We're now in the middle of sorting out our stuff to return to the UK, so thought I should make some attempt to get this up to date before we leave Melbourne in a few weeks. It's pretty cold here now so we're hoping for some English summer sunshine when we get back! We've not done any major travelling since our Sydney/Brisbane trip but have been busy nonetheless. A quick summary below and photos to follow...
We were straight back into being sociable when we got back to Melbourne from Brisbane. We met up with a friend and her family to see her brother in a show called Scrabble Unscripted, which was part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The general idea is that a couple of people play Scrabble at the side of the stage, and then others use words from the board to inspire their improv. Very funny stuff! The festival itself is (I think) the third largest in the world - it goes on for three weeks and there are more shows than you could possibly ever see. We managed to get to a few, including a night out with some other UK visitors.
The main focus for me in April was work, as I was very involved in organising a large event at Queen Victoria Market on 29th. The general idea was to recreate a Spanish/Latin American market within the market, with food, crafts, music and dancing. It all came together very well on the day which was a relief as we were a bit concerned that the rain would put people off. Fortunately it didn't, which I think is an indication of how popular cultural events are here.
Andrew has also been busy at work, and we have been spending a lot of time with friends here as well fitting in a weekend to Echuca in mid May. This is the town where Andrew grew up, about 3 hour drive away from where we are. He still has relatives from both sides of the family there, and so it was good to catch up with them. We also made the short trip across the New South Wales border to Deniliquin, my friend Kristie's hometown and also where Andrew's dad lived as a child. The town is famous for its Ute Muster (see http://www.deniutemuster.com.au/) which sounded so bizarre to me that I wasn't really sure it existed. But yes, it does!
The highlight of the following weekend was a trip to the MCG to see the Aussie Rules, North Melbourne (aka the Kangaroos, the team Andrew supports) againt Melbourne. I think I more or less got my head round the rules in the end and the Kangaroos won by one point, which is a very close game by AFL standards. I think I've got a long way to go before I'm converted but it was good to see it. Since then we have had a pretty quiet few weekends, the only major event being Andrew's colleague's wedding a few weeks ago.
So that brings us more or less up to date but there is another post to follow very soon, including some photos...
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Queensland - 31st March - 7th April
We left Sydney feeling like we could have easily spent several more days there, despite cramming lots in to the time we had. I had to laugh at the level of Sydney/Melbourne rivalry, which is especially clear in some of the museum exhibitions. And they really are proud of that bridge!
Anyway, our next stop was Brisbane - aka Brisneyland aka Brisvegas according to some of the marketing stuff you read. We have spent time in the area before as Andrew's dad lives nearby, but this time we decided to spend a few days in the city itself before heading out to see the family. There is much talk of Brisbane being a rapidly expanding city and a long way from the country town feel it used to have. This is probably true but coming from Melbourne then Sydney it did still feel very small!
We had a good wander through the city on day one, and found very good food in Chinatown. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling very well the next day so we didn't get to do some of the things we had planned. Of course we know that we'll be back in the area in the future so we weren't too worried. We then headed out to stay with Gary & Co, and has a relaxing few days there as well as spending some time on the Sunshine Coast. This is where Andrew's Grandad (Pa) and his wife Lil live, and it was really good to catch up with them again. Also, as you can see, Andrew and his dad made the most of the surf!
All in all it was a good break and also nice to have the rest of the Easter weekend to enjoy when we got back to Melbourne.
Cath testing out the can crusher
Three generations of Bickertons - Andrew, his Pa Laurie and Dad Gary
It's not called the Sunshine Coast for nothing!
Believe it or not Andrew and Gary are in these waves...
See, told you!
Owls at Gary & Helen's place
Anyway, our next stop was Brisbane - aka Brisneyland aka Brisvegas according to some of the marketing stuff you read. We have spent time in the area before as Andrew's dad lives nearby, but this time we decided to spend a few days in the city itself before heading out to see the family. There is much talk of Brisbane being a rapidly expanding city and a long way from the country town feel it used to have. This is probably true but coming from Melbourne then Sydney it did still feel very small!
We had a good wander through the city on day one, and found very good food in Chinatown. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling very well the next day so we didn't get to do some of the things we had planned. Of course we know that we'll be back in the area in the future so we weren't too worried. We then headed out to stay with Gary & Co, and has a relaxing few days there as well as spending some time on the Sunshine Coast. This is where Andrew's Grandad (Pa) and his wife Lil live, and it was really good to catch up with them again. Also, as you can see, Andrew and his dad made the most of the surf!
All in all it was a good break and also nice to have the rest of the Easter weekend to enjoy when we got back to Melbourne.
Cath testing out the can crusher
Three generations of Bickertons - Andrew, his Pa Laurie and Dad Gary
It's not called the Sunshine Coast for nothing!
Believe it or not Andrew and Gary are in these waves...
See, told you!
Owls at Gary & Helen's place
Sydney - Aquarium & Manly - 29/30th March
Not usually high on our list, but we really enjoyed our visit to the Sydney Aquarium, which is housed in the Darling Harbour area. Keeping with the worldwide theme of making the docklands look good, there has clearly been a lot of devlopment in that part of town. We also caught the ferry out to Manly (beach area) where we met up with Tania, the girl from London we have seen at various stages of our travels. I don't think any visit to Sydney would be complete without a trip on a ferry, and it was really good to be heading back into the harbour at sunset. The tour of the Opera House was another must see highlight.
One thing I did notice in Sydney is an amazing number of English accents and not just amongst the hoardes of tourists. Most people I know who have spent time in Australia have based themselves there - just as most Aussies go to London I suppose. We met up with one of of our former London housemates who is now living there, and loving the lifestyle espeically as she is very sporty and appreciates having a beach to run along every morning - a bit of a change from Tooting Bec Common! Our other catch up was with Maz and Chris, Sydneysider friends of Andrew's who were in London but have now headed home, so all in all it was quite a sociable few days.
One thing I did notice in Sydney is an amazing number of English accents and not just amongst the hoardes of tourists. Most people I know who have spent time in Australia have based themselves there - just as most Aussies go to London I suppose. We met up with one of of our former London housemates who is now living there, and loving the lifestyle espeically as she is very sporty and appreciates having a beach to run along every morning - a bit of a change from Tooting Bec Common! Our other catch up was with Maz and Chris, Sydneysider friends of Andrew's who were in London but have now headed home, so all in all it was quite a sociable few days.
Sydney - Gardens, Opera House & The Bridge - 28th March
Another crazily late update...
We finally went further afield again at the end of March, first stop Sydney. I had never been before so was keen to be a tourist. I don't think I would like to live there, but did really enjoy the visit and loved seeing the Opera House which seemed so familiar after seeing so many photos. We walked miles through the gardens, stopping at a few museums and spending time in the harbour area, and early on day two Andrew braved the Bridge Climb whilst I did some wandering around The Rocks area.
Here are some photos from the first few days of our trip...
Spider in the Botanical Gardens
The famous sights
Flying Foxes in the Botanical Gardens
Andrew after his climb to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
We finally went further afield again at the end of March, first stop Sydney. I had never been before so was keen to be a tourist. I don't think I would like to live there, but did really enjoy the visit and loved seeing the Opera House which seemed so familiar after seeing so many photos. We walked miles through the gardens, stopping at a few museums and spending time in the harbour area, and early on day two Andrew braved the Bridge Climb whilst I did some wandering around The Rocks area.
Here are some photos from the first few days of our trip...
Spider in the Botanical Gardens
The famous sights
Flying Foxes in the Botanical Gardens
Andrew after his climb to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Moomba - Birdman rally - 10th March
Melbourne is very big on major events, and one very long established one is Moomba which takes place every year on Labour Day weekend. In case you were wondering, Moomba is an Aboriginal word meaning "Let's get together and have fun" so that pretty much sums it up. There are various activities, mainly based around the Yarra River which runs through the city, and we wandered along to see the Birdman Rally. This is basically an excuse for people to dress up in silly costumes and jump into the river on the pretence that they are actually trying to fly...
Admittedly some did give the flying idea their best shot, whilst others clearly just felt like jumping in the river! It was fun to watch and was carefully judged from a boat by Lord Mayor John So amongst others. Incidentally, not sure if anyone in the UK will have heard of John So, but he has recently been voted the world's most popular mayor, and certainly got a far louder cheer from the crowd than anyone else that day.
Here are some photos for you:
A very pretty but not especially useful flying machine
At least this one tried - I think his flight of a few metres was enough to make him the winner
Birdman website: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=243&pa=3421&pg=3431
Moomba site: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=243&pg=1832
Admittedly some did give the flying idea their best shot, whilst others clearly just felt like jumping in the river! It was fun to watch and was carefully judged from a boat by Lord Mayor John So amongst others. Incidentally, not sure if anyone in the UK will have heard of John So, but he has recently been voted the world's most popular mayor, and certainly got a far louder cheer from the crowd than anyone else that day.
Here are some photos for you:
A very pretty but not especially useful flying machine
At least this one tried - I think his flight of a few metres was enough to make him the winner
Birdman website: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=243&pa=3421&pg=3431
Moomba site: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=243&pg=1832
Werribee Open Range Zoo - 2nd March
As a wedding present, one of Andrew's friends bought us a ticket for 3 zoos in the area - Melbourne, Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Open Range Zoo. Here are some pictures from Werribee...
the web address is: http://www.zoo.org.au/vorz/
the web address is: http://www.zoo.org.au/vorz/
We're still here!
I have made several promises in recent weeks to update the blog, so here goes...
As was probably always going to happen, many things have got in the way of trips around Australia in recent months, but we've been enjoying our life here so as time has gone on we've made spending time with friends and family our main priority. Also we've both been working pretty hard recently which inevitably eats into time! I think it's fair to say that we're not in especially stressful work situations for the most part, so even though we're doing more hours now - 3 days and extra bits here and there for me, and pretty much full time for Andrew - we actually enjoy it most of the time. I get on very well with the people I work with and the organisation is doing some great work, so I will take away lots of happy memories and also some great experience when I finish at the end of June.
Yes, that's next month! Unbelievably, we're leaving Melbourne to head back to the UK in about 8 weeks - finalising travel details at the moment. We're very much looking forward to the next step, and to catching up with everyone in England but of course the other side of it is waving goodbye to the Aussie crowd. As you can imagine we have a sociable few weeks ahead (any excuse!) and we also have some more things we want to see before we go. That said, we will of course be back so there'll be plenty of chances in the future to be Aussie tourists again. Who knows, I might even persuade Andrew to do the Neighbours tour with me!
That's all for now, but I'm about to put up a collection of short posts about some of the things we've been up to in the past few months so keep reading...
As was probably always going to happen, many things have got in the way of trips around Australia in recent months, but we've been enjoying our life here so as time has gone on we've made spending time with friends and family our main priority. Also we've both been working pretty hard recently which inevitably eats into time! I think it's fair to say that we're not in especially stressful work situations for the most part, so even though we're doing more hours now - 3 days and extra bits here and there for me, and pretty much full time for Andrew - we actually enjoy it most of the time. I get on very well with the people I work with and the organisation is doing some great work, so I will take away lots of happy memories and also some great experience when I finish at the end of June.
Yes, that's next month! Unbelievably, we're leaving Melbourne to head back to the UK in about 8 weeks - finalising travel details at the moment. We're very much looking forward to the next step, and to catching up with everyone in England but of course the other side of it is waving goodbye to the Aussie crowd. As you can imagine we have a sociable few weeks ahead (any excuse!) and we also have some more things we want to see before we go. That said, we will of course be back so there'll be plenty of chances in the future to be Aussie tourists again. Who knows, I might even persuade Andrew to do the Neighbours tour with me!
That's all for now, but I'm about to put up a collection of short posts about some of the things we've been up to in the past few months so keep reading...
Friday, February 23, 2007
Great Ocean Road
We had managed to fit in a day trip to part of the Great Ocean Road when my parents & Katherine were here in December, but we were still keen to see more of it and so last weekend we decided that it was time for a road trip. Our little car is doing us proud, and all I can say is thank goodness for air conditioning! Temperatures when we left Melbourne on Friday were already in the 30s, and stayed that way for much of the weekend.
Although the Great Ocean Road drive is described as an easy trip from Melbourne, it is only really close by Australian standards! It took us about 4.5 hours to drive to Warrnambool along the most direct road - it's more along the winding Ocean Road - whilst on the map it all looks very close together. We stayed the night at a nice motel, had some great seafood for dinner (well, at least I did) and started on our way back along the ocean route on Saturday morning.
After passing through Peterborough (a bit different from your version J&V!), we stopped at a series of lookout points all with gorgeous views. The most famous is the 12 apostles which we reached early afternoon. Although you can't see 12 of them any more as some of them are obscured and the sea is constantly eroding the rock, it is a very beautiful sight. What's left of London Bridge (see 1st photo below) is also really impressive; it used to join the mainland until part of the "bridge" collapsed in 1990, leaving 2 unfortunate tousists temporarily stranded on the newly formed island! We also passed through a lot of forest throughout the day, beautiful in its own right but it is definitely not an ocean road in many parts.
We went for a dip in the ocean when we reached our stop for the night, Apollo Bay, which was a much needed opportunity to cool down. We stayed the night at the Eco Lodge YHA, an interesting new hostel designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. After heading out for some fish & chips (had to be done) we watched a film on the hostel's huge plasma TV - not sure on the energy consumption angle there... Hostels here seem to be pretty posh, and a double room can cost as much as an en suite motel room! We will have to be a bit creative on our accommodation choices as we travel in Australia, as we were definitely more than a little bit spoilt with South American prices.
The winding drive from Apollo Bay to Lorne on Sunday morning was one of the prettiest sections of the route. I tried to take photos from the car with limited success, but the one below should give you an idea. It was still blue skies all the way and as we reached the beaches closer to Melbourne (including the famous Bells Beach) it was clear that the surfers were out in force. When we stopped at Lorne beach just before Christmas it was pretty much deserted, but this time you couldn't even find a parking space!
We returned to the city mid afternoon and having got the travel bug back immediately started planning our next trips. We have just booked to go to Sydney then Brisbane late March/early April, and aiming to fit in some shorter trips in the meantime...
Although the Great Ocean Road drive is described as an easy trip from Melbourne, it is only really close by Australian standards! It took us about 4.5 hours to drive to Warrnambool along the most direct road - it's more along the winding Ocean Road - whilst on the map it all looks very close together. We stayed the night at a nice motel, had some great seafood for dinner (well, at least I did) and started on our way back along the ocean route on Saturday morning.
After passing through Peterborough (a bit different from your version J&V!), we stopped at a series of lookout points all with gorgeous views. The most famous is the 12 apostles which we reached early afternoon. Although you can't see 12 of them any more as some of them are obscured and the sea is constantly eroding the rock, it is a very beautiful sight. What's left of London Bridge (see 1st photo below) is also really impressive; it used to join the mainland until part of the "bridge" collapsed in 1990, leaving 2 unfortunate tousists temporarily stranded on the newly formed island! We also passed through a lot of forest throughout the day, beautiful in its own right but it is definitely not an ocean road in many parts.
We went for a dip in the ocean when we reached our stop for the night, Apollo Bay, which was a much needed opportunity to cool down. We stayed the night at the Eco Lodge YHA, an interesting new hostel designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible. After heading out for some fish & chips (had to be done) we watched a film on the hostel's huge plasma TV - not sure on the energy consumption angle there... Hostels here seem to be pretty posh, and a double room can cost as much as an en suite motel room! We will have to be a bit creative on our accommodation choices as we travel in Australia, as we were definitely more than a little bit spoilt with South American prices.
The winding drive from Apollo Bay to Lorne on Sunday morning was one of the prettiest sections of the route. I tried to take photos from the car with limited success, but the one below should give you an idea. It was still blue skies all the way and as we reached the beaches closer to Melbourne (including the famous Bells Beach) it was clear that the surfers were out in force. When we stopped at Lorne beach just before Christmas it was pretty much deserted, but this time you couldn't even find a parking space!
We returned to the city mid afternoon and having got the travel bug back immediately started planning our next trips. We have just booked to go to Sydney then Brisbane late March/early April, and aiming to fit in some shorter trips in the meantime...
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Summer in Melbourne
It seems quite odd to be blogging now that we're not rushing from one place to the next every few days, but then on the other hand I know that people are still keeping up with us via this site so thought it was time for an update. Also, although we now have our very own landline and a cheap call package, the 11 hour time difference means that I am not chatting to people in the UK almost as much as I did when we were in London. I hope to catch up with more people properly soon!
OK, where to start in summarising the past month+? The first thing I have to say is that unlike the UK we most definitely have not seen any snow in recent weeks - it's certainly the warmest February I have ever experienced! The weather in Melbourne is in many ways unpredictable - for example today it has been 38 but is now raining. That has its advantages, especially when much needed rain falls, but from a personal point of view can also be a complete pain when you get caught in a thunderstorm in your flip-flops (or thongs as I've been told I must call them!) Someone said to me recently that without having the weather to talk about Melburnians would be lost, so at least that makes me feel not too far away from home...
I'm really enjoying my work here which is proving to be really varied, and of course it's a great chance for me to improve my Spanish. Andrew is also happy where he is, and it's good not to be back full time at this stage. We definitely want to focus on the holiday side of things while we have the chance, and we are currently in the process of pencilling in dates for trips within Australia. We're very aware of how much we want to do and how quickly time is flying by. We are just back from our first Aussie mini adventure - a weekend on the Great Ocean Road (post to follow) - and so we now have the lovely feeling of coming back to our own home after a few nights away.
We now feel well and truly settled in flat (we even have internet!) and have already had several friends round for dinner. The chef is also back in action - in fact we've both been cooking a lot - and don't you just love the apron?!...
We also had a party for Andrew's birthday here. We were supposed to have a few drinks here then head out to our local pub, but that pretty much went out of the window after a second trip to the bottle shop (otherwise known as off licence - they have drive-thru ones here!) As the photos show a good time was had by all, and you won't be surprised to see that we still can't dance...
On the day of his actual birthday we decided to take the day off to be tourists, including taking a wander around the Melbourne museum which has diverse exhibits to say the least. Ryan, this one's for you - see if you can work out whose kitchen this is from the original Neighbours set, now housed in the museum:
In the evening we had dinner with Andrew's mum and sister, so it can safely be said that the day was well and truly celebrated!
Other things to report...
Australia Day (26th January) conveniently fell on a Friday this year so everyone made the most of the long weekend. We started by reintegrating ourselves with the world of hostelling - not though staying in one but going on a pub crawl with Tania who we know from London. Remember the story about the girl we bumped into in a La Paz hostel? Well she is now here! It was a really good night albeit slightly strange to be part of a group of about 30 backpackers again!
Whilst recovering on Friday we saw this little air show from our balcony, especially put on for us obviously:
..and the rest of the weekend was spent at various BBQs, so yes there is some truth in the stereotype on that one! I also went to see Charlie (a friend who some of you will know/may have met at our wedding) performing as Mole in a really lovely production of Wind in the Willows at the Botanic Gardens here. I went with some friends and their 8 year old son, so didn't feel too silly pretending to be a rabbit!
Another interesting evening out was watching the ‘soccer’ semi final between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United at the Telstra Dome. I have to admit that the prospect of going to watch a game of football that everyone insisted on calling soccer was a little bit worrying; I was even less pleased to discover that I had to support the blue team against the red one! The first half was pretty disappointing and an early goal from Adelaide didn’t help. The game was however livened up by the interesting shouts from the crowd, my favourite being “go home you Adelaide bogan” closely followed by “ it’s soccer not football” as yet another slightly far from accurate shot went flying miles over the bar…
A Melbourne equaliser early in the second half sent the crowd a bit mad, but as time ticked away it looked like Adelaide were going to win on their away goal. Just when we thought that all was lost, supersub Robinson came on for "the Victory" and saved the day in the 93rd minute. When he was interviewed afterwards his Scouse accent filled the stadium - as if we needed any confirmation of where the real home of football is! In case you were wondering, Melbourne have since won the final - against Adelaide, don't ask! - by a pretty impressive 6-0...
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Celebrating the Victory's victory
And finally, here are a few photos from December that we never got round to posting:
My parents with Andrew's Dad and sister Jo at the Melbourne Wedding party
Andrew and Andrew (aka Loud)
Mum, Kath & Cath in the sea at Lorne
OK, where to start in summarising the past month+? The first thing I have to say is that unlike the UK we most definitely have not seen any snow in recent weeks - it's certainly the warmest February I have ever experienced! The weather in Melbourne is in many ways unpredictable - for example today it has been 38 but is now raining. That has its advantages, especially when much needed rain falls, but from a personal point of view can also be a complete pain when you get caught in a thunderstorm in your flip-flops (or thongs as I've been told I must call them!) Someone said to me recently that without having the weather to talk about Melburnians would be lost, so at least that makes me feel not too far away from home...
I'm really enjoying my work here which is proving to be really varied, and of course it's a great chance for me to improve my Spanish. Andrew is also happy where he is, and it's good not to be back full time at this stage. We definitely want to focus on the holiday side of things while we have the chance, and we are currently in the process of pencilling in dates for trips within Australia. We're very aware of how much we want to do and how quickly time is flying by. We are just back from our first Aussie mini adventure - a weekend on the Great Ocean Road (post to follow) - and so we now have the lovely feeling of coming back to our own home after a few nights away.
We now feel well and truly settled in flat (we even have internet!) and have already had several friends round for dinner. The chef is also back in action - in fact we've both been cooking a lot - and don't you just love the apron?!...
We also had a party for Andrew's birthday here. We were supposed to have a few drinks here then head out to our local pub, but that pretty much went out of the window after a second trip to the bottle shop (otherwise known as off licence - they have drive-thru ones here!) As the photos show a good time was had by all, and you won't be surprised to see that we still can't dance...
On the day of his actual birthday we decided to take the day off to be tourists, including taking a wander around the Melbourne museum which has diverse exhibits to say the least. Ryan, this one's for you - see if you can work out whose kitchen this is from the original Neighbours set, now housed in the museum:
In the evening we had dinner with Andrew's mum and sister, so it can safely be said that the day was well and truly celebrated!
Other things to report...
Australia Day (26th January) conveniently fell on a Friday this year so everyone made the most of the long weekend. We started by reintegrating ourselves with the world of hostelling - not though staying in one but going on a pub crawl with Tania who we know from London. Remember the story about the girl we bumped into in a La Paz hostel? Well she is now here! It was a really good night albeit slightly strange to be part of a group of about 30 backpackers again!
Whilst recovering on Friday we saw this little air show from our balcony, especially put on for us obviously:
..and the rest of the weekend was spent at various BBQs, so yes there is some truth in the stereotype on that one! I also went to see Charlie (a friend who some of you will know/may have met at our wedding) performing as Mole in a really lovely production of Wind in the Willows at the Botanic Gardens here. I went with some friends and their 8 year old son, so didn't feel too silly pretending to be a rabbit!
Another interesting evening out was watching the ‘soccer’ semi final between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United at the Telstra Dome. I have to admit that the prospect of going to watch a game of football that everyone insisted on calling soccer was a little bit worrying; I was even less pleased to discover that I had to support the blue team against the red one! The first half was pretty disappointing and an early goal from Adelaide didn’t help. The game was however livened up by the interesting shouts from the crowd, my favourite being “go home you Adelaide bogan” closely followed by “ it’s soccer not football” as yet another slightly far from accurate shot went flying miles over the bar…
A Melbourne equaliser early in the second half sent the crowd a bit mad, but as time ticked away it looked like Adelaide were going to win on their away goal. Just when we thought that all was lost, supersub Robinson came on for "the Victory" and saved the day in the 93rd minute. When he was interviewed afterwards his Scouse accent filled the stadium - as if we needed any confirmation of where the real home of football is! In case you were wondering, Melbourne have since won the final - against Adelaide, don't ask! - by a pretty impressive 6-0...
Celebrating the Victory's victory
And finally, here are a few photos from December that we never got round to posting:
My parents with Andrew's Dad and sister Jo at the Melbourne Wedding party
Andrew and Andrew (aka Loud)
Mum, Kath & Cath in the sea at Lorne
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Settling in Melbourne
Big news item number one is that we now have our own place. You may remember that we were having some difficulties finding somewhere close to Andrew's work, as there was a lot of competition in the area. As a result of this it was proving pretty much impossible to get a 6 month lease as the landlords were understandably taking the people who could commit to 12. The low point of the process was finding out by accident that an application we had submitted had been rejected when we saw it down as let in the property listings!
At this point we decided to change our tactics ie broaden our search area and look at classified ads rather than go through agents. It paid off straight away as we found the place we're now in via the gumtree website. We have taken over someone else's lease as she was relocating. It's less that a year old and so very modern, and in a great area (Richmond for those who know Melbourne) close to the city, bars, restaurants, shops etc. The added bonus is that we have great views from our balcony/communal roof terrace across the MCG to the city as these night shots show...
Unlike the UK, furnished lets pretty much don't exist here, so the next challenge was finding furniture. Fortunately between Andrew's stuff from his old place and loans from his mum, sister and friends (thanks everyone) the only major things we needed to buy were a table and a compuer desk. And with Ikea a short drive away, problem solved! Several trips the storage unit later, all we needed to worry about was making sure that the drinks cupboard was well stocked :-) We're loving having our own place, and being able to cook in our our kitchen and put clothes in a wardrobe rather than a backpack is very exciting after so many months of wandering!
The other news is that we both have jobs! Andrew is back at the company he helped to set up/has been involved with for years, and I am working in fundraising for a Spanish/Latin American welfare centre. Andrew is full time at the moment, and I'm working a very civilised 2 day week and trying my best to be a domestic goddess the rest of the time! We're planning to do some travelling soon but in the meantime enjoying city life and looking forward to Australia Day (26th Jan) and Andrew's birthday celebrations in early Feb.
At this point we decided to change our tactics ie broaden our search area and look at classified ads rather than go through agents. It paid off straight away as we found the place we're now in via the gumtree website. We have taken over someone else's lease as she was relocating. It's less that a year old and so very modern, and in a great area (Richmond for those who know Melbourne) close to the city, bars, restaurants, shops etc. The added bonus is that we have great views from our balcony/communal roof terrace across the MCG to the city as these night shots show...
Unlike the UK, furnished lets pretty much don't exist here, so the next challenge was finding furniture. Fortunately between Andrew's stuff from his old place and loans from his mum, sister and friends (thanks everyone) the only major things we needed to buy were a table and a compuer desk. And with Ikea a short drive away, problem solved! Several trips the storage unit later, all we needed to worry about was making sure that the drinks cupboard was well stocked :-) We're loving having our own place, and being able to cook in our our kitchen and put clothes in a wardrobe rather than a backpack is very exciting after so many months of wandering!
The other news is that we both have jobs! Andrew is back at the company he helped to set up/has been involved with for years, and I am working in fundraising for a Spanish/Latin American welfare centre. Andrew is full time at the moment, and I'm working a very civilised 2 day week and trying my best to be a domestic goddess the rest of the time! We're planning to do some travelling soon but in the meantime enjoying city life and looking forward to Australia Day (26th Jan) and Andrew's birthday celebrations in early Feb.
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