Our House

Our house is a modest 2 bedroom unit in North Essendon. It has a decent sized lounge, a big kitchen/dining area, 2 bedrooms, a laundry room, a toilet and a separate bathroom(with shower and bath). Out the back is a paved area where we can stick the BBQ and the garage is down the side of the house.

Lounge

Lounge

The unit is on a little paved driveway just off the main street so it is very quiet. There are another 4 units in our development and already we have met some of our neighbours.
Julia thinks the house is quite 1980s in style. Its made of red brick, like many of the houses in Melbourne. It does feels a bit like a granny might have lived in the house before us but I'm sure once we get our furniture it it will feel a lot more like ours.

Back Bedroom

Front Bedroom

Me in Kitchen

Kitchen

There's an air conditioning unit in the kitchen, which may be a life saver in summer, and ducted heating.
Ducted heating is the most common heating system for Australian houses. Gas heated hot air is pumped through ducts under the house - its very effective, though I still can't get used to not having proper radiators.

Bathroom

Laundry

Hallway

Toilet

On Friday our Air Freight arrived!
3 beautiful boxes of belongings and books. In one moment we doubled our worldly possessions and I quadrupled my supply of books. I was getting so desperate for reading material I had started to avidly read the backs of cereal boxes.

Its been both disorientating and liberating to have so few belongings. The weekend before we flew out I had a weird moment when I discovered I had no keys. None! I had no house, no car, no work. Keys jangling in our pockets give us a sense of security. We have access to stuff, places to go, things to do. I suppose no keys no worries except where you are going to sleep that night. I've now got 3 keys (for the house) and am feeling connected again.

Our Huge Fridge

Looking out to back yard

This weekend has been mainly spent sorting out the house and catching up with people. On Saturday night Paul and Simone had us round to their house for dinner. Today we had coffee with Julia's friend Penny in the morning and then met up with Martha at the Vic Market for bratwurst and coke. The weather has been crazy. One day its 26C and sunshine, the next its a thunderstorm and then its cloudy and rainy and 9C at night. Apparently this is typical Spring weather in Melbourne. Though these days it rains a lot more than it used to.
Julia tells me I need to get out of the habit of dashing outside to sit in the sun every time it comes out. Its years of living in Scotland that makes me do this. I feel guilty to waste perfectly good sunshine. Every sunny day I feel I should be out enjoying it, not sitting inside squandering the best day of the week. Julia points out that Australians have some of the worst rates of skin cancer in the world. Maybe I don't have to absorb every single precious UV ray. Time to put on the sunscreen.
Yesterday we assembled the BBQ. Or more accurately Julia assembled it and I offered constant constructive criticism. Larry donated it to us. It was only $50. Its a bit shoogley but it should do the job just fine. Once we get it connected up to a gas bottle we can give it a try out.

Its Halloween tomorrow but they don't really do Halloween here in Australia. Wrong time of year. It wouldn't feel right in the spring time. I don't think they do Guy Fawkes either. It is however the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday. 'The Race That Stops a Nation'. Horse racing that is. The ozzies go mad for it. Its a public holiday. Its traditional to get dressed up to the nines, spend the morning losing money and drinking at the races, then puking up on the tram on the way back home in the afternoon.
Americain is the favourite this year. My betting limit will be about $1.

The other big news right now is the Qantas strike. They've grounded the entire fleet! Looks like if I want to escape Australia I'll have to nab one of those rafts the boat people use to get here. Hopefully it wont come to that.