New year and new adventures

Hej hej (Hi Hi in Swedish),

January is now gone, 11 months left of 2012 and I'm wishing that this year could move much much slower than 2011.

St Andrews Beach on the Mornington Peninsula, around 100km south of Melbourne, drove here after New Years with dad, Dude, Mick and me

First week of Jan was intensively spent with my dad and brother, we took of on a Great Ocean Road-trip, they really wanted to see the famous Great Ocean Road, so we went on a 3 nights tour with me as the guide. First stop was in Werribee at Sue & Rudolf's place where we had a delicious lunch before heading out from the city to Lorne. I couldn't imagine Lorne Foreshore Camping to be such a busy place during summer, but than again I haven't been along the Great Ocean Road in summer time before, last time was winter time and nothing was open and no people to speak of on the streets. 2nd night at Princetown was a bit better, less people but still busy ... Johanna beach was amazing with big waves and my brother couldn't boogie board here because the waves were too big and were taking him off the board all the time, so he gave up and walked up to and complained of the big waves :).

Glenaire Beach along the Great Ocean Road, the Great Ocean Walk goes through here and I had a nostalgic moment here

Spotting lots and lots of koalas, Dude taking one of many photos by Cape Otway National Park, after being at the lighthouse

Johanna Beach - lovely beach with big waves and strong currents, too big for mister Dude :)

Breakfast time at Princetown Camping - next to the car, easy and comfy

Down on the beach, Gibsons steps, close to the 12 Apostles (well, 6-7 apostles left now)
Dad went one way and Dude went the other way with me left behind and not knowing which direction I should choose...went with dad :)

One of the arches along the apostles

3rd night was spent at a gorgeous little camping site in Portland overlooking the beach and cooking dinner outside with a beautiful sunset. I drove back to Melbourne on Friday morning and dropped my brother off in the city so he could do his "necessary" shopping before the flight next day.

It was a sad and quick goodbye at the airport on Saturday, always hard to say goodbye to the ones I love. To my sad comfort I only said goodbye to them for 7 weeks, since me and Mick are flying to Sweden by the end of February. So from today it's a little more than 2 weeks left for the grand departure day....

Goodbye at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, Jan 7

2nd week of Jan was my birthday, my 2nd birthday in Australia :), was spent at work during the day and later in the evening me and Mick had dinner at the local pub down on Elgin street. Had my birthday drinks with Mick, Tracy, Christian, Dev, Pants and Richard on Saturday afternoon at the same local pub, had lots of food, drinks and dessert ... thanks for coming and thank you for the flowers!

On Sunday we went to try kite-surfing on St Kilda beach, it was much harder than I thought, great fun and at the end I managed to fly the kite in circles :)

Lovely flowers from the birthday team :)

Birthday drinks with Dev, Christian, Tracy, Richard, Mick, me and Pants @ Elgin Inn, Sat 14 Jan

Mick flying the kite on St Kilda beach - he made it looking so easy

3rd week of Jan was a physical active week since I started to do boot-camp twice a week after work (boot camp is a group exercise form, mostly outdoors, the leader is telling you what to do and the tempo is quick in order to build up a good physical condition and strength). I've been doing the boot-camp sessions for 4 weeks now and I feel much stronger than before, I'm in a much better shape, haven't lost any weight since my goal isn't to loose any weight, I just want to improve my condition and built up some muscles. This way of exercise in a group is suiting my personality very well I think :)

The Australian Open was in the city and we went to the tennis on Saturday, Jan 21 - a hot sunny day when everyone is going to the tennis :). Saw one mixed double match and met up with the kids, Ida and Fredrik. So good to see them after their trip to Sweden and the kids, Savanha was speaking Swedish to me which made me really happy. Oden was still switched on to English.

On Sunday we went to try some go-carts outside the city, it was a really hot day with over 35 degrees in the shades. It was good fun to drive, even if I came last, Mick overtook me twice during my 10min session haha.

Australian Open, met up with the kids inside Melbourne Park, Saturday 21th Jan (Savanha's 8th b-day)

4th week of Jan was a short week at work with Australia Day (26th, public holiday and no work) on Thursday. Aussie day was spent cleaning the Toyota 4runner and Mick's car and bbq-ing in the afternoon in the park like everyone else :). Great day and good tennis in the evening, think Nadal was playing against Federer.

The weekend was spent on the beach, having my weekly yoga session on Saturday and on Sunday we all celebrated Mick's birthday with drinks at a Belgian beer garden on St Kilda Road. It was very hot outside and we all choose to go inside while the sun was still up, puh hot sweaty afternoon.

Last days of Jan I met up with Malin and little Oliver (9 months old) in St Kilda after work, Malin used to live down in Melb but she and her boyfriend moved to Sweden before Oliver was born. It was good to see them and to hear some news from Sweden/Melbourne. The best thing with Malin is that she is such a relaxed mum and doesn't make a big fuss about things. I remember the comparison we made between Swedes and Aussies, that was good fun to hear and I think that I'm more an Aussie in my way of thinking and acting now haha ... for instance I was 30 min late and I didn't call to tell that I was late, this couldn't have be done in Sweden - you need to call and explain why you're late to a catch-up/meeting and when you're expected to come haha. In Sweden you can't just show up to someones house without a small present, it's a cultural thing to bring something (anything) to the host/hostess as a token of gratitude.

Well I better switch on my Swedish culture awareness before the big trip over to Europe, next time I'm writing the blog I'll be in Sweden :)

See you soon (some of you) :)