My perfect Saturday...

Written on Saturday evening (a relaxed evening at home)

I’m not sure if it’s because I start work on Monday, or because we’re are starting to slow down and settle in but today I woke up, experienced our new lifestyle, and loved it!

I mention work on Monday because it is something I am feeling a little nervous about. I’m not nervous about the job itself, the Council for which I will be working, or even the people I will be working with… I’m just nervous about getting back into a Monday to Friday routine! I last worked a full time week in February (what with clever use of annual leave entitlement followed by some consultancy work which financially enabled me to work part time) and it will be a shock to have to get up and go – not just once but FIVE times a week! It will also be strange to start working in this new environment. So far, Adelaide has been a place to explore, discover, make plans for and has felt a bit like a holiday! I relate our lovely little house to lie ins, cups of tea in bed, followed by leisurely trips to the library for internet access. What a shock work will be! I know I’ll be fine once I’m back in the routine.

So, today. It has been by far my favourite day so far.

Let’s start with yesterday actually. Dan and I caught the train into the city and we went our separate ways so that I could have a bit of ‘me’ time in the shops to spend my birthday money (I think we both appreciate the odd few hours apart as we have been pretty much joined at the hip since, ummm, over a month ago!). We opted to catch the train to a) save on parking costs (not that it is that expensive, but we bought a multi-ride ticket last week so it makes more financial sense to catch public transport!) b) so that we don’t lose that sense of public transport adventure we had in London (?) and c) so that we could have a few drinks (actually, that’s the main reason)

After a successful shopping trip, I met back up with Dan and we had a stroll by the river. The sun set as we were walking and I just love the way the sunset turns the city and its buildings orange. Stunning.

To be honest, we only went for a stroll because we were half an hour early for happy hour at The Cavern. Yes, Adelaide has its very own Beatles themed bar and we attended its ‘Tight Arse Friday’ which gave us half price drinks between 5.30-7.30pm! $20 later (yes, that’s the equivalent of something like £8) we had consumed four red wines and four pale ales and fell for the whole marketing strategy by staying beyond happy hour and ordering that oh so delicious smelling food.

We woke up this morning full of life and got straight into the car and headed for Central Market. We love Central Market as it is just a huge buzz and we love buying ourselves some lovely food to take home. Today’s shopping list included ingredients for a Dan and Beck’s special barbecued breakfast and a kilo of prawns for lunch!

After we’d barbecued our breakie and enjoyed the sunshine in our little morning suntrap, we headed out for a drive east to the Adelaide Hills. We drove to Mount Lofty summit, which only took about 20 minutes from the city or 40 minutes from our house. The views were just breathtaking and we could see the whole of Adelaide, its suburbs and the sea. The weather was glorious sunshine (though a little chilly) and I think we are both a little rosy this evening as we have caught the sun!

Following a lovely drive through the hills and past several Adelaide Hills vineyards, we headed back ‘down to earth’ and headed in the homeward direction. We spent an hour at Grange on the way home. Grange is a lovely little seaside suburb with a great jetty, stunning beach, small café, and a few other bits and bobs. Today it was amazing to see so many people on/around the beach playing games, walking dogs, fishing or just sitting. We had a nice stroll on the jetty and just couldn’t believe our luck to be here.

To wow us even more, following our barbecued prawns and Semillon (life doesn’t get better) we wandered over to ‘our’ beach for sunset. After such a stunning day the sunset was equally stunning and again, we felt our 20 months of hard work to get the visa had paid off.

Weird how only today it has just sunk in what an amazing lifestyle we are living. I think it’s because it was the first Saturday where we haven’t had a big list of household jobs or things to do. We had time to just explore and enjoy! We’ve still got lots to get for the house but that is all on hold until payday comes.

Ok, so the negatives. Um, there really aren’t any at the moment. It does get dark early which makes the evenings feel long but we’ve just had the shortest day so it gets lighter from now on! The weather has been chilly (though the blue sky and sunshine is lovely!) but now we have extra heaters in our house we are happy! (Aussies don’t have heating as standard as it’s only really needed for 2-3 months a year – a bit like the UK with air-con!)

The worst thing is knowing how far away we are from our family and UK friends but every time we find somewhere or something nice we say ‘we must bring people here when they visit’! Communication feels hard at the moment as we have no internet at home, though having a phone line installed has meant me and my mum have been able to reinstate our weekly hour long catch ups!

There’s still a lot to get for our house to be home, but for now we have the basics – barbecue included!

Life is good.

Becks
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