G'day all J

Yep….thats right….we're finally at the end of our one way ticket to nowhere, which is as you have probably guessed by the photos we posted a few days ago ….in the land down under…. Australia.

The first thing we noticed on exiting the airport was the heat in the late afternoon sunshine, blissful….we were worried about the long queues at immigration, but were spared the long tedious bag checks…so guys if any of you come over, make sure your 100% truthful with declarations as they sting you with penalties.

It was a great breezy start to our arrival and we caught a cab straight to our new home in the suburb of Newtown, where we offered to house sit for 1 month and were greeted by Cheryl. Her home, a warehouse conversion, originally built by the Quaker's, with a large upper mezzanine floor accommodating us for the next month. A great landlady and a fab location.

Newtown has everything you could want and more, situated only a 60min walk from the city centre, it feels almost like being back home in Moseley!You can't help but notice the diversity of the people that populate this area, punks, rockers, Goths, emo's, trendies, gays, hippies, drunks……there is a constant buzz 24/7 with plenty of coffee shops, restaurants, bars, shops and people to keep us entertained. Our first reaction was probably stunted with the number of people we were faced with, remember guys, we've been to places that are found in the back of beyond, and probably spent more time with sheep and cowsJ We're getting used to the buzz of the place, enjoying the range of festivals and events.

Our first week was spent finding our way in and around the city which is HUGE and we still haven't seen or done most of the things we want to but as we have made plans to stay for New Year, so there isn't any sense of urgency. Our thighs have turned to steel and we sleep like logs, its great to have the freedom of walking, very different to the days of our campervan…..

Dali has already started work as a massage therapist working in corporate offices around the city, special events and festivals.Maz will be helping on a renovation project due to start in the next couple of weeks. We're doing some leaflet dropping occasionally and have been booked for a tarot and henna evening J We realize this journey is our opportunity to tap into other parts of ourselves, to move into pastures new, use and develop skills that we've not explored……everything is working out perfectly and we really couldn't of planned it better if we tried.

On the home front we've secured accommodation for the months of Oct, Nov and Dec, on the outskirts of Sydney, house-sitting a 2 bed apartment with 2 gorgeous cats!Maz is over the moon as she has 2 new playmates.

We visited the didgeridoo museum where we saw a live didgeridoo performance, a true highlight! Visited Taronga Zoo, which provided phenomenal views of Sydney and some truly wonderful and entertaining animals.Winter is slowly turning into spring, with occasional rain showers with eventual blue skies and sunshine. The nights are nippy here, but it still feels like summer in England…. reminding us of you all, we miss home, the familiarity, the security and support, but looking back at our experiences over the last 10 months we feel so blessed.

Sydney feels a lot slower paced than brum and generally the UK. We're both getting into the swing of things, loving the cultural mish mash of people.

The streets are easy to navigate, with the offer of harbour views, luscious parks, towering skyscrapers and history all entwined.

The bats in the park are a little eerie, visible in there 100's during broad day light as they fight, squabble, screech, scream and take flight, all you hope is that your not underneath them when they poop!

There's so much more we could write, but we don't want you overloaded!

Keep in touch guys, always great to hear from you all, take care of each other!

Love always,

Maz and Dali xxxx