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Since our arrival, we have been staying in a beautiful Meriton serviced apartment. We all have our own bedrooms, king size beds….. clean linen every day!! Pretty luxurious. (Don’t get too used to it folks)

It can’t last forever, so we went house hunting!

The company that the Mr is working for, have arranged for a relocation company to help us find somewhere to live and show us the suburbs we may like to live in!  We filled in numerous questionnaires about what we’d like in an area, what we need in a house etc etc and now the house hunting day has arrived!

Lisa (our lovely Aussie guide) arrived to collect us at 0930. I felt a little sick! Two children, very few snacks, and an entire day in Lisa’s car! We were handed the itinerary!

Four houses to view! Joy of joys! I’m bursting with excitement! I was picturing the gardens, the verandas, the huge open plan kitchens with patio doors to the outdoor dining area.. THUMP! That was me coming back to planet earth!

This is Sydney, and if we want to live within a short commuting distance for Tim we have to sacrifice.. a lot.

House number one looks nice right!! WRONG! Apart from the tiny “I couldn’t swing a cockroach let alone a cat” living space, there was a door leading underneath the house through which you could get all the way under to the other side! It was creepy! The sort of hole you see 30 year old women coming out of after 25 years of torture at the hands of a fat Mexican! I could not live there!

“Drive on Lisa!”

House number 2, the agent didn’t turn up! We’d been in the car over 2 hours and the kids were screechy! We crept round the back to see the garden! It was awesome, huge space split over three levels, sun trap…. and full of dog poo! Where is the man with the black bag and twiggy chop sticks when you need him!!?

“NEXT!!”

5 hours in and we were faced with this beauty, which ended up being as dark as a bat cave, with no parking. The agent also told us the 3000 cars lined up outside would pretty much always be there as they were hospital visitors and had two hours free parking. Bloody hospitals!!

“NEXT!!”

We drove past the beautiful beaches, with the kids tearing their hair out and licking the windows, tortured by the play parks and pools we were whizzing by! “Oh God set me free!”

We got home exhausted!  The children were desperate to go to the park after being strapped in all day, and me, desperate to go to the airport! If I have to live in a cupboard with a balcony I’d rather go home! “There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home” was ringing in my head as the tears were streaming down my face!

Ok, that’s a bit dramatic!! The truth is I welled up, depressed and tired, then kicked myself up the backside and got on the monkey bars with Poppy!! Get a grip woman!!! We’re in Sydney, the adventure is amazing, and we are going to be so happy, once we find MY perfect house!!

 

What will tomorrow bring!?

I did it!! It took 32 attempts but I mastered the uppy downy buggy function!! I am a legend! I was ready for our adventure into the city and whatever the day had in store for me! 

I took the munchkins out, hopped on a train and we had the best day ever!! Someone told me before I got here that the Sydney Opera House is a real let down close up! Well folks I can assure you that is total b@&&”$s! It is awesome. I must have taken 200 photos! (Which were promptly deleted when I realised they were all the same). Even the children were dumbstruck! And that doesn’t happen very often! 

  
We visited the Royal Botanic Gardens which again were beautiful and serene; until Monty picked up a huge stick and ran around trying to stick it up an Ibis’s backside! I was then in a sweat trying to catch him while he was trying to catch the bird!! Again, I could feel people pointing and laughing, some tourists even taking photos! How am I ever going to make friends in this town? 

Oh but on the plus side, we found a fan of the buggy!! 

  
Thank god for The Choo Choo express. It’s a cute little train that takes you on an awesome tour of the Royal Botanical Gardens. The tour guide was really good! It was 25 minutes of sitting, listening and looking at the lovely view! The children loved it more than me I think!! (Choochoo.com.au)

  
Having said that, this photo blatantly shows me in my element and the children looking slightly embarrassed! Well, I always loved a Diddy train ride! 

  
On the way home we spotted the Rugby World Cup glistening on a stand surrounded by beautiful Emirates air stewardesses! I had to get a photo for grandad! (The cup not the girls) I had no idea the guy in the middle was a famous Aussie scrum half! 

  
Who cares anyway, I wasn’t allowed to touch the cup or the player!! Thank god I wasn’t stood next to him, I was about a foot taller than him and broader too, honestly would have looked like I was in drag! As we walked away I noticed hoards of people trying to get their photos with this huge celebrity (not in stature). I nearly went back to apologise for not having the foggiest who he was! 

We chilled for a while listening to a local busker, who was a mixture of Jamie Cullum and Jack Johnson, and I really felt incredibly happy! The sun was shining, the children were happy and I had proved to myself that I am an intrepid explorer who is capable of anything!! 

Tomorrows adventure awaits! House hunting with the children! Oh goodness can you imagine!?!? 

So, Tim has started work! I am on day three of being “super entertaining mum” in a strange land!! We have been to the parks more than enough times, they have splashed in the fountains until they looked like little pale prunes, and I have drunk so much coffee I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again! 

  

I even got a grunt when I excitedly mentioned “who fancies lunch on the balconyyyyy!?” Ungrateful wretches! 

  
Today, super mum is going all out! I have raided the fridge, made an awesome picnic, got the maps at the ready and we’re heading to…. Wait for it… Circular Quay and The Opera House to see if we can get some tickets for the Babies Proms -Country kids!! Check it out, looks super entertaining!! (Sydneyoperahouse.com)

I know, I know, I am awesome!! 

Please cross your fingers for a smooth journey! No buggy incidents or tantrums allowed. 

  
What’s the worst that could happen? (In fact, don’t answer that!) 

  

If you can’t quite see what this gentleman is doing, I will tell you! He is picking up Dog Poo with twig chopsticks! Yup! He found two twigs, grabbed a Doo Doo bag from the dispenser (yes, all bins have them) and went on to collect up the mess! Maybe not so wierd if he had a dog with him! Amazing the things people do, to keep the parks nice for everyone! 

  
This was one of the two pretty cute parks really close to us! One of them had fountains for the kids to run in and out of! Which of course they did! While all the locals are wearing duffle coats, all huddled under their brollies, my two are stripping off and jumping right in! Spot the newbies!!! 

 
Two parks later, two tired children, hungry tummies and an empty kitchen can only mean one thing! We had to hit the supermarket! 

Coles is one of the biggest supermarkets here! It has everything you could possibly want! Crisps called “jumpys” (kangaroo logo of course) and bags of  “women’s nuts” (nuts and seeds for female health I think… I hope)…  I always find it amazing how different food shopping is when you’re abroad! 

We made it all the way to the kanagaroo steaks before we realised we had left the buggy in the veg aisle! (That bloody buggy again). Luckily it was still sitting there, although I think Tim was praying it had been burnt by security!  The children were screeching, Monty was demanding pepperoni and poppy was stuck fast in the trolley! I started to sweat! I just knew how ridiculous we looked! Buggy, trolley, Monty shouting “pepperoni” in between sobs, and Poppy yelping that her legs were “buuuurning” as Tim was wrenching at her arms!! We managed to free her eventually but it was a close call and her trousers didn’t survive the ordeal! This is how a photograph does not show the reality of life!! 

  
So today’s lesson is, enjoy the outdoors as it’s far less hazardous no matter what anyone says about the spiders. 

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!