Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree

We Brooklynites have been in Australia now for almost two weeks, mostly settled in--with a few hiccups along the way, but nothing too serious. We're so happy to be here!

Milestones (with the generous help of Philip's family):

1. The kids are in school (finally!), all uniformed up and now negotiating foreign curricula and making new friends.
2. We have unpacked our gear and moved into our awesome digs overlooking Whale Beach and the Pacific Ocean.
3. We have seen whales from our house, many of them, almost every day--mostly mother and calf humpbacks on their way south for the summer. They breach, they flop their tails, they frolic in the waves. It's extraordinary (see photo here taken from the master bedroom).
4. We bought a used car, and Sid is driving on the left hand side of the road--on purpose!
5. We've played tennis (once).
6. The girls have regular squash lessons.
7. We rented a piano for Isabella.
8. We hosted a Kearns family party (of the children--8 girls and 1 boy).
9. We met our resident bush turkey--for real. We have foul in our yard!
10. The children joined the Nippers on Bilgola Beach--surf life-saving for the under 16s.
11. Philip and Sid are working (gasp!), but nothing strenuous.
12. We're running daily math bootcamps (fast computation is the thing here).
13. We're figuring out the Australian medical system so we can renew various prescriptions--turns out some of our meds are not available in Aus. Wha?
14. We went to a neighborhood cocktail party--met some great folks and got lots of good advice.
15. Australian dollar achieved parity with the Greenback--%^$#@&*@#(*^!!!!