Settling In

Well, we got the journey here out of the way. The kids did great - I'm really proud of them.

Our hosts are Malcolm and Cheryl Potts, and their daughters Elle (16), Georgia (14) and Clare (12), and their Corgi/Jack Russell-cross Cooter. We're sleeping in their caravan initially - which is much more comfortable than that might sound. We stayed up until the evening last night, to get into the time-zone, but headed to bed relatively early and didn't surface until about 10:00 am. Jet-lag is supposed to be worse travelling west-to-east: I think we're all feeling fine right now, but we'll see how the kid's sleeping pattern pans out over the next few nights...

This afternoon we've been for a wander, to start finding our bearings. First, the local shops, a five-minute walk in one direction; then the beach, a five-minute walk in the other direction. The tide was just heading out, and the surf was looking pretty good (from my totally uneducated perspective); it's a pretty beach (though the promotional photos we'd come across on the internet are taken from angles carefully chosen so as to avoid the back-drop of cranes in the distance, and the freighters sailing in and out of Freemantle). Susie didn't want to go to the beach...but when it was time to go, she didn't want to leave...

So far, so good! It seems a pleasant place to be based, and we're enjoying the brightly-coloured plants and birds; simple things like going to the shops count for an adventure; and our hosts are lovely. But it feels like we've been in limbo for a while now, so our plan is to get into a rhythm straight away - we'll take some time-out while we're here, but not right at the start - so the week has some structure to it. There's a playgroup at the church (right next door) on Tuesdays and Thursdays; so, the first piece of structure starts tomorrow!