09.06 General Update

Well its been a while since we've added anything of note so we thought that we'd give you a general round up of what's been happening around here for the last few weeks.

Social Front
We done a couple of meet ups around docklands, one for 'meet your neighbours' and another was about environmental awareness for residents. The 'meet your neighbours' was a little disappointing as was really an over 50's club in disguise! The environmental meet was similar but more interesting, and the people were friendlier! There are plans for more social events, Joanna has a knitting group meet (no sniggering from the back!) next week and I'm still doing my screen printing course. Plus, there is also the Melbourne 30's club to revisit. We did have dinner with some people and met someone who was an actress on Neighbours for 26 episodes!

Shopping Trips
Have been spending far too much time in the local DFO! Helen photos will come very soon! A trip was also taken to Bridge Road (factory outlet stores), in fact its very convenient as the tram takes us from our apartment straight there! We have also been doing some veg shopping in the Victoria Market too! A lot of trips always coincide with some form of replenishment. In fact, one trip to Ackland Street took us to a cake shop and we saw Rosie from Neighbours in there!

Cultural Events
We had a recent visit to National Gallery of Victoria to see the History of Sneakers. Took me back to the days of Air Max trainers - they had a few examples of these too! We also saw the View ('I've had the same jeans on for four days now' fame) the other evening in one of the many venues here! It was quite a good show, just a shame that we couldn't understand what they were saying, it wasn't just that they were from Dundee but it was too loud! Did I just type that?! It wasn't just us, there was also a Scottish bloke behind us and he couldn't understand them either!

We also saw 'The Holidays' from Sydney, these were the supporting act. In fact this was the second time we had seen them, as they also played with Jamie T (they've only played twice in Melbourne!). They were so good we got their CD! Can't find any links to them though. There was plenty of stage diving at the end and a couple of people had to be ejected during the show too! We also headed out for food before the gig where we managed to get two meals and drinks for $20! Yes it is possible, but we've found only from noodlie-doodlie bars (v. nice though!).

Work
Joanna continues to do temp work for VCAT, she has just been extended until the end of the month. She's still applying for proper jobs. I on the other hand am slightly unemployed at the moment, but am also applying for proper jobs too. One job is designing semi-trailers (lorry trailers), looks interesting though. Have spent some of the week taking photos for screen printing ideas - blog to follow on progress in this area, and have also redesigned 'vesma.net' so take a look!

We're currently within a long weekend, as its the queen's birthday! She's coming round to ours for afternoon tea! We've had an excellent day out today, a blog will also follow on this with plenty of photos!!

Love to all,
Nathan.

City Living: You know you live in a city when...

...the window cleaner has to use a cherry picker to clean your windows!

12.05 City Living: Where We Live

We thought that we might give you more of an insight to where we live.

Our area of Docklands is called New Quay. It's located on the west side, and has the majority of the restaurants & bars, which makes it a little busy at the weekend!

Our apartment entrance hall looks like this...

...we have a small supermarket underneath us...

...and also a bottle shop over the way...

...with a number of restaurants to the left...

...and a number to the right!

Bolte Bridge is the main back drop to Docklands. There are also a number of art installations along the dock side. In this picture you can see 'a cow up a tree'.

Telstra Dome is just a stone's throw away.

Channel 7 is located next to the Telstra Dome too.

This is our nearest tram stop, where we can catch the No.48 to the MCG & Bridge Road (more factory outlet shops!) and the No.30 to the city (week days only!). In the distance is where the local film studios are based, in August Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks are coming do here to film 'Pacific', which is the sequel to 'Band of Brothers'. We'll keep you posted when we meet them both.

They also don't tell you that you are never that far from a building site in Melbourne. Just to show that we're no exception, we have this behind us and you can see this from our swimming pool. This site will house more shops, more housing and also a London Eye style wheel. Some of these are planned for completion by next year. They are hoping to attract up to 20 million visitors in 10 years! We'll almost be a city within a city.

07.05 City Living: Shopping Trolley Dilema

There's one question when food shopping in Melbourne; 'When you have your own shopping trolley, what do you do with it while you're shopping?'. Funny you asked, so not to waste my degree in industrial design and after a couple of exercusions with this dilema I came up with my own solution! Its a little rough round the edges but it basically works!! Betterware here I come...

What you need is a couple of 'S' shaped hooks, so head off to the local general store. Can't find standard ones that are suitable? Well you have to think laterally and find some that do half the job. The ingredients pictured above are what I managed to get hold of.

Here are my 'S' shaped brackets. The screws are a little long, but were the only ones to fit through the fixing holes. A hacksaw will see that they are finished off properly.

Simply drop the brackets onto the front of the trolley...

...then offer your own shopping trolley to the brackets...

...and using a bungee, also sourced from the same general store, secure the handle of your trolley to that of the shopping trolley. This will ensure that the wheels remain clear and you can easily move around the shop without having to worry about who has it or where it is. Ooh the number of times we've left it around the deli section!?

Hey presto! The trolley is securely attached! Joanna is letting me know that there is ample room for more food and also the little bear. Unfortunately I told her she couldn't have it. Harsh but fair!

You may laugh that we have this 'granny' trolley, but it is a godsend. Our nearest supermarket is in the CBD, which takes about ten minutes on the tram. The trolley makes getting on trams much easier & it stops your arms being stretched as you carry it all home! It also helps us limit the amount that we buy too!!

Love to all,
Nathan.