It is hard to believe I arrived in this strange land three years ago!  Time flies when snakes and spiders are trying to kill you.  Just kidding, I’ve only seen one snake and while I see a lot of spiders around, none seem to move at all.  Of all the things I thought I might generate a phobia of in Australia I would never have picked birds.

That’s right, birds.  I am now slightly terrified of birds.  All it took was continued swooping over 3 holes of golf by a small bird to now make me think every bird I see flying is going to come straight for me.  Sara can attest to my flinching. Birds here are also very plentiful and make so much noise.  There are magpies, angry cockatoos, squawking lorikeets and whatever the bird is that makes a “car alarm” noise.  They like to start when the sun comes up, which is 4:45am in Brisbane in the summer.  Woo.  Give me a pregnant poisonous snake under my fridge any day.

Even after all these years its hard to get onboard with the lingo. I’ve had plenty of opportunities to just say “G’day mate” to a stranger and just don’t think to do it.  It still surprises me when someone says it.  I do say “Cheers” a lot now.  I also got called out recently by an American visitor for saying “windscreen” instead of  “windshield”.  So some stuff is sticking.

Things I miss:

• People – that’s a no-brainer
• Retail competition – there’s just not enough people here to have to the Walmarts, Targets and Amazons or more than 2-3 types of any given product
• Funny ads – not a lot of creativity in the TV commercials here
• Central heat / AC – why Australia, why?
• Stable housing location – after not moving for 11 years, we’ve moved 3 times now
• Cheap beer – but the craft beer offerings are getting better
• Good weather radar – radar is terrible here and not very useful locally
• Normal, non-swooping birds

Things I don’t miss:

• Prescription drug and political ads
• Snow/ice (cold weather in general)
• Traffic
• Crowds
• Signing credit card receipts
• Tipping and tax added after the total
• Dollar bills, bland money

Things I’m indifferent about:

• Which side of the road / car to drive on – I believe I’m masterful at driving wherever.
• Long flights – after 7 transpacific flights, what’s another 14 hour flight?

So, I haven’t gone full ‘Straya yet, but I’m slowly getting there.

Jon and I followed the sun and warmth to Brisbane. Brisbane, or Brissy as the locals say, is in Queensland, the Florida of Australia. I’ll let you interpret that how you please.

Once Jon got back from his adventures around Australia with Jeff, we buckled down and focused on finding a more permanent place to live. We looked all around the inner suburbs and decided on a two bedroom apartment in Toowong.

Located within reasonable walking distance of two train stations, a shopping center, and with the easiest access to a running trail we’ve ever had, we are quite happy with the choice. It doesn’t hurt that it’s $1400/month less than our last place in Melbourne.

At first, we didn’t do much besides relish being in one place and sleeping in the same bed each night. Eventually that got a bit boring so Jon joined a social golf group and I took a few tennis lessons. Jon also started looking for a job while I returned to my job. Luckily my company wanted me back and had a local project for me to work on. I am working from home which is wonderful for the lack of commute, but a bit isolating at times. Jon kept me company for the first couple of weeks, but now he’s working too and his job actually gets him out of the house.

Our decision to move to Brisbane is working out so far. Some of the things we like here include:

* Gorgeous flowers including my absolute favorite, plumerias (frangipani)

and my possible new favorite, jacarandas

* Gorgeous weather

* Fantastic running trail (with entirely too much room dedicated for cyclists though)

* Lovely sunsets (view from our apartment) 

The jury is still out on a few things such as:

* Spiders (hand for scale)

* Bush turkeys

Fortunately, I don’t have any snake sightings to report yet.