Doonas, wak and thongs

Well hello I am back! I have been unable to update my blog since Hong Kong due to the lack of internet access. Life at the moment is great- Melbourne is a superb place with lots to see and do! We are living in a fantastic apartment in a complex that is brand new- so we are the first people to live here. We have a plasma TV, air conditioning and a comfy king sized bed (I do like my kip) and even a dishwasher! We have access to a pool, gym and sauna so there is no excuse to not lose weight!

Life has been very frantic trying to secure a flat in such a short space of time (we had to have three extra nights in a hotel to provide more flat hunting time). Everything is now set up; we have bank accounts, tax codes, stamps in our passports to prove our work rights and my registration card for teaching on the way. We are now true Melburnians!

The Australian people are very friendly and like to offer help if they can. As expected they are very laid back although they do seem to make things more complicated than we do. We can rent property fairly easily whereas here you have to fill in countless number of forms; we can set up Broadband in a matter of minutes whereas in Oz they have to validate your application. Despite the overuse of paperwork and red tape they really are a nice bunch!

I am now learning a new language- we did find it amusing when our Aussie Estate Agent told us that our King sized Doona was going to be delivered to our room ( it turned out to be a Duvet!). They wear thongs on their feet (flip flops); glad I found that out before any embarrassment occurred! If something is not very good they say it is wak. Will I lose my brummie accent and return to Blighty with an Aussie twang- who knows only time will tell.

My favourite places in Melbourne at the moment are Southbank and the Docklands. Southbank is set along the Yarra River and is full of places to eat and drink (Dad you would love it- I can picture you here supping your wine!). The Docklands is a new part of Melbourne that they are injecting a lot of cash into( not sure if it was around when you were here Claire) You can admire the boats and yachts and watch races here and guess what- eat and sup wine here too! Now you can see why these are my favourite places!

My favourite days so far have been Australia Day (26 Jan) and the final of the Australian Open (29 Jan). They had loads of events going on to celebrate Oz day with the climax been a fireworks display (Martin you would have loved it- the best I’ve seen except London NYE of course).It was also the hottest day so far 41C so I had to keep my moon face covered!

We paid for ground passes for the men’s final of the Australian Open (tennis to those who don’t know!). We got there early and sat in the garden area in front of the big screen. It wasn’t long before we are surrounded by Greek Marco fans dressed in the Greek flag colours. The Aussie press loved winding them up and filming them (I think it was a novelty to them to see so many fans so geared up). Anyway we decided to support Federer and really enjoyed watching the Greeks go very quiet when he started to take control of the match!
Anyway enough for now hope everyone is well and enjoying the British weather we here it is mighty cold (ha, ha). It’s my birthday tomorrow so we are going to head to the Southbank for the only posh meal we will have had in Oz so far. We have managed to sample the wine though!

Loads of Love

Donnie XXXXX