Good day at work today

I have been working in Sydney this week again. We have been preparing for a big workshop that we ran on Friday with about 25 people. A huge amount of effort but it went really well and the client was very pleased.

As part of the preparation for this myself and a colleague spent the day with one of the field engineers so that we could understand their job better and the challenges they face. So I spent the day with a chap called Frank who looks after the Manly area of Sydney. This is north of the city centre and where lots of the well off people live. The set of beaches known as the Northern Beaches are simply stunning - lovely surf rolling in on wide sandy beaches.

As I was staying in the centre of Sydney I caught the Manly ferry at 8am which took me to Sydney where Frank was there waiting for me. I took some photos from the ferry - see our Flickr site here. The ferry ride provides some great views of the city including the bridge and opera house. A huge ocean liner was also docked right in Circular Quay.

Any way I had a great day with Frank fixing phones and internet problem for customers - I really enjoyed getting my hands dirty although nearly got bitten by a spider when we lifted the lid on one of the telephone pillars!!

The highlight of the day was getting called out to a house on Whale Beach - you can see a picture of me standing on the beach at the top of this post. It is a lovely beach where Home and Away is filmed (there were camera crews on the beach.....of course if I had time I would have said yes to their casting request ...). The minimum price for the houses in this area is about $5m! I am looking forward to taking Caroline and the boys back here when we visit Sydney for New Year.

So although I got home on Friday night very tired it was actually a great week. A really different experience for me....a bit better than my regular commute to London :-)

Result!

The Boys did well in their indoor footsall game - came back from being 3-2 down to win the match 6-5 and that was against big, beefy men! The Boys were fitter and more agile and played really well! Met Sam's "double" tonight - a friend of Jacks called Nick. He is the image of Sam (obviously NOT quite so gorgeous!) but two years older and therefore taller. Spooky... seeing Sam in 2 years time! Didn't get home till 10.40 p.m .

I have had a nice day today. First of all had a new friend come for a coffee (a neighbour who lives a few of doors down) called Natalie, who also runs and then Wills friend Rob, his Mum phoned up and asked if I'd like to meet her for lunch, so I did! And it was very nice!

Then met up with Wills school teacher to see how he is getting on and she said he's settled in really well and made loads of friends, so that's good.

Chris home from Sydney at about 9p.m :) Been 30 degrees today - hot, hot, hot! Barbie for tea.

Melbourne Cup Week

Chris has been working in Sydney again this week. Yesterday, he went out into the field with some Telstra consultants and was working in Manly - maybe one of the best beaches in Australia. He had to take the ferry but was kind enough to send me a couple of fotos of the view....

Weather is good here this week, lovely and sunny. Jack had P.E on the beach today which was a bit of a novelty! I had a go at playing tennis again after 4 months off, due to tennis elbow. I strapped my arm up and it held up pretty well whilst playing with Jackie, but was aching a bit the next day. Today it seems fine again, so will have a go at the social tennis evening on a Wednesday evening at Mordialloc Tennis Club, just around the corner. Hopefully, Sam will come with me.

Today, I went for a 6 mile beach walk with my neighbour, stopping off on the way home for a coffee - very nice. Tonight, Jack is playing cricket and then he and Sam are playing footsal (indoor footie) - but not till 9.15p.m. Guess who has to pick them up!!!

On Tuesday, it is Melbourne Cup Day and a public holiday to all those living in the state of Victoria. It's a bit like Royal Ascot and is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race, held since 1860 at 3p.m on the first Tuesday in November, over a 2 mile course. It's a really big thing over here, especially because it is celebrating it's 150th Anniversary this year. Nothing planned as yet but I'm sure we will find something to do!!

Jack SHALL go to the ball!

Thursday, Jack was invited to the Year 12 Prom, or as they call it over here, the "Formal". He took Jodie Gates and we had to be at their house at 3.30p.m for champagne and canopes! It was very nice and the girls all looked lush! At 4.30p.m the limo arrived and they were taken to a venue at Albert Park Lake in the centre of Melbourne. Jack enjoyed himself (food was good) and I picked him up at 11p.m.

Friday was another nice day weather-wise and we had a barbie in the evening since it was 28 degrees!

Saturday was our first day of our mission to be tourists and visit somewhere every weekend. I found on Tripadvisor a "Melbourne by Foot" tour, which we undertook. Met a guy called Dave at Federation Square and did a 3 hour walk round the streets of Melbourne seeing streets and things of interest you wouldn't know existed unless you were shown (see our Flickr site for some of the views). Even Sam and Will found it interesting. Afterwards, we went for our first curry in Melbourne which was recommended in the "Cheap Eats" book, or as I tend to call it, the Not so Cheap Eats Book since everywhere is more expensive than the UK! It was pretty good actually, taste wise! After that, Chris and Sam went off to see a footie match at the Aami Stadium whilst Will and I ventured home.

Today, Sunday, we have had a nice, relaxing day. I went for a 5 miler along the beach while Chris and Sam went for a 30 mile bike ride along Beach Road to St. Kilda which they thoroughly enjoyed. Will had 3 friends round for the afternoon whilst Jack played cricket.

...that's more like it....

Hi everyone - Chris here with a quick update.

After a couple of weeks pretty flat out with work I managed to work from home today which was very nice indeed! I finished up about 5.30 and decided to go for a lovely run along the beach. I thought you might like to see some of the views as I took a couple of quick pics.

Weekend news

After the excitement of our container arriving, life seems to have fallen into a work/school routine, so nothing too exciting to report on on a day to day basis. Therefore, the updates on the blog may become less frequent, say on a weekly basis rather than day to day. Trouble with that is, I can't remember what we did do last week! I will have to write it down!

You would never believe the weather we experienced here on Friday - raining all day, followed by gale force winds all evening and night-time - it was quite scary! We thought we were back in England! I took myself off to Westfield shopping centre ( a good place to be in the rain!) just up the road because "Trinny and Susannah" were making an appearance! I was quite surprised anyone knew who they were over here, but apparently they get paid to come over twice a year. They were supposed to be on at 1p.m but were 20 minutes late and then Susannah had food poisoning(so she said) and had to go because she felt so ill! All that aside, it was an entertaining hour or so. They picked out 10 women from the audience and pulled them apart, before re-dressing them. Most of them did actually look better afterwards!

Saturday was spent with Chris linking up all the surround sound in the lounge, bedroom and study which took a bit of doing, especially as our main PC decided it hadn't enjoyed the overseas move and stopped working (power supply problem).

Sam worked all day at the bike shop and came home with his new bike - a 27 gear Avanti hybrid bike with disc brakes - very smart. He was sooo pleased with himself! Not bad for his first months earnings! I think he will have to be careful though - Chris has his beady eye on it!

Sunday evening we were supposed to have been having a BBQ at our house with the Gates and also our new neighbours. But the weather was still overcast and chilly, so I decided to cook a meal and sit indoors. Jack and Josh went off to footsal training. It was a good evening:)

Chris and I decided over the weekend that in order to make the most of our time here, we will spend every Saturday being tourists and exploring Melbourne, be it in the form of exhibitions, art galleries or the zoo! It would be a shame to return to England and not have seen it all. William may be forced to go to places he may not be interested in but it will be an educational experience for us all!

D Day... our container has arrived!

On Tuesday 12th October, our much longed for container was delivered back to us, after 6 weeks in transit! "Wridgeways", the company responsible for it this end, arrived at 8 a.m and left at 1p.m. The first thing Will noticed (he still hadn't left for school) was that our belongings were in a different colour container which I thought was very observant. It left Romsey in a grey container and arrived in Mordialloc in a blue one, with 3 or 4 boxes having been inspected at customs.

The first things off were Chris's bike and the Dyson!!! The two guys quickly set to work bringing all the boxes in with me directing them to the correct rooms. I then set to work un-packing all the items for the kitchen - and there were a lot of them! I did wonder how I was ever going to get through it all but by 1p.m the kitchen was sorted with only one item broken in transit.

The removal men put together all the beds and plumbed in the washing machine (incorrectly I hasten to add), unpacked the big goods like the sofas and book cases, then left, just as Jackie turned up with a chicken pie for dinner. We sat down for a bite to eat, washed down with a much needed glass of wine, then set to work again, sorting out the Boys bedrooms. By the time Jack and Sam came in from school it was all looking pretty civilised. And so nice to see our stuff again, especially our sofas and kitchen table and chairs - we will put some fotos on our Flickr link.

Wednesday was a continuation of Tuesday, un-packing the rest of the boxes and I finally finished at 2.30p.m just in time to pick up Jack and Sam from school because it was raining. Then, in the evening, I went to the cinema with Jackie and girlfriends to see the new Julia Roberts film - Eat, Pray, Love which was a nice change of scene.

Today,(Thursday), Will stayed off school because he is full of cold ( he was yesterday too but I sent him in!). He must've been feeling rough because he was supposed to be having a friend back to tea which we have had to postpone till next week! The washing machine (which has now been sorted by our kind neighbour who is a plumber) has been working overtime because all the bedding smells musty where it has been boxed up for 6 weeks. I also put together a desk for the study and a coffee table for the lounge that we bought at Ikea at the weekend. Tomorrow, I will be ironing all day I think. All Chris's work shirts and suits look like they have been screwed up in a ball for 6 weeks.

Chris is on his way home from Sydney as we speak and should get in about 6.30 p.m. Hoorah! Chilli for dinner tonight, another big glass of wine and we shall collapse onto the sofa in a heap! TGI Friday tomorrow!

1st Week of School Completed!

Well, the first school week is over without any dramas! Boys seemed to have enjoyed themselves (as much as they can since it is school!) and the travelling to school by train has not evoked any negativity. Will brought his first friend home to tea last night - Rob- who is a really nice lad, so he has our approval!!

Good news on the container! It has passed through customs and is being delivered on its due date (sounds like a baby!) on Tuesday! Hoorah! At long last we will be able to sit on a sofa, Chris will have his bike, the Boys will have the X-box, we will have the computer, I can iron on an ironing board and start cooking and baking again since there are only a limited number of meals you can make with 2 saucepans and a frying pan! I am even looking forward to the Dyson arriving because the carpets in the bedrooms are filthy! How sad is that!

They pulled out one thing that they will not allow into the country - my red, heart-shaped Christmas wreath that I hang on the front door which is a bit of a laugh because it's made out of plastic! (not allowed anything in made out of natural wood). Bit upset about this because I only bought it last year - £8 from Wilkinson LOL!! I had the choice of having it destroyed at the cost of $70 (paid by PwC) or sending it back to the UK at the cost of $250 (probably not paid for by PWC!) - tricky decision - not!

The weekend's here! Sam has already left for work - 8.30 till 6.30 today and Jack is off in a mo for a couple of hours. Chris and I are going for a run along the beach and tonight we are going out for a meal in Mordi with an English couple who moved out here the same time as us who Chris works with.

We need to book our flights to Sydney for New Year because they are filling up quickly but have a bit of a dilemma:- Jack does not want to come with us! We are going for a week from the 27th December and Jack would rather stay at home and go to a NYE party with Josh. Chris and I obviously think this is absolutely ridiculous since he may not get the opportunity to go to Sydney again - please send us your comments!

Right, had better get up and go for this run, can't sit around all morning blogging! Enjoy the sunny weekend in the UK!

Not a bad view for my evening run....

Hi Everyone,

Chris here with a quick update. I am working in Sydney at the moment on a new project working with one of the large Telco companies here. It means being in Sydney a couple of days a week possibly up until Christmas which isn't ideal but hopefully it won't be much longer than that.

On the plus side the project is very interesting and it will mean that I get to see Sydney and the surrounding areas. I am working with 2 teams - one based in the Blue Mountains and the other in the Northern Beaches....so it could be worse :-)

This evening I went for a lovely run at dusk around Sydney harbour, right under the bridge and round the back of the Opera House. Above is a picture I took as I paused for breath outside the Opera House. What you can't appreciate from the picture was the sound of Madame Butterfly emminating from inside the Opera House...was amazing.

Back home with the rest of the Morgs tomorrow night so looking forward to that..

WEDNESDAY - 3rd day at school

School seems to be going OK - all coming home happy which is good. Long may it continue!

Today, I drove Jack and Sam to school, one as an experiment to see how long it takes, but really because I was going their way anyway. It meant they could all have a lie in and re-charge their batteries - these teenage Boys need their sleep! So I didn't wake them up till 7.40a.m and they felt much better for it! Left the house at 8.20a.m and were at school by 8.45a.m, so 25 minutes. Coming home it only took 15 mins.

Having dropped them off, I parked the car at Jackie's house and we hopped onto the train into the city to go and see the ABBA exhibition. It was great! Full of memorabilia including some of the lovely outfits they wore! Abba songs playing all around and we even had a go at karioke (don't think that's spelt correctly... sorry Sue!) - since there was no one there we knew we didn't care if we embarrassed ourselves!!! Unfortunately, it finishes at the end of October, otherwise I would definitely be taking my Mum and Lisa there!

When we came out, the lovely sunny weather had been replaced with lashing rain! Luckily, the station was only a few minutes walk away and since Jackie had splashed out on an "Abba" umbrella (one of those see-through ones that comes right down over you!!) we were OK.

Because it had been raining over lunch at school, they cut the length of lunch break and start the lessons early, so had to pick up Jack and Sam at 2.55! Dropped Sam off at work on the way home and Jack now gone in as well, so nice and quiet here for a bit! Better make the most of it!

(Chris is in Sydney Tuesday - Thursday and had a 7a.m meeting this morning... yuk!)

1st day at school...

Well we waited with anticipation for the boys to get home from school......and here is the verdict...

Jack:

hello :) today i had to got to school for the first time in 3 and a half months which i did not like the idea of but really it wasn't too bad. Everyone at the school is really friendly and everybody comes up and introduces themselves to you which they wouldn't do in England. We had to get up really early as we had to be in school at 8:15 meaning we had to get the 7:41 from mordi station so the early start was a bit of a shock! When i got to school i spoke to my head of year who seems nice enough and then i went off to tutor and lessons. As josh had introduced me to quite alot of people i knew at least 1 if not more people in each of my classes which was good. Today i had english, p.e, food tech and business. In english we are doing the same stuff i did for my GCSE so it is easy to understand all of it. The other subjects seem okay although P.E is different to english p.e where it is much more focussed on the body rather than about the sports industry which is a bit disappointing. Overall the day went well and Brighton seems a nice school :)

Sam

Hi everyone!

Today Brighton school was blessed as I joined there year 8 gang and they were all quite friendly. The day started early, to early, with my photos being taken for my I.D card followed by being introduced to my tutor and tutor group. The first lesson of the day was Maths and they were doing what I'd finished on England so all was well there, after that we headed over to French and that was all about vocab and I knew quite a lot of that as well. Then we had break 'Recess' as they call it and I was having trouble finding my locker, they all look the same! Apparently I sound like Ozzie Osborne and the kept asking me to say "Shaaaarrooon"! I think they're deaf! At lunch I met a English kid who used to play for Sheffield United Academy so I'll be making friends with him. On the hole it was a good day

Will:

hi guys as you may or may not know I have started school at Mordialloc college.

I was a little bit nervous on the way (as any one would be if they had to start a new school on your own) when me and mum got there we saw my teacher again ,Miss Hughes, and i went in and she showed me all the teachers and my locker and class tub. shortly ,my class came in and i met my new class mates .I made a few new friends and lucky for me I am not the only new kid a few months ago about 3 people joined as well so that's good .They are all very friendly ,they also insist I say ' would you like a spot of tea !' hope you are all okay keep me updated please lots of love will xxx

A trip down the coast...

Hi everyone....I have just added some more photos to our Flickr site here which you might like to see.

Today we drove down the coast a bit (away from Melbourne) to the Mornington Peninsula - it is about an hours drive down to the point. As the weather was really sunny today and 21c we thought we would hit the coast and just do a bit of exploring. At Sorrento we had a lovely lunch (Will had "the best chocolate milkshake ever") and then just drove up the coast stopping at Rye and Mornington.

The whole bay is just one long beach that runs for probably about 50 miles. There are lots of little towns along the way full of cafes and little shops. Caroline even found a shop selling M&S clothes! There are lots of place to stop for a BBQ with lots of public BBQ areas - you just put money in the slot to use the BBQ...easy!

If you want to see a map of where the photo above was taken then click here