Happy Halloween folks!

We went to a fabulous Halloween street party in Manly on Saturday. We hooked up with some friends and partied until late. The main street reminded me of a Hollywood Spaghetti Western film set. With live bands playing on various hotel and bar balconies overlooking the street. There were large 50's style American open topped cars with various ghouls and blow up ghost figures inside. Random arms and legs hung out from bonnets, you get the idea. And the street was full of performers on stilts in amazing costumes. There was a big stage at the bottom of the hill, with bands and various competitions. Children's rides and various stalls lined the street too. Most who attended the event made a great effort with their costumes and we all walked in a parade along the high street accompanied by the cars. Crowds lined the street clapping and taking photographs alongside TV cameras. The children thought this was fabulous. By the time we made it down to the bottom of the road and into the park, it became dark (6:00 p.m.) and were baking hot in our costumes, we bought flashy glow in the dark toys for all the children and then watched an animated version of Haunted House on a huge outdoor screen. We then had some food and finished the evening with a firework display. My little Red Devil, Green Goblin and baby Caspar fell asleep as soon as we returned to the car. The whole experience was surreal and really good fun. Amazingly Ryan was not fazed by sights of headless horsemen, Were-wolves, Frankenstein, bloodied Vampires and people with axes implanted into their heads.

As you know Olivia turned 4 on the 10th and we had a traditional Chissell style party for her on the Saturday. We invited the neighbours over with their children and some friends. Everyone got up for boogie to earn their goody bag treats including dancing the Time Warp and of course Thriller. As the evening progressed the lights came back on and turned into Karaoke Idol - by now the ice had truly melted and the amber nectar was flowing really well. I have some cracking video footage (hush hush). I am not sure the Aussies knew quite what had hit them, but they have all put their name down to attend a future house warming party. Thank you for the lovely cards and presents. Olivia is modelling some of her trendy gifts below.

My boogie baby!

My style queen!

Life is good for the three little Chissell's and they have taken to the aussie way of life really well. Conor was presented a 'Student of the week' certificate by the school principle recently and Olivia joined him for a sponsored walk fund raiser. It is a shame she is not allowed to begin school until January 2009, as she is desperate to attend now.

We will take possession (Ha ha) of our new house on Friday (09/11/2007). We kept most of our stuff in boxes from the original move over from blighty and the children are ecstatic they will be reunited with all their toys etc. Interest rates have gone up again in Oz (thanks to the USA economy bust) so we will be living on bread and water for a while (assuming there will be any bread as the drought has decimated the wheat crops over here)! That said, seafood prices are set to drop in time for Christmas, so may be it will be Prawns and water instead?

Well thats all for now folks, keep smiling, wrap up warm and watch out for your Christmas cards from down under!

Mrs C. :-) xxx

Images of Cleveland - yes the trees grow in the ocean here....

Cleveland Point, Raby Bay beach and the trendy Marina where all the yachts are kept.

Fun time in Wellington point, Caloundra and picnic time at Capalaba Park.

A common Chissell reaction to too much partying, playing on the beach and the aussie fresh air (and that is just the children)!

G'day folks, I hope you all had a great summer. Apologies for the delayed update to the blog, but we have been busy having fun and working hard too. The time just flys by over here so far. Since my last post we have experienced a number of 'First's' down under such as:

• We saw our first Koala bear in the wild, near our house.
• Attended a true aussie Barbie
• Attended an aussie birthday party
• Saw a Lunar eclipse from the lcoal beach
• Saw a baby Red Back Spider (deadly) in a jar, curtesy of a very kind neighbour to teach all of us what to look out for when out and about and in the garden.
• Attended Conor's first Sports day
• Had a pleasing meeting with Conor's teacher (Parents evening).
• Conor received a certificate of achievement presented to him by the school Principle - Student of the Week Award for Reading and Writing.
• Attended a family fun day organised by Phil's company which was really good.
• Conor has become a Joey with the Cleveland Scouts and had his first Camp Fire evening toasting marshmallows etc.
• Viewed the Brisbane River Festival Spectacular (think of aussie New Year and fireworks).
• Cannot remember if I mentioned previously Ryan had his first birthday over here.

I won't bore you with the rest, but you get the general idea. We are settling well so far and have been very busy house hunting this past two weeks. Of course we want it all, 4 bed low set with large garden (including Palm trees), pool and air conditioning (it is spring here and it has already hit the low 30's). However we have yet to find the perfect place for the right price.... The cost of housing has exploded over here and although there is no gazumping, good houses in popular areas are being snapped up very quickly. The new build houses over here are huge, but at the expense of a decent sized or infact any garden. We have had the odd visit from the eight legged locals, but nothing that has freaked me out too much (touch wood).

Well I can feel your eyes drooping already and so I will sign off now. Take everyone, best wishes to you and yours.

Love Mrs C xxx

P.s. The aussies apparently like Halloween too, so watch this space for some wacky pics.

G'day folks, I hope you are well.

Just a little note to confirm that we have arrived safe and sound. After a mad few last days in blighty, the Chissell family jetted out (how glamorous) to Singapore for a well earned rest. A big thank you must go Sheelagh and Alan for all their help and support during the final hectic days of the move. To mum for allowing us to invade her home and fussing over us. And last but not least to Gary and Sarah for driving us all down to Heathrow. Your kindness is truly appreciated and will never be forgotten. The family farewells were poignant, painful and tearful, but we recovered sufficiently to enjoy our time in Singapore.

It was fabulously hot and a must see on any travel plans. The children were very happy and coped with the long flight really well. You will see from the photos that we got caught in a monsoon whilst visiting the botanical gardens. The children were delighted as the rain was hot and therefore not uncomfortable. In fact they were disappointed when it stopped, but soon cheered up whenever they looked at mummy's hair as it changed from super smooth (according to the balm bottle) into a ball of frizz (of the finger in socket kind). The food was good and it was exciting to pick and choose a diverse range of food according to our mood each evening in various unique restaurants along the river bank. Singapore is like a (tasteful) fairy land at night and in consequence I filmed most of the holiday rather than photographed. I also imbibed the obligatory Singapore sling or three (hic hic) to cool me down whilst touring amazing sights such as the Raffles Hotel, China Town and Little India etc. The children were delighted to take a night time cruise on a 'Bum Boat' which was bedecked in beautiful Chinese lanterns and they chowed down on Singapore Noodles and Cuttle fish on Banana leaves (see pics.). One evening we met up with an old University friend of Phil's for dinner. The children really took a shine to Damian and the poor chap had hardly a chance to eat anything, the most of the evening with all the chatter.

On the 20th June we landed safely in Brisbane at 6 a.m. tired and eager to get to our new rental house. The area we are currently living in is called Thornlands (Bayside) and is 5 Min's from the ocean. We are currently rattling around in a large 5 bedroom low set (bungalow) with a decent garden for the children. The weather has been lovely and warm here and so we have been going to the beach whenever we can, including Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, both of which are about an hour away. That said, Conor and I prefer our local beach which is gentle and very safe (not so much surf). Conor started school on the 11/07/2007 as the schools here had been closed for a two weeks (winter half term) and so he was really chomping at the bit to get started. I think he looks cute in the uniform (shown above) and he looks like a real Aussie with his blonde hair and blue eyes. He seems really happy there and likes his new teacher. Our neighbours have been very kind and have loaned us some toys for the children to play with whilst our belongings still wend their way across the high seas. This and the fact that the children can see and speak to all the family via web cam has enabled everyone to come to terms with the move more easily. Thank goodness my husband works in the IT field.

Girls, the shopping in the city centre of Brisbane is fabulous and the Brisbane river is the perfect backdrop for coffee and a chin wag. I will post some pictures of Brissy in future postings.

But I will sign off now, as I can tell yours eyes are drooping already from reading my waffle. Take care and g'bye you bogan hoons!

Mrs C xxx

P.S. I hope the weather improves for you all.....

Just a little note to say "au revoir" to all our dear family and friends. Thank you for the great goodbye dinners and presents. Apologies to anyone we did not manage to see before we left, but our final days flew past far too quickly. All the best to everyone for the future and don't forget to keep in touch.

Mr & Mrs C xxx