The 12 Apostles
Sleepy Fuzzball
A big hug for a big tree
Fore!!!
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Moving Day
We have officially moved into our permanent home in St. Kilda, a Brooklynish suburb just outside of Melbourne. And by permanent, I mean for the next two years (you can start breathing again mom). For me, the best thing about our home is that we have leaves in the living room. This is my first home in 7 years where I’m so close to life. The life of the tree in the courtyard, the life of the park down the street, the life of the beach a short walk away, and the life of a wife sitting next to me. A bit of culture shock with the lack of delivery options but still plenty of good eats here in Melbourne and especially in St Kilda. Although I did just have a burger that claimed it was the “Best in Melbourne” by some clown on Master Chef, that was barely an upgrade over McDonalds. I digress. One of the many benefits of having a lawyer and (former) banker partnership is that you never have to worry about staying on task. Kelly and I were able to unpack in about a day and half. Most people I know live out of boxes for weeks but we now have only empty boxes and full drawers.
This was also my first move where I couldn’t fit everything I own in the back of a small van. I like to pride myself on being a minimalist but even I have a collection of “stuff”… But the great thing is that all of that “stuff” is pictures of the many great adventures we’ve had or cool personal priceless mementos. We have a Terracotta warrior, a heart from Sasha and Sam’s wedding, and a homemade box from my mom. We’ve already hung pictures of the Boundary Waters, Everest, the Great Wall, the Galapagos, marathon finish lines, Quandry Peak with Ga, the 78 Brown crew, my Dad swimming in his first Olympic Tri, Shortie busting a move at Squid Roe, the Boo’s senior picture, Kel enjoying a fine evening with her college ladies and as a bridesmaid for both Sis and Amber. We also have shelves (yes multiple) of pictures of our family from all sorts of special occasions. I know our new home is very far away but we are surrounded by all off the great memories from our friends and family back home. We miss you all very much and hope as many of you as possible can visit and add to the life of our new home we’ve built down under.
Adam
P.S. Pix coming soon...
Monday, 13 June 2011
Kangas, Koalas, Kockatoos Oh My!
Adam here!
This was a weekend of firsts. It was the first time I saw Kelly this week (S&C has been running her over), our first Aussie holiday (thank you Queen for having a birthday) and our first true adventure down under.
Kelly and I rented a car, which is only significant because they ride on the "wrong" side of the road here. And in case you would ever forget there are plenty of signs to remind you along the way. We adventured along "one of the world's most scenic roads": The Great Ocean Road. We passed beautiful beaches, the home of Quiksilver Surfing, a golf course covered in kangas, brilliantly dense rain forests, giant eucalyptus trees, sleeping koalas, humbling geological seascapes, giant waterfalls, squaking cockatoos and fabulous vistas. Yes all of this was on the same road and covered in 3 days!
Each little section of this weekend's journey has its own unique story. If you'd like more details, feel free to throw some comments up on the blog and we can provide an additional thought or two.
Pix to come over the next few days as my USB cord has yet to be unpacked...
Missing everyone. Keep in touch.
Adam
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Check that...
Sorry for the delay in posts, folks! Work has been extremely busy and I unfortunately had to do more apartment searching. Two days after signing the lease on the beachfront property, I got a phone call from the management company informing me that the bank was foreclosing on the apartment! This was an episode of extremely bad luck for me considering that Australia really wasn't impacted too much by the global financial crisis and their housing market has remained stable. The management company informed me that I was welcome to still move in, but I could be asked to vacate on 14 days notice. No, thank you. If there is anything I hate more than giving up an apartment with a huge terrace on the beach, it is moving (which might sound surprising since I've had 9 different addresses since graduating college...) So I cancelled the lease and got a full refund. Feeling bummed, I took a weekend off from the apartment search and ventured out again last weekend. I found a beautiful apartment about five minutes from the beach, two minutes to the park and thirty minutes door-to-door to work. When Adam arrived yesterday, we signed the lease!
And, yes, you read that correctly...Adam's here!!!!! I couldn't be happier. We're off for a run in the botanical garden, but we'll write again this weekend. Stay tuned...things will be much more exciting now!
And, yes, you read that correctly...Adam's here!!!!! I couldn't be happier. We're off for a run in the botanical garden, but we'll write again this weekend. Stay tuned...things will be much more exciting now!
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Beachside living!
From the stories I heard from other associates, I was anticipating the apartment search to be a lengthy, complicated and annoying process. And I was wrong. I looked at four apartments, three of them were awful, one was great. I applied and was approved the next day, and signed a lease yesterday!
The first place I looked at, advertised as an extra large two bedroom on the beach, was an extra large two bedroom a few blocks from the beach. It was also miles from the tram stop, old, musty smelling and so extra large that our furniture which filled our NYC one bedroom quite nicely would have filled about a corner of this place.
I moved on to apartment number two: a two bed on the third floor of a ten story older building across the street from both the beach and a tram stop, in the low end of our price range. It's never a good sign when the rental agent, as she is unlocking the door, mentions how she is trying to convince the owner to repaint and recarpet. Ugh, this place was a dump. Sorry, honey, our price range just moved up a few notches!
Apartment number three was actually a house, a seemingly adorable, ivy-covered, Victorian townhouse, five minutes from the tram and ten minutes from the beach. The owner left out the fact that it was next to a very popular homeless shelter. He also left out the fact that adorable, ivy-covered, Victorian townhouses feel like dollhouses on the inside. I mean, I know I'm not petite, but I did not fit in this house. The stairs were so narrow that only one-third of my foot fit on each step. The sinks were so small you could hardly wash your hands. One bonus was that the owner was the first person to guess that I was American instead of Canadian!
Fourth time's a charm. A townhouse-style two bed on the beach with a huge terrace, perfect for BBQing! It needs a little bit of fresh paint and, like most apartments in Melbourne, is unfurnished meaning that it doesn't have appliances. Otherwise it is perfect (I hope)! The lease starts June 1, our sea shipment is scheduled to be at the port on June 6 and will have to clear customs, but we have temp housing until June 17, so the timing should all work out well! Happily accepting visitors once we are settled!
On another note, is it weird that I never liked American Idol when I lived in America nearly as much as I do now? Have the top 5 ever been this good before? It's pretty funny when Seacrest is announcing the phone number to vote, a big pop-up covers the screen saying "you cannot vote from Australia." Glad to know that all those millions of people who don't vote for the president but do vote for the idol are actually American!
Xoxo, Kel
The first place I looked at, advertised as an extra large two bedroom on the beach, was an extra large two bedroom a few blocks from the beach. It was also miles from the tram stop, old, musty smelling and so extra large that our furniture which filled our NYC one bedroom quite nicely would have filled about a corner of this place.
I moved on to apartment number two: a two bed on the third floor of a ten story older building across the street from both the beach and a tram stop, in the low end of our price range. It's never a good sign when the rental agent, as she is unlocking the door, mentions how she is trying to convince the owner to repaint and recarpet. Ugh, this place was a dump. Sorry, honey, our price range just moved up a few notches!
Apartment number three was actually a house, a seemingly adorable, ivy-covered, Victorian townhouse, five minutes from the tram and ten minutes from the beach. The owner left out the fact that it was next to a very popular homeless shelter. He also left out the fact that adorable, ivy-covered, Victorian townhouses feel like dollhouses on the inside. I mean, I know I'm not petite, but I did not fit in this house. The stairs were so narrow that only one-third of my foot fit on each step. The sinks were so small you could hardly wash your hands. One bonus was that the owner was the first person to guess that I was American instead of Canadian!
Fourth time's a charm. A townhouse-style two bed on the beach with a huge terrace, perfect for BBQing! It needs a little bit of fresh paint and, like most apartments in Melbourne, is unfurnished meaning that it doesn't have appliances. Otherwise it is perfect (I hope)! The lease starts June 1, our sea shipment is scheduled to be at the port on June 6 and will have to clear customs, but we have temp housing until June 17, so the timing should all work out well! Happily accepting visitors once we are settled!
On another note, is it weird that I never liked American Idol when I lived in America nearly as much as I do now? Have the top 5 ever been this good before? It's pretty funny when Seacrest is announcing the phone number to vote, a big pop-up covers the screen saying "you cannot vote from Australia." Glad to know that all those millions of people who don't vote for the president but do vote for the idol are actually American!
Xoxo, Kel
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Solo
Last week when I went to see Rock of Ages, the ladies who sat down next to me looked at me like I had five heads when I told them I was not saving the seat next to me -- that I was, gasp!, there alone. A few days later, I sat down at a restaurant, took out a book and waited for someone to take my order. After a few minutes, I had to call the waiter over. He said he was waiting until my guest arrived. Is it really so strange to sit at a restaurant alone? What about attending a show alone? It's not like you're conversing during the performance, so why does it matter if you're solo?
I guess I kind of understand the restaurant. If you're eating alone, why not just pick something up and go home to dine in the company of your television. But you know what? It seems like Sex and the City, Family Guy and The Simpsons are the only shows that are ever on, and maybe I don't feel like eating with Mr. Big or Peter Griffin or Bart Simpson! So, to my waiter who kindly rubbed it in that I'm a weirdo who eats alone, have a little sympathy and bring me another glass of wine.
OK, that's all for my rant. I really don't have to deal with the funny looks too much longer. The other day I got amazing news that Adam can come earlier than we had originally planned. He'll be here in three and a half weeks! Until then, I'll be working, exercising, apartment searching and, if I dare, dining out solo.
I guess I kind of understand the restaurant. If you're eating alone, why not just pick something up and go home to dine in the company of your television. But you know what? It seems like Sex and the City, Family Guy and The Simpsons are the only shows that are ever on, and maybe I don't feel like eating with Mr. Big or Peter Griffin or Bart Simpson! So, to my waiter who kindly rubbed it in that I'm a weirdo who eats alone, have a little sympathy and bring me another glass of wine.
OK, that's all for my rant. I really don't have to deal with the funny looks too much longer. The other day I got amazing news that Adam can come earlier than we had originally planned. He'll be here in three and a half weeks! Until then, I'll be working, exercising, apartment searching and, if I dare, dining out solo.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Welcome to Oz, friends and family!
Well, I've been down under for just over a week now. Here's a quick recap of my journey and first week:
Saying "see you later" to my friends and family throughout the days and weeks leading up to my departure was quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. I sort of had a bit of a breakdown the night before I left (Adam might say it was a little more than a "bit of a breakdown")but once I got to Newark Airport I was feeling a little better. I was at least able to hold in the tears, and when a cockroach the size of mouse wandered about a foot away from my backpack as it sat on the floor beside me in the airport terminal, I may have for a moment felt somewhat relieved to be leaving NYC. Unfortunately I've since encountered a worse critter, but we'll get to that later...
My journey consisted of three flights: Newark to LA, LA to Auckland, Auckland to Melbourne. My plan was to stay awake on the flight to LA so I could sleep on the overnight flight to Auckland. Fortunately I was seated next to a really nice businessman and we chatted for a good portion of the flight. It turned out that he had spent two years in Tokyo early in his career. He was so excited for my and Adam's adventure and told me several times that his two year stint as an expat in Tokyo was the best two years of his life. I am taking this encounter as a good omen.
This flight was my first experience flying in first class. Wow, I didn't know that air travel could actually be somewhat enjoyable and airplane food could actually taste good. I had my first meal of the journey on this flight; five courses commencing with lobster and ending with a made to order ice cream sundae. Oh, and the waitress kept my wine glass full the entire time...
I landed at LAX and had about an hour and a half layover. It was a good thing I had that much time because the terminal was full of scaffolding and temporary walls and there was not a Continental employee or a departures board to be found. When I finally figured out that I needed to get to the international terminal, I asked the only airport employee I could find how to get there - a completely unfriendly (actually a miserable) TSA worker. This helpful person directed me to exit the terminal, walk through two parking garages and "I couldn't miss it." As I was about to enter the first of the two parking garages (at ten PM with no one in sight), I heard my mom saying "stay safe", so I turned around and hopped an airport shuttle bus until I saw the sign for Air New Zealand. Phew, I was on my way.
I walked into the international terminal to hear my name being paged. At least I thought it was my name, but with the New Zealand accent, it was hard to tell for sure. So I hurried through security as my name was called repeatedly and ran to the gate. The lovely lady at Air New Zealand just wanted to remind me that as a first class passenger I was welcome to take advantage of the Air New Zealand lounge. Well, don't mind if I do. Just like my first first class flight, my first visit to an airport lounge was also quite nice! I consumed more food and wine even though I was still full from dinner on flight number one.
I boarded the flight to Auckland, and though I was ready right away to convert my seat into a bed, I left it as a seat long enough to eat another multiple course dinner LOL. The flight attendant then helped me make up the bed and I slept on and off for the next 9 hours as the plane traveled (and bounced a bit) across the Pacific and the international date line. Before we landed in Auckland I ate a big breakfast (are you seeing the theme yet!). Another four hour flight (and another breakfast) later, I finally arrived in Melbourne!
I was very productive during my first day as I was trying to stay awake and adjust to the time change. I settled into my temporary apartment, bought an iPad, opened a bank account and bought some groceries. I think I only made it to 6pm, my eyelids had enough at that point. I spent the rest of the weekend exploring the city a bit.
I started work on Monday. The office is very busy right now which is a good distraction from loneliness. I'll definitely have a lot more responsibility than I had in NY, and I've already realized that I'm going to have to grow some thicker skin as the Aussies aren't afraid of being blunt. I think there will be lots of late nights, but hopefully very few weekends, which is a welcome change from NY.
Today I treated myself to Rock of Ages. It was awesome, and shoutout to my 506 girls, the performance of Don't Stop Believin' brought back great memories of Cait's 21st birthday at DKE!
My Aunt Lou has an acquaintance from Indiana, Becky, who recently moved to Melbourne with her husband and two young boys. I got an email today from Becky inviting me to Easter dinner. I nearly cried. I was planning to work tomorrow just so I wouldn't think about being alone on the holiday. But now I'm taking the 2pm train to Sandringham to have roast leg of lamb with strangers, and I couldn't be happier.
I realize this post has run quite long. I'll try to write more often and keep them shorter in the future. As a disclaimer, since I spend a good portion of my life wordsmithing and proofreading, I don't plan to do the same with this blog, so please forgive me for typos and grammatical errors.
Lastly, obviously this blog is going to be my way to tell you about what is going on down under, but if you know me, you know that I hate attention and self-centeredness, so please comment or send emails telling me what is going on with you!
Love, Kel
Ps. As to that critter I mentioned earlier, I met my first Australian opossum on the sidewalk the other night. Yuck!
Saying "see you later" to my friends and family throughout the days and weeks leading up to my departure was quite possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. I sort of had a bit of a breakdown the night before I left (Adam might say it was a little more than a "bit of a breakdown")but once I got to Newark Airport I was feeling a little better. I was at least able to hold in the tears, and when a cockroach the size of mouse wandered about a foot away from my backpack as it sat on the floor beside me in the airport terminal, I may have for a moment felt somewhat relieved to be leaving NYC. Unfortunately I've since encountered a worse critter, but we'll get to that later...
My journey consisted of three flights: Newark to LA, LA to Auckland, Auckland to Melbourne. My plan was to stay awake on the flight to LA so I could sleep on the overnight flight to Auckland. Fortunately I was seated next to a really nice businessman and we chatted for a good portion of the flight. It turned out that he had spent two years in Tokyo early in his career. He was so excited for my and Adam's adventure and told me several times that his two year stint as an expat in Tokyo was the best two years of his life. I am taking this encounter as a good omen.
This flight was my first experience flying in first class. Wow, I didn't know that air travel could actually be somewhat enjoyable and airplane food could actually taste good. I had my first meal of the journey on this flight; five courses commencing with lobster and ending with a made to order ice cream sundae. Oh, and the waitress kept my wine glass full the entire time...
I landed at LAX and had about an hour and a half layover. It was a good thing I had that much time because the terminal was full of scaffolding and temporary walls and there was not a Continental employee or a departures board to be found. When I finally figured out that I needed to get to the international terminal, I asked the only airport employee I could find how to get there - a completely unfriendly (actually a miserable) TSA worker. This helpful person directed me to exit the terminal, walk through two parking garages and "I couldn't miss it." As I was about to enter the first of the two parking garages (at ten PM with no one in sight), I heard my mom saying "stay safe", so I turned around and hopped an airport shuttle bus until I saw the sign for Air New Zealand. Phew, I was on my way.
I walked into the international terminal to hear my name being paged. At least I thought it was my name, but with the New Zealand accent, it was hard to tell for sure. So I hurried through security as my name was called repeatedly and ran to the gate. The lovely lady at Air New Zealand just wanted to remind me that as a first class passenger I was welcome to take advantage of the Air New Zealand lounge. Well, don't mind if I do. Just like my first first class flight, my first visit to an airport lounge was also quite nice! I consumed more food and wine even though I was still full from dinner on flight number one.
I boarded the flight to Auckland, and though I was ready right away to convert my seat into a bed, I left it as a seat long enough to eat another multiple course dinner LOL. The flight attendant then helped me make up the bed and I slept on and off for the next 9 hours as the plane traveled (and bounced a bit) across the Pacific and the international date line. Before we landed in Auckland I ate a big breakfast (are you seeing the theme yet!). Another four hour flight (and another breakfast) later, I finally arrived in Melbourne!
I was very productive during my first day as I was trying to stay awake and adjust to the time change. I settled into my temporary apartment, bought an iPad, opened a bank account and bought some groceries. I think I only made it to 6pm, my eyelids had enough at that point. I spent the rest of the weekend exploring the city a bit.
I started work on Monday. The office is very busy right now which is a good distraction from loneliness. I'll definitely have a lot more responsibility than I had in NY, and I've already realized that I'm going to have to grow some thicker skin as the Aussies aren't afraid of being blunt. I think there will be lots of late nights, but hopefully very few weekends, which is a welcome change from NY.
Today I treated myself to Rock of Ages. It was awesome, and shoutout to my 506 girls, the performance of Don't Stop Believin' brought back great memories of Cait's 21st birthday at DKE!
My Aunt Lou has an acquaintance from Indiana, Becky, who recently moved to Melbourne with her husband and two young boys. I got an email today from Becky inviting me to Easter dinner. I nearly cried. I was planning to work tomorrow just so I wouldn't think about being alone on the holiday. But now I'm taking the 2pm train to Sandringham to have roast leg of lamb with strangers, and I couldn't be happier.
I realize this post has run quite long. I'll try to write more often and keep them shorter in the future. As a disclaimer, since I spend a good portion of my life wordsmithing and proofreading, I don't plan to do the same with this blog, so please forgive me for typos and grammatical errors.
Lastly, obviously this blog is going to be my way to tell you about what is going on down under, but if you know me, you know that I hate attention and self-centeredness, so please comment or send emails telling me what is going on with you!
Love, Kel
Ps. As to that critter I mentioned earlier, I met my first Australian opossum on the sidewalk the other night. Yuck!
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