Man, Australia ROCKS sometimes

[ClaudiaSchiffer]

I know I usually write horrible whiny needy homesicky posts on here. And I've read a whole heap of "oooh Australia's awful" sort of posts recently.

So here goes. . .

I've just had THE MOST AWESOME time! Fabulous lunch in wonderful winery, drinking world class wine on glorious warm autumn day looking at amazing views in something purdy close to paradise.

Ok so I'm a bit squiffy and inclined to hug anyone who comes within a 5 mile radius of me but Australia really really ROCKS.

I don't mean this to be smuggery mcsmug btw. Just it's not all racists in singlets and thongs y'know.

Feel free to add your awesome Aussie moments.

Or I'll start to feel lonely.

Humph. You're just making me jealous, actually. It's a long time since I lived in Australia (late 90s) but this time last year I was just getting ready for a return visit, which was over far too quickly, and I'm not sure when I'll next get the chance to go back.

I still find that the whiff of eucalyptus gives me an almost physical craving to be back on my terrace in Sydney (Balmain/Birchgrove) with the kookaburras cackling in the background and Sydney ferries puttering along the harbour in the distance. And that was just everyday stuff. There were lots of special things too, like climbing Kings Canyon and wandering through the bush on Kangaroo Island, nearly treading on echidnas and fending off over-friendly wallabies.

And again I say humph...

Don't you love the sound of cicadas?
Colins flat on Sydney harbour!

I visited for the first time over Xmas with my family. Had a wonderful holiday but my moment was visiting Tyers Beach near Lakes Entrance. It was beautiful and so vast you got a real sense of the curvature of the earth but the most amazing thing was we had the place to ourselves! I took some lovely photos of the DCs and have framed a few.

Looking out of our temporary flat window at the view of the harbour and city and bridge.

Wandering in the sydney botanic gardens on a sunny day when the harbour is all sparkly

The view across to wentworth falls in the Blue Mountains.

Cockatoos - loud, but I find them fascinating, and galahs and lorikeets.

I'm sitting here right now, all the windows oped (screens to keep out the bugs!) just pottering doing the housework, but I'm doing housework in paradise :)

Hell, even the commute to work is beautiful :o

Getting the ferry across the river to work with Dolphins swimming and leaping alongside
The sound of parrots in suburban trees

Loving all of these, you're making me feel so lucky to be here. Thank you xx

I love the birdlife here too - all those squarks and shrieks - not quite nightingales or blackbirds but so evocative.

I'll just add dh roasting a joint of pork on the Weber, soon to be eaten outside in the gathering dusk on a balmy evening accompanied by a glass of wine produced about 5 mins from here.

Sigh.

The feeling when the breeze comes through after a stinking hot day - such a lovely feeling :)

Being able to dress the children in shorts and tshirts for a large part of the year.

Being asked how you are by people in the street (not sure why, but it always cheers me up!)

The pockets of bush land that are found right in the middle of suburbs of a major city (really surprised me how much bush there was round where we were living considering how close to the city centre we were)

Being almost guaranteed to get a GP appointment on the day you phone up :)

The hugeness.

A beautiful day here in Melbourne. Lots of pottering in the garden, then down to the next beach suburb for their weekend festival. Lovely food, beer, wine, salsa bands, loads of stuff for children.

Walk home and sit outside in the sunshine, catching up with the weekend papers. Autumn is tops here, mostly warm though not overbearingly so.

Sailing on the harbour and swimming in to a beautiful beach with no one else on it - in the middle of a city!!
Swimming in Bronte pool and watching the whales and dolphins go by while the waves wash over me.
Whitehaven Beach - enough said.
Fraser Island lake hopping and camping on the beach.
I LOVE the found of currawongs - reminds me of cold mornings on a farm near Canberra. Sounds like they are gargling and singing at the same time. Also love whip birds and bell birds - it's not all screechy.

Far out Bubbaluv that swim in Bronte pool sounds Awesome!

Bubbaluv what time of year do you see the whales and dolphins?? Bronte beach is walking distance from us and I really, really want to see whales while we are here. Watching them swim from the beach sounds much nicer than those planned whale watching trips!

Yesterday Eldest ds was over the road in the pool with his mates. Younger Dc aged 4 8 and 9 were playing out front with chalks and water guns and all the other neighbourhood kids we had the bbq going the neighbours from 3 different houses all poped by for a chat a snag and a stubby, and the sky was just endless miles of blue. The garden was full of butterflies and lizrards and I could smell the sea. Blissful

Seymore, the whales start in about June and come through all the way to nearly Christmas ( I think!??). You'll see them if you go for a walk during Winter.
The dolphins are there all year round, but I've hardly seen any since last Summer. Last Summer I saw them every week, but I guess I spent a lot more time at the beach than I have this year with it's miserable excuse for a Summer.