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(read
about our previous years living in Holland and
in Singapore)
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Menno and I arrived in Australia on 1 December 2004, after securing our permanent residency visa a year earlier. We spent three months in Queensland's capital Brisbane and then moved to Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, where we now live. See the Flash slideshow on the right for pictures of where we live and the Coffs Harbour area, or check out the Menno/fishing slideshow on the 'Menno' page, or the video clips and a smaller slideshow of pictures of us at the bottom of this page. Or view beautiful photos of Coffs Harbour on this separate page. HOW WE GOT THERE It was great arriving in Brisbane in the beginning of the Australian summer, coming from wet and chilly Holland. We thoroughly enjoyed spending the summer there, exploring the region and the different suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. Meanwhile, Menno worked a couple of hours per day from home (we had made sure our rental apartment had a broadband internet connection) and I did a few freelance writing and translating jobs. I was also actively looking for a job and sent out dozens of applications in December, January and February. Most of these jobs were in Brisbane but I also applied for jobs in Sydney, Melbourne, and one in Coffs Harbour. I didn't know Coffs Harbour at all, but I looked it up on the Internet and it looked very appealing. Menno was also very enthusiastic about it right from the start. The job ad was from the Coffs Harbour City Council, who were looking for a new web content administrator/media officer. I was invited for a job interview in February 2005. Nothing strange about that, you'd think - except for the fact that I was living in Brisbane and the job was in Coffs Harbour, 430 kilometres (270 miles) to the south. Never travelled so far for a job interview before! Menno and I decided to make a little vacation out of it, booking two nights in a hotel there. If I didn't get the job, at least we'd have had that holiday. And if I did get the job, this trip would be useful to give us some idea of where we'd be living.
The interview went well and I was offered the job the same morning. We found a rental apartment that afternoon, and went back to Brisbane for one last week to pack up and arrange our interstate move. We were very excited, and found out more and more about Coffs Harbour that we liked very much: that some research agency had declared it to have the best climate in Australia, for instance, and that the area was great for fishing, something Menno likes and is extremely popular here. WHERE WE LIVE We lived in an apartment complex called Ocean Gem for a year and a half before we finally found a house that we liked. Ocean Gem was very close to the beach, the harbour, a coastal park and the jetty (the pier), but unfortunately also right behind a railway line. With doors or windows open, a freight train passing the complex sounded like it was coming right through the building. Passenger trains were a lot less noisy, but there are more freight trains here than there are passenger trains. We moved into our new home in September 2006 (see photo above). We love that it has a courtyard to the side and back and a big verandah around the front - we've always got a perfect spot to sit outside, in the sun in winter and in the shade in summer, sheltered from the wind when it's cooler or enjoying a light breeze when it's hot.
We love going for walks to just watch the ocean, the waves, the surfers, kite surfers, anglers, the boats in the harbour, and the views over the ocean or from nearby Muttonbird Island back over to Coffs Harbour and the mountains (see panorama photo at the bottom of this page). Early 2008, we started going for early morning walks to Muttonbird Island every day before work - it certainly wakes you up and gets your heart pumping! But I have to admit, it can be very enjoyable when it's raining and you get to stay in bed half an hour longer. Menno has taken up fishing as a serious hobby, and often brings home impressive fish which he then even prepares for dinner. I've never actually liked fish, but I've grown to quite like this - fresh fish right out of the sea, with nice herbs and spices. He doesn't spend as much time on his computer as he used to do, which is good, because he had turned into a real workaholic. Since we bought our home, he has also taken up gardening, which takes up a lot of his time but he seems to really enjoy as well. My office is in the city centre, a few kilometers from where we live, and I can be home by 5.10pm, so that's great, plus I can go home at 1pm, have lunch in my own backyard with my husband, and be back at work at 2pm. It's good to break the day and actually be outside, enjoy the weather and breathe in fresh air. We also got a cute little kittycat from the RSPCA a few weeks after we moved into our new house, in September 2006. We named her Knuffel, which is Dutch for Cuddles, as she just loves to be cuddled all the time. She provides endless entertainment with her antics and likes nothing better than catching and playing with insects or little lizards. COFFS HARBOUR Coffs Harbour is officially a city, but it's more like a seaside town really. With around 68,000 inhabitants, it's the biggest residential area on the north coast of New South Wales. When you look it up on the map, it sits on the eastern seaboard of Australia, in between Sydney and Brisbane, both of which are at least a 5 hour drive away. Coffs Harbour is the regional hub of a coastal area referred to as Coffs Coast.
The natural beauty of the region is simply breathtaking. Menno and I often feel like we've managed to find paradise. There are countless golden beaches, a deep-blue ocean with fantastic waves and exotic fish, idyllic bays, headlands and islands, lots of nice parks with a large variety of trees and interesting birds, many rivers, bushwalks (hiking trails), valleys and mountains, World Heritage rainforests, historic towns and villages, great outdoor cafés and restaurants, and enough shops and stores to get everything you need. Autumn (March-May) and Spring (Sep-Nov) are wonderful, not too hot, not too cold, but just nice. Winter (June-Aug) can get a bit chilly at times, especially when it's windy, but the temperature usually stays between about 16 and 20 deg C (60-70 deg F) during the day. Summer (Dec-Jan-Feb) can see a lot of rain, but at least it's always nice and warm (around 25-30 deg C / 75-85 deg F) and showers often happen at the end of the day. We like to spend our weekends going for long walks along the beach, always making sure to put enough sun screen on (SPF 35+ because the ozone layer is very thin here) and then finding a nice spot with a great view to have lunch or enjoy a cool drink. Or we might pack lunch, the weekend papers and Menno's fishing rods and go to the beach or a riverside for the afternoon. Mylestom, Red Rock and Sapphire Beach are some of our favourite destinations. I think it's because we're still not used to the perfect weather and we didn't grow up anywhere near the beach, but to us, every weekend still feels like a little vacation (except when it's raining and we have to stay indoors all day long...). We've had a few visitors from Holland already, and we can't wait for more friends and family to come and visit us so we can share our enthusiasm and enjoyment with them. For the moment, I'll use this page to share our experiences with you all, through text updates, pictures and short video clips. PHOTO ALBUMS Here's another slideshow with some pictures of Menno and me in Australia (on the right). Another slideshow with pictures of Menno fishing and some of the fish he's caught can be found on the Menno page. I've also set up a separate page with photos of Coffs Harbour and the Coffs Harbour region. Here are some very short video clips, taken on my photo camera:
Page created: April 4, 2005 |
© Micky Stuivenberg 2002-2008
Email: micky@mickymoments.com
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