Permanent visa

Towards the end of the working day today, I received an email from the Immigration Department, which was short and to the point - our permanent visa had been granted! There was an attached letter with more details about how to get our passports stamped with this new visa, which lasts for the next 5 years before it needs to be renewed (or we can apply for citizenship after the next 2 years).

So it's been just over 7 weeks since I first submitted the application file (and since October when I originally started the process by applying for sponsorship from the NSW Government). I had to submit further paperwork for verification several weeks ago, but getting this confirmation now is a great relief - at least we can determine our own future rather than be on a set timetable. I was having some concerns during the recent process and, if there had been a problem with the application, the last 3 1/2 years would have been a very expensive holiday!

However, we can now relax a bit more and plan our future with some more certainty.

Laura's weekend return

Laura came back from Wollongong for the weekend to attend a friend's hen party - mostly revolving around a harbour cruise in a 'party boat' on the Saturday night, followed by a stay at some serviced apartments. However, Laura and some friends returned home in the early hours, rather than cope with 22 of them trying to fit into a room with 2 double beds!

She seems to be settling into the university life well and has established a good circle of friends, both from her nursing course and from the campus accommodation. She also seems to have a lot of lectures, which is good compared to some courses, and will undertake some practical work in the next term. She has ordered her nurses uniform and we're waiting to see photos!

It was a sunny weekend again but not too hot. The sea is a good temperature at the moment so Sue and I went to Warriewood beach for a swim on Saturday morning, which is close to the house that we first stayed in when we arrived in 2006. The waves were quite strong but we managed to cool off after a short walk around the headland. We went back to Shelley Beach on Sunday for another snorkel although the visibility wasn't that good again due to the swell, but I managed to see some shoals of cuttlefish swimming around, which were fascinating.

Camping on the Central Coast

Clive and I have just about returned from a camping trip which we finally got to do over the weekend. The weather on Saturday was lovely, so as I was working in the morning, we loaded up the car after lunch with tent, sleeping bags, Esky etc and headed north out of Sydney.

We’d decided to visit The Entrance, a small town on the Central Coast at the entrance (surprisingly!) of a large salt water lake. Clive had found a small campsite on the web that he thought would suit us, and we were keen to test the self-inflating mattresses, having found the hard ground impossible to sleep on when we camped in the Hunter Valley a year ago (yes, we’re really, really keen campers!).

The Entrance was buzzing when we got there at about 3pm. Unbeknownst to us, it was the weekend of the annual country music festival, and cowboy hats were everywhere! The crowds were mainly over a certain age though, so we didn’t feel threatened, and milled about enjoying the music with all the other tourists.

At 3.30 we watched the daily free show where pelicans are fed. This goes back years – a fishmonger began throwing left-overs to the local pelicans and they’ve been demanding fish at the same time every day since. Very politely though, not like greedy seagulls – they all gather behind the feeding ladies with their bills in the air and only get excited when fish guts come their way. Then it’s every pelican for himself!


At 5pm we decided to head for the campsite and get the chore of erecting the tent over and done with, so the important business of the day (eating, drinking, relaxing) could begin in earnest. First impressions were good – the site was small, across the road from a lake, and we had a choice of pitches. We opted for one opposite a young Asian couple who looked like they may have been students up from Sydney. At least, they drank beer like they were students!

We got the equipment out of the car, and then the rain started - so it all went back in and we joined it. Luckily, the rain didn't last for long and so the second attempt was more successful and we soon had a cosy-looking shelter ready, with mats inflated and ready to go! Time for food!
Sadly, the local pub had a private function going on, and as we’d had a couple of glasses of wine by this time, our only option for food was to walk to the local pizza place, or starve. The pizza tasted very good, eaten in the dark by the light of the shower block and with the last of the wine. We know how to enjoy ourselves!

The evening passed and it was time for bed. Excitedly, we crawled into the tent (you have to do that with a 2-man one!) and tried to sleep. And tried, and tried! Only then did we realise that the roads (there were 2 nearby) were very popular up until at least 2am, and we should have also noticed the bright campsite light when we were choosing our pitch. Consequently, no sleep was had that night. The mattresses were a great success though, and I really didn’t want to get off mine in the morning!

We spent the Sunday morning having a lovely 2 hour coastal walk, despite our lack of fitness at the moment. This was followed by fish & chips for lunch in Terrigal and then a quick visit to Avoca Beach further down the coast, where Clive had a quick dip in the sea where he quickly got flattened by the big waves. Then we headed home, dreaming of the great nights’ sleep we were going to have! What a lovely mini-holiday!

Beach time

Although it's getting towards the end of summer, March tends to be a good month for warm but not too hot weather. The previous weekend we managed to get down to Curl Curl beach for a swim, which was the first time this season, unlike last year when we made it to the beach more often - I guess this has mainly been due to a combination of weather and illness! On the Sunday we'd been invited out to the farm near Windsor, about 70k inland, for a tennis 'gathering' which we'd been to the previous year. It was much hotter inland, despite there being some cloud, and we had a chance for a cooling swim after some games and lunch.

This weekend we had planned to go off camping again for a night - no doubt inspired by Lesley & Dave's tour around New Zealand. However, we'd been meaning to go for some time to try out the new 'self inflating' mats we'd bought after the last experience. However, in the end Friday was wet and both girls were out late on Saturday night so we thought it best to postpone the trip, maybe to next weekend before the nights start getting too cool!

So in the end we had a couple of trips to the beach to enjoy the warm weather - Saturday we were as Queenscliff beach for a swim, the first time we'd spent some time on this beach. Then on Sunday morning we went snorkelling at Shelly Beach near Manly, before the usual crowds arrived. The water was quite cloudy in places due to the swell from the ocean waves, but the number and variety of fish here is the best we've found - it always surprises me how many fish are so close to the beach, once you look under the water!