Our First Impressions

We have been in Australia for almost a month, and we have finally gathered our “first impressions”. Enjoy the video and more news to come! We will move into our first long-term rental on Tuesday (Feb 10th), and hope to give everyone a view of our daily lives once we are finally settled.

We love and miss y’all!!

This is not easy

Good Morning from Oz,

I know we have been very slow to make updates, and I appreciate everyone who has been checking in and encouraging us to share what’s going on.

I did not expect to move across the world to be easy, but I don’t think there was any way to fully prepare for how much there is to learn about a new city in a new country. I’m learning how much common knowledge I have taken for granted from living in one country and one state my whole life. I’m so glad we gave ourselves a month to get familiar, but it is not enough.

We have made great progress on our hunt for a long-term rental. We narrowed all of the suburbs down to one ideal location: Cronulla!

Cronulla has it all

• Train access for easy transportation

• Good government schools for the kids

• A walkable village with shops and restaurants

• Proximity to dozens of beaches

• Very family-friendly

The trade-off for all of these wonderful things is an hour train ride for me to get to school. I am actually looking forward to an hour on the train for studying, reading, blogging, etc.

Finding Cronulla was pretty random, actually. While eating at a restaurant by our Airbnb in Erskineville, our waitress asked us where we were from and what we were doing in Sydney. She said Cronulla was where she grew up, and she thinks it’s the best-kept secret in Sydney. She went above and beyond and even wrote out a list of places for us to check out and some of the biggest attractions in Cronulla.

We took the train out to Cronulla the very next day and fell in love! It has been a huge relief to narrow our rental search to one area. We have had a tough time finding a suitable place, and are still on the hunt, but there are a few apartments that came about just this last week that we are feeling very optimistic about. Please send all the warm wishes, good vibes, and prayers our way so we can get into a home and finally settle in.

We have been living the nomadic life for 45 days, and we’re all getting pretty tired of living out of suitcases.

We are currently renting a second Airbnb in the Cronulla area until Feb 10th, and the kids start school, as early as Feb 2nd (if we can get them fully enrolled and a set of second-hand uniforms).

Cronulla South Primary School

We toured the school on Wednesday, January 28th. The principal and assistant principal personally met with us and gave us a tour of the campus. They were warm, inviting, and made a point to engage each of the kids individually. There are ocean views from all around the school, and the assistant principal made a point to show the kids where to stand in the winter to get the best view of the whales and dolphins.

There were campus gardens, numerous outdoor areas, and Ellie’s age group will have surfing and ocean safety classes in school! I think it will be a wonderful experience for the kids, and we are all looking forward to meeting new people and getting more acquainted with the Cronulla community.

Love Y’all!

Our first video - Move out day

Thank you!

Thank you to those who helped us move out of our house.

Thank you to those who continue to look after the house after we officially left.

Thank you to those who let us stay with them while traveling across Texas.

Thank you to those who have been excitedly asking for updates and keeping us motivated.

We love you, we miss you, and we appreciate you!!

Oops…We’re not quite ready

I love your enthusiasm! Updating this portion of the website is still a few steps down on our endless to do list but I’m so happy to see you poking around!