OZ - Week 1 is over

Week 1 is over and it has been a fast and furious introduction to Australia and its great people and places. We have enjoyed beautiful beaches and seen amazing birds and sea life... Jon saw a pod of dolphins in our man made canal outside our apartment building. He was hoping that is w as a dorsal fin of a bull shark, which are apparently plenty in the canal. They actually swim up the canals from the ocean to spawn. You cannot go swimming in the canals for this reason (obviously!).

My commute is so far the only negative aspect, and really it is not too horrible as for the one hour and 45 minutes I can claim 1 hour of it to work time as the train provides free WiFi. Jon has been surfing everyday this week, but today looks really quite crappy so he is not going out. We will journey to Bryan Bay again this weekend with the rental car. We have it until Tuesday of next week and by then (or soon after) we need to find ourselves a vehicle.

I am still waiting for a Tax File Number in order to get paid. But I do now have an Australian bank account and even a VISA!

My work environment is really good.  I have my own big spacious office and the kitchen has a gourmet coffee maker and most importantly the team is very friendly and helpful.  My colleague Lindzie, who will likely become a friend here too, is super sweet and has already helped me find a yoga studio and a few things as such.

The weather is really beautiful, cool mornings and nights, but during the day the sun shines brightly and the temperature goes up to 20-25 like a Canadian summer day and it is the end of their winter right now. It is very backwards when trying to figure out the time and season at home in my brain right now, and likely that will just get worse with time;

I am wiring this on the train on my morning commute, because apparently I ran out of my data consumption using Skype, which is a lesson to be learned all right.

I will be getting a little tablet so I will not have to commute with my laptop daily to work on the train.

That is it for now.... PS. I still love it here!!

 

 

Australia - I love you!

Australia - I love you!

It is not often that I find myself almost with tears of joy, but I did a few days ago when I found my new home.

We landed in Australia a week ago tomorrow, but in some ways it feels like it has been months ago. The flight, car rental and hostel dealings went smooth and after we spent the first day buying thin wetsuits and new boards - the rest of the holidays before I started work revolved around surf and settling ourselves in.

This actually meant a few big tasks. Going back into the city of Brisbane to pick up what we had shipped out was a big one. It was a full day of quarintine inspection and customs and traffic (not bad, but not great - Friday afternoon back out to the Gold coast is busy).

And then going around to a few rental agency's and looking at some units at first was a bit disheartening. We new it was going to be pricey - but what we didnt know is that is you rent a "unfurnishred" apartment (unit), it does not come with a fridge or washer or dryer. Those are expensive items obviously.

The first place that we looked at that we could afford, unfurnishred was OK, but not really that great. Similar to the Gorge View Apt that we had in Vic, and well, just not really what I was hoping for I guess. It was not easy at that point to accept the fact that maybe that is what we will end up with. The 3rd place we saw was really cool/nice but too big and unfurnishured and therefore out of our price range.

So after a couple of raised voices (Jon and mine's) and even a few tears over our fish and chips and beers, we decided to keep looking and hope for the best with a furnished. And well - the best came!!!!

We called an agent on a Saturday morning and were spending the night in our awesome new unit by that evening.  See pictures below!

Besides the place, which is in an awesome location - 7 blocks from the beach, close to gyms, and markets and a yoga studio...Australia has surf all over the place. We are going to love it here. More to come....