Settling in

Neighbourhood friends of Jacquie have offered us the use of an apartment on the ground floor of their house, only a short walk down the road. It has been a perfect place to recover from our jet lag and retreat from the bustle of Jacquie's house. It's quite a big place with a lovely patio that backs onto a bird sanctuary. The squawks, screeches, caws, tweets and whistles at sun rise are wonderful to wake up to. The continuous calls of the kookaburras always remind me of Tarzan movies.

The day after we arrived (Easter Friday) we went to Dee Why Beach about a 15 minute drive from Jacquie's house. We just stayed for an hour which was enough for our pathetically pale legs and feet.

On Saturday Jacquie, Ben (12), Emily (9) and I went to the Sydney Easter Show. It's the Australian equivalent of the CNE/ PNE combined with the Royal Winter Fair. Of course, the place was packed. Easily twice as many people as in Whitehorse. We saw the 'world's tallest horse' that measures 20 hands 2 inches – that's 82 inches – to his back. Definitely a very big horse. It was fun to be with kids who experienced the whole outing with much excitement and enthusiasm. We survived a full 6 hours of games and agricultural displays before heading home. As a group we agreed that the day's highlight was petting the alpacas. I only saw one Aborigine all day.

Bryan, Barney and Doug spent the day preparing for our camping trip that starts on Monday. We have had a change of plans. Instead of heading west, we are now going north. It's a little less demanding and the forecast is better for the coast than the interior. Bryan has rented a tent trailer to tow behind his land cruiser. We will follow along in Jacquie's car. We'll only be away from Sydney for 5 nights dividing our time between Point Plomer and Crowdy Bay National Park.

We are going to Bryan's parent's house for Easter Sunday dinner. We first met Vince and Gwyn when they came to Canada for Bryan and Jacquie's' wedding in 1993. They visited us in the Yukon several years ago. Gwyn is a Canadian, married to an Australian – just like Jacquie. Bryan's sister and family will be there as well.

We head out at 6AM tomorrow (Easter Monday). I'll report back next weekend.