our journey, part 2

Warning:  this post is long side. But don't be swerved by that; please read it - dive in - and don't jump out to early.  ;) 

t h e  s k y  f r o m  t h e  p l a n e  w i n d o w 

I really should have explained our move/arrival date/etc earlier to you, but better late then never!  I'll  throw most eloquence out the door and write plainly. 

We arrived in Australia about two months ago; we flew for a total of 21 hours and our journey was safe and smooth.  We did, however, have a layover flight in Singapore - it was lovely to have the journey split in two and be able to adventure and explore just a little more.  During the two days we spent in Signapore, we had a fabulous time, besides when we got terribly sick due to a mixture of food poisoning (hey thanks greasy Singapore food) and jet lag (what can one expect after travelling so far?!).  Singapore was brimming with an authentic Asian feel: Small and clean cobbled roads were crammed with meat stalls and colourful booths selling Asian silks.  Real Asian food (i.e., no westernised Chinese takeaway!) ribboned its smell across the streets.  Humid mists lazily floated around and palm trees wavered in the midst of a booming city.  Oh, and the city itself was amazing -- like New York City, it was gleaming and dazzling with lights and finesse - sky scrapers and roads that ribboned round and round, spilling with bright yellow taxis and dazzling cars.  (Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures of Singapore itself because I wasn't feeling great... the greasy food, remember? *grr*.) 

t h e  l i t t l e s t  o n e

  So that's Singapore; now we're in Australia!  In Australia, it's been very hot (at the moment it's 87 degrees fahrenheit outside); because we're on the other side of the world, it's spring.  Although at first glance having a repeat of spring and summer seems appealing (at least it seemed appealing to me!) it has been hard to leave the glory of fall and the wonderful cosiness of winter behind.  Christmas won't be Christmas without any snow…and hot cocoa (who would want to drink hot cocoa in 98 degree weather anyway?!)…and the ambience of a crisp and chilly winter's day.  But, I'm learning to cope with the heat, and in many ways it is nice not to be living in the dampness, rain, and chill of England.  

u n d e r  t h e  p i e r  a t  a  b e a c h  n e a r e s t  t o  u s

Since our arrival in Australia, we've seen many weird yet wonderful creatures.  And we've even tasted a weird yet wonderful creature (namely, kangaroo meat).  As for seeing these creatures… As we drove along the road one day there was a huge lizard (20 inches long) in the middle of the road; my dad screeched the car to a halt and we pulled over on the side of the road.  A few (brave) ones clambered out to have a peek; unfortunately, the poor lizard was dead (I won't get into the gory details but let's just say the lizard was rolling his eyes).  This past Sunday, as we were enjoying a Sunday drive in a rural part near us, a baby kangaroo (a joey!) was meandering around in the field right next to the road - he was The. Cutest. Thing.  We all oohed and awwed through the car window, even managing to wake Caleb, our baby brother up, in our exclamations of 'Oh, the joey is just! so! adorable!".  I feel Australian-ized (not a word but…) after seeing a kangaroo.  My favourite creature was the koala, who, in a completely ordinary neighbourhood, was sitting high in a tree with his legs crossed, his arms hanging on either side of him, and his eyes slightly closed.  (I imagined him reviewing The New York Times and sipping a cup of coffee, which was totally applicable to him).  Yeah, Mr. Koala-in-a-tree was stinkin' adorable.  Another not-so-nice instance involving creatures consisted of a broom, a very nervous and frantic me, and a hairy thing with eight legs (but let's not get into that at the moment)...

 

I could go on and tell you about every other aspect of our move (and what life is like here in Aussie) , but to finish; we've been in Australia for two months and are slowly settling in - we've found a church, met some fellow homeschoolers, been to the beach, familiarised ourselves with a few local neighbourhoods, swam in a pool, learnt a few Australian catch-phrases, and we've even tried kangaroo meat!

NOTE: If any of y'all live in America, Canada, or England (i.e., country that actually gets cold around Christmastime), I'd love if you'd bottle up some cold and snow and cocoa and mail it to me - or something of the sort - because I get extremely envious when I see your luscious cozy winter photos posted on blogs, instagram, etc. ;)  Oh, and one more thing -- if you're ever visiting Aussie, give me a shout!

Love,

Acacia xx

PS In case you're wondering what place Australia takes in our journeys; I've now lived in Canada, America, England, and Australia. :)

PPS Thoughts on the new header??