And a Year Later......

So many thoughts go through my head a year after our move to Sydney.  I've thought a lot about my emotions a year ago.  I was so excited, but so scared.  The furthest move either Sean or I had ever made was about 135 miles.  Then, we decided to move 9,000 miles to another country with our 2 young kids.  There were so many unknowns and there were so many things to learn.  Would I make the same choice again?  Without a doubt.  Do I wish I could go back in time to a year ago?  No way.  

We had so many decisions to make in such a short period of time.  I look back at all these decisions now and I just wonder how we got so lucky.  Even with all the research we did prior to the move, there was so much we didn't know.  There were so many factors that we could not account for.  I'm not saying that everything has worked out perfectly, but more has worked out in our favor than not.  The right opportunities opened up at the right time.  When I look back at how things fell into place, I believe it was more than just serendipity.  I think we had a little help from a stronger power.

It is now a year later.  In some ways we are a little wiser, but of course we still never know what challenges await us.  I haven't been writing much lately because we have just been getting in the groove of both kids at school and settling into our new routine.  We have been in a little lull.  Perhaps, it is better described as a calm before the storm.  With April comes visitors, moving to a new apartment, and a trip to Cairns (to see the Great Barrier Reef).  We have to fit in a little "normal" life in between the vacations.  

One exciting thing has recently happened - Carter had his 8th birthday!  He was very happy to have a birthday party this year because he kind of felt like he got the short end of the stick last year.  Since he turned 7 within a week of our move last year, he didn't get to celebrate quite how he wanted.  This year, he invited a few friends for laser tag and bowling and a friend of ours made an awesome bowling cake for the party.  He had a fantastic day.  We didn't get many good shots of the celebration though; the location was kind of dark and the boys were too busy to stay still for pictures.   

Carter with his cake.

Carter's actual birthday fell on Good Friday.  As Australia takes a true four day weekend for Easter, no one had work or school that day.  Carter got up that morning and opened his presents.  He got Legos and an Etch-A-Sketch.  Carter was thrilled with both.  He is really enjoying his old school Etch-A-Sketch.  And the Lego set is just a plain set that he can build anything his little creative mind desires.  He enjoys that because as he said to me about the other Lego sets: "I want to build a motor home and the other sets won't let me build a motor home." 

Birthday morning!

Later in the day, we went for a walk to Cremorne Point and had lunch with some of our friends.  The weather turned out to be kind of chilly and cloudy, but we didn't let that ruin our day.  It made it feel more similar to a spring Easter day in the northern hemisphere.  Carter said this was his best birthday yet! 
  

Family picture at Cremorne Point on Good Friday

If there was one skill that out family has had to learn over the past year, it would be adapting to change.  That is one thing that does not always come easily.  We are learning to live in the moment.  I think about that even more now that we are halfway through our two year adventure.  We still have so much to see and experience in Australia.  We have set up our home away from home in one apartment and next week we are picking it all up and moving it to another apartment.  We have made many friends and we have already had to say goodbye to friends that have moved on.  It is a good reminder of what a transient thing this life is.  

Some of our good friends that we picnicked with on Good Friday.  We all have a limited amount of time in this country and we are trying to make the most of the time we have. 

Changes, Changes, Changes

We all have been adjusting to the new routine of a new school year.  It is quite a change from the lazy days of the summer holidays back in January.  Even though it has been a little tiring; this has been a welcome change to bring consistency back to our lives.  Plus, I am enjoying my child-free time while both kids are at school.  I've kept pretty busy so far; mostly by catching up on some errands and cleaning that I had put off over the holidays.  I have now completed most of these tasks and am fully prepared to enjoy some time to myself.  I have started to take at least one bush walk a week during school hours.  That is one of my favorite activities in Sydney.  It is the perfect mix of getting exercise while enjoying the views and spending time with friends.

Carter started Year 3 on January 30. Aubrey had to wait another day until she could start Kindy.  That was bittersweet as it gave me one more day with Aubrey, but she was anxious to begin her adventure at school.  She was so excited when she finally got to put on her uniform and head off to "big school".

Carter on his first day of school

Aubrey all ready to go on her special day

Both kids heading off to school

Aubrey sitting with her class. The kids are wearing their yellow sport uniform on this day.  All the kids sit under the sun shelter when the bell rings in the morning.  Carter is in the photo also - he is in the middle almost to the back.  Good luck trying to find him!

School has been going really well so far.  Aubrey is absolutely loving it even though she is very tired when she gets home, especially towards the end of the week.  She is starting to make friends.  She even gets excited doing her little "home readers" every evening.  Her Kindy teacher seems very sweet and I think it will be a very nurturing environment for her to begin her academic career.  

Carter got a pretty tough teacher for Year 3.  In Australia, as well as in the US from what I understand, Year 3 is a very formative year for the students.  It is a time when they expect the kids to become more independent students.  Carter is really liking it so far even though much more is being expected of him.  I'm a little proud of him when he takes his homework out of his bag every night and goes off to his desk to complete it.  

Children change a great deal every year, but I have a feeling that this will be a year of monumental changes for Carter and Aubrey.  They are both growing up so much.  That makes me very happy for the most part.  I love seeing the kids come into their own.  But, of course, it also makes me nostalgic. 

Aubrey also celebrated her 5th birthday this month.  This happened within the first week of her starting school, so we kept the celebrations relatively low key.  We invited her friend, Audrey, to Build a Bear at a local mall.  The kids had a blast.  Aubrey's gift from us was a body board that she named "Sandy".  She got the chance to go the beach 2 times in the week after her birthday to try her new board out.  Needless to say, she had a fabulous week.

Audrey and Aubrey

Daddy helping Aubrey dress her bear

Cupcakes after Build a Bear.  Yum!!

Aubrey on her body board 

The kids standing next to a flock of cockatoos.  We just finished playing on the beach at Manly Wharf.

Now that Aubrey is so grown up, she decided to take matters into her own hands when her hair was getting in her face while coloring the next week.  So, 30 minutes before we were to leave for school, I found her out on the balcony with her hair chopped.  It was a hectic morning trying to clean that up and get to school on time, but it all turned out okay.  It was actually a blessing in disguise.  I just tidied up the hair she missed in the very back and she now has a cute bob!! We didn't even need to take her anywhere to get it finished by a professional.  Now, we just have to make sure she doesn't get any more grand ideas with a pair of scissors in her hands!!

Post-haircut.  Pre-Mommy fix.

Look at all those beautiful locks of hair!!

The final product!!

This week was the last week of Carter's summer soccer season.  His team had a lot of heart, but they did not have a lot of luck when it came to winning games.  It didn't matter though; they had a wonderful time playing (and learning) the game of soccer.  He now gets a couple of months off before the winter season starts.  Soccer is considered more of a "winter" sport here in Sydney, so it will be a little more full-on when it starts again.  He is already looking forward to it.

The Mosman Magpies

We are winding down to the final days of summer in Australia.  Even though we have been here for 11 months, it still feels odd to me that the Midwest is getting blasted with a winter storm while I sit here writing this blog on a warm summer day.  I have been seeing multiple pictures on Facebook and reading everyone's stories about the horrible traffic.  I've been thinking about all of my friends and family back home today.  I can't believe it has been almost a year since I was working at North Kansas City Hospital.  If I was still living in Kansas City, I would be out there on those treacherous roads, especially since hospital workers don't get snow days.  I think I will take summer over that!!    

Happy Australia Day!!

We celebrated Australia Day on January 26th.  This holiday commemorates the establishment of the first settlement at Port Jackson (in Sydney) in 1788.  It is a day filled with festivities around the city.  Many people have picnics in parks and beaches.  Then, there are fireworks held in different locations around the city that night.  

In addition to the Australia Day celebrations, we also had two birthday parties to attend during the day on Saturday.  We were having a great day until Sean went down to our car park and realized that his almost brand new bicycle had been stolen from where he had it locked up.  That put a damper on our mood, but we picked ourselves up and tried to get back into the spirit.  Luckily, we didn't let it stop us from heading down to Darling Harbour with friends to join in the festivities.  I'm so glad we did; it was a fun night out.

Darling Harbour was just a little crowded

The firework platform was set up in the middle of the harbour.  We stood on the bridge (where the red flags are in the distance) to watch the fireworks.

Showtime!

It was a spectacular display.  We would think it was the big finale and then after a moment the fireworks would start again.  Gorgeous!!

Thought I'd end the post with a photo I found on the camera.  Sean was teaching Carter how to use the remote to take a picture.  It makes me think about how much I love these little captured moments in time.

  

The South Coast

It was time again for another vacation from our vacation.  For this trip, we chose to go down to an area they call the "South Coast".  It is not too far down the coastline from Sydney; the cottage we stayed in was only about a 2 1/2 hour drive away.  But, it was far enough to completely lose the busy feel of the city and immerse ourselves into the Australian countryside.  On our trip a shopkeeper commented "This is where the real Australia begins".  I'm not sure that I completely agree with that statement, yet I do have a sense of what she meant.  The South Coast does have a different feel from where we have been in Australia up to this point.  We often find people in Sydney as being very rushed, short with their encounters, and not coming off as being very sincere.  I suppose this is how it is in most big cities, but not what I envisioned of Australia.  The atmosphere feels much more relaxed and easygoing on the South Coast.  People were friendly and often struck up conversations with us.  There was natural beauty surrounding us everywhere we went.  We felt the burdens fall off of our shoulders and we could breathe a little easier for the week we were there.  

 Driving down the coast on the Grand Pacific Drive   

A closeup from the above photo of the highway we were getting ready to drive on; the highway is built on stilts following the cliffs.

Another interesting path; this is the drive up the hill to the cottage we stayed in.

Wisteria Cottage at Tapitallee Lodges

The view from the cottage; it is hard to see in the photo, but we could see all the way to the ocean (about 15 miles away).

The red pin is the location of Tapitallee Lodges

This is a photo of the wombat that walked past the cottage at dusk two nights in a row.

We got to the cabin on Sunday and took the rest of the day settling in and grabbing some groceries for the week.  On Monday the weather was a little cooler (around 70 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 degrees Celsius) and partly cloudy.  We decided to drive into Kangaroo Valley that day.  We found a small gravel road winding through the mountains that was a 2 way road, but at times felt as though it should have been a 1 way road.  We could only travel about 25 miles/hour (40 km/hour).  Luckily, we only met one car on the road that was about 10 miles long.  As scary as the road was, it was a very peaceful drive.  The kids were looking out for wildlife and there were 2 different times that Aubrey called out that she saw a kangaroo that no one else saw.  Both times Sean stopped the car and backed up.  And both times Aubrey had seen animals that had passed the rest of us by.  Aubrey earned the nickname of "kangaroo spotter".  

A photo of the first kangaroo Aubrey spotted.

After we watched a little bit more, we realized it was a mama kangaroo and her 2 joeys.

This is the second animal Aubrey saw, but it actually is a wallaby.  It is part of the kangaroo family, but it is smaller with a stockier body.

Fitzoy Falls overlooking Kangaroo Valley

Closeup of Kangaroo Valley from Fitzroy Falls Lookout

The red pin is the location of Fitzroy Falls with Kangaroo Valley to the south.

The Kangaroo Valley Pie Shop where we ate lunch

On Monday afternoon, we left Kangaroo Valley to drive towards the coast to check out some wineries.  There is a small wine area in the Shoalhaven region.  Sean and I love to check out local wineries. It is not just to taste and buy wines, but we usually enjoy the atmosphere.  Each winery has its own flair of what makes it unique.  We often meet interesting people, learn more about wine, and most times there is a beautiful view to boot.  During this trip we learned more about what kind of wines a temperate climate can produce.  In the Shoalhaven region, they seem to produce a great deal of a red wine called Chambourcin.  The wineries we stopped at often said it was a wine that you had to develop a taste for.  However, I don't think we drank enough of the wine to develop a taste for it.  Our favorite winery in the region was Silos Estate.  The tastings were done in an old fashioned wine cellar, the wines were very good, and they raised alpacas on the property. 

A Bigfoot machine at the Coolangatta winery.  We were not there at the right time to go out for a ride though.

Gorgeous view of the Shoalhaven River from Two Figs Winery

Photo of the alpacas at Silos Estate

A photo taken on Monday afternoon when we reached the coast.  This is the north side of Seven mile beach.  It was just drizzling where we were, but they were having heavier rain to the south.

The weather cleared up for Tuesday.  The forecast called for upper 70's (Fahrenheit) and sunny skies.  We decided this was the day to check out Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay.  Per the Guinness Book of World Records, Hyams Beach has the whitest sand in the world.  The day was pure magic.  We got to the beach around 10:30 am.  There was a small coffeeshop/cafe a block away from the beach, so we grabbed some coffee and headed to the beach.  I usually think that sand is the downfall of being at the beach, but not at Hyams Beach.  It is so fine and white, it almost feels clean.  We laid around and played until lunchtime, went back to the local cafe for a scrumptious lunch, went driving for a little bit to check out more of the Jervis Bay area and miss the strongest sun of the day, and then headed back out on the beach at 2:00 pm for a few more hours.  The whole day felt perfect.  
  

Panoramic of the beach; Aubrey is there in the pink.

Carter burying Aubrey

He got his payback

The water was too good to be true

The red pin is Hyams Beach within Jervis Bay.  It was about a 40 minute drive south from where we were staying.

Wednesday was a little warmer with temperatures getting up into the mid-80's (Fahrenheit).  On this day we went to Jamberoo Action Park.  This is the largest water park in New South Wales.  It was a really nice water park, but it was super busy on the day we were there.  The lines were too long, so we didn't end up going on any of the big rides (like the one called The Funnel Web (after the deadly spider)).  It didn't matter to the kids though.  They had a blast.  
  

Banjo's Billabong (the kid area)

Aubrey giving the camera a little smirk before running off for more fun

Overlook of the wave pool with the mountains in the distance

The red pin is Jamberoo.  It took almost an hour to drive there from the cottage, but it was worth it.

After spending the majority of the last 2 days out in the sun, we decided to take it a little easier on Thursday.  We drove up to a couple of quaint towns we had seen on the drive down the coast, Berry and Gerringong.  We visited some local shops, had lunch with a view, and snuck in a few more wineries.  Sounds like the kids had a blast, huh?  They were actually okay because one of the shops was a candy shop and we spent a good chunk of the afternoon at a playground.  It is nice that they are growing up to where we do not have to constantly entertain them.  That is what they have iPods for;-). 

View at lunch at Gerringong Seavista Cafe

Cemetary in Gerringong; we walked by it because it is right next to the whale watching platform.  I've noticed that the dead in Australia seem to hold some prime real estate.

Red pin is the location of Gerringong.  It is a beautiful little town and would make a great weekend getaway.

Friday was a crazy hot day in New South Wales.  Sydney had its hottest day on record at 46.5 degrees Celsius (116 degrees Fahrenheit).  Since we were just a few hours outside of Sydney, the temps were similar where we were.  We went back to Hyams Beach for the morning hours, but then it got too hot to even be at the beach.  Sean and I spent a relaxing afternoon driving around more of the region we had not visited while the kids took a long nap in our air-conditioned car.

This area of New South Wales has a lot of dairy cattle.  It made me nostalgic since I grew up on a dairy farm.  Sean and I laughed when we had to stop the car on Friday afternoon so that they could herd the cows across the road to the milkbarn.  As I was watching those hundreds of cows cross the road, I couldn't help but be happy that I didn't have to help milk them.  I'm sure my brothers and sisters will know what I am talking about. 

When the kids woke up from their nap, we drove up the mountain overlook that we had heard was outstanding, but hadn't done yet.  Mount Camberwarra Lookout really was breathtaking.  The landscape shots are a little hazy due to the hot, balmy weather that day.  

The red pin is Cambewarra Lookout.  From that height, we could see all the way to Jervis Bay.

We got back to the cottage around 5:00 that evening.  Sean and the kids took showers and then we started to cook dinner.  Some really strong southerly winds started to blow outside.  They are a welcome relief, as it cooled everything off after a super hot day.  However, all of a sudden, the electricity went out in the cottage.  The owner came up and talked to us and was going to bring us up candles because he said the electricity could be out for quite awhile.  I wasn't very happy about it because I hadn't taken a shower after being at the beach earlier in the day.  Plus, the cottage gets really, really dark at night since there are no outside lights around it.  All week up to this point, I had been leaving a hallway light on at night so that the kids (and I) wouldn't get scared in the pitch blackness.  I know I am spoiled, but I really didn't want to face a night with no electricity.

Then, the final blow happened.  The government can tell what cell phones are within a certain distance of bushfires and they send out warning texts.  Sean and I got this ominous text on our phones.  

We were not familiar enough with the area to know if the threat of the bushfire was very serious to our location.  But, we didn't like the idea of being in danger of getting caught unprepared.  It was only about 7:00 pm at this point, and we could be back to our safe apartment in Sydney by 10:00 pm.  So, we decided to pack up and head home ASAP.  In hindsight, I now know that the electricity was restored at 9:30 that night and the bushfire did not get very close to the cottage.   Oh well.  It was an abrupt end to our wonderful vacation, but it was only cut short by one night.  And, it did feel pretty good to snuggle into our own beds that night.  The trip still wins the distinction of being the best vacation we have taken as a family up to this point.