Life update

[snifter]

Well, its been 11 months or so for us now. Life is good.

 

 

Hubby is very happy to be back 'home' and son (now turned 6) has settled so well and loves his life here. Its like we've always been here really. Not had a wobble with homesickness, nor any sense of 'what have we done?' in thinking this has not been the right move for us. We just got stuck in and gotton on with it. Life goes on wherever you are.

 

 

Hubby went back to the UK with his work in July and while he enjoyed being back, seeing his friends and my parents, being in the city we left, he said it didn't feel like 'home' anymore and he would be happy to be back here. Of course, that we were not there with him also added to his sense of it no longer being home. But it was good, he enjoyed being back there and no doubt will be making regular trips from here on out. Added advantage for me is I get to stock up on some things not available here Or stuff like kids shoes. Hubby went over with a pretty empty bag last time and came back with it filled. He didn't bother taking many clothes with him there and bought a heap in the sales to bring back. Worked out well for all of us.

 

 

 

 

For the most part Adelaide is good. Well, the parts of it we see/visit and use on a regular basis. Definately have our regular haunts now and areas/places we like and don't like. We bought a house, about 7 months after we arrived and are very happy with it. Lovely area, peaceful, in the hills a ways and can pretty much walk out our door to farmland and beyond. Going the other way we can head down toward the city or out to the coast. Best of both worlds.

 

 

We love the CBD for a night out, dinner, movie, parklands and more. Brings back good memories also of when hubby had his little place in the CBD right near the Central Market and we'd be able to walk out the door and into the city within a few minutes.

 

We've gone to local footy matches (SANFL team we support) and enjoyed those. We like that kids go free to these games and quite often for games in holidays and daytime they have bouncy castle and stuff for kids in the family area. We plan to start heading to the AFL games next season once son is a bit older. I'm looking forward to it and hubby can't wait to get back to seeing games live. Cricket season will soon be here so we plan to sign up son up with one of the local ones. He can't wait. Then there is the cycling, racing and all that starting up again. Plus the velodrome seems reasonable price wise so will be trying that out.

 

Have an Easter break planned with the extended family and will be getting stuck in again to the Tour Down Under and the Fringe when it comes round. I did think the Fringe had too many shows and could probably do with a few less to choose from. Having been to some massive Fringe festivals in my time, I do think its a case of less is more unless its Edinburgh, but thats just me. I also winced at the prices for some acts and wasn't inclined to fork out all over the place for so many unknowns so picked 3 or 4 and stuck with those.

 

Have seen emus, koalas, lots of roos, dolphins. roadkill possum (I only ever see them as roadkill) and a few other Aussie delights. Have a blue tongued skink living in our garden and lots of smaller skinks I've yet to identify name wise.

 

Things I have discovered.

 

* Adelaide has churros places. Ok, no little vans setting up as a stall at a market yet that I've found but there are churros places in the CBD and one at Marion. This makes me happy. Its not like I want to eat them all the time but on the odd occasion I am passing and hungry, I love them as a treat. England was sadly lacking in churros so its lovely to be in a place where they are available.

 

* The Entertainment book is proving value for money so long as I remain organised and remember to go through it carefully, plan ahead and all that. If I don't, its a bit of a waste.

 

* Heating muffins in cafes is normal here. Ergh and . Its just wrong. And muffins just seem like cake, not muffin like at all really. Bit of a shame but hey, means I can opt for churros

 

* Footy in winter takes over everything. Don't invite anyone to a kids party, party, BBQ or any other event when the Crows or Port (depends who you and your friends barrack for) are playing. Check ahead on the schedule to be safe. We planned stuff around it (at hubby's insistance) and I discovered so did pretty much everyone else we know.

 

* I embraced footy. Son plays for a local club, loves it. He collected the footy album cards, got to know all the players faces and can give me the playing stats for just about all of them I enjoy watching it live, so much better up close in the atmosphere and can really help you get a feel for how the game is played. And how physical the game is. Then watching the AFL games on TV you appreciate it all the more. Blooming tough game no mistake. And now I am getting to grips with the rules, teams and players, its proving enjoyable. To a point.

What else. Oh, this. This is more for those yet to arrive or yet to experience anywhere outside of Adelaide

 

We've taken some trips. Liked Mount Gambier, went somewhere in the sticks heading north a fair few hours (that was interesting to say the least) and have learnt that we now think nothing of driving 3-4 hours somewhere to then return in the same day. Other places quite a long way away. More places planned. Some things I have discovered once you leave the greater Adelaide area.

 

* When driving for hours and you ask your husband 'Where are we?' and you get the response 'Nowhere' you feel very small in a big country.

 

* Blink and you miss them 'towns'. Those ones with population sigsn saying 235, but you only see two houses and one village hall building thing and perhaps some kind of small shop, invariably closed when you pass through or experiencing a power cut for the day and unable to open. And not one single person. Ever. But they have a footy oval and club.

 

* The strange sense of smallness again I felt when out in the sticks somewhere passing a bus with the destination sign 'Alice Springs'. And we were many miles from Adelaide. Many miles from anywhere.

 

* Road trains = scary beasts bearing down the road at you. Even more so in pouring rain. But they have pretty night lights.

 

* Feral cats. Well, more like feral dead cats. Saw many of these as roadkill by the roads. Not much else but lots of dead cats.

 

* Not needing to indicate for hours on end. Not needing to turn left or right for hours on end. Not needing to change gear for hours on end.

 

* When driving at night, car headlights can take a looooooong time to reach you. You spot them, there, over there, and keep waiting for the road to bring them round but no, 4 songs pass on the CD (radio ain't working where we are ) before they are even close to you to require you dip your beam. And then you discover its a road train and bunk down as it passes at warp speed.

 

* Not all trucks appear to have speed limiters. This makes for **** scary driving when the speed limit is say 100kph and you are doing this and there they go whizzing past you or bearing down on you on the other side of the road.

 

* Dirt roads. I am in awe.

 

Few pics while the going was good (passenger was taking them on the earlier part of the road trip and some of them didn't all fit in the shot as way too long).

[noworriesmate]

Great post Snifter - thanks for the update!!

 

NWM

[Blossom]

They heat up quiche too! It's just wrong!

[jtct]

Love it - great post

[kelbert]

Fab post Snifter! Loved your account of driving, it was so well written I felt like I was settling down with a good book.

[Guest wen66]

Those road trains are certainly scary. Witnessed a few on the road from Melbourne to Adelaide! They didn't like us on the road at all....something to do with the fact we were driving a 28' motorhome...lol..

 

One question, what's the deal with kids shoes? Should we stock up before we leave?

 

:-)

[snifter]

One question, what's the deal with kids shoes? Should we stock up before we leave?

 

:-)

 

I just find them really expensive (over priced). Also Clarks shoes here are nothing like UK ones and the range is much smaller. And more pricey. I think their school shoe range is shocking here. Their trainers are meh and not many to choose from.

 

I can buy kids Sketchers in the UK for under £20 and here they cost upwards of $80. Nike for a lot less in the UK, in fact, most brands. I also buy clarks shoes online in the UK, often in the sale and have them sent over. Still works out cheaper. I take my son in to Myer or DJ so he has his feet measured properly then order the size from the UK site.

 

I've just ordered my son 2 pairs of clarks shoes in sizes he'll grow in to and a pair of FitFlops for myself and my mum is bringing them over when she arrives in a few weeks. FitFlops are also really pricey here when I know I can pick pairs up from Amazon UK or the sales for £25 or so.

 

It's my personal choice. I've yet to buy my son a pair of shoes over here as I brought some with us and ordered from overseas. I tried shoe shopping for him here but it left me underwhelmed so I went back to online

[Guest wen66]

I just find them really expensive (over priced). Also Clarks shoes here are nothing like UK ones and the range is much smaller. And more pricey. I think their school shoe range is shocking here. Their trainers are meh and not many to choose from.

 

I can buy kids Sketchers in the UK for under £20 and here they cost upwards of $80. Nike for a lot less in the UK, in fact, most brands. I also buy clarks shoes online in the UK, often in the sale and have them sent over. Still works out cheaper. I take my son in to Myer or DJ so he has his feet measured properly then order the size from the UK site.

 

I've just ordered my son 2 pairs of clarks shoes in sizes he'll grow in to and a pair of FitFlops for myself and my mum is bringing them over when she arrives in a few weeks. FitFlops are also really pricey here when I know I can pick pairs up from Amazon UK or the sales for £25 or so.

 

It's my personal choice. I've yet to buy my son a pair of shoes over here as I brought some with us and ordered from overseas. I tried shoe shopping for him here but it left me underwhelmed so I went back to online

 

Thanks snifter, makes perfect sense. Will definitely bear that in mind. One more thing....may be a silly question but do the kids wear the typical kids black formal school shoes? I need to buy my two, shoes for back to school for this term. They will only be there for two months....:-)

[snifter]

Thanks snifter, makes perfect sense. Will definitely bear that in mind. One more thing....may be a silly question but do the kids wear the typical kids black formal school shoes? I need to buy my two, shoes for back to school for this term. They will only be there for two months....:-)

 

Private schools wear shoes. Most state schools anything goes. Most kids wear trainers of some kind. My son still wears Clark's school shoes here though. A fair few kids at his school wear school type shoes too. I bought the funky looking trainer type for him so they don't really look so shoe like. Just they are black.

[flossybeth]

Great post Snifter, glad to hear you're all settled.

 

And just to join the side thread on shoes - there is a good children's shoe shop (Ollie Ashenden) in North Adelaide on Melbourne St which does a wide range; but they are definitely not cheap. And for us grow-ups I've just ordered 5 pairs of shoes (Birkenstocks, Dockers boots etc) from Surf4shoes ($20 postage for up to 19 pairs) so I'll let you know how that order works out. And (all these sentences starting with and, the grammar nazi in me isn't happy) as far as school shoes go my three all wear trainers (they go to state schools) - I like to use Athlete's Foot because they measure and fit the trainers just like a proper shoe shop and always seem to have a good range to choose from; although last time we went we paid $80 for a pair and were told that next time the 13 year old would be in to a women's size so we'd be paying $50 more for the same shoe just a size bigger. It's always been one of my bugbears; the size of child's foot shouldn't mean they pay more if they are still obviously a child. Much as I hate to send the children in trainers every day it's what's specified since they do some sort of physical activity everyday and don't get changed into sports kits.

[Lily Rainbow]

Nice and interesting post Snifter.Glad you are settling in nicely and life is good for you.xx

[Andrew from Vista Financial]

Great update, thanks for sharing!!

[chrisda]

Thanks for sharing this with everyone. Real interesting and informative.