The inevitable has happened, as predicted by, erm, everyone. We've had a rather nice time over here this year and have decided to stay. MMC did its best to turn us into nervous wrecks and eventually made the decision for us. Last time I posted, I was still making the decision whether to accept an offer should it be made. Presumptuous, you might say. Well yes, because they didn't offer me a job. The guy who was my registrar when I was at kings didn't even get a job, so there wasn't much chance for me it seems, despite what my boss said.

As you know, Lou didn't get a job and given that everyone was offering us jobs left, right and centre in Australia the choice wasn't difficult. Except that we have mothers. It seems that no matter how old a boy (man) gets, he still needs his mummy. Apparently, my wife does too. And so, a good month was spent in turmoil, both of us thinking that we wanted to stay in Oz, but becoming depressed at the thought of upsetting those at home. In reality, I think the biggest fear was actually telling them that we were staying. I woke Mum and Dad up to tell them early in the morning and I think the surprise attack made it easier. Lou's folks had been in constant touch with us and knew the trouble we were having and had been well prepared for it. Not that it made Lou keen to tell them when it finally came to it.

To make it clear, we're staying here for good. Not coming home. Our children will be little Aussies, with surfboards instead of teddies and bronzed skin. We're both very happy, now that we've made the decision, for so many reasons. Our careers will be better, our family life will be much happier, our children will be healthier and grow up in a friendly environment and we'll have more time for each other and the things that we love. I've made the decision to give up on a career in surgery - strangely, I'm quite happy about it. The only person who I know to have done something similar is Alex C. He became a GP when everyone thought he would be a surgeon, and he did it for the same reasons. It would make no sense for me to train to be a surgeon - the whole point about being here is for the life outside the hospital and surgical training and a career in surgery would preclude that.

The next step is Emergency Medicine training in Gold Coast up in Queensland. Their training is excellent and they have a dedicated revision programme for the primary college exams which we'll sit in April 08. I'll finish my MRCS at some point, for the sake of completion, and then I'll have loads more letters after my name. We’re going to flog our flat in Frimley and buy a house with five times as much floor space for the same price, ship the car over and finally unwrap the wedding presents! The last bit is what we're most excited about I think.

We're coming home in August, to have Lou's, mine, Lucy's, Fraser's and Cris' birthdays. Gemma's getting hitched and there's a niece and a bump to say hello to (the bump does not belong to me). Belgian grand prix should be a hoot; I've just got to make sure I don't do any driving in Belgium. Been practicing in a Cortina all year, so god help whatever little car I get my hands on for the weekend.