We're in

Tonight, after a week of unpacking boxes and moving furniture, we spend our first night at our new house. We've been looking forward to this for the past week. Arriving home from a celebratory dinner with family James was beside himself wanting to jump into his new bed complete with new rocket/planet sheets.

We're looking forward to enjoying a more relaxing weekend now that the bulk of the move is behind us. To top off the week - I've had a number of promising meetings and one job interview. With any luck I'll have one or two offers on the table at the end of next week. So it seems that things are starting to work out...

Bit by bit

We took possession of our house on Friday where we spent the day getting ready for the move. Today we moved our furniture and other items from long term storage into the house. Already it's starting to feel like home. Amazingly, some of our furniture that seemed big in our unit, now seems to swim in the larger rooms. Merrilyn felt good to see our outdoor furniture set up in the courtyard. I have to agree - and we had some friends drop by in the afternoon - so with the sun shining we all sat down for a cuppa and a chat. We both feel that this new place will offer us a much better opportunity to entertain.

As we unpacked one of our new neighbors dropped by for a chat. Surrey Hills is a very community minded suburb and it seems that our street is no different. Our neighbor told us of the Christmas street party and of the many families with young children in the area.

James spent this morning with one of old friends Emily. They went to the local fair and had lots of fun. James proudly showed us a photo of him holding a snake around his neck (Steve would approve!). There was a mobile zoo that all the children loved.

Tonight we are feeling both excited and exhausted. We have a busy few days ahead unpacking and setting the home up. We can't wait to move in!

Here are a few photos of the house

James at Pre-School

It has been 2 weeks today since we landed in Melbourne and we've been busy! Yesterday James had his first day at Surrey Hills Pre-School. Luckily a place had become available mid-term so he was accepted right away. We arrived to find Mums and children in the playground adjacent to the kinder and they all welcomed us - it was so lovely! After showing James his locker and hook, the teacher, Karen, introduced us again at mat time and showed everyone on a globe where James had flown from "on a BIG aeroplane"! I stayed for just under an hour to settle him in (had to listen to the story and do a dance!) but as the children collected their lunch and urged James to sit with them I was obviously no longer needed! He had a fantastic day; writing, painting and playing outside in the wonderful bush setting. When Martin and I asked him what was his favourite thing about the day he replied "Everything"! A 14 hour sleep soon followed his busy day... :)

We have a home!

It has been a rather hectic and exhausting week since arriving back in Melbourne. A priority was to find a home; made challenging due to the strong demand in the rental market. Merrilyn had researched the candidate areas and schools and narrowed our search down to the inner eastern suburbs. Within this area we located four properties that we felt were suitable.

Well the wonderful news is that today - only a week after arriving - we signed the leased on our preferred house. It is located in Surrey Hills and only about 500 metres from our preferred Primary School for James. We wanted this area as it is where we plan to purchase. So we get the opportunity to live in the area and make sure that it is what we want.

The house itself is a four bedroom Federation style home that been recently renovated to add a large kitchen and living area. It combines the charm of high ceilings and ornate fireplaces with modern bathrooms and kitchen. We are looking forward now to moving in over the coming weeks.

Of course there is much yet to do. Today we were out shopping for a bed for James. When we left he was stil sleeping in a cot!

Being a larger home we look forward to entertaining with our friends and family. Tonight we feel that we have a taken a big step towards re-settling back in Melbourne.

Back in Melbourne

After a rather marathon flight we have arrived back in Melbourne - feeling rather jet lagged but happy to see our families. We had a wonderfully relaxing and luxurious stop-over at the Ritz Carlton in Singapore. James loved the pool and although we had some thoughts of touring the local area this is where we ended up for most of the time. Soaking up the heat was high on the agenda ahead of arriving in Melbourne to the winter weather.

We were thrilled to see Steve, Alicia, Caitlyn and Chloe at the airport to greet us. Especially given the journey from Yea in the wee hours to be there for the 4:45am arrival. It was good to see James and his cousins together again. Bustling our two luggage trolleys into a coffee shop we had a good chat before heading back to my folks place; our base for the next little while until we find a place of our own.

James held up well today. Although Merrilyn and I are definitely exhausted. Of course, despite telling us he was ok James did fall asleep in near record time when we put him down for an early afternoon nap.

It's a strange feeling being back in Oz. To be thruthful Merrilyn and I feel rather displaced at the moment. Things are familiar - yet removed. I'm sure as time passes and we settle back in this will change. Although one thing will not... our experience living in the UK has showed us that there is much on offer out there.