Bear, Butterfly and Butterbear have been in Canberra for over three months now. Since early July life has been a rush of preparation, packing, parenting, parting and panicking (no partying- drat!), but things are starting to fall into a more reasonably paced rhythm now, as we gain a sense of what our new home and environment entails.
So how did we end up here? Canberra was never a destination for our family so it may seem a surprise that we’re here now. The original plan (which kept reshaping itself) was to return to eNZed in time to escape UK winter and enjoy a summer filled with family, pohutukawa flowers, bush, beach and Tuis. After over five years in the UK we were ready to be home to share Faeryn with our family and friends, so we bought our tickets in May and started thinking about working out the shipping details for all the gear we’ve accumulated over the years.
Ezra and Kim paved the way for us- their final days in the UK were in early July, before they set off for nearly four months adventuring in South America. They arrived home in time to watch the final RWC game and also to welcome a new nephew, Michelle and Reuben’s son Nathan.
We were lucky to enjoy the Fiery’s company during their last days in the Northern Hemisphere and we shared a final trip together to Edinburgh and the Cairngorms. This was Faeryn’s first vacation- we took the train from King’s Cross in London to Edinburgh which was a great way to make the trip. Edinburgh is definitely one of our most favourite cities in Europe. So full of character, with all the modern features like excellent vegetarian food! We had a good wander around the city, hunting for a particular whiskey for Ezra’s brother. We scored a wee kilt for Faeryn too.
I had really wanted to return to Scotland mostly to experience the Go Ape course in Stirling, which has the longest zip line out of all the courses in Britain. Unfortunately it’s not the sort of thing you can do with a baby, so Ezra, Kim and Bodra enjoyed the course whilst Faeryn and I wandered around the forest. This didn’t bother me as I love being outdoors with Faeryn- her temperament is much calmer outdoors than in, and I had read that there was a waterfall for us to discover. However, the forest was completely infested with midges, which led to a mini disaster for us. Whilst wandering along the forest path, I discovered Faeryn had a somewhat explosive nappy. I was prepared to deal with this, but laying her down on the side of the path we were suddenly surrounded by a cloud of biting midges. So with one hand I dealt with the nappy and the other had to keep waving all around her fending them off her body. She still came away with very blotchy skin so I felt pretty awful to have subjected her to that. The midges also attacked Ezra, Kim and Bodra despite being up in the treetops. I was pretty thankful they got the full forest experience too.
From Stirling we drove to the Cairngorms. This is an area in the Highlands, so quite picturesque. We went up to a lookout point where we took a furnicular to the observatory. There were still patches of snow there and it was rather brisk standing outside taking in the view.
When Bo returned to work after his time off, his manager asked him if he’d checked his email. There was a position for a dedicated BCE for a client in Canberra, DHS (Department of Human Services). Bodra’s manager had said he’d support his application. So we thought, why not apply? See what comes of it. After a number of phone interviews and a video conference, they offered him the job with some assistance for the relocation.
We were pretty excited at the chance to be closer to home but also for our adventures to be given a little more time. Neither of us knew anything about Canberra, (it’s the capital of Australia don’t you know!) but we felt pretty optimistic. We’ve both enjoyed our previous times in Australia, and if it doesn’t pan out well, it’s just a year, with the added bonus of Auckland only being a couple short flights away. Unfortunately the International Airport in Canberra won’t be up and running until next year some time, so we have to fly to Sydney or Melbourne to get home.
So, decision made, we had eight weeks before Bo would be starting his new job. Things became rather mad, but we did amazingly well, given all the stress we were under. I even managed to get a wisdom tooth removed! Faeryn kept up with her Baby Splash classes, and we started to see a Homeopath, Rachel McCallum, for her skin issues. Rachel was incredibly supportive over the last few months in the UK, and although we didn’t manage to resolve the skin problems, I know she did a lot to alleviate the stress of it. I also did some baby massage classes with Rachel.
We figured out what to do with Faeryn’s placenta. I had planned on eating it in a vegetable smoothie after the birth, as it is meant to have great medicinal properties for restoring energy and combating post-natal depression. However, as Bodra had left it out on the kitchen bench for two nights, I thought it best not to ingest it, so we left it in the freezer. The next plan was to bury it, but we hadn’t decided where would be the best spot. One rainy afternoon, when Bodra had left work early for a doctor’s appointment, I spontaneously decided we should use the cover of the rain to bury the placenta in the meadows where we often went for walks with Faeryn. So we all trundled down in our rainjackets, carrying a big spade, bucket and a lavender bush. We thought it would be a good idea to plant the lavender on top, as a marker. We also left our garden Faeries to keep watch over the area.
Those last two months in the UK was quite a special time really, as lots of friends made the extra effort to come out and see us. We enjoyed visits with Luke and Lou (thank you for the yummy dinners!), Paul, Rachael and Ryan, Alanna and Russell, Lauren and Adam, and lots of time with Maria and Dewi. Our friends from our yoga class organised a gathering for us at Liz’s home, and shared lots of delicious treats with us. Nik and Dawn also came out to Reading, just before they went off for their South American adventures. I had a visit with Sally in her new home in Calcot with her twins Oscar and Ella. I also met a couple new friends in that time- Dewi took me to Bicester to meet her friend Dina and her children Lexie and Matthew. I met a lovely near-by neighbour, Anna and her daughter Emma. We met at the local Children’s Centre and saw each other several times afterwards. It really was a huge shame we hadn’t met sooner!
We only made a couple trips into London after that, to visit Tony and Liz and enjoy some vegan food with Lauren and Adam. Bo went into London to catch up with his friends for birthday dinner and drinks. That same weekend, Lauren visited for the last time (boohoo!!! We miss you!) and Jo made the journey from Doncaster with her youngest son Jacob.
The second to last weekend in the UK was a bank weekend. Bo finished up work on the 26th of August and we managed to squeeze in a couple trips that weekend. Firstly we went for a barge trip from Sonning Common to Henley on Thames with Paul, Rachael and Ryan and Rachael’s parents. It was a fantastic day with all those beautiful English countryside sights. There really is so much more to England than just London!
On the Sunday we went to the Chiltern’s Craft Fair with Nadine and Rick. I’d met Nadine a couple weeks earlier when I was out walking with Faeryn. Nadine had a couple Pit Bull Terrier dogs with her, so that is always a conversation starter for me, and she very kindly offered to take us all to this craft fair. It was a bit stressful for Faeryn as there were loads of people at the fair and the crafts were all displayed in marquees which became quite stuffy. As it was held on an estate, we had lots of outdoor space to get respite. I saw some fantastic photographs of nature and we found ourselves a neat teapot with a squishy-nosed face!
We found time to buy a new bed and couch to take with us, but sadly we’ve had to wait until December before we can enjoy those things and the rest of our house-hold effects (the delivery is booked for next Thursday). It was quite a scary task deciding what we needed to take with us, given we only had our flight luggage and one box to fill. I didn’t know what to expect of the weather in Canberra, and was surprised to find it was so cold, and I needed greater warmth from which my t-shirt and hoodie could provide. Faeryn was fine though as we got some great use out of an all-in-one suit Tony and Liz had given her.
Our last couple of days in Reading were spent cleaning and packing. On the Monday we had two men come in to do most of the packing for us which was quite stressful. Things were packed which I wanted to take with me, and I didn’t feel too comfortable about the way things were being packed. Dewi made herself available to us so she took Faeryn for a wander around the neighbourhood. Good friends are very hard to come by!
On the Tuesday we had our final check out in the afternoon, so we finished off the cleaning. Bodra has hired some ladies to help with that and they did such a spectacular job, the clerk signed us off in a couple minutes. Rachael and Ryan also paid us another visit, as well as Dewi, so it was lovely to have their help and support.
As we were leaving the following morning, we stayed the night with Dewi and her brother Martin. It was very hard to relax as the last hours slipped away from us, and Dewi gave me a shoulder massage and all her loving energy to release the stress. It will be such a delightful moment in my life when I know I will be seeing Dewi again!
The flights to Canberra went much better than we imagined, certainly our flight to Singapore was pretty fantastic. Faeryn wasn’t overly stressed by the journey and even managed to sleep for a bit without being in our arms or on my boob. The flight staff were very attentive and sweet-natured towards our family.
We only had a short stop-over in Singapore- enough time to wander through the bright and spacious airport, grab a drink, use the facilities, then make our way to gate with all our gear. Then our next flight to Sydney was quite awful. There didn’t seem to be any air-conditioning, the air vents weren’t working and so the air was very stuffy. The flight staff this time around seemed kind of cranky too, and Faeryn was showing the strain and becoming somewhat inconsolable. But at least I have boobs!
We had just a short flight to Canberra next, on Virgin Airlines. Basically we went up, the flight staff came around with drink, crackers and cheese, they soon collected our rubbish (before we’d finished eating!) and then we were coming down. Best kind of flights really! We stayed the night at the Heritage Hotel in Narabundah- the shower and proper beds were very welcome by all of us.
The next day we moved into our temporary accommodation in Kingston, a really lovely, modern apartment. We stayed there for four weeks. I wanted to live there- the furnishings and layout of the apartment was so comfortable and clean, but of course that comes at a high price. We were one of the few people living in the apartment block as it is a very new development, and across the road we could see all the final construction going on at the block opposite the court yard. Gazing out our floor to ceiling windows, I kind of felt like a Fraggle watching the Doozers go about their day, so it made me feel a little hungry for candy.
Kingston is a fairly nice area. In walking distance we had two basic shopping areas (Manuka and Kingston) with some designer stores and all the usual ammenities. Canberra city centre is only a fifteen minute bus ride away, so in our first days we had a good wander around the city.
I would take Faeryn for a couple walks each day, either to pick up some supplies from the supermarket or for a spot of bird-watching at Telopea Park or Bowen Park and Lake Burley Griffin. Cockatoos and Galahs were an exciting sight initially, but they are so common here. When I saw them sitting on grassy islands on the highway, I soon got over them! Cockatoos are especially noisy too!
Bo managed to organise a car, a Ford Mondeo, in our first few weeks of being in Canberra. We haven’t had a car since NZ and I haven’t driven it yet, but it’s great knowing that we have the freedom to travel where we wish now. We still order our groceries online and get them delivered. I’m missing the variety of food we had available in the UK- most of the yoghurt here has gelatine as an ingredient- and I don’t care if it’s Halal! It’s still required the slaying of our moo friends! Gah!
Working for DHS has been somewhat tedious for Bo. He started off going into the Symantec office in nearby Barton, so he could walk there from our place in Kingston. Then he moved to the DHS office in Tuggeranong, and we looked for our rental close to there with the idea Bodra may be able to cycle to work. Bo found a lovely space for us in Kambah, only a few minutes drive away from his workplace. We moved in during the first week of October, and it was great as Bo could come home at lunchtime and have a bit of family time and a decent lunch (me too!). But it was only a couple days later that he was moved to the DHS office in Symonston, about a twenty minute drive from home. Hopefully he’ll be moving back to the Tuggeranong office early next year.
I joined a Freecycle group in Canberra as soon as we arrived, so despite moving into an unfurnished rental we have acquired a queen bed and mattress, desk, a couple bookcases, change table, bar stools, a poang chair, two small chests of drawers, a couple side tables, four lovely dining chairs, lawnmower (not working) and lots of kitchen goodies. Woop! The only piece of furniture we’ve bought has been a monstrous TV unit, and a fridge and washing machine. Last Thursday, all our gear arrived from the UK, so our new home feels a lot more like home!
So we’ve been in Kambah over two months now, and in that time, Faeryn has gained two teeth on her lower jaw (with two more piercing through the upper jaw), she has learnt to sit on her own, crawl and clap, she now takes her bath with splashing and kicking glee and her skin is mostly free of the eczema. She also sleeps from 7pm until around 5am, and takes two naps during the day, and can wave hi and bye! We’ve begun to feel much more settled as we get to know our neighbourhood, we have lovely walks around Lake Tuggeranong and through Urambi Nature Reserve. My sister Michelle stayed with us for one week in November and Bodra’s Mum Carolyn has been staying with us for the past two weeks. We all journey to NZ today, so it will be very exciting to share Faeryn with the rest of our families! 
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