Two Years

The beautiful Brisbane River

Not as scary as they used to be

On Friday, 24 August, we celebrated our two year anniversary of moving to Australia.  It is amazing when we look back at what we have experienced since moving here: an entire new way of life, moving from the arctic (practically!) to the subtropics, experiencing a massive flood event, seeing the Great Barrier Reef, visiting Melbourne and Sydney and, of course, living in an entirely new city!  We really have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone who makes the move to a new country...no matter how prepared you are, there are alway surprises.

Sunshine Beach a Noosa, a favourite place

The Daintree River in far north Queensland

The thing that we appreciate the most is being able to travel around Australia.  We are planning a trip to Broome and Darwin in three weeks, which is a big trip even though we aren't leaving the country, but the little trips that we have taken have been so wonderful.  We absoulutely LOVE Sydney and take as many trips there as we possibly can each year.  We love Melbourne for being a little taste of Aussie/Europe and, of course, we are very fortunate to live in beautiful Brisbane.  The subtropics certainly have their own flavour, and Brisbane does not disappoint.  The best thing about Brisbane is the attitude of the citizens.  No matter what happens, there is a real sense of "mateship" here.

Sunset in Port Douglas

Below the lighthouse in Byron Bay, NSW

 The time here has flown past and in some ways it still feels like we just got here.  Everything is still so new and we are constantly finding new things that are less than half an hour walk from our house.  We love learning Aussie sayings and have developed a true appreciation for what it must have taken to settle a country with such hostile weather (just the other day we heard on the news that the winter we have just had, with a wet cool beginning and a dry end, is prime "snake weather"!...how is that possible?).  On the other hand, we now feel like we truly belong here and we know when and how to queue for things, and when to just start making demands.  We love the food and wine appreciation here and the spirit that everything is worth celebrating.  We weren't sure what to expect when we got here, but we certainly have no regrets.  We don't know if we will stay here forever, but right now it is exactly where we want to be.  We will always be Canadians at heart, but it's nice to think that we have a little Aussie in our souls now.