Moving To Melbourne, Christmas 2015, Rambling Drive With David

Here we are again, almost the end of another year.

Where have you been? What have you done? What is next for you, by design or by accident?

A time for reflecting is here. Of course, you don't need it to be December or January to reflect on your life. But, it does seem to be a natural tendency for people at this time of year, a time to consider beginnings and endings.

2015 has been an incredibly quick year...I can't even remember a fraction of it. It has really been a blur. It was made much quicker as the last quarter was focused on relocating our lives.

In September Sam and I moved from little old Adelaide to Melbourne. We love Adelaide very much. It has been a kind place to us, a great choice in many ways for starting our life in Oz. We came over from Scotland in 2009 and were greeted by warm people and relaxed attitudes to life. We achieved a lot in Adelaide and enjoyed all it offered, but it is small, in terms of being a city.

It felt right that we should look to see what else Australia might offer for us, in our quest for adventure and for a better life, while we are young enough. Ha!

An opportunity presented itself, as it often does in real life, subtly and casually, and we jumped on it.

So now we find ourselves in Melbourne, voted to be the world's most liveable city. We feel the world is at our feet, surrounded by opportunities and possibilities. That's what Melbourne offers - options! Many options, like jewels falling from the sky.

Moving interstate has meant new jobs for both of us, saying goodbye to colleagues and friends in Adelaide, but it also has meant a big hi there and hello to new colleagues and the chance to develop new friendships. It's been quite an exciting time.

The first few weeks in Melbourne were somewhat stressful as the removals company we had contracted to bring our belongings over turned out to be....less than reliable. A long story short, we spent those first couple of weeks sleeping on the floor, washing our clothes at the local launderette and eating lot of takeaway fast food. That's all a memory now and, with the internet and other utilities all connected, we are pretty comfortable now. Our house is lovely, the cats are happy and in order to maximise our lives in Melbourne, we are again a two car family. Life is good!

We have a lot of exploring to do as we only now have got our heads around our new routines and new jobs.

2016 is going to be another amazing year.