| December 1st |
| Our first full day in Oz, Uncle kevin took us out and about to
look for a car and we ended up hiring one for five weeks until we found
our bearings. Drove up to Surfers paradise and went for a walk
around and a KFC. Explored the local shopping centre at Robina
which is very good - nice to be out of the heat as it is all air
conditioned. |
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| December 3rd |
| Went to Alisons house for a family party/barbecue and
met Janettes husband Paul. It was Lukes 10th birthday and we had a
great night, few drinks and Christine drove us home. |
| |
| December 4th |
| Went to Dreamworld for our Nicola's 13th birthday. This is a
theme park with rides, zoo and a pool. We took Tasha,
Nicola's cousin with us and we had a great day. Julia held a snake
and we all fed the kangaroos. We didn't get to go on every ride so
we have bought return tickets and will go again next week. |
| |
| December 7th |
| Went for a ride round all of the houses to see the christmas lights.
Although in general there isnt as much of a christmassy atmosphere here
due to the climate, some houses are decorated on the outside and you
wouldnt believe how far people go here. People get out of their
cars and walk around the decorations and the displays are huge. We
had a bit of a thunderstorm, we have had a few since we got here and we
love watching the lightning. |
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| December 8th |
| We have been riding around for the last few days looking at rental
properties but because we are so near to Surfers Paradise and the coast
the prices are quite expensive and there isnt much available. We
have decided to look at Coomera area which is a relatively new area with
lots of new build houses to rent and we have seen a nice house which we
are hoping to be able to rent. We will hear whether we have got it
tomorrow so fingers crossed! |
| |
| December 9th |
| Had a phone call from the agent to say that we could rent the house
at Upper Coomera ... guess the offer to pay 6 months rent in advance
eliminated the need for references! We have requested air
conditioning which they agreed to have installed for an extra $10 per
week on our rent .. definitely need this as we have hit on a really hot
and humid summer. |
| |
| December 12th |
| Heard from the rental agent to let us know that the air conditioning
couldnt be installed until the New Year. We told her that we were
not prepared to sign the lease for the house unless the air conditioning
was installed and we would look elsewhere. Kate from the agents
said that she would look into it and they eventually found somebody who
was available to fit this straight away so we popped up and signed the
lease and parted with the cash. |
| |
| December 19th |
| This is the day we took possession of the house. The kids were
sleeping out at their Aunty Alyson's house which made things a bit
easier and we had already booked a van so that we could move the queen
size bed that we were taking from kevin & Christine's house. Hitch
No 1 - went to pick up the van and the guy wouldn't let Tony take it on
his UK licence, even though the guy he booked it with had said it would
be fine. It was getting on for 5pm so we went back to Kevins and
rang round frantically to try and book another vehicle. We
eventually found one which we agreed to pick up the following morning. |
| |
| December 20th |
| Got up at around 6.00am and got packed up. Julia had to stay
in the house at upper Coomera because we had a 3 piece suite, fridge
freezer , mattresses and table and chairs booked for delivery.
Tony went for the van and loaded the cases and the queen size bed and
brought it up. In between running around for furniture etc we also
managed to do all of the xmas shopping and also decided to buy a xmas
tree and decorations to surprise the kids. By the end of the day
we had managed to get everything sorted, furniture in place, beds made,
xmas tree up ...Phew!!! |
| |
| December 25th |
| Christmas Day, had a lovely time. Got up early around 5.00am
and kids opened their presents. They both got a bike which
suprised them. We had an easy morning and a leisurely breakfast
and then got dressed and went to Jannettes house. We have lots of
photos and will post these later if we ever get a decent internet
connection sorted. There were around 15 adults and 15 kids there
and we had cold meats, salad, pastas, and dessert. Alysons kids
arrived at lunchtime from their dads and opened their presents and it
was absolutely bedlam ... reminded me of xmas at mams when we all
swopped presents and their was wrapping paper everywhere.
Went home at around 4.30pm, Tasha came with us to sleep for the night. |
| |
| December 27th |
| Went to Southport to look for a car. We were considering
buying an old banger but in the end decided to use some of our emergency
funds to get a half decent car. |
| |
| December 28th |
| We ended up buying a Ford Falcon Estate ('Wagon' as its known
in Oz) and we are both pleased with it. there is loads of boot
space for the body boards, fishing rods etc. Didnt mention yet
that we have all started to fish and there are lots of places to go near
where we live. |
| |
| December
31st |
| Went to Jannette's friends house for a couple of hours up at Benowa
Waters. There were a few kids there and Nicola and Jonathan
enjoyed themselves. Julia drove the car properly for the first
time so that Tony could have a few drinks. Driving here is pretty
easy and the car is automatic ... it does help that we had bought
satellite navigation and this has been a godsend and makes travelling
around a lot less stressful. |
