Our Three Year Love Affair With a Sunburned Country

Like most things in life, things don’t always go to plan. Originally, our great Australian adventure was only going to last for a year; however, one year quickly turned in to two and today we are celebrating three years living down under. It’s strange yet wonderful how life works out, and just how quickly time flies.

While living abroad has its disadvantages- for example, the huge ocean that stands in between us and our family and friends, the time difference, the expensive flights, etc., overall, I would have to say our time in Sydney has been absolutely fun-filled and amazing. Our quality of life is excellent, our lives are relatively stress-free, and we’ve been able to travel heaps. We definitely have a different perspective on life thanks to our time in Australia.

Sydney obviously keeps us coming back for more and while we do realize there will soon be a time when we have to pack it up, for now we’re very happy to continue making our home here.

To celebrate our "three year aussie anniversary" we decided to re-discover Sydney over the weekend. It was finally a gorgeous, hot and sunny weekend so we had to take advantage of it!

It was a very busy and electric weekend in Sydney. There were heaps of people out due to the fabulous weather; the Australia v. India cricket match and the Hyundai A-league finals (football) were going on; it's (gay) mardi gras party time; and there was the royal rendezvous of the Queen Victoria (on its first tour) and the QE2 (on its last tour).

Saturday we caught a ferry to Circular Quay where we dined and drank it up in Aussie fashion at the stylish, harbour-side Opera Bar. After a lovely dinner, we engaged in a bit of culture at the Opera House and enjoyed the comedic production of Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Sunday we went on a walking tour of Sydney. We started in our neighbourhood, walked over the Harbour Bridge, through the Rocks and their outdoor markets, and on to Circular Quay. We had a beautiful seafood lunch and a few wines at a lovely restaurant on the harbour. After lunch, it was more walking all throughout the Botanical Gardens.

We had a wonderful weekend and as we move on in to our third year living on this giant island, we look forward to what lies ahead for us.