Stuff...

Apart from breaking my finger on the first anniversary of our arrival in Australia (will always remember where we spent it I s'pose: the A&E in Caloundra), it's been pretty uneventful here on the Sunny Coast. 
On school hols at the moment which is great: lie-ins a-plenty.  We're all normally up and about by 6am whilst working and school-ing so it's been lovely.  Jeff has today off (Queen's birthday here in Queensland) which is a treat for him.  His work has been so intense that he hasn't been able to take time off all year. He's even been working Saturdays to ensure that the contract's completed by December. It's good to have him around.
Oli and Jeffers are playing table tennis at the moment and then we're off to the beach for a walk and a coffee.  Mooloolaba is a holiday destination so is chocka with tourists. Great atmosphere although trouble with parking during hols! 
1st of October now and the summer is almost upon us.  Summer means humidity and thunderstorms here in Queensland though, so different than summer in the UK.  We have managed to persuade our landlord to install fans in our rental  property which is good so we've just signed up for another 6 months. Looking to buy our own place next year.  So glad that we didn't rush in to things, although I will feel more 'settled' when we have bought somewhere.  

12 months on...

We did it... it's our first anniversary... one year ago today, the 22nd of September, we landed in Australia... ♥

Holidays and stuff!

Have now finished at school and ready for the 2 week holiday... Oli and I are looking forward to the break: an 11 week term is a shock to our pommie system... zzz... Oli also started at a new school a couple of weeks ago so he's had extra stuff to think about.  We moved him to a smaller school as he was finding the local one a bit 'overwhelming'.  Thankfully, he's back to the Oli we know and love and we can breath a collective sigh of relief!  His new school is set in pineapple plantations with some fabulous views along with a lovely feeling of 'community'.  Oli is taking up basketball in term 4: as he's now 5'9"he has the height of a basketball player, if nothing else!
I have spent to day dealing with some more 'differences'.  Oli suddenly announced that he had to take in some 'lollies' (pommie= bag of sweets) and so we rushed to the supermarket to find that they don't open until 8am each day! I then traipsed off for an appointmen with the the only 'bulk billing' doctor locally, which means that I don't have to pay for treatment up front.  I then paid our compulsory 3rd party car insurance and rego (I still don't understand the car stuff!).
Weather forecast is 30 degrees for tomorrow with a possible thunderstorm: we really, really need rain... we've only had a couple of days of it in the last 50 days...  The leaves and grass are brown and dry: a real fire hazard.  The jacaranda are blooming now though which has got to be one of my faves :)

Oli's Baptism!

Oli was baptised on the Sunday just gone... the vicar (or pastor as he's called here) is a bare-footed, surfing, skateboarding preacher who baptised Oli in the swimming pool adjacent to the church: dunked him right under!! All the 200+ congregation around the edge whooping and cheering... fabulous ♥

Job!!

I've only gone and got a bloomin' job... really pleased actually.  When we first arrived in Australia, I was taking some supply/relief teaching work through an agency but it turned out to be very sparse indeed. I was becoming really bored at home so took a 12 week job at the local tennis club which I LOVED although I missed being in the class room with the kids. So, I decided around 3 weeks ago to make a real concerted effort to get back in to teaching.  
I contacted schools individually and met with principals all over the Sunshine Coast 'selling my wares'.  This brought up much more supply work than through the agency and it's good when you've been at a school a couple of times as they begin to get to know you (both the staff and the students).  I then had a call on Monday from a school 15 mins drive from here (that's soooooooo close here in Australia!) offering me a 3-day a week contract between now and Christmas initially, looking to extend after that. I started yesterday and I am teaching English to low-ability students. Met them all yesterday and know we're going to have fun... 'Lively' is a word that springs to mind, although all of the year 10s thanked me for teaching them and asked me to 'promise' that I would stay until Christmas as they were fed up with teachers leaving all the time. 
Really pleased.  
We will have been in Australia a year next month and we're finally 'getting it together'. It's been tough, we've missed our friends and I know we'll have other 'hurdles', but at the moment, life is very good indeed! :)

Kids are Funny

Yesterday, I spent the day teaching in the Special Education Department of a local school. Great fun and very funny.  We did some number work, made pizzas for lunch, painted some goods to sell at the Eumundi Markets and finished the day with some board games.  One of the students was very keen to play SCRABBLE (one of my faves!), so we duly hauled it out, set ourselves up with 7 tiles each and then got down to trying to spell some good 'uns.  The young lady who had suggested playing the game suddenly exclaimed that she had a 7-letter word.  We watched in awe as she placed the word down on the board: D R G A A C K... I then explained that 'DRGAACK' wasn't a word that I had ever heard of.  She became quite huffy telling me, 'You and your silly British rules; we've never had to put real words down before!'.

Voting in Queensland

We are Australian residents.  When we have been living in Australia for 4 years, we will be eligible to become Australian Citizens which will then enable us to vote. Voting is compulsory!  We have just received a 'Failure to Vote Notice' for a previous tenant of the property we're presently renting who appears to have forgotten to advise the Electoral Commission of his whereabouts and  who failed to vote in the Queensland State General Election in March this year.  If he is unable to come up with a valid reason for not voting: he faces a fine of $100!