Melbourne, our home away from home

I thought it’d be a good idea to post an entry on our blog.  Unfortunately, I have no real focus, so it may jump around a little bit.  Let me start with some news from work. 

If you weren’t sure who “I” was in the intro, the word “work” should be a dead give-away.  While that’s true, Erin’s also been hard at work readying our apartment and pestering the nursing board for her registration.  It seems that’s going well too, all they need are the results of her English language exam.  To my dismay, she passed, or at least she claims she did. 

I’ve come down here at a very interesting time for Vision Critical.  Our CEO and Founder came down to present at a big research conference.  Part of the festivities included a harbour cruise on private yacht.  Erin and I were grateful to get such a great chance to see the harbour so early into our adventure down here.  We were also happy to have great company; everyone that I work with has been so friendly and generous. 

As Sean started this entry over a week ago and has not completed it, I’m going to take the initiative. The day after the harbour cruise, Kris, someone that Sean works with, invited us and another guy over to his familes’ place for dinner. He and his wife are Canadian. They have two adorable boys who put on a puppet show for us. We had such a nice time and it was the best meal we’ve had yet (they even made me a special tofu dish).

Today is September 22 and Sean and I arrived in Melbourne yesterday for our second trip down here. As it turns out, we will be spending more time here than expected. Sean will be working here 2-3 days out of each week for up to three months. Melbourne has a much different feel than Sydney; it’s very artistic and has a big café culture. Sydney, on the other hand, has more of a surf and pub culture. Sydney is bigger and more crowded, as well. Melbourne also had the world’s biggest tram system, although I haven’t used it. I walk everywhere.

 I’m not sure how long I will be accompanying Sean down here for, but so far there seems to be plenty for me to do. While Sean goes to work, I’ve been sightseeing. There are lots of parks, museums, art galleries, shopping, etc. to keep me occupied. I’ve been learning a little about Aboriginal art and visiting galleries. Today, I’m considering a trip to the Melbourne Aquarium. I had booked an Eco tour for today to see koalas and kangeroos in the wild. Unfortunately, it was overbooked and I have to reschedule. What a bummer.  In surrounding Victoria, outside of the city, there are many beautiful national parks and outdoor things to do. Next week, Sean and I are staying here over the weekend so we can do some exploring.

After some of the issues we’ve been having with our flat in Sydney, it’s somewhat of a relief to be spending so much time in Melbourne. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but I delivered a letter to our property manager on Monday listing about 8 complaints, pertaining to everything from lack of hot water for showers to unsanitary conditions of “rubbish” from the shop downstairs. I’ve learned that when you live near the beach in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, you are paying for location and not much else. Sean and I have been having renter’s remorse and realize now that we should have been more patient in our search. However, the most important thing was for us to have a place that would allow us to bring Daisy over, so at least it met that requirement. I just keep reminding myself that our lease is only for 6 months.

Moving in

Well, we're moved in to our new place and it's fully furnished.  It already looks much better. While Sean spent the entire weekend assembling furniture, I cleaned the place floor to ceiling. Allegedly, it was cleaned prior to us moving in, but the woman's hair in the shower was evidence to the contrary and I wasn't taking any chances. We have all necessary appliances now. Flats over here don't come with refrigerators, so we purchased one. We also purchased a machine that doubles as a washer and a dryer (these seem to be popular here). Although I took proper measurements of the space alotted in the bathroom for the washer/dryer, I failed to measure the width of the doorway into the bathroom. You can see where this is going. A handyman should be coming shortly to look into shaving 2 mm off of the door frame.

Although there are many good things about our apartment (lots of space, next to the beach, bus stop, nearby cafes and shops), we're also discovering some less positive attributes (in addition to the colors). Part of the benefit of living near the beach is the sea breeze. However, many of the screens have holes in them. As you will read later in this post, I'm neurotic about bugs, so this didn't sit well with me The real estate agent told me that the landlord was not responsible for replacing the screens. In fact, many flats here don't even come with screens. After consulting our friends Paula and Allan and Sean's co-workers, we've learned that this is a load of crap. Sean called him and someone should be at least coming to look at it, but he continues to say that the place isn't even supposed to come with fly screens and the previous tenant left them here. I'm copping somewhat of a resentment over this exchange. Also, we need spark sticks to light the stove and there might be a problem with the hot water in the shower. Coming from where I come from, I'm under the false assumption that for the amount we pay in rent (more than double what we paid in the states), some of these things should be taken care of. I'm learning otherwise. I don't think of myself as a high-maintenence person, but by Sydney standards, I might just be.

I've gone to war against cockroaches that I'm not sure even live here. Everyone keeps saying that cockroaches are a problem in the flats of the Eastern Suburbs and Sydney is infamous for their cockroaches. I've initiated a preemptive strike. I bought a pack of 12 cockroach baits and placed them strategically around the flat. I've also done a fair amount of research on cockroach prevention: do not leave cardboard around, do not buy wicker furniture, etc. Sean thinks I'm paranoid. His assertion is supported by the fact that I have yet to see an actual cockroach in or near our flat. But mark my words, he'll be thanking me in a few months when it becomes cockroach season and our flat remains virtually bug-free and sterile. Hopefully these chemicals aren't too carcinogenic ( I worry more about Daisy, who'll be arriving in late October, than I do about us).