Oz up date and a little video of Asia

We haven’t written a blog in a while as we have been doing much the same thing every day – JOB HUNTING. Amber has managed to find a temporary role through an agency, working in a finance office in the city. The job is enjoyable; the problem is it is just for now so it has been hard to make many plans. Jonny has been getting the odd day temping but nothing serious as of yet.

We have now found somewhere to live. We have found a room in a house which we can call home for a few months. We are living in a beautiful area of Brisbane called Kangaroo point; it’s next to the lovely Brisbane River and a short walk to the gorgeous south bank and city. It has been so nice to have some of our home comforts. It has been the first time in months we have had our own TV and Amber has officially caught up with Neighbours and Home & Away. We are also able to enjoy home cooking again, tonight we had our first jacket potato with baked beans and cheddar cheese since leaving the UK, it went down a treat.

Anyway, we still can’t believe our time in Asia as been and gone, after all those months of planning and getting excited. As a fun way to look back and remember our times we have put some of our favourite photos to music, we have copied the link if you would like to have a look.  Due to copyrights you are unable to watch it on your phones, but for those of you viewing this on a computer then you can watch it. We hope you enjoy it.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isT_FgZ6ka8

Anyway were off to do more job hunting . . . . We’re be in touch soon.

Amber and Jonny x

Sydney - New Years Eve

When we arrived in Sydney we took the train straight to Circular Quay were we were treated to the iconic sights of Sydney. We boarded the ferry to Manly which takes the most beautiful route around the river past the Harbour Bridge and close by the Opera House. We took a walk along the gorgeous sandy Manly beach as the sun was setting and it seemed like a true paradise.

View of The Harbour Bridge from the Manly ferry

View of The Opera House from the Manly ferry

New Years Eve we wasted no time and headed back to the beach for another walk and saw the 100s of suffers. Most of which were taking part in lessons but there were so many people getting involved they filled the whole beach. We headed into central Sydney early as recommended to ensure we got a good spot to see the fireworks. We went to the area we wanted to spend the evening but this was already full and it had been since 11 in the morning. Due to its popularity we found out people would camp over night to ensure they got in. So we headed for our next chose which was by the East Quay, opposite the Harbour Bridge and just before the Opera House. We only just made it as they closed the area and stopped letting people in by 4:30 as this area also became full. They have the policy of once your there your in so we had a lot of waiting around. Thankfully, just by chance we happened to have a cinema in our area, so we burnt a few hours by watching a film. Also to my delight they were serving alcohol in the cinema and as alcohol was band outside we emptied a bottle of wine into a coke cup and sneaked it out. It kept us going for a little while but it’s fair to say it was our most sober New Years Eve for many years. When 9 o’clock came round the “family fireworks” started up and they were very good, full of surprises as the whole sky lit up, including the skyscrapers, it was hard to know where to look first. The midnight fireworks were even more impressive and it was a strange feeling knowing that we were one of the first people to see in 2012 and everyone back home hadn’t even started getting ready for their nights out.

Fireworks on the buildings

Fireworks on the Harbour Bridge

Fireworks that fill the sky

During the rest of our time in Sydney we went on self tours. We took one of the city ferries to Darling Harbour which we loved. The restaurants, pubs and rather glamorous boats that lined the harbour made it a more luxurious version of Brighton Marina. We walked up to Hyde Park which was another little reminder of home. Wondering round the city streets was a lovely was to see the city and a great way to spend our first day of 2012. We couldn’t have a trip to Sydney in the summer without a trip to Bondi beach. It had the blue sky, blue sea and golden sands so it was nice that’s if you don’t mind sharing with 1000s of other sun-lovers and suffers. We had never been to a beach that was so packed out and to be honest it was not as impressive as the beautiful Manly beach. We ended our trip with by going up one of the pillars on the Harbour Bridge which gave us a spectacular view of Sydney and gave us a taster of things to come when we return.

BUSY Bondi Beach

View of city from The Harbour Bridge

Enjoying the views

 Our trip would not have been possible without our Christmas present from Lorraine and David and without Duncan and Jen kindly letting us stay. So thank you very much.

Lastly if we haven’t had the chance to text, email or talk to you already then we would like to wish you a very happy and prosperous 2012.

Biddaddaba for Christmas

Biddaddaba For Christmas

Before we had left the UK we were kindly offered to spend Christmas with Karen and Glen, Maureen and Graham in what i swore was a made up name until we arrived - Biddaddaba.

Biddaddaba is a very small Hamlet of farms stretched over a 12 kilometre road. We arrived the day before Christmas Eve and were made instantly feel very welcome. I know it was not that long ago that we saw Dad but it was so nice to think that we would be spending this special time of the year with some very friendly faces.

On Christmas Eve we had a lovely day with Graham when we went to visit the Gold Coast. Grahams showed us all the best places to go for future visits. We had a walk along a pier just south of Stradbrook Island. It was unbelievable that it was christmas considering that the temperature was in the mid twenties.

Christmas day came and we were all up early to have Glens breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches which slipped down an absolute treat. This was followed by christmas presents and the a delicious Christmas dinner which Maureen and Karen had been cooking throughout the morning. In the afternoon we did another Christmas first and went for a swim in the pool as the temperature was rising nicely. Glen then kindly took us in the Ute up to the mountain located just behind their property. The weather was lovely and the views were amazing. It was incredible as we could see Brisbane from what must have been nearly 100km away.

Boxing day was lovely and relaxed and in Australia is a big sporting day. We all sat down in the morning, to watch the Boxing Day Cricket Test match which this year involved Australia taking on India. Now having spent Christmas in Australia with a part Australian family it seemed only fair that we supported Australia. But being a 'Pom' as we are know here, I have to admit there was more than half of me willing for a Australia collapse and an India win. In the afternoon Amber and I were invited to a Gilmore family BBQ. The day would not have been completed however with out a little family game of cricket. The weather was gorgeous and having a BBQ around a local dam with some stunning scenery to compliment, completed christmas for us.

For the rest of the week we were lucky enough to be taken out my Maureen and Graham to see the local area. Some of the places included going for a lovely drive to a seaside resort called Salt where we had the most lovely lunch and walk along the beach. We also went for a drive down the Lions Highway which is a road that was built as a shortcut for people to be able to get from Queensland to New South Wales. The following day we were taken to see the Natural Bridge which is a bridge shaped rock which has been carved perfectly by the water of the river that flows beneath it. The scenery  was just spectacular as i'm sure you will agree from the pictures below.

Other key points during our week was seeing Amber having her first experience of horse riding. She was a little nervous, but lets face it you cant get much of a better teacher than Glen Gilmore.

We had the most lovely christmas this year and we would like to thank Karen, Glen, Maureen, Graham, Lachie and Lucia all so much for everything that they did for us and allowing us to stay with them. We still cant  get over having a hot christmas but it is certainly and experience that we will never forget.

Thank you so much.