I may be a bit ahead of myself. But where are we going to live??? I have my list of a) “must-haves”; b) my “would be nice to have’s” and c) my “if we can have’s”. Now I just have to put them in the right order, maybe invoke a rating system, perhaps points, ask for input etc etc…. Dave? Michelle? you probably have a mathematical formula that spits out a solution… don’t you?

So far, the list includes:

– must be able to walk to the beach
– must have a farmers market nearby
– must have good public transport links to city and Woolamaloo (Garden Island)
– must have a funky/cool cafe nearby, that makes excellent coffee
– must have restaurants (good ones) within staggering distance
– must have outside living areas, including grass and a space for a bbq
– must have 2 bedrooms
– must have lots of light
– must have an alternative cinema nearby or on a direct bus route away
– must be on the top floor (if apartment)
– must be big & stylish
– must be affordable.

If you hear of anything, if you have any suggestions, if you have any input whatsoever.. we’d be very interested.

There are not too many disadvantages to having english as your preferred language to read in. In fact it’s never occurred to me before that it is a disadvantage, but the moons have aligned and I’m sitting here with my mouth hanging open trying to digest this new development.

You see, despite the Millennium Series having been published and released and readily available for some time in French, the english versions are lagging behind. I’ve spent the last 3 nights reading ’till the earliest hours in the morning Vol. 1 & 2, I just closed the last page, which ends in a cliffhanger, I’ve done a frantic search on Amazon’s around the world and I’m rope able. It appears that the english version of Vol 3. The Girl who kicked the hornets nest will not be published before Jan 2010!

How can that be? Swedish to French versus Swedish to English???

I might have to read it in French… may as well. By the time the english translation comes out I will have forgotten the details of the first two books and will have to read them again anyway…

April . Sydney . move . beaches . bye bye Paris . bye bye cheap cheese, champagne . hello sunshine!

More news to follow, as soon as we get a confirmation….

If you haven’t already guessed, we’ve been on holidays. We left on the 18th December for Seoul, spent a couple of great, relaxing, albeit cold days, then hit Australia on December 24th. I’m still here, lazing about in summer wonderland, while Michelle is back in freezing Paris, washing and cooking and cleaning and working all by herself.

I do feel bad. But the upside for her is that she’s got a holiday booked in a couple of weeks to Mali on her own. It’s a walking holiday with Thales and I’m not in the least bit interested. A trip to Mali, yes. A trip to Mali walking 7 hours a day with Thales employees, no. So there you go, my conscience eased.

A typical day for me starts around 6am with the birds, we head to the aqua aerobics class at the local outside pool at 6.45am, shower, return home for tropical fruit and yoghurt before deciding whether to go to the beach, to visit a gallery or two, sit by the pool or head out for lunch somewhere… a quiet afternoon with a cup of tea and a biscuit in the breeze, before an early salad dinner, watch the 7o’clock news and maybe a series or two on telly, before retiring.

Have I lost you yet??