Adjusting
This Sunday will be our one month anniversary in our place in Australia, and what a month it's been. In fact what a time the past two months have been. Over the weekend we were commenting how, compared to our time in London, we feel so at home here already. Most things seem to have fallen into place with only a few issues here and there.
Our container of goods is currently on it's way to Singapore before heading to Australia. We're expecting to have everything by the middle of November and absolutely can't wait. But even without our belongings our place is starting to take shape. We've got a couch (not every day you see one you like that has delivery in a few days!), Internet at home is (mostly) sorted and teething issues with the house are now almost all ticked off. Plus we've got our sexy new car which means we feel much more at ease going out exploring.
Speaking of exploring, there's so much nature around and close by us that we're spoilt for choice. Just this weekend we headed on over to Bobbin Head for a bit of walk. We were quite surprised to see how large the area was and weren't really kitted out for a hike but will be returning again soon. You just have to look at all the green areas on Google Maps around us to see the places that one can go. And then of course there's all the beaches but that's waiting on improvements in the weather before we head out.
It's all really like home (Cape Town), and you really can't ask for anything more than that now can you? I'm still feeling a little bit isolated because of the time differences between London and Cape Town, but I've managed to chat a bit with family and friends so that's no real problem. Of course it's always odd to think that we're so far ahead of everyone else and often it's still the day before for some. Guess that the 2 hour time difference between Cape Town and London did spoil us a bit!
We're settled into a nice routine now, Andy often gets into the office in Sydney a lot quicker than the London commute and I've got an extension on my contract so will be working from home for another 6 months. Even actually going to the supermarket for the weekly shop is fun. Something we'd probably still have avoided even if we had a car in London. There you really just didn't feel like dealing with the crowds and mass of negative energy.
Our braai is (still) sitting here waiting to be put together. It's not that we're lazy but every time we've considered having a braai the weather has decided otherwise. It's feeling like we've had nothing but clouds and rain for the past three weeks. Locals have assured us this is not normal and summer should be on it's way. On a plus side, with the house feeling as cold as it does now, we should be set for a cool house during the hot hot summers. Guess that's the way they build them here.
And of course how can I forget, restaurants and shopping malls. Fabulous! We're obviously not British as we don't miss the high street one little bit. Shopping malls are what we're accustomed to and shopping malls we've got. Our local mall is Westfield Hornsby and has about everything that we need. We're still not used to the layout yet but starting to get the hang of it now. And just like Cavendish Square the parking garage has little lights above spaces to show you what's taken (red) and free (green).
We've got a quaint little set of shops just down the road - bottle store (no more silly off licenses), pharmacy, mini shop/cafe, bakery and two restaurants. Italian and Thai - that's what we've got here and both are great. We laughed off the idea of having to book at either in such small town, but proven wrong we were. Both places have excellent food and are packed almost every night they're open. Trust the locals, they know best! Oh and it's a BYO-affair here - Bring Your Own wine as neither place sells alcohol. But then with a bottle store 20 seconds down from them who needs to worry!
Combine the feelings we had before leaving London of it not feeling like we were moving, along with how we've just settled in and everything feels like we've been heading towards this. This move. This place. Australia. Home.