G'Day, Mate!

Dear Family and Friends,

We are excited to announce…...

WE LIVE HERE!!!

This was a process full of ups and downs, with major hurdles and hoops to jump through.  I’m pretty amazed that we accomplished most of the process while living in Barrow, Alaska.  Jose and I somehow kept our focus, and our persistence paid off in a big way J

Now that we are here, life couldn’t be sweeter.  

The 4 weeks leading up to our departure began with arriving in Las Vegas at my mom’s house after a month of traveling and visiting friends and family.  At this point, we were awaiting word on our visas.  All of the paperwork had been filed on July 3^rd, so we knew we should hear back soon.  Sure enough, 4 days of waiting gave us the good news – our visas were issued, and we could then book our flights! 

We decided to fly Air New Zealand.  (it was a lot cheaper than Qantas and they offer a skycouch for a reasonable price so you can lay down.)   Check out the video here:  air new zealand skycouch

Who doesn’t want to fly through New Zealand?!

We left Vegas on an afternoon flight with six 50lbs suitcases, 1 rolling carry on and 2 backpacks.  Oh, and a stroller and car seat!  Whew! 

Once we landed in LAX, we had to switch terminals WITH ALL OF OUR LUGGAGE.  Can I just give a shout out to my hubs for his genius work at loading a luggage cart and stroller up with all that crap?  Amaury enjoyed being carried on his dad’s back, because the stroller was occupied.  It was actually pretty easy to make this transfer, and I was very grateful for that!

One annoying thing about Air New Zealand (and maybe other airlines do this too) is that they weigh your carry on.  We had a zillion toys and activities for Amaury along with a change of clothes and important documents in our checked bag.  We were about – oh- 13lbs over the limit!  Oops!  With a little shifting from suitcase to suitcase, we managed get everything packed away. 

Now the luggage is checked in all the way to Adelaide!  And we have about 6 hours to kill……I’ll spare the boring details, but it involved about 1000 laps around the terminal. 

Jose trying to keep little A calm at 10pm

Exploring his own wallet

The skycouch was awesome.  If you ever fly down here and can spare the extra cash, it’s well worth it.  You purchase 3 seats and you pull the footrest up to make a bed.  Amaury and I were able to comfortably lay down and sleep for about 6 hours.  He may have even slept longer! 

We landed in Auckland and dawn, then went through a security line for international transfers and quickly caught our flight to Adelaide.  It was pretty easy. 

The flight to Adelaide was not full, so we managed to switch seats and have a row of 3 to ourselves.  Amaury fell asleep before takeoff and slept most of the flight!

Just waking up!

Good Morning, Auckland! 

We landed in beautiful Adelaide at around 10:30am.  Of course we were almost the last ones off the plane.  Then our stroller didn’t make it from Auckland to Adelaide and had to give our info to the baggage guy (we were the last ones in the baggage area), then we got questioned at customs because we had a few items that were in question (our sandwiches we made in Vegas didn’t clear customs.  They didn’t want our turkey coming into Australia).  And we were the last ones to clear customs.  We were sure Nicola (Jose’s recruiter) and Jill (the clinic manager in Murray Bridge) were beginning to wonder if we actually made it to Australia!  Luckily, they patiently waited for us on the other side!   Smiles and hugs and sighs of relief all around!

Landing in Adelaide, South Australia!

Stretching our legs in between paperwork at RDWA

 Our first 4 days in Australia were spent in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.  I was pleasantly surprised at how cool Adelaide is!  There are about 3-4 coffee shops to every block, fresh local produce, shopping, gardens, museums, theater, music hustle and bustle of a city without the annoying traffic.  I am excited there are a plethora of ethnic restaurants available here too.  This city has everything!

We learned how to order our coffee here too.  Jose drinks a short black and I drink a flat white.  Amaury drinks a baby cino.  It’s a little espresso cup of frothed milk with chocolate sprinkled on the top.  He goes CRAZY for it!  I had no idea Australians were serious about coffee.  We are going to love it here.

The Botanic Garden

More of the Botanic Garden

One of our favorite places to explore was the Central Market.  Fresh.  We stocked up on fruits, vegetables, spices, meats, coffee and eggs.  I was in heaven!

We left Adelaide on Friday afternoon to move to our new hometown of Murray Bridge.  It’s about an hour drive through beautiful rolling hills.  No kangaroo or koala sightings L but the birds here are incredible!  We’ve even heard a kookaburra laugh a few times! 

Our home for the first 2 weeks, the Rainforest Retreat, Murray Bridge

Outside our room at the Rainforest Retreat

Our delicious breakfast

Jose's first day of work in Australia! 

Jose is working in a smaller clinic the first week to learn the Australia medical system.  I will take my time re-learning how to drive on the left.  Amaury and I have some big plans to meet new friends. 

We have been welcomed very warmly by the doctors and families in the practice.  We’ve enjoyed lunches, dinners and coffee with many people so far.  It is a huge sigh of relief to think all the stress of getting here is in the past, and we can focus on starting our life in South Australia.  The fun begins now to acquire new cell phones, find a house, and purchase a car so we can take weekend drives to Adelaide, the beach or the Barossa wine region.  I’ve heard people say a few times that South Australia is the best kept secret.  I believe they are right!