Our House and the gardener!

For those of you who are interested in these things here are a few photos of our house and the new gardener!

I guess our house is pretty Australian, or pretty normal for these parts. The differences from a 'normal' English house are:

It is all on one level. Almost all houses here are. Although the Queenslander houses have their level raised up.

There is no carpet, everywhere is tiled.

The lounge, kitchen and dining room is all one open area.

All the rooms are fitted with fans and air conditioning.

All the windows are screened to stop the bugs getting in.

There is a covered outdoor area to sit. Almost all houses have these here as it is too hot to sit in the sun.

The house is cyclone proof or supposed to be. I guess it survived a category 5 cyclone in 2011, so it must be OK.

There is a big garage. All the houses I have been in have garages. I know many do in the UK too, but I think here they are more widespread because of the heat and the need to keep your cars cool.