Happy New Year!

We decided when we emigrated to Australia that we would see in 2008 in Sydney, so after 2 great weeks in Perth, we flew to stay with our friends in Cronulla which is south of Sydney. We met Kylie & Josh when we were backpacking in Thailand and had stayed with them on our 'tour' of Australia in 2003. It was good to be with them again and, as usual, we ate too much and drank too much. Well, the diet always starts tomorrow doesn't it.

The fireworks at the Harbour Bridge were fantastic. Unfortunately the batteries in my camera died at about 11pm (how embarrassingly frustrating) so these are the best my phone can offer. Still, it shows how close we were to the action. We met a really lovely lady who, on hearing we had to travel for an hour or so to get back to Cronulla, invited us to stay at her place. That's typical Aussie behaviour.

We were right on the waterfront in a 'no alcohol' area. Well, they were quite happy to sell alcohol at outrageous prices but they were checking bags on the way in. We were aware of this and had poured our white wine into a pineapple drink carton and so, smiling sweetly at security as they checked our bags, had a lovely, merry time!
(This is the 4th attempt of trying to get rid of Andy's chins for the picture!)

A few days later we headed back into the city with Kylie & Josh and did a bit of the touristy thing. People kept asking us if we were in holiday and when we said 'yes', they replied, "Oh, it will be cold when you get back then". It was great being able to say, "Actually it's 40 degrees in Adelaide where we live". We live in Australia - yippee!

After our great time in Sydney and Cronulla, we travelled inland to Mittagong to stay with friends from Chelmsford. It was good to catch up with Janet & John (but are still looking for Peter & Jane - LOL. Those born after the 70's may not have a clue about this but tough - you missed out!). As we arrived, a wild peacock flew onto their property and proceeded to stroll around the roof. It was a bizarre sight.

So, we are now back in Adelaide. We've missed the 43 degree heat and today has been a beautiful 28 degrees. We've had a relaxing few weeks and I (Carla) have another 2 weeks before the new school year begins. Andy didn't get the job although it was very close and he only missed out to someone with more experience. He's feeling fine about it and now that I have a full time contract, the money pressure is off anyway. It's great that he can continue coaching as well as picking up the occasional handy man work.

We missed our family and friends during this special time and we hope you all had a good Christmas. May 2008 be all that you want it to be.

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas to you all. Hope you had a great Christmas - we certainly did. We flew to Perth on 16th December and stayed with our friends Michael & Jane for 2 weeks. We had a lot of fun and were thoroughly spoilt.

We had lunch at Wills Domain - a winery in the Margaret River region. It has to be one of the best meals we've ever eaten. We had a platter for 4 which included salmon, duck, giant prawns, chorizo sausage, roasted vegetables, dips (like pesto & sundried tomato) and a selection of delicious cheeses. All washed down with a glass or two of crisp semillion sauvigon blanc. What a life!

Christmas was celebrated with lunch at Jane's sister's where we were made to feel very welcome. Christmas in 40 degree heat feels very strange but we enjoyed it. We went to church in the morning, follwed by mince pies in Kings Park overlooking the Swan River & Perth's skyline. Then we took a quick trip to the beach where the Aussies were 'doing Christmas' in style - there were a number of people in bathers (swim gear) with Santa hats on. After lunch we returned to Michael & Jane's place for a well earned dip. . .

After Christmas, Andy & I returned to the Margaret River for a couple of days. We did quite a bit of wine tasting as well as visiting the cheese and chocolate factory. We swam a lot in the sea near Yallingup which is the most stunning beach.

It was great to be back in Perth - it truly is a great city and we can't believe how many people we've met that have travelled around Australia and not made it to Perth. We were sad to leave as we had such a great time, but seeing as we were flying to Sydney for New Year, we didn't complain too much!