THE FLIGHT: was looong... it's odd to get on the plane at 7:30pm, in the darkness, have tea (DINNER for you english people), go to sleep, wake up at 1 or 2am to bright sunshine, then get to Japan at about 6am... in the middle of the afternoon! we spent a lot of time in japan duty free - the best duty free in the world!!!!!!!!! so many odd things!... siberia was GORGEOUS again. from the air, you can really see how arid australia is - esp compared to that lush greenness of the uk.
THE ARRIVAL: picked up by the pezzas, we encountered fresh air for the first time in 30 hours. what a relief! and also, not too chilly - has melbourne always been this mild? drove through the wonderfully ramshackle suburbs of melbourne, where all the houses have verandahs and you can feel the army of friendly hills-hoist washing lines parading in the back yards, to RETRO for a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL BREAKFAST!!! yay!
THE HOUSE HUNT: we got the rental lists, spent half the day driving around, looked at 3 flats, applied for one (just around the corner from esther-my-sister) and got it!
THE FIRST WEEK: gorged on australian food and friends; stayed with esther and andrew until our flat was ready; lay in the sun in their back yard beside the huge lemon tree and the hills hoist, sipping BIG Ms!!!
THE MOVE IN: helped by a couple of friends (saj, we will be eternally grateful - likewise to may for the ute... me driving a big mo-fo ute around brunswick *cackles evilly* it was so much fun!) we were moved in - in 2 days! then began the slow process of unpacking boxes (you are right mum, we have a lot of cups/teapots/cushions/books!) - a process which continues to this time.
WHAT ELSE?: have cried twice when thinking of whisky in the scottish highlands. had a HORRIBLE ear infection for a week or so. have got lots of pix developed - and venice looks much nicer than i remember - i think coz we didn't take pix of all the places with tourists. am applying for masters and scholarship as we speak.
HOUSEWARMING!!! we are going to have an open house on THIS SATURDAY 15TH OCTOBER from 1 PM TO 8PM at our place... we will text and email details (if you don't get a text or an email, you are still invited, but you'll need to text/ring us for the details, which i am not going to post for the whole world to see!!!)...
other than that, it's great to be back, but we miss all the people in europe too! speak soon. xxx.
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