Author: Mrs Wilson of Oz

We tried the buses!! Not sure we’ll be up to trying them anytime soon!! The number 303 turned up 20 minutes late with no room for our buggy, so we had to wake a sleeping Monty! That is like waking a sleeping bull! All hell broke loose on the 303! Tim was swearing and wrestling with the new buggy (we hadn’t practiced the uppy and downy bit), Monty was screeching and Poppy was asking in a very loud voice “why won’t ANYONE help and move their buggy a little bit?”.. Meanwhile the driver is stood over Tim watching him struggle, and making the 303 even later! So all my excitement of getting the bus to Taylor Square Organic market vanished! By the time the bus crawled in to the stop there were two stalls left open, one selling all the left over pumpkins and another selling chutneys (again, the leftover jars).

We looked at the trusty map and decided we could ditch the bus and walk!!

The map isn’t informative enough!!!!  We managed to get ourselves past all the sex shops without the children asking what a gimp outfit was!!! It was a little edgy as Monty was on the verge of questioning the very large lady in a red leather skirt and white platforms outside a strip club! 

Hey, no one can say the kids have lived a sheltered life! 

   

We ended our day with a walk past the Anzac memorial, and a play in the awesome park at Darling Harbour! The  sun shone for a good few hours, then the heavens opened! Thankfully “wreck it Ralph” (Monty) finally passed out at  3pm so our journey home was far less eventful than our morning disaster! 

  
  
A little tip for you guys, Hard Rock Cafe Sydney is a miss!!! 

First full day in Sydney! What an awesome place! We wasted no time, jumped on the train and went into town! Monty was impressed with the double decker trains, and Poppy was thrilled to be grown up enough to have her own Opal card! (Sydney’s version of an Oyster card). I can see poppy growing up to be a real city girl!

Ten minutes on the train and we had our first sighting of the Opera House, and the harbour bridge! Awesome! Think it’s sinking in now!!   
  

  
We must have walked miles and miles today! The sightseeing interspersed with a long visit to the bank and two hours setting up mobile phones in the Vodafone shop! (Who knew you could get your date of birth in your phone number???) It was totally worth it, and meant we could treat ourselves to a yummy lunch! Westfield shopping centre food court (sounds naff but actually pretty cool)  not a burger king in sight! The children went straight to ‘Snag Stand’ where they were serving up the most delicious looking ‘haute dogs’ in brioche buns!(Snagstand.com.au) Tim and I resisted the urge to carb overload and went for falafel salad! Oh boy ‘Sabbaba’ (sababba.com.au) took me back to my teens in Abu Dhabi.  Their tag line is “middle eastern food that is good for the heart, body and soul”. Well it made me feel good anyway!  

The weather is looking pretty shocking today but we’re going to borrow a brolly and brave the Taylor Square Market! I am super excited to get my hands on some Aussie organic produce and eat my own weight in tasters! (http://www.sydneysustainablemarkets.org) 

Right, better get myself on the cross trainer! 

We’ve made it to Heathrow! 6am this morning I thought we might not get here! The car was rammed, everyone was sad to be going, and Monty was vomiting! In typical Wilson fashion, we drove to the airport with far too much stuff and extra carrier bags incase Monty threw up again! Joy! 

Hey, we’re here, we’ve checked in, and we have found the childrens play area! Thank The Lord it has a coffee machine!! Only a few hours to kill before we board, and we’re off on the adventure of a lifetime! 

 
I know it’s going to be awesome, I know it’s the chance of a lifetime, but I just cant get rid of this lump in my throat and the incredible urge to bawl my eyes out! 

Here goes nothing!! Come on, it’s only the other side of the world!! Who’s coming to see us?? X

November last year Tim and I  chatted about possibly moving abroad! What an adventure for the children, a new life of sunshine, beaches, lazy suppers in the garden! Where could we go? Not too far!!  Wet and windy Somerset was home to us! Could we really up sticks and go!? No way! Not yet! Maybe in a few years!

Well the visas are through, the house has been emptied, the ship has set sail, and we’re finishing up our goodbyes. The Wilson’s are on their way to Sydney! ( via pizza express for our last supper)!

Check in opens at 1230 tomorrow and we’re hoping to get the roomiest seats! Doesn’t everyone do that? We are armed with bags of toys, colouring books galore, and plenty of dummies for Monty! Goodness only knows what will happen if we lose all twelve! But hey, we are well aware that 23 hours on a plane with two kids is never going to be a walk in the park!

Here goes nothing!