Life as a Sydneysider…

Hello Strangers! After a crazy few weeks, I have finally made it to Sydney! And in case you are wondering, I LOVE IT! I don’t think I will ever be able to fully articulate all the feelings I went through before I left London. Worry, excitement, doubt and jubilation were some of the big ones. Every single person who asked me about my plans balked and cringed at our decision to emigrate without actually ever having stepped foot in Australia – panic ensued. But deep down, we both had a very good feeling, something positive just nudging us along, urging us to take that leap. From the get go, the decision felt right. As the plane descended from our stop-over in Kuala Lumpur and I caught my first site of Sydney, I had a split second of terror: What if we hated it? What if they hate us? What if we have to live on a park bench and eat baked beans forever? You know, that kind of thing. I am happy to announce that so far, my fears have been unfounded (although the jury might still be out on the park bench and baked beans). From the minute I stepped out of the airport and into the blazing sun, I knew we had done the right thing. It felt so familiar and yet excitingly different (a bit like our home in South Africa, but cleaner and with fewer AK 47s). After spending our 4th consecutive day on the beach, Jordan and I keep pinching each other and grinning from ear to ear, repeating a mantra of “we live here, we actually live here”. We are by no means out of the woods yet, we still face potential financial uncertainty and housing upheaval but after falling so in love with Sydney, we are more determined than ever to make it work. So the interview clothes are ironed, the CVs have been sent out and we are putting our best foot forward. Wish us luck!

Thanks so much for sticking by me over the last few weeks, I can’t wait to catch up on all the blog news. I am hoping to blog regularly from here on out but Jordan and I are currently sharing one laptop between us in a teeny tiny studio (it is so small that one of us has to go for a walk when the other goes to the loo… overshare but that should put it into context for you). I’ll keep you posted, not on the loo situation but on the blog situation! I’ll leave you with some sub-par Instagram shots of our new home.

Sunset in our street

Saturday on Maroubra Beach – 29 degrees celcius!

Bit of a blurry shot of an Aussie post box

Darling Harbour

Water Taxi

Sydney Harbour Bridge

More of the harbour

Dedes on the Wharf

Pretty buildings in The Rocks

Isn’t she lovely?

This is where we had lunch. Not bad huh?

And so begins my addiction to Tim Tams.

Farewell My Fair London

I can hardly believe I am writing this (bleary eyed, tearful… and from the trusty squeaky airbed that sort of deflated in the middle of the night) but it’s my very last day in London. This city has been so many things to me, it knocked the stuffing out of my 18-year-old-attitude-problem-self, it taught me how to use an escalator, how to walk at constant breakneck speed, how to cross the concourse of Victoria station at rush hour. I have seen the world from the city, met some fantastic people, gotten married, passed my driver’s licence (no mean feat in this city), cheered my husband on as he passed his degree and finally, had our Australian dream realised. There is a part of me that will always consider myself a Londoner to the core. This city is incredible and I am certain I will look back at these last 8 years and think, WOW. It’s now time for a new adventure. Sydney, here we come!

I’ll be taking a wee break from blogging while the craziness commences. I am spending a few days in Malaysia to break up the journey and hopefully get some much needed rest (on the luxury of an actual bed) before we head to Sydney next week. So the next time I blog, it will be from my new home. Thanks so much for all your words of encouragement over the past few months, it has continually kept a smile on my face. And I am convinced it is you guys who are responsible for my unusual, but welcome, zen like state.

Feeling blue…

I’m having a bit of a pity party today as I have picked up a nasty cold (and I have about a million and one things to do this week). To make matters worse, we said goodbye to our tv in the shipping crate on Monday so I can’t even console myself with reruns of Dallas. I will just have to make do with the air mattress and a good few minutes of Pinterest and Etsy. In the meantime, here are my favourite “blue” Etsy finds to go with my mood :)

Octopus Print; Archery Set; Necklace; Blue Pillows; Anchor Bracelet; iphone Case;

The burbs revisited!

I am currently writing this from the discomfort of an air bed, which along with a few pieces of cutlery and crockery, are the only items of furniture left in our house. I’m feeling a little fragile with bruised knees, broken nails and an alarmingly sore throat after yesterday’s packing-the-shipping-crate fun and games. But despite all this, it was super cool to see our belongings begin their journey to Sydney. I’ll be spending the next couple of days cleaning the house and generally freaking out (in a good way). I thought for my last London post that we could take another walk down memory lane to the neighbourhood that has been my home for the past 5 years. If I could do it all again, I would still never live anywhere else in London.

P.S – apologies for my absence in blogland of late but it’s all been a little bit hectic… and it’s only bound to get worse. I promise to catch up on all your news soon!

All images via Wishful Thinking

Monday Snoop – A Garden to Love

Thanks for all the encouraging words on my last day of work on Friday (Erin, your comment in particular ensured that there were no embarrassing tears as I left the building for the last time, I actually felt quite excited for all the new possibilities)! So with pesky work no longer taking up my day, Australia plans are in full force for our departure on Saturday (eeeek). I have spent an obscene amount of time ogling at apartments and houses I can’t afford on realestate.com.au, and more practically, I have been looking at the shoe boxes we can just about afford. Like any city, it seems gardens are quite the luxury in Sydney so it is likely we will have to make do with a balcony or courtyard, which I am surprisingly ok with (given my appalling gardening skills… I killed a cactus the other day! A cactus)! But I can’t help the pang of sadness I feel for leaving our patch of grass [and dead plants] behind. Maybe one day I will have the time, skills and patience to create a little Eden like this Nantucket seaside garden I found featured in Veranda…

Images via Veranda

End of an Era

It’s my last day of work today and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t just a tad emotional (ok, maybe a bit more than a tad). I have made some wonderful friends that I will miss for many years to come. I was fortunate enough to nab a job in Conservation Architecture and working in the UK, it doesn’t get any better than that. As with every job, I have had endless ups and downs but over the past year or so, the ups have far outweighed the downs. I’ll clock out and wave goodbye with a very heavy heart at the end of today.

I’ll leave you with some of my favourite site pictures at Hampton Court. I was lucky enough to help out on a site survey for every Friday for 6 months last year. These ancient roofs hold some of my favourite memories.