02.04 Living the Dream

Its been a couple of fairly busy weeks here in melbourne. Time is just flying by as we hit our first full month here! Don't really know where the time goes at the moment, however we're not sitting idle! Honest!

Our days are now taken with using the state library or internet cafe's to link to the outside world. This will change very soon, with the installation of a telephone and the purchase of a router. Bring it on! So now we don't have to head to the public telephone on the corner to make calls or catch the over crowded city circle tram for a lift to the library! I think having the 'net at home should help us find the opportunities we're after.

Joanna has had an interview for a temping agency and has a number of cv's posted around the city. Not literally, but with a number of agencies! A walk around the other side of the quay the other evening threw up some other possibilities too. Whereas I've been learning some web development stuff - yes I've defected to the other side! Is NeedaMenu about to come alive?! Luckily I won't have to fill in the application form to become a tram driver. On monday things start in earnest, so we'll have to see how it goes. Initial signs look good though.

Our recent weekends have been spent looking around some of the local events that have been happening. We went to a food & drink festival (there's a surprise!) & a gallery showing some of the uni students work (totally amazing - no sugar paper or powder paints there!). We've had a boat festival around the quay here too. There's plenty going on, although it seems a little quiet this weekend.

This weekend we managed to escape beyond the confines of the city by hiring a car. We headed to the Dandenong Ranges for the day. The ranges are about an hour's drive from the city. The terrain is very similar to that of the great ocean road and even some of the forest we drove through in New Zealand. There were plenty of great roads, but there's only so much you can get out of a Hyundai Getz! Had a good walk around the view point, where you could see the centre of melbourne in the distance. Plus, the clouds & the rain heading our way! This resulted in us having our picnic in the car!

The weather is changing here slightly. We're now experiencing rain and its a lot cooler than it has been. We need the rain here, as we're having the worst drought for 100 years. The news broadcasts always quote the reservoir levels, and everytime there is rain its one of the top stories, with the millimetre'age quoted, even if its only 0.8! Its just like home!

During one of our quieter periods (this is never a good sign) we headed to Elizabeth Street, the street contains loads of electrical stores. We decided to look at some of the digital cameras on offer. We are still of the 'old skool', where there isn't a pixel in sight! Well this has all changed because we made a purchase. Hopefully now we'll be able to upload photos more readily.

So, by popular demand, we have decided to show some pics of where we are living currently...

The Apartment



These are some panoramic shots of our living area, so it is slightly bigger than it looks! You'll see our large open plan living room, with our kitchen, dining table and writing desk (above the tv) and our compact balcony with views to the waters edge.

The Terrace

These photo's show our pool & hot tub, along with the terrace area where we can kick back & relax! Again, I've included a panoramic view from the terrace over looking the CBD, 7's TV Studio, Tesltra Dome and Dock 5.

Obviously this part of the blog will develop as we get more adept at posting pictures. We do have some larger images if these are too small, you'll just have to ask!

We'll give you an idea of what its really like to live around these parts in a future post. We'll show you some really good bits and some of the the other stuff they don't tell you about on

www.newquay.com.au!

Love to all,

Nathan & Joanna.