Well if this is Winter I can handle it! The weather has been quite nice, daytime temperature around 15 degrees, up to 17 occasionally, the coldest day time temp so far has been 9 deg, thats when the Aussies wrap up in their scarves and gloves.  We have been lucky with clear blue skies so feels really quite warm in a sheltered spot. The temp does fall at night and has dropped as low as 6 degrees which the Aussies feel is absolutely freezing.

We have been out on the weekends investigating different places, went down to the end of the Mornington peninsula again but right to the very end (just before you fall into the sea) and had a look at the historic forts that were set up to guard against invasion during the wars, it was absolutely freezing as the wind was howling as it was so exposed, I really don’t know how the soldiers stayed there. Last weekend we went to a park only 10 mins away which was just like Pennington flash but it was huge – 264 hectares. Three were wetlands and hides and this rough aussie twitcher befriended us (looked a bit like crocodile dundee) and told us about every bloody bird in that park! Lots of cockatoos, parrot’s and other very colourful birds, with pelicans and black swans on the water, unfortunately there are no dogs allowed in the park so will have to leave Xena home.

It was the first weekend of the ski season up in the mountains last weekend and they have had their best start for the past 10 years, it is a 2 hour drive from here to the nearest mountain so I think we will head up there after we get back from Hawaii, it will be nice to see the snow. Of course we didn’t bring the sledge, did we ever envisage using that in Australia?? There are many things we should have brought over with us but didn’t, the biggest one being our Winter coats! We were told nah, it doesn’t get cold even in Winter, so we gave them all away! The temperatures in Hawaii over the past month have been above 80 degrees, cant wait to feel the sunshine again, we go on the 28th June. We are taking minimal clothes with us as we intend to shop! It has to be said, there is no denying the fact that the clothes in Australia are terrible! I have hardly bought anything whilst I have been here, and it’s not through a lack of trying. They are not fashionable, quite old fashioned if anything but also expensive. Ellie really struggles to find nice things and grumbles all the way around the shops. Whilst the Aussie dollar is so strong against the US dollar we intend to buy lots of clothes, that should keep us going until we return to the UK for a holiday next year. There is a positive on the fashion front here though, Zara store opened in the city on Wednesday!! Hooray… It was on TV, some moaning that it is not Australia owned and clothes not made here, but most embracing the opening, there are rumours that H&M may also come over, so we are off to the City tomorrow to investigate Zara.

Ellie has completed her work experience now, it was her last day on Friday and she really enjoyed it. She worked at AVG the computer antivirus company, working in a different department each day, she got her wages also – $25 dollars per day! They were impressed with her knowledge which she says is through listening to her dad and brothers talk about computers etc all the time….

I have another interview on Monday afternoon at a public hospice. I have secured the job at the private hospice when I get back from hols but thought I should investigate the government hospice before I commit to this job. It is getting amusing the speed of response and enthusiasm of the companies. There were no vacancies advertised so I thought I would just send my CV anyway, that was 8pm, got a call at 9.00 the next morning inviting me to interview the day after! I had work commitments so couldn’t go, but will go Monday. I am very blase about interviews now, it’s so weird being in demand!

We are watching with amusement the Aussie responsive to the government policy of plain packaging for cigarettes, we will be the first country in the world to introduce this. The packaging with be a sickly green with a picture of a lung cancer or diseased heart, you get the picture! No writing or anything to remove the glamour from buying them. The Aussies are not happy and have got ads on TV and a website where you can vote to ‘stop the nanny state’. The government are keen on stamping out smoking completely, it is banned from restaurant etc like the UK, and from the outside of shopping centres, cant smoke on the beach and if you smoke in a car that has children in it, even if they are yours, you get a hefty fine. They are discussing stopping it completely in the street also!

The next time I update the blog will be on our return from Hawaii, we have sorted everything for that now, car hire, hotels, internal flights, booked the weather!! I hope we get there OK as there has been a volcanic ash cloud from Chile causing huge flight disruptions to flights around Aus/NZ. We haven’t had a holiday for a long time and it’s been a stressful year so we just need a relaxing break to recharge, lets hope it goes well!!