7 Bridges Walk
The weather was good again today, so Sue and I headed to Sydney to take part in the first 7 Bridges Walk. This was a charity event covering a 22km walk around all the bridges surrounding the main Sydney Harbour. We weren't sure if we'd do the whole lot, but thought we'd give it a go, especially as the girls preferred to stay at home today.

We found somewhere to park near Milsons Point, at the north end of the Harbour Bridge, and then registered before setting off over the bridge. The route then took us over Pyrmont Bridge to Darling Harbour, on to the new Anzac Bridge and then 4 other bridges around the harbour. There was a steady stream of walkers around us at all times, even as we left the more 'popular' areas of the city.

Although the bridges were mostly busy with traffic, many of the roads between the bridges were through suburban roads and parks, which were lovely, especially at this time of year with the mauve jacaranda trees and other blossoming trees. There was a particularly attractive old village area in Leichhardt, soon after the Anzac Bridge, with small cottages and ironwork railings.

We felt we were making reasonable time so continued around the route, although the last third started to get painful, but we made it back to the car in just over 5 hours. There were lots of people walking the route, of all ages, although it wasn't particularly 'social' and not a great atmosphere, but it was good to explore the backstreets and see some great views of the harbour from different angles.

Some more pictures from the walk are here.

Clive

The 'Aussie Wave'
There was a piece in the local paper today about the reappearance of the 'Aussie Wave' this Spring - and yes, the flies can be very annoying! We had a lot around us last Sunday on the North Head and the girls get them at school as well. Once the flies here decide to land on you, they don't take no for an answer and persistently try to land on your nose, in your ear or in your mouth! When they're not flying around your face, they hang onto your back waiting for a suitable moment to try again.

After a quiet week of school and work, today was spent doing a variety of things. Laura went on the Manly ferry to Sydney with 'PJ', a new friend. We dropped Rebecca and friend at Warringah Mall for a few hours, and the rest of us went to Collaroy and Dee Why to find some specific shops for walking boots (for Sue) and material (for Caroline). Had sun all day today after an overcast week.

The clocks go forward an hour tonight for 'Daylight Saving Time', so that as the UK clocks go back, there will now be 11 hours time difference between the countries, instead of 9.

Clive

Problems come in 3s?
A few little problems arose today. Firstly, we noticed that the pool cleaner wasn't working again this morning so I cleared the leaves out of the basket to see if that helped, but the motor still wasn't doing anything, so I called Ben back to take a look. He turned up in the afternoon and decided that the pump was not very well, so he disconnected it and took it away. He threw in another bag of salt for good measure and he also suggested we put more water in the pool still!

Another problem for the rental agents is that Matt the gardener turned up for an hour or so this morning and noticed that a large tree branch had come down in the lower garden (which we hadn't seen or heard). The tree is decayed with termites, he thinks, and so the rest could also come down soon, so he's arranged for some specialists to come and take the rest of the tree down.

And finally, I took delivery of a new computer from Dell and set up was all going swimmingly until the blue screen of death appeared and the thing refuses to start up again. This is still unresolved at the moment and will probably need a call to Dell tonight or tomorrow.

Clive

North Head Walk
Today was better weather but still cool. Sue and I started the day with a quick cycle ride from the house, but as we're pretty unfit at the moment, it was hard work up all the hills around here. And we thought Crowborough was bad!

Caroline had arranged to see some friends today and Laura preferred to stay at the house, so Sue, Rebecca and I headed off to Manly where there was a walk being held on the last day of the 'Parks Week', promoting the various National Parks around Sydney. A new walk has just been opened from Manly up onto the North Head, with good paths through the bush and a route that takes in the old Artillery training school. The photo is of Sue and Rebecca at the edge of the parade ground, having completed the walk.

The North Head had great views across to Sydney city and up the Northern Beaches, plus there's a lot of history here with the old army base and the Quarantine Station where immigrants were held in the 19th century. There were quite a lot of people on the walk and the sun came out for much of it. Highlights were following the path by ducking through a hole in the old wall surrounding the headland, an old gun emplacement from WWII, views across the harbour and the Quarantine Station cemetery, with gravestones in overgrown bushland.

On the way back to the car we detoured through the Management College where there was a wine festival taking place. Lovely atmosphere and interesting to see this building close up as it stands out above Manly and the surrounding area.

This place was also the setting for Nicole Kidman's wedding to Keith Urban in June this year.

So it does rain...
Today has been cool and wet with some heavy rain in the afternoon. As I mentioned before, the rain is much needed with regular reports in the paper of the worst drought in 100 years and the struggling farmers in NSW, plus a high risk of bush fires this summer. There is also a hosepipe ban in place, so that gardens can only be watered in the morning and evenings on Sundays and Wednesdays, although this could become stricter as the summer wears on.

We could have done with heavy rain a few days earlier as we had our first pool maintenance visit on Thursday. A man of few words, Ben showed us how to look after the pool on a daily basis and then he chucked bags of salt, chlorine and other chemicals into the pool as it was running very low. The water level was also too low for the filter and pumps to be working properly, so we had to leave the hose running for several hours to top it up. If this process is repeated across Sydney, you can see where all the water goes!

After their first week at school the girls have been organising their social lives, so that Laura is off to the cinema this evening and Caroline (and possibly Rebecca) are seeing friends tomorrow. This means we are settling back into the routine of a weekend taxi service, although with the weather at the moment it's not disrupting any other plans!

Clive

More school
So Laura started school today and so all the girls are back into the routine! She had a good day and Caroline and Rebecca are also settling in and making friends. L&C's school have a sports afternoon on Wednesday's with a choice of different activities, so Laura went and played tennis and Caroline had a go at surfing at the Long Reef beach. They don't get much tuition but it's a great way to give these things a go, or improve skills with friends.

Sue and I had an empty house to come back to after dropping the girls off at school, so I got down to some work and Sue did some chores around the house before an old friend of Angela's - Shirley - came for lunch at midday. We had also all been for lunch on Sunday at some other friends of Angela's - Ann and Ted - and it was good to meet them all and to thank them for the advance information they'd provided to us before we came over here.

Clive

First day at school
Caroline and Rebecca both started at their new schools today and Laura will start on Wednesday as her year are sitting exams for the next 2 days. We were all back to the school day routine today for the first time in months, with alarms going off at 7am and getting sorted ready to leave at 8.15.

We all went in the car, to drop Caroline off at the Forest school first - she was quite happy to go in on her own - and then on to Allambie Heights where Rebecca started 30 mins later, so we had to site around and wait for a while before Sue took her in. Both girls had good days and were made to feel welcome, which was great and they are looking forward to going back tomorrow! Laura can't wait to start either!

Today was the first full day of cloudy skies and some rain, although most fell through the night - often quite heavy, which pounded on the flat roof of our bedroom, along with the nightly possum that runs across the roof in hob-nailed boots!

Sue

Getting hotter!
The last 2 days have been hot - in the mid 30's - although not too humid. We were going into Sydney on Friday but decided to stay at the house and make use of the pool, so it was a leisurely day in the heat. The upper floor of the house gets very warm during the day, but the downstairs level remains much cooler and is likely to be a pleasant sanctuary during the height of the summer!

Yesterday (Saturday) was spent waiting for a delivery of some furniture in the morning, so we all went in the pool again as the temperatures remained high. Then after lunch we decided to go to the beach and ended up a Dee Why where there was a surfboat racing competition going on. This involved heats of 4 boats racing out from the beach, through the surf and around some buoys out to sea, then back in again (with some doing 2 circuits). Each boat contained 4 rowers and an oarsman (or woman) standing up. The surf wasn't that high today but some boats hit a big one and others used the surf to their advantage to get back to the beach.


Today has started with a much cooler temperature and also some rain! This was a short heavy shower of light rain and really the first we've had since arriving a month ago. There is quite a serious drought throughout NSW and Southern Australia at the moment but it's likely to need more rain than this to solve the problem.

The other thing about the rain was that it set the birds off - either with excitement, surprise or concern - and the trees were filled with noise. We are surrounded by birds here, some of which are still going through the night, although we're getting used to them! More about the birds another time...

Clive

Shopping!
This week seems to have been spent shopping for things for the house now that we know what space we have and what we need to replace having not bought stuff from the UK. So, items of furniture, some electrical items and other bits and pieces which is further helping the house to take shape and feel more like a home (although the sofas for the 'family room' will still take 6 weeks to be delivered!).

Prices here are similar to the UK for most things although electrical items seem slightly cheaper, helped no doubt by the better exchange rates at the moment. Petrol is also very reasonable - about half the price of the UK - although the cost does fluctuate by 10-20 cents between different days and its cheaper at the start of the week for some reason!

We've also been sorting out things around the house this week, with the pool maintenance and security systems, and also finding the routes to the nearby shopping centres. We've had a couple of 'problems', with a flooding washing machine, a bees nest and also faulty lights in the kitchen, but these have been sorted quickly and it's starting to feel like home already!

Sue

Our first swim in the pool
Today was warm enough to get into the pool for the first time so we all had 'a dip', although the neighbours probably thought we were mad! The weather is unseasonably hot at the moment and apparently many Australians don't like it, although it doesn't seem too bad yet! It all changed quickly over lunchtime as the sun started to disappear and strong winds picked up, so we went for a drive down to the harbour to explore some of the small beach areas around Balmoral and Taronga Zoo.

Yesterday Caroline and Laura (together with Sue, all at different intervals) had a go at walking to their new school to see if they could find their way and how long it would take. Seemed to work out well and didn't take too long, but with a heavy school bag could be a different matter, and then it will be bus or lift to rely upon!

The afternoon was spent at Warringah Mall, the large shopping complex about 10 minutes drive from here. There's a fantastic array of shops there and it's easy to get to and park, which almost makes it an enjoyable experience for me - especially as we spent some time in my favourite sort of shop looking for, and buying, a new TV and DVD system!

Clive

Moving - Part 3
Yesterday we moved into our new house in Forestville. We got to the house at 8.30 in preparation for our container of furniture from the UK to turn up, but couldn't collect the key from the real estate office until 9am. We met one neighbour while waiting and also had a nosey around the outside of the house and out the back.

Once we'd got the key we got into the house and the container lorry turned up soon afterwards. It took the 2 men about 2-3 hours to unload everything and then it was a big unpacking job which took most of yesterday and also today to get everything sorted and into place. However, the house quickly started to take shape and feel like 'home' with all the stuff from Crowborough that we'd forgotten about. This place feels really comfortable and homely and we feel lucky to have got this one, especially compared to some of the other houses we had looked at for a similar price.

We were up early today in expectation for an engineer from Optus to come and install telephone, broadband and digital TV, although he was later than expected. After a few hours that was all sorted out and we spent the rest of the day sorting rooms out. Sue and Laura went off to discover the local supermarket and then Sue and I went to find the fabulous local bottle shop (more like a supermarket as well!).

Clive

Our final day in Narrabeen
We heard yesterday that our container of furniture had cleared customs and is ready for delivery to our new house tomorrow, which is a relief, as we won't need to get any temporary stuff for the first few days in the house. We did however have to get some basic electrical items today in preparation for the house, as most of these things we sold off in the UK before we came.

This morning was spent finalising some official things - Clive went to register the company through a business in Crows Nest, and then we returned to Forestville to sign the lease agreement and pay the initial rent and bond (deposit) for the new house. We'll be back on the doorstep of the real estate agents at opening time tomorrow to collect the keys, as the container is expected to turn up first thing - so a busy day in store!

Sue

A dip in the ocean
Yesterday was a public holiday here - Labour Day - and the sun was shining so we spent the morning walking on a bush walk around the nearby Narrabeen Lagoon, and then after lunch we walked down to Warriewood Beach for a spot of sunbathing and swimming! The sea was still quite cool but we all had a chance for a swim and a pathetic attempt at body-boarding. Need some more practice there.

We also had a visit from Jane, Clive and Emily for Sunday lunch. It was great to see them again and have them as contacts here if we need them. We all walked down to the beach after lunch and all the girls had fun in the waves!

Clive