Shark Alert

Believe it or not we have been in Sydney for 6 months and until this weekend not ventured into the water at many of the amazing local beaches.

So I accepted an invite by some friends to go body boarding at 8:30am on Saturday. After accepting the invite I figured I better kit myself out with a body board which we did on Friday evening. I wasn't sure if spending money on something that I perhaps may not like was wise but decided to go for it and am now the owner of a bodyboard, flippers and billabong surf top!

After spending most of the night awake (our body clocks are still abit all over the place after our trip) I met the others down at Maroubra beach about 15 mins from home. Esther and I visited Maroubra not long after we first arrived, then there were very few people around. Arriving on Saturday morning it seemed a completely different place, at 8:30 the beach was busy and the water was full of surfers and body boarders.

After figuring out which way to put the flippers on and hearing a warning to "watch out for these jelly fish in the water they really sting if they get you" and a few jokes saying "sharks like welsh meat" I ventured in to what my friends called a "very small swell".

The first few attempts into the water saw me get smashed back onto the beach by waves bigger than I had confronted before! After a few more attempts I was over the breaking waves and floating with the others waiting for the next big wave to ride back in to the shore.

It wasn't long before a suitable wave came along, and I wish I could say that I was in complete control riding the wave. But I cant. I was just in the right place at the right point and the wave took hold of my board and away I went...it was fantastic.

From this point on, it was back to fighting the waves and getting smashed about before catching the next one.

I was not really looking forward to bodyboarding but I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next opportunity to get out into the sea.

Having said that.....

I was not impressed to come home and see the top story on the evening news: Sharks at Bondi!

Bondi is only a couple of beaches up from where we were bodyboarding that same morning! Don't worry mum, they tell me there is a very slim chance of being had by a shark (even being welsh!!)

Here's a link to the news story if you are interested. "Sharks force swimmers out of water at Bondi"

An Eventful Few Weeks

It has been an eventful few weeks! We seem to have done so much in such a short time. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip back to the UK after 6 months in Sydney. It was great to meet up with so many friends and family and be part of two great family events.

The Wedding

Our congratulations to Mr and Mrs Warman who were married on the 9th September. It was a wonderful day of celebration. Some snaps of the day are below. We wish you well in your journey together. It was great to see so many family in one weekend, with German relatives coming over for the wedding too. The cricket game was a bit confusing for the Germans - but lots of fun.

Manchester
A trip back to Manchester after a time away was very strange. We really enjoyed living and working there, it is a great city which has such variety and vibrancy about it.

We were finally able to meet Emily, the new addition to the McCulloch family. We were so caught up catching up on 6 months of different experiences we forgot to take some pictures! She's so beautiful. We will really miss seeing her grow in the first few years of her life - but J & JA's blog will be the next best thing!

We enjoyed meeting up with Geordan & Iulia in their new apartment and seeing Deirdre & Andrew on a flying visit to North Wales.

I visited my old school where I taught in Beswick. It was lovely to see all the kids again & catch up. They had lots of interesting questions about spiders, snakes, kangeroos & even box jellyfish!! Eifion took the opportunity to see some of his work colleagues as well as Eddie Wells to find out about his recent adventures!

North Wales & Dedication
After a flying visit over 2 days, we went on our way to Penycae, North Wales. We really enjoyed spending time with all of Eifion's family. Especially our new nephew! Only 3 weeks old! The whole family came together for a lovely dedication at the church, which we were so pleased to be a part of as Godparents. We look forward to seeing Evan when he's running around as a little toddler!

Although the trip back to the UK was short, we are so pleased to have spent time with our family and friends who we miss so much. I've now also stocked up on real Cadbury's - it tastes much better!!