Today was Steve's first day at work and my first day as a lady of leisure. So although we started off the morning thinking I'd have a much lazier day; it turns out I have been far more productive. Funny that! Anyway, in an effort to restore normality to the sleeping patterns we have been trying hard to ditch the 4pm snooze which has sometimes been a 3 hr deep sleep. This has been hard and resulted in us being ready for bed by 9:30pm and so for the last two days we have been the early to bed and early to rise brigade which is unusual for us. Having said that this routine has its merits as it means I have been able to Skype friends and family in UK and this morning Steve got to watch most of the second half of Tottenham v Inter Milan before leaving for work.
What I anticipated to be a relaxing morning; maybe a swim or a jacuzzi session followed by some time online or reading before a venture into town didn't really happen! The phone rang at 8:45am and it was our relocation consultant Susan asking if we'd heard from the rental agencies as yet to which the answer was no. By the end of the call we'd agreed I should chase up our preferred property so a little gone 9am I called but had to leave a voicemail. I then called Susan again to let her know and she said she'd chase it up too but if I hadn't heard by this afternoon I should follow up. All well and good and I started to think about my little swim. But oh no, the phone rang again and this time it was the agent to let us know we'd been approved for our first choice apartment. Wahoo! We have a home! And we can get the keys on Friday and move in over the weekend...fast work huh?
So the apartment...it's in an area called Southbank and is just South of the river next to a big casino and entertainment complex and almost next door to PwC office... It's very modern and is in a building called the Eureka Tower which is Melbourne's tallest building and was the highest residential block in the World until the folk in Dubai decided to go higher! There's always someone wanting to be bigger and better. I then spent some time liasing with the rental agency about collecting the keys and signing the agreement as well as calling utilities to set them up too which was followed by some laundry. Busy morning huh? And whilst I was doing this, Steve was sat in a room watching slide shows and listening to presentations!
So it was mid morning by now so I decided to walk into the city and do some independent exploring. With a spring in my step because of the happy home news and intermittent sunshine, I ventured across the footbridge and made my way through the shops and up to Woolworths which is the closest decent sized supermarket. Picked up a few things for dinner. Passed a bakery called Breadtop and they are everywhere. It's as common as Greggs but it's a Chinese bakery so I picked up some dessert too. I'll let you know how they taste once we've had them.
Sun was still shining as I made my way back through and I decided to go the rest of the way by hopping on a tram. We have monthly public transport cards so jumping on trams to go from one end of town to the other is really easy. So this was the first time I ventured round myself and I really enjoyed it. I think the blue sky and brief sunny spells helped. The temperature was pleasant; no coat needed although I did overhear many an Australian whinge about how cold it is.
During my time in town, naturally I popped into a few shops here and there to see how things price up and compare to UK. In conclusion, I will not be buying any clothes over the next two year. Very pricey for the quality. Maxi dresses that are two a penny on the UK high street are costing aroun £80 plus. Instead I will spend my cash on shoes (lots of shoe shops) that are pretty and although there are no really cheap shoe shops, they are comparable in price to the likes of Schuh, Dune etc. I will also spend my money on nice toiletries and getting pedicures and massages. This is when I'm earning cash of course. At the moment I'm not spending zip!
Steve came home early - pre 5pm! That's really unusual but I guess when it's early days it's not uncommon. He had a pretty leisurely day unlike me! He met a few people and then spent most of it in a room listening to people talk about PwC. There were 5 of them all starting today and some of them have never worked for the firm before so it was a bit dull for him. He had underestimated the size of the office though - 1500 employees! He left the day with no computer nor had they sorted out payroll but he did get two invites to Christmas parties. Priorities huh?! Hopefully he will be more productive tomorrow and Friday he will be meeting one of his clients and has meetings lined up with partners he will be reporting to.
Word of the Day: Manchester
Manchester is an Australian term used for household linen or cotton goods! Manchester Lane was once the city's garment district
What I anticipated to be a relaxing morning; maybe a swim or a jacuzzi session followed by some time online or reading before a venture into town didn't really happen! The phone rang at 8:45am and it was our relocation consultant Susan asking if we'd heard from the rental agencies as yet to which the answer was no. By the end of the call we'd agreed I should chase up our preferred property so a little gone 9am I called but had to leave a voicemail. I then called Susan again to let her know and she said she'd chase it up too but if I hadn't heard by this afternoon I should follow up. All well and good and I started to think about my little swim. But oh no, the phone rang again and this time it was the agent to let us know we'd been approved for our first choice apartment. Wahoo! We have a home! And we can get the keys on Friday and move in over the weekend...fast work huh?
So the apartment...it's in an area called Southbank and is just South of the river next to a big casino and entertainment complex and almost next door to PwC office... It's very modern and is in a building called the Eureka Tower which is Melbourne's tallest building and was the highest residential block in the World until the folk in Dubai decided to go higher! There's always someone wanting to be bigger and better. I then spent some time liasing with the rental agency about collecting the keys and signing the agreement as well as calling utilities to set them up too which was followed by some laundry. Busy morning huh? And whilst I was doing this, Steve was sat in a room watching slide shows and listening to presentations!
So it was mid morning by now so I decided to walk into the city and do some independent exploring. With a spring in my step because of the happy home news and intermittent sunshine, I ventured across the footbridge and made my way through the shops and up to Woolworths which is the closest decent sized supermarket. Picked up a few things for dinner. Passed a bakery called Breadtop and they are everywhere. It's as common as Greggs but it's a Chinese bakery so I picked up some dessert too. I'll let you know how they taste once we've had them.
Sun was still shining as I made my way back through and I decided to go the rest of the way by hopping on a tram. We have monthly public transport cards so jumping on trams to go from one end of town to the other is really easy. So this was the first time I ventured round myself and I really enjoyed it. I think the blue sky and brief sunny spells helped. The temperature was pleasant; no coat needed although I did overhear many an Australian whinge about how cold it is.
During my time in town, naturally I popped into a few shops here and there to see how things price up and compare to UK. In conclusion, I will not be buying any clothes over the next two year. Very pricey for the quality. Maxi dresses that are two a penny on the UK high street are costing aroun £80 plus. Instead I will spend my cash on shoes (lots of shoe shops) that are pretty and although there are no really cheap shoe shops, they are comparable in price to the likes of Schuh, Dune etc. I will also spend my money on nice toiletries and getting pedicures and massages. This is when I'm earning cash of course. At the moment I'm not spending zip!
Steve came home early - pre 5pm! That's really unusual but I guess when it's early days it's not uncommon. He had a pretty leisurely day unlike me! He met a few people and then spent most of it in a room listening to people talk about PwC. There were 5 of them all starting today and some of them have never worked for the firm before so it was a bit dull for him. He had underestimated the size of the office though - 1500 employees! He left the day with no computer nor had they sorted out payroll but he did get two invites to Christmas parties. Priorities huh?! Hopefully he will be more productive tomorrow and Friday he will be meeting one of his clients and has meetings lined up with partners he will be reporting to.
Word of the Day: Manchester
Manchester is an Australian term used for household linen or cotton goods! Manchester Lane was once the city's garment district
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