Diving, visitors and a new home

Mmm, I've just noticed that my posts are becoming less and less frequent - sorry for that. It's not as if I'm running out of stuff to talk about, in fact it's quite the opposite - we're going through a very active period.

I mentioned in an earlier post that we were planning on doing some scuba diving and we have since started on that. However it hasn't been plain sailing - we had a false start a couple of weeks ago. A combination of poor instructor, poor conditions and Ros's instinctive fear of drowning (!) led to a panic attack and a bail out. So we re-arranged the training with a more experienced instructor in a swimming pool (rather than a busy beach/bay) for this last weekend. Unfortunately Ros just couldn't overcome her natural fears and despite several attempts has called it a day. I've carried on and so far have completed two of the three days of the PADI Open Water Certificate. Just two dives to complete next Saturday and I'll be certified and ready for our visit to the Great Barrier Reef over Easter.

We had visitors from home a couple of weeks ago, my Auntie Bernadine and Uncle David. They were on their last leg of a tour around Australia and were staying in a hotel in the city centre having booked it before we even came out to Aus. It was good to see them and show them a few of the sydney highlights - felt like we were seasoned locals showing them the ropes. Not only did it make us realise how comfortable we've become in our surroundings in just six months but also provided us with a link to home, short lived though it was.

Despite all this activity we've just signed up for a new property. We move into a smart riverside apartment next week in a trendy district adjacent to the Olympic Park. It's 5 miles from work so in some ways is less convenient than where we are at the moment but there's a little more life down there and will give us more of a city vibe for the next 18 months. We're both looking forward to the change of scene.

Rain, rain go away

Shock, horror, it rains in Australia!

I don't think either of us were naive enough to think that it didn't literally rain but we imagined that it would be more of the tropical variety i.e. brief heavy downpours immediately followed by sunshine . That's certainly not the case in Sydney if the past month here is anything to go by. It's been miserable ... more rainy days than dry ones and when it has been dry the skies have been grey. Not what we signed up for, perhaps we should be asking for our money back? But I don't suppose I'm going to get much sympathy if you're reading this from the UK

Given all the rain I haven't been getting out on the bike as much as I'd have hoped so I braved the weather on Sunday and got a couple of soakings while out on the morning club ride. We set off for a 90k ride on dry roads but I think we all expected to get wet at some stage, the forecast wasn't good. I went prepared as if in the UK, so I had arm warmers on and a waterproof under my saddle - all standard practice back home. As it turned out I was the only one making such adjustments - it was simply too warm for extra clothing.  I was expecting that 5 degree drop in temperature that you get back home, even in the summer -seems like doesn't happen here. And the other thing is that it's a relatively clean drenching you get here, the roads are much cleaner, none of that road dirt blackening your legs and bike. So not exactly a positive experience but even getting wet in Australia presents surprises to this naive Brit.

Niall is away again, this time in Muldura doing some fruit picking (it was Oranges initially, now Grapes). He seems to be enjoying the experience as a whole but is rather disgruntled by the rates of pay. And who can blame him, the Orange farm were paying 40 - 50 dollars for a 9 hour day and taking 10 dollars back for transport costs. So he was getting up at 5 in the morning and getting the equivalent of 2 pounds fifty per hour doing a long day in the sun. Needless to say he's now happier to be moving on, hopefully the vineyard pay more than 'slave' rates.

We've just heard that a couple of Ros's friends from work, Mick and Sue ( - 'Darth' to her students) are coming to visit us over Easter. It did come as something of a (pleasant) surprise when Mick announced they'd booked the tickets and were virtually on their way out here  - though Ros had enticed them with the promise of warm autumnal seas so we shouldn't be too shocked. As a result we've quickly booked a trip to Port Douglas to see the Great Barrier Reef with them. It'll be our first trip  outside of the state, hopefully the first of many! 

Creepy Crawlies

Before we came out numerous people warned us about deadly snakes, deadly sharks, deadly crocodiles, deadly jellyfish and deadly spiders in out here. And yes all these things do exist, and I might be tempting fate here, but we haven't seen a single one of them in the wild - never mind been threatened by one! The fact is that we're spending the vast majority of our time in a major city and creepy crawlies don't like cities. Of course everyone likes to talk about their close encounters or about a friend of a friend who rescued his son from the grips of a python .... or whatever. And we did have a large (harmless) Huntsman spider in the house a couple of months ago. But I'm beginning to wonder if it's all a fuss about nothing. That said, it strikes me that these posts can't be deleted once they've been published ........ so I could be setting myself up for an embarrassing backtrack if we're attacked next week.

We were away on a camping trip in Jarvis Bay last weekend. It's a popular destination about 3 hours south of Sydney. The beaches have the whitest sand in Australia (it's in the Guinness Book of Records apparently) and go on for miles, so it's obvious why it's so popular. Part of the reason for the trip was to try out snorkeling - we bought all the kit while we were down there but things didn't quite go to plan. Turns out that facial hair doesn't help in forming a seal between skin and mask. Drastic measures may need to be taken! Here's a short set of photos from the trip.

The snorkeling is a prelude to scuba diving as we've been bought gift tokens for a local dive school (birthday presents from the Smith family back home - thanks folks!). If the snorkeling goes well the plan is to upgrade to the full scuba course and give that a serious try. It could prove to be just one of many new experiences we're picking up here.

A holiday every weekend.

Both Ros and myself have been working for a few months now so we're over the new, eager to get started phase. Consequently the working week has become fairly routine on a day to day basis. It's compounded by the fact that it's now dark well before 8 on an evening so there's only so much you can fit in to it.

On the other hand, come 4 o'clock on a Friday the weekend starts! We're conscious that we only have 2 years here and there's so much to do, so many places to see - and that gives us the impetus to just get on with it. Invariably we do something different each time, often visiting two or three places over the weekend. So much so that we have to pinch ourselves, every so often, just as a reminder that we're not on holiday. The downside to all this is that every Monday morning we get that post holiday slump we all suffer from...... but every week!! C'est la vie.

Photos from the last few weekends here: Sydney Feb 14

Backpacking and cycling.

Niall has spent the last couple of weeks in Coffs Harbour-a working holiday you might say. He's been staying in a back packers hostel - music, beers, bbq's by the beach and the company of people less than 50!  Needless to say he's enjoying the experience. but  the trip was partly prompted by his frustration of not finding work in Sydney so he's also been fruit picking up there. He came back to Sydney yesterday but the plan is to go off again some time soon and break things up that way.

The result of Niall's absence is that I've been without my training partner so I've finally joined the local cycling club. Peleton Sports describe themselves as a recreational club which suits me fine as I've promised Ros I won't be racing here - we just have too much to fit into our two precious years. The set up is reminiscent of the Ilkely CC in that there are several hundred members and it has a family vibe to it with a good number of women and youngsters out on the rides. We meet at seven in the morning on a weekend but with so many members there are several rides going out, according to ability and ambition. The fast group do a regular 50-60 mile on a Saturday with a few 2-3k climbs and descents up by the coast  - fantastic in a 30 up group. And all this in time to get back home and in the pool by ten. It came as a bit of a shock that I was struggling with the pace on the first ride last week. It shouldn't have -  it occurred to me that it was the first group ride I'd done for 6 months. I've got some work to do!

Away from Sydney

We've just got back from our first trip away from Sydney, having spent a few days near Wollongong. It's just an hour and a half south of the city but feels like a thousand miles away. In many ways it was the Australia we were expecting to come to - very laid back - very beach centric - very 'outdoor'. We took advantage of the weather and camped - something we've only occasionally done in the UK having learned the hard way that it's not much fun in a tent when it's raining. It was warm and sunny the whole time and so camping was a joy - particularly in the good company of the Flowers family. We'll endeavour to do more of the same.

It's Australia day this Sunday (a public holiday celebrating the founding of the nation - as you might guess) so it seemed appropriate to take a look at Botany Bay over the weekend. The point where Captain Cook landed and which inevitably led to the colonisation of the continent is marked by several memorials and flags. To their credit the Australians are increasingly sensitive to the flip side of the story i.e. successful colonisation can also be seen as devastating dispossession if you happen to be Aboriginal. Aldi (the supermarket) was forced by public opinion to remove Australia Day celebratory T shirts off their shelves last week. The shirts read 'Australia - Founded 1788'  - effectively ignoring 40,000 years of rich history in a single sentence! Thankfully it didn't go unnoticed.

Here's a few photo's taken over the last month :- Sydney January 2014

Alternative festive season

We were a little unsure in the run up to Christmas as to how it might pan out. On the one hand it was refreshing to be in a place where the build up to the season is less frantic but on the other we were aware that we would miss friends and family. It was also strange to be in summer heat at a time we strongly associate with cold , it just didn't compute! We decided early on that the only way to approach things was to go for a completely alternative Christmas. And so it was. Unfortunately the planned BBQ on the beach on Christmas day didn't happen due to rain (yes it does rain here!) but otherwise we've had a fantastic week. A couple of days at the beach, a trip to a national park, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, new year fireworks at the harbour, a couple of BBQ's by the pool and upteen skype calls with folks back home. Good times!

I've posted the Yacht race photos below:
Sydney to Hobart, Boxing Day 2013