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Weird but wonderful
Now you might think I’m going slightly mad, ‘why on earth is she posting a blog on custard apples?’
Well…
When I first arrived in Oz, I hurridly wanted to go out and taste new Aussie foods… as I love trying new and odd stuff, even if it is only once… (Witchetty grubs…. never again….shiver)
So obviously the sound of a ‘custard apple’ was very appealing…. ‘oooh, an apple – that tastes of custard?’ Very Willy Wonker.
Tags: apple, Australian fruit, custard, Custard apple, unusual fruit
hmmm... spicy
Can’t blog….. eating!
Tags: Good Friday, Hot cross buns
Is it just me - or is this just too weird..?
So, after enjoying a half-strength soy latte and a huge chocolate muffin (couldn’t decide to be healthy or not today) I said goodbye to my friends and headed off to the car park….
….I didn’t expect to trip over a super-long, hairy worm on the way….
On further inspection, it turned out to be about 300 caterpillars!
Tags: long hairy worm, processionary caterpillars, wattle trees.
I receive many emails from people in the UK, most of them are quite straightforward questions, others are about utterly bizarre stuff, but nevertheless, we normally have fun figuring out the answers together. But sometimes I can sense an underlying depth of desperation in the midst of an email, it could be about a relocation question, or it could be on a more personal level.
It’s only when I recognise this, that the feelings I had when I first arrived come up to surface.You may well be living in the most beautiful country in the world (according to me) but when you are experiencing it without your best chums around, it can become a bit flat.
Finding friends is as easy here as it is anywhere, in fact it’s probably much, much easier here than in most countries. Aussies are walkabout folks, so to find one that was born and brought up in one area, isn’t as common as it is in the UK. One of the first questions they ask each other on a first meeting is ‘So, where ya from?’…. so really they could be as alien to an area as you.
So if you were worried you may feel ‘all alone’ let that be reassurance. It’s great to know that there are hundreds of other people, doing exactly what you are doing and feeling how you feel.
Just be aware of making Panic Friends…..
Hit it!
Tags: making connections, new friends, panic
Caught in weird gravitational pull... Hayley, Mix FM roadie and me.
I know… when I looked back at my blog I could hardly believe it myself…
FIVE months have passed since I last sat down and wrote a post
Where have I been? What on earth could have kept me away from the keyboard of sanity that I had kept within arms reach for so many years?
Had I been abducted? Was I simply being lazy? Or was I trapped under something heavy and desperately trying to reach the laptop…?
Nope, it was just because of one word…
ZUMBA!
After a month of mayhem, I am finally getting a handle on my new routine. With three children starting different schools; writing unscheduled articles for magazines; filming youtube clips (coming soon to this channel!) and organising other work commitments – my days have been somewhat disorganised…
…and I loathe disorganisation!
But today I felt like I had finally got everything back on an even keel - so this morning I decided to make time to throw on some training shoes and get back into doing some exercise, as it seems my bottom has been widening by the hour.
Tags: 1980's bum bag, power walk, queensland weather., wet season, Zumba
Today I celebrated my first Australia Day as an Aussie…. and I felt immensely proud to raise up the Australian flag (ok – it was a cheap hand-held one from the Dollar Tree… and it was actually attached to my esky – not raised up high on a pole) BUT the point is, I felt pretty darn ‘true blue’ as I knocked back the amber nectar with my nearest and dearest on the beach.
'Flying the Flag'
Tags: amber nectar, Australia Day, beach cricket, esky, sausage sizzle, thongs, true blue
Remember a few weeks ago when I was chatting to a local surf lifesaver about rips… while watching my son being battered about by the waves…?
Well, since then a top bloke called Dr. Rob Brander (a surf scientist) has steered me in the direction of his website, called (would you believe) “The Science of the Surf” … (and I thought I was being clever thinking of that blog title)
So please take a look at his fantastic short video, and stay really safe!