Sunday 19 October – I can see again!

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11am, On my way to Specsavers. I smashed my glasses a few weeks ago, so have been squinty-eyed and partly blind for a little while – until today, when I picked up my new glasses! Yippee, I can see.
Afterwards, I went to the beach with Andy, Nick, David and Val so the boys could do a practice shoot for a beach photoshoot they're doing next week, then came back in time to watch Australia v England netball. Then back out again for a sea swim and a chilled Sunday evening. Lovely stuff.

Saturday 18 October – A day at the races!

Current location: Somewhere in NSW
11.11am, On the train. We were on our way to Randwick to go to the races! I haven't been since we arrived in Australia so I was very excited, all dressed up in my jumpsuit and heels! We got some VIP tickets from work, so when we got to the racecourse, met some work friends and then had a bit of a kerfuffle when we realised Andy needed 'proper shoes', instead of the bedazzling fun shoes he had on. Luckily, his twin bro came to the rescue and dropped off some shiny smart shoes for him, so into the Members' section we went, and we immediately greeted with sunshine and a bottle of Moet. nice to see how the other half live!
With no idea what I was doing, I managed to win on the first race ($28.50, woohoo!) and then steadily lost it all, betting on the rest of the races. It was such a beautiful sunny day, and we were with such awesome people, it was so much fun. I had an obligatory meat pie too, of course.

Friday 17 October – They're true-blue Aussies now!

Current location: Eveleigh, Sydney
11.11am, At work, with no-one sitting next to me. Usually Chrystal is there, but today she and her husband Marc have their citizenship ceremonies! They moved to NZ from England six years ago, and then to Australia four years ago, and today they become real Aussies!
Andy and I went to meet them in the city for drinks after work, and we toasted their new-found double-passports with bubbles and lots of Aussie foods!

Sunday 12 October – SUNday

 

Current location: Umina Beach
11.11am, At the beach! It was a beautiful day, about 28˚C and not a cloud in the sky, so Dana and I went to the beach and hung out for a couple of hours... When Andy got back from the city (He went to watch the soccer last night), we went for an adventure and found a stunning beach, with not a person on it! Australia continues to amaze me: a gorgeous, hot, sunny day, and an empty beach?!

Saturday 11 October – Let's go Diamonds!

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11pm, Driving home. I'd been at Olympic Park with my friend Yeezy (not Kanye West, Allison Yee), watching the Australian Diamonds play the New Zealand Silver Ferns in the netball Constellation Cup. It was a good game, and always good to watch live netball, but Australia were always going to win, and were winning the whole way through the game. Also, Casey Kopua, the captain of the Silver Ferns, went down with a pretty horrible knee injury so that wasn't good to see. But all in all, fab game and very pleased the Diamonds won!

Earlier in the day, I'd been for a quick walk to the beach with Andy, had my hair cut, and did lots of organisey/house-hunting stuff.

Friday 10 October – Date night!

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11pm, Drinking a beer on the verandah. After work today I met Andy and we went to Randwick for some drinks and a yummy tapas dinner. It was such yummy food, and fun to go to a part of Sydney that we don't know at all. Afterwards we headed up the coast and had a drink with Dave and Val before bedtime!

(Picture from weheartit)

Thursday 9 October – Early to bed, early to rise

Current location: Eveleigh
11.11am, At work. Working. Doing worky things. Today's press day so it's a manic one, which meant we all came in early today (and ended up leaving late... a 14-hour day at work today!).
At least I had a very beautiful view on the way to work...

Monday 6 October – My new nail varnish

Current location: Eveleigh
11.11am, Checking out my new nails! My friend Sarah bought me a couple of great new colours, so I tried them out with a new design...

Sunday 5 October – Mind blown

Current location: Maitland Bay
11.11am, At the beach. Having my mind blown. You know there's that drug, where you get some amazing high but then the drug kills a bit of your brain so you can never be quite so happy again? (Can you tell I don't really know what I'm talking about?!) Well today I went to a beach so beautiful that part of my mind was blown and I don't know what will happen when I see another beach again!

I had actually been to this beach before (and apparently my mind was blown that time too!) but we walked down a different way today, and approaching it from the opposite direction gave it a totally different look. I was with Nick, Ducky and Juzzy, and we'd been for a delish brunch at Box on the Water... I'm loving the coast!

When we came off the boiling hot beach (30˚C today), we came up to the house to meet Dave and Val, who returned today from their gigantic trip overseas. Jess and Bree drove them up so, by the evening, all eight of us (including Andy and Mitch after work) were reunited for takeaway, wine and lots of stories from holidays.

Saturday 4 October – The great Aussie barbcue

Current location: Woy Woy
11.11am, Looking at houses. We need to move out soon and still haven't got around to finding anywhere so it was good to have a bit of a scout around and see what's about.
In the afternoon, Andy and I joined Nick and Josh at the beach for a lazy, sandy afternoon, before deciding to have an evening barbecue. Such a stereotypical Aussie day (not the house-hunting so much), but that's why I love living here!

(Picture taken from Eastsidepatch)

Friday 3 October – Coasting on

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11pm, Sitting outside. After work today, Nick picked me up and we drove up the coast to Ettalong. On the way there, the air got pretty smoky and we realised there had been some bushfires. The light was beautiful so we decided to get out and have a bit of a walk, and we found an absolutely stunning part of bush. It took my breath away and made me feel quite serene and peaceful!

When we got back to the house, we were joined by Nick's friend Josh, and the four of us ate dinner and sat out on the verandah for hours, with beers and chats and tunes. Happy Friday!

Thursday 2 October – Being da boss

Current location: Glebe
11.11pm, Sitting on Chrystal's couch. I stayed at her and Marc's house tonight as we finished work pretty late. Our boss is away for four weeks, so it was my first issue with me in charge of the subs department, and it all went pretty well. A few hiccups, but lots of laughs too, so Chrystal and I were toasting ourselves and all our hard work.

Wednesday 1 October – Gone Girl

Current location: Surry Hills
11.11pm, On a 'city break'. Tonight we went to a press screening of Gone Girl... I really liked the book and was pretty interested to see how it would translate into film, especially as it's had so many bad reviews, but I really enjoyed it! Lots of twists and turns, and I don't think Ben Affleck was particularly well cast, but it was pretty watchable.
Afterwards, Andy and I went to Sea Bay (which was recommended to us by Marc and Chrystal) and ate our body weight in dumplings, then went back to stay at Jess and Mitch's. They were away in Melbourne so we felt like we were on a proper city break, haha!

Tuesday 22 September – Tired out

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11pm, Fast asleep. This morning, before work, I went for a run with Sha and Tristan. At lunchtime today, I went for a run with Michelle. After work, I walked to netball with Sarah, then played a netball match with Hoops. Then I cycled to the train station and came back up the coast. So after today's activities, at 11.11pm, I was fast asleep.

Monday 22 September – Bookwurmz monthly hangout

Current location: Erskineville
11.11pm, Going to bed. I stayed at Sha and Tristan's tonight, after a fab book club, where we discussed the book Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver. I loved this book, although it made me very sad, especially for the protagonist Dellarobia. Excellent book though, and I preferred it to The Poisonwood Bible, although not everyone at Book Club agreed.

Sunday 28 September – Jess and Lucy go coastal

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11am, Sitting on the balcony, eating avocado on toast. Jess came up this morning to hang out with me and have a beach day and, as soon as she got here, we promptly sat down on the verandah and started chatting, for quite a while. We kept planning to go for a run and by the time we actually got up and started running, it was the middle of the day and an absolutely boiling day! We ran anyway, but ended up finishing our run with a gorgeous sea swim to cool down. What a beautiful day.

In the afternoon, we made it to the beach and read our books for a while. Andy arrived back from his holiday in the snow, and the three of us headed back home, had a beer on the verandah and waited for Mitch. The four of us have ended up getting into a bit of a habit up here on a Sunday night, and it's just lovely!

Saturday 27 September – My own company

Current location: Ettalong Beach
11.11pm, Watching Orange is the New Black. I've had a lovely day, much nicer than I expected. Andy and his brother Nick have gone down south to go snowboarding for the weekend, and so I am spending the weekend (or part of it) alone. I was kind of dreading it, because I much prefer hanging out with others than in my own company, but I was also kind of looking forward to it...

Anyway, I ended up having the loveliest time. Last night I got home from work, went for a (short) run, and then had a very lazy, early night, of Skyping my mum, watching Grey's Anatomy and going to bed at 10pm. I got up early this morning, went to see a few houses (we're house-sitting at the mo, so need to find somewhere to live soon!) then went to the beach with Dana the dog. We had such a nice time (well, I did!) in the sunshine, with no clouds in the sky... It's definitely feeling like spring now.

In the evening, I made dinner, had a glass of wine and watched TV. Chilled and lovely, although it has made me realise I don't actually have any friends up here except for Andy! (Also that means there's no-one else to take photos... So selfies galore!)

Sunday 21 September – A proper coast experience

Current location: Ettalong Beach

11.11am, Eating brunch. Andy made us all a fry-up to help recover after last night's wines, then we went out for a walk on Pearl Beach, known for its big waves. After a lovely walk that blew away the cobwebs, a giant wave came in and drenched Chrystal and Marc (and me, to a lesser extent), so they were soaking wet for their journey back to Sydney!
After they left, I went to the beach for a bit of a read/sunbathe/chill, then Andy and I played a bit of football before Sunday evening jobs took over. What a fab weekend.

Saturday 20 September – Coastrek in training!

Current location: Umina Beach
11.11am, In Woolworths. We were buying a few bits for a picnic, because our friends Chrystal and Marc were on their way to stay at ours for the day/night. When they arrived, we brought them back to ours and then we all drove over to Bouddi National Park, to start a 5km walk through the bush/along the coast. The four of us have signed up for next year's Coastrek, which is a 55km walk along the coast from Palm Beach to Balmoral, so have decided to get training! They're such a cute, fun couple, it's ace to spend some time with them out in the beautiful coastal bushland.

At the end of our walk, we hung out and had a picnic at Little Beach, then went back home to get ready for the evening and stroll through cracking Ettalong Beach (read: not cranking). We ended up at the 'cocktail bar' Toto's (which is a cafe by day) and had a drink there, before going to the newly licensed Box on the Water. It's a great little restaurant that's just opened that is right on the beach (and about a two-minute walk from our house!) so we had a wine there, then went home for beef bourguignon. After dinner, we sat around with some delish wines and played games, until someone (it may well have been me!) suggested Sardines, and then the night got wild! Who knew there were enough hiding places in one house to keep four adults entertained until the early hours.