It's been a bloody long time since the last post

Hi to anyone that still looks at this blog. For some reason I haven't bothered updating it for over a year but we've recently had some news that I wanted to publish. A couple of weeks ago Sam and I discovered that we are grandparents to an 8 month old little girl. We were a bit suprised to say the least and it's really not how we planned things but when does life ever go to plan? Anyway, the little girl is called London because her mother was planning on visiting the UK before she found out she was pregnant. Mum's name is Meah. I'll upload a photo soon but for some reason the upload function isn't working.

Just a bit now on what we are all up to:

David has now moved out from living with us and is currently living with his girlfriend and baby at Mount Coolum, this is about 20 minutes from where we live. Workwise he is busy doing his apprenticeship and he's now in his 2nd year. He went through a few ups and downs when he started but he seems to have settled down now. He seems happy enough and has grown up a fair bit over the past 6 months.

Sam is now doing a degree in Nursing at the local Sunshine Coast Uni, she works long hours on the assignments and is often still beavering away at 10:30 - 11pm (which beleive me is late in Australia). She did some exams just before the current Uni holiday and has to do a retake of one next week as she didn't quite make the grade. Sometimes she asks me to help but to be honest it might as well be written in greek cos I don't have a clue. Hopefully in 3 years time she will have gotten through the degree and start earning some decent money. I need someone to keep me of course :-)
She also works part time in a coffee shop called Cafe45, this is great because the owners let her work around her studies and she still has time to look after me

I'm still busy running my IT business, it's got quite busy and in this last month or so I've sold a load of laptops and PC's. I now have some good regular customers and life's pretty sweet.

Other stuff that's been going on over the last 12 months is that my mates Andy and Steve have both bought boats. It's a bit cold here at the moment but during the warmer weather we went fishing out in the ocean a few times. I haven't caught too much but Steve caught a big old shark a while back which was too big to get into the boat.

I can't really think of anything else I want to say at the moment, that's the problem when I've waited a year. We've actually been pretty busy either going out with our friends, decorating our house or walking the dogs (because we now have 2 dogs, we got a new puppy a couple of months ago called Buster).

If I think of anything else I'll post it, I'll also try and do updates a bit more regulary

Hi to everyone that reads this, drop me an email to info@isolveit.com.au and tell me your news. We haven't forgotten you in the UK :-(

Kevin

Update coming soon

Hi - sorry I haven't updated this for several months. No particular reason apart from me being lazy. I'll try and get my arse into gear this weekend and do a proper update.

Fraser Island - 17th and 18th May 2008

Hi to anyone that reads this blog. This weekend we went up to Fraser Island for a couple of days. We went with Andy and Jayne and their friends who are visiting from the UK. We followed good old TomTom on the way up which took us up a dirt track for about 50km's :-( the track is called the Cooloola way which TomTom thinks is a road, take it from me it isn't and we were lucky to be doing 20km/h most of the way. Anyway, eventually we got to Rainbow Beach and stopped for a big old brekkie meal and also picked up some firewood and bait for the trip. We then headed for Inskip Point where the barge leaves for Fraser Island. The barge cost $85 return which seems a bit steep to me as you're only on it 10 minutes each way.

When we got to Fraser we began the drive up to our campsite which was nearer the top of the island. The tide was fairly high so we had to use the inland road which was rough as hell and a bit like the Coooloola way. After about 15 minutes of bone shaking Andy noticed one of my spot lights had fallen off so I had to turn around and go back to find it :-( after about 10 minutes we found it but alas someone (or maybe me) had ran over it and it was smashed to bits. I'd had these Cibie lights since I was 18 so they had some sentimental value, they also cost $160 to replace each one so that hurts as well.

Anyway, we headed back to where Andy had waited to find he had gone exploring and was stuck up to the axles in soft sand :-) We soon yanked him out though with the snatch strap and continued on. Our camp site (Dundubura) was a fair bit up the island and on the way we stopped at this shipwreck

After doing the touristy thing of wondering around we jumped back in the cars and continued towards our campsite. Eventually we got there and setup our tents and our kitchen area (with the tarp and poles). We couldn't have a camp fire next to the tents but there was a fire ring just a few metres away. A bit later Sam, Jayne, Andy and myself went down to the beach to do a bit of fishing, Sam and Jayne chilled out with a bottle of wine whilst we fished. Andy caught a decent sized Dart straight away but nothing else was caught by either of us. We then went back to the tents and started the fire, cooked our steaks and consumed a few beers and generally had a relaxing evening. I'm beginning to forget what it's like to be stressed nowadays, life is so relaxing for us and I wished we'd been doing this kind of stuff years ago. I'm sure it must prolong life.

We all went to bed around 9:30ish and had a good nights sleep. We were up fairly early the next day and had eggs, sausages and bacon cooked on the stove (I'm sure the other campers must have smelled the bacon. We then went off firstly to Lake McKenzie

And then we went on to another lake for a picnic. Needless to Say Andy couldn't stay out of the water although it was only about 16 degrees yesterday. The others went in as well but I just sunbathed. The water was so clean at both of these lakes and tasted lovely, a bit like the sea at Felixstowe really or maybe not.

It was then time to head home, Andy and the others were staying for 1 more night but Sam and I headed home. Needless to say we didn't go down the rough track on the way back, we stayed on the main road. It was maybe 50km further but so easy setting the cruise control to 100km and watching the world go by.

We had a brilliant weekend and each weekend we say it can't get any better. We are going up to Fraser again on the queens birthday (7th and 8th June) and we have also decided we are going there for the Xmas break. The idea being that we'll have a traditional Xmas lunch on the beach with hats, crackers etc. Then instead of sleeping in front of the telly all afternoon we'll sunbathe and maybe do a bit of fishing and beach cricket.

The invitation is there to anyone that wants to join us, all you need is a 4WD and a tent and more importantly wants to have fun and chill out.

That's it for now, have a look at the rest of our photos of Fraser if you want http://www.flickr.com/photos/bloomster/sets/72157605136063381/

Bye for now

Visitors, photos, camping, 4WD'ing etc

Hi to all that reads this blog, I've been a real slacker for a while and haven't updated it or uploaded any photos. Anyway, today Sam nagged me a bit and I have a spare moment so here goes. Firstly photos, if you have a look on our Flickr website you'll see some photos I've taken. If you haven't been to Flickr before the address is http://www.flickr.com/photos/bloomster/.

The latest photos are some I took on our first camping trip which was to Teewah Beach which is between Noosa and Rainbow beach. We went with Andy and Jayne, Steve and Judy, Simon and Ange and Dean and Sarah. Dean and Sarah are like modern day crocodile dundee's (in the nicest sense) and they really made our weekend. They made a great campfire (to keep us warm and to cook our food) as well as putting up a tarp in record time when we had a bit of rain. They are real aussies unlike the rest of us who are just pretenders! Otherwise we had great fun putting up our new tents that we'd been out the previous Tuesday and bought. Quite funny really because 3 of us had the same tents, of course the aussies took the piss out of us pommies :-) We also went camping again last weekend, only Andy, Jayne, Simon and Ange and us 2 this time and we went to Landcruiser Mountain 4WD park - http://www.landcruisermountainpark.com.au/. This is about a couple of hours from where we live and most of the way it's a dirt road. Bloody cars were filthy before we got there! At the moment Simon and Ange don't have a 4WD but hopefully they'll get one soon. They got to the park in their Honda CRV but from there on they rode in Andy's Hilux. When we got there (and after we'd setup camp) we went for a quick look around the park, the idea was to go on a easy track - didn't quite turn out like that though! We ended up going up the side of a mountain with massive ruts and lots of wheelspin, going down was even worse and Andy still has the scars on the Hilux to prove it :-) I took the easier route down but it was still bloody hard. Later in the evening Andy, Simon and I went out looking for firewood, the track we went up (again a mountain) was littered with massive rocks and big drop offs, the noises from Andy's car whilst scraping and banging along were alarming - Andy seemed happy enough though :-) Anyway then we went back to camp and setup a fire and cooked all our food over it. I wished we'd done stuff like this in the UK but I suppose Australia is much more geared up for it especially the weather. We had another drive round on the Sunday morning which was good (more mountains and tricky uphill and downhill tracks - some near vertical). I'm amazed on what our cars can do especially as both of them are stock (apart from my all terrain tyres). So that was our trip to Landcruiser park. We are now planning our next outing which is Fraser Island (largest sand island in the world), we are going on the 17th and 18th May and we are all looking forward to it. Heres some photos of our 1st camping trip.

Dean, Sarah, Judy, Steve, Ange, Simon, Jayne, Sam and Andy

Our food cooking over the fire

And some pictures from Landcruiser Park

Andy getting the fire going

Our campsite - notice the flash cooking area with the tarp over the top

There's a load more photos on Flickr and if you want you can see more on Andy and Jayne's website - http://picasaweb.google.com/devilishdeans

We've also been up to loads of other stuff. Of course we had several visitors over to see us including my mum of course, Sam's dad and his partner Trudi and more recently Sam's auntie Sylvia and her uncle Mick. We were really pleased to see them all and it was very sad to see them go. I'm hoping mum will come and see us again, maybe in a year or 2 and of course we'd love to see the others as well. It's been a while since they've gone now and to be honest I can't really remember the details of what we did when they were here! the weather was really crappy over Xmas though so we couldn't do too much. The weather was much nicer when Sylv and Mick were here and we went out a fair bit, they also hired a car and went out sight seeing.

Otherwise life carries on in the 'lucky country' and we can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else. We just think the rest of you are mad for not living here :-) What with fishing, camping, going to the beach, 4WD'ing, enjoying the lovely weather we are having (25 - 28 during the day) we are having a great time. We are also fitting in a bit of work of course, but only just enough to get by!

If I think of anything else I should have added I'll do it as and when the thoughts come into my head. Best wishes to you all, we'd love to hear from you (sam@isolveit.com.au and kevin@isolveit.com.au) or you can get me on MSN (kevin@fornham.net) and Skype (kevinbloomfield)

That's it for now, my tea is nearly cooked and I have a load of stuff to do in the morning for work.

Bye from sunny Queensland - Kev, Sam and David xxx

Tin Can Bay and other stuff

Hi all
A couple of weeks ago we went up to Tin Can Bay (where the dolphins play) with Andy, Jayne, Steven and Judith. We had to leave early on a Saturday morning which is normally my lay in day :-( Anyway, the purpose of the visit was to see the wild dolphins that come in to feed. We got up there at about 8am and we were only there a short time when a dolphin turned up. There was only the one that came but it was still lovely to see. Sam, Jayne and Judith got in the water and fed him.

After we had seen the dolphins we stopped at a small market in Tin Can Bay, it was amazing how cheap things were compared to where we live especially fruit and plants. When my mum was over we went to a local nursery and bought a load of plants including an orange tree (mum planted them all), we paid $150 and I reckon if we'd bought them at the market the cost would have been $50 - $80 :-(

On the way back we took the scenic route and went down the Freshwater track to the beach and we all went in the sea for a play and swim at Horseshoe bay. Poor old Steven got stung by a jellyfish and cried like a baby (maybe). Then we continued down and ended up at Noosa. We then went for some food in Noosaville then for a nice walk in the national park.

Overall it was a fantastic day, probably one of the nicest days since we arrived. Great company and great locations - can life get any better?

Yesterday (Sun 28th Jan) we went and tried out some Kayaks (with the same crowd as above), we are all thinking of buying one and it'll be great fun rowing around the local waterways. We are also talking about going away for weekends doing a bit of Kayaking, a bit of fishing, camping etc. I'm really looking forward to this. Afterwards we went to Caloundra and had some lovely lunch at Shelly's beach then we went to Bulcock beach for a swim. The current is very strong and the idea is that you jump in at the top of the beach and the current takes you down to the bottom. We all went in and it was great fun. I had a bit of a panic as I got a bit far from the beach but I made it back OK. Another great day, it only get's better (or can it?)

Today we are taking our visitors (Sam's dad and his partner Trudie) out for a drive.

That's it for now folks

Overdue update

Hi everyone that bothers to look at this blog. I haven't updated it for ages now, it's not that we haven't been doing things it's more like I've been to lazy to do it (I can hear your gasps of shock). Anyway, here goes.

We had our first visitor couple of months ago, it was Suzanne - our friend from the UK. When she turned up she was as white as a sheet, when she went home she looked like a half caste abbo. She had a better tan than us :-). We did all the touristy things like going to Australia Zoo, driving up the beach etc. The highlight of her visit must have been when Suzanne, Sam and David jumped out of a plane at 14,000 ft. Lowlight for me was when the parachutes opened. Anyway, we really enjoyed having Suzanne over and I'm sure she enjoyed her stay.

Sam, David and Suzanne after landing on the beach at Coolum

We then had David's Year 12 Graduation ceremony, it was a long hard journey but eventually David finished school. Both Sam and I were very proud of him and it's the first time we'd seen him dress up smartly for a long time. We went to the ceremony with our friends Andy and Jane who's son Ben also graduated. After the graduation there was live music and beers and we all had a good night. Us (the oldies) got kicked out at 9:30pm but the kids stayed late. The next day David and a group of his mates went down to Byron Bay for schoolies week (basically a big piss up). We were suprised but there were no dramas and everything went well.

Here's Ben, David and Daniel

Since then we've done a load of stuff, here it is in no particular order:
1. Been up to Rainbow Beach a couple of times, great fun roaring up the beach but very tiring as the sand is hard work. Had lunch at the Rainbow Beach surf club. On the way back on the 1st trip I got a stone stuck in my front disc brake and we had to stop in the middle of the forest and fix it. Here's the car looking a bit dirty and a bit sick. You may notice I have only 1 spot light as well. The other one shook itself lose after 20KM/s of rough track. Luckily enough we stopped just before it fell off. Needless to say when I got home I gave my pride and joy a damn good wash

2. Went to see a soccer match at the Brisbane Suncorp Stadium. Our friends Andy and Jayne took us which was very nice of them. Although I'm not that keen on the soccer it was good seeing it live.
Andy treated us to a meal out before the match - a nice doner kebab :-)

In November Sam's dad arrived, it was great seeing him again as we hadn't seen him for a few years. He hasn't changed much, just looks a bit older :-) In December my mum arrived. I was really excited about mum arriving and I could hardly sleep the night before. Again, she hasn't changed much - maybe shrunk a bit and put on a few pounds :-)


Then Xmas came, as per most things in our life we were very disorganized, we totally didn't get round to sending any Xmas cards this year (so Happy Xmas everyone) and we didn't put our tree up until Xmas eve. We had a manic few days before Xmas going out shopping, it seemed like we were constantly in shops buying things. I was really glad when Xmas eve came and the shopping was over. Of course, we had to go to the sales on Boxing day :-)
Xmas day was great, we (me, Sam, Mum and Jim (Sam's dad)) sat by the tree and opened all our pressies. We then had a big fry up for brekkie.

At lunchtime we had our friends round (Mick, Tracey and their son Daniel), it was great having them round but also sad as they are going back to the UK to live after only 3 months in OZ. It wasn't anything I did (before you ask), they are returning for family reasons. Sam and I are very sad that they are going because we like them very much

David, me, Tracey, Mick, mum, Jim and Daniel

For new years eve we went to a friends house and played games, drunk beer and generally had a good time.
For the last 3 weeks it's been pissing down with rain and very windy. Normally we wouldn't be bothered but as we have visitors over it's a pain in the arse. Hopefully it'll brighten up in the next day or so, fingers crossed.

Here's a few more random pictures, there's a load more on the flickr site (link is at the side of the blog near the top).

We hope you all have a good new year and it brings happiness to you and your families. Bye for now

My mum

Jim (Sam's dad)

Our Xmas tree

Me (hiding a football under my shirt), mum, Sam and Jim at Montville

Our 4WD / Noosa North Shore

Hi all, yesterday (Sat 15th Sept)we picked up our new car (well it's not brand new but it's new to us). It's a Toyota Landcruiser Prado with a nice big 4 litre V6 engine. Here is a picture of it

It's in excellent order and it's exactly what we wanted. Very comfortable and nice cold air conditioning of course. It has room for 7 people or 5 people with lots of room in the back for the dog.

Today (Sun 16th) a group of us went up to Noosa North Shore which is a really long beach (maybe 100kms+) that eventually ends up at the ferry that goes to Fraser Island. Our friends Andy and Jayne have just got a new Toyota Hilux 4WD, here is a picture of both our cars (like brother and sister)

Also along for the trip were Tracey, Mick and their son Daniel and Steve and Judy. We had a great time driving up the beach. David wanted to drive our car but of course he got it stuck in deep sand within 5 minutes of him taking over :-) David, Andy, Steve, Mick and Tracey went in the sea but it's still a bit chilly for Sam and I. Air temp today was hovering between 28 and 31 so pretty warm. Summer is deffo on the way.

It really was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon and exactly what we came to Australia for. Perfect weather, perfect beach and sea and a great group of friends. Afterwards we all went to a coffee shop in Mooloolaba where Jayne and Andy's son works.

Needless to say, when we got home I got the pressure washer out and cleaned the car. I must have been feeling happy because I washed Sam's car as well

Another perfect day in paradise and a million miles away from the UK

Here's a few more pics of the day

Sam

Sam, Jayne and Judy

Jayne and Andy

Steve and Judy

Daniel and David

Latest stuff

Hi, sorry I haven't updated this for a while, we haven't really been doing anything too exciting just getting on with normal life now.
I have left my job at Pro Computers, I couldn't put up with working with the idiots that own the company and I know I can do better myself. The crappy wages didn't help either, not too easy to get excited by 7 quid an hour!!. So now I am setting up my own business called I Solve IT (www.isolveit.com.au), plenty of paperwork to do but there's lots of potential to make serious money as the area we live in is growing very fast. I've had 5000 leaflets printed up for the home users and 1500 for businesses. So now I have the job of delivering them all :-) It's nice though that I don't have to get up early to go to work and when Sam is off I can spend time with her.

Sam is working at a deli / coffee shop called Capers which is at Buderim. She does the cooking as well as working front of house. She likes it there and they all seem very friendly. It's the kind of place that hopefully we can buy at some point as it's very clean and has loads of local customers.
She's got a bad back at the moment, hobbling around like an old person, hopefully it'll mend soon as I need someone looking after me and someone to put the bins out :-)
A couple of weeks ago Sam completed a 12Km walk / run for charity in Brisbane, she completed it in 1hr and 49 minutes, I would have done it in an hour or so but it's a good result for Sam

David is growing up fast, he has a new girlfriend who lives on the Gold Coast which is about 150Kms away so he is driving up and down the motorway a fair bit at the moment. He doesn't go to school anymore and he works maybe 4 - 6 hours a week - basically he's a waste of space at the moment and we hope he grows out of it soon.

Our dog Wish is growing as well, chews everything and anything and sleeps on our bed with us. She's a good dog though and I normally take her for a big walk every morning as we have a nature reserve out the back of where we live and it's good for dogs. Haven't seen any snakes or anything yet but I did see a small kangaroo or wallabie the other morning. Also lots of exotic birds such as Cockatoo's and colourful parrots.

We are pretty much settled now, sometimes we miss people but I don't think any of us miss the UK as such. We have satellite TV now which has UK TV, if we watch Eastenders (which is on every night) it really reminds us of what a shit hole some parts of the UK are. It's much cleaner and tidier over here and the people actually care about the enviroment. You don't often see rubbish at the side of the roads and there are no gypsies here!

That's it for now, we are looking forward to some visitors coming over, Suzanne is coming over next month (September), Sam's dad is coming over in November and my mum is coming over in December. It'll be great to see them all and we hope that we'll get more visitors next year (so get saving)

Bye from us all

Kev, Sam and David xxxx

Sea Fishing

Hi, a couple of weeks ago we went deep sea fishing for the first time, we had to be down at the boat at 5:45 am which hurt a bit! There was me, Sam and a couple of british mates I have met (strangely, both named Simon). On the way out it got a bit choppy, Sam was very sea sick and fed the fish a fair bit on the way :-)) I think we went out about 10 miles or so. On the way out we dropped some crab nets over the side hoping we'd catch some on the return. Anyway we got out and dropped the lines over, more or less straightaway we were catching stuff, I caught several fish including a red emperor and some sweet lip - none of them were big enough to bring home though. Sam (between puking up) caught some sort of cod. Simon was the most lucky and
just before we headed home he caught a big tuna, here is a picture of me holding it

.

I didn't get any pictures of the fish I caught which is a pity. On the way back we dragged the crab nets in, there was at least 70 crabs - some big buggers and some smaller ones. We sorted the ones which were too small and the others got cooked on board. This is the fish and crabs we caught

At the end of the trip they shared out the crabs and we had about 5 each to take home. Simon also gave us one of his fish cos Sam and I didn't have any :-(
It was a great day and we are going out again in a couple of weeks. We also met some other brits the other night and hopefully they are coming as well. Should be about 10 - 12 of us - bloody pomms are taking over the sunshine coast :-))
Not too much other news, Sam still hasn't found a job she really likes, David has a job with Eagle Boy Pizzas (delivering) as he needs some money to pay rego on his car and to put some insurance on it. He's hoping to get on a carpenty apprenticeship soon which will be great as chippies get paid well in OZ and it will be a skill he can use anywhere else he goes.
We are looking forward to people coming over in November / December - we'll have a house full this year which will be nice.

That's it for now

Latest news

Hi, sorry I haven't updated this for a while. We are now in the routine of work, paying bills etc and we haven't been out that much. The best news is that David has now passed his driving test. Here is a picture of him with his car we bought him

He is quite a good driver and seems confident. It's great for Sam and I because now we don't have to be his personal taxi service. He'll have to get a job now to pay for petrol, insurance Etc. He also wants to put in big speakers, decent stereo and all the other things young people want in their cars.
The car is a 1995 Toyota Camry, it has a 2.2 litre engine and runs like a dream. Insurance is very reasonable compared with the UK and we are looking at about £150 per year for third party fire and theft. When we were living in the UK I checked on insurance for a 1 litre Vauxhall Corsa and it was over £1000 a year!!

We all went to Australia Zoo today (easter sunday), David drove us down there in his car. It's only about 20 minutes away and we had a great time. Here are a few pictures

Australia Zoo is a great place and it is really sad that Steve died. There is a small section of the zoo where they have put some of the things people took there in rememberence. Things like shirts signed, pictures painted etc. It was quite sad to see. It's also strange though because Stevo's pictures are still all over the place and he's also on videos etc showing around the zoo. It's like he is still alive. Sam and I bought an annual pass to the zoo so if any one comes to visit us we can get in for free (always one for a bargain)

Otherwise from a news point nothing much to report. My job at Pro Computers is still going well, I've had several 'different points of view' to the business owner but luckily enough he has come round to my way of thinking :-)) The job is great though as I have no boss or anyone to answer too, I have 2 people in our shop that fix PC's I bring in and I only have to deal with businesses so no hassle with home users not wanting to spend anything. It's good to be working with people again and everyone in the team is good.

Our dog (Wish) is getting big now, we had to have her desexed last week so all the male dogs leave her alone. It's also a lot cheaper with dog registration if she is desexed. Here is a picture of her I took a couple of days ago

After I took this picture she ran off because the flash scared her!!

Well that's about it for now. I'll try and keep this blog a bit more up to date from now on. I don't want to bore people though with day to day mundane stuff like shopping etc.

We are looking forward to visitors coming over. My mum is coming over in December and Sam's dad is coming over in November. Mum's staying for about a month and Sam's dad is here for about 2 months. Also, hopefully our friends Sean and Becky are coming over for a holiday in December with their 2 children. I do hope it's not too hot next summer, it was mild this year with a top of only 34 degrees. If anyone else want's to come over then let us know and we'll make you very welcome

We'd love to hear from anyone that looks at this blog, remember you can call us on 0560 0030930, the cost to call this is the same as you would pay to call someone in the same town or village you live in (less than 1p per minute off peak) or send us an email to say what you have been up to. Email address for me is kevin@isolveit.com.au and sam@i-solve-it.com for Sam.

Bye for now

New jobs and news (4th Feb 2007)

Hi
I now have started work for a local computer company, they are called Pro Computers. Although I still have plans to do my own business it is much easier at the moment to work for someone else.

The job is really good though and I am getting lots of interesting things to do. They also supply a van so I don't have to worry about buying another car now. I can't believe how laid back all of the guys are, a real change to how people are back in the sunny UK :-))

It's a bit strange having to start work at 8:30 and finishing at 5, I'm used to starting whenever I want and finishing the same!!

If my plans workout I plan to invest some money into the company and become part owner, at least then I am getting a cut of the action rather than just being an employee - watch this space.

Sam has also started doing a bit of work, she has registered with a local employment agency and they have given her some work this weekend (4th Feb), the place she is working have also offered her a load of shifts during the week. It's nice to have some money coming in now, it's a bit worrying when we keep spending and we were earning bugger all!!

Sam still wants to go to TAFE (college) to do a nursing assistant course but she missed enrolment for the Feb course, she'll probably do the course in July if she's still interested.

We went out last night to the Mooloolaba surf club with some friends we have made and have a lovely carvery. I was a bit dissapointed as they didn't have gammon. I made up for it by having lots of lamb and chicken :-))

Otherwise not much news from this end, life is kinda normal for us now - David is always out with his mates (party last night, no idea where he is!!), David also has a new girlfriend (2nd he's had since we arrived). I haven't seen her but Sam says she looks OK (no tattoos, piercings etc) which is good. Sam is out walking the dog and I'm going to have my breakfast now!!

We all are very happy and settled, I can't imagine we'll ever move back to the UK. A holiday every 5 years will be about right, but I know we will be itching to get back home to Australia as soon as we land in the UK!!

Bye for now

Australia Day - 26th Jan 2007 and other news

Another beautiful day in sunny Australia. Very warm today, maybe hitting 32 - 34, clear blue skies - just about perfect.
Today is Australia day and we have been very busy. Firstly we got up at 7 and I took the dog for a walk, typically I got 100mtrs up the road and someone stopped and talked to me (yes, people actually talk to strangers here), lovely old bloke who told me his life story, 15 minutes later I continued to walk the dog. As I was leaving him he said he was glad people like me were coming to Australia and embracing the life, he also commented that I would make a good Australian. Why can't people in the UK be so friendly? I don't suppose I'll ever know that one!!

We then went to Buderim (a small town 10 minutes away) where they had a parade through the main street (floats etc) the a carnival type thing in the local school field. It was really good and they had the dog obediance class doing an exibition, I told Sam that it would be her next year with our dog doing all the tricks.

After Buderim we went to an expats meet down in Mooloolaba, there were quite a few people there with some we knew already and some new people we met. We ended up having 2 seperate meet ups as we wasn't sure where we should have met. All of the people we met were very nice and Sam has arranged to meet up with some of the women for coffee (is she ever going to get a job?)

In a minute we are going to our friends (Sarah and Alistair) who are having a sausage sizzle (sausages on the barbie then eaten on normal bread folded over). This is to celebrate their citizenship ceremony that they had today. They've been here 3 years now and are officially true blue aussies. We are planning on having our ceremonies 2 years from today.

It's been a great day with great weather and great new people we are meeting.

I wish that we had come here years ago, we'll just have to make up for lost time now we are here!!

We are also joining the local surf life saving club (Alexandra Headland), Sam and David are already good swimmers but we are all having lessons in the local public pool starting on the 29th Jan. I need to get my confidence in the water sorted and Sam and David need improvements on their strokes. The life saving club provides loads of free training including first aid and our bronze medalions which will allow us to be life savers on the beach. I'll be posting pictures once we get our uniforms - I reckon I'll look a bit like David Hasselhof (but better looking)

Another activity Sam and I are doing is joing the volunteer coast guard, this is a really important service in the community and we are looking forward to it. I'm not sure if I'll go out in the rescue boat but I'll certainly be helping out somewhere.

I start a new job on Monday at a local company called Pro Computers, not sure how long I'll stick it for because I want to get my own business up and running. I've started advertising and I've had 5000 leaflets printed, Sam and I have delivered a 1000 on the estate we live and the others are being distributed this weekend by a local company. The new job will be alright for a while and they are providing a car so at least Sam will have our car during the day so she can meet all her new friends!!

That's about it for now, if anyone reading this wants to let us know what they have been up to then we'd love to hear from you. Email us at kevin@isolveit.com.au.

Bye for now

Noosa

Today Sam and I went to Noosa for a couple of hours. Noosa is a tourist town about 30Kms north of where we live. We have been once before but I wasn't impressed, we spent that time looking around poncy designer shops!


This time we went to the Noosa spit, it is a national park and it is really lovely. As all the beaches around here it was spotlessy clean and the sea was gorgeous :-)) note the colour of the sea


Here is a picture of the local wildlife, pretty much par for the course in sunny OZ :-))


Surfing is really popular in Noosa, this girl was really good


This bloke looked OK as well!!

It's kinda cool living in paradise, I don't think there is anywhere else we'd like to live. The only problem we have is where do we now go on holiday? we have everything we need on our doorstep!!

New addition to our family :-))

We now have a new addition to our family - before you panic it is not a baby!!

We have bought a puppy (12 weeks old), we can't pick her up until next Saturday (13th Jan) because she's just had her innoculations but we are all looking forward to her coming home. We bought her from the local animal refuge, we thought this was a lot nicer than buying from a pet shop where they are on display in the window until they are sold :-((

Our new dog's name is 'Wish' and we will be taken her to obedience classes and lots and lots of walks down on the beach, down the river, along all the tracks around where we live and anywhere else we go.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Just to wish anyone looking at this blog a merry xmas and a happy new year :-))

Robbie Williams / I'm a radio star / Sam's big fish

Hi

On Wednesday night Sam and I went to see Robbie Williams at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The show was really good and we had good seats as well.

Robbie was a bit naughty as he lit up a cigarette on stage, in Queensland you are not allowed to smoke in any public area. He was fined $150 but the local Premier (head of state) has said that he will pay the fine as Robbie was a guest of Queensland!

The journey down wasn't too bad, we drove to Caboolture then got a train into Brisbane. The train was free because all tickets sold to the Suncorp stadium get free public transport (can't remember this happening in the UK too often). Coming back was a bit crappy because of the 50,000 people at the concert it seemed that 40,000 of them wanted to get on the same train as us. We eventually got home at about 1am

Also, I was interviewed earlier today (Sat 16th December) on a local radio staion in the UK (BBC Radio Suffolk). This was for a segment they do on people who used to live in Suffolk and who have moved away. They asked me questions like why we left the UK (crappy weather, constant stream of immigrants) and what we miss (friends and family, Tesco's - very little else)

I suppose this was my 15 minutes of fame, I thought it may be on Australian Idol next year but I'm afraid not!!

Sam was very happy last week, she caught a big Flathead fish (40CM). So far this is the biggest fish we have caught between us. We brought it home, Sam filleted it and I cooked it on the barbie - bloody lovely it was. Pressures on me now to catch something bigger although I did catch a poisonous fish the other day (Bullrout), nasty little bugger with venonmous spines on it's back (non fishy term, I think it should be Dorsal). Needless to say I cut the line and let it back into the water. Apparently I would have needed hospital treatment if it had got me :-((

Weather has been crappy these past couple of days, bit colder (24 today) and plenty of rain. Good for the garden though and our new Mango and Grape tree (or should that be vine??)

Bye for now and have a great Christmas

Hooray - Our stuff has turned up :-))

Good day for us today, the removals company brought all of our stuff from the UK. The company only sent 2 blokes to unload a 20ft container but they got stuck in and unloaded it in 2-3 hours.

We now have a house full of boxes and furniture. It feels really good though to have our stuff here. At last our house is becoming to feel like home.

Also, good for me that I now have all of my PC repair equipment so I can start my business up. I have the office all setup now just business cards, leaflets etc to arrange and of course customers to find!!

Now it's time for us to get on with 'NORMAL' life which I'm sure will be similar to the UK but in a nicer place with nicer weather.

A few photos

Our pool, it's still a bit cold for me to go in it (water temp was about 29 today) but David goes into it nearly everyday. Everyone keeps warning us that it gets really hot here soon so the pool should be a welcome relief

We have all started fishing, these little fellows are the 1st ones we took home for our dinner. Along with some chips these Bream were lovely. Sam had to gut them though!!

Our little car, Sam chose the colour. As David is now learning to drive he drives us nearly all of the time. He's getting good but has some close shaves sometimes. The number plate is quite good as some people think I'm a bit tight with my money :-))

This beach is where we sometimes have our brekkie (Caramundi), brekkie for 2 for only $8 - I love bargains!!. This is typical of the beautiful beaches all along the Sunshine Coast


Kev and Sam in Montville. This is about 30 minutes from where we live and is truly beautiful. The views are really nice, this one is looking towards the coast

Our own little part of Australia. We live in Mountain Creek which is about 8 - 10 minutes drive to some of the nicest beaches you will find. The skies are blue like this nearly everyday :-))

David's 1st day at Mountain Creek High School. Don't you just love Aussie school uniforms??

Latest news

Hi everyone, we have now moved into our house, it is really nice with a lovely pool and air conditioning, good job I reckon as everyone we meet say it is damn hot in the summer, maybe getting up to 40 or so with lots of humidity :-((

We are very close to David's school (Mountain Creek High School), I think it takes him about 15 - 20 minutes to walk in the morning. He has to start at 7:30am so no lie-ins for him during the week.

Life is great here for us, everyday is warm - hot with mostly clear blue skies, it's funny because we have acclimatised now and the other day it seemed cold (it was 24 degrees!!). Sam and I went fishing today and caught 14 fish between us, there was a mixture of Bream, Whiting, 1 Flathead and an unknown fish that pumped itself up when I took the hook out. I think the other fisherman must think I am a right wimp though as I use gloves to handle the fish, some of them have bloody sharp spines though (the Bream).

I will soon post some photos on here soon and post a report on our leaving party / Sam's 40th. I can't remember too much about it but I think it went OK!!

That's it for this short report, as soon as I find the cable for the camera I'll post the piccies

Quick Update

Until we get our own Internet connection it is difficult for me to update the blog, here is a brief update.
1. We arrived safely in Australia
2. We have bought a lovely 4 bedroom house with a beautiful pool and air conditioning in Mountain Creek
3. We have bought a new Toyota Yaris, it is black with black tinted windows. It is great to drive and we have L plates on it for David
4. David has started Mountain Creek High School and is getting on well. He has made a few friends and he seems to like it. First impressions are that it is better than the school he attended in the UK
5. David has his 1st driving lesson tomorrow

I think we are all quite happy but we all miss our friends and family in the UK. We do not miss the UK as such, just friends and family. I wish everyone could move here!!

We are living in a lovely place, the beaches are pristine, the sea is clean. I can't wait until we move into our house (14th November), the pool will be a godsend once summer is here.

As soon as I can I will be posting pictures on here of our leaving party, a few of Singapore and a few of Australia

Hi to everyone, we are missing you all :-))

BT Tower - 5th September 2006

Today my mate Hugh took me to the BT Tower in central London. This is something I have always wanted to do. We were very lucky because we had our lunch on the 34th floor. The views were brilliant. The floor rotates full circle 3 times per hour so you have views of all of London. Most of our day was taken up by a business presentation by the Brigantia buying group (IT related) but we had a full hour at the top of the tower. Here are some photos I took, I'm hoping to get a few of them framed and I'll have them on my wall at our new house in Australia

I'd like to say a massive thank you to Hugh. He's been a good mate for the last 4 years (through rough and smooth) and I'll miss him!!

Tower from the street

London Eye from the 34th Floor

Views to the City

We were just beneath the BT sign

Views over Regents Park and London Zoo

I had a brilliant day and this will be one of my long term memories of the UK

The Plan

1. Doree Bonner (removals company) in on the 27th and 28th September
   
2. House completes on the 29th September
3. Staying with our good friends Clive and Kate until 2nd October
4. To London (Kev's mum) on the 2nd October
5. To Portsmouth (Kev's sister) on the 3rd October
6. Back to London on the 5th October
7. Fly to Singapore on the 8th October
8. Fly from Singapore to Brisbane on the 12th, land on the 13th
9. Staying at Alexander Headland (Sunshine Coast) from the 13th October for 2 weeks
10. No idea :-))
    

Our joint party

We are having a joint party to celebrate Sam's 40th birthday as well as our departure for pastures new. The party is on the 23rd September 2006. If you want to come then give us a call. I will be taking loads of photos which will be published on here

First Post

Hi and welcome to our blog. We are hoping to document our future move to Australia and keep all our friends and family up to date on what we are doing.

A bit about us:

Kevin - Born 25th July 1965, born leader and very good looking
Sam - Born 22nd September 1966, born follower and worships Kev (also good looking)
David - Born 31st August 1989, typical teenager (whatever), scruffy OIK