We spent our first two days in and around the Circular Quay and Rocks area with The Girl’s family. We walked around the Royal Botanical Gardens where we spied bat filled trees, ate lunch at the Sydney Opera House, and poked our heads around one of the oldest buildings in Australia. It was a lovely way to spend our first few days and it also served as a gentle introduction to meeting all of The Girl’s family who were all very keen to see her and meet me.

After a couple of days we travelled to Narrabeen, just north of Sydney, to spend a few days with the family. To me it looked like a separate little town on the coast, but I was told that it was one of Sydney’s many sprawling suburbs. The weather was sunny, the beach was beautiful and the welcome was very warm. Both The Girl and I were looked after extremely well by everyone.

On Wednesday morning The Girl and I drove to the city to stay with a couple of The Girl’s friends. We decided that it would be easier to arrange flat viewings if we were in the city.

Driving in Sydney was a pleasant experience. Everything is well sign posted and most of the roads are empty most of the time. The only problem was the other drivers who seemed very quick on the horn. And no – it wasn’t my driving. Despite that, being able to borrow a car from the family was an absolute lifesaver.

We spent most of the remaining week viewing flats and then worrying about it. More to come later. We also squeezed in a visit to Bondi Beach where I tried Chicken Salt for the first time. It’s salt which tastes faintly of chicken. While we walked around Bondi we spotted an ice skating rink on the beach. It was the most ridiculous thing either of us have seen – a bunch of kids struggling to skate on a barely frozen rink with puddles.

On Friday I managed to catch up with an old friend, who has picked up this strange Anglo-Aussie accent. It was good to see him and hear all the great things he loves about Australia. But in the back of my mind was the single thought “I hope I don’t sound like that in four years”.