Xmas Angles

Not the greatest of pictures, but what do you expect from people who are living upside down...

It was a little cloudy, the temperature was still perfect for shorts though.

Merry Christmas from down under to everyone.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Well... flat really, although over here it is called a unit.
Not a creature was stirring, not even Andy... who has had a beer and is reading "The Age" (Melbourne Newspaper).

Just to let you know we have moved into the flat/unit/apartment. All of our stuff has been returned to us, although every so often one of us has a panic that an item has gone missing until the other person explains where they carefully put it or we check the few remaining unpacked boxes.

We have taken full advantage of Gumtree (a local website, bit like a carboot sale online) and picked up a sofa, 2 ikea armchairs and a TV stand. The shopping list still has bookcase, computer table and washing machine on it, although the Boxing Day sales might be the answer to some of this.

So, the last few days have been filled with shopping. Shopping for food, cleaning products, household stuff, furniture, etc... We have also been for a cycle down the sea front, Andy has followed the F1 route in his new car, I have been making christmas decorations, although they look a little pitiful (renting generally means not making holes in the walls, no pinning stuff up).

All in all, we have been busy as we now have to make the bed and hang up our own towels, no more hotel living. This also results in no more eating out as we have a full kitchen again (yay, I think).

To finish the poem, I heard Andy exclaim, when he wandered out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Wednesday 15th December

I planned to complete the National Gallery today by visiting the Ian Potter Gallery in Fed Square (you might guess that I did achieve this goal due to the previous post). However I was hindered. Filling Fed Square were hundreds of gowned and capped people. I believe that for one of Melbourne’s Universities this was graduation day and the ceremony was taking place in the public arena of Fed Square. It would have been a lovely idea but unfortunately the weather had turned a little sour and the caps and gowns were getting a little damp.

So this being the case I thought I would try to access the gallery from another entrance, so strolling down the river alongside Fed Square I kept reading the signs but to no avail. However I was experiencing a case of déjà vu. This had been part of the elegant enclave walk, which passes by the Old Treasury, which... da da... is open on a Wednesday. So the Old Treasury was due a visit.

The Old Treasury was built in the 1850’s due to the gold rush in Victoria. It was designed by a 19 year old lad and was used as a hold for all the gold dug up and as the governor’s offices. Another impressive building, the exhibits covered several parts of Melbourne history including Ned Kelly and other criminal aspects, Burke and Willis and their journey into the centre of Australia (they used camels!), political developments and much more. The main exhibit is housed in the basement of the Old Treasury building, this is based on the gold rush and how the gold affected Melbourne.

The basement has several vaults (they once held the gold) they now each tell part of the story. For example the first one had two projected images and showed the exchanges that would have taken place in the tents at the goldmine between the gold miners and the gold buyers (they tried to do them out of money!).

Other vaults showed videos, fake newscasts, images and spoken word. All in all I spent about 2 hours in the building. It was not a busy venue, there were 4 other people in the place while I was there, but this did mean that the guide managed to speak to all of us giving some extra detail, particularly useful in the governor’s office which had no written information. She told me about the decoration of the room, someone in the 1960’s had decided to paint it white (argh!), they managed to remove the coating of paint and it has been restored to its former colourful glory (the ceiling is very pretty).

This is a free exhibit; it is only open on a Wednesday and Sunday. But if you didn’t want to pay to go to any other museum you get a good overview of Melbourne’s History here. 3 Stacey Stars (definitely worth dropping into for the gold rush exhibit).

So after exiting the building, I notice the police are blocking the road towards the parliament buildings, and there is a protest going on outside (again it was still raining). It seemed like the city was busy today, and I headed back to the Ian Potter Gallery and did some absorbing of culture and art to finish my outing.

On a completely different note:

Today was Thursday, and I got free juice, I had walked miles again and I really wanted a drink so I looked in a cafe, the juice was $4.

I was going to get it but I didn’t want to carry it, so decided I would buy juice at the closer super market.

Then as I walked back there were people handing out bottles of juice for free (the same type I saw in the cafe). I put my hand out and it was filled with a bottle of juice. The juice was apple (my favourite) and it was cold!

YUM!

I drank my juice sitting on a bench in the sun next to the Yarra River listening to a saxophone player.

Small things can make you very happy (especially when you don’t have to pay for them).

The National Gallery of Victoria

I had forgotten about this little treasure, it was only around the corner from the hotel (by that I mean up and down a couple of flights of stairs and then a 5 minute walk), but it involved walking away from the CBD, which is the opposite of my usual direction and therefore had not been in my line of sight to remind me. The gallery is a large rectangular building with an archway entrance. The entrance has a wall of water which constantly flows down (you don’t have to walk through it but enter round the side).


It was a little confusing when I first entered, as I was confronted by a giant 20 foot inflatable rabbit (which I found out later was part of an exhibition). The escalators are not easily visible as you enter, and the only exhibition room in sight cost $15. However after retrieving a brochure complete with map, I managed to work out that the majority of the gallery and the free exhibitions were on the 1st and 2nd floors and by following random strangers I located the escalator going up.





Several parts of the gallery were closed as there were new exhibitions being set-up. However there was plenty left, and I spent approx 3 hours making my way around what was available to view. The guards/curators (?) were very knowledgeable, helpful and chatty; they explained that the new exhibitions would be ready by April (so a second visit may be on the cards).

Starting on the 1st floor, I headed towards European Art, this gallery winds its way up, there is a mezzanine floor between the 1st and 2nd floor where I was intercepted by 2 of the guard/curators, one of which explained the terror of people sitting on the exhibitions (chairs were part of this exhibition and there are no ropes or barriers between you and any of the art).


The other guard chose to show me an example of poor art work, where the artist had painted a right foot on a left leg, another couple close by were quick to come to the artists defence explaining that this painting was left unfinished, I think I know why...



The Gallery then continues on the 2nd floor with more European art (all the Australian art is housed in another building in Fed Square), there is some fabulous silverware and glassware on this level. Level 3 contained 20th century art and some more modern exhibitions.
I am not known for reading the information at museums, but this time I made a concerted effort (at least at the start). I was interested to find out the in the 15th and 16th Century a movement was followed (initiated by Lucus Cranach the Elder 1472-1553) to ensure that there was no flattery of the sitter in portraits (so probably important not to annoy the artist).

So you are now all on the edge of your seats...the score for the National Gallery of Victoria...
4 Stacey Stars (withholding one star due to the closed exhibitions, a rescoring will take place once I have seen the whole thing).

Since viewing the National Gallery, I have been to the Ian Potter Gallery which is the continuation of the National Gallery in Fed Square and which houses the Australian art exhibitions. Again it is generally free, has large exhibition spaces and plenty of art.

Elegant Enclaves

In the Melbourne tourist information centre there are several maps showing different walks, the starting point for all of them is the Federation Square. I selected walk number 7 for Thursday’s entertainment.

Walk number 7 is named “Elegant Enclave” and is a 3 kilometre stroll around East Melbourne focusing on the architecture of houses from the Victorian period.

The houses here are interesting and unique, and when I say unique, I mean that no two are the same, by that I mean the houses that are next to each other are different from each other. It is weird they must have built every house at a different time to the next. The neighbours did not get together over their house designs.

You might get a short row of 2 or 3 Victorian style houses, followed by a deco style, then a modern design, then a 1970’s apartment block. During my walk (Elegant Enclave) I passed by the longest terrace (Canterbury Terrace) built in 1878 on Powell Street, with a grand total of 16 houses, even those are different in groups of 3.

The iron lace work on the Victorian houses is fabulous, I do wish we could have had one of these more historical places, but only if they had a modern interior, I need air conditioning!

So the walk began from Federation Square, headed down Flinders Street and then entered the first of 2 gardens the walk passed through. Treasury gardens were pleasant enough, named after the Old Treasury building nearby (which is open on a Wednesday and Sunday, not Thursday, I will put it on the diary for next week).

Next came the rather impressive Fitzroy Gardens, impeccably maintained with exotic flora and fauna. I imagined Australia to be an orange-toned dusty place, probably due to watching the film Australia and other TV shows. But Melbourne is a lush, green and pleasant land, the plant life is amazing. This may be due to the plants being exotic and unusual (akin to walking around Kew gardens).

The gardens contained a conservatory, complete with mini stream, bridge and tourists by the bucket load (4 coaches had just emptied at the nearby road). There was also Captain Cook’s cottage, which we will come back to as the place was rather busy at that moment.

So the walk continues along several roads, lined with trees on either side and fabulous houses, unfortunately as there was so much to see I had several minor trips as my feet are not totally under my control when I am not looking exactly where I am going. The amusing thing for this part of the walk was that there was at least 3 other people doing the same walk, strangely enough not of them travelled the same route I did ( I am sure I was doing the right one!!!). Map reading skills are obviously lacking in some (did I mention they were men).

The walk eventually leads you back into Fitzroy garden, it was a little quieter when I returned, and so after viewing the Faerie Tree (an old red gum tree which originally filled the garden before being replaced with European trees like elms) and the Miniature Tudor Village, I headed into Cook’s Cottage.

The price for entry was set at a bargain $4.50, although the place was small and took less than an hour. The cottage was originally in the UK in Great Ayton, Yorkshire, however the cottage was purchased by Russell Grimwade in 1933, dismantled, and shipped to Melbourne in 253 packing cases, arriving April, 1934 and reassembled (not something we could have done with our shipping allowance). An interesting point was that sailors in Cook’s crew ate Scurvy grass (now known as New Zealand Spinach) to prevent... Scurvy! Cook’s Cottage has been awarded 3 Stacey Stars (do it if you have time to spare).

The walk then headed back into the CBD (central business district) where are small amount of shopping needed to be done (a splash of colour for Andy’s Christmas work do, this ended up as a bright green handkerchief for his suit top pocket).

While the cat's away, the ratties will play!

Andy has been at work for the last four days, leaving me to do my thing! Which has included the immigration museum, bank visits, Captain Cook’s house, Fitzroy gardens, shopping (both food and clothes) and lots and lots of walking. I have truly pounded the pavement. Not one tram this week.

Immigration museum (Wednesday)

The day predicted rain, so I planned to be inside as much as possible, my feet also hurt after foolishly wearing sandals (thongs here) for the first time on a long walk the previous day, so something close to the hotel was also in the plan.

On our initial arrival in Melbourne we had walked around town, and had come across the immigration museum but turned it down due to feeling rough, sleepy and in no position to read and digest information, therefore we gave it a rain check. So as the rain was coming, I decided to cash that cheque.

The rain held off until I was safely inside the museum, the ticket price was a reasonable $8 for access to the 1^st and 2^nd floors, the ground floor (shop and cafe) were free.

Now... the bigger the coin the higher the value, except with Australian dollar coins, remember this when paying for your ticket, otherwise you will become unstuck, a bit like I did. However this was easily resolved and I passed up the stone staircase to the first floor where I was greeted by a short video.

The museum follows a simple route which you find in the map you are given with the ticket. I was interested to read the timeline around the second room, telling you of immigration numbers and policy from the 1800’s to now. In the centre of the room were several personal stories of different immigrants and their journey and life in Australia.

The third room is the best, and for two important reasons which I will come to later. When you enter this room you have to head straight ahead and this resulted with me entering a boat. The boat is awesome, the insides change through the ages as you walk on, showing you what it would have been like to immigrate and travel to Australia in different times.

One awesome thing is the toilet shown in the boat, only because they play a soundtrack of people using it! Hilarious!

Also around the outside are portholes containing animals which have intentionally and unintentionally immigrated to Australia and for some reason the rats are shown as travellers on the boat in little outfits, doing activities! Also hilarious!

The museum continues with information about specific policy decisions over immigration, with a multiple choice video were you have to choose if the person is accepted or rejected for a visa – I failed this as I would have accepted them, I am really quite soft.

Upstairs was a display about West Africa, which was interesting and I had the opportunity to do some stamping (paper and ink stamping, not feet). All in all it was worth the money, very educational and a good ratio of things to read and do. It gets 4 Stacey Stars*.

*Stacey Stars have only just been invented, hold on for more details.

ZOO...

We couldn't have had better weather (sunny and 25 degrees). So off to the zoo we went, after stopping off at Queen Victoria Market for last few bits to add to the picnic we were having (meat for andy's sarnies and some fresh fruit).
It was a whole day out, plenty to see and do, a few things for andy to read. Favourite animals (in no particular order) - meerkats, wombats, koalas
But the rest were good too, it was really relaxing walking round.

Our lovely abode

A toilet in the corner of every room, some rooms are fully padded, and a lovely exercise yard... sorry... courtyard.
If you are wondering, this isn't our new place! We will have a place in Port Melbourne on the 20th December.
These are photos from when we went to the old melbourne gaol, a fab morning out. We were both very scared of the policewoman who came to arrest us (this is part of the fun of the tourist attraction - they pretend to arrest you and put you in jail).

Alrighty then... these blogs are all appearing on one day because the internet is expensive in this hotel, so we now have a dongle! Love that word. Wifi is now here and I can access the internet in my room, rather than paying $2 for 20 mins on the computers in the lobby (always imagining someone is looking over my shoulder).

The orange juice needs some explanation. After arriving I began to sneeze, alot. It was hayfever and it was awful, the worst I have ever experienced. I read in the newpaper today that it was the highest pollen count they have had in ages and that people with asthma were filling the hospitals, however some rain has dampened this down. On wednesday, it was andys turn to feel poorly and he took to bed after we had been out exploring the suburbs in the morning. I won't go into too much detail over andy's illness, but you can imagine...
Then as the hayfever wore off, I have had the pleasure of sneezing due to a massive head cold!

So... even with all these setbacks, we have been busy looking for an apartment and travelling the city (especially by tram as you can see in the photo).

Our Hotel

Down under

Well... It was a very long flight, the first half up to Singapore was ok as it was time to sleep and that was exactly what we did (as best you can in a seated position). There was a short stopover in Singapore, only an hour ish. The next section of the flight was a bit harder, the seats felt less comfortable even though they were the same ones (muscles started to cramp and ache), we should have slept again but the ol' body clock was saying it was time to get up and awake (so many films were watched).
The flight was 20 hours ish, so having left the UK 10pm Sunday and taking into account the time difference, we arrived in Australia, Melbourne at 7am their time. The weather was hot, hot, hot and reached 34 degrees.
We found our hotel, but there were no rooms ready. So we left our luggage and ventured out into the city. We decided on a drink to start, only orange juice *vitamins and minerals* to keep us healthy (this is a joke as you will find out). Decided to find the tourist information and pick their brains and leaflets/maps. Found out about the free bus and tram tours around the city, these were popular with andy and myself as it involved sitting down. 1 and a half hours later and we had seen all the major sights (at least I would have if I hadn't fallen asleep on the bus). At this point we decided that we would have lunch and then go back to the hotel and demand a room as neither of us was capable of doing anything else without sleep.
By 2pm we were asleep tucked up safe and sound in our hotel room. Zzzzzzzzz

Sitting on lawn chairs

At this moment I am not on the lawn chairs... they are in our front room as the sofas have gone. Right now I am in McDonalds, mostly due to needing some lunch, and no longer having anything in the kitchen to make lunch with, but also because we have no internet at home.

The house is pretty empty with only one move day left to go - and still plenty to be stuffed in the suitcases. It's all starting to feel real now - and the enormity of moving to the other side of the world for 2 years is exciting, but a bit unerving now it is so close.

Andy finished his job yesterday and enjoyed his leaving do, Stacey also sneaked out with the science department...Fab time had by all. Big thanks for all the cards and gifts, they are much appreciated.

Well... might not be able to comment again until we are on the otherside of the world, hopefully will be able to take pictures and get them to you asap.

Our ship(pers) came in

They arrived spot on time, 11 am, which was alright as we had added a few more post-its and cleaned the hoover and bikes by then.
I immediately felt in the way, so wandered off to tescos, leaving Andy behind. One mozzarella, garlic bread, pasta sauce and kiev and I was back under their feet.
The movers were efficient, although it was difficult to just sit and watch them, you feel like you should help or offer suggestions... at one point a nearly sealed box started to boogie as the radio had decided to turn itself on. There were raised eyebrows at the archery equipment, although we have declared them (customs form asked about weapons, should we have put the kitchen knives not that I plan to use either of them as a weapon).
So... here we sit in a slightly empty house, all the nice stuff has gone, we are down to a 21 inch TV quite a reduction from 40 inches (having some trouble reading the TV guide on it!).
But still lots of stuff to clear or loan.
Ebay, freecycle and amazon are my new best friends.

It's a post it note frenzy

The packings guys will be back in 5 days time, and so currently the house looks like this. There are post it notes everywhere labelling what is to be shipped, stored or sold. Although quite who will want to buy a second hand go-karting trophy or a half full bag of tea lights is anyone's guess.


Since the last post we've booked our one-way flight to Melbourne on the 21st November and the visas have come through so it looks like we're definitely going! Whether all of the stuff we want to take comes with us will depend, however, on whether the post it notes stay stuck to whatever they are on.....

Packing guy came...

OK, 300 cubic feet? is that the same as 8 cubic metres, either way that is the space available for taking stuff.
10 cubic feet = 1 washing machine, but we are not taking 30 washing machines, definately time to get rid of some stuff.
Bonus is they pack and wrap everything, straight out the cupboards! and the same at the other end!

Now is the time to start making decisions

Questions like, where to live?

How will we get everything over there? More importantly what do we want to take? Shipping guys coming in a couple of weeks...

Also what do we need to sell, charity shop, throw, gift?

An empty chair and an empty desk... just about the tidiest it has ever looked.

Student or unemployed...

I think I prefer to think of myself as a student again. Work finished one week ago, very sad saying goodbye but I am sure that I will keep in touch. I shall try to do better with facebook.

The very beginning...

On Tuesday, Andy had the official interview with Australia. Today (Thursday) he had a phone call to say yes!
This is the start of it all...