Friday 14 September 2007

From the green hills of Surrey in England to Surrey Hills down under...

Spring has well and truly arrived to the east coast of Australia, which makes a wonderful transition from a fantastic summer month in Europe. I so enjoyed being back in the 'civilised' part of the world and it was fabulous to spend some time with family and friends. I just wish that time hadn't been so short, so I could have caught up with more of you... Everyone in both Denmark and the UK were complaining that the summer had been miserable so far but the sun hardly left the sky whilst I was there. I just love the long summer evenings in the northern hemisphere - it's is so wonderful stilling having day light at 10pm. It's like having two days in one and your energy levels just sky rockets (or mine do anyway!). I started off in Denmark with the wedding of one of my dearest and 'oldest' girlfriends - Tilde, who to my great approval married a truly 'gaev jyde'. It was such a lovely day and Copenhagen was at its absolute best with a jazz festival going on in the small old cobbled lanes and squares, as well as time to relax with some pizza and Tour de France on the telly. From there it was on to my parent's farm where you could virtually hear the grass grow, everything was so lush and green. There is nothing like the green of northern Europe in summer - so different from the Australian green. The farm was blessed with a new little member - Nuf, a gorgeous Labrador puppy, which seemed to take up the vast majority of my time. You couldn't turn your head for many seconds before it was up to new tricks. Everything was fun, even fetching an old shoe in the lake again and again and again! The last weekend before I headed across the North Sea for the big smoke was filled with excitement, as the naming day for my cousin's toddler turned in to a surprise wedding and lots of time for catching up on lost time. Walking in through my old front door in Wimbledon was like coming home - such a good feeling. I spent a week in London and the south east of England catching up with friends morning, afternoon and evening. So much fun, although it was showing on my waist line by the end of the holiday! After a week in the UK, Ed and I decided to fulfil one of the dreams that we've been talking about for ages - that is taking Ed's motorbike on a proper road trip. We headed down south to the coast and caught the ferry to Brittany where we spent a few days just touring the small countryside roads, soaking up the wonderful French atmosphere in cafés surrounded by medieval buildings and eating some rather bizarre food that wasn't always agreeable with my taste buds. So from the sunny hills of Surrey, I jumped on the plane and immediately started looking for accommodation in Sydney when I touched down. My heart was already set on Surrey Hills - a really charming neighbourhood of Sydney. I absolutely love Sydney - it has so much more to offer than Wollongong. So I now commute down to the university three odd days a week and work from home the rest of the week. That my initial housing arrangement in Surrey Hills has turned out to be a tad stressful is an understatement! So I am moving on to what promises to be a much better house/home in Surrey Hills next week. So by the time I next update this site, I will hopefully be comfortably settled...