seen for 10 years made for an incredible few days. The wedding wasn't bad either!

Thank you so much for the invite Olly and Sarah. Your vows were memorable. The wedding was stunning and we wish you all the best for a happy future together. We'll be waiting patiently for news of those first grandkids!

Furneaux Lodge

Mr and Mrs Roberts

Get a room!

Chip of a very old block

From Furneaux, via Picton it was back to Christchurch and a couple of nights in the tranquil beachside suburb of Sumner with its surfing, great coffee and scary scenic mountain roads. Yet again we found a great little town, with lovely friendly people and amazing scenery.

On 22nd February 2011, three hours after we left the hotel for a walk round Christchurch before heading to the airport, Sumner was very near to the epicentre of the Christchurch earthquake. Our holiday ended a little unexpectedly but thankfully we have some terrific memories of the previous 10 days to balance the rather more scary times of the next couple of days.

I'll be back to New Zealand again in September for the rugby world cup. I can't wait.

View from top of Queenstown hill

Christchurch Earthquake - Way too close for comfort!

For most of the last two weeks we have enjoyed a fantastic trip to New Zealand where we went to celebrate the wedding of our good friends Sarah and Oliver who live in Christchurch. Our most vivid memories however are of a much more tragic event.

At 12.50pm on Tuesday we were just finishing our lunch, a nice sandwich in New Regent St, Christchurch, a few minutes after stepping off the tourist tram in Cathedral Square.
At 12.51pm we were on the floor of the cafe with our 7 month old Max's buggy thrown on its side, surrounded by food and bottles of soft drink falling from the fridges. Yes, we were in the middle of a 6.3 earthquake - it was very obvious very quickly.
What we didn't know at the time of course was that this was the most deadly earthquake to ever hit New Zealand and that only two streets away in both directions buildings were collapsing taking scores of lives.

The next few minutes were pretty hectic as we picked up our children and got out of there as quickly as possible. As we left the cafe we could see clouds of dust coming up the street, probably from the cathedral so obviously we ran the other way, with Lydia carrying a frightened Celia and me pushing a screaming but somewhat oblivious Max. We had to crouch and take cover a few more times as fairly large and extremely scary aftershocks hit but we were pretty quickly out of the central area and away from large buildings.

As we walked away from the central business district in a bit of a state of shock we could see helicopters dropping water on burning buildings and plumes of dust rising in several parts of the small city. It was pretty obvious that there was no chance of retrieving our luggage or passports. They were in a multi-story car park right in the city centre as we were due to head to the airport immediately after lunch. The locals told us that the last earthquake had sealed off the city centre for a week and that this one was much worse. We also heard on someones radio that the airport was closed so we, like many thousands or others were stranded with only the clothes we were wearing.

  


A backpacker hotel we passed as we left the CBD - everyone got out safely

 

Refugee children sharing their donated pyjamas

Over the next 48 hours we experienced so many random acts of kindness it wouldn't be possible to mention them all - but I'll try to remember the main ones

• The backpackers who let us share their radio to hear what was happening
• The amazing lady from Armagh street (we will find out your name and send you a thank you) who took us into her house and gave us water, baby milk, baby bottles, spare clothes for the children, advice on where to go
• The bus driver who squeezed us on the first 'stranded foreigners' bus out of the city and then left us all alone at the Antarctic Exploration Centre (a blessing in disguise)
• The manager at the Sudima hotel whos organisational skills in controlling, feeding and arranging sleeping for around 2000 stranded people was just staggering
• The Australian family (Levi, Sarah and Ruby) who so kindly allowed us to share their room on Tuesday night - unbelievably we were one of a very small minority in that hotel who actually had a bed - although with dozens of aftershocks there wasn't much sleeping!
• The businessmen and the German student who lent me their iPhone chargers - I hope the extra blankets from our room helped you sleep a little. iPhone4 battery life is appalling, just when you need it most.
• The Red Cross people at the rescue centres who were organised and helpful and gave us more nappies, babyfood and plenty of food and water.
• The manager of the beautiful Copthorn hotel and his wife who took us into their home and gave us coffee and a few moments of calm at a point in the day when things were becoming a little too stressful to handle (for Lydia!). They then found us a room in the hotel that allowed us to see the British Consulate on Thursday morning - and he bought me a Guinness.
• Margaret, the mother of our friend Michelle in Melbourne who drove, picked us up and then ferried us to one of the few open chemists to have our new passport photos taken
• The English couple we met at dinner who kindly donated clean t-shirts to Lydia and I (they probably smelt us across the table) and some books and stickers for Celia
• My employer Deloitte for arranging and paying for our very expensive new flights home - without them we would have been there until Sunday
• The British Consulate for getting us emergency passports (eventually)
• The random woman we met at the British Consulate who then insisted on dropping us to the airport
• My boss Lisa, for coming to meet us at Melbourne airport at 9.30pm with food, flowers, wine and teddy bears. Amazing.

Red Cross Relief Centres - Very impressive

The one thing maybe doesn't get properly reported is the number of aftershocks. In the 51 hours between the earthquake and the time we left Christchurch there were more than 100 aftershocks, each of them making your heart beat just a little faster than normal, and in some cases quite a lot faster! Check out this fascinating up-to-the-minute tremmor map. http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

And finally, thanks to all our friends around the world who sent so many great messages of support via Facebook. A lot of families in Christchurch are much much worse off than us this week so please think of them too. We have a story to tell for the rest of our lives. Around 250 people aren't here to tell any stories anymore.

The epicentre - where we were EXACTY 24 hours earlier - the view is probably quite different now

Very soon we'll post some details and photos of the real reason we went to NZ - a fantastic holiday and a beautiful wedding. It's a truly stunning country with incredibly friendly people so please go see for yourself. I guess it would be understandible if Christchurch isn't on your itenerary right now (although the tourist dollar will be most welcome in the coming months) but the rest of the South Island should be on everyone's 'must see' list. We loved it.

















Honeymoon Couple and LOTS of rain!

Last weekend we had our first proper overseas visitors come to stay. We're still waiting to hear from all the others who promised a visit!
My cousin Russell and blushing bride (actually Russell is far more blushing come to think of it) Claire (formerly of Ballyclaire) Millen stopped in for a couple of days whilst enjoying their Australian honeymoon.

I'm not sure if the open plan nature of our spare room, extremely squeaky spare bed and children who like to wake up at 6am really created the desired honeymoon atmosphere but it was fantastic to see them nonetheless.

Unfortunately for Russell and Claire Melbourne's unpredictable weather excelled itself throwing up the worst tropical rainstorm in living memory (just as I was stoking up the BBQ). It then proceeded to rain torrentially for 24 hours and then be freezing cold the rest of the weekend. Lovely excuse for a couple of big nights out however.

We trust you are enjoying the rest of your honeymoon and hope Max and Celia did their little bit in showing you the delights of parenthood (they were really funny and well behaved all day - just forgot how to sleep at night for a couple of days).

Anyway, next up on our antipodean odessy is a little trip to New Zealand and the very extravagant wedding of my old friend Olly. More on that one next time.