Home sweet home.

It's six in the morning and I'm on an early train to London on business. It's 8 degrees and still dark - Sydney and our travels seem a million miles away!! We've been home now for six weeks so we've had plenty of time to settle back to the reality of home life, we're comfortable. We ask ourselves whether we made the right decision not to stay in Oz and make a go of it, then we go out to one of our old haunts and the thought becomes moot. We helped out at a hill climb organised by the club on Saturday on a steep climb out of Luddenden. It was a warm and calm afternoon as we looked down on the quant village below and across the valley to mills converted to flats/apartments', it couldn't have been a more Yorkshire view. All was well as we walked back to the HQ in the village pub in the company of friends we've known for ever.

The trips to Samoa, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand were all we hoped for (links to the photo's below). A very relaxing stay on Samoa followed by the madness of South East Asia proved to be a good distraction from the reality of picking our old lives up again.

The house inevitably needs some TLC. Calum has looked after the place but it hasn't had much maintenance work for the past couple of years. It's payback time, I've had two DIY free years after all, so whenever I have a spare hour I now have a paintbrush in my hand. Some of the jobs will need professional attention, we're beginning the process of organising all that. We don't think the garden has received much attention over the past two years either..... not that it ever got that much when we were around come to think of it! A radicle pruning of the borders and several cuts of the lawn have returned things back to an even keel however.

Ros was back to work within a week of getting back to the UK, I had a little longer to reacclimatise but we're both now settled back. Not much has changed at Huddersfield New College it seems but Ros is seeing the work and colleagues with fresh eyes, not necessarily in a good way in all cases! As for me, the final phase of the absorption of the Deanery into a large burgeoning national organisation has happened in my absence. I'm still hopeful that I can find a place in the machine that fits my skills and ambitions ..... and that I can set aside my scepticisms. Time will tell.

Our travels have had little affect on Ros' physique, she's as slim as ever. Unfortunately I can't make any such claims. I was a stone overweight (6 kg to our Australian friends) when we got home. A few regular bike rides has reduced the surplus to half a stone but clearly I have more work to do. I'm riding in to work most days so hopefully that will continue to help and when I return to training proper in January the rest should come off - in theory!

Here's a few photo's to finish off:

• Samoa
• Vietnam
• Cambodia
• Thialand

Final post from Oz?

We leave Sydney later this week so this is likely to be my last post from here. I may write a couple more from the UK just to record our first impressions and thoughts on being home.

So we're well on our way to wrapping up the trappings of life in time for our departure. We've given notice on the apartment and cancelled the bills etc. The car, the furniture and my trusty commuting bike are all sold. Despite our best intentions we seem to have bought and accumulated an inordinate amount of 'stuff'. We'll be sending some but not all of it back in packing cases, a pile of which is growing in the study as I write. And we're saying our goodbye's to friends and colleagues, the impact of which I think we both underestimated. It was hard to do the same thing when we left the UK but at least that was a temporary goodbye. In contrast, we're unlikely to be seeing most of the people we've got to know over the past two years and that's now slowly dawning on us. So it's a mad mix of social get-together's and packing at the moment. There's also the small matter of two holidays to arrange for. It's a hard life!

As of Friday we're spending 10 days in Samoa, relaxing by the beach. We then return very briefly back to Sydney before going off on an exciting trip around Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. And then it's a flight back home, arriving on the 13 August. I'm sure the time will flash by now and we'll soon find ourselves on the tarmac in Manchester. We still don't know how we're going to feel about that, only time will tell. 

Niall is still currently touring around New Zealand, living the life of a backpacker and having a whale of a time by the sound of things. He'll be flying back to Sydney in a couple of weeks to say his goodbyes to the friends he's made here. We're hoping to catch up with him briefly between our trips. Niall then goes directly home, so he'll be back a couple of weeks before us. Perhaps that should be long enough for Calum to get into the swing of not having the house entirely to himself. He's had a batchelor pad for the last two years and we're wondering if he's going to feel a little crowded in before long. We'll see.

Tasmania in the Snow

Another month and another trip to report on, we really are in full swing now!

Tasmania was the only state we hadn't visited here so we can now tick that one off having spent a short week there a few days ago. The time away spanned a long weekend (as the Aussies call any weekend with an attendant bank holiday/public holiday attached to it) celebrating the Queens birthday of all things. They do seem quite pro-royal here it has to be said but despite our strong republican stance we weren't going to quibble as the extra day came in very handy. Annual leave is at a premium for both of us at the moment as you might expect. 

We were obviously aware that we were visiting the coldest part of Australia in mid-winter. Not the best time to visit in some ways but it did give us a very different perspective. Snow was still lying on high ground from a heavy fall a few days before our arrival which made for some refreshing sights. Seeing the varieties of trees and bush that we now associate with a warm climate covered in snow was somehow enthralling. 

Tasmania in general is a sophisticated corner of Oz, it was one of the earliest areas to be developed after Sydney and in contrast to the big city much of the old (historical?!) buildings are still actively used. That combined with locally produced produce and wines makes for a cultured experience. It also has a rugged beauty that we did our best to explore in the short time we had. 

We spent a couple of nights out on the west coast in a small resort town called Strahan. It was quite wet and a drive into the high ground to see the famous Cradle Mountain didn't improve things. Put it this way, we only caught a brief view of the mountain as the cloud skidded across it. We had more luck on the East coast on the Tasman Peninsula where we took a boat trip to see the famous sea cliffs . We landed at Port Arthur where one of the first Australian penal colonies was built. We were told that the biggest problem back then was the inmates writing home to friends and family urging them to commit crime to ensure a passage out. Such was the relative ease of life compared to Britain in the throes of the industrial revolution. We took a drive and walk to the picturesque Wine Glass Bay, by now the sun was very much out and we enjoyed the views in the best possible conditions. We then topped off the trip with a couple of days spent in the capital Hobart. We visited the art galleries and climbed Hamilton mountain for a view over what is a small, sophisticated city by a wide estuary with the Southern Ocean in the background.

We're now back in Sydney for our last month here. So it's down to the business of wrapping things up and saying our goodbyes. Mixed feelings all round! 

A couple of sets of photos this time:

• Tasmania 
• Vivid Sydney (a winter festival of light show installations around the city)

Adelaide and Perth

We've done a couple of brief trips over the past weeks.

First up, we took mum down to Adelaide for a stay with my cousin Nichola and her family. Nichola and Neil have made the perfect life for themselves over the 8 years they've been out here. They have a large open house with the obligatory swimming pool out back, set in a large garden. We were staying in Gawler on the border of the Barossa valley, the biggest (and ? best) of the wine regions in Oz. We had to oblige. We spent the day calling into one cellar door after another, Nichola was graciously driving so the rest of us got progressively 'relaxed' - shall we say. Another highlight was an evening barbecue. This was the biggest one we've yet been to here but ironically was composed of Brits only. It was very much the expat experience for us, we sat around by the pool into the evening reminiscing about home and putting the world to rights. I say the world, it was more about putting Australia to rights in truth. If only they'd listen to us we could fix their country for them! At the end of the stay we sent Mum off back to the UK while Ros and I spent a few hours exploring the city before heading back to Sydney. There's a very pleasant University/Museum quarter by the River Torrens - felt quite European in fact. 

Last weekend I joined Ros in Perth where she'd spent the week at a conference. Perth is over 5 hours from Sydney and we reflected on the fact that in Europe such a flight would take you to Moscow. Would we consider flying to Moscow from the UK for a weekend? We haven't in the past but perhaps that will be something we'll take home with us - a more open mind about travel? 

We were very much impressed by Perth, helped by the fact that the weather was near perfect. Given that we were limited on time we took a couple of coach tours into the surrounding area. It's such a beautiful and diverse area with rivers, rolling vineyards, wide open seascapes, dense Eucalypt forests, massive sand dunes and spooky deserts!! We spent a couple of days sampling all of the above. The last day we kicked back and stayed in the city, taking a train to a suburb at the mouth of the Swan River and returned by ferry. We even saw a couple of dolphin pods from the boat. The locals took the sightings in their stride, it's obviously a common occurrence - lucky them!

We're back to the routine of work now but have set an end date (at work etc) so we're now very much in the final phase of our stay. Niall is in a similar position as he's also finished his sales job and sets off for New Zealand at the weekend - his final phase (or perhaps the start of the next one?)

I've put together a few photo's if you're interested:

• Adelaide - 
• Perth  -

? Last Visitors

Another holiday, another house full. We had a wonderfully chaotic Easter with my Mum; sister-in-law Alice; and our nice and nephew Sophie & Micheal staying with us. That equates to seven of us in a small two bedroomed flat - i.e. bodies everywhere! It was particularly good to have kids around (especially over Easter - we're still finding forgotten chocolate in the fridge!).

We now have a regular routine for visitors:- show them the best of Sydney but then go somewhere we haven't been before - just to inject some variety into the mix for Roz and I.

The trip away this time was to Port Stephens, a collection of resorts in a large picturesque bay 3 hours north of Sydney. Again we were left feeling we wanted to go back, if only we'd discovered it earlier. Blue seas, endless beaches, steep hills to climb for views across the bay. We only stayed over for one night but it was enough to be transported back to the eighties. The low to mid range hotels we find ourselves in here are all a bit dated (can't speak about the upper end - perhaps that's what you pay your money for?). That's fine when it's just for a night or two, it becomes a nostalgic experience. The evening meal in particular was a blast from the past - deep fried everything. I don't think prawn cocktail was on the menu but it wouldn't have been out of place there.

We went out on a dolphin watching boat trip on the second day. There are several pods in the bay and despite the high winds we caught sight of quite a few - what a thrill. We had intended doing some snorkeling too as there's a renowned nature reserve in the bay with lots of sea life. Unfortunately the winds has whipped up the sea bed and there was nothing to see. We swam among a flock of Pelicans instead - they were particularly unimpressed as a they sheltered by the shore from the winds.

Alice and the kids have now gone on to Hong Kong, visiting friends before returning to the UK. Mum is still with us experiencing all the extremes of weather that a Sydney autumn has to offer. We're currently in the middle of a storm that's lasted for 3 days now. We're just about to set off for Adelaide, weather permitting, for a stay with my cousin Nichola. Unfortunately Nichola and her family are stranded on a cruise ship outside of Sydney waiting for the storm to bait before they're allowed to come in to the harbour! So we don't know how things will turn out, but in true Aussie style we'll be making the most of it.

New Zealand Trip

We've just returned from a two week touring holiday around New Zealand. Ros and I hired a camper-van and greedily set off to see as much as we could in the short period of time we had to play with. The adventure started in Auckland on the northern end of North Island and continued for a short week before we caught the ferry to the South Island where we spent a long week.

The roads were perfect for driving a van around, quiet and perfectly formed. And there's so few of them that it's impossible to get lost. We were not alone, camper-vans were everywhere to be seen. As everyone knows NZ advertises itself as the home of adventure activities. We sampled: Black Water Rafting, Jet Boating, Luge, Paragliding and Sea Kayaking (twice) among more sedate activities.

If I were asked to sum the country up I'd have to say it has all the best elements of Europe packaged into a small country with English speaking, friendly, and relaxed locals. With the bonus of volcanic activity!

We finished up with a visit to Christchurch which has a strange atmosphere post earthquake. 70% of the buildings in the central business district are either flattened or unstable and due for demolition. On the positive side the people who are left have a certain defiant energy and are coming up with all kinds of innovative methods to regenerate quickly - including the use of freight containers for just about everything!

Returning to Sydney was a little strange as it didn't feel like coming home as such. The trip was more like an extension of our travels, almost a holiday from a holiday - very odd!

We briefly thought about emigrating to NZ about 15 years ago. Our trip has left us regretting that we didn't pursue the idea!

And here's a few photos to view

Final phase??

Given that we're now into 2015 with just a few months to go before we return home it feels like we're in the final phase of our Australian adventure. The thought is focusing our minds as there's just so much we still want to do. We had a long list of places we wanted to visit out here and I suppose we're a good way through that but we keep finding places we'd like to go back to a second time - they're now in the mix with all the others! Our solution to this problem? We plan to finish work a few weeks early, pack up, and do some travel before taking a final flight home. We'll 'mop up' any Australian destinations we haven't managed to get to and then perhaps a south pacific island or two. 

It's funny how we're already getting nostalgic about Sydney now that we're into this 'final phase' mentality. We're saying things like "this time next year we'll be.....". Not so sure I like it, I think we need to adopt a less introspective attitude!