September Slideshow...

After just four months in this 'country town' called Adelaide, I am pleased to announce we have downloaded our first country album... Who needs Robbie Williams when we've got true blue aussie John Williamson? Enjoy the music!

21st Century Kids

My Auntie Becks lives in a computer and I have to talk to her via this headset...

Heatwave!

Reached 32c today. I'm in the garden with the laptop. Enough said.

Spring is here!

Just a quickie to say that today has been fandabidosi! It reached about 27c and we had our first session of catching rays on the beach - swimwear and all! Our white bodies didn't seem to scare anyone away...

Added a few new photos here. Click to view-

September 2007

The Chaser - President Bush visits Sydney - APEC Conference

Brilliant - this is a great aussie tv programme that takes the mickey out of everyting! Their topic was the APEC which is what George Bush was attending in Sydney.

Great news - It's raining!

I've just got in from work and got absolutely drenched on my way back from the bus stop. I don't know what happened as at lunchtime it was in the mid-twenties and I had a lovely lunchtime stroll, but the skies have just turned grey and heavens opened!

It's a weird concept to change your mindset from the usual british 'oh no, it's raining' around to 'great, it's raining' - and it's kind of cool to feel it happen! What with that and our new South Australian driving licences, I'd say we're half way to becoming Aussie!

Things are still going well but we are certainly still going through a transitional period. Adjusting to a new life, new jobs, a new house, a new car, and a new country is probably a bit harder than I anticipated but it is all good.

We spent last weekend in Sydney and it was great fun to return to our old haunts. We stayed on George Street so were really central but George Bush was in town for a world leaders conference so a large amount of the CBD was shut off. We arrived to a deserted city on Friday as they had declared it a public holiday to keep everyone away from the city!

We started with a $10 breakfast from Scruffy Murphys - Bacon, two eggs, sausage, steak, tomato, mushrooms and toast! And I wonder why I put on weight when I lived in Sydney! With our tummys full, we decided to 'wander' and it was amazing to see a huge barrier throughout the CBD and circular quay. We knew that George Bush has arrived the night before and saw several heavily guarded hotels - there must have been a world leader at each! We ended up at the Aquarium and then lunch which was a lovely bottle of red in our old favourite bar - Pier 26.

We did a little pub crawl on Friday night - starting at Scruffy Murphys again for $5 steak, followed by the Three Wise Monkeys and then Watershed at Darling Harbour. We ended our evening at Five Star Kebab - which if you were with us in our travelling days you will know the significance and excitement around this...

On Saturday we travelled out of the CBD and visited our old suburb Balmain. An anti-Bush march was happening and riots were predicted so it was nice to get out of the CBD. We walked to Balmain which was quite a trek but lovely to see the city skyline from so many different angles. I absolutely loved being back in Balmain and seeing our old house was surreal to say the least! Of course we had to pay a visit to the London Hotel for a quick one!

On Saturday evening we tried a new pub (radical) but weren't that impressed so headed for the one, the only, Pyrmont Bridge Hotel! It was great to see the same bar man that used to serve us years ago (I don't think he remembered us!) and of course I had to have a go on my trusty favourite the video jukebox! Brilliant!

We tried to stay awake for the Rugby which was due to be on a 2am our time but I'm afraid I let the side down and had to go to bed! We're planning to get up at 5am on Saturday to watch the England-South Africa game so wish me luck!

Enough for now anyway. Hope I haven't bored you too much but I know that those of you who we spent time with in Sydney before will relate to all of the above!

And after all that, the sun is now shining! Yeay! They'll never take the joy of the sun shining from this English girl!

Becks
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Domestic Bliss

You might notice that the blog has lacked a bit of momentum lately. Obviously it's hard to follow the feature length Barossa Valley movie but it's probably more just to do with the fact the we are settling in, the novelty is wearing off (it's definitely not a holiday anymore)and life is ticking along quite nicely.

We have been busy continuing to learn about our new city. You can't beat arriving in a new place and knowing absolutely nothing (except where the Oval is) and then three months later feeling like you belong here. Every weekend we seem to discover something or somewhere else and like many other places, Adelaide has it's many different 'corners' - some better than others!

It is now technically the end of winter and heading into early spring. The sun is still continuing to shine on a daily basis and the sky is mostly a permanent shade of blue. I'm getting more and more concerned about developing lines around my eyes (it's probably just my age) so am becoming (along with everyone else) a permanent shade wearer when outdoors! Squinting is just not good for ones wrinkles!

Temperatures are starting to warm up and we've already had a couple of days in the high twenties. The heat here is lovely and dry without much humidity so it is actually quite pleasant for now. Last Thursday had a severe weather warning as it was hot and windy which causes concern regarding bush fires. Warm winds take a bit of getting used to as they are something we have never experienced before! It's like walking with a giant hairdryer on you! haha

'Surreal' seems to be a recurring word used frequently. Things still don't quite feel real and I'm always pinching myself and telling myself 'Wow, I'm living in Australia'. We went through such a horrible time waiting for our visa and now I firmly say that everything we went through during those 20 months of waiting were worth it!

Don't get me wrong, life isn't perfect. We still have bad days at work (a few more than usual over the last few weeks for both of us) and still have bills to pay (just ask Dan how much it costs when you get caught speeding in the Barossa Valley...) but the quality of life just seems tenfold to that of what we are used to. I can't explain it any more than that!

So, we've just had a great weekend where we put our name down on a plot of land. Anyone who knows us will know our novice love of wine so where else would we opt to build a house? In the McLaren Valley wine region! It will be quite a lifestyle change (surreal conversation: do we want to sacrifice living by the sea to live amongst vineyards? mmm, it really is a tough choice!) but as it will take a long time for us to build our house we can make the most of our current lifestyle and then make the move to the country in a year or two! Perfick!

Dan did his second rowing session on Sunday and seems to enjoy it despite falling in twice. No worries though - it's on a lake so no sharks to worry about!

The top moment of my weekend was having a day off on Friday and going to Ikea for a $1.95 breakfast. Mmmm. I also decided that there is no better shopping experience than at Adelaide's Central Market on a Friday evening. Quality food, great choice, great value, bustling people. A wholesome stress free shopping experience and highly recommended.

We're off to Sydney this weekend. A few years back we agreed with Laura and Niall that we would all meet back at the Opera Bar in Sydney on the 7th September 2007 - it was a random date plucked out of thin air. Being the smug folk we are, we'll be there and hope Laura and Niall will show but have word that they have made other plans (or maybe they are just paupers who don't have visas - haha). The plan to be at the Opera Bar isn't looking too hopeful though as the worlds leaders have decided to descend on Sydney for the weekend and security is maxxed out - GO AWAY GEORGE BUSH, YOU WEREN'T INVITED TO OUR RENDEZ-VOUS! Rumour has it that there might be riots over the weekend so we will steer clear but then again I might take up the theory of 'if you can't beat them, join them' and invent an issue I'd like to have a go at George Bush about. Not that I need to invent anything!

Well, enough's enough for one post. Thanks for reading and do email soon you lot.

Becks
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