Our World: April 2011

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Our First Easter & Long Weekend In Australia

So it was great to find out that the 26 April was also a holiday and that meant that we would have Kim around for an extra day which meant another family day together! We woke up on Easter Sunday to an 'egg hunt' in our new apartment, thanks to daddy organising it. The rest of the day was spent out and about, taking Natalia to one of the many play areas in and around Adelaide's gardens and parks.

Helping Granny hang the washing

The new chair that daddy bought me

The following day we decided to head into the Adelaide Hills to a town called Hahndorf, an old German settlement. I was lovely to see how they had decorated everything for Easter. After walking around for a couple of hours we decided to have lunch. We found a genuine German pub hotel. We were lucky to get seats as its a popular place and the portions are huge!

I am way to cool people

An Easter wall

mmm, what should I have ?

Dip it and eat it, yum

The meal that my Mom and Kim share for 2

On the 26th we decided to head down the coast to a town called Glenelg, not too far out of Adelaide.

Oh, the best sleep !!!

Finally our last day (and the last day of the long weekend) was finished off with a walk into the city to Rundle Street. It was a great start to what is going to be our new home.

Rundle Street Mall - a pedestrian zone

yummy ice-cream face :)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Hello South Australia

After a teary farewell at the airport with my sister Loren, aunty Sheri and my father, Natalia and I were lucky to have my Mom accompany us to Australia. If you know what toddlers are like, then you will understand why I was not keen to do the trip on my own. Toddlers can be wicked little people, and besides we had too much luggage and I would never have managed it on my own. Since we were immigrating we were allowed 40kg each which equals 2 bags each and I had to bring with Natalia's car seat and pram - so my Mom was much needed!

We left Joburg on the 22 April at 6pm and arrived in Sydney the following afternoon at 2pm - a 12 hour flight. Natalia was dead tired as she didn't have her nap that afternoon so she fell asleep almost immediately on the flight, but she was very restless and unhappy so I gave her meds to assist her to sleep. She didn't even get to eat dinner, shame - but bliss for us :)

Arriving in Sydney we had to get off the plane carrying 6 bags of hand luggage. Natalia walked most of the way which was impressive, but she got tired and I had to carry her a bit. You see, in Australia, you only get your pram from over-sized baggage at the same time you get your bags. We finally got through Immigrations and waited to collect our bags and over-sized luggage. Because we had 2 trolleys each to push with 4 big bags, a car seat and a pram, it was impossible, so my Mom put the car seat on her trolley and I put Natalia straddled on top of the bags on my trolley with the pram folded and balancing behind her (can you picture this?). Our next process was to go through Declarations as we had a lot of medication with us and Easter eggs and chocolates. That was surprisingly quick as well and then we were off to check our bags in for our next flight at the domestic terminal. Natalia was enjoying the trolley ride so much and refused to get off, shame, lol. By this time Mom was so pooped and no more strength in her - she's not used to lugging heavy around, walking forever and carrying heavy Natalia around. We waited only a couple of minutes when the bus arrived to transfer us to the domestic terminal and once there we had to walk again, to the end of the building of course, carrying all this heavy stuff and princess around. Poor Granny was tired.

Finally we left Sydney at 4.30pm and arrived in Adelaide at 6pm - a 2 hour flight (yes there is a time difference). Only then did I start telling Natalia that she would see her Daddy soon. It had been 4 weeks since she'd last seen Kim and I didn't want to confuse her. Little people don't understand time, and when Kim left SA she wasn't dealing with all these changes very well and she was couldn't understand why her Daddy wasn't around anymore. She had another nap on this flight with Granny and then I explained to her that she was going to see her Daddy any minute, trying to get her excited. It worked, she was so happy to see Daddy.

It was a long trip and we were finally where we were meant to be - together as a family again.

On the plane in Joburg before take-off

Landing in Adelaide

Yay - finally Tali is with her Daddy

Finally at our apartment, our new temporary home

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Goodbye South Africa Our Home Forever

Natalia and I spent our last of couple of weeks in South Africa staying in Centurion, close to my sister Loren and her 3 boys. It was a fantastic time and will never forget the closeness we had till the last minute. In this time I realised how much I love my sister; that the love is stronger than I ever imagined. I will miss her terribly! And Natalia got so close to her cousins Malakai and Harlan, and everytime she asks after them tears well up in my eyes because she doesn't understand. She also asks after her beloved uncle Darryl "Ucking". This transition would have been a million times easier if our relationship wasn't this strong.

But the world is a lot smaller these days with BBM, Skype, Facebook, email and the like.

I will miss my Mommy. I will miss Dolly (Natalia's nanny). I will miss having my housework done for me; ironing done and Natalia taken care of. I will miss all the things that I am used to, like saying "ja" "howzit" "lekker". Knowing where to go and in what direction without using a GPS. I will miss Bovril, Nestle, Simba, Mrs Balls, Ouma rusks, Holbrooks Worchestershire Sauce, Pampers, DSTV and biltong to name a few! I will miss familiar faces, shops, places and products. I will miss my fanstastic GP and Gynae. And I will need to remember that I am in a different time zone; that at 3pm it's only 7am in South Africa.

I will need get to used to people saying "g'day" "how ya going" "no worries" and "yeah". I will need to use a GPS, do my Drivers' Licence again, learn to use a 5 way circle and adhere to speed limits. I must get used to other shops like "Coles" "Kmart" "Target" and "Myer" to name a few. I must get used to things like "Vegemite" "Kangaroos" "Ausie Rules Football" and "V8's". I will have to use the AU$ and learn to pump my own gas! I will need to get used to paying exorbatant prices for Kindergarten, waiting lists and possibly only sending Natalia on certain days of the week. I will need to get used to paying rent weekly; that built-in cupboards are a feature; doing my own housework ; no domestic help and expensive baby-sitters. I will have to get used to dry hot summers and wet cold winters.

On the other hand, I will have to get used to "no car guards and not having to keep coins handy to pay them" "no one trying to sell me stuff at a robot" "not being alert of smash-and-grabbers" "not setting the house alarm every night" "not looking over my shoulder when walking down the road" "clean public play areas, parks and gardens" "getting free public medical assistance from the government" "receiving a child care benefit and a child care rebate from the government" and "almost free schooling". I will need to get used to Kim leaving for work after 7am; being home at 5.30pm; not spending hours in traffic and eating dinner together as a family. I will get used to walking more; cycling more; being fit and generally leading a healthier lifestyle.

Here are some pics of Natalia in our last days spent in SA......