A New Year, and a new experience in Australia for Summer and Mia, John and Emily – arriving in Sydney on a ‘catastrophic fire-risk’ day, and a day when Penrith in Sydney was the hottest place on earth. Naturally, a trip to the beach on Day 1 was the best way to cool down, and the waves on Wollongong beach put everyone through their paces. The next day, however, there was a cool change (you see, I am learning the Australian weather lingo!), and John, Summer and Mia body-boarded while Emily, Grandad and I sat on the beach feeling a tad chilly – in a very English way!
Since then, we have had fish and chips by the sea at Kiama; and visited Sydney for the day. I have also had my very first (very good) barbecued breakfast!
And some really good news: we had a jolly good period of rain the day before yesterday which has helped enormously with the bushfires. It is not enough to put them out, as they are so vast that this will require sustained rain, but they definitely stop the spread. How very un-English to be cheering the arrival of rain!
Nana Down Under 