Definately must buy some furniture

... 'cos I'm starting to I feel like a squatter in my own home. Beer and pizza tonight then... :-)

p.s. New house pics are below in case you didn't notice.

The New Gaff

Wey Hey!! Finally, we've found a house!!

As of this Saturday we became the new tenants of a rather nice (well, we think so) pad in Pymble in Sydney's North Shore. It's a twelve month lease so with a bit of luck we won't be going anywhere for a while now. We didn't quite manage to get a place with a pool but it's a still pretty great and in a good location (I can walk to the station and it should be about 40 mins to work). Oh yea, there's about 3 golf courses within a 5 minute drive so here's hoping I like the game once I get a chance to play eh?!

So, what's it like? Well it's 3 bedrooms with a bathroom and office. The living room, kitchen and dining area are open plan and there's also a utility room. All the bedrooms have "built-ins" which I particularly like 'cos it means I'll spend less time winding my way around the Ikea yellow-brick-road trying to remain calm...

Outside, at the front there's a nice garden with lots of established plants and a BIG tree which I must find out the name of. We've got a lockup garage on one side and a covered car port on the other.

Round the back is where the fun begins. There's a big decking area overlooking the back garden which will be perfect for sitting back and drinking G&T's (with lemon from our lemon tree). The garden is also large-going-on-huge with plenty of space for Mr.D to cause havoc in. At the back of the garden is an enclosed reserve with some great trees for us to look out on (as opposed to nosy neighbours) and there's yet more storage space in the form of a cellar. Mad. All coming in for less then you'd get a certain 2-bed flat in Clapham for...

All that said and done, we're still short of a few essentials such as a fridge, washing machine, sofas, TV, bla bla bla but we're getting there.

The Greatest Game!

How about that cricket!!

I simply can't believe that I missed out on watching the greatest ever game of one day cricket this week. My only hope is that it was good enough for them to make a DVD of it. For those of you who have been on the cricket equivalent of Mars, Australia posted a world record 1st innings total of 434... only to lose by 1 wicket with a ball to spare. That's going at nearly nine an over for the WHOLE INNINGS!!*#?%$#! Mind you, I imagine Boeta Dippenaar took a healthy interest in his shoes the following day after opening for South Africa and leaving them on 3 for 1, a mere 431 runs behind. Unbelievable stuff. Bring on the test matches!!
Match Report Morning After

Meanwhile back on earth, it's been a funny week of sorts. We still haven't managed to find a house yet despite surfing the net daily and cruising around the North Shore on the weekend, viewing 5 places. Unfortunately, we couldn't move into any of them comfortably for any stretch of time. Bascially, there's just very little on the market which means we'll have to just soldier on :-(

We did manage our first night out in ages though! Tae (friend we're staying with) kindly baby-sat Dylan while Isy and I went off to Manly to meet our friends Barry and Richard for a couple of drinks. They are living in Singapore at the moment and were in Australia for a few days. It was quite strange seeing them here as we were long time friends in London but it was great to catch up! Small world eh.

Speaking of friends, we've also been invited to our first BBQ (by someone we didn't know when we got here!!). Marcus, a guy at work has his brithday this week so we're off to Shelly Beach in Manly for a bit of a get together on Saturday. Should be fun :-)

On a slow boat to Manly

Welcome to our first mobile blog entry...

I'm in Circular Quay, sitting on the 17:45 ferry to Manly waiting to head home. It is a lovely warm sunny evening so I'm on the open deck at the top. Below, an aboriginal guy is on the quayside, setting the mood, playing a didgeridoo for the tourists.

We're now leaving the dock and the city skyscrapers are fading away. On my left the Opera House slowly passes by and on my right the Harbour Bridge moves into view, the setting sun behind it.

As we head further out into the harbour, the swell picks up a bit and a cool ocean breeze begins to blow. All around are boats of every kind - yachts, cruisers, ferries and even water taxis!

Time for a bit of music me thinks. We'll be arriving in Manly soon.

O Carro

It's been a busy old week I'll tell ya. After some last minute wheelin' and a dealin' on the car front, we finally became the proud owners of a Ford Laser sedan. (I told you cars weren't inspiring). Actually, we're quite pleased with it. It's an automatic so drives easily around Sydney's urban freeways has lots of electric bits and pieces and even a double cup holder! (I think the cup holder will prove it's worth in no time at all...) It's also big enough for getting Dylan in and out and I've been reliably informed that we should be able to get two sets of golf clubs in the boot :-) Dylan has also become the proud owner of a spanking new car seat and can finally see out of the windows shouting 'O Carro!' almost constantly...

As I mentioned earlier, I'm now a proud member of the gainfully employed again. The first few days have gone well and the guys and girls in the office are a good laugh. There's plenty of work to be done and it's all very much hands on (C# web development for those interested...) - ideal as I'm a bit rusty after 3 months of R'n'R.

We also managed (as usual) to find some time for having fun and generally messing about. Dylan had a fantastic time splashing in David & Tina's pool on and the weekend and we all went for a wander around the harbour, Opera House and botanical gardens on Monday just to remind ourselves that we really are here... We were also treated to seeing the Oriana cruise liner docked at Circular Quay which was spectacular to say the least. (You know a ship is big when it starts to make the Harbour Bridge look small!) It was a bit of a scorcher that day and I did that very English of all things and got my first (minor) dose of sunburn. "Slip Slap Slop" kids and don't you forget it!!

Still on the hunt for a more permanent roof over our heads. The rental market in Sydney is reasonably competitive at the moment as property prices have been a bit flat over the past year or so. All the would-be first time buyers seem to be biding their time which basically means, we're gonna have to be quick when we spot a decent gaff!! :-)

Ah well, I'm just waiting for the little guy to wake up from his nap then we're going on a 'expotition' and a look around.

Later.