17 again....

Hey guess what? Gary let me drive the bug - it was like being 17 again. Mum used to have one of these. It's a bit tricky to start in the cold (wish I'd brought my woollies) but great once it gets going. The girls die of embarrassment every time we go out in it - tee hee.

Have you seen 17 again? Girls it's better than HSM3. Gary enjoyed learning some new baskeball moves (Holmes Chapel Hornets take note).

We've found a nice house to stay in on the Esplanade in Seacliff. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 sofa beds so can sleep up to 10 people. The master bedroom has a balcony where I'll be sitting with my cuppa in the mornings & my wine in the evenings! The house is just across from the Yacht Club and the beach so should be fun. The only problem is that we can't move into it until 24th June. Once we get sorted I'll post the address. We also need to sort out a phone line. My mobile refuses to send any more texts (think O2 may have blocked it even though I'm on a contract) so I think email may be a better option. I have an Aussie mobile (0061439 246146).

We also enrolled the girls in school. They're both going to Seacliff Primary School (high school starts from year 8). Annie will be in year 7 but is the youngest in her year group. Lucy will be in year 4. They start school on Monday 1st June. Annie goes camping with her class to Kangaroo Island from Wednesday to Friday next week.

The school is a friendly local school a bit like Wheelock. We went to meet the head Greg Miller yesterday. When we arrived he was wearing a T-shirt, jacket, trainers, jeans & a crazy hat. We sat chatting for about 20 minutes before he explained his slightly unconventional clothes. The school assembly was to celebrate the apology to the Aboriginals by the Australian Government. The hat was an aboriginal hat and the T-shirt had a motif representing the reconciliation. The school is a very happening place with lots of energy. Lucy was very keen to get started as there were lots of friendly children and lots of computers. So at 3:30pm on Friday we were standing with the school secretary buying school uniform ready to start school on Monday.

As for me - well the saga continues. I got my FRANZCOG and thought it would be plain sailing from there. A quick interview at the Medical Board and an email to immigration was the plan to get my registration & visa sorted so I could start work on Monday 1st June. Needless to say we met yet more resistance & changing rules. The Medical Board meet on Tuesday 2nd June at 4pm. If they are okay with everything that I have submitted they may say it's okay for me to work. It will then take another 2 days to convert the visa. So the soonest I may be able to start work is Tuesday 9th June (Monday is bank holiday). Watch this space - we'll be lucky if it's sorted by then.

Apparently, people in Australia are not allowed to take leave in their first year of work! I will accrue the equivalent of 12 days leave in my 5 months which I will be paid for but cannot take as days off!

Time to sign off now

Hope you're all enjoying the heat wave

Missing you all

Geraldine x

By Annabelle

Annabelle:
Hi, having a nice time here in Australia. BAD NEWS I have to go to school and the school uniform is horrible (Jonno: no kidding...). There are two dogs called Brackenand Jule (said you-la). We are staying in the (Jonno now being scribe) Adelaide Hills with Uncle Eric, Auntie Linda, Mike, Jonno, Emily and Chris. There are tonnes of animals here, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 2 guinea pigs, 3 sheep, a few budgees, a lot of chickens and a billion millipedes. We went to see Night at a Museum 2, and it didn't have an austrailian accent like everyone said. The cat here bites people alot, and it looks like Casper (Beth's cat). All the kids fight all the time. There are also a few fishs, but the tank needs cleaning out a bit.

Key to photo (for those of you that don't know):

Uncle Eric - dashingly handsome man on chair (note no grey hairs)

Chris - sitting on Eric's lap

Jonno - holding cat

Linda - surrounded by her nearest & dearest

Mike - in the stripy blue top

Emily- sitting on Linda's lap

Bracken - dog at the front (Jule too shy for the photo)

cinemas again

Lucy: Today we are going to see 17 again at the cinema I've never been to the cinemas this much before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I took Ula on a walk today and half way back she lay down and she didn't stand up for ages!
Annabelle has got a book called Angus Thongs and perfect snogging and she nearly at the end !She only got it yesterday!

Meeting Buddy

Geraldine: Hey guys it's good to hear that you're enjoying a great bank holiday. Guess we switched the weather as all we've had is rain all weekend. The Aussies are thrilled, but we're not. But the rain didn't stop us enjoying a barbie at the Michels. Mike & Liz Michel are good friends of Linda & Eric.

This is Mike with his pet rainbow lorakeet Buddy. Mike teaches year 7 girls and Buddy goes to school with him every day. Buddy wanders around the classroom and the pupils take it in turns to wipe up the poop! Mike says he's waiting for a complaint from a parent when one of the girls goes home with bird poop on her uniform! Rainbow lorakeets are flying around in the wild here. We see them in the trees most days.

The barbie was great fun. Lots of scrummy food with new recipes to bring back to the UK. My contribution was waffle berry pudding - they loved it! True to form there was a lot of drinking. Linda tells me I shouldn't have mixed my drinks - I ask you I only drank champagne all night but apparently mixing pink & white isn't a great idea! Linda tells me that I asked who'd brought the boat (I was swaying at this point) and then I fell on the piano. I think they're all making it up 'cos I don't remember a piano.... I'll have to throw a fondue party.....

The interview - I know many of you have asked. The interview was vile. I was grilled for an hour and a half. Ever played the football game on the wii fit - well it was a bit like that. I felt physically sick for about 4 hours afterwards. I was convinced we were coming home. The good news/ bad news is that I have been granted the Fellowship which means that we'll be here until January. Just need to sort out my registration & visa now.

Gary has joined a basketball team called the Rhubarbs! He's the youngest by about 5 years. He's also made contact with basketball SA - they've asked him what he wants to do in terms of playing, refereeing etc.

Anyway time to sign off. Missing you all - sounds like you're having fun. Who's party did we miss? Let us know if you want to visit.

Love Geraldine

Geraldine Masson FRANZCOG

Lucy: We have been to see the 'Night at the Museum 2' instead of going to Clelland Park where you see the kangaroos because it was raining! Annabelle and I have been on guitar hero on the play stashion, it is really hard + really fun and I have been on super Mario galxey on wii it was really hard. Then Mum went on the wii fit and she trashed the other people!!!!!!!!

Annabelle:

Herbie rides again...

Lucy: In our place that we stayed in there was millipeds everywhere! There were weird pigions with Mohican hairstyles they looked really funkey. In an old fashioned beetle we went to the beach and we found loads of shells.
I went in the swimming pool yesterday. It was really warm but cold aswell!

Geraldine: We had our first trip out in the VW beetle - highly entertaining, might have to consider a plan B!
I popped into Flinders Hospital today & met the new team. Everybody was really friendly. Lots of expats.
We also went down to the beach and drew up a shortlist of accomodation to view. We'll go & look at the insides sometime next week.
Sorry to hear that you're enjoying the rain. It's 22 degrees here & Lucy is complaining about being too hot. Hope the bank holiday doesn't disappoint. Enjoy the weekend.

Take care
Geraldine x

Are we there yet?

Lucy: Today we are so tired and in Robe we had to stay in a static caravan and I got a bite on the left side of my head!!!

Missing you lots Lucy xxx

Geraldine: Port Fairy (top picture) turned out to be a bit prettier in daylight but still very much stuck in its 1970s time warp. Our journey from Port Fairy to Robe involved a slight detour to Cape Bridgewater where we had a lovely lunch sitting in a beach bar - just what we had imagined being in Australia would be about. Apart from going to see the Petrified Forest (some weird rock formation) and blowholes (weird waves crashing against the shore) the trip was fairly uneventful. We eventually arrived in Robe which was a lovely place. We stayed the night in a static caravan with no bed linen for the girls! Not sure how I managed to book that one! Played the 'I'm the stupid pommie' card with the lady on reception who took pity on the girls & provided some duvets.

The next day we did the long drive up to Adelaide. After some 1200km we finally arrived at the McKendricks. Amazingly, Gary managed to find their house even though we haven't been here for 10 years.

Wildlife spotted en route: emus grazing in fields, a kookaburra sitting on a telegraph wire, pelicans, alpacas and an echidna (giant hedgehog). Amazingly the fast moving roos seem to feature as road kill fairly regularly whereas the bumbling echidna manages to get across the road without getting squashed.

The one thing this journey has shown us is the vast empty spaces in Australia. Melbourne was fast moving, crazy and crowded. The roads were up to 5 lanes wide in the centre of town. On the journey between the 2 cities the only place we saw crowds was at the 12 Apostles. The rest of the time we could drive for miles without ever seeing another car. Adelaide is much more 'small town'. Less crowded and less rushed.

We're having a great time enjoying the McKendrick's hospitality. Linda & Eric are well. Michael is studying hard for the IB which he sits in November. Jonathon was thrashed by Lucy on the wii at bowling. Chris was out & about on his bikes & Emily managed to con Eric to write a note to the teachers saying that she hadn't done her homework on account of the English people. None of the boys managed to con Eric!

Our only little problem was the fact that the boys had booby trapped our beds with plastic snakes. One very tired, tearful Lucy wanted to go home to Sandbach!

There is a menagerie here with one white cat (yes Islay it is terrorising me - Caspar's doppelganger), 2 retrievers, guinea pigs, budgies, chooks and even a koala sitting in the tree outside our room. Lots of local wine and excellent food.

We headed up to Mount Lofty today to show the girls the view. I'm off to Flinders Hospital to meet the team tomorrow.

Yes I am logging in to geraldine.masson@tiscali.co.uk. Gary is using gary.masson@tiscali.co.uk. Lucy is using massonlucy@googlemail.com. Annabelle is using ABFluf@googlemail.com.

Has Mrs Williamson had her baby yet?

Hope you're all well

Lots of love

Missing my mates

Geraldine x

We're going on a bear hunt .....

Lucy: Hi we have seen Koalas , Kangaroos , Galahs and Crimson Rosellas in the wild. Today we are going to robe.
Still missing you all Lucy

Annabelle: Hi we started the Great Ocean Road on Saturday, after five days in Melbourne.
On Saturday we hired a car from Hertz in Melbourne and drove to Apollo Bay. We stopped many times to look at the waves, they were 3m high. When we arrived in Apollo Bay in the afternoon then we had hot chocolate and cake in a coffee shop while we played chess. On Sunday we went to then gym for about half an hour while we were watching the marathon. Then we went on a bear hunt, i was the first person to see a koala. We eventually we saw about 10 koalas. On the way back to the Apartment we saw 3 kangeroos, their brains are about the size of a peanut. On Monday we drove to Port Fairy. On the way we did a Tree-Top walk. It was alright but we walked over 2km. The next stop was at the 12 Apostles however most of the Apostles had collapsed into the sea. Then we stopped of at Loch Ard Gorge there was a ship wreck there but you couldn't see it. Then we stopped of at London Bridge there is a story about a couple who walked across the arch 2 minutes before it collapsed and were rescued by a helicopter - problem was they were having an affair so didn't like the media attention!

Geraldine: Sorry we haven't blogged for a few days - wifi connection has been dodgy down under! Great to see all your posts on the blog. Keep them coming:)
The Great Ocean Road is awseome - you should put it on your list of things to do before you die! The rock formations are far more impressive than you can ever appreciate on a photo. Annie was giving us a geography lesson about coastal erosion (so she did lern something at school!).
Lucy thought the waves in Colonsay were bigger than these 3m waves in the Southern Ocean. You certainly woiuldn't catch me in the sea at the moment - it looks cold & wild.
We took the girls on a bear hunt - they didn't want to go until they realised we were looking for koala bears. The smell of the eucalyptus trees in the forest was very refreshing. We were lucky to see the koalas at feed time, one guy was fairly active (as active as koalas can be) and determined to get to his leaves. We did try to persuade them that there was a nice eucalyptus tree in Sandbach that they might like to inhabit, but to no avail (sorry Sally & Dave).
We saw a flock of galahs sitting on telegraph wires - how bizarre. They have grey backs & pink breasts. There used to be a galah on Neighbours many years ago, you may remember.
We're now in Port Fairy - not quite what you think from the name. We had a traditional pub meal in the Caledonian Inn last night....
One great revelation is that the Clangers are alive & well on the south coast of Australia! In Apollo Bay & Port Fairy we have definitely heard Clangers. Not sure what they are but they sound like Clangers. I'll let you know once we find out.
We're driving up to Robe today & will arrive in Adelaide tomorrow. Once I get a connection lead for the camera we'll load some photos from our trip.

Take care everbody - missing you lots
Geraldine x

Gday Possums, Melbourne

Thursday 14th May 2009

Geraldine: Hi guys - arrived in Melbourne safely. The weather is fine - a little bit cooler than UK (but very cold at night - thankfully discovered the electric blanket!). The days are shorter - very autumnal. Everybody's body clocks are all over the place & unfortunately in different directions! Certainly makes for interesting days when you can perm any number out of 4 asleep at any time!

So far we've been to the Melbourne Museum which is awesome. The girls were unhappy because it was full of kids on school trips. Apart from that it certainly was worth the trip with lots of things about Australia & aborigines. Another interesting thing was the computer room which housed part of the first Australian computer (the room wasn't big enough to house the whole computer) and a component of the Control Data computer that I remember Dad working on in the 60s (take your daughter to work day!).

Lucy is in love but I'll let her tell you all about it. I might not be able to persuade her to come back to England without the object of her affections!

We're going to the aquarium today which has penguins in an Antartica setting - not even chill factor has penguins!

We'll leave Melbourne on Saturday to drive up the Great Ocean Road. Hopefully, we'll get to Adelaide sometime early next week.

Missing you all
Geraldine x

Lucy: One day when we were walking to a restrant we went past a park and we saw these little creatures. They look like big squirrels and they come out at night. We didn't know what they were so we asked this lady and she said they are possums. They are much more braver than squrriels. Yesterday there was this baby possum and it went right up to dad it was nearly climbing up dad's leg!

I am missing you all very much
Lucy

Second Stop : Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne at 7:00(time in Melbourne). At the airport there was a beagel sniffing everyones suitcases and bags.
We are now staying in BIRCHES serviced apartments. Last night we went and had thai it was nice but filling. It hasn't rained yet in Melbourne and it is cold everyone is wearing coats.

First Stop : Singapore

We are now in Singapore in Changi Airport. We are waiting for the swimming pool to open, so we can have a nice cold refreshing swim on the roof top of the airport in the warm heat.

big byes

Thank you all, for coming to our party. It was great, all the food was lovely. Big byes to you all, it's going to be a big adventure for us all!!!
Bye again!