Its been a while - sorry!

We've been so busy getting on with our new lives that I'd forgotten all about updatig this - sorry!

Ok so we've been here 2 1/2 months now and its pretty much just everday life! Danielle is absolutely loving school and is doing really well there. The school is scruffier than the UK one but they apparently dont get a great deal of funding so thats to be expected. The teaching is great though and Danielle has come on leaps and bounds since we arrived.

Grays work is going ok. The money is pretty crap though which means that he HAS to do overtime simply for us to pay the bills etc. He still gets to finish by 6pm each day though so its not too bad and he finishes at 1pm on a Friday.

We had our Medicals last week for Permanent Residency. Its not the we necessarily want to stay here but it just gives us that bit more security if we have PR. We'll also be able to claim back some of the $4500 school fees we paid when we arrived plus be able to claim child benefit etc (something I had no intension of doing but needs must).

Everyone has been really friendly here. I met a mother at the school and we've gotten really friendly with their family. They're so welcoming and my life a lot easier for us.

It hasnt been easy by any stretch of the imagination and I've certainly had some bad times as well as good. The lifestyle however is great (even though its winter) because we get to go out on our bikes most days and there is a part right opposite the house. The roads are much quieter than the UK and so Danielle can easily ride her bike on them (obviously with me riding close by!).

The weather is extremely strange here. With it being winter it gets extremely cold in the evenings and mornings. Some might say that its not a patch on the UK (which is probably true) but in the UK most houses have central heating and double glazing - in Oz there is none of that. The doors have huge gaps around them and the standard of the building is absolutely shocking. At the moment I sleep with a heater on next to the bed, bed socks, big thick dressing gown and a nice thick duvet. The cold is something I did not expect thats for sure. It wont last long though and soon enough we'll be having the air con on 24/7!!

Gray is having a lie in this morning. To pay for our medicals he has worked 13 days solid bless him. Needless to say hes shattered.

Danielle is having swimming lessons at the moment and is enjoying them. They're very strong on learning proper swimming strokes here rather than just doggie paddle! Its really strange to see the young kids (younger than Danielle) swimming front crawl perfectly (head in water and everything - even I cant do that!! ha ha!)

We've got just over three months left on the tenancy of this house and we're still unsure as to whether or not we'll move on. The location of the house is great and so is the garden but I found the house a little depressing at times. Its very dark and always looks dirty to me because the windows are all wooden and it really needs a good paint everywhere - unfortunately when you're renting you cant do anything like that so we just have to live with it. We have seen other houses which are nicer but the location isnt there - personally I think the location is more important so we'll probably just keep looking. We're happy here for now though.

Right I think thats it for now!