Remembering places and faces

Our thanks to those of you who have contacted us to make sure we were not in the area of the Cyclone Debbie and its aftermath. That weather happened some distance north of us in the neighbouring state of Queensland, although some areas of northern New South Wales were also affected. We're in south NSW. As is usual for us, we did have lots of rain during that time, but nothing to the extent of Cyclone Debbie.

What I'd like Canada and Australia to adopt from each other

I'll start with a sign that shows we're in the southern hemisphere. Seeing a spring event being held in October highlighted the different seasons 'down under'.

Signs we're definitely not in Canada

As we head into our last week in Australia, it's time to reflect on our experience. We've been here three months, which is the maximum we can stay in the country for any one stretch, even though we have a one-year visa. We plan to wend our way back home over the next few weeks. More about that later this week.

Experiencing 50 shades of grey

For those of you who read the title of this post and were anticipating something other than our ongoing weather news ... sorry to disappoint you :)

Greg tends to remind me when I've gone a while without updating the blog. I've been hesitating as I felt all I could show you was more photos of ocean and grey skies. However, yesterday was a breakthrough in the weather.

What a weather week it was!

While we're house sitting in Flinders, New South Wales, our homeowners are travelling with their caravan (trailer) to the south and west of us. They've now been away almost three weeks, and in that time they've had blue skies and sunshine, pleasant daytime temperatures, cool evening temperatures for sleeping, and two nights with rain. Ideal conditions for that type of travelling, so we're happy to hear that.

We've had more days than we care to remember with heavy downpours of rain, or else skies that constantly threaten rain. Let's just say we've done more reading than usual :)

Following a day of torrential downpours here yesterday, this is today's weather warning:

Brightening up a cloudy day

Summer is officially over in this part of Australia, and we've now moved into autumn.

On a recent gloomy weather day, I went for a walk in the neighbourhood. 

A blustery day at the blowholes

Hint: to look at any photo full-screen, tap or click on it.

Let's just say we're had more than our fair share of rain lately. After a weekend where I managed to read a whole book (that would usually take me at least three weeks), yesterday we were ready for a road trip.

Although the rain had subsided, we were faced with blustery conditions with a wind of 50 km/hr (31 miles) for most of the day. 

rough water all along the coast

It's raining cats & dogs!

We're now living about an hour south of Sydney, in Flinders, New South Wales, population 5,200. It's a suburb of the city of Shellharbour, population 69,700. We're just over 2 km (1+ miles) from the village of Shellharbour (a district of the city of the same name), which is a popular seaside area of quaint shops and eateries.

Shellharbour village waterfront