Australia - August 07 to now

Hi everyone,

Apologies for the ABSOLUTE disrespect to updating the Blog. It's been blood, sweat and tears but hopefully all is going good now.

We arrived in a miserable Brisbane on 18th August at 6.30am. Oh my goodness. What had we done and other questions but we were happy and shocked to be here.

We spent a month in a trailer park, which was helpful whilst we were getting to know the city, Ian applying for jobs, getting bank accounts, Medicare cards, etc etc. We found a lovely house (2 storey townhouse) in a gated community (like an expat Compound that you'd find in Asia/Middle East) - we have a pool, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and BBQ area. Transport is brilliant - only 15-20 min bus ride into the city.

Hiccup occurred whilst Ian was going great guns at jobs (3 weeks in to our arrival) - he lost his driver's licence for 3 months, 0.06 breath test. The UK is 0.08 but unfortunately Brisbane is 0.05 - plus a $400 fine. Nice - welcome to Oz. Looking back though, it was probably the best thing that happened.

So Ian managed to get a job at a Travel company (second choice of profession but we were getting tight on the finances) and then I started seriously looking for work. I managed to get to the final stages of interviewing with an Advertising agency but in the end I hated it and wasn't keen. So the next thing was Macquarie Bank. After 2 interviews and a psychemetric test, they offered me the job - 5 days part-time hours 9-2pm. Jake was booked in to a nursery which scared the hell out of me - he hadn't been in day care for nearly 3 months so it was going to be difficult.

Christmas was spent with Mum and Chris and my brother Mike arrived on Boxing Day. It was great to see everyone again and Mike was happy to be meeting his nephew for the very first time. As you can imagine - Jake was spoilt rotten......train set table, art easel, building blocks, trucks, books, etc etc.

For Australia Day long weekend (26th Jan-28th Jan), we spent 3 days on the Sunshine Coast at Caloundra. It was fantastic. We were quite sunburnt (Ian & I) but Jakey seems to be tanning VERY well. Already got tan marks (concern??)......but hey, your not an Aussie unless you've got some sort of skin cancer.

So, everythings looking up - Ian has landed a job at Sigma Herron (pharmaceutical firm) and I'm loving Macquarie. Funny isn't it. Dave (my younger brother) is also expecting a bubbie in July - so yet another cousin for Jake (unfortunately non local - they're all in the UK and now the Middle East!)

Hope you all enjoy the photos - and please email us soon. I'd love to see pics of the kids in the UK....

Lots and lots of love to everyone,

Sarah, Ian & Jakey
xxx