What's my opinion of Australia, you ask?

We've now been in Australia for nine days. Before we left Canada, many people told us how beautiful Australia is and that we'd love it. I haven't been here long enough to form an opinion about the country, but I certainly have formed an opinion about the people.

At the front entrance of our Brisbane home

Let's start from when we were on our Hawaiian cruise in December, where we met lots of Australians. They just seemed like such an easy-going, friendly bunch. Without exception, it was a pleasure to chat with them, and most were enthusiastic about our house sitting. Overwhelmingly, the people we've met have been extremely kind and caring. It's been a great experience so far.

In the front yard

Today we finished a 5-day house sit in a southern suburb of Brisbane. The average temperatures for Brisbane in January are said to be 27ºC (81ºF), so we certainly had above-average temperatures with most days being around 33ºC (91ºF). Today, travelling by car, the outside temperature reached 39ºC (102ºF). Thankfully, we had a beautiful swimming pool at our home, which we made good use of. We also shared the home with a lovely cat named Cherie, who was no trouble at all.

Cherie getting cozy with my purple hoodie :)

Even with the best of planning for house sitting, inevitably we face gaps in our schedule at times. That was the case for after this sit. We had four days before we were to fly to the west coast. Brisbane is on the east coast, and from there people vacation by travelling south to the Gold Coast, or north to the Sunshine Coast. Again, almost everyone we've met said we must see the Gold Coast. Currently it's summer here, and children are also out of school. That makes both areas extremely busy. Most online search engines were showing 96% occupancy for accommodations a week ago.

At the entrance of the house

After a long time spent on searches, trying to come up with a good fit, I finally sat with Greg, telling him what areas I'd looked at, and asking for his input. As I was explaining it, an email came in. When a new house sit gets posted for any areas I'm interested in, an email is automatically generated. This email was for a location just an hour south of us, on the Gold Coast. It was also for a 3-day sit, starting today. I excitedly applied immediately, providing our phone number, rather than relying purely on email. We chatted with the homeowners and we were booked. Yay!

A closer look

The homeowner later noticed on our online calendar that we had four days free, whereas they'd only posted for three. They immediately offered to stay away another day so that we wouldn't have to move. See what I mean about kindness? We encounter that type of kindness and thoughtfulness from just about everyone we meet!

So what's my opinion of Australia so far? Aussies rock!

(We have the approval of the pet owners to post photos to this blog.)