First day of School

First day nerves were overflowing as we set off on foot for the short journey to school on Monday morning. There wasn't much traffic but even if there was you could've probably heard the loud heart beats or the brain waves wondering what the differences of this new school would be? What to expect? Will it be easy to make friends? Have I packed the right lunch? So many questions spinning around in my head, but it was time to put aside my feelings of unease and focus on putting my son at ease.

We arrived at school half an hour before it started as instructed. The admin team were busy with other parent queries so we sat and took in the welcoming entrance area with the large ceramic mural made by pupils of the pupils. The Principal came out and greeted us, then his new teacher led us to the classroom. He was shown his desk, given exercise books, we took in the City view from the window and introduced ourself to the fish. It was then a return to the playground for the start of the school day. And what a different start it was...

The old bell rings and the assembly begins. It takes place outside in the playground with all the kids sitting on the floor in their class rows. Parents are welcome to hang around for it. This wasn't a boring assembly where the attendees are lectured to. Greetings are said and notices are read out by the children; daily rota's are given; time for a song and then the assembly is concluded. Kids are asked to wish a good morning to their parents and head off into their classrooms.

My son was busy talking to the boy he was sitting next to. This is quite a surprise for me as he is very shy with new people. He walked right past me too immersed in his conversation to even notice me longing for a goodbye wave. Leaving me standing in an almost deserted playground feeling completely lost. Didn't he understand it was my first day of school too?!

The assembly obviously wasn't targeted just at me but as one of my first impressions of the school in action it did put me at ease. The interactive delivery of information to the kids in a relaxed atmosphere, keeping their attention, and respecting the speakers, gave me what I hope is an insight into how lessons are delivered. I felt a sense of warmth generated within the playground walls, justifying the repeated use of 'community' in the schools marketing material.

Now I just need to compose myself and fill the next 5 hours before pick up time. We'd already agreed on going for a celebratory ice-cream. I'm emotionally exhausted, I've already earnt a double scoop and it's only 9.40am. I've told myself if I can hold back the tears when I pick him up then i'll have earnt sprinkles on top of my chocolate and mango sorbet.

Bondi Beach

You may be put off visiting Bondi because of it being 'full of tourists' but there's a reason it has a lot of visitors. It is a beautiful area and a trip to Sydney will feel incomplete without a paddle in the famous waves.

If you are travelling by car there are several routes to get to Bondi Beach but if it's your first time then make sure you approach it from Bondi Road to get the biggest impact. If you are travelling by bus from Bondi Junction then you'll probably take this route. Sit on the right hand side of the bus for the best view. As you travel down the hill and turn the bend get ready for the stunning view. You can see immediately why it is a surfers paradise, but if not, then you will soon hear it as sounds of surf crashing on to the beach soon draws you in.

All thoughts of it being a tourist trap are gone. The sandy beach stretches on and on. There is a wide grass area running the length of the beach which makes a pleasant divide between the beach, the road and the shops. It has picnic tables scattered around and decorated concrete benches. The Parade is full of tempting cafes, restaurant and ice-cream parlours. The beach wall is brightly decorated with cool graffiti. There are showers and toilets along the parade, a Pavilion and a Surf Club. There's an open air pool and a kids paddling pool. The beach is an alcohol free zone which adds to the family friendly feel of it. There's even an outdoor gym. What's not to like?


We have now visited in Winter, Spring and Summer. Below is the account of our first visit and further below photos of subsequent visits. Bondi has good facilities. You can learn to surf and it hosts various festivals. Find out more at the dedicated Bondibeach website.

We first went on a Winters morning. At the beginning of the beach there was a surf competition. You couldn't miss the surfers area. Identified by a collection of marquees and a flat wall of surf boards, a PA system and half dressed surfers hanging out. Their chilled out vibe was contagious. It felt like you owed it to the spirit of the beach to relax and go with the flow.

That's exactly what we did. Off came our shoes and jackets, and we went down to the sea. My son was the first to paddle, then wanted to go in more so took off his shorts and T-shirt. My daughter didn't want to paddle but wanted to copy her brother so took off her leggins and ventured to the waters edge. Soon my son was jumping over the broken waves and shrieking with laughter. My daughter got a bit more adventurous and then too adventurous. She was running away from a wave and her feet couldn't carry her fast enough. She went face down and the little wave swept over her. Much to the delight of the watching Japanese tourists, who made her a part of their souvenir photos! Her wet clothes joined the pile of our shoes and on went my son's Tshirt as a dress for her.

There was time for a bit of sandcastle building before we dried off. Too early for lunch we went in search of a snack and stopped at the New Zealand Natural cafe for a toastie and milkshake. It took several minutes to decide on which flavour milkshake as it was made with any choice of ice-cream from the 3 counters.  The restaurants around the Pavilion are also a popular choice After our snack we walked back up the beach and checked out the skate park. Beside the big kids on their skateboards was a second lower skate park where smaller kids were riding their scooters up and down.

We didn't get as far as the beach pool on that first visit but have since walked past and will eventually get to try it out. Check out Icebergs Club for more info on the pool and restaurant.


See also The Festival of Winds held on Bondi Beach in September

Deciding whether to go in on our first visit


The result of deciding yes, let's go for a paddle when we hadn't planned it.

 
The parade wall art

Icebergs outdoor pool and restaurant

 
Winters mornings

Spring morning

A busy Summer morning

A not so busy Summer morning

Vivid Sydney 2015

Our first venture out into Sydney during the evening was timed perfectly for the start of Vivid Sydney. Accompanied by friends we were ready to see the impact the light installations and projections would have on the City. Best of all it is a free event (if you can avoid buying the kids an illumination toy from one of the many street stalls).

We started with some energy in the form of a big burger & chips from the food court and set off walking around Darling Harbour taking in the lazer show. The only interactive stage we played on was beating the drums which turned the lights on on the trees opposite. You could also programme the main lazers which shone over the City, but the queue was huge.

Seeing the City dressed in lights was something special. Even the tall cranes were lit up.

We splashed out on a water taxi which took us from Darling Harbour, with a backdrop of the 9pm fireworks, round to Circular Quay, which you enter under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and around the Sydney Opera House.

The illuminations on the bridge were pretty, but the illuminations on the Opera House were fantastic. I variety of designs, images, graphics and colours flashed on to the iconic building.

Onto another iconic building - Custom House. We sat on the pavement and watched the different graphics take over the facade of the building. Bodies of all ages stared up in wonder as the house transformed from a fish tank to an enchanted forest. The projections are fitted specifically to the architectural form of the building, using graphics that integrate natural imagery with textures and colours that are reflective of the city in all its moods and seasons.

Unfortunately the heavy eyes of our kids signaled the end of this evening. We will venture out again before the 18 days of Vivid Sydney is over to see what else there is to discover at this event.

'Blown & Away' by my birthday beach visit

As soon as our arrival date in Australia was confirmed as being 3 days before my birthday, I'd planned my birthday day. As a long term fan of Home & Away it had to be spent on location at Palm Beach. My toes last kissed the sand there a decade ago so I was eager to see if it was as beautiful as I remembered or had I glorified the memory over the years through the lense of a Channel 7 camera hovering over Summer Bay.

We arrived at lunchtime so stopped at the Boathouse restaurant at Governor Phillip Park. We sat outside to take in the view over the wharf. It seemed so familiar. I sat there half expecting Irene or Marilyn to take my order, knowing in reality of course that wouldn't happen - the inside scenes weren't shot here so Irene would be serving elsewhere! It was so windy & cold with bottles being blown over and the kids shivering under the blankets that reluctantly we moved under cover. The hot chocolate, fizz and food soon arrived to warm us up. Highly recommend the prawns, fish pie and tuna crackers.

After a very satisfying lunch we popped next door to Alf's Bait Shop. Exactly how it looks in Summer Bay. They had sust out the merchandising. I was restricted to just buying the T-shirt, this time. I posed for pictures behind the counter before taking our icecreams outside and sat under the Australian flag to reflect on the silver shadows dancing on the waves.

We hopped over to the beach. Still too windy for us to even consider more than a quick paddle. We played chicken with every wave while we admired the surfers who were slightly more selective about their waves.

There is something magical about the walkways from the grass down to the beach that you just have to capture. It's like an open doorway to calmness. Plus there's always a slight chance a Braxton boy could be coming out of the surf!

Search for a home

Our search for a long-term rental apartment in Sydney has only just begun and already we have noticed so many differences from flat hunting in London, and Amsterdam.

* Costs are listed by week
* Notice period is only 2 weeks, therefore most apartments are only listed 2 weeks before they become available
* Unfurnished properties don't include a washing machine or fridge/freezer (unless built in)
* Most are viewed on an 'open house' basis and you only get a 15-20 minute window to turn up
* Search http://www.domain.com.au/ and http://www.realestate.com.au/
* You need to be ready with all your information to submit an application if you find one you like before anyone else does
* Quality of description and pictures vary from agent to agent
* There are a lot of 'open houses' on Saturday so many agents have Friday as their day off

Our currently dilemma - Do you risk losing the best one so far by waiting to see if a better one comes up?

The BIG pack

We used a relocation company to pack up and complete the necessary customs documentation. Generally really pleased with them but some items that should've been packed weren't and some items that we asked not to be got packed were:

Please don't pack: our toothbrushes and daily toiletries or the strollers - They all got packed.
Do pack the 6 bottles of Prosecco that I declared on the customs form - didn't get packed
Do pack the whole kitchen - 1 tall kitchen cupboard (including the toaster which my dear friend scrubbed with a toothbrush to get the crumbs out of) - didn't get packed.

My tips:
* Let the neighbours know whats happening
* However good the packers are - label whats not to go
* Be prepared for the locust like speed of packers
* Packers work better with offers of tea/coffee
* Rely on friends to take kids
* Empty washing machine & dish washer
* Try to keep everything in the rooms they belong in - will help with the unpacking
* Accept offers of food and help with any pre-packing you can do and post packing clean
* You may need to borrow hoover and cleaning products
* Clear out recycling and charity donations as you go
* Prepare to be overwhelmed by your mixed emotions
* Consider making life easier at the airport by pre-booking porters
* If visiting multi-cities consider the airport left luggage
* Review your suitcase packing and always try and take some things out
* Keep originals of official documents with you, plus copies
* Try and store your suitcases/handluggage/handbag at a friends so there is no chance of them being packed
* Know that you will run out of time to do everything you want
* A month before make a note of all the things you use daily/weekly/monthly to help with your packing - depending on how long it will take for you to be reunited with all your possessions

Travelling Light, or not

Living out of a suitcase. It's not the sanest thing to do, particularly as it normally revolves around a big change. Taking 12 cases when you move Countries with 2 kids just because you can, isn't the smartest thing to do either!

As we were preparing to pack everything we own into a container to sail across to the other side of the world, I had to decide what items were going to be travelling with us. The things we would need for the next 9 weeks. We made life harder by including a visit to the UK and to Hong Kong enroute to Australia so had to ensure we had appropriate clothing.

Now we are a week into our stay, unpacked and waiting for our container, I realise that I made some poor packing choices. Actually, I realised very early into our journey that I'd packed too many cases. Or had I? I'm still in conflict over that one.

I definitely made our transit harder travelling with sooo many bags, buggy & 2 children. We had to pay for airport porters, double taxi's, plus a minibus at our final destination, which all increased the overall cost of our travel. We used our full checked luggage entitlement. Our hand luggage we used as extra suitcase space.

BUT... Imagine if our container was lost or destroyed. Unlikely, but we did hear a lot of horror stories about how strict Australian customs are so there is always the small chance it could happen. Therefore I did pack items you wouldn't take on holiday e.g. baby keepsakes and a lot of paperwork. The rules of our relocation company dictated some of the contents of our cases e.g. jewellery. I did pack too many of the same type of clothes and items like towels. Too many books for the kids, which added to the weight and would've been easy to replace over here. Kept forgetting I was moving to a country where everything is available in the same language!

We're in temporary accommodation until our container arrives, so its easy to convince ourselves we're just on a long holiday and that's why we don't have our usual creature comforts around us. There are things I go to use which we don't have but I don't feel we're missing out on anything, except our friends and family nearby.

For future moves I would try and stick to the following: items that can't be replaced; small toys; 2-3 types of each piece of clothing e.g. T-shirts, trousers; jackets/waterproofs; paperwork especially original documents; chargers/adapters; camera; small stationery set (you can never find a pen when you need one); toiletries; a little something from home that makes you smile

Things that worked: * I kept a list of what was in each suitcase * Marked all cases with same coloured ribbon on handles and patterned gaffer tape for quick identification off the luggage belt * 'New home' toy for kids * Pyjamas at top of case * Extension leads * Put everything we needed for actual flight into a carrier bag to pull out of hand luggage case once
on board to save keep opening and closing cases * Presumed that one or both kids would be asleep when we landed and how we would manage them and the bags

Another 6 weeks and we'll have to pack up again, this time it can all go in ikea bags for the short trip between temporary and long term apartment.

Thank you to our friends who provided B&B accommodation for us and our many cases in Amsterdam and UK.