6 weeks in....

It has been 6 weeks today since we arrived in Sydney and time seems to be flying by. I have to say that I am really enjoying life here so far. (no that does not mean we will never move back!) I (we) feel far more relaxed and 'alive' than we have been for sometime.

Australians love sport. I had been told to expect this but have been surprised how much they love sport! On the weekend everyone runs or speed walks or cycles. Yesterday, as usual, I was awake early and decided to go cycling....I guess a bit of the motivation for this was that I knew that lots of other 'early birds' would also be cycling in centennial park, which is 10 mins from us. I guess this is one example of how the Australian lifestyle infects you! Centennial park is an incredible place which sees a constant stream of sporting activities on the weekends. I arrived at 7:30am to find it was already buzzing with boxing and fitness classes out on the grass, cyclists, bladers, hockey, football (all types). It really is a great place, which we plan to use often.

Today we met up with Melinda and her husband Jim. Melinda spent some time in Watford a few years ago and it was good to catch up. We took a ferry over to Watsons Bay and had take out fish and chips in true British style sitting by the beach wrapped up against the cold wind. They live out in Cambelltown (1 hour away) and we are hoping to go to visit soon.

Work is going well and I have started some interesting projects in the past couple of weeks. I made a trip up to Brisbane recently to make a presentation and meet some colleagues I will be working with. The office environment is good...in some respects it is very different to what I am used to. The company provides small perks such as fresh fruit each day, massages, Friday drinks in the office 'hub'. They also arrange quite a few office socials.

We have been flicking between a couple of churches since we arrived, each on opposite sides of the spectrum! Hillsong is interesting! I say that because it is very different to churches I have attended. I have been to large churches before but not on this scale! Across the two Sydney campuses’ they have 19,000 people attending each weekend and they have just announced that they have bought a huge amount of land in the centre of Sydney including a tower for children and youth work! Although it is a large church we felt welcomed and met a few people in the queue to get in!

We have also been going along to 'The Church in the Market Place' in Bondi Junction. They have made us feel very welcome and we accepted an offer of brunch last weekend, which gave us the chance to meet some friendly people, including someone, who is on a year out, from Heaton Moor! Its a very small world.

Some things don’t change...need to iron shirts for the week!