Homeless no longer

5 months after our arrival in Sydney we have finally found a place to live. We're renting a lovely house in North Curl Curl (don't know where the name comes from - maybe just surfing related)- a great beach town North of Sydney (only a 10 minute commute for Michael to Manly).

The nice family who are egregiously charging us a small fortune for the use of their home are taking a one year "walk about" of Australia ( a common Aussie thing to do). While it would be nice to tour the county for a year the idea of living out of a Toyota Land Cruiser with a small trailer hitch and two young kids sounds like torture.

It was fun to live in Manly so close to all the shops, market, restaurants, beaches and library right out our door. But what a relief to be done with touring potential houses- we must have seen over 30. Plus it is nice to have all our stuff which had been held in storage. Our supply closest looks like be hijacked a Target truck ( I think we have enough deodorant for years- not like they don't see it here ;). Unpacking the playroom box was like Xmas all over again for Nate - I think he forgot some of his toys.

I think Sam is the happiest of all.... no longer living in an apartment he now has a backyard, several parks nearby and a pool. On the downside (for him) he has no become an outdoor dog...which is a lot easier to do here than in cold Seattle. We've all been enjoying the new backyard- Reese is in heaven having a swing set and Nate likes the trampoline. But the pool is the best feature for everyone. Nate is becoming part fish- often learning new pool tricks- he is very brave as long as his is wearing his mask. He can now swim across the pool without stopping and is working on improving his chicken like arm strokes.

We are all feeling settled in and pleased with our selection of house and neighborhood. All is good (utility hook up horror aside- worthy of a blog entry on it's own) except for the birds. While lovely to watch while eating dinner outside it quite annoying to be woken up at 6am to the sounds of parrot jungle. Some sound nice and chirpy while others sound like monkeys (one night at 2:00am I swear I thought Sam had killed a neighborhood cat but it was only a bird). It is living at the zoo. Michael might be driven to investigate owning a BB gun (highly unlikely to be found in this country). Maybe we'll get used to the sounds- I can only hope.

Now that we are settled in and have the guest room all ready our Inn is open for guests. Please come visit.

photos:

Who likes the pool more???