Being unorganised early-20′s, we went Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. It adds a little excitement, and it’s pretty cool seeing everyone in a festive mood, even if it was 32ºC and very sunny.

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To sum up our first Christmas in Australia in one word is hard. Words that spring to mind are:

• Weird
• Different
• Hot
• Sunny
• Awesome
• Fun

If we had to sum it up in one word we’d probably choose the word “different”. The weirdest thing about it all was spending the day just us two, away from all of our family. It was also stormy for the majority of the day (something that doesn’t often happen in the UK). We didn’t have hailstorms in our area, but just a few KM’s away there were cars with shattered and smashed windscreens because the hailstones are so big and fall so fast! We woke up and after tearing open our super cool gifts and then spoke to Callum’s family and took them for a walk to the beach on Skype (the technology of Skype and 3G internet still amazes us). The beach was starting to fill up despite the not so great weather, and people sticking the BBQ’s on at 10am.

After coming home and chilling for a bit, we ate far too much Christmas Lunch and fell asleep for 3 hours. After waking, it was time to talk to Alex’s family… and then back to bed again. This is definitely one of the most relaxing and laid back Christmas Days we’ve ever had!

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The few days after Christmas were pretty sunny days, so lots of lounging around on the beach and walking were on the agenda. Unfortunately Alex got extremely burnt from being out for just one hour (even though she had sunscreen on – clearly not enough!). It just goes to show how strong the sun is and how high the UV levels are in the Southern Hemisphere! Alex was in agony for a few days, but thanks to 10 bucks worth of aloe vera spray and gel was soon on the road to recovery for New Years Eve!

NYE was spent at our good friend Zane’s house. We were super lucky and reached temperatures of 33ºC on New Years Eve so spent the day sitting beside the pool with beer and dubstep tunes. Fireworks are illegal here in Australia (mainly because of the risk of fire) so we made do with sparklers and party poppers when the clock hit midnight!

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The 1st of January 2012 was somewhat similar to NYE – because we were drinking all day, we paced the booze out and none of us were hungover. It hit 35ºC (which was the hottest we had experienced to that date) so once again the pool was swam in, more beer was consumed and more music was played!

It’s now the 2nd of January. At 6:33am it was 18ºC. At 08:27am it was 27ºC. It hit 40.3ºC today in Mordialloc. Hot, eh? It’s currently 34ºC and it’s 9pm at night. Here’s a picture of the sunset from our balcony…

A huge happy new year to all of our friends and family!

We went to Sydney this week for a short break with Zane and Rachel. We stayed in a nice old little apartment (although very basic!) a few minutes from Bondi Beach, a great little surfer town with some fun little shops, bars and places to eat. It was great to wake up to see people out enjoying the surf, no matter what the weather!

We spent most nights chilling in the apartment with a few beers, mainly because it rained all week… non-stop! We didn’t let this ruin our fun though! The main reason we went to Sydney was for the Harry Potter Exhibition which was only shown in Sydney and New York. Unfortunately photos weren’t allowed in the exhibition so we haven’t got much to show for that!

We had lunch on the grass (one of the few times it wasn’t raining!) after an exciting ride on a jet boat (so we were pretty wet at this point in time). We were surrounded by seagulls whilst eating. This one flew in front of the camera whilst taking a photo!

A mix of didgeridoo and drum and bass… pretty interesting!

Alex putting her make up on in our apartment…

…just after Callum went to grab a coffee from Harrys Espresso Bar, an awesome coffee bar just across the street from our apartment. The best coffee ever. Callum got one every morning!

The Chinese Gardens in Sydney, super relaxing place!

Zane posing.

Alex making friends with the fish!

The not so white Sydney Opera House.

The Opera House and Harbour Bridge, shot from the Ferry we caught when heading over to Taronga Zoo.

Callum in front of the Harbour Bridge.

We went to Taronga Zoo, which was super awesome until it pissed it down and we had to leave early! As per usual, Callum took a picture of a bird…

We watched a Seal show and were amazed at just how much you could teach a Seal!

And finally the big cats… They also had Tiger Cubs, incredibly cute and incredibly fidgety, so no photos of those!

We had an awesome time in Sydney but one thing we did come to realise is we’re glad we moved to Melbourne and not Sydney. Although Sydney is great for a holiday, it’s no where near as relaxed and chilled out as most other places in Australia and is just another city once you see all the sights. Bondi Beach is an awesome place and somewhere we could both see ourselves living (mainly because the beach is a fair bit nicer than ours here in Mordi), but the CBD compared to Melbourne was pure mayhem!

It was one year ago today that we met. It feels like yesterday we met for the very first time, but at the same time it feels like we have been together for a great deal longer than a year. This is not because we’re bored, instead it is because we have achieved so much! In just one year we have spent time in London, Manchester, Paris, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Robe, and of course Melbourne, which is where we’re now living. That’s certainly more than the amount of cities an “average” person visits per year! The year has been incredible.

We spent our first anniversary at Melbourne Aquarium, had a nice meal and then went for some yummy beers at Beer Deluxe!