Christmas blogs 2018 & 2019

A couple of Christmas blogs I originally posted on Facebook notes....

Christmas blog 2018: Festive Greetings from Brisbane

 I have now been an Australian resident for seven weeks, and experiencing a very different festive build-up to what I am use to in the UK! 39 degrees Celsius yesterday! I feel for the Aussie department store Santa’s!! Katherine’s parents are kindly hosting us in Brisbane as we search for work. Frankie is now 21 months and really enjoying having so many family to entertain her. She has been: charging around the house and garden with her 3 year old cousin Winter; ‘helping’ her Po Po (granny) in the kitchen; spending lots of time in the garden with her Gung Gung (grandad); and learning the Auntie Carol ‘happy birthday’ hand washing technique!

Most of my time has been spent getting my personal and work paperwork in place. I was most amused when my new bank card came through and they had me down as Miss D. Prior!!! I have been working through a process to convert my UK tennis qualification into an Australian one. My first aid course involved learning what to do if treating someone with a snake or spider bite! I was approached by two tennis programmes in Brisbane and having been doing some cover coaching. On my first day I had to laugh as the last part of the session was cancelled due to rain!! Home from home!! It has been a great to spend time with both programmes and get a feel of the working challenges ahead.

I have been endeavouring to keep myself fit. I managed to play a few sets of tennis. One of the guys I played with kept asking me if I wanted to heat up my beer in the microwave!! I have also been doing a weekly 5km Park run. The first one was a shock to system and struggled to walk for a couple of days but the last few I have recovered much better. I turned 40 in November! Older but no wiser!! I had a lovely lunch out with Katherine and Frankie. In the evening we had an amazing BBQ dinner with family and friends, including a tomahawk steak and a chocolate cake. I had some lovely gifts, including tickets to the Brisbane International Tennis event and the Australian Outback Spectacular and looking forward to seeing both events over the festive break.

Katherine and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary. We had a lovely evening out in Brisbane and I experienced my first Korean BBQ, and thoroughly recommend. We also did some late nightclub style ten-pin bowling. The night before we also enjoyed the Brisbane city centre Christmas experience with Frankie, taking in the Enchanted Garden and the video projection Christmas story on the city hall building. We have just got back from a three day trip to Iluka/Yamba on the coast (3 hours south of Brisbane). It was great to catch up with one of my ex-students and his family who were on holiday from the UK. We enjoyed a walk in a rainforest, chilling out at the beach and a stop-off at the Yatala Pie Shop on the way home.

I hope wherever you are reading this that you having fun and spending quality time with your family and friends. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas blog 2019: Festive Greetings from Tamworth 

We moved to Tamworth in New South Wales in February. According to Wikipedia it is the second largest inland city in the state and has a population of 62,000. It is most famous for being the Country Music Capital of Australia! I looking forward to seeing what the city is like in January when they hold the Country Music Festival, often one of top 10 global music festivals (again according to Wikipedia!). Seemingly can attract over 50,000 visitors! It has been an amazing first year in Tamworth and I want to thank everyone who has helped and supported us, as we continued to make a new life for ourselves.

If you are reading this from outside of Australia you are probably aware that it is a tough time to be living here. Our city has been going through a drought for several years and we have the highest level of water restrictions in operation. The temperatures are reaching record highs, with today over 40 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately this means we have the perfect conditions for bushfires and they are currently affecting many parts of Australia. We have not been too affected but have had several days when air pollution is at the unhealthy level and I have been unable to do my work as a tennis coach. The biggest worry is that we are at the start of the Australian summer and there are many more hot days ahead and not a lot of sign of the rain we desperately need. So my thoughts go out to anyone affected by the bush fires and wish for better times ahead. 

Frankie will be three in March and has really taken to her new life in Tamworth. In August her hair suddenly started to grow and she is very happy for it to be styled in many different ways! I am no longer stopped in the streets by strangers saying ‘what a beautiful little boy’! She is a big fan of an Australian group called The Wiggles and a highlight of her year was seeing them live. She also loves the Frozen films and we had our first family cinema visit a couple of weeks ago to see Frozen 2, where she sat engrossed throughout. 

Katherine and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary last week and enjoyed a lovely Italian meal. We are both enjoying our work lives in Tamworth. Katherine works at the hospital and I work for the North West Tennis Academy. It has been a great learning experience for me to teach in a different country and work in a new team. Learning from other coaches is always an invaluable opportunity as we all search for the best ways to teach the game we love. The commitment required to be a performance player or coach in Australia is quite incredible, as big distances often required to travel to get to tournaments. 

Our social calendar this year can be summed up as four wedding and a funeral. I was devastated to hear of my Uncle Henry’s passing just before Easter. He and his wife came to Australia over 50 years ago on £10 tickets from England. Meeting him for the first time when I was 10 was an important moment in my life, as he inspired me to want to travel and see different parts of the world. Every time I spent time with him was so enjoyable as he had a thirst for life and a wonderful story telling ability. It was sad not to be able to share one more glass of whiskey with him but I am glad we got to share stories with his family and friends at his wake. Our first wedding of the year was in Melbourne for Nat & Michael. Our second was in Brisbane for Catherine & Matt. Our third was in Adelaide for Ruth & Mark. Our fourth was at Spicer's Hidden Vale for Carol & Steven. All were wonderful experiences seeing four couples truly in love and taking the next step in their relationships. I wish them all true happiness and feel privileged to share such a special time with them. We have also found Frankie to be quite the party animal at these weddings and cannot get her off the dance floor!!

So I want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, where ever you are in the world. An exciting new decade is upon us........