New beginnings...

[Eva]

It is Sunday night here, we are about to go stick a note on it... Something like....

If you don't want this, Unit 24 does....

will take a photo for you guys...

Edited to add that we stuck a note that said 'if you don't want it, Unit 24 would like it. Please respond with a note under our door, thank you'

About 5 minutes later, we received a note under our door that read - Sorry mate, waiting for my friend so that we can take it up. Thanks'

Oh well, it was worth a try... you win some you loose some.

Saw him walking up the stairs with his friend and the cabinet, and thanked him for his promt reply.

That is hilarious! He probably called his mate to come help him quick before the foreigners carted it off!!

Thanks again and keep posting!!

Cheers

Eva

[Terence.H]

Or he went to have a look at for himself once you told him where to find it, and thought hey that would look great in my place and phoned his buddy!!!

[Good Witch]

Or he went to have a look at for himself once you told him where to find it, and thought hey that would look great in my place and phoned his buddy!!!

LOL! That was what I thought too!!!

These tales are great! Please do keep them coming!

Cheers

Andi

[Lyn]

Hello my friend, so glad Ive found where you've been posting.

Was looking under the settling in and arrivals and didnt know where you guys were. Thanx for the chuckles, we've had such similar experiences - somedays feel like a fish outta water. But generally the Aussies are a friendly bunch and if you just explain in the funny accent most are accomodating.

Had our first "sausage sandwich" too - think it was the Lions selling them, never again - yuk. Tell me- has B found any samoosas ? None around here.

Keep the posts coming, great to hear you are settling and enjoying your new lives.

[sharks fan]

Hey there buuuuuuuuuuudies. Try the dehli counter for feta cheese next time you go shopping thats where they keep it. We'll put some in the next salad for the next barbeque and you guys can be the judges. Oh and Kerry says don't forget to stand in line and take a number.

[Nilo]

Red, the sausage bread thingy is called sausage sizzle!! Real Aussie tukker!! Maybe you didn't see the tomatosaucse, mustard and bbq sauce that you'r supposed to help yourself with. Most of the time they also put fried onion on. Yummy!! Love the Bunnings ones, they have a Lyons set up outside all the Bunnings I've been too.

And another thing the sausage is called a snag!!

Lovely reading your journals!!

[Biltongboer]

Red, the sausage bread thingy is called sausage sizzle!! Real Aussie tukker!! Maybe you didn't see the tomatosaucse, mustard and bbq sauce that you'r supposed to help yourself with. Most of the time they also put fried onion on. Yummy!! Love the Bunnings ones, they have a Lyons set up outside all the Bunnings I've been too.

And another thing the sausage is called a snag!!

Lovely reading your journals!!

I've never seen the bread thingymabob - around here they do it with normal hotdog rolls. At Bunnings they always tempt you with the great-smelling stand right in front of the entrance doors.

[Lyn]

Waiting patiently for the next installement Red.

Hope your days are happy ones !!!

[VivaOZ]

I struggled to get used to the WA standard greeting:

Ho'ya going?

Huh?? What??? The first day I kept thinking: 'What am I supposed to answer?". I'm going nowhere. I STAYING IN WA!!!

Now i know better:

"Good, you?"

It's amazing how quickly you "assimilate". Keep it coming Red - enjoy reading your experiences...

That one had me too. I often wonder how they can ask you "how are you going". I am not a born "Englishwoman" but I think I know enough language to know that THAT is not right!!! It is supposed to be "how are you DOING" not "going"!!!!!! Like you say, I AM NOT GOING ANYWHER!!!!!

Thanks Red, I really enjoy reading your posts. We did not have the exatct same experience but all you thoughts and emotions are exactly what I felt after arrival.

Keep them comming

Wilma

[Red]

Council living is going as well as can be expected, Grumpy old lady has now turned into Grumpy old avoidance lady. Unfortunately, I have had to temporarily give up on converting her to the lighter side, because if she catches sight of me she dashes for cover. But don’t lose hope – I will carry on fighting the good fight. Haven’t seen China Man much lately, then again I have been low on the washing pile and have not needed to sneak down to the laundry room in the shadows of the night. Have managed to meet (and talk with) Married to PHD Indian lady, she lives at number five, and her husband has been studying for his PHD. She advised me that hanging my washing on the communal line, would not be wise, and to continue using my wash drier on the balcony. I did not see the need to confess that the laundry drier was merely for show and that in fact I had a lovely tumble drier stashed away in my pantry- sized kitchen.

Amanda has been pretty quiet, apart from the other night when she was banging on aging rocker’s window (and doors) to let her inside. And to be honest, we have our TV on so loud at night that I am unable to report on how Hearing Impaired Man is doing. Thankfully he cannot compete with our lovely new 45cm LCD. And I am pleased to announce that we have two new additions to the council flat characters…

Meet Skeletal Man (aka aging rocker number 2), he is about 6ft2, always wears the same faded jeans and long sleeved black shirt, Ray Ban Wayfarer’s (aka Madonna sun glasses) and he’s in his early sixties and skinny as a rake… we are not sure why he is so damn skinny, because every morning he goes for a walk, and then comes back with a packet of food. Perhaps he is the owner of a massive cat or something.

Meet Local Eavngelist and Chinese immigrant , they rocked up one evening to preach the gospel at our door and Bern kept them talking for about half an hour, eventually I think they were so busy trying to compete with Bernard’s theories that the talk of immigration became much easier, and then they were on their merry way. So you see, you don’t have to ever be rude… put a smile on your dial, and just talk a while.

We celebrated our five year anniversary with a lovely boat ferry trip up the Torrens River. What a setting, but oh what an amusing trip. The ferry pilot (if that is the correct terminology) had his girlfriend on the ride with him. I kept nudging Bern to say – ‘Did you see her pay the $10, I didn’t’. She was clearly having mobile phone troubles, and required the help of her man. So there we were, about ten of us on this sightseeing ferry, with a tour guide that was more involved in a broken mobile or two than explaining the sights and sounds. Occasionally his concentration from the mobile’s would break and he would mumble some obscure inaudible fact through the loud speaker. The best was yet to come when he pulled to the side, for her to jump off and collect… would you believe ANOTHER mobile phone. So there we wait, girlfriend hops off the ferry… and he explains nothing. She jumps back on, mobile box and packet in hand… and off we go back to the ferry stop.

On the same note about pilots / drivers just stopping for arb reasons, we had a bus driver the other morning that left us all sitting in the bus for 5 minutes. He stopped at one of the Hyde Park regular stops, just outside ‘The Hyde’ (a local pub / tavern). We assumed it was perhaps for a toilet break, but could not help cracking jokes about the driver going for a drink. I mean, imagine this happening in South Africa… someone would have driven the idling bus away, I can just imagine the headlines, ’40 people highjacked whilst bus driver goes for pee break’. Eventually the driver gets back on, and Bernard quips ‘Do you feel a whole lot better?’ and the bus driver remarks… ‘Yeah, that pint did me wonders’…

The silence in the bus was obvious… was he or wasn’t he joking…

We also managed to get the last few decorations for our Christmas tree. We have started a fun tradition this year, everywhere we go we pick up a decoration that would remind us of the visited area. So from Victor Harbour we have a little penguin, from Hahndorf we have a decorative mini cuckoo clock, from Myer we have a metal decoration in the shape of the Aussie continent and of course, Chinatown is represented by a little red and gold Chinese lantern. One thing I love about being here, is that the Aussies seem so festive, and REALLY geared up for the festive season. In local shops you can buy Christmas hats galore, Christmas T-Shirts (yes, Becca and I both have one),Christmas socks / ties, Christmas earings, Christmas cutlery and crockey, Christmas EVERYTHING!!! In our area, all the trees that line the streets have huge red bows tied around them, there’s lights on the verandah’s and candy canes in the garden… and do you know what, they don’t disappear…

On Thursday Morning we decided to pluck up the courage and book for our learners licenses. I mean, really, why can’t we just convert our old ones… So off we go to Services SA, rather confidently, ready to book. Only, when we get there, and explain that we want to book, the kind gentleman says (like most Aussies do) ‘No worries, no need to book, you wanna write it now’? No worries, had he gone mad?!? And rather unconfidently with sweat dripping off the brows, we have to explain that we feel we might like to learn for the test. So we sheepishly walk out the office with our $5 learners book, to learn from… perhaps there’s a reason why we can’t JUST convert, after all, there are a few differences here and there. Thursday afternoon, we had to go back into the city for an appointment with a Commissioner of Oaths. Boy oh boy, I thought getting a document signed by a commissioner was part of someone’s civic duty. No way!! We had to pay this lawyer $75… for … wait for it… every fifteen minutes. She must have thought were were the rudest people, because we just wanted to sign and get out of there. We ended up paying $110 and then when we got home… dumbass (that would be me) realized that we hadn’t given her all the documents to sign. And all I could do was cry… and I know, crying doesn’t help. But to pay someone $75 for literally one signature and a Charlie chat is gut wrenching, especially when you aren’t yet earning dollars, and are spending these pathetic Rands buy the thousand. Kindly she agreed to only charge us $25 for the second document, and then after signing it the next day, she decided not to charge us anything extra. (Phew!)

On Friday we bussed our way to Manny and Lee’s office, the highlight of Becca’s morning I am sure, and ours too as we were given very yummy koeksisters. The only problem was that two minutes into the bus ride, I couldn’t quite remember if I had switched my hair straightner off… and as every women who has used (or attempted to use) one, you will know just how hot they can actually get! And let’s just remember that you can’t just say ‘hey Mister bus driver, can you just take me back home, just want to make sure our rented flat doesn’t burn down’. So for two hours I debated whether I had actually turned it off, and eventually was very relieved when Bern suggested we go check… so we bussed it back home… it was actually off… but still, I felt a whole lot better. The great thing about the bus rides is that we buy a Day Trip ticket – we each pay $8, and for the whole day you can catch the bus, train and tram as much as you wish. The even better part is that on holidays and weekends kids go free…

Bern received a call from a recruitment company whilst we were on our way to check the straighner’s on/off status, and he has an interview with the recruiter on Monday. Tuesday, if all goes well, Bernard will have his interview with the company. Let’s hope we have some good news for you soon.

After the exciting news, Bernard and I got chatting about where we would then live, and what school Becca could probably go to… and Rebecca butts in and says… ‘yes, I need a stable house’… we think she meant that she needed a stable environment, but anyway it was definitely a classic remark that left us in hysterics, and her feeling a bit red-cheeked. She’s obviously overheard our chats about making sure she feels secure and has a sense of stability.

We’ve been going around to many shopping centre’s / malls/ plaza’s / markets, and there are sales galore. BUT we have been told to hold off for the sales that happen on the 26th and 27th of December. I will report back to tell you if there is any truth to these rumours. But I am really hoping g to collect some bargains… remember we have to stock up all over again. Another thing, I find surprising, is that before we left many people warned us that the clothing in Australia wasn’t up to the South African standards. But, I have to begin to wonder where they are living. The shopping here in Adelaide is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams and I am talking for Men, Women, Overweight, Underweight… etc etc… I could easily bankrupt us, just on clothing purchases (ah yes, and Christmas décor).

I am still getting used to the TV News over here, it’s really different (it’s more like watching Carte Blanche with a weather report), for example Wednesday’s main highlights on the seven o’clock news were:

• Stay at home mother seeks answers from Vodafone, reason: she cannot get a contract because they don’t see housewife as an occupation… (I think she missed the point she has no credit history… so, duh)

• Tenant in tears because the house she rents has pigeons nesting in a large tree, causing disease and her sick daughter cannot play outside.

• 1000 pensioners able to have a free flight with tiger airlines, all they have to do to qualify is log onto Tiger airlines website…

• Bicycle bandit, he has robbed a bank/s on his bicycle.

• Cancellation fees for mortgage loans, and how people are mad with the astronomical charges on their mortgage’s.

• Certain thinkers wanting unemployment benefits only for a period of say six months, as opposed to an ongoing thing. They even showed how easy it was for a young unskilled male to get a job, that would potentially earn him about $500 a week.

We have still been doing the whole park thing, like the rest of Adelaide. The parks are always full of life… Bern bought us a badminton set for us to ‘jol’ around with whilst Becca rides, and that has been such a blast. We must have looked really stupid whilst we were trying to get the hang of the sport, but all ended well, apart from the battered shuttlecock… and Becca’s grazed legs. She’s learning the hard way about speed, sand and bicycles… but it’s all good… everything…

… we’ve just learnt a sense of adventure goes a long way…

[Eva]

Keep them coming Red!!

Fantastic stuff....

Thanks

[Jordy]

Boy oh boy, I thought getting a document signed by a commissioner was part of someone’s civic duty. No way!! We had to pay this lawyer $75… for … wait for it… every fifteen minutes. She must have thought were were the rudest people, because we just wanted to sign and get out of there. We ended up paying $110 and then when we got home… dumbass (that would be me) realized that we hadn’t given her all the documents to sign. And all I could do was cry… and I know, crying doesn’t help. But to pay someone $75 for literally one signature and a Charlie chat is gut wrenching, especially when you aren’t yet earning dollars, and are spending these pathetic Rands buy the thousand. Kindly she agreed to only charge us $25 for the second document, and then after signing it the next day, she decided not to charge us anything extra. (Phew!)

Red,

She probably thought, Suckers! Next time you need stuff signed by a Commisioner of Oaths, try a Minister of Religion that is a Marriage Celebrant. All marriage celebrants, whether civil or religious, are Comm of Oaths. I doubt your local pastor will charge you anything. Booking time with a lawyer is just crazy, dork.

Love your stories,

Jordy

Edited December 20, 2008 by Jordy

[Red]

Booking time with a lawyer is just crazy, dork.

heh heh...

[Karen-in-Brisbane]

Thanks again red.... I must say we have amazing story telling and poetic writing ability on this forum!!

Well done everyone.

Edited December 20, 2008 by What to do?

[Mauritzvw]

Absolutely awesome reading all this Red and Just B! Really glad things are going well for you guys!

Edited December 20, 2008 by Mauritzvw

[Terence.H]

I love reading your take on things!!!!! and best of luck to you all with the interview next week!!! I hope you can at last start earning dollars.

[Lyn]

Hello guys, congrats on the anniversary and keeping fingers crossed B gets the job. Let us know how it goes.

[Lyn]

Heeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooo !!! Where are you ???

No update this week - headaches from the Amarula ???

[Red]

next update coming on the last day of the year... best I start writing...

[Happy2Bhere]

• We bought a fundraising $2 barbequed sausage roll, and were amazed to find that the sausage was placed between one slice of bread. No butter, no roll. Don’t know why they don’t say ‘Come support your lifesavers, and buy your $2 sausage bread thingymabob’. We have found out that this is the norm, and not some cheap attempt to cut costs.

LOL

[Happy2Bhere]

We have still been doing the whole park thing, like the rest of Adelaide. The parks are always full of life…

I also can not get use to the idee of free safe parks everywhere to enjoy late in the evening while the sun sets. I just love to sit and watch the kids play ball or ride their bikes up and down the paths. Yesterday I stood on the grass in the middle of the park with tears in my eyes praying and saying thank you to Him for helping us to give our kids the opportunity to be kids they kids are suppose to be.....

[Red]

What a wonderfully hectic, and exciting week and a bit for us all! We started off on Sunday by taking a drive to see Stevens Commercial Furniture, at that stage all Bernard had was a potential interview and a good feeling. By Monday he had a definite interview to go along with the good feeling, and on Tuesday the good feeling turned into a great one when he was told he got the job. What a blessing, although I have admit to feeling anxious as let’s all remember that I have to now live up to this one interview, one job offer scenario. Imagine the pressure I am going to feel when I start looking for my job… At the moment I am still uncertain of what I would like to do and until Becca goes to school at the end of January, and Bernard starts work around the same time, I have some time to decide. Ideally, it would be great to continue in the property industry and get my Australian accreditation but I am also looking into a computer course run over a four month period… either way it seems I am going back to school… oh dear, oh dear, oh dear… I’ll have to sort this untrained, drained brain out soon… You will be pleased to know that we managed to find a bottle of Amarula Cream, and that we cracked it’s dusty seal and toasted to Bern’s employment. The bottle cost us the equivalent of about R230.00… so we savoured it a bit… and had the last sip on New Years Eve.

Not only is Becca learning the hard way about speed, sand and bicycles but so am I… I am sitting here with a grazed left knee and a big fat bruise on my thigh. It seems that any mountain bike handling experience I had was left back in South Africa. Since getting my bike we have been riding nearly every day, all in and around our area. Rebecca’s trail-a-bike gets hooked up to Bern’s bicycle and away we go… We still can’t believe how bicycle friendly Adelaide is. Every main road has a wide bicycle lane and cars don’t come anywhere close to it. On one of our ‘explore your neighbourhood’ routes… Bern came across a recreational park… Let’s just say it was Mountain bike heaven… path after path of pure mountainbiking bliss! So off we all went (yes, Rebecca still attached to Bern’s bike) on a mountain bike bush adventure. We passed walkers, cross country joggers and fellow mountain bikers… and I fell flat on my face, with the injuries to prove it.

We’ve been also looking at second hand furniture dealers – because we were determined to pick up some good bargains. But let me tell you that over here, the second hand market doesn’t compare with those discount furniture shops like IKEA and Fantastic furniture. We’ve trawled the shops and only managed to find real overpriced junk and a cute little doll house for Becca. The colours were awful, but with a little TLC and a lick of paint, it was turned into Cinderella’s castle! On that note, when you go buy paint here, you have to ask for assistance. All the spray paint is locked away, and kids under 16 are not permitted to buy it at all. There is clearly an issue with graffiti over here… many walls have graffiti markings… and nothing inspirational, just pointless nonsense… they aren’t fighting any cause… they’re just bored kids, with nothing else to do.

Other arb things that we have come across…

• You have to be over 18 to buy a knife.

• If you look under 25, you have to produce identification if you want to buy cigarettes.

• When you go to the shops and the teller has rung up your groceries, the say ‘Cash Out’, when this first happened we said – No, not paying cash, paying card… and they said again… ‘Cash Out?’… Cash out actually means … Would you like to draw out Cash from your card?. But what is amazing is it can be done mostly anywhere, Woolworths, Coles, Liquor stores, Foodland, Big W… and would you believe it… Macdonalds!

• When you buy loose fruit and veg, it is weighed at the cashier, so don’t go looking around for someone to weigh it like we did.

• The carpet companies advertise ‘fake grass’… similar to astro turf but quite authentic compared. Because there are such water restrictions, people can’t be bothered to put up with a dead patch of lawn, so they fit this astro turf.

• Rain tanks are everywhere. People are very conscious about water and the catchment of rain water. You see many homes that have signage that say either ‘bore hole water / rain tank water / grey water in use’.

The Christmas festivities were great, we were invited to a braaibecue (that’s Bernards new term for an Aussie barbecue with South Africans) on Christmas eve with a lovely family that we met through the forum. It’s funny, we weren’t really the social type in SA, but here in Oz we’re really stepping out of our comfort zone and enjoying it! We are also amazed at people’s kindness and hospitality. I mean, in all honestly, all we have in common is that we are/were South Africans… that’s it. And people open their homes and hearts… and don’t want to gain anything from it. It really restores your faith in mankind! And it also reminds us that we will need to do the same for those coming this way too. For the first time, we were able to put Rebecca’s presents under the tree on Christmas Eve, without fear that they might disappear during the night!

Christmas day was real fun(Becca spoilt as usual)! We had planned initially to spend it in our little flat and had organized a cooked chicken and roast potato’s… but instead we landed up at a real festive Christmas celebration with new friends and their friends… there must have been about thirty of us. It was just awesome, we all sat together at a huge table and were treated to wonderful food and MORE wonderful food… We actually overindulged a bit (understatement), but isn’t that what Christmas lunch is supposed to be about! Thank you Mike and Kim for our first wonderful Aussie Christmas, and to Kerry and Steff… your hospitality always amazes us!

So Boxing Day we woke up at the (Aussie) crack of dawn, and headed off to Rundle Mall for the much anticipated after Christmas sales… but boy… like typical tourists we had been given the wrong information. There were many people (probably foreigners) milling around… but not any shops open… that would be a lie, there was ONE… the Aussie souvenir shop… what a bunch of chops we felt like, and to make matters worse we were interviewed by Channel 9 News – they were covering the news story of the shoppers who arrived to find nothing happening… how mortified I felt… I still cringe thinking about it!! Anyway, all was not lost, on Saturday we headed off to ‘The Good guys’… and we hit a great luck there! They most certainly had GREAT bargains – We managed to buy a fridge, dishwasher, 2 fans, 2 vacuum cleaners (one hand held black and decker) and washing machine for $1500… and the great part is, is that the South Australian government will be giving us a $200 rebate for buying an economical washing machine that saves water!

We have also been driving all over the Adelaide suburbs, looking for good areas and at potential rentals. Here the rental market works somewhat differently. You have to inform the agent you are interested in seeing a certain property, and then a few days later or so, you are advised of an ‘inspection time’. For example we found a rental (on the internet) that we were keen on, Bern sent the agent an e mail, and about a week later we received an sms to say the property would be open for an inspection for 15 minutes on that particular day. THAT’S IT!!! All you get is 15 minutes. So you rock up at the house, and there are plenty other prospective tenants all wanting the same unit. If you decide that you like it (which we did) you fill out this intensive application form. And from there the agent presents the landlord with all the different prospective tenants… whilst you sit and wait. We still have a few more days to wait… but this unit would be perfect, so keep your fingers crossed. It’s a little duplex right on the edge of the famous Torrens River… and all along the Torrens river is this spectacular cycle / walking path that goes on for about 40km! It’s biking bliss… and it’s all safe!

In all our driving, we really have come across the most beautiful area’s. We were also given the impression by many that Australian homes just didn’t compare to the South Africans ones. Which really isn’t so. Sure, the homes (and particularly the gardens) are smaller. But most are very well maintained and looked after. And we have done driving into the lower income areas as well as the higher income areas.

We are trying to find furniture before we have to move to our new rental, and at the moment our little flat is bursting at the seams. Poor Becca has these huge boxes in her room, with no room to play… thank goodness we manage to get out, because these walls seem to be closing in on us sometimes. We still haven’t found any great bargains at second hand dealers… but what Bern has come across is the ‘Gum Tree’ adverts. Much like the classified section of a newspaper, but on the internet. We have managed to get a solid wooden coffee table for $40.00… now that’s the kind of bargain we want. .. The lady even dropped it off at the flat for us!

The flat does seem to be feeling more like home every day! We have bought a few pots and plants… much to my utter joy, a yellow arum lily plant and an ALOE!! Yes, an aloe… it’s tiny… but with all the love it’s ganna get from me, it will grow big and strong. One forgets how much plants can add to the home! Especially when you go from an acre of land, to nothing whatsoever.

I am also missing having an animal around, and at the moment all it looks like I am going to get is a couple of goldfish… I miss my pets… I really do, they make a house a home…

Our start to the new year was a planned, quiet event. We decided that we wanted to stay at home, and not have to drive around, also with not knowing the area, we just weren’t too happy about going places with Rebecca… just incase it got rowdy. So we had an awesome supper, Bern had a beer or two, and I had some wine… and then at about 10:30pm we decided it was a little too quiet for New Years… and we headed for the bus stop! Yip, would you believe you can walk the streets at 10:30pm in the suburbs and catch a bus. We thought we would head off to Victoria Square to see some fireworks. But nothing was happening… and everyone was heading off towards the Arts Centre of Adelaide. We decided to call it a night when we came across some drunken boys and Rebecca said ‘That boy can’t control his mouth’… It just wasn’t a place for a child, and it wasn’t a place for us to be… Police presence was awesome though. Patrols on horseback and more. But what we witnessed was many drunken revelers, and many ambulances and fire engines heading off to help those in need. Our wait for the bus meant that at the stroke of midnight we were heading on the way back home. Both girls in Bern’s wonderfully warm arms… all of us amazed that at midnight we were safe on public transportation, and blessed that tomorrow we would wake up safely for the new year to begin…

And what a great start to the New Year, without a hangover… We were going to spend the day on the beach, but got side tracked when we came across a ‘Bunnings Warehouse’… I can only describe it as Servistar/Mica on steroids… Every DIY project imaginable (all at good prices), plants, pots, hardware, crafts, machinery, outdoors, tools… I could go on and on… and we could have spent and spent... but we had to stop somewhere… and that would be when poor Mitsi couldn’t fit any more items !!

Talking about good prices, we also went to another disappointing sale… they have been having all these ads on the telly (yes, perhaps we are great advertisement suckers) for cheap cd’s and dvd’s…. so on our way back home we popped to the Adelaide Showgrounds… it looked impressive, but looks were definitely deceiving!

But the strangest thing happened on our way back to the car. We were stopped by a man, who asked if we were from Cape Town (Bern was wearing a shirt that had Cape Town written on the back)… Anyway we got chatting and would you believe that we are heading off to his place for a braaibeque tomorrow. He is an ex-South African that has lived in Australia for 21 years, and really seems to like helping new ‘imports’ to the country…

Like I said, us anti-socials are really having to let go of the comfort zone… and live a little…

Life is good… and learning is great… 2009 is going to be a great year for us all….

Till the next time, take care…

PS… Angry old lady is no longer Angry Old lady… on New years eve, she was heading out and passed us in the street… and bellowed… Happy New Year…. And even will her queer little smile… it warmed my heart… I was glad I never gave up on her…

[Terence.H]

Another fantastic installment Red thank's so much! pity you didn't get to see any fireworks, but there's always next year!!

[candivw]

Great post Red!!! Keep them coming.

[Eva]

:lol:

Thanks Red!