Expat greatest adventures...oh the places we went!

It has been nearly eight weeks since our expat adventure came to an end. 

A whirlwind of repatriation, the paperwork and bureaucracy of moving home! 

We are "camping" in our new home as we wait for our 

belongings to land on Aussie soil, sleeping on borrowed sheets, 

 buying the same items that we just sold off in Germany and

unpacking boxes that were in storage for seven years longer than expected ....

wow...have I found some treasures!

Photo albums full of memories of long ago adventures... 

My greatest adventure so far is marrying my long lost love, 

jumping on a plane to Shanghai with my girls and beginning our new lives.

Life in Shanghai was a new adventure, we discovered the joys of our new city, 

the culture, the food, the crazy traffic.

We got to hang out with some Pandas.

I spotted many a Shanghai napper, and snapping nappers became a bit of a hobby!

Watching fireworks from our apartment was always a treat.

Not a bad view from the kitchen sink!

Our adventures took us to the Chinese countryside, where we embraced the

magic, colour and culture of the Miao Minority Sister Festival.

We floated down the Li river, surrounded by astounding natural beauty.

We strolled the magnificent gardens of Suzhou, soaking up the history. 

Met wonderful characters who became part of our daily lives.

Saw some pretty ridiculous loads on the roads.

Fell in love with the Xiaolongbao dumpling.....

after we discovered the art of eating them without scalding our chins

Ticked the Great Wall of China off our lifetime bucket lists.

We took our adventures to Thailand....

...and Japan!

Our one year in Shanghai...stretched out to four...

then we found ourselves living in England, 

our adventures suddenly took on the incredible architecture

of Oxford and beyond.

We took day trips to spend time by the seaside.

The seasons unearthed the incredible beauty of the bluebells,

oh the divine aroma of these woods!

Just as we were getting settled in England....the opportunity of adventure in Germany 

was offered...we took it...and went on many a drive through the 

breathtaking forests in every season.You can't beat the colours of autumn though!

No place does Christmas like Germany...No. Place! 

Christmas Markets are enchanting!

Living in central Europe is heaven for an adventure loving Aussie, 

you find yourself visiting a historic bridge Mostar, Bosnia...

Swimming in the azure blue waters of Dubrovnik, Croatia...

Wandering the canals of Utrecht, The Netherlands

even tip toeing through the tulips near Amsterdam!

So we are now back at home in Australia, not sad to leave our

amazing adventures behind (well ...maybe a little) but happy they happened at all.

Many more adventures to come, rediscovering my beautiful state 

of Western Australia and thanks to Rachel and her wonderful adventure, 

plans are afoot to hit the road soon....as soon as our stuff arrives and I have 

unpacked 300 or so boxes full of memories...could take a while!