Back to Oz
The Three Amigos
In front of our House
Our Kitchen
James and Me
Our Place
Byron Trip
Byron Flood
Aussie Soccer 4:00am
Smoke Rings
Our Backyard
Soccer Match 4:30am
And
back to Aussie land we went…. Just when I’d finally gotten used to New
Zealand currency. Going back to Australia felt strangely like going
home. There was also the excitement of staying in one place for longer
than a week, and actually having a bed of my own. Even little things
like having a bathroom. Oh, the anticipation of running water was
almost too much!
When we arrived in Melbourne they were
experiencing a recording breaking heat wave for that time of year and
it coincided perfectly the Commonwealth games that had just started.
For the next week Polly, Ian, James (my new roommates) and I went back
and forth between moving into our new place and enjoying all the events
in the city. We’d go and see free events throughout the day and during
the evenings enjoy amazing concerts and shows from all over the world.
At the end of the week Polly headed back to England and James, Ian and
I settled into our home. Settling in pretty much involved our friends
coming over for drinks and barbeque every single night. What better way
to settle into Australian life?
Over Easter weekend, since I
wasn’t working yet and Ian just felt like taking off somewhere, we
rented a car and drove the 24 hours to Byron Bay for the annual Blues
and Roots Festival. It was incredible. Five days of concerts featuring
acts such as Xavier Rudd, David Gray, Pete Murray, Martha Wainright and
India Irie, on 4 different stages. The weather was +35 and the waves at
the beach were huge! We had such a blast even though our accommodations
fell through and we had to sleep in the car every night. The day we
left, there were torrential down pours and the whole town got flooded!
We barely made it out in time. The drive is a full 24 hours each way.
And is probably one of the most stressful things I’ve done, especially
with Ian insisting we stop at every dead kangaroo we passed on the side
of the road to make sure it didn't have a live joie inside the pouch.
With one, he actually tugged the little feet sticking out and felt the
pouch to make sure he felt no movement. Gross. This is a serious
outback man we're talking about here. Imagine the upset when after
trying to save every kangaroo, an owl flew straight into our windshield
and killed itself. Ian didn’t get over it for days.
Melbourne is
an amazing city. Ever since I’ve been here there has always been
something going on. First, the Melbourne Cup, Australian open, the
Commonwealth Games, which I was incredibly lucky to be here for, then
the Grand Prix, the Comedy Festival, the Film Festival, “footy” (Aussie
rules football) and now they’ve made it into the world cup for soccer.
Not only do I love the city we live in, but I love our area. We’re a
fifteen minute jog down our street to the beach, surrounded by parks
and cafes, and most importantly, two streets over from Ian’s parent’s
house which means at least one free meal a week (yay!). We are very
lucky. James is Italian and get this, his two cousins on one side are
construction workers, so everything in our house gets fixed for free
and his other cousin owns a pasta factory around the corner so we never
go hungry. Ha! As for our neighbours, all I can say is that they’re
interesting. On one side we have a lady who, to put it delicately, has
something wrong with her. She comes out every morning when we leave the
house, and yells (in a voice comparible to Kermit the Frog) “What’s the
big idea?!” At night while we’re on the front porch she comes out with
her huge spotlight, shines it in our faces and yells, “What’s the big
idea?!” She won’t tell us her name so Ian started calling her “What’s
The Big Idea”, and now it’s stuck. On the other side we have a crooked
old woman who hobbles over once a week to whack her walker against our
(glass) front door to comment on something we’re doing that she doesn’t
approve of. For example, we have too many bottles in our recycling box,
and she disapproves of our wooden venetian blinds. I kid you not.
Across from us lives a very sentimental drug dealer who freaked James
out by giving him a chocolate bunny for Easter. For three days James
would spontaneously blurt out, “Why did he give me a chocolate bunny?!”
So Ian and I ate it. He’s now moved on to making James chocolate cake.
We also have a three legged cat that waits by our door every night for
us to let it in and give it some attention. So as you can see, it is a
motley crew that keeps us constantly entertained.
So you’re
probably wondering what I’ve been doing for work. “WORK”. The word was
very foreign for a while. Well, I was hired by the Australian Institute
of Mathematics to do direct marketing of a children’s tutorial program.
To make a long story short, I was promoted to supervisor within the
first month, which was good financially, but not mentally. There were
three of us supervisors, all under quite a bit of pressure. While I
found it a good challenge at first, within a very short period of time
the other supervisors and I became stressed and very unhappy. I pretty
much decided one day that although the opportunity was excellent, I
only have a short period of time left in Melbourne and I want to be
enjoying it. I don’t know what I would have done without James and Ian.
They always had a glass of wine waiting for me when I’d get home from
work and when I got promoted they taped my certificate on the fridge
like proud parents. We all look out for each other and take care of
each other, so when they saw how unhappy I was they convinced me it
wasn’t worth it. James was having issues with his job too and quit and
Ian has been home studying for his exams, so for the past two weeks
we’ve all been home watching Australian soaps, sitting on the back
patio enjoying the sunshine and enjoying each others company. I start
my new job next week as a foreign currency officer, so I have to get in
all the soaps I can over the next few days. : ) The only downfall of
Ian studying at home is that James and I are always his targets. Ian is
finishing his remedial massage degree and every night someone is on the
massage table in our kitchen, getting cracked, twisted, or stretched.
This is remedial, not relaxation massage, so it HURTS! I don’t really
know how much more either of us can take! Ian has started recruiting
patients from everywhere. Lately, it’s been the sentimental drug-dealer
frequenting our kitchen massage table. Apparently Ian has healed him
and now he’s promised to make Ian a chocolate cake. How precious!
Melbourne, although sunny most days, has gotten cold and we haven’t had
our heating installed yet. In fact, it’s so cold we actually have to
wear our hats and scarves inside and every morning Ian and I kill
ourselves laughing as we blow smoke rings, just from talking in our
freezing cold kitchen. Ah well, I lived in a tent for a month. At least
I have running water now.
So life has calmed down, which is
good. It’s impossible to go at the rate I was going for too long. We
just had a huge 30th surprise party for Ian, which was probably the
best night we’ve have since I’ve been back, although his birthday
lasted every night for a week. I think I’ll make a point of doing the
same for mine next year.
It’s plain to see I’m in the sports
capital of the world. I just wish I actually knew something about
sports…. As I mentioned, I am extremely lucky to be in Australia this
year, not only for the Commonwealth Games, but also because Australia
has made it into the World Cup for soccer for the first time in 32
years. I can’t begin to explain the excitement in the city right now.
It doesn’t matter that the games start at 2:00am and finish at 5:00am
on a week night. Everyone is up and watching. It is a VERY frightening
place to be in a room or even worse, a pub, with a bunch of big, insane
Aussie men when they’ve won a match. You never know what will get
broken. Hopefully not myself, but there are no guarantees.
Anyway,
although I’m loving my time here I’m also looking forward to heading
home in a couple months. I probably won’t have much to tell until then,
but then again, you never know….
In the meantime, I love hearing from you so please keep in touch!
P.s.I've included photos of my house, backyard, kitchen and roomates.....Incase you were interested. :)
