Twelve Months Of Pondering

So, it's been a year and a day. As per usual, I completely underestimated how hard it is moving somewhere new and completely isolating yourself from all the friends and family that you rely on and take completely for granted.

It's only when you look back over the time that you have had to adjust to your new life that you wonder completely surprised 'How the bloody hell did I make it through with so few tears?' However, saying that, living in this paradise has hardly been the hardship that I had convinced myself it would be. I have never regretted moving here. Not once did I consider the possibility of moving back, even if the gravitational pull of all my close buddies and family was sometimes physically wrenching!

It occurred to me the other day that I have started taking some of the Western Australian peculiarities for granted. People going into town to go shopping with no shoes on for example. This practice has traditionally only been supported when the alcohol has been flowing and I have been caught wearing incredibly high stiletto shoes that cause nerve damage to my second toe. I would then swing them off and trample around a pub/club somewhere, praying to some god to keep me safe from the broken bottles scattered on the sticky carpet! When I used to see these sober, nice mannered people trundling around choosing a loaf of bread or picking out the juicest apples in the markets, barefoot, it used to freak me out but it causes barely a second glance these days.

I've come to expect that people are a lot more laid back and openly friendly over here. I regularly see people in the newsagents buying the sunday papers wearing their fluffy mismatched jammies. Shop assistants, where there are surly and sometimes unco-operative in the UK, are breezy, bubbly and willing here. They must want my money really badly?

I've also stopped saying (quite so often) 'It's a beautiful day' cos nine times out of ten it will be a gorgeously stunning day with the brightest sunshine you have ever experienced and the bluest sky I've ever known. The days where it eventually does rain (June), the rains are so infrequent that when they finally hit, you find yourself to be relieved that the garden is getting a good soaking and the roads are being washed of the hot summer dust.

And when the rains come down the cockroaches start to come a-sneaking out! Now, I cannot say that I have become totally at one with these creepy little buggers but I'm not half as scared as I was back last May. Back then, Dave used to have to save me from them and beat them with a flipflop or stamp on their heids. I'm still not quite comfortable killing anything unless I have my uniform on! I believe in karma and so I wouldn't want anyone to come and stamp on my heid sometime in the future. Luckily, we haven't seen any around for a while but we're just coming into the 'flying season'. Watch out Shazza, you're going to love it!

I am no longer afraid to go outside with no shoes on. I used to have to wear something on my feet because I was convinced that a redback or snake would come and bite me. After spending a year here and only seeing the grand total of one garden spider (yes, Peggy was harmless. She has no teeth. Life imitating art?), two huntsman spiders and two dead snakes on a road somewhere 600kms from here in the middle of the bush, I can safely say that Australia ain't as scary as it's made out to be.

I've also turned into the biggest wuss when it comes to the cold weather. Am seriously considering putting the leccy blanket back on the bed cos we've had a few cold nights recently (eight degrees). Now I know that Shazza will the first to berate me for losing the Scottish hardness when it comes to being cold. In Aberdeen, the weather we had to endure was sometimes unbearable. It hurt to breathe and you physically couldn't stop shivering. My toes were in a constant state of semi-frost bite so I realise I do sound a little pathetic whinging about the temperature when it's not even cold enough for a frost! I can't help it though, and Dave refuses to let me warm my feet on his deliciously warm derriere. All I can say to defend myself is that there is no heating over here, and there is no insulation in the walls of our house.

I did buy the most gorgeous pair of pj's the other day, they are all soft and warm and the top has a hood. Perfect!

So, anyway, I really miss my friends from back home. I've made some good friends here but it's not the same as the ones you have had a bond with for years. I mean I've known H since I was eleven and Nicky since I was eight. Even my 'newest friends' I have known for four years now. There's a lot of history and bonding there that simply cannot be replicated in twelve months.

And so starts 'Natalies Australian Recruitment Agency for Family and Bloody Good Mates'. Will send out application forms and drag you all over here whether you like it or not.