No shirt, No Shoes = Service

We have been in Australia now for 5 days and it has been wild. We have seen a remarkable number of men with no shirts on. Every where we go, people are half dressed. Shoes also seem to be optional. Even in a cafe or a store, people walk around with no shoes and no shirts. After all, we are in Oz!

We have been very busy trying to get our new lives in order here. We have been house hunting, car hunting, appliance hunting, car seat hunting and more. I had forgotten what the expat money hemorrhage feels like. We just spend and spend and feel like it will never end!

Speaking of things that never end... the refrigerator beeps. and beeps. and beeps. Every time the temperature drops it starts to beep again. In fact, not only does this lovely appliance serve as a cooling device (sort of) it also serves as an alarm. Three nights in a row, we have been awakened around 2 am to reset the fridge! Of course we have called the agent for the house and she is working on it but it looks like things are not done quickly around here. The earliest appointment for service at the time is Tuesday. Looks like a 2 am wake up beep is in order for a few more nights!

All this beeping makes me wish for a place to call home - so we have been house hunting. But, house hunting was disappointing on the whole. We only had 7 houses to look at and only 4 of them were within a 20 minute drive to the kids school. We looked at a few on Manly beach which were nice but would have been about 30 minutes to school. And, with 2 campuses to drop off and pick up at, I think that would mean about 3 hours a day in the car for me and the babies. Not ideal by any means. Several houses were just a lot smaller than what we wanted or were in poor condition as well. But, in the end, we found one house that is very nice and should work just fine for us. It is about a 10 minute drive to school and about 25 to work so the location is great. Plus, it is just up the hill from the beach and has a park at the end of the block. Unfortunately it lacks any sort of dining room but it has enough bedrooms for our brood (in fact this is the ONLY house that had 5 bedrooms) and has a great pool. It even has a basement with space for a guest room and a play room. So pack your bags and be on your way...

the house

the pool
(this is an old picture and it is not currently
covered but is open to the Aussie sunshine)

the kitchen

the view

Now that the house is settled, we need to buy two cars. Now, for J that is pretty easy. Something to get him from point A to point B that has a/c and that is about it. But, for me, the task is more difficult. Fitting 4 child safety seats in one car is a challenge - especially with the strict regulations here in Oz. So far we have decided to be law breakers and continue to use our American car seats although we have been told by many people they are illegal. But, they are safe even if they don't have "the sticker" on them. Maybe I should start selling approved by the Australian gov't stickers to other poor souls like me. I just can't justify $1 200 Aussie for 2 new car seats when we have ones that work just fine and are arguably the safest seats you can buy. Speaking of new careers, I think I will become a car designer in my next life. All these car manufacturers really need a mom on the design team. The problem seems to always be that the seat with the anchor points for the car seat is also the only seat that slides forward for access to the back row - which of course cannot be moved if a car seat is actually installed! This makes finding a car that we can use while the 4 seats are in it very difficult. We have narrowed the search to a Volvo XC90, a Mazda CX9, a Ford Territory or a (GASP) Chrysler minivan. Let's hope we can pass a clone of "Liz's Van" by and make something a little more exciting work! I will let you all know what we settle on.

All frustrations aside, this week has gone by very well. The kids seem to be adjusting well to the time. Only little W is waking up at night and this morning everyone slept until 6:30. The weather is beautiful and the area is amazing. We have visited several parks and beaches to let the kids have some time to run free in between all the house hunting and shopping. I am looking forward to getting all the little details settled so we can just start living life!