The changing faces of friendship

friendship long distanceThe Christmas just gone I spent a whole month in Australia. One. Whole. Month. Which should be enough time to catch up with everyone, shouldn’t it? Well it was, and it wasn’t. Juggling Christmas, with family commitments, holidays and going back to work, time seemed to get sucked away

I want to see everyone. I want to spend time with everyone. And not just time, but quality time. I want alone-time with my girlfriends, I want alone-time with all my friends together in a group, and I want additional catch ups with hubby there. Perhaps a week with every friend and family member would do it.

Continue reading →

An Australia Day Party – Reliving the Count Down

Australia DayIn 2018 Australia Day fell on a Friday, so naturally it made sense to plan an Australia Day Party. But I didn’t end up celebrating on the Friday – not because of any political or cultural concerns – just because Friday isn’t a holiday in Austria, and Triple J’s Hottest 100 was moved to the Saturday. Which I’m totally on board for, by the way, but I don’t want to get into any raging debates about that!

Continue reading →

Long Trips – Christmas in Australia – warmth, sunshine, family & friends

Australia - catching up with family Portsea PubReturning after a holiday always leads to a multitude of questions: How was it? What did you do? And you answer: Yeah, it was awesome! We did heaps of cool stuff! But where do you go after that? How do you pick out just a few notables that that particular person might be interested in hearing about?

Well, I just spend a month in Australia. And it was awesome! And we did heaps of cool stuff! And if you really want to know more, keep reading!

Continue reading →

Tim Tam Slam – an Aussie Ritual

tim tam slamEven though I now don’t try and push my Australian food on unsuspecting Austrians so forcefully, there is one thing that I think deserves a particular mention. Not just for its fabulous taste – best chocolate biscuit in the world, I tell you – but also for the special way us Aussies consume it.

The Tim Tam Slam is a great Aussie experience. Everyone who visits should try it out. No idea what I’m talking about? That’s what I thought! Read on to find out how it goes!

Continue reading →

The first morning

Australia beachOn my first morning in Oz I woke up at 6am following a fitful but exhaustive sleep, head clogged with Jetlag.

I contemplated closing my eyes again, before concluding that getting up was probably the quickest way to bring my brain back to functionality. So I wandered around the house in the quietness of early morning before trailing to the beach in my running gear.

I know it’s not the first thought most people would have, but it is what it is.

Continue reading →

The other side of homesickness

 

homesickness husband support
Aussie Aussie Aussie!

I go on a lot about homesickness… and I apologise, but I will probably continue to do so from time to time, because… well frankly because I have a damn good life which means that ‘minor’ issues such as these play a bigger part than they otherwise would.

And apart from you lovely folk reading my blog there is one other person who has to put up with a much bigger chunk of my whining.

Continue reading →

Homesickness… hello? Is anyone there?

Australia brother's weddingAfter returning from my March trip to Australia, I was prepared for the steely-wrath clutch of homesickness. I had attended my brother’s wedding, and with his new bride already knocked up, the whole thing had me weepy and emotional even before I got to Oz!

But wait… where is he? Is he hiding? Is he laying in wait, ready to pounce when I least expect him?

Continue reading →

25 Real Differences between Austria and Australia

Austria Australia differences

To celebrate my 100th blog post (yay) I thought I’d attempt to answer a question I still get asked a lot: What are the real differences between Austria and Australia? And it’s a difficult one to answer, because it’s a kind of same/same but different thing – all the little factors weigh up to create a big difference.

There are the obvious ones – the language, the food, the location, the culture, the weather… I’m not going to focus on those… I’m going to let you in on some of the more subtle differences between Austria and Australia.

Continue reading →

Creating the perfect trip = attempting the impossible

Before we went to Australia on our most recent holiday, I made a lot of lists. I like making lists. Lists of friends I wanted to see, things I wanted to do, food I wanted to eat, places I wanted to visit, food I wanted to buy and bring back… the list(s) goes on.

You see, what I was doing, was trying to organise the perfect trip home.

Australia sunset beach walk
Perfect sunset beach walks with the Captain

Continue reading →

Longer Trips – Australia – and suddenly it feels like a holiday

sunset australia mornington beach

I’ve been back to Australia three times since moving to Austria, but it wasn’t until the most recent trip that it actually felt like a holiday.

The first time, triggered by an expiring plane ticket, was spent madly running around, organising documents, throwing stuff out and working out exactly what I would need in Austria for the next x number of months/years (under 30kg). The second time was our wedding, which, while it was perfect, involved quite a lot of time-consuming organisation which I could only do once I arrived in the country.

Continue reading →