our man

 Our man is really enjoying all this water!  He loves being so close to the ocean and river.  The beautiful climate suits Rob so much and he is always game for a swim or kayak.  He is really enjoying spending more time with our boys and their relationship is growing.  They adore their dad and hang on his every word.  Russell asks what time dad will be home most nights now and so looks forward to our family meal.  Yesterday Rob took his second kite surfing lesson and came home exhilarated and exhausted!  His ribs were bruised from being dragged and bashed along the beach.  His arms were sore from pulling at the kite but his smile was plastered on his face along with all the salt.  He still dreams of owning another yacht and watches them sail out across the river wistfully.

Rob has done really well socially here.  He has made some great new friends and has reconnected with the SACS old boys in town.  He is always meeting someone for a drink or a coffee and seems to be networking really well.  He still misses his friends and family quite badly but generally is so happy with his decision to be here.  The wonderful lifestyle this city offers is perfect for him.

The house purchase has been brilliant for Rob who cannot wait to get stuck into another renovation project.  He is scheming and planning and getting really excited about the upcoming DIY.

Rob is settling well at work and is starting to see the results.  He doesn't need to work as hard as he used to in Cape Town which is great for now.  He is thrilled that there are lots of opportunities here for his skills as this is a real booming economy with lots of major projects starting up soon so we will certainly always be able to pay the bills.  For now we are both enjoying the fact that he is home every night and is so much part of our every day life.

I would love him to write on the blog but it's not his thing.  I have to settle for him reading it from time to time for now.

get lost!

I really am quite scared of getting lost.  I was born without a sense of direction and have quite literally never been able to find my way out of a paper bag.  Well, talk about facing your fears!  I have moved across the world to a whole new city grid and plethora of landmarks.  Thank goodness for Garmin, my new best friend, and for googlemaps.  Did you know that you can click on "Get directions" and googlemaps will take you through the whole process of moving from A to B quite effortlessly.  Isn't technology great?!

I am pleased to announce that there are days when I don't even turn the GPS on in the car now and I have totally surprised myself (and my family) by eloquently giving other people directions to a play area or restaurant with the correct street names and landmarks thrown in.  The road system in Perth is pretty straight forward and the beautiful Swan River does a great job of dividing it into halves.  I can now confidently get to swimming lessons, Rob's office, Kings Park and a number of other destinations with only a moment's hesitation before heading in the right direction.  I still have my moments, of course, and if I pull over or into a driveway for any reason, the boys still ask me if I have made a wrong turn or am totally lost.  Over all I really feel that I have done quite well.  I attribute this great achievement to the fact that I really consciously embraced the challenge of the roads.  I got here determined to cement the maps in my brain and overcome my fear.  Well, the fear of getting lost persists, as sadly, we are unable to develop a sense of direction.  The good news is you can master the layout of a city with some effort.

Added to all this driving around is the fact that our driver's licenses are not valid after expiration and can only be converted by taking a Theory and Practical exam.  My license has two weeks validity left so I have been driving around in the infamous little Getz, taking note of my own bad habits and practising driving at 50km/h.  At first I had to put Hugo under the accelerator to achieve any consistency in speed but now I have it all worked out - just hum to the '80s music on the local station and pretend you don't have to be anywhere important before Christmas and you're fine.  I am halfway through the process, having passed the Theory test with flying colours.  (It comprised mostly of identifying roadsigns featuring indigenous species and working out whose turn it is to move in a roundabout).  This Wednesday I don the low cut blouse and miniskirt and head for the testing office to show off my parallel parking skills.

 I just can't wait.

before and after

Adam (6 1/2 years)

Hugo (3 1/2 years)

A good haircut makes a man, and a good haircut ages a boy!  $20 each and they look all shiny and new.

oh brother!

Adam's art

Adam has become quite the little artist!  He loves school and especially the art activities where he prides himself in doing great work.  This picture is of a king and queen who are clearly very much in love.  The next picture shows his castle with a door cut out and a photograph of Adam the King, peeking out!  He is starting to read and write words now and is bringing his first readers home.  There is a lot of emphasis on reading and writing from as early as Kindergarten which is the year a child turns 4!  Adam's number concept is great and he thrives on the science experiments.  We get a full demonstration at home after each science lesson.  Our sweet boy is finding making friends quite tough in this new town but he is starting to find his feet and is growing in confidence.  Invitations for play dates are starting to come in and he is definitely ready to tackle new challenges.

cub's honour

Russell was invested into the Winthrop Bateman cub pack last night.  He very proudly said his law and his promise.  It is a very active pack of boys and a few girls.  They meet on a Wednesday night and play lots of fun games and learn all kinds of exciting things.  The akala is a wonderful mature woman who has been leading the pack for 25 years and still loves it with a passion.  This has been a great place for Russell to meet good friends and have a lot of fun.

Now I have to sew on all those badges!!

retro party time

Had we met in the 70s I still would have fallen in love with him!  Rob looked really good in an afro wig at the 70s bash we went to over the weekend to celebrate our friend, Liezl's 40th birthday.  It was great fun dressing up to the theme and we really had a fun time.  I wore the obligatory sea level mini shift and Rob, well Rob, he just looked ultra cool.

the Aussie dream

Yip, we did it:  we have bought our first Australian home!  In true Wilson style, it needs some TLC, a bit of knocking around, a little bit more here and a little bit less there.  We will be taking transfer in February just in time for our lease to be up here.  We are scheming and planning and prioritising our renovation.  It really is good to have a project again.

housekeeping done

I have finally solved some of my housekeeping problems.

Spiderman now does the vacuuming!

setting the scene

I have just completed a four session photography course.  It was so awesome and I learned so much.  There are buttons on my camera that, until now, have not been touched and I have discovered so many cool ways to take photos.  The course consisted of a night of theory; a morning of landscape and waterfall photography in a park using a tripod and practising with various apertures and shutterspeeds; an evening in the city taking night shots as the light faded and socialising over cheese and wine; a last evening on how to use photoshop.  There were 8 students on the course and we were all beginners, so easily impressed with our new discoveries.  I met some interesting people and developed my confidence in taking better pictures.  I learned how to use my telephoto lens properly and how to adjust the colours for various settings. 

The course venue was about 15km from home and on the first night I sat next to a woman who I really liked and felt an instant connection to.  We chatted before and after the course and then discovered that we live 2 mins away from each other in the same suburb.  Karin is a bit older than me and is at home with her first baby.  We shared lifts for the rest of the course and are now planning to walk and ride our bikes together.  We want to spend time at the river practising with our cameras.  God has sent me friends in the most remarkable places and I feel really blessed.