New Year's Eve

New Years Eve day was a clear, hot 35C. We spent the evening watching the countdown to New Year's celebration in Sydney, the strange thing is Sydney is 1hr behind Brisbane so the local tv sends out the programme later than its actually filmed. So the tv in Europe sent the show out earlier than here(?)
New Years Eve here is very different to Holland, no one has fireworks themselves they go to friends houses and have a party or go to big firework events in the harbour, river, etc. No one in the street shaking the neighbours hands, etc.
For the 1.2 million people gathered around Sydney Harbour these Midnight Fireworks are the culmination of 12 hours of countdown and celebration.The display, featuring thunder, rain and lightning effects, was the largest ever staged in the city. About 5,000kg of fireworks were used.

The australians really know how to party...with or without alcohol....

Cycling round Edenbrooke

This evening once it cooled down (midday was 30C) we did a small tour of the local Edenbrooke estate on our recumbent bikes. We had to go to the local bike shop today to buy a bicycle pump and some pedals. The bike shops here seem to have either racing bikes or mountain bikes.
Its quite hilly here in the surroundings of Seventeen Mile Rocks/Sinnamon Park so the full range of gears were needed to get up some of the steeper roads. Next time we'll take a map and some water with us and go a bit more off the beaten track.

Byron Bay visit

Today we went to Byron Bay, a 2,5hr drive south from Brisbane. The town is a mix between a surfing haven, backbacker centre and an alternative lifestyle resort, lots of new age shops, mixed in with surfing goods/clothes. After walking round we stopped in a cafe, we read a advert showing a 'Crystal Castle' in the hills 20mins from Byron Bay so we set off to investigate. It turned out to be a beautiful new age/buddhist tropical garden set on a hillside overlooking the bay which contained all sorts of huge crystals from Brazil and large statues, the biggest being a 4m high buddha. The statues were all made in Indonesia around Yogjajarkarta (not good spelling sorry). The gardens were fantastic and well landscaped on the hillside, the garden was 20yrs in the making and you could see that much effort had gone into it. Next to the garden was a replanted tropical forest to wander around but we were a little put off by the signs warning of snakes...!
The drive back to civilisation was through green hills and woodland, with small twisting roads that reminded us both of England. The rain of the last 2-3 months has made the countryside remain green into the summer. It really is quite different here to the dry and parched landscape of Perth, Western Australia where we first intended to move to. Looking at it now the green countryside of Brisbane is preferable to Perth.

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!

Its Christmas eve and the daytime temperature is a nice and warm 29C with 32C predicted for Chrismas day...lovely!

Tomorrow our Christmas meal will be for dave a not typical seafood feast with local prawns and fettucini. The living room is decked out with lighted christmas trees and looks very nice at night.

In the weekend we will probably take a day trip to Byron Bay which is a 2hr drive south along the coast, it seems Byron Bay is a bit of a 'new age' spot, a report will follow.

Another report will follow about the phenomenen the 'aussie bbq' an event in itself...

We wish everyone a fine and festive Christmas and our best wishes for 2009!!!

Evening in the garden

It really is nice to have a garden again, droelie (our cat) for one really enjoys it and is busy exploring his new domain, including spraying his new territory(not so nice).Inge has been out to the local garden centres and has bought some nice flowering plants to spice the place up a bit. By about 6pm the temperature drops to 22C and you can just sit outside and relax, read the paper and all the doom and gloom stories, ressession, job losses, etc.

Shots inside the House

So here are a few shots of the inside of the house. The main living room, the meditation/relaxation/reading room, the hallway and main bedroom. The majority of the furniture (bookcases, dining table etc) is from the koperwiek with the exception of the chairs and settee in the living room and the rattan chairs in the reading room, the bed is new as well. We are pleased with what we have, maybe not to everyone's taste but we are happy with it, it now feels like home...

Edenbrooke Estate Nature Area

The area that we have moved into is called the "Edenbrooke Estate". There's some really nice houses here, mostly "low-set" which means bungalows. Quite a mix of housing and styles. A small nature area has been kept at the end of our street just 150metres away, its a small creek called the Jindalee, flowing with water and surrounding by lush green woodlands full of wildlife. We've already taken a few walks there in the evening when the temperature and heat of the day cools down. I took a few photos and a video to give an impression. Its really nice that some nature has a chance to develop in the suburbs here.

Moving in day

15 December 2008 we moved into the new house. All our things, 117 boxes in all, arrived and were packed out in about 3hrs. The next day the furniture we ordered arrived together with a new fridge and king sized bed and mattress. So we are finally sorted, its nice to have familiar things around us again. The living room furniture fits into the new living room very nicely, its still a bit untidy at the moment so no photos ust yet

Moving to Backhousia Crescent

So today we got the keys to our new rental home in Seventeen Mile Rocks. We spent the afternoon checking out the defects in the house and making a list for the estate agent for the condition report. Seventeen Mile Rocks is a suburb about 15km from the centre of Brisbane. In the next few weeks we will put up some photos of the surrounding area

SeaWorld at Surfers Paradise

Last weekend we were invited to Van Oord's Xmas dinner at SeaWorld Resort on the Gold Coast, about 1,5hrs drive away from Brisbane, we got complimentary tickets to SeaWorld next door. It was hot and humid, not the usual christmas weather we are used to. We watched a dolphin show before going for a walk on the beach. The view along the beach you could see the high rise blocks of Surfer's Paradise, the Australian equivalent of Blackpool or Scheveningen.