Last post of 2008

Hi folks,

Christmas has gone and New Year is approaching fast..... We cooked a goose again this year but unlike the fat juicy British kind which are reared for consumption the Australian version was reared for the Olympics.
Mom (Neubauer) is living it up in Singapore while the kids make more noise than my 100W(rms) stereo. Australia have fleeced me again by charging me regional "tax" for my motorcycle after I just paid national "tax" on arrival, and I thought we were taxed in old Blighty. (Death and Taxes an all that!)

It was also my birthday and if it were not for my birthday cake (see below) I would never have known I'm on the wrong side of 30.
It's time to chill for a few days before work starts in earnest and 2009 gives us our surprises.


Christmas tradition intact

Sorrento, the week before Christmas

It's that time again............ bloody Christmas, so good cheer and a ba-humbug to you all.

The one good thing is that everyone was so busy shopping, all the beaches, parking and restaurants were empty (PS nobody told the &%^%$ flies thou). The weather has finally cleared and it's been I nice crisp 30 with little more than a puff of cloud in the sky. (he says as he types in his air-conditioned lounge).

Looking forward to a few days off from the 24th to prepare for 2009 where they tell me we are going to have weeks of 40+.


Enjoying the sunshine

Martin turns one

How time flies..... it feels like yesterday that I held Martin for the first time at St Helier's hospital. The then 8 pound cutie is now a 25 pound mountain climbing, everything pulling trouble maker.

My mom fractured her arm so she was able to test the government hospital system for us and found it rather good, she even has a CD with all her x-rays on it. She is on the mend and is now only given light duties around the house. :-)

We are slowly starting to settle in and Christmas is closing fast.



Martin turns one in Melbourne

Australien -> ein monat auf

We have now been in Australia for a month and boy has it been cold. Saying that, it does warm up later in the day. We have had a few hot days in the 30’s (degrees C) where we went down to the beach to be set upon by flies, big fat squishy flies. A local came up to us sensing our displeasure, and handed over the fly-off spray, result. It was then off to T'Gallant for some wine tasting in the Mornington peninsula.

We have our rented house and our stuff should be arriving next week. (note: garden furniture makes a great lounge suite)
Seeing we have not really done much in the way of the "Australian lifestyle thing" I am hesitant to comment for fear of coming over negative so it’s best just to mention the good parts.

My job has me all over the show and Georgie is learning to love being a full time mum, NOT, so we are looking into childcare so she can go back to work in some capacity.

Me mum landed a couple of days ago and has been recruited as head kids-caretaker. (She is ageing before my eyes)

Chat before Christmas....


Our rented house and the kids playing

Karli turns 3........where does the time go?

Just another short post before real-life kicks in. It was Karli's Birthday yesterday and we had a double celebration. The 1st was at some new friends who we met "on a plane" and the 2nd at our serviced apartment in Sandringham (although we are still waiting for the servicing).

Fresh produce is fantastic and things actually last when you buy then and don't rot in a day.

Tomorrow we register for Medicare and get insurance for our new car we just bought.... lets hope it not a lemon and it lasts for a few years while we scrape together enough cash for a small hovel. (PS Dad, now is a good time to send $)


Birthday in reverse

We have arrived.................... or have we?

After dragging two kids, two car-seats and 7 bags halfway around the world we are finally here. I knocked up a short video of our visit today to Healesville Sanctuary and some beach time at the Sandbar near St Kilda.

I will post something a little more comprehensive once we are settled as all we are now trying to do is find a place to stay and a car to buy. (correction, we just bought a car) - Phew.... one down
(please email if you need contact information either for myself or Georgie)



One minute in Melbourne

1/2 way there

We have arrived in Singapore and are staying in the Crown Plaza which is just off T3. The kids are having a ball and Karli is always saying "adventure".



Fun in the sun

Karli and the big orange bucket

Here follows the last blog (for a while) from the UK..............

It's countdown to the big day, we're slowly getting things organised and other things cancelled. Movers are booked, flights are booked and all that's left is to pack our bags and we're off. Well, sort of. There's still so much to sort out and what are we going to do in the two weeks when we have no stuff....oh well, there's still the outdoors.....in this 'lovely' summer! Joking apart, it's going to be hard to leave the country that has given us so much and has been home for the last 11 years.

I guess this is just the obvious next steps in the life of the Neubauer family. Afterall, they do say you have to go backwards to go forwards!



Karli going into a spin

Tree house Birthday

Today we went to Fanny's Farm to have tea in her tree house. Being my Birthday I wanted to do something a little different and something the little ones would enjoy too. Karlie kept waiting to see Diego swing down from the tree and where was his sister Alycia? We had to tell him they'd gone on a rescue mission and we are using the 'rescue centre' while they are away. He was very excited, and more so when the mini marmite's came out. Marti had his milk and played with cars in the high chair and wasn't sure what the big tree in the middle of the room was doing there. After tea and croissants it was off to Wallington Farmer's market to get some yummy bacon and off home for lunch and a nap.



"Fanny's" tree house - Diego's lookout

Drusillas Park June 2008

While summer is in full swing (English style), the days are already drawing in. We went to Drusillas Park, in East Sussex on Saturday. The boys had a great time and this time, Mom and Martie got to take a ride on Thomas! Karlie especially liked the monkeys.....the 'farting' elephant and .....the chips! Thank goodness the weather held, even although it was a bit windy, at least we didn't have to pack the rain cover!

We went to the Croydon motor show on Sunday with Granddad to look at the new 2008 models. The Captiva really caught my eye. Once again, Karlie tucked into a vanilla soft-serve ice-cream, I think that's his favourite now. He had a great time hopping in and out of the cars and especially liked the beeeeg truck!



Having fun with Thomas (Hi-Def available on Vimeo)
Drusillas Park June 2008 from Karl on Vimeo.

Strawberry picking at Priory Farm

Father's Day today and what a relaxing morning we had at the Priory Farm in Nutfield, just south of the M25.
Karlie never really liked strawberries so we thought what a better way to get him into them than to pick them himself. He had a great time....and kept saying "Not the green ones!" He did pick a few, but we threw them back. After the picking, we had a spot of breakfast at the lovely outdoor cafe. Then we went to visit Granddad, we shared some of the strawberries and then it was off home for a long nap!



Relaxing Morning

Godstone Farm

Fun in the sun, in the best country in the world.

The weather was too good to pass up this morning so we all hopped in the car and headed to Godstone Farm...with a quick pit stop for breakfast at McD! The early bird truly does catch the worm as we were some of the first people there when it opened and had virtually the whole farm to ourselves. Karlie had a great time feeding the 'amies' (animals) even although he ends up throwing it at them rather than holding his hand out. There were lots of cute little piglets running around, but boy do they smell! Then it was time for an ice-cream, a Mr Men Vanilla one, to match Karlie's T-Shirt.......yummy! A quick snack of mushy sweet potato and squash for Marti and then it was off to play in the big sandpit.

We left at around 11:30 and the queue to get in was very long...at least a half hour wait...thanks Dad for getting my bum out of bed this morning:) We headed for Woodmansterne to a lovely outdoor pub where they play cricket just behind the hedges and the kids can run around on the grass outside. The food isn't that great, but the setting makes up for it.

For once the weather held out the whole day and it was still light at 9:30pm - what a lovely day!



Godstone farm

What happened to May?

May came and went rather quickly and all that we acheived was a new lawn. It looks good, but boy does it grow fast! Something else that grows fast are the little guys who are getting bigger by the day. Martin is nearly 10kgs and over 70cm tall and Karlie....well, he can talk for Britain and his favourite subjects are cars and chocolate!

It's golf time again

6:30am T-Off - Summer in England is truly special at Mitcham Golf Club.



Watch the arse in action

April showers? Nope..... SNOW

The weather looked good on Saturday morning so we decided to go to www.bockettsfarm.co.uk and have a wonder around and feed the animals. Karlie had a great time getting his hands slobbered on by sheep and goats and he was very adventurous trying out the trampoline and tall jungle gym. The weather started turning cold and grey so we headed indoors to warm up and get some food. What a great little tearoom, they had everything even Karlie's favourite, Marmite sandwiches! We headed back home and all was quiet in the car as the boys fell asleep.....ah peace:)

Later on Saturday afternoon it started hailing and we woke up on Sunday morning to a blanket of white snow, made us think we were in Vienna again!



Snow in April

Oh Vienna!!!

We've just arrived back from 4 days in Vienna where we went to Baptise Martin and visit the Austrian Family. Easter Sunday and the Baptism went smoothly, apart from having a broken video camera, the back-up having a flat battery and the back-up back-up having no memory card...but we still managed to take some footage in the end...phew!

We had a great time visiting the family at the 'range' and we got thoroughly spoilt by Christine, Michi and Tante Eva. And there was no stopping Karlie as he tucked into Uncle Gerhard's lunch...."more pork please"!

It was hell at the airport with two kids but Karlie enjoyed himself pulling his Thomas suitcase everywhere and in the plane chatting to all the people....he's a real charmer! Martie was an angel on the plane and slept for most of the way, there and back. What else can we say but......travelling with 2 kids is a nightmare, especially when the facilites are lacking.....thank goodness we live in the first world here in the UK!



Martin's Baptism

Time waits for no man

It's March, BONUS time :), and time to pay off those pesky credit cards. Martin is a few days away from being 4 months old.... weighing in at nearly 8kg while the other monster is a towering 1Meter as he reaches two and a half year milestone. Where does the time go?

Boys having fun and showing off