Hi fellow Aussies.

This is intended as a bit of a tongue-in-cheek guide to living and acclimatising to life in Sweden as well as seeing just how the Swedes adapt to an invader from Down Under. It is meant to be light-hearted and while I'll probably crap on incessantly about my life here, don't expect any weekly laundry list of embarrassing facts about me. Oh, and I tend to put a lot of hyperlinks in posts as people may be interested in seeing an example of what I'm chatting about, as I realise Sweden is pretty much an unknown place outside of Scandinavia.

So, who am I? I'm an Australian woman, born and bred (some would say inbred, but we'll leave that for the time being) in sunny Adelaide. Now, in my fabulous forties, I find myself residing in the east of Sweden, in the small fishing town of Nynäshamn. How did I end up here? Well, it's the typical story of boy joins website, girl visits website, girl ends up at the North Pole (or near enough to it).

At the moment it's dark and cold and a long way from "home", and it doesn't have cool things like Vegemite and Violet Crumbles, but really there's no place I'd rather be living. I live here with my Swedish husband (Lars-Göran), my extremely indulged white toy poodle, Lambi, and my two cockateils (a brilliant reminder of home!) Bruce and Sheila. You can see Lars-Göran and I in this photo.



I spend my time learning Swedish, working on websites and indulging in a passion for sailing. We have a beautiful yacht, and we are fortunate to live in the wonderful environment of the Stockholm Archipelago, so expect to hear a bit about life aboard and as well as the many places we visit. And don't think that you'll be spared until next summer. Our boat stays in the water all year and we do go winter sailing. Our next trip together will be to visit the christmas markets at the outer island of Utö in mid-December.

I'm new to blogging, so bear with me as I'll have to learn as I go. A big thankyou to Kate for making this facility available to members of Australians Abroad (and for answering my annoying blonde questions about editing, settings, etc). Thanks, Mammy!

To close, I leave you with my Zen thought for the day:

Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead.
Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow.
Do not walk beside me either.
Just pretty much leave me the hell alone.

Till next time!