The Wheels on the Bus. . .

One of the kids' favorite discoveries thus far has been public transportation.  They absolutely love it - Zachary in particular.  And it doesn't hurt that the drivers/conductors/captains have been so indulgent, giving him the best seat, letting him ride longer than our tickets should allow and even letting him sit in the driver's seat. 

Today, we rode two ferries, two trains and two buses.  And that was all before noon.  It has been wonderful to be within walking distance to the ferry and to have the option of hopping on the bus  if we don't want to walk back up to our apartment when we get back to the wharf.  We can also see all the comings and goings in the harbor from our living room window, which has provided hours of entertainment for Zachary.  He has decided that "Alexander" is his favorite ferry (it is the biggest!) and he loves to watch for it to go by on its way to Manly.  He even spied a container ship coming into the harbor on Monday and insisted that it was carrying his race car bed on it.  And would you believe that we got an email that day saying our sea freight had just arrived in port?  Now if only our things could sail through customs/quarantine and we could move into our long-term rental sooner than expected (9/23).  But I guess I should just enjoy this time in limbo - when our possessions are minimal, our "to do" list is short and a world of new possibilities is just outside our window. . .

First Day of School

Today was a big day - both Sophia and Zachary had their first day at school.  I can't get over how grown up Sophia looks in her uniform!  (Nanna actually had tears in her eyes when she came out of her room fully dressed.)  She was all smiles getting ready and was so excited to meet her new friends.  When we arrived on campus, kids were coming up and saying "Hi, Sophia!" which made her feel even more welcome. We have certainly picked a good week to start - they had a celebration for the opening of the new wing of the school (complete with a band and a "sausage sizzle") and they are going on a field trip to an art museum on Friday. 

Zachary had a great first day of school, too.  We planned it so that I could drop him off while they were playing on the playground, which worked so well that I think I'll continue doing just that.  Here is a photo of him ready to go outside - all school children in AUS are required to wear hats when they go outside (even in winter).

I hesitate to put this in writing (but perhaps that is not the same as saying it out loud?) but Zachary actually slept until 6:30 am this morning.  That is exactly 15 days after we arrived which is significant only in that the time difference between Sydney and Austin is 15 hours. . .
Here's hoping that the full night of sleep wasn't a fluke and that we get another full night tonight! 

Schools, Sharks and Stupidity

Have had so much to report this week that I haven't really reported anything.  And I think the real reason for that is that I haven't wanted to admit that I wrecked the car.  Yes, it's true.  I made what can only be classified as a "stupid American" move and ended up getting the entire left side of the car smashed in.  I bet Andy is really wishing he'd listened when I told him I wanted to LEASE a WELL USED car.  Well, the car is definetly going to be valued as a well used car from here on out. . .
On a far more positive and confidence-building note, we have made lots of progress on just about every other front.  Sophia and I had an amazing orientation visit to her new school and she couldn't be more excited to start on Monday.  The facility is just amazing - in fact, the official "opening" of their new campus is this week - and the teachers and administration were so loving and enthusiastic.  Having only attended public schools, I am completely intrigued with the whole uniform thing.  Here's a preview of some of the gear you'll see featured in Sophia's first day of school photo:

It also looks like they have a space available next year (starts end of January) for Zachary in their "transition" class, which is the Australian version of pre-K.  In the meantime, I've found a great pre-school for Zachary to attend.  We had our orientation visit today and he will start going on Mondays and Fridays next week. 
We finalized everything on our house this week, too.  Well, everything but the move in date.  Looks like we will be able to move in sometime the week of Sept 20.  While the apartment we are in has been great, I am already counting the minutes to when we'll be in our place and have our own things.  (and hopefully to when we'll be getting a bit more sleep. . .)
We also found the time to enjoy the beautiful weather we've had this week.  We went to the aquarium yesterday - which involved 2 ferries and a train, which Z might have enjoyed more than the sharks - and today we went to Balmoral Beach.  It is hard to believe that we are less than 10 minutes to such an amazing spot!  More soon. 

 

Sleepless in Sydney

It is hard to believe that we have been here a week!  And a busy week it has been.  First, we've found a place to live.  It is in an area called Neutral Bay and is less than 10 minutes from just about everything - Sophia's school, Andy's office, etc.  And we will have plenty of room for guests!  We hope to move in some time in mid- to late September.  Will post pictures when I can.
We had a great weekend - we went to the beach in Manly on Saturday and played at the park and wandered around the shops in Mosman on Sunday.  The only thing that would have made it better was more sleep!  Zachary still hasn't adjusted to the time - this morning he was up at 4 am for the day.  The longest he has slept since we got here is 8 hours, which has been a bit rough on both of us.  It took a group effort, but we did not let him nap today.  Hopefully, that will force him to sleep a bit longer tonight.  Fingers crossed.
I have my third driving lesson tomorrow and am steadily improving - in confidence and skill.  Of course, I still haven't driven anywhere on my own so I guess that will be the big test.  Sophia has her school orientation and tour on Wednesday and I'm hoping to visit some potential preschools for Zachary this week, too.   Here's a photo of us taking a ride on the train at the Royal Botanic Gardens, which is adjacent to the Opera House.  The grounds are gorgeous and the views to the harbor spectacular.  More soon.  In the meantime, send good sleep vibes.

Driver's Ed

I had my first "driving lesson" on Monday  Talk about baptismal by fire!  The instructor told me to hop in the driver's seat and pointed me to the busiest road in the area.  I don't think we'd gone more than a kilometer (i'm trying to embrace the metric system) when she announced that I would have already failed the driver's exam!   Don't know if I should be relieved or concerned about the fact that I don't have to take it since I have a valid US license. . .

I found the entire experience overwhelming - this is a congested area, the roads are very narrow and it is very awkward to do everything "backwards."   Just putting the car in drive with your left hand feels odd and I had a very clean windshield as I hit the wipers instead of the turn signal nearly every time. 

The area where we are currently living has "roundabouts" at seemingly every corner (I'm not sure i can properly explain the signaling and right-of-way rules at this point) and parallel parking is the norm.   The instructor did teach me some helpful things but I am very nervous about it all.  It is like starting all over again.  I have another lesson tomorrow and am planning to do it in my new car - which has not moved from where Andy parked it on Sunday afternoon...

Here's hoping that I can gain some confidence in the coming days.  I'm sure it will eventually become second nature but that is hard to imagine at this point!  

The Longest Day (and Night and Following Day. . .)

It is 3 am and I am sitting on the couch with Zachary who is not embracing "GMT +10" as our new time zone.   We are coming up on 24 hours in Sydney.   Lack of sleep notwithstanding, we are loving it so far.  Our temporary apartment has a beautiful view of the harbor, we are 3 minutes from a park and it is a short stroll to the ferry.  What's not to love? 
I'd like to be able to say that the flight wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be but that would be a bit of a stretch.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it could have been worse.  The good news is that Zachary fell asleep on take-off and landing.  The bad news is that those were the only times he slept on the 15 hour flight from LA to Sydney.  I'm sure everyone in our section will remember with fondness Zachary's belly laugh and ability to sing the "Wild Kratts" theme song at the top of his lungs, oblivious to everyone sleeping around him and the effect of noise cancelling headphones on personal volume control.   I have to say that the Qantas cabin crew was more than understanding - we spent at least 3 hours in their "crew rest area," they made him several snacks and let him sit on my lap (with the proper child restraint, of course) on take-off and landing.  I shall plan to write a future post on Qantas premium economy when I can bear to think of the flight again. 
Sophia continues to be an excellent flier although I think she spoke for everyone in the final 5 minutes when she kept crying out "I can't take it anymore!"  It was very turbulent coming in for landing as there were storms in the area.  In fact, had I not been holding a 38 pound dead weight in my arms I would have been reaching for the paper bag.  Her feelings continued to be mixed on this great adventure.  She broke down in tears as we went through customs:  "I want to go home to our real house in Austin."   But she quickly bounced back and was entranced with the scenery as we drove through town.  Despite only sleeping about 6 hours on the flight, she was in rare form all day.  Had definitely switched into full hyper-drive by afternoon and crashed around 7:00 pm.  Here's hoping we don't see her for quite some time yet today. 
It is going to be a big week.  Our air freight (3 boxes) arrives this morning and I have my first driving orientation/lesson this afternoon; tomorrow I will be going househunting.  Both will no doubt prove interesting so I will be sure to post an update.  Fortunately, Andy's mum is with us now so that is a huge help and will allow me to do all the necessary running around.  And I may even be able to take a nap at some point. . .