A little older, a little more travelled and a little richer (well soon, anyway!)

So, what have we been up to? It feels like lots.

The house is coming together nicely and Gordon is an outdoorsy cat now (and being regularly beaten up by the panther sized cats in the neighbourhood!) He's had a lot more cattery than he would like and is looking forward to a long spell without incarceration. And he's on a stricter diet and exercise regime than he was before (and, No, Gordon, lounging is not exercise!)

I have had a frantic few weeks of interviews, offers, negotiations, decision making and finally contract signing. I had the luxury of two competing offers on the table at the same time, which was really nice. I accepted one and officially start in June. But really I start this weekend with a dinner on Friday night and then a meeting on Saturday from breakfast through to dinner. Oh, and they have me doing a presentation at the meeting as well. I may have to ask my audience to be kind :)

I seem to have landed myself a more senior position that I expected, which is nice. I get to do some mentoring and training and all that jazz too which should keep it interesting.

Will is doing well keeping the world of Cows moving forwards (he's contracted to Fonterra - monster milk company)

For my birthday treat we spent a long weekend in Sydney and it was glorious! We flew over on Thursday evening and spent Friday walking through the city and botanical gardens to the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. A lovely lunch in The Rocks and a nice sit in the warm sun (well, warm for a Brit, but the locals were in their woolies - anything less than 30 degrees C is mighty chilly!). A glass of wine by the harbour, followed by a visit to the Australian Native Animal Zoo thing.

We managed not to handle the snakes, Huntsman spiders ('He's only a baby - they grow to 20cms!') or anything else creepy. And then there were the mammals. Lovely - koalas, wombats, wallabies - everything you expect (except kangaroos - can't keep them indoors). Not forgetting the flutterbies and birds.

We popped into Chinatown for dinner (managing to avoid the more obscure 'delicacies')

On Saturday we headed out to Bondi Beach and, with more than a little persuasion, I got Will into the sea for a swim. It was fun, and pretty bracing! Then lunch at the Bondi Icebergs clubhouse and a walk around the coast to Bronte. We headed back into town to get ready for my birthday dinner - Bill Granger's restaurant (Smiley blonde Ozzie TV chef). It was a fantastic meal - fizz and oysters, red wine and lamb for me, beef for Will and then a chocolate pud to die for with some fantastic dessert wine. Heaven.

Unfortunately, Sunday was horrible for me. I spent the whole day in the hotel room with food poisoning, nibbling on polystyrene rice crackers that Will hunted for me. Will headed out for the day and found Sydney's biggest and best bookshop (how does he do that!!) and managed not to spend all our savings!

Monday was a slow day with a nice breakfast at a studenty cafe and then to the Darling Harbour for a little more relaxation and a look at the Endeavour replica that is parked there. We took a trip all the way round the monorail track and had a look at the CBD and harbour from higher up.

Then back to the airport and home again.

Sydney is brilliant - we loved it and it is almost guaranteed that we will end up going back there for business and pleasure.

For pictures, please see the Picassa site. If you don't have the link to that then leave a comment and I'll send it to you.

Kirsten and Wull