A Pom returns: the reality of life after Australia

This is a one blog I’ve been meaning to write since we packed up our thongs, Aussie born pooch and 20 foot container of ‘stuff’ and waved one last goodbye to Down Under. I always meant to give an update on Life After Perth, but to make certain my rose-tinted ‘happy to be home’ goggles were now a more realistic hue of clear, and to ward off all accusations of still being drunk on rolling green hills and Tesco prices, I thought I’d give it a respectable 6 months before giving a verdict.

Is the use of a forward facing pram really child abuse?

Professor Cathrine Folwer, a health expert in Australia, seems to be claiming that millions of parents around the world, myself included, are guilty of abusing their babies and small children. As I look across the table at my happy, well-adjusted, healthy son eating his home cooked lunch it’s hard to spot any signs of this harm I’m supposed to have inflicted on him from birth, but apparently I have.

Diary of a Pom in Western Australia

August 31 – Just got transferred with work from Leeds UK to our new home in Karratha, Western Australia. Now this is a town that knows how to live!
Beautiful, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was beautiful. I’ve finally found my new home. I love it here.

Why we moan and what we love

Some things are just so ingrained into the British way of doing things it really wouldn’t be stretching any sort of imagination to think they’re actually part of our DNA.

When a spoodle meets snow

Charlie has had quite a few life adjustments to make this year, what with having to pack up with bed and his bone and move house, country and hemisphere.

Come fly those pricey skies

Strange question perhaps, but have you ever wondered what a cup of wee goes for on the open market? Or, to put it another way, exactly what the cost of urine is per fl oz?

Peace, quiet and fishy friends

Of all the places that I’ve sat to write a post, I have to admit that this one sure beats my sofa. Not in levels of comfort perhaps, but definitely when it comes to the view. Today I’m stretched out on the boardwalk at Manley wharf watching the ferries arrive and the sea gulls bobbing around on the water as they wait for someone to drop their chips.

Ready. Steady. Pack

So why, when I’m fully aware that the combination of packing boxes, shipping companies and small children make for newly formed wrinkled, do I keep on getting itchy feet?

What every teacher would love to say

Now for all those parents, pupils (past and present) and frustrated teachers out there, here’s a school answering machine message to really make you laugh.

Going to hell in a breadbasket

Who doesn’t love to eat out. The joy of someone else having to decide what to cook and clearing up the mess at the end of the meal. The perfect chance to order something that you wouldn’t normally eat – dishes you don’t have a clue how to cook and ingredients you wouldn’t even recognise in the supermarket. A valid reason to eat off a table instead of a tray, and the opportunity to actually hold a conversation, instead of woofing down your food in front of the TV.