Inaugural Aussie Blog Post

G'day mates! Welcome to my new blog!  I feel that this is going to be the easiest way to share all of our crazy stories with you. It has been 20 weeks and 2 days since our arrival in Brisbane, Australia. We have already accumulated many stories from events and travel, as well as happenings from our everyday lives that aren't so "everyday." We are enjoying life in Brisbane tremendously, however, there are many things that are challenging and just plain different than what we are used to. It's all part of the adventure and we can't wait to share it with you.

Our flight to Brisbane was fourteen hours long, and due to our extreme exhaustion and prior chaos of the move (Did I ever mention that we had two sets of movers arrive? The first company came early and started packing our things until we realized they were moving us to Houston.  Hours later, due to the truck breaking down, and after many phone calls, the second and correct movers arrived to pack and ship us to Australia!  Sorry, I digress....)  Ashleigh and I slept ten hours straight, David took a decent nap, and Anna, too excited by business class and all the movie choices, chose to stay awake for the entire flight. 

 

With sixteen pieces of luggage in tow and too many trolleys to handle, we wandered out to our new land. Little did we know that those possessions were all we were going to see for the next 3+ months.

We stayed in an apartment downtown for the first week before we were able to move into our new house.  We had a great view of the river and the Story Bridge and the girls and I got our first taste of urban living. 

The Story Bridge and Kangaroo Point

 



Our apartment was the tallest building above. I took this photo from the Story Bridge.

We didn't have Internet connectivity in our apartment and Starbucks charged an astronomical rate for wifi, so we went to the only close place for free wifi...the McDonald's at the train station.  I would bribe the girls with ice cream and head there every day to sit for an hour just so I could feel somewhat connected.

Since we didn't have a car yet and David was at work, we spent that week exploring Brisbane by foot while battling jet lag.  I certainly wasn't complaining since driving on the opposite side of the street while on the opposite side of the car, was the last thing I wanted to do.

 Fun hand sculptures called "Chat" across the street from our apartment.

If you look closely, the girls are under that gigantic tree in the botanical garden!

Well, I have 4 months of stories to catch you up on including driving, food, animals, language, school and shopping.  Posts will most likely be a bit out of order until I catch up.

Until then, here are a few of our favorite things:

• The weather.  Although we had a chill in the morning air for a couple of months, the weather is beautiful and sunny.  (my opinion may change in a couple of months when we hit the very hot and humid rainy season)
• The animal life.  A.ma.zing.  I have never been so enthralled with birds in all my life.  Kangaroos?  Koalas?  Need I say more?
• The outdoor lifestyle.  There are bike lanes and paths throughout the entire city.  Beautiful parks and recreation areas everywhere.  All kids have bikes and ride them.