Birthday bash

I WAS a little apprehensive about the arrival of my first Aussie birthday but I need not have worried.

The day was better than I'd hoped, having spent the lunchtime of it at a local watering hole with a hefty handful of girlfriends while our husbands were in work earning the money we were spending.

They showered me with cards and gifts and I was humbled to be at the centre of all this newfound attention. Just a matter of months ago, I didn't even know these girls. Now, they form a staple part of my integration into this new life of ours. At one point, I found myself holding back the tears as I read one card that said I had brought a ray of sunshine into their lives. Blub.

Even though we're just seven months into it, I don't even feel I've lived away from here. People are amazed at our progression in such a short space of time but really, we just took it all in our stride and played with the cards we were dealt.

We arrived in the country with no mobile, address, car or bank cards. So we went out and got ourselves a mobile, address, car and bank cards. From getting a fixed abode, we then registered the ankle biters in the school most local and from there, they've taken up soccer and basketball sessions.
These sports links in themselves have cast us into mixing in other social circles and we are now in the comfortable position of choosing who we want to spend our social time with and not who we have to.

Our friends who welcomed us into their family when we first arrived continue to play a major part in our lives and I for one am thankful that our paths crossed. They have been there for us every step of the way...checking in on our progress and offering help wherever and whenever it was needed. And indeed when it continues to be needed. They are priceless.

But my birthday celebrations were a little jaded as my mind couldn't stop itself from wandering 10,000 miles north and to how much my UK chums play such an important part in my life. I had gifts and cards from overseas to stand among my local gifts and part of me felt torn.

Although the lighter side showed itself this week when, more than two weeks after the date of my birthday, a gift arrived in the post from a friend and former colleague. It had spent 10 days in quarantine before it was delivered by the AusPost man yesterday morning. Only she could send an item that had the whole of Australian Immigration reeling. Items of wood, shell or anything perishable are considered no-go areas to be received at the final leg of the 10,000 mile journey here but this one of hers got through after a full scale investigation by officers!

It brought back many a menacing memory. She's a case, that one!