Don't Mind if I Doo

 

Doo Town is a quirky little place on the Tasman Peninsula.  The story goes that back in the 1930s, an early resident of Doo Town placed a name plate reading "Doo I" on his weekend cottage.  He started a trend, and creative townspeople have been naming their cottages ever since.

Here's a pictorial tour of Doo Town's clever cottages.

One of my favourites:

What doo you think?




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Unraveling a Life

Tasmanian Sunrise

Our time left here in Australia can now be measured in weeks instead of months.  We'll be gone before the eggs in my refrigerator expire.  It's surreal to think that I  have to begin to unravel the life I've spent the past 2 years creating.

Squeeze in a couple last trips.

Sort through our belongings and decide what to take, what to sell, what to toss.  

Close out our accounts and memberships.  

Say good-bye to all the people we've come to love here. 

Even the kids are starting to feel the tension of being torn between two lives on two continents.  Someone once said that beginnings are always scary, endings are always sad, but it's what's in between that counts.

I just wish the in between could last a little longer.

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Scenic Tasmania

For our final Aussie holiday we headed down to Tasmania and spent some time exploring the Tasman peninsula and the capital city of Hobart.  Tassie has a reputation for being the most natural state in Australia.  It's rugged coastline and convict past didn't disappoint.  Tasmania was gorgeous (But really, isn't all of Australia?  Like this, this and this).

Tourists are discouraged from driving after dark in Tasmania.  It didn't take long to see why. At least 4 dead wombats lined the Arthur highway on the drive from Hobart to Port Arthur.  So much marsupial carnage was difficult to see.  Luckily the kiddos were too busy poking each other in the backseat to notice the roadkill wonderland.

Our first stop was Port Arthur, the site of the convict settlement in the 1800s.  The landscape was beautiful, and the ruins were interesting.  When you see the historic site you just can't help but think about how miserable it must have been to be a convict at Port Arthur.  It was freezing, the wind was whipping and the rain pelted us.  I just kept thinking about how lucky the Sydney convicts were by comparison.

We spent the night in Port Arthur at the Stewarts bay Lodge.  I highly recommend the deluxe cabins there.  The setting and the views were so beautiful.  The cabins were modern and clean and spacious.  And dinner at their Taylors restaurant was the best meal we had in Tassie (Ok- it was the only decent meal we had in Tassie).   I wish we could have stayed more than one night!

After Port Arthur we did some exploring on the Tasman Peninsula.  The coastline is breathtaking.  We visited Devil's Kitchen, The Blowhole, Tesselated Pavement and the Tasman Arch.

We drove through Doo Town (which was so amusing it deserves its own post) and spent the night in a guest bungalow in Marion Bay.  The bungalow had a wall of glass looking out on the gorgeous Tasmanian coast.  It was so picturesque.  Freezing cold and pouring rain, but still picturesque!

Day three brought us to Hobart and the famous Salamanca Markets.  We handed each kid a $20 bill and set the free to shop for souvenirs.  The market was huge, with stalls hawking everything from gorgeous handmade Tassie wood products to cheap "made in China" plastic trucks and fresh produce.  Wanna guess what the little buddy bought?

 

That night our family had a private night tour at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.  We were the only people in the park, with a private guide who took us inside the enclosures.  Nothing quite like tossing a chunk of opossum leg to a hungry Tassie Devil. 

 We also fed this frogmouth and the little potoroos.

 

We all enjoyed getting up close with the animals at the sanctuary.  Although I did freak out a bit when a sugar glider plopped down on the face of my sleeping baby.  That was a little too close for comfort for me!

On our final day in Tasmania we headed up to the top of Mt Wellington where we found SNOW!  We were completely ill prepared but the kids didn't care.  They reveled in throwing snowballs at each other and the Little Princess (the only one with gloves!)  insisted on building a snowman while the rest on the family retreated to the warmth of the car. 

After all that snow play we stopped by the Cascade Brewery.

And then made our way to the MONA.

 

 There were some really cool things at the MONA, like the full size mack truck in a corridor, and the wall of paper panels seen above.  The kids loved the light bulbs that flicker in time with your heartbeat and the architecture of the building with its massive sandstone wall is impressive.  But there were also some really disturbing things at the MONA.  And much of the content is totally inappropriate for kids.  A staff member was stationed outside the most objectionable exhibits so they were easy to avoid.  But when we got out of the lift on level 2 and found ourselves staring at a wall of plaster cast vaginas we realized the MONA might not be the best place for our inquisitive little children.   So we quickly headed back outside to the expansive grounds and watched them run around with these giant bean bags.  (Which I think are intended to be used by adults as they relax and sip wine).

We loved Tasmania.  Even with the road kill, the freezing rain, the creepy art and the lack of decent dining options, it was an amazing holiday.   It was rural and green and rugged and simply stunning.  Tasmania really is like no place else on earth- and I'm so glad I got to see it.

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On Becoming a Serial Expat

That's right- we're gonna do it again.  When we leave Australia in July we won't be moving back home to California.

We're going to London!

Source: weheartit.com via Savannah on Pinterest

We've been given a second once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I can't wait to embark on this new adventure.

But don't worry Mom, after this one we're definitely coming home (I think).

Tasmania- Autumn Way Down Under

In case you were wondering what the weather is like in Tassie in Autumn, here's a little video from our recent holiday.

To be fair, this was taken at the top of Mt. Wellington.  But trust me, it was cold everywhere!

More holiday highlights coming soon.

Isn't That Special?

Some sweet anonymous person out there in the blog-o-sphere nominated Yellow Brick Road for this Circle of Moms expat blog award.

Circle of Moms Top 25 Expat Moms

See that button up there?  I'm posting this so my mom can click on it and vote for my blog.  Then I will have 2 votes.  Two votes is a lot better than one.  And if any of you other gentle readers are so inclined, feel free to click and vote.

Ta.  (That's "Thank you very much" in Australian).

So You're Thinking of Moving to Australia . . .

Maybe you've stumbled upon this blog because you are considering a move to Australia.  It's a big decision- leaving everything you know behind and heading to the other side of the world.

When the opportunity was first presented to us we weren't at all sure we wanted to do it.  But now, after 2 years in this lucky country I can say that coming here was one of the best decisions we've ever made.

This is a personal blog.  It's a recount of our time here and most of it is probably only interesting to my family and friends.  But, over the past 2 years I have met a surprising number of people who "found" me through this blog.  They are just like me:  typical American moms moving to Sydney for a few years.  And some things are universal for us expats.  We all have worries and questions.  We're all concerned about driving on the "wrong" side of the road and we're all baffled by the strange flavored potato chips (as evidenced here, here, and here).  We're all experiencing the same things and most of us spent the months leading up to the big move stalking expat bloggers trying to get as much info as possible about what might lie ahead.

So, in the interest of paying it forward, here are my top 10 tips to help others who may be looking into an expat assignment in Australia.

1.  Get a good relocation agent to help you.  We used Nuss Relocations and the service was very thorough.  Our agent set up over 20 property viewings for us, drove us all around the city, showed us schools, rental furniture warehouses, local amenities, and gave us references for doctors and other local service providers.  Be aware that rental property prices are quoted per week.  There are heaps of expats living on Sydney's lower North Shore (Mosman).  If you end up in this suburb, email me and I'll hook you up!

2.  Set up a Vonage account and bring the box with you.  You can actually use your current US phone number.  When you hook your Vonage box up here, anyone in the US can pick up the phone, dial your old number and it will ring at your new place in Australia.  Keeping in touch with friends and family is tough and believe me, people will be even less likely to call you if they have to deal with placing an international call.  It is also really handy to have a US phone number for all sorts of things.  And when you go home for visits you can just take the box with you and have a working phone again.

3.  Buy an Apple TV or a Slingbox.  Australian TV is pitiful-  unless you like watching 3 hours of Two and a Half Men every day.  Do yourself a favor and find a way to get your American TV fix.  And while you are at it, make sure you keep your iTunes account registered as a US account.  If you switch to an Aussie account you will only have access to content released here.

4.  Bring your kindle.  Books are crazy expensive here (I'm talking $40 for a paperback!).  See #3 about keeping your amazon account registered in the US.

5.  Get a set of these Sydney (or whatever city you're moving to) City Walk cards. These have been a wonderful resource for us and have helped us explore this beautiful city.  Strangely enough, they are very hard to find here.

6.  Spend some time on Yanks Down Under.  This forum is full of helpful American expats who are great at answering questions and giving advice.

7.  If you've got preschoolers, get your name on the waiting lists ASAP.  There are 2 basic options for the 2-5 year old crowd:  Preschool and Long Day Care.  "Preschool" means school hours (usually 9:00-3:00).  There is no such thing as half day preschool.  Long Day care is like preschool but with extended hours.  Long day care is typically more expensive than preschool ($100/day or more) and you do not get weeks off for the school holidays.   Many long day care centres run a preschool-like program.  Most traditional "Preschools" have waiting lists that can be 2+ years long.

8. Start a T-Shirt collection.  Get t-shirts from all the interesting places you visit while you're an expat and from all the activities your kids are involved in abroad.  Then, when you leave, have them made into one of these super cool T-Shirt quilts.  Great way to remember your time as an expat!  (Wish I would have thought of this at the beginning of our stay).

9.  Check out Gumtree.  It's like the Aussie version of Craigslist.  I've used it to find everything from a nanny to a piano.  Gumtree is a great resource.

10.  Just do it.  "Home" will always be there, waiting for you.  Take a chance, expand your horizons.  I'm so glad we did.

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