Australia

You know you’re in Austria and not in Australia when… there’s a pause in the mowing noise

debbiekaye19805 Comments
garden austria mowing

Summer is for mowing. Especially in Austria where you generally have to mow every week to keep things under control. Like anywhere, people are apt to start mowing early, especially when it’s hot. But come 12 noon, and what you’ll hear in Austria is… nothing. That’s because it’s considered impolite to mow your lawn between 12 and 2… disturbing the peace and quiet of lunch time. In the same way that Sunday is a day of rest, and the shops are closed, there are still lots of shops that close here between 12 and 2 during the week. Oh, and you better not even think about getting your mower out on a Sunday… that’s definitely forbidden!

But hey, it’s nice to know, that for your Sunday BBQ, your serenity won’t be disturbed. So I’m all for it!

First class – a glimpse into the high life

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Flying first class

It’s one of those things we only dream about… flying first class. I’ve flown business before, with a free miles upgrade, but first was something that was probably never going to transpire. Yet when I flew to Australia recently, that’s exactly what happened.

We’d initially planned for business class. My back would not have survived 24 hours of economy, so booking something that allowed a fully reclinable seat was an imperative for me to even consider the journey.

The jump in price from economy to business is monstrous… the jump to first is still hard to swallow but comparatively not as hard. So we figured, with the extra benefits of first, why not take the leap. And if you’re going to do it, why not do it properly? So with some trepidation about my back, but a little spring in my step, I boarded an Emirates A380 for my 24 hours of luxury. Was it worth it, you ask? Well read on!

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Return to Oz

debbiekaye19807 Comments
Safety Beach, Australia

Two years had passed since seeing my friends and family back in Oz… two years since I’d had the searing Aussie sun on my back, since experiencing the feeling of crispy summer-sun-dried grass on the soles of my feet… It’s not an eternity. It’s not impossible to endure. Not when I chose to live so far away.

But it had been a hard two years of lockdowns and back pain and then the joyful but also emotional news of pregnancy. And I yearned with every part of me to get home.

And so eventually, after changing my mind, and changing it back, I did just that.

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Goodbye dark days… hello Summer

debbiekaye19803 Comments
Safety Beach, Australia

I’m usually a fairly optimistic person. But I have been a bit down lately, as many of you read in my recent blog posts. But I have to say a big thank you, to everyone that reached out to give me a bit of love and support, and reminded me that it is all going to be ok. Because it is going to be ok.

I was already feeling more positive… the sun was shining, the weather was warming up… and despite the fact that the world was still being super crazy, I was doing ok at letting go of things out of my control.

And then suddenly I found myself on a plane to Australia.

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Oz international borders opening… really?

debbiekaye19806 Comments

On the beach in Safety beach, Australia

The world is abuzz with the news that it’s actually going to happen… Australia is finally talking about opening its international borders. I’ve been hearing murmurings for a while, but when it hit globally the other day, a number of people got in touch to spread the love. It even made it to Austrian news, so you know it’s big.

Except I can’t help but feel a little bit cynical about the whole thing.

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A box of Australia

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Because my parents had to cancel their trip to Austria in June, and I never began planning a potential holiday to Australia, my mum announced that she was planning to send me a box of stuff in the mail. Originally I pushed back – Don’t be silly, postage from Australia is ridiculously expensive. Don’t waste your money. There’s nothing I really need. But she was adamant. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s considerably cheaper than a flight. And she was right. I could see that it made her happy to do it, so I relented.

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Short Trips – Halls Gap – The Grampians – Gariwerd

debbiekaye19803 Comments

Grampians The PinnacleDuring our recent trip to Australia, hubby suggested we take some time out for ourselves to see a little bit of the country. When you use up a big holiday period to visit home, it’s often hard to see it as a holiday, as opposed to hopping between the same places and people each time.

The place that came to mind instantly (remembering that we have to be practical, we can’t venture too far from Melbourne), was Halls Gap, a place where I used to go camping with the family as a kid.

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Long Trips – Australia – the land of fire and flood and dangerous animals

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Australia beachNone of which, by the way, I saw on my recent trip to Australia.

I hadn’t meant to go back to Oz at the end of the year, but with hubby’s new job, I suddenly found myself a-flush with more leave than him, and we decided it was a good chance for me to take the trip on my own.

So off I tripped… for a whole month… just cause I could.

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