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The past week we’ve spent sorting out various things and relaxing on the beach or lake.

Yesterday was very exciting when we went to the beach in the afternoon.  As we walked over the top of the sand dune next to Carol and Bob’s house, we noticed a pod of dolphins plaing in the surf.  Jack and Grace loved it, and were jumping around laughing as the dolphins swan down the waves and lept out of the top as the waves crashed.

The surf must have been good, as after school hours lots of kids turned up at the beach, surfboards in arms and had a great time till the sun went down.

Today we took our car off road, up to a look out near Forster.  It wasn’t very rugged but the car had no problems at all, great fun!!

David and Rachel have arranged for Blake to be christened next weekend and they’ve asked me to be his Godfather.  It is a great honour to be asked and I hope I will be able to perform my duties well.  It will be nice that we should be living so close to them in Newcastle.

Once we’d arrived in Sydney we had breakfast at Bob and Carol’s hotel and then drove up to the Central Coast.  Here we met up with Sarah’s grandmother (Muriel) and Ted and Lyn.  We had a leisurely lunch and then carried on up to Newcastle.  We’d decided to spend a couple of days in Newcastle so we didn’t have the long drive up to Forster and also so we could pick a hire car from there.  We stayed with Bob and Carol in a appartment right in the heart of Newcastle, it had a very impressive view looking out over the river to Stockton beach.

Friday we had a good rest and a walk around the beaches near Newcastle centre.  It was glorious weather and the sea was a beautifull colour.

On the Saturday Tony came up with Declan and Angus, unfortunatley Heather was sick so wasn’t able to make it.  We all had a picnic in a huge park near David and Rachel’s house, with some native animal enclosures.  This was fun for Jack and Grace as they could see some emus, koalas and kangaroos.

Rachel had also arranged for me to go to the Car Sales business she works at to look at some 4 wheel drives.  After taking one for a long test drive and then taking Sarah and the kids back to it after lunch, we bought it.  It is now being serviced and touched up and we should pick it up tomorrow when I drop the hire car off.

We came up to Forster on Saturday afternoon, and have slowly been trying to organise our life here.  Setting up bank accounts, arranging money transfers, getting car licenses and medical cards etc.  We’ve also been going to the beach which has been a lovely way to relax in the afternoon.

Tomorrow we’re due back in Newcastle.  I’m going to Onesteel in the morning for a medical and a look around.  While I’m doing this Sarah is going to some real estate agents to try and arrange some viewings for Saturday.  We hope to look at a number of different areas to see what you get for your money.  The in the afternoon we will drop the hire car off and pick up our new car and, probably take the long route home.

Getting from Kuala Lumpur to the airport was very stressfull, we thought we weren’t going to make it in time.  It takes about an hours drive from the city to the airport and we were picked up in plenty of time.  When the driver said we had to pick up 2 other people it wasn’t a problem until we got onto the road outside the hotel.  It was peak rush hour and everything was at a standstill.

We had to drive through the centre of the city at about walking pace or less and to top it all off when we got to both other hotels there was no-one to pick up.  An hour later we set off for the airport, pushing it for time but still OK.

Then we hit traffic on the motorway.  There had been an accident whcih held us right back.  Once past the accident the driver floored it.  He had his little mim-bus tearing past all the other cars.  Meanwhile both Sarah and I were trying to control our hearts and our stresslevels.  Jack and Grace were oblivious to it being fast asleep.

We arrived at the airport and hour before we were due to fly.  Sarah ran in with the tickets and the kids in the puchchair.  I followed behind with a very full trolley.  Once we got to check in, they didn’t care about the time, it seemed normal to them.  And they weren’t even worried about the amount of luggage.

From there we walked to the gate and had a little time to wait before we boarded.

Grace slept through most of this but we had to wake Jack up so he could go on his buggy board behind the pushchair.  Once he’d woken up and understood we were in a rush he was a superstar, he was very helpfull and didn’t slow us down at all.  He got an extra special hug once we were on the plane.

The flight itself was good.  Jack and Grace slept most of the way, and Sarah and I had some rest but were too excited to sleep.

It took a long time to get through quarantine in Sydney but once we were through it was down the ramp to a big welcoming party of Cranes.  Bob, Carol, David, Rachel and little Blake were there to meet us.

It’s now 7 am on our last day in Kuala Lumpur, and we’re off to the airport again this evening.  It shouldn’t take too long to pack today but we will still have the problem of checking in all our luggage, fingers crossed.  We fly at 10 pm and should arrive in Sydney after breakfast, where a welcoming committee should be waiting for us.

The past couple of days have been very busy.  On Monday we went to a water park, just a little out of the city.  This has numerous pools, slides and waves etc and was a really good way to wear the kids out.  We all had a great time in the water, and Jack and I went on a couple of big slides.  We were in the park from 11 in the morning till about 6 pm and then had some food in a shopping centre next to the water park.  Grace fell asleep during tea and Jack fell asleep in the taxi on the way home and neither woke till 7:30 the next morning!

Yesterday we went on a tour to Melacca, which was the old centre of Malaysia when it had been taken over by the French, Dutch, British, Japanese and then British again.  There were some really interesting old buildings, particularly in Chinatown.  But it was a long drive there, and we were expecting a little more.  However, it was still worth the trip. 

When we got back we had a swim in the pool and then headed out to Chinatown in KL.  This is where there are all the market stalls selling ripped off clothes and electronic goods.  We had some food here, and enjoyed just walking through the stalls watching everything going on.  Everyone is intrigued by Jack and Grace, Grace particulalry and many Malays want to take her photo or touch her hair.  It must be a bit off-putting for her, but generally she lets them.

Today we will relax, maybe a walk in the city and a swim in the pool.  We are being picked up at 6:30 to go to the airport.  The kids should sleep through the flight again, and hopefully Sarah and I will get a little as well, though we are very excited about arriving.

We’ve now been in Kuala Lumpur for 4 days and have been struggling to get over the jet lag.  The kids have gone to bed at a normal time tonight but we’ll wait to see what time they awake in the morning (they were up from 5 today).

 It was a smooth flight on Tuesday night from Heathrow, after manging to get all our excess bagage through without paying any extra.  Then with a wait and the drive to the hotel we weren’t here till 7ish.  But Jack and Grace had stripped off and were in the pool while I was still checking in.  It is a very nice hotel, and it is particularly good as we’ve got 2 rooms in our suite.

The first day we went to the Petronas Towers (tallest buildings in the world), played in a huge playgroung at the bottom, and went up to a glass bridge between the towers at 170m.  The view of the city was very impressive.  The next day we hired a guide to take us around the city, which was a very good way to see the main sights as it was a comfortable air-conditioned car.  We are using the same guide to take us to Malacca on Tuesday.

Yesterday we went around the Central Markets and Chinatown in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.  This is the main tourist area and there are a few temples and a lot of hawker stalls selling food and all sorts of fake goodies.

Today we’ve been to a Hindu temple inside a huge cave just outside the city.  I’d worked out how to get there on the metro and a bus, but the taxis are so cheap and easy that we just used one of these.

The food has been wonderfull.  We’ve been eating at the hotel most nights (room service after getting Jack and Grace to sleep) and also at food stalls out and about.  A lot of rice and noodles.

We’ve had to stay inside most afternoons as there have been torrential thuderstorms, but we hope it is easing off as we are going to a water park for the day tomorrow.  It has been very hot and humid the rest of the time and very sunny earlier in the day.

Now, we are being to get over our tiredness, we are looking forward to the next few days and then getting to Australia on Thursday morning.

It is now 7 am on our last day in England. We are now down to 5 suitcases (weighing far too much, but fingers crossed) which are already packed into the car. We will be driving down south after breakfast to spend the afternoon at Bekonscot Model Village before heading off to Heathrow.

Even though we are all excited about being on our way it has been very hard having to say good bye to everyone, especially the closest friends and family. It is much easier to keep in touch than it used to be, with emails, webcams, and inexpensive phone calls, and we hope that everyone does think of us occasionally and drop us a line.

We will also be making sure that when we finally buy a house, there will be enough room for visitors, so get saving.

Out last weekend in england was spent in the youth hostel in Sherwood Forest. We’d booked out the whole Youth Hostel so that a lot of our friends could join us to say goodbye. There were friends from Horbury, St. Albans and ex-Bradford plus all their families. 47 people in total for tea on Saturday night.

We had a really good time over the weekend, even though it rained most of Saturday. On the Saturday we went to Sherwood Pines Forest Park, where there are a lot of cycling and walking trails and some excellent playgrounds for the kids. After getting soaked in the rain, we returned to the Youth Hostel for lunch and an early birthday cake for Grace. The cake was an amazing looking princess.

After lunch we walked around Sherwood Forest and beside the ‘Major Oak’ there was a medieval camp set up. Here, enthusiasts were living as medievals for the weekend. No doudt to go back to their office jobs on Monday morning.

That evening the Youth hostel put on a big tea for us all and then the goodbyes started. It was difficult saying goodbye as we know it is going to be a long time until we see most people again.

The evening carried on into the night chatting and drinking, until the last people drifted to bed at about 1 am.

Sunday was beautifully sunny, so we returned to Sherwood Pines. Sarah, and I hired some bikes with trailers for Jack and Grace and went on a fairly short ride through the forest.

After a picnic lunch with everyone, more goodbyes were said, and then there was a quick drive back to York.