Another shot from last weekend's visit to Lake Wivenhoe and Lake Somerset. Myself and Lauren went for a swim here at Lake Somerset. It's been a long time since I've swam in a lake. I forgot how different it is to swimming in the sea. Besides the obvious (lack of salt), putting your foot down was … read more

On Saturday we took a drive west of Brisbane to Lake Wivenhoe and Lake Somerset - a main source of Brisbane's drinking water. This shot was taken sitting on the banks of Lake Somerset looking across to the Somerset Dam. Australia is not just about beaches. The diversity in landscapes is … read more

The retreating storm leaves debris on the ground and drama in the sky. This shot was taken a couple of weeks ago from my local park. read more

When I first started working in the Brisbane CBD and Rachelle worked near Bulimba, I used to drop Rach off at work and then catch the CityCat ferry service in from Bulimba getting off at Riverside in the city. It wasn't a bad way to start each day! As the CityCat glides effortlessly down the river … read more

They say a picture paints a thousand words but I've no idea how long this yacht has been capsized off Raby Bay Foreshore Park in Cleveland, or what the circumstances were to cause its demise. read more

We've recently returned from a memorable week on the Fraser Coast which included Whale Watching, a day on the world heritage listed Fraser Island and a trip to historic Maryborough. Whale Watching The highlight of the week was definitely our trip out into Hervey Bay itself to see the Humpback … read more

So we've moved house, and I'd forgot how much of a nightmare it is. We certainly won't be doing it again in a hurry. We've been in Brisbane nearly 2 years now and the place we were renting was ok as our first little settler home, but it was a bit cramped and we were desperate for more storage. We … read more

Yesterday it was Father's Day here in Australia, and so for a treat we went for Lunch with George, Julie and Reyce to Icon at Raby Bay. We'll definitely be returning to Icon again. The food was fantastic, especially given it was a buffet. Usually at buffets you end up getting the cheap cuts of meat, … read more

My parents are on their way home and so ends a fabulous 4 weeks. The time flew by but they definitely made the most of their first visit to Australia. With the exception of Sydney most of their time was spent with us - I certainly haven't got much leave left to take from work for the rest of this … read more

I think we're starting to come out of Winter as it's been slowly warming up this week, rising to a high of 29 degrees today. At lunchtime I went out and sat in the gardens of a Cathedral across from where I work and basked in the sun. I only lasted for about 20 minutes though. Boy was it hot! The … read more

I got up at 4:30. I had already planned to do this because I wanted to be in Fortitude Valley to watch the Liverpool v AC Milan Champions League Final. Someone had told me on BritishExpats.com that I’d be able to find at 24/7 Sports Bar in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane which would be showing the … read more

We didn’t do much at all on our first day in Oz. I think we were in bed before 9pm that night (even though we did have a bit of a kip as soon as we got there). Jetlag had fully kicked in! read more

We've spent most of today shopping for our new house. We went down to IKEA first thing, arriving for opening time at 9am. The IKEA in Brisbane is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and is absolutely huge. What's more it was pretty quiet and quite an enjoyable experience, unlike the last time I … read more

Can you believe it. We arranged to see a couple of houses early that day. We loved the second place we saw, put in an immediate application, paid the bond and picked up the keys that afternoon! It's a 3 bedroom house on a gated community in Carina - a really nice part of Brisbane. We've got a garage … read more

I just thought I'd do a bit of research into the job market in Brisbane, and suddenly it's 3 hours later and I'm even more confused than when I started! Everything I'm reading tells me that Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra are all better for IT Security jobs than Brisbane. That doesn't mean to say … read more

The annual Zombie walk has taken place in Brisbane today. I might join in next year. I won't need any make-up - I always look like that first thing in the morning. I'm not a morning person! read more

Great article comparing the weather between the major cities. Rach is set on that we're moving to Brisbane but I'm still open to the possibility of trying out other areas. I guess I better make my mind up soon, if all goes well we've only got 3 months to go! read more

Here's some video I took of the waves at Mooloolaba beach on the Sunshine Coast in Australia when we went out there to validate our visa over the new year. [youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QQl3CusIA8&w=425&h=350]) Soon this could be a regular weekend activity for us! … read more

It seems funny that it's a year since my last post where I rejoiced the fact that we had finally received our visa, and yet it's only now that we're in a position where we're confident it's actually going to happen. The reason it's been a year is simply because that's how long it has taken us to … read more

I'm now on holiday in Oz - more about this later. This post is just to say that we finally got the Visa!!!!! We checked our e-mail while we was in Singapore and we've got an e-mail to say the visa has been granted. What a relief! After 18 months of hassle we can finally put the house up for sale and … read more