Land Down Under Pride

Australia has some horrendous ads. But when they manage to get it right, they do a fantastic job. They completely tap into that sense of Aussie pride, and even manage to touch a nerve in us ex-pats. There are some good ones coming out with the Olympics, but my favourite is one done by Telstra – I can’t help but smile every time I see it. Check it out here. (I love the footy team and their "do-do-do-do-do"!)

Fixing a vacuum is hard…

…I give up.

(So did we – we just bought a new one).

A relaxing evening at home

Bike Ride to Ocean Grove

Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads. We’ll take the beach.

A top priority when you move is getting to know the lay-of-the-land. And what better way to do that than by biking? Along the beach. To a town 20+ km away. On one of the hottest days of the year. In the middle of the day. (See mom and dad – you aren’t the only ones we make bike at ridiculous temperatures.) So we biked from Torquay to Ocean Grove – past all the kids splashing in the water, past all the people walking their dogs, past all the surfers, past all the girls working on their tans, past all the paddle-boarders. And in Ocean Grove we stopped to fuel up. We missed breakfast by 2 minutes and despite our pleading they refused to make any eggs. So we settled for lunch.

On the way home, with the sun a bit higher in the sky, a fast dip in the ocean was essential. The coolness didn’t last for long with the 100 degree temps, but it felt good while it lasted!

Move over Hasselhoff

Who needs The Hoff? I have my own Baywatch stud! :)

We love dogs

Torquay is much more dog friendly than Sydney, and Ani is loving it!

So are we :)

Another move

Yup - the geo-sluts are on the move again – this time down south to Torquay (pronounced tor-key), Victoria. We’re about an hour southwest of Melbourne, and only 400m from the beach. Ben pointing to Torquay

Our rent is heaps cheaper than Sydney – not that that’s saying much since Sydney is so expensive, but a welcome change. The house is nearly new and has built-ins (aka closets – a rarity in older Australian houses) in all three bedrooms, two bathrooms with double sinks, a gas stove, a dish-washer, and a garage. There’s no wood stove, which we miss a little bit, but there is a reverse-cycle unit.

Australia Day

I love Australia Day. Essentially Australia’s 4th of July, it’s a day full of sunshine and BBQs and relaxing and fireworks. This year, Australia Day found us in Melbourne, and this is how we celebrated: An air show by the Royal Australian Air Force

A fantastic Aussie burger (of course)

A walk around Lake Albert to soak up that Aussie sun

And an evening in Fed Square. Fed Square is possibly my favourite thing about Melbourne. Or at least one of the top 5. It’s a big plaza in the heart of the city with a gigantic screen and a stage and restaurants all around. Tonight was also one of the biggest matches of the Australian Open – Nadal vs. Federer – so everyone without tickets to the event flocked to Fed Square to watch it on the screen. Forget sports bars – this is the best way to watch sports if you can’t be there in person.

And then the match was interrupted mid-play for the fireworks. They were over the river, off the tops of buildings, on the big-screen – it was a great show. Not as good as the Darling Harbour Australia Day fireworks in Sydney, but still a really good show.

Happy Australia Day!!