Italia2Australia

planting seeds, really?

2011-02-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

Hiya my fabolous readers and bloggers. There are a few updates since my last post, exciting ones too, hence the title of the blog. First, we have purchased a house..whoo hoo here in Australia. We just figured why continue to spend money renting when we can buy. I know your thinking, house purchsed equals permanent stay in Australia. Not quite, we figured we buy the house take it year by year and see how we go. Australia might kick us out in 2013...haha or they might grant us permanent residency, who knows. We are really excited as its our first home bought together.

The big move is in two weeks as we are waiting for some finishing touches to be compeleted, yup a band spanking new home. Second, our nanny arrives from Italy in a few hours, we have had some dramas on the nanny front but finally found someone we know will fit right in with our family and more importantly care for Jordayne. And last but not least, I am heading back to work. Not sure if that's good or bad news but either way I am happy as I need to feel a part of the adult world. I will be starting off part-time and if things are too stressful slowly work my way back up to full-time. With Government jobs you can work part-time until your child is 5yrs of age..how nice.

What else, oh yes we survived the unkindly acts of nature; flooding, cyclone and humidity. Thankfully, the kinder seasons are upon us.

Until next time, PEACE

p.s. PEACE signs up for Egypt

Our home!! Jordayne

Where have we been????

2010-12-03T03:24:00.001-08:00

Hiya blog world. No we have not dropped off the face of the earth mom and company have been super busy. We safely made it to and back from Canada, little J was such a pleasure to travel with. I feared being thebsingle parent traveling with a crying infant. Well I was a single parent traveling solo with J but he did was not that crying infant. You know the one everyone looks at and says "oh poor thing"? Well he wasn't that child. He traveled very well and stayed well throughout our stay in Canada. We arrived at the moment when the leaves were falling off the trees and the colours were that of Fall. The weather started to cool down near the end of our trip and by that time both J and I were ready to return to the warmth of Australia. I left Australia with 3 bags and I returned to Australia with 5 bags, yes that's right picture the single mom with an infant and 5 pieces of heavy luggage, that was I...lol. And thankfully the lovely people at Air Canada did not charge me for overweight luggage..whooo hoo. As we have returned home and settled in I have realized how much I (we) need to be close to family. Being in Australia we are just too far from everyone and everything. Now that little J is with us having family around has become so much more important. We have decided to stay out our work visa and then start to plan from there. I MISS HOMEL

As for our little man he is approaching 9 months. He has cut two teeth well there are two little pegs not sure when they will come through but we are thinking by xmas he will have two full teeth. It will be our first xmas with child and I have decided that we need to make it special so I have bought a xmas tree and will have J help me decorate. We are also in the midst of looking for a nanny, guess from which country? That's right Italy. We have done some interviews on Skype and think we have narrowed it down. E and I really would like J to speak Italian and since daddy is not around much during the day J doesn't have the opportunity to hear the language. We are hoping to have the nanny out here by February as I will be returning to work between March-April.

Until the next update..cherrio!!!!

Oh Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-08-13T03:55:00.000-07:00

Oh Canada here we come! we (J & I) will be heading to Canada to visit family and friends. I have not been to Canada in a couple of years. I am happy and nervous all at the same time to make the trip. Happy to see my family and friends but nervous as I am not sure how the trip will be for J. It's the perfect time to make the trip as I am on maternity leave and don't have to rush the trip. Other mom's say its the best age to do the travel as it's easier to keep an infant "happy" throughout the travel. Any readers out there travel with an infant overseas? any
suggestions/advise would be appreciated...baci

sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppp!

2010-08-09T03:50:00.001-07:00

Well as many of you know our little man has joined us which means much less time to blog. I do miss the blog life but with a little one around free time is limited. Our son (Jordayne) is now approaching 5 months and he is bloosoming into a very special little boy. He has developed this fun loving character one that any parent would wish for. We have seen his first roll over, watched and listened afar as he speaks his own language which consist of a lot screeching sounds. Each day we anticipate the next "wow" moment with our Flip video camera standing by to capture every moment.

I titled this blog sleep because I am in desperate need of some;) I took the wise advise of many and slept every moment possible while I was pregnant however with a newborn it seems like all that sleep wasn't enough. Now that Jordayne is sleeping (10hrs) through most of the nights it has provided some relief. How do other mom's do it? I have tried to sleep when J is sleeping but there is always something to do. I await the day that nursing stops and J is able to sleep through all nights.

Until the next spot; stay well...

Baci

P.S. at this moment we have decided not to put pics of J up that however might change in the future..xxoox

Thank You...Thank You...

2010-05-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your wishes. As you all can imagine we have been busy adjusting to parenthood. Our little boy is growing too fast that words can cannot describe. Every morning we wake up we see new and developed features. We have had visitors during this time as well. We had my mom come from Canada and currently have the help of Enrico's mom from Italy. What would we do without those extra hands, we are so thankful for the help.
As for our plans for a permanent location, at this moment we are not sure. Australia has a lot to offer minus our families of course and with the situation in Europe we don't see that its the best time at the moment to head back to Italy:( We will see what the year holds.

baci X

New Edition!!!

2010-03-17T01:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, baby Sedita (surname) has arrived on St. Patty's day. All is doing well and planning the next few days to catch up on sleep and eat..xo

Home Stretch!

2010-02-22T01:41:00.001-08:00

That's right we have just entered the home stretch of my pregnancy. The little will arrive soon and our life will change forever but for the better. And as we wind down to birthday we still don't have a name for the little one. The two of us cannot agree on a name and gosh it makes things difficult. My fear is that HE will be born without a name which is traumatizing. Can you imagine being called "bambolotto"? I can't imagine it. So we decide to turn to the web and all our readers out there to help us name our little boy. Please, pretty please!

baci
E&R

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T15:28:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the all the love and support in 2009. We had a wonderful year and cannot believe 2010 is already here. Wishing you and your families all the best for 2010.

E&R&...

We are alive!

2009-12-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

First of all thanks for those who have paitient waited for the blog update. Oh how I miss blogging but I can say at this point we are back. There is so much I can talk about but I will give you guys the best news first.

We are preggers and having a lovely baby boy in the spring (N.American) of 2010. We are both very happy to be having a little one join our life. The baby will be born in Australia but will not have an Australian passport however will have an Italian and Canadian passport. We have not decided on a name for our little one so any suggestions are welcome.

Another addition to our family is Stella, which is our new car. We purchased the car around the same time we found out we were expecting. Stella is running nicely and it has given us the opportunity to see more of the area.

This is Stella (Nissan Tiida)

In November we took a trip down to Sydney and boy was I happy to breathe in some pollutionJ. The city feel was amazing and I must say Sydney is a legit city unlike Brisbane (wannabe city..lol). Since we have been back I have been researching the ways to live down there permanently.

Most recently we have decided to apply for permanent residency even though we are not sure if we will stay past the 4 year work visa mark. We kinda of have some idea that Australia would be a good place to live and raise our family if our plans to head back to Italy or Canada don’t work out. We have a lot of time to think if we will stay in Australia as the permanent visa waiting period is approx 3 years.

Other than that everything is good here. The summer has started so that means the HEAT has arrivedL

bye bye winter!

2009-08-24T01:40:00.000-07:00

Happy to say that the winter season has come to an end, at least that's what the weather Bureau is saying. We have been out enjoying the warm weather and some of the great areas around Australia. We visited the Noosa National Park and I must say everyone should get there if they can. The park is amazing because you can walk the park along the shore or take the more nature route either way its a must when in Australia. We plan this year to take more day, weekend trips around as we have realized that there is so much to see. We are planning a four day trip to Sydney in November, so if anyone has any 'MUST SEES' feel free to drop me a line. Here are some pics, cheers.

Ciao

E&R

pick up the phone, send an email, send snail mail, send a fax

2009-08-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

This is a question for all my expats who have left their home to explore and live life abroad, wherever that may be. Now that I am down in Australia exploring and living life I am finding so much harder to keep in touch with friends and family overseas, particularly in N.America. I am trying to figure out what it is that's making it so difficult. It seems like the further I move away from home the more FRIENDS and FAMILY disconnect:( One would think with all the technology out there keeping in touch wouldn't be so hard but it sure is proving difficult. I know the time zone is a big thing but that shouldn't excuse anyone from going out of their way to pick up the phone or send an email to say "hello". And you know when you move away you get "save me a bed, I am coming to visit" one year in and no one has made there way down to visit us. Anyway, that's my rant for the day. Any suggestions, ideas or comments are welcome.

ciao
E&R

Bologna

2009-08-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

One of your day trips we decided to take a short drive to Bologna. Mainly because I wanted to take a shopping trip to Mango jeans..lol. I convinced the OH to visit the city only for that reason. We were quite surprised once we arrived to see such a lovely little city with what appeared to be a hugh student population. As we all know Bologna is known for its wonderful cuisine but unfortunately we didn't get a chance to taste what the city has to offer. We ate the famous tigelle con affettato e squacquerone (cheese) and boy was it hummy and cheap. We also took a short drive up to see basilica di San Luca which also provides you with a wonderful view of the city. Here are some pics of the wonderful day. ciao

E&R

Why I haven't fell in love with Venezia

2009-07-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

When we were living in Italy we attempted to visit Venezia a couple times a year, always the idea of my OH. I have never really liked Venezia but thought maybe one day I will fall in love with the place. Well, it hasn't happened yet and I am not sure it will happen. Here are some lol pics of our day trip to Venezia.

Ciao

E&R

Only in Italy!

honey where can we park the scooter?

why not make money off tourist

FOOD, oh how I love food

2009-07-16T04:12:00.000-07:00

lol. We have been eating our hearts out and trying to attend as many sagra's as possible. The food is delicious, cheap and fun is always had. Here are some pics of the last sagra we attended Sagra Valle S. Giorgio.

Ciao
E&R

Friends we love!

small spaces

2009-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

What a noticable difference between our apartment in Australia and our apartment here in Italy. E's trying to get over how small the bathroom is here eventhough its the bathroom he has always used...lol. Its these small things you notice when you travel. Everything is going good here in Italy, "che caldo africano" which means the HEAT WAVE has arrived. Surprisingly I don't feel the heat as much since I have been exposed to the Australian heat. With no AC and the fan blowing dust in my face I am sure I will survive. I continue to shop my heart out and we continue to eat, sleep and enjoy the company of our friends. Below our some pics of beautiful Padova.

Ciao E&R

piazza della frutta @ night

piazza dei signori @ night

i HEART ITALY

2009-07-09T04:09:00.001-07:00

We are here in beautiful Italy and so far so good. Our flight was good, no problems with luggage or seating (exist rows seats baby!). Now that we are here and we have been able to get out and see and eat everything in sight I must say Italy is MY HOME!. I just love everything about it.

E is trying to readjust to the chaos. Driving, he finds in chaotic because down under the people drive in order, here in Italy, its madness. Its nice to see people dressed 'proper', with shoes by the way. I took some pics of our first briosche con crema and capuccino. We have many friends and family gatherings to attend and I would like to take a few day trips around Italy so I will update with more pics soon. Ciao for now..

baci

E&R

Italia...Italia...Italia

2009-07-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Another sad apology for not keeping up with our blog. But I decided to return to let everyone know that ITALIA is on my mind. We are leaving today for the place I like to call home; Italia. We hear the heat has arrived which should be nice..wink..wink.. as its quite cold down here in Aussie land. Can't say I will miss Australia but E will for the time we are away. Blogging will continue while in Italy, I PROMISE.

Ciao tutti
E&R

000

2009-05-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

My first experience using the emergency service here in Australia happened on mother’s day. Coming back from playing tennis I was the driver of our scooter (I am learning) and the OH was the passenger. Anyway long story short, I was taken away by the ambulance service and brought to the local hospital. I asked to be taken to one of the two hospitals that I am at least for work. I have private insurance as we do not qualify for the public health care system. While I was being transported in the ambulance all I could think about is the cost. The ambulance attendant kept asking me where I wanted to go as I had the option to attend a GP surgery which I would have had to pay out of pocket. As I am not used to a private health care system I was so confused and stressed during the ride to the hospital. I ended up crying all the way there as I didn’t know what to say. I just felt the pressure to make a decision, in the end; I asked to be sent to a public hospital as I figured the rest will work out. Arriving at the hospital, which I have visited before for work, I was greeted by a triage nurse who advised me wait where the “walk-in” emergencies wait. I guess this was because I was not dying and I was able to walk and had no other visible injuries other than my gash to my ankle. Three hours later (we were told the wait would be that long) I was stitched up and out of there. I asked the triage nurse if I needed to pay something but she advised me that I would receive a bill in the mail. Six days have passed and I am slowly getting back on my feet. I have not been at work all week, how bored am I? Very...lol. Overall I would rate my experience good better than my ER experience in Italy...lol. I will keep you all posted once the bill arrives.

Cheerios
E&R

Holiday, Holiday, Holiday:)

2009-05-15T01:18:00.001-07:00

Oh what a holiday it was. We did the one year celebration up in Cairns where we went out to the Great Barrier Reef and all the other touristy stuff around the area. It was our first time traveling in Australia since our arrival so we were very happy to get away. Our main goal was to visit the Reef as we had heard so much about the area. We were torn between Lady Elliot Island and Cairns (day Reef trip) however since we are both not avid divers/snorkelers we decided on Cairns as there was more to do. In Cairns we went white water rafting, visited Kundra Park, the crocodile farm and many of the local tourist attractions. One thing we noticed about Cairns, which was kind of disappointing, we felt like we were in Asia (we have never been there). Many of store signs were in Japanese and the other Asian dialects. We found it difficult to find MADE IN AUSTRALIA souvenirs (mainly aboriginal art) to bring back to our friends and family overseas. Other than that small disappointment the trip was wonderful overall. If we had a choice we would still prefer to live on the coast however Cairns is a place we would visit again, mainly due to the weather as it was verryyyyyyyyyyyyy hotttttttttttttttttt. Here are some pics, enjoy!

Cheers

E&R

Biggest Croc ever!

Alexander Reef

The Lagoon (Cairns)

Temperature in Autumn:)

Great Barrier Reef!

2009-04-22T00:59:00.000-07:00

For our first trip within Australia we have decided to head out to the Great Barrier Reef. I must say I am looking forward to this trip for many different reasons. The weather should be nice for the time we are there so we are crossing our fingers and praying that things don't change. Apparently even in the Autumn its pretty hotttttt up there. We will post some pics once we get back.

Ciao
E&R

Many wishes

2009-04-08T03:55:00.000-07:00

We send our love, prayer and wishes to anyone effected by the earthquake in Central Italy

Ciao
E&R

Another language

2009-04-08T03:36:00.001-07:00

We thought we can't be in Australia and posting about life down here without putting up some slang (only in Australia) words/phrases.

avos=avocados
barbie=barbecue
chook=chicken
bathers=swimming costume
bikkie=biscuit
brekkie=breakfast

bloke=male

brickie=brick layer

chewie=chewing gum

chokkie=chocolate

mozzie=mosquito

saltie=salt water crocodile

flat out=busy

flog=steal/sell

rock up=to turn up/arrive

smoko=to take a break

whinge=complain

sanger=sandwhich

snag=sausage

stubby=375ml of beer

stuffed= to be tired

arvo=afternoon

maccas=McDonald's

servo=petrol station

If you know of any others give us a shout

Ciao
E&R

Vacay

2009-04-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

So how happy am I that we are heading to the Great Barrier Reef for our 1yr anniversary. It was a toss up between the reef or the outback. We decided on the reef this time around as the outback was quite deer (Australian slang for expensive). As we are here for another year or so we have, hopefully, more than enough time to visit the outback. Our only hope is that the weather is nice and we are able to snorkel/dive. Apparently the water temperature bearable in the Autumn months. We are also looking for more "must see" places to visit while down, any suggestions?

Ciao
E&R

rain, rain, go away!

2009-04-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

What a day thus far. It has been raining all day:( The lovely part of the rain is that we are at home today. Since I have been on the Sunshine Coast I almost want to rename it to the Rainy Coast. The amount of rain I have seen in the past months is just unbelievable. The funny thing is that everyone just continues on with their day. I am ducking for cover when I see the rain (must be the hair thing). Anyway, I leave on this note as we pray for some sunshine.

Ciao

What were we thinking?

2009-03-14T05:47:00.000-07:00

During our first weeks in Australia E and I decided to have a taste of some pizza. We were tempted as we kept seeing everyone carrying these pizza boxes and thought, just maybe it might taste good. I should have known better as we bought the pizza from a well known chain starts with a D ends in a O. This is what we got...lol

you get the point.

Ciao
E&R

Oh and...

2009-03-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

Just to show the spirit of Italy we been traveling around in our scooter. We did not purchase an Italian brand as you can imagine its helleva' expensive down here in Australia. We have had her for about 7 months now and I must say she has been traveling well. I am learning to ride the scooter so the day we return to Italy, I will be scooter riding Queen;). Here she is!

Ciao
E&R

The beach, oh no the beach!

2009-03-14T05:23:00.001-07:00

Not too sure if many of you heard about the Cyclone that just missed Australia? Well a smart bunch of people happened to be right in the path of the Cyclone carrying tones of petroleum and the tanks spilled out into the Ocean and eventually made it to the beaches in southeast Queensland. Here are some pics!

Before...

After...

Ciao

E&R

Caption this....

2009-03-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

Say it isn't so http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/business/worldbusiness/14vend.html

E&R

Why we can't keep up!

2009-01-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

We try so hard to keep up with our blog but have failed to do so due to business...lol. A lot has happened since our last post.

We attended a lovely New Years celebration in Brisbane (South Bank). We weren't too impressed with the fire works but enjoyed the atmosphere and the weather. I swear it was one of the hottest nights yet. What an experience to sit outside on New Years not have to worry about freezing your ass off.

Happy New Year

Brisbane CBD view

Outside Discoteque

Waiting for the Fireworks

We are adapting to the Australian way quite nicely. Talking the talk and walking the walk as they do here in Australia. One thing that we will not be doing is walking bare feet....lol. We bought a little 'barbie' and taking great advantage of all that can be made on a barbie. I didn't know that you could cook breakfast on the barbie. Something that we must try in the future.

Our Barbie

Our work visa's came through so now we are legal for 4 years in Australia. Not sure how long we will stay as I am itching to get back to Italy.

Yeah Visa

Speaking of Italy, we have booked our return portion of our flight back to Italy for early July so now the count down starts. We are in the process of trying to find a reasonable flight back to Australia for early August but at this time finding the prices too high.

Again, we will attempt to keep up but with the lovely weather these days its hard to catch us inside.

Ciao

E&R

Merry HOOOOTTTTTTT Christmas

2008-12-24T22:51:00.000-08:00

It’s our first xmas down under and I must say the experience is very different. Both E and I are not in the xmas spirirt we reckeon it’s because of the weather. Coming from cold xmas climates we have found it hard to get into the spirit. Its nice however to see everyone else in the xmas cheer and we are taking pointers for our xmas next year.

It’s 4am:(

2008-12-24T22:23:00.001-08:00

This time of the day each day is a very important time for us here in Australia. Each day at 4am we are awaken by the lovely;) birds that never fail to wake us up. E and I can't put a name to the birds but we are about to buy a rifle and shoot them all (jokes). If we don't hear the birds we joke that someone has already killed them for us. We now have this love hate relationship with all birds. If someone knows the name of the birds that hang out this time of the year and that time of the morning please let us know. Here are some pictures (not ours) of some of the birds around Australia.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

2008-11-28T03:56:00.001-08:00

As if we need anything else to keep us occupied. We bought the view, I couldn't resist any longer. Its such a lovely console and the games keep you super active.

The wet weather has arrived so all the more reason to have something to keep us busy while staying dry.

E&R

The lonely fisherman

2008-11-05T02:41:00.001-08:00

As many of you know E has much time on his hands these days. He spends his days exploring the Sunshine Coast and finding new things to keep himself occupied while I slave away at work...lol. Out of all hobbies to get into he has chosen to try his hand at fishing. I understand that fishing is a very Australian thing to do. E has a very low patience threshold so I foresee him giving it up pretty soon. Anyone knows anything about fishing please share your knowledge. The main question is "how do we catch a fish" lol

Ciao E&R

YES WE CAN!

2008-11-05T02:06:00.001-08:00

CHANGE has come. Congrats to the new family of AMERICA

6 months

2008-10-24T03:37:00.001-07:00

How fast the time has gone since E and I got married. Happy Anniversary to us

E&R

Caption this!

2008-10-24T03:26:00.001-07:00

So I have decided to start "caption this". Caption this will show pics of things that to us are just weird, different or just out right funny. Our first caption this post is the "bare feet syndrome". Here in Australia (Brisbane/Sunshine Coast) we have seen not just one, two or three people walking around without shoes, we have seen MANY. I know not everyone here walks shoeless but its enough for us to "caption this". Thoughts are welcome.

E&R

Again, pics

2008-10-20T04:15:00.000-07:00

one of the many friendly creatures

China town (Fortitude Valley)

Aussie breakfast

more pics yippeeee

2008-10-20T03:54:00.001-07:00

E happy to be in Dubai...lol

Enjoy your dinner

Enroute to Brisbane via Dubai

Pictures

2008-10-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

E wanting to be Canadian

empty flight to Dubai

goodbye Italia

me and and our luggage

Stay FAB!

The Beginning

2008-10-20T02:42:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in updating our blog but we have been busy settling into this lovely country. We are now connected to the net and have found our long term rental (Sunshine Coast) so now we can get back to our blog.

We arrived from a 22hr flight with our entire luggage in tow. E brought his paragliding equipment with him which accounted for his 20kilos, one piece of hand luggage. I arrived with my 20+ kilos of luggage and once piece of carry on. We were not charged for additional weight by the airline carrier (Emirates) which we should have been at a rate of 50 Euros per kilo, I think due to the minimum amount of passengers on the flight from Venice to Dubai. We arrived extra early for the check (advice given from another blogger) and played it calm and cool when approaching the check in counter. As you can all imagine I was shiting my pants thinking "what if" we had to pay for extra weight. All went well with Emirates check in and because of it we had a very enjoyable flight from Venice to Dubai.

Our flight with Emirates was wonderful. The food was good and the seating (emerge exit) worked out nicely for my long legs. Like many long haul flights you meet many people both flight attendants and passengers. E met a fellow Italian who was also relocating to Brisbane for school, E since then has kept in contact with his new friend name Gino. We also met another fellow who lives in Brisbane and have been communicating with him since we have arrived. It really is a nice thing to meet people when you have just relocated, left your family and friends for a new experience abroad.

Two days later we arrive in lovely Brisbane to a few rain showers. It wouldn't have been a big deal if we didn't have to walk by foot with 40+ kilos of luggage to retrieve our luggage which we had shipped (3 days before departure) from Quarantine. As I heard much about Quarantine and how nasty they could be if things are not up to par, I once again became quite anxious thinking of "what ifs". We ended up waiting about 3+hrs for Quarantine to open in order to retrieve our luggage and have it checked. I swear those 3 hrs felt like 24. Poor E was so tired and we were both just wanted to sleep. Our stopover in Dubai only allowed for 5hrs if that of a good night's rest before having to leave again for Brisbane. So we arrive for our appointment with Quarantine to retrieve our things. I was met by a lovely fellow who only wanted to talk bad about America since he knew I wasn't American. He checked only the bags that had shoes inside as all other suitcases contained mainly clothes. He was satisfied about the soles of the shoes as they were VERY clean. Our tracking boots were not too clean but he had no issue with how they looked. We were not charged any additional fees besides what one pays to retrieve their items (approx 90AUD). With all of our luggage in tow (4 suitcases, 2 backpacks) we were ready to head leave for the city.

Upon our arrival to temporary stay in Brisbane (Tribeca Apartments, Spring Hill) we conversed with our lovely maxi taxi driver and took in the scenery. Being from Toronto, Brisbane streets, cars and people (multicultural) reminded me much of back home. For E, the feeling was different. He says the only thing he was feeling was sleep deprivation..lol. Our stay at Tribeca was nice, the building managers were a little spaced out at times but other than that we had an enjoyable stay. Spring Hill definitely was a nice starting point as a newbie to Brisbane. We were able to walk (did too much damn walking) to relatively everywhere in the surrounding area and noticed shortly into our arrival that Brisbane definitely is a car city. We visited Fortitude Valley (what a place after dark;), West End, South Bank (our fav), kangaroo Point and New Farm. We used the transit system one day when we had to venture a little further out of the city. We didn't find it to be too bad, it was clean, the driver was friendly and most importantly we didn't get lost. The price of the transit was relative to what I would be in Toronto but in Toronto the service is a lot bigger. We attended some cultural events while staying in the city and I really enjoyed that. E really is not into cultural things but enjoyed it the same and learned something about something...lol. We rented a car for a day and headed up to the Sunshine Coast and couldn't say much more about the Coast. It is such a lovely place, isn't anywhere with the ocean lovely?

Before we arrived in Australia I was contacted for a job interview on the Sunshine Coast. The interview was scheduled 5 days after my arrival. If that's not coincidence, I don't know what is. Anyway, I was happy to receive an interview and happier that I was able to attend the interview in person. So the day we decided to venture up to the coast was the day of my interview. Of course I was nervous and very anxious as I haven't been interviewed in such a long time. Being over in Italy for the time my interview skills had dried up...haha. I left the interview feeling confident but didn't express this confidence to E as I didn't want to be disappointed hadn't I gotten the job. We waited about 5 days (weekend incl) and finally heard back from the TL. I was successful and was offered a position. As I had arrived in Australia on a working holiday visa I was able to work straight away. At the time of the offer we were still staying in Spring Hill but were scheduled to leave a few days after. E was very happy to relocate to the Sunshine Coast as he fell in love with the place before I even got the job.

Our temporary stay on the coast was Myconos Resort which is located very close to the ocean in Maroochydore. I must stay this is one of the best places I have stayed in terms of service. The owners were every so lovely during our transition up to the coast. I highly recommend this hotel for anyone wishing to visit the Sunshine Coast. We stayed in the temporary accommodation for one week and during that time we searched high and low for something more long term. We really wanted to find an apartment that wasn't a resort/hotel style, like many on the coast. After searching high and low we finally found a place to call home. We are so happy in our apartment one wouldn't believe. We have two bedrooms and two baths for our expected visitors hint, hint. We are very close to the ocean and have a lovely view of it.

I know its along read but I had to play catch up. Stay tuned for lots of PICS.

Stay FAB!

p.s. I don't know how much E will post in Italian, sorry to our Italian readers. I am trying to get him to continue with the Italian portion of our blog.

We are still ALIVE!

2008-09-24T00:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting on our blog but we have been super busy I don't have Internet access in our apartment. We have moved to the Sunshine Coast (Maroochydore) due to work and must say everything is working out nicely. Sunshine Coast definitely moves at a different pace than the city, Italy and Toronto....lol. This weekend we are moving into our long term rental and boy are we happy. Once we are connected more post and pictures to come.

E&R

We have arrived

2008-09-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, we have arrived in sunny, chilly Brisbane. We are using internet cafes at the moment so will update when we have more time and spending less money in the cafes....lol. Thanks for all the messages.

Enry & Roxy

Goodbyes:(

2008-09-02T08:04:00.001-07:00

We haven’t forgotten about our blog we’ve just been busy saying goodbye to all of E’s friends and family. Its E’s first time relocating so many of his friends and family wanted to see him before he left. Here are some pics.

Ciao

What HE will miss

2008-08-13T08:25:00.001-07:00

what SHE will miss

2008-08-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Visas, check

2008-08-07T08:27:00.000-07:00

We got them! I (Roxy) applied for a working holiday visa (whv) and Enry applied for a visitors visa which means he can stay for 12mnths in Australia but he's not allowed to work or study for more than 3mnths, oh poor thing. So what this means my friends is that I will be working and Enry will be on an extended vacay, how nice is that?
We are 25 days away from our departure and still have a few things to sort out. We have been looking around for apartments for a short two week stay and are finding it hard. It seems like there is a big rugby match in Australia (Australia vs New Zealand) and out of the 14nights of our short stay many of the hotels are booked for 2 of the nights. So this puts us in a situation where we would have to leave the short stay accomodation for 2 nights and then return. Anyway, we hope to sort this out in the next few days.
We still have to sort out if we will send some of our things through cargo (flight) or through sea.
We found out as well that we are able to open an Australian bank account on line and this way we can transfer some funds to the account before we arrive in Australia.
At this moment we are in caos but things will come together we are hoping very quickly. The most important part is that we have received our visas.

Ciao

20!!!!!!!!!! kilos

2008-07-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Now really, how does one travel from Italy to Australia with only 20kilos? We are traveling with Emirate airlines for our flight to Brisbane and we were told that in total each passenger can carry 20kilos, that's about 44lbs. We plan to stay for a minimum of 1yr so how is it possible that we can carry this little weight. Anyway, it looks like we have to send the remainder via Emirates cargo. Cargo will cost for an additional 60kilos 400euros. FEDex and UPS are out of the question as they charge twice as much to ship the same weight.

As our research continues we are finding out more and more about Brisbane and what it has to offer. Enry is a paraglider so we have been looking for paragliding groups that he can join once we are in Brisbane. Paragliding is his second love!

Enry & Roxy

Countdown

2008-06-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yes we know, its been awhile since we have posted but as some of you know preparing to move takes a lot of planning. What have we been doing since our last post?

Well Roxy went on a job interview in Manchester for a position in Brisbane. All was successful and now she is waiting for the work visa to go through.

Enry advised his employer that he would be leaving in September, the employer was not too surprised as Enry and Roxy had tied the knot a few weeks before.

Oh yes, they tied the knot. It was a beautiful day both Enry and Roxy had the times of their lives. All of Enry's family was present and Roxy's brother came to Italy for the ceremony. Fun times were had by all.

They booked their tickets to Australia and now the official countdown starts. They are preparing and planning for their big move. Many emotions for Roxy as she loves Italy but Enry is excited to get the hell out of Italy....lol. Roxy has prepared a check list of what is needed prior to departure. After reading some blogs and doing some research some things are important to take ie. police checks (could be needed by future employer), letter from a landlord (don't have one but we will find one), bank statements, translation of marriage certificate etc.

We will do our best to post more often as our departure date nears.

Enry & Roxy

Australia, we are coming!

2008-03-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Enry and I have been busy with job interviews. Enry had a telephone interview with his company in Melbourne, Australia. I had a job interview a couple weeks back in Manchester, England for a job in Brisbane, Australia. Yes we know the two possible job offers are in two different parts of Australia but we have decided not to limit our options. The more options we have the more we have to choose from. The job hunting process hasn't been so bad for me as my profession (Social Worker) is in demand in Australia. Enry is in Sales in the area of Oil and Gas so for him as well the job search is going well. As English is not his first language he is a little nervous when applying for jobs, which is understandable. I keep encouraging him to practice the business English which will help him familiarize himself with some useful terms and language.

So now we are playing the waiting game and we still haven't stopped sending out our resumes. Our target is still September 2008.

2008-03-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

About Us!

2008-03-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

Our love for one another started on a lovely day in 2006. I (Roxy) left Canada and moved to Italy in the fall of 2007 to be with Enry. Winter 2007 we decided that moving to Australia would be our next adventure. I (Enry) has always wanted to have a life experience in a different country, so why not Australia? Since I (Roxy) have just moved to Italy which was my life changing experience I wasn't to keen on moving again.

So here we are, Winter 2008 and we are full swing with our plans for the big move in September 2008. Our blog take you through our adventure from the beginning to the end. This blog will be written both in Italian and English.

Enjoy