School Uniform.

Here are Jessica and Alex enjoying showing off their school uniforms; they loved the hats so much that they embarrassed me by insisting on wearing them all through the shopping mall!
Alex gets to wear the gold/yellow top, with green shorts every friday, when it is the whole school's sports day. I think they only do sport for about 35-45 mins,(I thought that they would be doing loads of sport!), but they get to wear their P.E kit all day.



Chris's dilemma is whether to wear a tie to work or not?? ( The Principal does but the other male members of staff don't!) He's always worn one! What should he do? At least the message is clear on this sign, though! We put our best pants on to visit here! (pants are trousers!!)
Alex and Chris are just starting to get used to their new thongs, but they made them walk funny at first! (It's all in the toes....grip don't you know?)



Our first BBQ , so it really felt like home....nice wine,' Mc Guigans' and Chris didn't even burn the sausages!!

Final, final days!

This naughty kookabura was waiting to pinch our BBQ when we had a picnic near Sugar Loaf Mountain. I didn't even know they ate meat! Jessica dropped a kebab and it loved that and then told all its friends!!



John and Lisa took us for a drive in their 4 wheel drive.....in the desert (actually it is an amazing expanse of sand dunes in Barrubi Point) ; apparently they filmed some of the Star Wars film here...well it looked just like it, anyway.



Anyway, we got on with the fun of climbing up the hills and 'sand boarding down them! (yes we really did hire some proper sand boards....brilliant but exhausting!)



"Do you think I would leave you crying, when there's room on my board for 2!"( these song lyrics just came to mind!)

Final few days before school!!

Australia Day!
Here we are waiting for the fireworks, by our local lake, at Speers Point. Lisa and John are really looking after us and showing us a good time!!



Plenty to entertain us while we waited; A free concert with Darryl Braithwaite and Marcia Hines (she was one of the judges on Australia Pop Idol).
I was upset not to get a photo of the Possom in the ladies toilet.(It would have been a great shot...it came right out of the rafters, to take a biscuit it was offered. )




Alex enjoyed this strawberry,chocolate and marshmallow kebab(once he knew it was not a real meat one!)
He enjoyed these fireworks more than the ones at Sydney, but still declared his undying loyalty to the Marchwood display...which are still the best!!

Time to W.A.M.

W.A.M. (our own little family abbeviation for work avoidance mode, it can also be a verb nous wamons, vous wamez , ils wammes) Today it rained all day, an encouragement from a greater being to pull my finger out and start work but could not resist the penny Miller catalogue that came through the door. It is the Australian Betterware/Kleeneze or whatever "useless gadget" door to door sales brochure you are used to. In many cases British and Australians hanker after the same sorts of useless things. Yet whilst having these 68 pages of worthless nonsense gave us a sense of being at home, we are more than ready to embrace the differences of Australian society. So if anyone back in the UK requires Magnetic Gas BBQ level indicator, avocado cutter, liquid pantyhose,holographic owl,ultrasonic denture cleaner or a hanging toothpaste tube holder just let us know. I may be wrong but I have not spied these items in Betterware. You can also get a doona chest and a non slip pants hanger but these are your standard betterware items by another name.



Oh yes and there's a teabag box too!



Meanwhile talking of differences, having been very kindly given the guided tour the day before
by the principal and deputy principal (A.K.A Les and Greg) We made the trip back into Glendore Public School to get myself acquainted with the route and get some preparations done.
Once again finding out all the differences will be fun. Thought I'd better get some blackboard practice in for starters, especially with my handwriting. It was strange how all that chalk dust sticks to your hair. It will also be interesting having one assembly a fortnight (crikey I'll have to teach more) and having no cooks (parent helpers do that) and no dinner ladies/lunchtime supervisors (teachers do that!)



Oh well better put my feet up, could be my last chance for a while. MJS blog readers please note the staff photo has made it to my desk. The paper sign under the computer is the emergency "poison information line".

Animal encounters

Tina is on a challenge at the moment. To carry on a five minute conversation without mentioning the words Koala, Kangaroo, Shark, spider, crocodile or any other wildlife for which Australia is renowned.


That blob? It's a Koala. The video footage is better and there is loads of it. This was just outside our Apartment in Noosa and it was quite exciting to see one in its natural habitat. Having seen a herd (is that the right collective noun?) of Kangaroos on the way to Fraser Island it was a good day for wildlife spotting



A Golden orb spider that has mated with a normal orb and hence the white body, apparently. Not as impressive as the Huntsman we saw the night before. We don't have to worry about either of these though. It's the ones you don't see that you worry about.



This is Jessica and Alex outside reception of where we were staying the little white blob on the floor is the owners dog who they constantly wanted to go and visit and treat like one of their virtual "Nintendogs". Jessica has been sad about leaving friends and family behind but knows that she will be seeing them all again. When we left here though she was in tears for about 30 minutes the big softie.


Final animal encounter? PIGS. Not a complimentary term for the NSW constabulary but suits the theme of this post. In case you can't tell this is our first speeding ticket in Australia. $225 and three points for Tina. I was caught in Northamptonshire 6 months ago so we're quits now. The fact we didn't stop (We thought he was gesturing the car next to us) did not amuse him and meant we got the siren treatment as well. Luckily it is not America so no spreading them or guns to the head but a big telling off. Tina for some reason did not want to be photographed holding this and is suitably ashamed.

Nice weather for Fish

Well if you are going to visit a part of the World which has tropical rainforests you have to expect tropical rain. So we discovered when we went to SeaWorld for the day.



Sea Lions did not seem to mind it.




Dolphins were happy enough. Jessica is now on a mission to pat, kiss, swim with dolphins and then be a trainer when she grows up. We think the need for a degree in Marine Biology might put her off and the fact that Dolphin trainers are not in great demand in the UK. Somehow I don't think this is the last Dolphin phto you'll see this year.



We were not so keen on the weather. Please note a grimace rather than a grin and the fact that Alex was forced to regress into "Muzzy mode" as a coping strategy. You will also behold the tasteful rainwear which looked ridiculous but with 5000 other people wearing them you did not feel out of place. We just kept losing each other. We still had a good day and Alex was proud to complete his first inverted roller coaster. The height limit was 122cm. Spot on. We had three hours to spare before we drove home the next day so did it again in the sunshine.

Fraser Island a top ten experience

" The World's largest sand island is a World Heritage icon that packages all the best that Australia has to offer" said the brochure. From bitter experience ( Luxembourg eclipse 1999 comes to mind) we have learnt not to carried away by the hype but this one actually lived up to expectations.


Here is our Fraser Explorer bus. It was incredible that we drove about 200km along sand during the day. Judging by Jessica and Alex here this was after about 180 km worth when we stopped to look at the coloured sands (not as good as Alum Bay IOW and no chance to fill up a cat/ guitar or lighthouse shaped piece of glass either)



Having spent half a term looking at pictures of rainforests in books with 8C at Marchwood it was great to walk through the real thing. You can see it inspired Tina so be prepared for some predominantly green pieces of abstract art.



Lake Mackenzie! Apparently voted 7th best place in the World to Swim. Not sure that I've been to the top six, unless Cleethorpes is included so this will have to be our number one. Here is our attempt to emulate the front of the brochure. We failed.

Not sure about blogging this one. That ain't no six pack down there but the smile is genuine. The sand is white. The water is freshwater and blue and the surroundings idyllic. We managed to shoot in the opposite direction to the 200 other people enjoying the solitude and tranquility and I drowned out the sounds by plugging in my MP3 player. My desert Island discs? Coldplay "Clocks" and Smokebelch "Sabres of paradise" (You'd know it if you heard it. They play it on the holiday programme about six times a series)

Noosa highlights

We had a difficult choice about where to stay on the Sunshine coast. Anyone we met prior to departure with an Aussie experience was asked their favourite location. "Noosa Heads" was one response. Here is what we found.



What did we do before digital cameras? This took about fifty attempts to get this shot. For those who have the time we have about another 20 of various family members "boogie boarding" with various degrees of surfing and photographic success. Great fun but it was felt that Caves beach ,about 20 minutes from Warners Bay, is better.


Name that film? OK it was a bit breezy but I think Jessica had got a bit too carried away about being allowed to stay up to watch Titanic the night before. I'm still not convinced about the hat but Tina loves it and feels it is very suited to the climate.



Noosa Heads main beach with additional Tina plus hat.

Brunch in Brisbane and Movie World

Not the Fountains or the palm trees you are meant to look at here but behind this was the "Superman escapes" ride. We were most impressed not by the 1.2 negative G or the 100ft vertical drop or something like that but the fact that the queue was only five minutes. Any theme park fans out there will realise this is about 85 minutes less than the norm.


Couldn't resist doing this.



And Jessica and Tina couldn't resist doing this!



The touring theme of the year will be to do nowhere any real justice but to give Brisbane only two hours is particularly insulting. We took the advice to go to the South Bank (Didn't see Melvyn Bragg anywhere) and despite the fact that this was the 5th day in a row of eating crisps with Cheese and Ham Sandwiches the location was spot on. The beach and skyscraper combo brought back memories of Vancouver, a city we loved so we were sad not to spend more time here.

Birthday Boy!

Alex celebrated his 7th birthday on the Gold coast. The irrestistibly tacky tourist mecca of Australia. Perfect for a Chappell holiday! We set up the birthday table ( A danish thing) and it was a real home from home. Close observers will note there is even a brown leather sofa in our apartment.


Alex eager with anticipation.


The full spread of cards and pressies.


For his birthday he chose to go to Wet and Wild. The prime objective of a day like this is to..... get wet. Jessica and Alex seemed unsure of the enjoyment factor of this.


Drying out was nice, although the temperature meant burns in any square millimetre of unprotected flesh and blistered feet from 30 minute queues on egg fryable paving slabs. The most surreal part of the day was the "Dive in " Movie ( their pun not mine ) which involved more rubber rings and a nightime screening of bewitched. Not sure if Nicole Kidman will make the Oscar shortlist for this one but it was an original way to watch a mediocre movie

Larging It in Australia!

The drive up to Queensland was a 13 hour slog broken up into two bite sized segments via Coffs Harbour. Things were needed to pass the time. For Alex this meant obscene amounts of time on the DS. Jessica and I got throught the first ten tapes of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Tina developed an obsession for photographing large objects.


A large knight!


A large banana!


A large prawn



Hockey players who read this may be interested to note that even the grass is large! Tina wanted to do detours to the large pineapple and the large Oyster but wasn't allowed.

A few firsts

First front tooth. No tell a lie, as you can see from the gap this was a second in three days. all encouraged by Alex insisting on kissing the concrete in Newcastle. This one came out after a thirty minute tug of war. Where is Alan Plumley when you need him? At$10 a time Australian tooth fairies pay a good rate for front teeth.



First game of cricket. He bowls......


Completely foxes the opposition and out went her middle wicket. If any Australian neighbours were curtain twitching as we played they'll be thinking The Ashes are in the bag next year based on our standard of play.



First Lawn Mow. No big deal? Maybe not but our lawn back home is about a quarter of the size and this petrol mower is about three times the weight. David could have warned me about this. My three consolations were a "cool stubby" afterwards. Tina can't complain about the grass length the next time Alex bowls her out and once I start work this will be her job!


First Aussie Barbie. Welcome to John, Lisa and Emily 3/4 of the Pateman family who have been given the dubious honour of being our "community sponsors", while we are here. They did us proud with a fine tour of various great locations (mainly involving sand and water which we will no doubt revisit and blog later) and not so great (Hunter St in Newcastle is in desperate need of an Urban renewal programme). all rounded off with the inevitable Barbie. The prawns were served but not on the barbie. Any differences? There is no "Shove it all on" mentality. You don't say let's go in because it is cold but you do go incase the fruitbats dive bomb you and the cicadas start to drown out any conversation

Exploring our Locality.

(Chris wanted to call this posting, 'Meeting the local birds,'but I objected!!)
As you can see we now have a set of wheels ; a kind neighbour took us around 3 car auctions(we got a free hotdog, so Alex was happy...but no car.) Just as we were despairing we chanced to meet someone who helped us get this car, bought from an old boy who loved it dearly; A Ford Falcon. It's racing green, incase you can't tell! It's an automatic, so you just point it in a direction and go!!




So, here is a local bird.....this cockatoo is one of many who like the tree outside the house!!



And here is another local one!! It is the mascot for the Basketball team, 'The Pirates';we went to see their sell-out match against the Brisbane Bullets. Alex spent some Christmas money buying a basketball vest; we dutifully shouted, "D..Fence!" but unfortunately the Pirates lost and Alex wanted to swap loyalties to the winning team!!(Too late..he'd bought the t shirt!) He also drank all of my hot chocolate, which was the nicest I have tried...and you know how fussy I am with it!!



Jessica and I are off to cycle around this lake later today.



Thank you to everyone who is commenting on here. We can't reply from here, but if you want a personal reply, please can you contact us on my e.mail : tinachappell at yahoo dot co dot uk* as we can't access our list of e.mail addresses from the laptop.

*(I haven't typed that as an email address so that I don't get spammed! You have to type it normally!)

Life's a beach

OK. It looks smart but don't be too jealous. Our fish and chip lunch was shared with around 30 flies. The sand was the size and moisture level that gets into every possible crevice. The water was freezing and went from 30 cm to 1 metre within a couple of steps. We had no boogie boards, no nice wicker beach mats and factor 30 with a dodgy nozzle. Result? Nice red sunburn marks on every square cm we missed the next day. We compensated the next evening by going to Doyle's on the beach at Watson's Bay. Famous for the best and most expensive fish and chips (fly free) you can imagine and a breathtaking (excuse cliche) view of Sydney by night. If any of you are coming over here; we'll let you treat us to another meal there.