Benji doesn't particularly like the food here. His preferred diet was rather limited in the states anyway and here it's even more limited. No jelly for his peanut butter sandwiches because they don't have grape jelly. The closest we can find is plum and that's just different enough that he doesn't care for it. The pancake syrup is different. The canned soups are different (I have to agree with him, they are dreadful.). So far, only one kind of cereal that's acceptable. The mayo doesn't taste the same even though it is Kraft brand. The ranch dressing is different. He likes the steaks and the same fresh vegetables that he's always liked. And, of course, he has liked most of the candy he's tasted. Bless his heart, he even happily ate a mixed bean soup I had made the other day and didn't even complain.
No tour at the Botanical Garden for us yesterday. We opted instead to join in an activity with the homeschooling group here. One of the members offered to give us a ride and it's a good thing...I would never have found my way from the train station. We went to Karawatha Forest Park for a Solar Cooking Demonstration. It was wonderful. The couple doing the demonstration was so passionate about the subject....they weren't so much teaching as just talking about something they obviously love to do. All the members of the group were very nice and welcoming. There was a short guided hike where we saw a termite mound up in a tree but no animals other than birds.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Mt. Coot-tha
Sunday, we decided to get out of the city which wasn't hard to do. A short drive and we were at Mt. Coot-tha. The hiking trails were closed because of the recent rains but we stopped at one of the picnic areas so Benji and Kelsey could play in the creek. We checked out the scenic overlook and then headed down to the Botanical Garden. It was gorgeous. Kelsey and I are going back Thursday for a guided tour.
Custard Apples and Our View
Kelsey and Ben eating a Custard Apple. It's just exactly what it sounds like it is. A bumpy apple like fruit that tastes like vanilla custard. Very, very sweet. Do they sell them in the states? I've never tasted one before and the fellow at the farmer's market just kept going on and on about how sweet they are and how they are almost out of season. They're good with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top. They liked it but it was too sweet for me
. The other two photos show the view from our balcony. You can see the CityCat, too.
. The other two photos show the view from our balcony. You can see the CityCat, too.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Not Much Worth Noting...
Not much worth noting this morning. I had a new bus strategy yesterday. Kelsey and I were in Woolloongabba for her second job interview and decided to try taking a bus to Fortitude Valley. I knew most of the buses would pass through Cultural Center Busway and I knew which bus to take from there so I just hopped on the first bus that looked like it was going downtown. Most of them go through Cultural Center so I figured my chances were pretty good. Victory is mine! That bus dropped us where I thought it would and we hopped on the right bus and magically got off at the right stop (okay, fine, so a passenger and the driver helped too....) and walked the two blocks to Ben's office:) Same strategy on the way home. I won't try that all the time but it was nice to learn a couple new routes.
While waiting for Kelsey I had lunch at a little cafe. There must be a dozen cafes per street around here. Anyway, I had a BLT. They are divine. You know how you know a burger is good if it's messy? Well, the BLT was like that. I must have looked insane eating it. My eyes were probably bugging out of my head as I slurped the tomatoes and snarfed down that sandwich. I know I must have been making those silly noises I make when I'm eating something yummy. Oh it was soooo good. The good thing about not knowing anyone here is that I don't have to worry about someone I know seeing me so messy. hehe. Oh, but, mental note.....never accept the Lipton Iced Tea in a bottle flavored with Peach. ICK. That was not divine.
The ferries and CityCats stopped running at dusk last night. I can only assume it was because of debris in the water. Kelsey and I were lucky to catch the last ferry home. ACK! That would have been a lot of walking trying to find the right bus stop if we had missed it.
When the man came to fix the dryer yesterday, we were chatting about the rain. He said it was the worst rain they'd had in seventeen years. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. That's what it said in the newspaper, too! Horrible flooding and people literally being blown across the street. Literally an 8.5 mos. supply of water in 24 hours. I believe that technically, the drought is over but they are not lifting the water restrictions yet.
While waiting for Kelsey I had lunch at a little cafe. There must be a dozen cafes per street around here. Anyway, I had a BLT. They are divine. You know how you know a burger is good if it's messy? Well, the BLT was like that. I must have looked insane eating it. My eyes were probably bugging out of my head as I slurped the tomatoes and snarfed down that sandwich. I know I must have been making those silly noises I make when I'm eating something yummy. Oh it was soooo good. The good thing about not knowing anyone here is that I don't have to worry about someone I know seeing me so messy. hehe. Oh, but, mental note.....never accept the Lipton Iced Tea in a bottle flavored with Peach. ICK. That was not divine.
The ferries and CityCats stopped running at dusk last night. I can only assume it was because of debris in the water. Kelsey and I were lucky to catch the last ferry home. ACK! That would have been a lot of walking trying to find the right bus stop if we had missed it.
When the man came to fix the dryer yesterday, we were chatting about the rain. He said it was the worst rain they'd had in seventeen years. I thought he was joking. He wasn't. That's what it said in the newspaper, too! Horrible flooding and people literally being blown across the street. Literally an 8.5 mos. supply of water in 24 hours. I believe that technically, the drought is over but they are not lifting the water restrictions yet.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Rain, rain and more rain....
Now the blog is finally up to date and I'm posting in "real time":) Yea, internet!!!! I had a moment of fear yesterday when the BigPond guy thought he wasn't going to be able to install it. ACK! But, thank goodness, he was mistaken. Fifteen minutes later, I was online with the children circling the computer like little sharks waiting for their turn. Okay, so they weren't really circling but the pressure to hurry up was definitely in the air. But, it's 6am now and they are asleep....so it's time to check email, post, play with facebook, research activities in the area, and look at all my news websites (aka as "People Magazine" and "Reality Blurred"). No worries though, I look at MSNBC.com and CNN.com too....so don't judge me!
Kelsey got a job call back yesterday! Gloria Jeans coffee shop in Wooloongabba (also known as "The Gabba" pronounced "The Gabber") called and asked her to come in today for what we are guessing is another interview. It's the place that is a little further away than I like though still within walking distance. I just wouldn't feel comfortable with the thought of her walking home alone from there at night....it's very dark and there just aren't that many people around. But, like I said, we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
The rain, the rain, the rain. I've been stuck at home for what seems like years waiting for delivery or installation people. Yesterday, it poured and poured and poured until I thought I was going to scream. Ben looked like he was nearly drowned by the time he got home. Seriously, you cannot even imagine how miserable he looked (and was, I'm sure). Benji offered to go to Bulimba to return some movies to Blockbuster. By the time he got there, his rain poncho hat had been ripped off by the wind and the poncho itself was torn down the middle. He opted to toss it in the trash rather than fight the wind for custody. Today I'm still stuck here until the TV is delivered and then I'm hoping the rain will hold off long enough for me to go do anything at all. Without all my things here with me, there just isn't enough to do in the apartment to keep me busy for days.
Okay, so maybe it was obvious but the dryer has to be broken. I thought I was just putting loads in that were too large but that's not it. Yesterday, the damn thing couldn't dry 3 towels, 3 hand towels and two washclothes and I ran it on high for 2 hours (not including the naps it likes to take). I called the realtor and she's going to send someone to look at it. I hope the sun comes out soon otherwise we'll have no clean clothes!
Kelsey got a job call back yesterday! Gloria Jeans coffee shop in Wooloongabba (also known as "The Gabba" pronounced "The Gabber") called and asked her to come in today for what we are guessing is another interview. It's the place that is a little further away than I like though still within walking distance. I just wouldn't feel comfortable with the thought of her walking home alone from there at night....it's very dark and there just aren't that many people around. But, like I said, we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
The rain, the rain, the rain. I've been stuck at home for what seems like years waiting for delivery or installation people. Yesterday, it poured and poured and poured until I thought I was going to scream. Ben looked like he was nearly drowned by the time he got home. Seriously, you cannot even imagine how miserable he looked (and was, I'm sure). Benji offered to go to Bulimba to return some movies to Blockbuster. By the time he got there, his rain poncho hat had been ripped off by the wind and the poncho itself was torn down the middle. He opted to toss it in the trash rather than fight the wind for custody. Today I'm still stuck here until the TV is delivered and then I'm hoping the rain will hold off long enough for me to go do anything at all. Without all my things here with me, there just isn't enough to do in the apartment to keep me busy for days.
Okay, so maybe it was obvious but the dryer has to be broken. I thought I was just putting loads in that were too large but that's not it. Yesterday, the damn thing couldn't dry 3 towels, 3 hand towels and two washclothes and I ran it on high for 2 hours (not including the naps it likes to take). I called the realtor and she's going to send someone to look at it. I hope the sun comes out soon otherwise we'll have no clean clothes!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Enough With the B.O. already!
Monday
I hate to continue harping on the fact that there’s a significant amount of body odor around here but the issue continues wafting into my face. As I was sitting at an internet kiosk at the mall (yes, I’ve become that desperate to get online), I smelled him before I heard him. The friendly fellow sat down two seats from me. I had about 7 minutes left online and he decided to let me know that the kiosk he was at had taken his money and had not let him online. Trying not to gag, I sympathized a bit and then turned away. He continued to talk. He told me about how he had been there a couple of days ago and it was just horrible that he’d had to clean fast food trash off the kiosk before he could even use it. After all, he had two kids and even they knew how to clean up after themselves. It took everything in me not to point out how nice it was that he knew how to clean up after himself since it was obvious by the aroma of what could only be unwashed ass that he didn’t know how to clean himself. I logged off immediately and got out of there as fast as possible.
We made our way yesterday morning to the Northey Street Farmer’s Market. Public transportation hit a dead-end after our ferry and first bus ride. When we got to our second bus stop and realized that it only ran every hour, we called a taxi and got there in no time at all. The market was fabulous. Fresh eggs, local organic meats, tons of delicious smelling foods you can buy for breakfast or a snack, gorgeous veggies, fantastic fruits. There’s even someone selling fresh unpasteurized unhomogenized “bath” milk. Here in Brisbane, the raw milk laws are basically the same as they are in Maryland. …it can only be purchased for non-consumption uses but I can’t imagine someone at a Farmer’s Market back home selling it. I bought some lard from a woman who was so happy to meet someone who understood the value of “fat” in our foods. She didn’t have to convince me!
We explored a little bit of Kangaroo Point yesterday evening. Now I know where the grocery store is and it’s not very far at all! We found several restaurants (Fish and Chips are very popular here.), a pharmacy, a bakery and a convenience store. Kelsey will be going down that way today to apply for jobs. She’s starting to get a bit discouraged. Yesterday was especially bad as the manager of a restaurant nearby had told her to be there at 7am for a trial run. His wife was in charge at that point and when Kelsey arrived she said she didn’t need her and would call her. Terribly rude of her to do that but what can you do? There were two other girls coming for a trial run and she said that having Kelsey there would be too much. Sounds like bull since the other two girls weren’t going to be there until 9am. But, honestly, she was foreign (Asian) and who knows what kind of miscommunication was going on.
Tuesday
Yesterday was gorgeous and sunny for the first part of the day. So, when Kelsey and I stopped by the apt. to drop off the groceries, I also dropped off my sweater. Turned out that was a mistake. By late afternoon, the clouds were out and I had goosebumps on my arms. As soon as we got home, I put on three shirts, jeans, socks and wooly slippers. The rain started about the time we went to bed and poured all night. It’s still coming down hard this morning. I read that it’s possible that we’ll get enough to put an end to water restrictions. I didn’t even know there were water restrictions though I have been mindful to use as little water as possible because of the drought. I guess if I watched the news I’d have heard about them. But, watching the news here is just as depressing as it is at home. They bash their politicians, delight and despair when their sports’ heroes fall from grace and people get hurt just like they do at home. And reading or hearing about it doesn’t really seem to be easier when you don’t “know” them. Adding news on top of dealing with homesickness just seemed like a bad plan…so I avoided it.
Kelsey had a little better luck with the job hunt yesterday. At least she found a couple of places that were actually hiring and they talked to her while making notes on her resume. Two of them are within walking distance of the apartment. The other might be a little difficult to get home from at night but we’ll work that out if she gets the job.
A couple of days ago, Kelsey and I were on a bus chatting. For some reason, we were talking about protests and wondering which countries allowed people to gather in protest or in support of a cause. About that time, the lady in front of us got up to get off at her stop and turned around and said something very quickly. Luckily Kelsey understood her or it would have remained a mystery forever…..she was happy to let us know that you could protest in Queensland, that “it was a way of life”. Another day, Ben and I were making our way somewhere with a map….no less than three people stopped within the 20 minutes we were walking on a particular street and offered to help. The pace is different too. The Queen Street Mall area streets can be just as crowded as any I’ve been on in NY but they walk slowly. Usually too slowly for my impatient American tastes, so I often end up rushing around people as soon as I can. They must think I have an emergency somewhere. But, I am getting more patient. Really, I am. I was able to be very patient through a very slow restaurant meal the other evening and didn’t even get irritated by having to wait so long for the check. I just enjoyed sitting there. Seriously, I did. I may never be able to do it again but I did it once and that must count for something.
The atmosphere here for buskers must be very supportive. There’s always someone performing at the Queen Street Mall and at South Bank. There’s going to be a busker competition in June with cash prizes. I even saw a little girl on the street playing her clarinet for donations. That’s gotta trump a lemonade stand any day!
I hate to continue harping on the fact that there’s a significant amount of body odor around here but the issue continues wafting into my face. As I was sitting at an internet kiosk at the mall (yes, I’ve become that desperate to get online), I smelled him before I heard him. The friendly fellow sat down two seats from me. I had about 7 minutes left online and he decided to let me know that the kiosk he was at had taken his money and had not let him online. Trying not to gag, I sympathized a bit and then turned away. He continued to talk. He told me about how he had been there a couple of days ago and it was just horrible that he’d had to clean fast food trash off the kiosk before he could even use it. After all, he had two kids and even they knew how to clean up after themselves. It took everything in me not to point out how nice it was that he knew how to clean up after himself since it was obvious by the aroma of what could only be unwashed ass that he didn’t know how to clean himself. I logged off immediately and got out of there as fast as possible.
We made our way yesterday morning to the Northey Street Farmer’s Market. Public transportation hit a dead-end after our ferry and first bus ride. When we got to our second bus stop and realized that it only ran every hour, we called a taxi and got there in no time at all. The market was fabulous. Fresh eggs, local organic meats, tons of delicious smelling foods you can buy for breakfast or a snack, gorgeous veggies, fantastic fruits. There’s even someone selling fresh unpasteurized unhomogenized “bath” milk. Here in Brisbane, the raw milk laws are basically the same as they are in Maryland. …it can only be purchased for non-consumption uses but I can’t imagine someone at a Farmer’s Market back home selling it. I bought some lard from a woman who was so happy to meet someone who understood the value of “fat” in our foods. She didn’t have to convince me!
We explored a little bit of Kangaroo Point yesterday evening. Now I know where the grocery store is and it’s not very far at all! We found several restaurants (Fish and Chips are very popular here.), a pharmacy, a bakery and a convenience store. Kelsey will be going down that way today to apply for jobs. She’s starting to get a bit discouraged. Yesterday was especially bad as the manager of a restaurant nearby had told her to be there at 7am for a trial run. His wife was in charge at that point and when Kelsey arrived she said she didn’t need her and would call her. Terribly rude of her to do that but what can you do? There were two other girls coming for a trial run and she said that having Kelsey there would be too much. Sounds like bull since the other two girls weren’t going to be there until 9am. But, honestly, she was foreign (Asian) and who knows what kind of miscommunication was going on.
Tuesday
Yesterday was gorgeous and sunny for the first part of the day. So, when Kelsey and I stopped by the apt. to drop off the groceries, I also dropped off my sweater. Turned out that was a mistake. By late afternoon, the clouds were out and I had goosebumps on my arms. As soon as we got home, I put on three shirts, jeans, socks and wooly slippers. The rain started about the time we went to bed and poured all night. It’s still coming down hard this morning. I read that it’s possible that we’ll get enough to put an end to water restrictions. I didn’t even know there were water restrictions though I have been mindful to use as little water as possible because of the drought. I guess if I watched the news I’d have heard about them. But, watching the news here is just as depressing as it is at home. They bash their politicians, delight and despair when their sports’ heroes fall from grace and people get hurt just like they do at home. And reading or hearing about it doesn’t really seem to be easier when you don’t “know” them. Adding news on top of dealing with homesickness just seemed like a bad plan…so I avoided it.
Kelsey had a little better luck with the job hunt yesterday. At least she found a couple of places that were actually hiring and they talked to her while making notes on her resume. Two of them are within walking distance of the apartment. The other might be a little difficult to get home from at night but we’ll work that out if she gets the job.
A couple of days ago, Kelsey and I were on a bus chatting. For some reason, we were talking about protests and wondering which countries allowed people to gather in protest or in support of a cause. About that time, the lady in front of us got up to get off at her stop and turned around and said something very quickly. Luckily Kelsey understood her or it would have remained a mystery forever…..she was happy to let us know that you could protest in Queensland, that “it was a way of life”. Another day, Ben and I were making our way somewhere with a map….no less than three people stopped within the 20 minutes we were walking on a particular street and offered to help. The pace is different too. The Queen Street Mall area streets can be just as crowded as any I’ve been on in NY but they walk slowly. Usually too slowly for my impatient American tastes, so I often end up rushing around people as soon as I can. They must think I have an emergency somewhere. But, I am getting more patient. Really, I am. I was able to be very patient through a very slow restaurant meal the other evening and didn’t even get irritated by having to wait so long for the check. I just enjoyed sitting there. Seriously, I did. I may never be able to do it again but I did it once and that must count for something.
The atmosphere here for buskers must be very supportive. There’s always someone performing at the Queen Street Mall and at South Bank. There’s going to be a busker competition in June with cash prizes. I even saw a little girl on the street playing her clarinet for donations. That’s gotta trump a lemonade stand any day!
In Our New Apartment...
TUESDAY
I don’t even know where to begin since it’s been so long since I’ve documented anything. I have a crap memory so the chances of remembering all the little things I wanted to note are slim.
We are in our new apartment. It’s about 6:30am and I’m sitting at the dining table looking at the river. The sun has just come up…it looks like it’s going to be another sunny day. I hope it’s a bit warmer than yesterday. Honestly, I’m going to be very cold wearing only the little bit of winter clothing I brought along in my suitcase. I’m the only American complaining though. Figures. Today will be filled with trying to find a grocery store that will deliver to the apartment. I have to figure this out without access to the internet or a phone book. First plan of action is to have Ben call me with a few phone numbers and then go from there. I want to stock the pantry thoroughly because I’m sick of eating out. Though last night, I must admit, we had a nice meal. It was at a café here near the apartment and for $29 Benji got a t-bone steak, salad and fries. A full meal? I was nearly thrown out of my chair from the shock of it. The service was shit, but ya can’t have everything.
Monday, May 11th was our official move in day. Technically we had the key on Friday but could not have beds delivered until Saturday. Turns out that worked out okay because we would have been in trouble with building management if we’d had our deliveries on Saturday as I was told in no uncertain terms that they “do not do move-ins on the weekends”. I don’t even care to try to figure out why or to even ask. There are just enough cultural differences here that my brain is tired of trying to work them out. So, I just try to go with the flow. Perhaps it’s a good lesson for me. Anyway, we had rental furniture, our new porch furniture and our electronics (fridge, mixer, other small appliances, etc) all delivered on Monday. The sheets the rental company brought are about negative 700 thread count or something. If I couldn’t see them with my own eyes, I’d swear they were a burlap blend! So, I tossed them in the wash to try to soften them up. No problem there. Now, the dryer, that’s another story. My gosh, how do they do laundry here????? The dryers are just sooooo small. The building manager had shown me the clothesline area so I had to finally take them down there to dry. Oh and in the middle of drying, the dryer just stops to take a rest. I guess it gets too hot since it vents into the room. We aren’t allowed to put one of those little laundry drying racks on the balcony which is a bit impractical. Line drying your clothing is just a fact of life here and that means an elevator ride down 5 floors, walk through the pool door, out the gate, around the building and down a little path. It’s honestly not that bad but just a little odd, I guess. I’m going to get one of the little racks and put it here in my dining nook….when the windows are open in this place it’s like a wind tunnel. Seriously, I felt like I was on a boat yesterday. It’s going to be fabu in the summer!!!!!
Our apartment is like Fort Knox. The building is always locked. If someone comes to visit, they’ll ring your apartment and when you pick up the phone, you can see them on a little mini screen. To get into the building yourself, you have a little “fob” that you scan to unlock the door then you scan it again when you get in the elevator. The elevator will only take you to your floor and public areas. When you get back on the elevator, it will only take you to the ground floor unless you scan your fob, then you can go to the first floor where the pool is. In other words, that little scanner recognizes where you are allowed to go. When you buzz in a visitor, the elevator will take them only to your floor. I swear, you’d think the crime rate in Brisbane was horrid. Everywhere we turned while looking for an apartment, there was some kind of security feature. Honestly, it was just a bit of overkill.
I am SO grateful for the new beds from the rental company. I think I only woke up once last night and it wasn’t because I was in pain. The bed at Goldsborough place was just dreadful. Our porch furniture is so gorgeous. I bought it with the plan to bring it back to the states with me. It’s a wicker look….table w/ 4 chairs, settee, coffee table and two chairs. The salesman even threw in four embroidered pillows I was admiringJ. I’ll have to settle for a less than stellar sofa (lounger, they call them here) now but it’s worth it.
Our apartment is located in the suburb of Kangaroo Point. Isn’t that an adorable name? I still haven’t figured out where the bus stops are but there are 3 city ferry stops and 1 citycat stop very close by. So, I’ll be able to most anywhere I was right now even if technically my path isn’t the most efficient.
I can’t wait to get some plants to really make this place feel like home. There’s a ledge right above the kitchen sink that will be perfect for little pots of herbs. I can see trees from my windows but a little greenery close by will be comforting. Honestly, if only my friends were here, this place would be perfect. I’m being very stubborn and babyish right now about making new friends. I don’t WANT new friends. I want my old FRIENDS. For now, I’m happy being alone. Once I’m not happy being alone then I’ll consider braving the territories.
I have no idea how to work the heat or a/c in the apartment…not that it matters yet. I can work the oven reasonably well and the stovetop is self explanatory (Thank goodness). The vacuum cleaner presented no new mysteries and the small appliances don’t seem like they are out to get me. I was even able to turn on the dishwasher without any major snafus. Even the washing machine was cooperative. If I could have given it a treat, I would have.
My feet are freezing. Mental note, must get rug for under dining table. And possibly slippers if they can be had for a decent price.
Cable tv. I really like it when things are simple. But, not everything is simple. A forty year old woman should know that by now. The cableguy showed up yesterday and after about 15 minutes of mysterious calculating and planning told us that this place had never had cable tv. What? In order to get cable, we have to hire a carpet layer to pull up the carpet, run the cable under from the hallway and then put the carpet back. He’ll also have to do the same in the hallway outside our door from the telecommunications closet. It was easy enough to get permission to do that from the “Body Corporate” (meaning building manager, I don’t know why they didn’t just say that….they made it sounds so imposing) and from the realtor who is representing the apartment owners. But, geez, what a pain.
The owners were kind enough to leave an entertainment center in the living room. The realtor said we could have it…if we wanted it. I did not. It was flesh colored. That creeps me out. So, she sent a fellow yesterday to disassemble it. Turns out the owners had not bothered to move it when they had new carpet put down. So, there’s a fancy cutout in the carpet now where you can see the old carpet. I don’t care. I just don’t like flesh colored furniture. The owners left a lot of other stuff that we’re going to put down in the garage. We’ve been told the big plant they left is impossible to kill so at least I don’t have to worry about that responsibility. Of all the things I do that I don’t feel bad about, I’d feel bad if I killed someone’s plant. I’ll work on that….
We have about a billion hangers coming in our shipment. But, we need them now. And hangers are about 4 dollars for a dozen. Seems silly to buy them when so many are on the way….
Kelsey went to a free comedy show at the Powerhouse on Sunday night with the other homeschoolers she met here. Apparently, they met a rather famous fellow (we saw him on a game show the other night) and had their photo taken with him. She said he was very funny.
WEDNESDAY
I ended up going to the exact same grocery store I’ve been going to all along in New Farm. None of the others had a delivery service. As it turned out I bought so many groceries that it came out cheaper to take a taxi anyway. Lesson learned. The taxi driver who came to pick me up immediately commenced to telling me how much he hated picking up passengers at shopping centers. Perhaps I’m getting used to the way they say things here since I didn’t get my feelings hurt. I just thought to myself, “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I have 20 bags of groceries …just fucking drive”. He continued with his complaining for nearly the whole ride but his accent was one of the thickest I’ve heard so for all I know he could have been calling me a plethora of filthy names. To his credit, he did help me load and unload the groceries though. My gosh, what an undertaking though. I must have been at the store for over 2 hours trying to find what I needed and figure out what some of that stuff was. Turns out that “caster sugar” is just powdered sugar so technically I had written it twice on my shopping list. I thought I would get a cake mix so Benji and I could bake a cake….I had a whopping 3 choices. And if you want icing in a can…..two choices…vanilla and chocolate. But the bread selection is enormous. Row after row of breads. Kangaroo meat is a really, really deep red color. I did not buy any. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any on menus at restaurants either. Not that I have any intention of eating it. I’m sure it’s delicious and nutritious but I’ll pass. Our ice cream choices have also been very limited. The grocery store is still completely overwhelming and I’m so tired by the time I get out of there. The Farmer’s markets, however, are exhilarating. I love the stand after stand of gorgeous fruits and vegetables. (Though I’d pay double the price for a really good watermelon right now). I’ll be heading over the Farmer’s Market at the Queen Street Mall today for the first time. I can’t wait to see it. I’ve got my little granny shopping trolley so that I don’t have to try to carry everything. It’s tall and black and has wheels so I just pull it along behind me. I’d like to say it makes me feel very cosmopolitan but that would be a lie. It’s rather clumsy feeling but it’s a lifesaver for my back and neck.
Today the sun is shining again. Yesterday was too cold for me. I was so happy to see the sun rising this morning over the river knowing that the sky was not cloudy. The apartment has warmed up reasonably well though the bathroom with it’s ridiculous vented window is still cold. I did a load of laundry this morning to try to help warm things up with the dryer. Stupid thing has been running for nearly 2 hours and the clothes still aren’t dry. Of course, it did take a little siesta somewhere in the middle of it all. Lazy dryer.
I don’t even know where to begin since it’s been so long since I’ve documented anything. I have a crap memory so the chances of remembering all the little things I wanted to note are slim.
We are in our new apartment. It’s about 6:30am and I’m sitting at the dining table looking at the river. The sun has just come up…it looks like it’s going to be another sunny day. I hope it’s a bit warmer than yesterday. Honestly, I’m going to be very cold wearing only the little bit of winter clothing I brought along in my suitcase. I’m the only American complaining though. Figures. Today will be filled with trying to find a grocery store that will deliver to the apartment. I have to figure this out without access to the internet or a phone book. First plan of action is to have Ben call me with a few phone numbers and then go from there. I want to stock the pantry thoroughly because I’m sick of eating out. Though last night, I must admit, we had a nice meal. It was at a café here near the apartment and for $29 Benji got a t-bone steak, salad and fries. A full meal? I was nearly thrown out of my chair from the shock of it. The service was shit, but ya can’t have everything.
Monday, May 11th was our official move in day. Technically we had the key on Friday but could not have beds delivered until Saturday. Turns out that worked out okay because we would have been in trouble with building management if we’d had our deliveries on Saturday as I was told in no uncertain terms that they “do not do move-ins on the weekends”. I don’t even care to try to figure out why or to even ask. There are just enough cultural differences here that my brain is tired of trying to work them out. So, I just try to go with the flow. Perhaps it’s a good lesson for me. Anyway, we had rental furniture, our new porch furniture and our electronics (fridge, mixer, other small appliances, etc) all delivered on Monday. The sheets the rental company brought are about negative 700 thread count or something. If I couldn’t see them with my own eyes, I’d swear they were a burlap blend! So, I tossed them in the wash to try to soften them up. No problem there. Now, the dryer, that’s another story. My gosh, how do they do laundry here????? The dryers are just sooooo small. The building manager had shown me the clothesline area so I had to finally take them down there to dry. Oh and in the middle of drying, the dryer just stops to take a rest. I guess it gets too hot since it vents into the room. We aren’t allowed to put one of those little laundry drying racks on the balcony which is a bit impractical. Line drying your clothing is just a fact of life here and that means an elevator ride down 5 floors, walk through the pool door, out the gate, around the building and down a little path. It’s honestly not that bad but just a little odd, I guess. I’m going to get one of the little racks and put it here in my dining nook….when the windows are open in this place it’s like a wind tunnel. Seriously, I felt like I was on a boat yesterday. It’s going to be fabu in the summer!!!!!
Our apartment is like Fort Knox. The building is always locked. If someone comes to visit, they’ll ring your apartment and when you pick up the phone, you can see them on a little mini screen. To get into the building yourself, you have a little “fob” that you scan to unlock the door then you scan it again when you get in the elevator. The elevator will only take you to your floor and public areas. When you get back on the elevator, it will only take you to the ground floor unless you scan your fob, then you can go to the first floor where the pool is. In other words, that little scanner recognizes where you are allowed to go. When you buzz in a visitor, the elevator will take them only to your floor. I swear, you’d think the crime rate in Brisbane was horrid. Everywhere we turned while looking for an apartment, there was some kind of security feature. Honestly, it was just a bit of overkill.
I am SO grateful for the new beds from the rental company. I think I only woke up once last night and it wasn’t because I was in pain. The bed at Goldsborough place was just dreadful. Our porch furniture is so gorgeous. I bought it with the plan to bring it back to the states with me. It’s a wicker look….table w/ 4 chairs, settee, coffee table and two chairs. The salesman even threw in four embroidered pillows I was admiringJ. I’ll have to settle for a less than stellar sofa (lounger, they call them here) now but it’s worth it.
Our apartment is located in the suburb of Kangaroo Point. Isn’t that an adorable name? I still haven’t figured out where the bus stops are but there are 3 city ferry stops and 1 citycat stop very close by. So, I’ll be able to most anywhere I was right now even if technically my path isn’t the most efficient.
I can’t wait to get some plants to really make this place feel like home. There’s a ledge right above the kitchen sink that will be perfect for little pots of herbs. I can see trees from my windows but a little greenery close by will be comforting. Honestly, if only my friends were here, this place would be perfect. I’m being very stubborn and babyish right now about making new friends. I don’t WANT new friends. I want my old FRIENDS. For now, I’m happy being alone. Once I’m not happy being alone then I’ll consider braving the territories.
I have no idea how to work the heat or a/c in the apartment…not that it matters yet. I can work the oven reasonably well and the stovetop is self explanatory (Thank goodness). The vacuum cleaner presented no new mysteries and the small appliances don’t seem like they are out to get me. I was even able to turn on the dishwasher without any major snafus. Even the washing machine was cooperative. If I could have given it a treat, I would have.
My feet are freezing. Mental note, must get rug for under dining table. And possibly slippers if they can be had for a decent price.
Cable tv. I really like it when things are simple. But, not everything is simple. A forty year old woman should know that by now. The cableguy showed up yesterday and after about 15 minutes of mysterious calculating and planning told us that this place had never had cable tv. What? In order to get cable, we have to hire a carpet layer to pull up the carpet, run the cable under from the hallway and then put the carpet back. He’ll also have to do the same in the hallway outside our door from the telecommunications closet. It was easy enough to get permission to do that from the “Body Corporate” (meaning building manager, I don’t know why they didn’t just say that….they made it sounds so imposing) and from the realtor who is representing the apartment owners. But, geez, what a pain.
The owners were kind enough to leave an entertainment center in the living room. The realtor said we could have it…if we wanted it. I did not. It was flesh colored. That creeps me out. So, she sent a fellow yesterday to disassemble it. Turns out the owners had not bothered to move it when they had new carpet put down. So, there’s a fancy cutout in the carpet now where you can see the old carpet. I don’t care. I just don’t like flesh colored furniture. The owners left a lot of other stuff that we’re going to put down in the garage. We’ve been told the big plant they left is impossible to kill so at least I don’t have to worry about that responsibility. Of all the things I do that I don’t feel bad about, I’d feel bad if I killed someone’s plant. I’ll work on that….
We have about a billion hangers coming in our shipment. But, we need them now. And hangers are about 4 dollars for a dozen. Seems silly to buy them when so many are on the way….
Kelsey went to a free comedy show at the Powerhouse on Sunday night with the other homeschoolers she met here. Apparently, they met a rather famous fellow (we saw him on a game show the other night) and had their photo taken with him. She said he was very funny.
WEDNESDAY
I ended up going to the exact same grocery store I’ve been going to all along in New Farm. None of the others had a delivery service. As it turned out I bought so many groceries that it came out cheaper to take a taxi anyway. Lesson learned. The taxi driver who came to pick me up immediately commenced to telling me how much he hated picking up passengers at shopping centers. Perhaps I’m getting used to the way they say things here since I didn’t get my feelings hurt. I just thought to myself, “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I have 20 bags of groceries …just fucking drive”. He continued with his complaining for nearly the whole ride but his accent was one of the thickest I’ve heard so for all I know he could have been calling me a plethora of filthy names. To his credit, he did help me load and unload the groceries though. My gosh, what an undertaking though. I must have been at the store for over 2 hours trying to find what I needed and figure out what some of that stuff was. Turns out that “caster sugar” is just powdered sugar so technically I had written it twice on my shopping list. I thought I would get a cake mix so Benji and I could bake a cake….I had a whopping 3 choices. And if you want icing in a can…..two choices…vanilla and chocolate. But the bread selection is enormous. Row after row of breads. Kangaroo meat is a really, really deep red color. I did not buy any. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen any on menus at restaurants either. Not that I have any intention of eating it. I’m sure it’s delicious and nutritious but I’ll pass. Our ice cream choices have also been very limited. The grocery store is still completely overwhelming and I’m so tired by the time I get out of there. The Farmer’s markets, however, are exhilarating. I love the stand after stand of gorgeous fruits and vegetables. (Though I’d pay double the price for a really good watermelon right now). I’ll be heading over the Farmer’s Market at the Queen Street Mall today for the first time. I can’t wait to see it. I’ve got my little granny shopping trolley so that I don’t have to try to carry everything. It’s tall and black and has wheels so I just pull it along behind me. I’d like to say it makes me feel very cosmopolitan but that would be a lie. It’s rather clumsy feeling but it’s a lifesaver for my back and neck.
Today the sun is shining again. Yesterday was too cold for me. I was so happy to see the sun rising this morning over the river knowing that the sky was not cloudy. The apartment has warmed up reasonably well though the bathroom with it’s ridiculous vented window is still cold. I did a load of laundry this morning to try to help warm things up with the dryer. Stupid thing has been running for nearly 2 hours and the clothes still aren’t dry. Of course, it did take a little siesta somewhere in the middle of it all. Lazy dryer.
Big W and Woolies
Now, I finally feel like I'm learning my way around a bit. I can get around Bulimba, Tenneriffe, Kangaroo Point, Riverside, and can get to the Queen Street Mall which I call downtown because the damn thing seems as large as a small town. I spent too much time on the boats yesterday and took a while to get over the dizziness. Not a good sign but I'm ignoring it for now because who has time to find someone to fix that problem? I'm going to try to figure out the bus from Kangaroo Point tomorrow so I don't have to take the ferry every time. Right now, it's just too complicated from here. I could spend half the day trying to find the second bus stop. Oh well. The apartments I saw yesterday weren't really anything to write home about. They were all acceptable in their own way. The one in South Bank was a great location in that it's near that fantastic South Bank park area, the art museum, the science center and a bus stop where all the buses seem to go thru....but it had absoltely no view to speak of. The ones on Kangaroo Point were small but okay. All were quiet either because they faced away from the street or they were just in a quiet area. What a I really want is the inside of the apartment in Admiralty Towers (so large it even had a breakfast nook), combined with the view from the one in front of Skyline Apartments (the name escapes me for the moment), combined with the quiet of Bulimba and for it to be located at Riverside. See, I'm not difficult to please. I have one to see this morning and then Ben and I will be out for most of the day tomorrow looking at potential places. The one in Silver Quay looks so promising that I'm practically holding my breath in anticipation.
Ben keeps telling me about various areas that other people tell him about. He has NO idea how much walking I'm doing trying to see places. I flatout refuse to try to find my way to a new area by myself. We've decided on which areas are acceptable and until I exhaust all my options there, I don't see any reason to open to door to other possibilities. I simply don't have the mental energy or the physical stamina (though I have been doing really well in that department, if I do say so myself.) End of rant.
Apparently, there's a huge celebration here in August called River of Fire. I'm only catching about half of what anyone tells me about it but apparently there's boats, lots of lights, fireworks and if you have an apartment on the river then you are in high demand amongst your friends;-)
Yesterday a taxi came out of nowhere around the front of my bus and was nearly hit. It was all very exciting. I even let out a little yelp. The driver was paying attention and was rather proud of himself for stopping so quickly I think. The lady across the aisle commenced to telling me about how many accidents she's seen and how many times she's ended up on her back in a bus. As I type that, I realize it sounds little dirty but she had a cane so I'm pretty sure she meant she'd just fallen when the bus driver hit the brakes. lol. The driver could hear her talking and said, "Ay, sounds like we've got a black cat on the bus today" and grinned at me. When the little old lady realized what he'd said, I think she was rather offended. Like anywhere else, there are varying degrees of sympathy and care from the drivers...some will step off the bus to fold up a walker or a stroller for someone...others will sit there all day and just watch someone try to get on the bus. But, honestly, I've seen more kindness than indifference especially considering how mindnumbing the job must be. The worst job though would have to be the ferry across the river. It's a five minute ride, tops. So, the boat driver is just back and forth, back and forth all day. Tie the boat up, untie the boat, tie the boat up, untie the boat, wait for the city cat to get out of the way, tie the boat up..... I'd simply lose my mind. I prefer riding the bus. Being on the ferry makes me want to go to sleep. The view is always lovely but I get too relaxed.
There's a place that makes fruit shakes...tossing all this gorgeous fresh fruit into a juicer, dropping in a dollop of yogurt and it's done.... I could drink them all day. At at about $7 for a large one, it's quite a bargain. Kelsey and I had lunch the other day and it was over $45. I had fish and chips (with ketchup that tasted just like American ketchup to me so I don't know what people were talking about when complaining about the ketchup) and a lipton bottled tea. Kelsey had a salad and a smoothie. At least we were full when we walked away. Junk food can be had for next to nothing,McDonalds or Subway....$7 or so. Gag.
Monday is a holiday here. Ben will have three 3 day weekends in a row! Hopefully, in another week we'll be over our jetlag completely. Bedtime last night was around 8:30 but that was with me really pushing to stay awake. lol. I was technically ready to lay down at 7pm. But, I love being up with the sun and it's not as if there's anything at all on tv. I cannot even express to you how lame the local channels here are. But, it's probably a good thing. After all, there's no lack of something to do here.
I found a huge store similar to Walmart here yesterday when I was wandering around the Queen Street area. Ironically enough it's called Big W. While the prices still cause sticker shock, it was a good bit cheaper than the other places I've been. But, honestly, the quality here is horrendous in many cases. You know the cheapo laundry baskets you can buy at Dollar General Store? Well, that's just about all I've seen here. I finally found one that was a little less brittle at the grocery store for $10.49 so I bought it. The ones at KMart were so brittle, I was afraid I'd break it in less than a week. The grocery store I prefer is called Woolworths. I think the only reason that I prefer it is that everyone calls it Woolies. And seriously, who wouldn't want to shop at a store with a nickname like that? It sounds so friendly and non-threatening. hehe. They did have organic apples so that also helped.
There are no pennies here. The smallest coin in 5 cents. So, your total is either rounded up or rounded down. But, the cashier gives you the real total first. Weird. Why don't they just make everything end in 5? And with the $1 and $2 being coins, you can rack up a heavy pocketful of change pretty quickly. The largest coin is 50 cents. It's huge compared to the others. Seriously, it's a bit of overkill if you ask me. lol.
Well, I must run. 'Tis better to arrive at an apartment inspection early assuming I don't get lost rather than late because I was lost, I suppose. Afterwards, I'm going to explore the Queen Street area a bit more.....
Ben keeps telling me about various areas that other people tell him about. He has NO idea how much walking I'm doing trying to see places. I flatout refuse to try to find my way to a new area by myself. We've decided on which areas are acceptable and until I exhaust all my options there, I don't see any reason to open to door to other possibilities. I simply don't have the mental energy or the physical stamina (though I have been doing really well in that department, if I do say so myself.) End of rant.
Apparently, there's a huge celebration here in August called River of Fire. I'm only catching about half of what anyone tells me about it but apparently there's boats, lots of lights, fireworks and if you have an apartment on the river then you are in high demand amongst your friends;-)
Yesterday a taxi came out of nowhere around the front of my bus and was nearly hit. It was all very exciting. I even let out a little yelp. The driver was paying attention and was rather proud of himself for stopping so quickly I think. The lady across the aisle commenced to telling me about how many accidents she's seen and how many times she's ended up on her back in a bus. As I type that, I realize it sounds little dirty but she had a cane so I'm pretty sure she meant she'd just fallen when the bus driver hit the brakes. lol. The driver could hear her talking and said, "Ay, sounds like we've got a black cat on the bus today" and grinned at me. When the little old lady realized what he'd said, I think she was rather offended. Like anywhere else, there are varying degrees of sympathy and care from the drivers...some will step off the bus to fold up a walker or a stroller for someone...others will sit there all day and just watch someone try to get on the bus. But, honestly, I've seen more kindness than indifference especially considering how mindnumbing the job must be. The worst job though would have to be the ferry across the river. It's a five minute ride, tops. So, the boat driver is just back and forth, back and forth all day. Tie the boat up, untie the boat, tie the boat up, untie the boat, wait for the city cat to get out of the way, tie the boat up..... I'd simply lose my mind. I prefer riding the bus. Being on the ferry makes me want to go to sleep. The view is always lovely but I get too relaxed.
There's a place that makes fruit shakes...tossing all this gorgeous fresh fruit into a juicer, dropping in a dollop of yogurt and it's done.... I could drink them all day. At at about $7 for a large one, it's quite a bargain. Kelsey and I had lunch the other day and it was over $45. I had fish and chips (with ketchup that tasted just like American ketchup to me so I don't know what people were talking about when complaining about the ketchup) and a lipton bottled tea. Kelsey had a salad and a smoothie. At least we were full when we walked away. Junk food can be had for next to nothing,McDonalds or Subway....$7 or so. Gag.
Monday is a holiday here. Ben will have three 3 day weekends in a row! Hopefully, in another week we'll be over our jetlag completely. Bedtime last night was around 8:30 but that was with me really pushing to stay awake. lol. I was technically ready to lay down at 7pm. But, I love being up with the sun and it's not as if there's anything at all on tv. I cannot even express to you how lame the local channels here are. But, it's probably a good thing. After all, there's no lack of something to do here.
I found a huge store similar to Walmart here yesterday when I was wandering around the Queen Street area. Ironically enough it's called Big W. While the prices still cause sticker shock, it was a good bit cheaper than the other places I've been. But, honestly, the quality here is horrendous in many cases. You know the cheapo laundry baskets you can buy at Dollar General Store? Well, that's just about all I've seen here. I finally found one that was a little less brittle at the grocery store for $10.49 so I bought it. The ones at KMart were so brittle, I was afraid I'd break it in less than a week. The grocery store I prefer is called Woolworths. I think the only reason that I prefer it is that everyone calls it Woolies. And seriously, who wouldn't want to shop at a store with a nickname like that? It sounds so friendly and non-threatening. hehe. They did have organic apples so that also helped.
There are no pennies here. The smallest coin in 5 cents. So, your total is either rounded up or rounded down. But, the cashier gives you the real total first. Weird. Why don't they just make everything end in 5? And with the $1 and $2 being coins, you can rack up a heavy pocketful of change pretty quickly. The largest coin is 50 cents. It's huge compared to the others. Seriously, it's a bit of overkill if you ask me. lol.
Well, I must run. 'Tis better to arrive at an apartment inspection early assuming I don't get lost rather than late because I was lost, I suppose. Afterwards, I'm going to explore the Queen Street area a bit more.....
Huge Bats!
Last night there was an uncountable number of huge, huge bats flying past our balcony. Kelsey was using her flip to record it...and one flew pretty darn close. The video has plenty of ducking and screaming on it. We've been told they're fruit bats and aren't a danger to humans but that didn't make it any less exciting when one came so close. They're really quite beautiful. Not bird of paradise beautiful but knowing they don't have rabies helps me to appreciate their unique loveliness. Benji says that he's seen them flying back home at dawn.
Did I already mention that each outlet here has it's very own on/off switch? So, not only do you plug an appliance in, you also have to turn on the power to it at the wall plate.
My feet hurt. It took a full week for there to be any pain at all so that's saying quite a lot about the quality of Chacos sandals. My body aches too. I look forward to having my own bed again. There's still so much walking left to do. I'm sure I'll get used to it quickly.
Some people here stink. Literally. I know, people stink everywhere but there seems to be more than the usual share here in Brisbane. At least once a day I have to move to another part of the street/the bus/the store/the sidewalk to get away from some stinky person. Yesterday, this dear old man wanted to have a chat with me. It was horrid and you all know I have a soft spot for the old folks. I was trying so hard not to gag. Doesn't someone love him enough to tell him that he needs a bath? I couldn't get away from him without being just blantantly rude and I kept thinking he was going to wander away at any moment. I've got such a sensitive nose, I seem to be the only one who can smell them.
This morning we were up bright and early to head down to the Powerhouse Farmer's Market. It was marvelous. We bought homemade cheese, pineapple (literally from a pineapple farmer), passionfruit, bananas (different variety than I've ever had before and they are dreadful), cookies (from a lovely couple who want to go to America in the winter), a cupcake, organic grass fed beef (woohoo!!!! The farmer heard Ben and I discussing how we could figure out how to broil them in the oven and he said, "Ahh, ye got to get yerself a barbie, mate!"), organic free range eggs, rockmelon (cantalope), dragonfruit (from a cactus), a very, very expensive espresso brownie, carrots, candy, salad greens (they have one called rocket but I have no idea what that is), avocodos, and apple juice. I also bought a bouquet of flowers to make the condo feel a little more like home. There were samples galore and I was nearly sick by the time we got out of there from eating so much. I was in Heaven! And everything was so much cheaper than in the grocery store. I wanted to dance....but the bags were too heavy.
We hauled it all back home and then went to explore Kangaroo Point to see if it's somewhere we'd want to live. Ben liked it. I'm not so sure. I really, really like where we are staying....so,we'll just have to see what happens.
The weather was blindingly hot today but we decided it was worth it to make our way over to the Farmer's Market in West End just to see what it was like. I don't even want to talk about how long spent riding the city ferry there (it's much slower than the CityCat....lesson learned) and then we sat at the damn bus station forever waiting for our bus until we realize that we'd have to take a different one because today is a public holiday (Anzac Day). We were standing in the sun the whole time. (Another lesson learned- read all the signage available) We did manage to catch the last minute of the West End Farmer's Market and got a watermelon for $4.That was before I realized how far we'd have to carry it. Luckily Ben is happy to carry anything and everything though I did offer to help.
We stopped by Sol Bread to grab a snack and buy some organic bread. They have a store here near us, too. I don't know what was in my salad but it's my new favorite thing.
Yesterday, I went to the Butcher Shop down the road. Rabbits laid out in the window. I passed on that. The butcher was great...he was very friendly and didn't mind that I didn't know diddly about the metric system. He gave me directions on what temperature to put the oven and I bought a nice roast from him. He didn't even look shocked when I asked for grass-fed beef and was happy to have a conversation about how much better it is.
So, let's review....I know where there's a great Farmer's Market, I have a bakery, I have a butcher and I have a view of the river. Life is good.
Bus Drivers and Apartment Hunting
Yesterday, while out apartment shopping, I noticed that I'm thinking in an Australian accent. Which led me to think, what will it be like if I pick up a bit of the accent here. Combined with my East TN and W. Maryland accents, will it be charming or just mildly creepy and strange? I guess it'll be a while before I find out.
My first bus driver yesterday had the most amazing accent. I couldn't understand more than one word per sentence. Luckily he understood me and let me off at the stop I requested without me having to push the button. You generally have no idea where your stop is until you pass the sign and by then, it's too late. Unless you're staying on one street....then they are numbered sequentially. But, heaven forbid, you should need the first stop on a street and don't know it because you're gonna be doing some walking right back to it.
The bus has a sign that says, "Scholars and children" are requested not to sit when there are adults standing. To which I replied in my head, "Or what?". I mean, there isn't anything that mentions what the punishment is. Is there a fine? Are the kids who disobey thrown into the river. I later noticed that no one really follows that rule.
To see a home, you have to either attend an "inspection" or arrange for an "inspection". You don't really seem to get a choice. When you call, they will usually take down your number and tell you that they'll call when there's an inspection available. That does give one a sense of urgency when looking at a place though...if you like it, you'd better grab it because God only knows when you'll get to see another one that's acceptable. Sometimes the inspection date and time is listed on the listing on realestate.com.au. You show up with all the other people who are interested and go through it at the same time. That's an advantage if the property is a hellhole like the third one I saw yesterday. I didn't even have to talk to the realtor, I just slipped out the door fading into the crowd like some unneeded movie extra. This place was so bad, I was scared there would be a dead body at the bottom of all that muck in the pool. Creepy. Oddly enough, the neighborhood was lovely in every other way. Go figure.
The first place I wanted to see yesterday was in Kangaroo Point. No luck there. The directions from the official translink site said to take a particular bus to a particular stop....no problem...then walk 200 or so metres to another stop for a different bus. The problem is....which direction? I ended up in Chinatown and when I did eventually find out where the damn stop was, I had walked through the Chinatown market. I still can't figure out how I was supposed to get from stop A to stop B walking in anything that resembled a straight line. Everyone I asked was very helpful in their own way but it was just impossible. By the time I found the stop, it was too late to go to the inspection. I'm sure the apartment wasn't acceptable anyway, right? I came back to the hotel for lunch and to gather my thoughts. I was muttering about how it was "just too bad that someone else was gonna have to find us a place to live cause I'd be damned if I was doing that crap again".
After lunch, I gathered my courage and headed out again. The route this time was a little easier and I had one inspection in Indooroopilly and two in Toowong. And, I had to catch a train. Oh dear. I made it to my first bus stop with no problem and stood in front of a map that had the little dot telling me "you are here" and figured out where the train station was supposed to be. I must have been standing there for a little too long because just as I turned to go, a woman who must have noticed me as she was walking down the street stopped and said, "All right then?". I smiled and said, "Yes, I've got it now". She smiled back and went on her way. I followed a native across the street just to keep from having to walk to the crosswalk (knowing I needed to save as many steps as possible for when I get lost). I saw the sign pointing me to the train station and felt so triumphant. hahahahahahaha. As if the signs take you anywhere. I finally asked directions....several times and made it to the right train platform. I would have gotten on the wrong train if I had followed the directions I got from Translink but luckily, I'm not shy about asking strangers for help. I had no major problems with directions for the rest of the day. It was all very frustrating and a lot of walking but it was manageable. So far, none of the apts. are what I'm looking for....
We are staying in Tenneriffe and our hotel/condo has the most amazing view. The entire front (or would that be the back...) is windows overlooking the river. I can see the CityCat (public transport boats) going by regularly, there are rowing teams practicing in the morning, and people just generally having a lot of fun on the water. It's peaceful and quiet. There are moments when it makes me want to cry. If someone had asked me, I would have said, "Oh yes, we're staying in Tenneriffe, just outside the city". Those of you who know me well, know that my map skills are questionable at best. Ben works in Fortitude Valley which is in the CBD (Central Business District) and he said that it took him about a half hour to walk there his first day. After that, he made it in 15 minutes. I know, any moron who took a moment to think about that would realize that my thinking that we are "outside the city" is a bit delusional. I realized my error yesterday when I got on a bus and headed in that direction...literally go down a street or two and turn a corner and BOOM-you're in the CITY. Duh.
I still don't know how to work the oven here. And if I did, I wouldn't know what temperature to put in on unless I looked it up on the internet. Luckily, I've been too tired to cook.
The weather here right now is just beyond amazing. Sandals and shorts during the day for me and jeans and a long sleeved shirt at night. Ben can wear shorts all the time. The sun feels so amazing. I love being out in it.
Bedtime is still about 8pm. I wake up about 6am. By 6pm, I'm struggling to stay alert probably because it's dark by then.
Today...it's still all about trying to find a place to live. I'm going to Ben's office to get online to try to find something at realestate.com.au and then it'll be time to make phone calls. I hate talking on the phone. I had trouble understanding many people on the phone in the States...here's it's nearly hopeless. I feel like if I can make out the time of the next inspection then it's a successful call. Any other information they are offering is completely lost. I'd tell myself that it will get easier but I know that part really won't. I've always had trouble understanding strangers on the phone so I'll just make the best of it. As long as I sound friendly when I'm making no sense to them, then I suppose they'll just think I'm a nice gal who's a little dim. And I suppose that's better than them thinking I'm some psychotic foreigner who doesn't understand a normal conversation. They probably don't rent places to psychos.
Luckily, in person, I can understand most of what is said here. The accent really is lovely.The exception being anything that includes directions to somewhere. But, that has less to do with the accent and more to do with the way my brain works. Kelsey says it takes them forever to say anything.
There's a drought in Brisbane. But, our shower has the most amazing water pressure I've ever seen in my life. In restaurants, good luck getting a big glass of water. The service is friendly, just different than in the US. Slower...and tiny glasses of water. We have managed to find some restaurants that are a little more reasonably priced than the ones we saw the first couple of days....either that or we are getting over the "sticker shock" already. $10 for a sandwich and we're excited. But Ben did say it was a BIG sandwich.
Next day's notes...
Today we were chatting with a young realtor named Braedon. He was all of 19 years old. Seriously. Very nice fellow and rather funny, too. He said something (and I so wish I could remember what it was) that I thought was an Australian joke...I laughed very hard until I realized I was the only one laughing. Whoops. He was very nice though and seemed to understand that I couldn't help myself. I also asked him how to use the oven. He thought I was joking. He asked me twice if I was serious. I have no pride. I said I was serious. He showed me how to use the oven and I thanked him kindly. The pantry in the apartment was really big. Kelsey couldn't help herself. She climbed into it. He found that very amusing. The apartment had a gorgeous view but I'm not ready to commit without seeing some other areas. If the rental market is as competitive as everyone says then anything I look at over the next couple of weeks will be gone by the time I decide I want it. But, I'm not worried. We'll find a nice place.
Fish and chips for lunch today. Ketchup and tartar sauce packets were fifty cents each. But, the lunch itself was only $10-$15.
Found KMart in Toowong and Kelsey managed to find some shorts on clearance....$8. Quite the bargain. I wanted to dance but I refrained. Found corn on the cob priced at 4 ears for $2.
Television here was rumored to be horrible. The rumor was correct. Even Ben has nothing to watch and that's saying something...
The bus drivers here are so helpful.They are happy to let you know if you're on the right bus or not and direct you to the correct one if they can. It's also nice that the passengers say thank you as they step off the bus.
My first bus driver yesterday had the most amazing accent. I couldn't understand more than one word per sentence. Luckily he understood me and let me off at the stop I requested without me having to push the button. You generally have no idea where your stop is until you pass the sign and by then, it's too late. Unless you're staying on one street....then they are numbered sequentially. But, heaven forbid, you should need the first stop on a street and don't know it because you're gonna be doing some walking right back to it.
The bus has a sign that says, "Scholars and children" are requested not to sit when there are adults standing. To which I replied in my head, "Or what?". I mean, there isn't anything that mentions what the punishment is. Is there a fine? Are the kids who disobey thrown into the river. I later noticed that no one really follows that rule.
To see a home, you have to either attend an "inspection" or arrange for an "inspection". You don't really seem to get a choice. When you call, they will usually take down your number and tell you that they'll call when there's an inspection available. That does give one a sense of urgency when looking at a place though...if you like it, you'd better grab it because God only knows when you'll get to see another one that's acceptable. Sometimes the inspection date and time is listed on the listing on realestate.com.au. You show up with all the other people who are interested and go through it at the same time. That's an advantage if the property is a hellhole like the third one I saw yesterday. I didn't even have to talk to the realtor, I just slipped out the door fading into the crowd like some unneeded movie extra. This place was so bad, I was scared there would be a dead body at the bottom of all that muck in the pool. Creepy. Oddly enough, the neighborhood was lovely in every other way. Go figure.
The first place I wanted to see yesterday was in Kangaroo Point. No luck there. The directions from the official translink site said to take a particular bus to a particular stop....no problem...then walk 200 or so metres to another stop for a different bus. The problem is....which direction? I ended up in Chinatown and when I did eventually find out where the damn stop was, I had walked through the Chinatown market. I still can't figure out how I was supposed to get from stop A to stop B walking in anything that resembled a straight line. Everyone I asked was very helpful in their own way but it was just impossible. By the time I found the stop, it was too late to go to the inspection. I'm sure the apartment wasn't acceptable anyway, right? I came back to the hotel for lunch and to gather my thoughts. I was muttering about how it was "just too bad that someone else was gonna have to find us a place to live cause I'd be damned if I was doing that crap again".
After lunch, I gathered my courage and headed out again. The route this time was a little easier and I had one inspection in Indooroopilly and two in Toowong. And, I had to catch a train. Oh dear. I made it to my first bus stop with no problem and stood in front of a map that had the little dot telling me "you are here" and figured out where the train station was supposed to be. I must have been standing there for a little too long because just as I turned to go, a woman who must have noticed me as she was walking down the street stopped and said, "All right then?". I smiled and said, "Yes, I've got it now". She smiled back and went on her way. I followed a native across the street just to keep from having to walk to the crosswalk (knowing I needed to save as many steps as possible for when I get lost). I saw the sign pointing me to the train station and felt so triumphant. hahahahahahaha. As if the signs take you anywhere. I finally asked directions....several times and made it to the right train platform. I would have gotten on the wrong train if I had followed the directions I got from Translink but luckily, I'm not shy about asking strangers for help. I had no major problems with directions for the rest of the day. It was all very frustrating and a lot of walking but it was manageable. So far, none of the apts. are what I'm looking for....
We are staying in Tenneriffe and our hotel/condo has the most amazing view. The entire front (or would that be the back...) is windows overlooking the river. I can see the CityCat (public transport boats) going by regularly, there are rowing teams practicing in the morning, and people just generally having a lot of fun on the water. It's peaceful and quiet. There are moments when it makes me want to cry. If someone had asked me, I would have said, "Oh yes, we're staying in Tenneriffe, just outside the city". Those of you who know me well, know that my map skills are questionable at best. Ben works in Fortitude Valley which is in the CBD (Central Business District) and he said that it took him about a half hour to walk there his first day. After that, he made it in 15 minutes. I know, any moron who took a moment to think about that would realize that my thinking that we are "outside the city" is a bit delusional. I realized my error yesterday when I got on a bus and headed in that direction...literally go down a street or two and turn a corner and BOOM-you're in the CITY. Duh.
I still don't know how to work the oven here. And if I did, I wouldn't know what temperature to put in on unless I looked it up on the internet. Luckily, I've been too tired to cook.
The weather here right now is just beyond amazing. Sandals and shorts during the day for me and jeans and a long sleeved shirt at night. Ben can wear shorts all the time. The sun feels so amazing. I love being out in it.
Bedtime is still about 8pm. I wake up about 6am. By 6pm, I'm struggling to stay alert probably because it's dark by then.
Today...it's still all about trying to find a place to live. I'm going to Ben's office to get online to try to find something at realestate.com.au and then it'll be time to make phone calls. I hate talking on the phone. I had trouble understanding many people on the phone in the States...here's it's nearly hopeless. I feel like if I can make out the time of the next inspection then it's a successful call. Any other information they are offering is completely lost. I'd tell myself that it will get easier but I know that part really won't. I've always had trouble understanding strangers on the phone so I'll just make the best of it. As long as I sound friendly when I'm making no sense to them, then I suppose they'll just think I'm a nice gal who's a little dim. And I suppose that's better than them thinking I'm some psychotic foreigner who doesn't understand a normal conversation. They probably don't rent places to psychos.
Luckily, in person, I can understand most of what is said here. The accent really is lovely.The exception being anything that includes directions to somewhere. But, that has less to do with the accent and more to do with the way my brain works. Kelsey says it takes them forever to say anything.
There's a drought in Brisbane. But, our shower has the most amazing water pressure I've ever seen in my life. In restaurants, good luck getting a big glass of water. The service is friendly, just different than in the US. Slower...and tiny glasses of water. We have managed to find some restaurants that are a little more reasonably priced than the ones we saw the first couple of days....either that or we are getting over the "sticker shock" already. $10 for a sandwich and we're excited. But Ben did say it was a BIG sandwich.
Next day's notes...
Today we were chatting with a young realtor named Braedon. He was all of 19 years old. Seriously. Very nice fellow and rather funny, too. He said something (and I so wish I could remember what it was) that I thought was an Australian joke...I laughed very hard until I realized I was the only one laughing. Whoops. He was very nice though and seemed to understand that I couldn't help myself. I also asked him how to use the oven. He thought I was joking. He asked me twice if I was serious. I have no pride. I said I was serious. He showed me how to use the oven and I thanked him kindly. The pantry in the apartment was really big. Kelsey couldn't help herself. She climbed into it. He found that very amusing. The apartment had a gorgeous view but I'm not ready to commit without seeing some other areas. If the rental market is as competitive as everyone says then anything I look at over the next couple of weeks will be gone by the time I decide I want it. But, I'm not worried. We'll find a nice place.
Fish and chips for lunch today. Ketchup and tartar sauce packets were fifty cents each. But, the lunch itself was only $10-$15.
Found KMart in Toowong and Kelsey managed to find some shorts on clearance....$8. Quite the bargain. I wanted to dance but I refrained. Found corn on the cob priced at 4 ears for $2.
Television here was rumored to be horrible. The rumor was correct. Even Ben has nothing to watch and that's saying something...
The bus drivers here are so helpful.They are happy to let you know if you're on the right bus or not and direct you to the correct one if they can. It's also nice that the passengers say thank you as they step off the bus.
Already things are starting to blur. It's shame I was too tired the first few days to write everything down (or type it). Okay, let's see...I think I left off at the point in the story where I was determined to find a Farmer's Market. Rumor was there was one at the Queen Street Mall. I don't even know how to describe the place other than to say once I go down the escalator into the pit of it, I have a difficult time finding my way out. So does Benji but that's a story for another day. There are outdoor restaurants down the middle of the walkway....apparently all owned by the same person/company but all with different names. I insisted that we sit in the sun because I was cold. So much for the idea that I wouldn't need anything with sleeves in Brisbane. Good thing I'm stubborn and didn't listen to that piece of advice. Let me repeat this one last time. I GET COLD when other people DON'T. Am I clear? Okay, good. Sitting in the sun, wearing shorts and my chaco sandals felt lovely. I ordered an "Australian Breakfast" which included eggs, tomato, bacon, choice of juice and toast. The bacon was not what I expected...it was much thicker than American bacon (called "streaky bacon" here) but it's one of my new favorite things. Like breakfast ham but better. My tea was loose leaf. The eggs were dreadful for no particular reason but the tomato made up for it. Coming from springtime in the US to fall in Australia does have it's advantages and ripe tomatoes tops the list. The waitress said, "No worries". I didn't let on that I thought that was cute. I think my breakfast was around $12. After breakfast we quickly realized that the Farmer's Market did not exist (I've since found out that it's on Wednesdays). We stopped by the tourist information center for brochures. Now we have enough reading material for last us for weeks. Rumor had it that there was a Farmer's Market at South Bank so we made our way to the river to catch the ferry (CityCat), not realizing there was a nice footbridge that would have taken us to South Bank.
South Bank was gorgeous. I so wish we could afford to live there. Beautifully landscaped pathways, a paved path along the river...everything just perfect. They have an artificial beach, several swimming areas, water play features and fountains galore. Benji even jumped in for a quick swim. I went to sit on a nearby bench to wait for Ben to come back from getting a cup of coffee. Benji yells from the water, "Mom, you've got to bring your trunks next time. The water is great.". I grinned and replied, "Well, how about I bring my swimsuit instead? I think that would be more appropriate". The man sitting on the bench beside us said, "Oh, I don't mind if you go in naked." I was completely speechless. Kelsey looked at me. I looked at her. And we both just cracked up. I'd like to state for the record that this man appeared to have all his teeth which is the complete opposite of the typet that usually tries to flirt with me back in the States. As for the Farmer's Market. No luck. There was a market but it was all art, jewelry, clothing, etc. Nice in it's own way but I wanted food. By this time, Mike (Ben's co-worker) had called and we had agreed to meet them back at our hotel for lunch and to be taken to the grocery store.
By this point, jetlag was really kicking in and I was wondering how long it would be until bedtime. Again, I just felt so disoriented and unable to think. Mike, his wife Misty and their girls were all very nice. We went to a place down in New Farm for lunch. I ordered iced tea and ended up with a bottle of Lipton. (Savages.) Apparently you can't get a brewed iced tea here. I even checked a Starbucks. But, they do have something called a "flat white" which is yummy. I'm sure if I knew how it was made, I could get it in the states but the way coffee drinks are made is a mystery to me. I'll figure out later...I'm still too tired. Anyway, the food servings were much too small for the price. Kelsey's salmon salad was $23 and looked more like a side salad. But, all tasted fine. Ben, Benji, Mike and his girls went to New Farm Park (huge!) while Misty, Kelsey and I came back here to go to the grocery store. Thank God she drove. There are NO yellow lines on the road. Seriously, I don't know how they know they are in the right lane. Getting a place to live near public transportation was suddenly of supreme importance!!!!
The grocery store...thank goodness there were two people there to help me. Grocery stores are a challenge even when I'm in the best state of mind so trying to plan and grocery shop while jetlagged in a foreign country....I needed a babysitter! The carts are all wheel drive. No way to push it along with just one hand while you grab something off of a shelf. Oh no, you gotta be driving that baby every second. Going around corners, it would whip around and I'd find myself doing a little jog to catch up. Embarrassing. If I saw a familiar brand, I grabbed it (Newman's Own, Kraft, those cute little cheese wedges I love so much ....Laughing Cow) and if it wasn't familiar I took Misty's advice. Afterwards, we hopped over to the fruit market (I guess they had veggies too but you know me...fruit makes me happy). I didn't care how much I spent there, I grabbed everything I could possibly eat before it went bad. Strawberries (mediocre), pineapple (obviously dropped straigh from God's hands....it tasted like candy), watermelon (ick) and bananas (yum). Overall, I spent about $250 for 3 to 4 days worth of food. But, we are in beautiful Brisbane. One does have to expect some trade-offs, right?
Bedtime that night was 8pm and I had to struggle to stay awake that long. I slept through until 5am. Again, enjoyed the beautiful sunrise looking out over the river (and some Australian bacon, thank you very much). Plans for Sunday included finding cell phones so the kids could go out on their own and still be in contact with us and exploring West End. Queen Street Mall seemed as good a place as any to start looking for a cell phone since there seems to be a place selling mobiles (prounounced differently here....moe Bile...like bile from your liver) every 3 or 4 shops. The fellow who we spoke to at Allphone was, ironically enough, named Ben. He was quite the character. As he chatted with us, he launched into an example of what type of accent we might hear if we venture out into the "bush". I'd tell you what he actually said if I'd understood even one bit of it. I guess I'd better stay in the city. He also said "no worries" at one point and any number of other things I've only ever heard in movies. Three pre-paid mobiles later and off we went to West End.
Tons of cafes....vegetarian restaurants, alternative medicine, bookstores...tons of bills posted about concerts, lectures, etc. Used the filthiest toilet I've seen in quite some time because I didn't have any other choice. By 2pm, I was pretty sure it was midnight. I just didn't understand why the sun was still shining. Back to the hotel for one grouchy evening. The only person in a good mood was Benji. Everyone else was struggling just to stay awake. Bedtime by 8:30 in hopes of sleeping later the next day....up at 5am on Monday.
Not much to tell about Monday. Benji, again, the only person seemingly unaffected by the strangeness of it all. He hopped out of bed bright and early...insisted on going downtown to the Bunker by himself and headed out the door. Kelsey was going to go downtown with me and then, after lunch, planned to head over the modern art museum in South Bank. By this point, a mild form of culture shock was setting in for the rest of us. The vacation was over. Ben had to go to work. I had to make my way down to Queen Street to meet him at the bank to confirm our identities in person so we could access our money. The time had come to start looking for a place to live in a city that I don't know with public transport that I don't understand. Which areas are best? Which areas can we afford? Which areas are near public transport? Which areas are not a huge ass walk up some big ass hill? Trying to figure anything out without the internet is difficult. I'm used to just hopping online to get directions, to find out if something is open, and to find out admission costs. Free wi-fi at restaurants is virtually non-existent here, the exception being McDonalds but even there it's not even worth accessing. There's an internet cafe in New Farm but you can only be online for 30 minutes. The other few places we are aware of charge by the hour.
Which leads me to real estate. Oh my gosh. I've just never imagined a system to bizarre. The realtors don't work together. You literally have to go to realestate.com.au to see if there's anything you're interested in....then contact that individual realtor to see (a) it's still available (b) where it's located and (c) when there will be a showing. That showing might be a week or a month away. And it's for about 20 minutes if you're lucky. Everyone who wants to see it shows up at the same time and you all look at it at the same time. Walking into a realtors office seems to be a waste of time. They just look at you as if they are in shock that you thought they might have some information. I suppose it's hilarious in it's own way.
Anyway, I digress. I won't go into the gory details of spending the day at the McDonalds food court because we neglected to make an appt. at the bank. Benji kept me company once I found him. He'd gone underground at the mall and couldn't find an exit. I'm wondering if those little blue signs showing a running "man" mean that an exit is the way the arrow on it is pointing. Hmm. I guess I'll have to ask. Someone was kind enough to put my "rubbish" in the "bin" for me. And I spent some time talking to a nice women who was giving me information on the various suburbs in the area while I waited for the &*(^%$#@! webpages to load so I could even see what was available on the market.
After finally giving up on the internet connection, I wandered out into the sun and checked out a natural skin care store. A nice lady washed my hand with some yummy concoction that I immediately purchased. I'm a sucker for customer service.
Once all our downtown business was completed, we hopped on the bus to head home. Again, Benji is the only one in a good mood. Everyone else is just struggling to hold it together. More than anything, it was the lack of access to the internet that was the problem. Everything just seemed that much harder because we couldn't get the information we needed. How were we supposed to find a place to live if the realtors don't help and you can't look at the listings?
Soooo, we stopped by the front desk to try to solve the problem. Lo and behold. Internet is available at the hotel....to the tune of $20 per week plus whatever Telstra charges for your uploads and downloads. Yes, that's right, you get charged for every single little bit of what you do online. So far, I've spent about 3 hours looking at houses and that cost me about $10. So, if I don't even get on the internet again this week, we will have spent $30. But, I did find some properties that look a little bit promising. I'll be going to look at one this afternoon in New Farm.
Bedtime Monday night was about 9pm though it was a struggle. I was awake at 6am. Benji was off to the Bunker again this morning. I'm sure he's spent all of his allowance now so he'll have to find some other way to amuse himself tomorrow. I did a bit of laundry in the teeny tiny washer (the dryer vents into the room and that apparently is standard for the area) and went for a walk with Kelsey. We found two used clothing stores though she didn't buy anything today. It's good to know they are there because when we went into Target yesterday, the least expensive pair of shorts we saw were $27 on clearance. OMG, I forgot to say...Payless Shoes has a store here. Don't be fooled though. The least expensive pair of shoes I saw there was about $59 and, damn, were they ugly. Anyway, we wandered down to the library in New Farm today. Small and charming. I can't wait to get a library card. No hurry though because I still can't really concentrate long enough to finish much of anything. A quick stop to get some groceries and we were back on the bus to the hotel. The kids are off on an exploring adventure. They wanted to go check out the Borders and then Benji wants to show Kelsey the park in New Farm. It's starting to look like it might rain this afternoon and I'd really like to take a nap. But, I'm going to try to stay awake. I don't want to miss any of the daylight!
Oh, and we ordered take-out pizza last night. I thought Ben was going to destroy the phone. Apparently it was quite the ordeal and included a recorded message, needing to know our postal code and who knows what else. He did finally manage to order two large pizzas. If we hadn't been so tired we would have quite the giggle when they arrived. You know the frozen pizzas you buy at the grocery store? (DiGiorno or Tony's or whatever?) Well, these weren't even that big. Good thing we ordered two!
I'm hoping to get to the Botanical Gardens soon and working on finding us a home. Benji is making plans to go kayaking as soon as any other member of his family is alert enough to go along. Kelsey is wondering how we are going to meet people and Ben is just working on getting our lives organized. All in all, the last few days have been an adventure. A mostly amusing adventure. We are looking forward to getting settled. Brisbane seems to be a laid back town...full of things to do and with stunningly beautiful weather (at least for the moment...and really, the moment is all we can ask for, right?). We feel certain that we're going to be very happy here.
South Bank was gorgeous. I so wish we could afford to live there. Beautifully landscaped pathways, a paved path along the river...everything just perfect. They have an artificial beach, several swimming areas, water play features and fountains galore. Benji even jumped in for a quick swim. I went to sit on a nearby bench to wait for Ben to come back from getting a cup of coffee. Benji yells from the water, "Mom, you've got to bring your trunks next time. The water is great.". I grinned and replied, "Well, how about I bring my swimsuit instead? I think that would be more appropriate". The man sitting on the bench beside us said, "Oh, I don't mind if you go in naked." I was completely speechless. Kelsey looked at me. I looked at her. And we both just cracked up. I'd like to state for the record that this man appeared to have all his teeth which is the complete opposite of the typet that usually tries to flirt with me back in the States. As for the Farmer's Market. No luck. There was a market but it was all art, jewelry, clothing, etc. Nice in it's own way but I wanted food. By this time, Mike (Ben's co-worker) had called and we had agreed to meet them back at our hotel for lunch and to be taken to the grocery store.
By this point, jetlag was really kicking in and I was wondering how long it would be until bedtime. Again, I just felt so disoriented and unable to think. Mike, his wife Misty and their girls were all very nice. We went to a place down in New Farm for lunch. I ordered iced tea and ended up with a bottle of Lipton. (Savages.) Apparently you can't get a brewed iced tea here. I even checked a Starbucks. But, they do have something called a "flat white" which is yummy. I'm sure if I knew how it was made, I could get it in the states but the way coffee drinks are made is a mystery to me. I'll figure out later...I'm still too tired. Anyway, the food servings were much too small for the price. Kelsey's salmon salad was $23 and looked more like a side salad. But, all tasted fine. Ben, Benji, Mike and his girls went to New Farm Park (huge!) while Misty, Kelsey and I came back here to go to the grocery store. Thank God she drove. There are NO yellow lines on the road. Seriously, I don't know how they know they are in the right lane. Getting a place to live near public transportation was suddenly of supreme importance!!!!
The grocery store...thank goodness there were two people there to help me. Grocery stores are a challenge even when I'm in the best state of mind so trying to plan and grocery shop while jetlagged in a foreign country....I needed a babysitter! The carts are all wheel drive. No way to push it along with just one hand while you grab something off of a shelf. Oh no, you gotta be driving that baby every second. Going around corners, it would whip around and I'd find myself doing a little jog to catch up. Embarrassing. If I saw a familiar brand, I grabbed it (Newman's Own, Kraft, those cute little cheese wedges I love so much ....Laughing Cow) and if it wasn't familiar I took Misty's advice. Afterwards, we hopped over to the fruit market (I guess they had veggies too but you know me...fruit makes me happy). I didn't care how much I spent there, I grabbed everything I could possibly eat before it went bad. Strawberries (mediocre), pineapple (obviously dropped straigh from God's hands....it tasted like candy), watermelon (ick) and bananas (yum). Overall, I spent about $250 for 3 to 4 days worth of food. But, we are in beautiful Brisbane. One does have to expect some trade-offs, right?
Bedtime that night was 8pm and I had to struggle to stay awake that long. I slept through until 5am. Again, enjoyed the beautiful sunrise looking out over the river (and some Australian bacon, thank you very much). Plans for Sunday included finding cell phones so the kids could go out on their own and still be in contact with us and exploring West End. Queen Street Mall seemed as good a place as any to start looking for a cell phone since there seems to be a place selling mobiles (prounounced differently here....moe Bile...like bile from your liver) every 3 or 4 shops. The fellow who we spoke to at Allphone was, ironically enough, named Ben. He was quite the character. As he chatted with us, he launched into an example of what type of accent we might hear if we venture out into the "bush". I'd tell you what he actually said if I'd understood even one bit of it. I guess I'd better stay in the city. He also said "no worries" at one point and any number of other things I've only ever heard in movies. Three pre-paid mobiles later and off we went to West End.
Tons of cafes....vegetarian restaurants, alternative medicine, bookstores...tons of bills posted about concerts, lectures, etc. Used the filthiest toilet I've seen in quite some time because I didn't have any other choice. By 2pm, I was pretty sure it was midnight. I just didn't understand why the sun was still shining. Back to the hotel for one grouchy evening. The only person in a good mood was Benji. Everyone else was struggling just to stay awake. Bedtime by 8:30 in hopes of sleeping later the next day....up at 5am on Monday.
Not much to tell about Monday. Benji, again, the only person seemingly unaffected by the strangeness of it all. He hopped out of bed bright and early...insisted on going downtown to the Bunker by himself and headed out the door. Kelsey was going to go downtown with me and then, after lunch, planned to head over the modern art museum in South Bank. By this point, a mild form of culture shock was setting in for the rest of us. The vacation was over. Ben had to go to work. I had to make my way down to Queen Street to meet him at the bank to confirm our identities in person so we could access our money. The time had come to start looking for a place to live in a city that I don't know with public transport that I don't understand. Which areas are best? Which areas can we afford? Which areas are near public transport? Which areas are not a huge ass walk up some big ass hill? Trying to figure anything out without the internet is difficult. I'm used to just hopping online to get directions, to find out if something is open, and to find out admission costs. Free wi-fi at restaurants is virtually non-existent here, the exception being McDonalds but even there it's not even worth accessing. There's an internet cafe in New Farm but you can only be online for 30 minutes. The other few places we are aware of charge by the hour.
Which leads me to real estate. Oh my gosh. I've just never imagined a system to bizarre. The realtors don't work together. You literally have to go to realestate.com.au to see if there's anything you're interested in....then contact that individual realtor to see (a) it's still available (b) where it's located and (c) when there will be a showing. That showing might be a week or a month away. And it's for about 20 minutes if you're lucky. Everyone who wants to see it shows up at the same time and you all look at it at the same time. Walking into a realtors office seems to be a waste of time. They just look at you as if they are in shock that you thought they might have some information. I suppose it's hilarious in it's own way.
Anyway, I digress. I won't go into the gory details of spending the day at the McDonalds food court because we neglected to make an appt. at the bank. Benji kept me company once I found him. He'd gone underground at the mall and couldn't find an exit. I'm wondering if those little blue signs showing a running "man" mean that an exit is the way the arrow on it is pointing. Hmm. I guess I'll have to ask. Someone was kind enough to put my "rubbish" in the "bin" for me. And I spent some time talking to a nice women who was giving me information on the various suburbs in the area while I waited for the &*(^%$#@! webpages to load so I could even see what was available on the market.
After finally giving up on the internet connection, I wandered out into the sun and checked out a natural skin care store. A nice lady washed my hand with some yummy concoction that I immediately purchased. I'm a sucker for customer service.
Once all our downtown business was completed, we hopped on the bus to head home. Again, Benji is the only one in a good mood. Everyone else is just struggling to hold it together. More than anything, it was the lack of access to the internet that was the problem. Everything just seemed that much harder because we couldn't get the information we needed. How were we supposed to find a place to live if the realtors don't help and you can't look at the listings?
Soooo, we stopped by the front desk to try to solve the problem. Lo and behold. Internet is available at the hotel....to the tune of $20 per week plus whatever Telstra charges for your uploads and downloads. Yes, that's right, you get charged for every single little bit of what you do online. So far, I've spent about 3 hours looking at houses and that cost me about $10. So, if I don't even get on the internet again this week, we will have spent $30. But, I did find some properties that look a little bit promising. I'll be going to look at one this afternoon in New Farm.
Bedtime Monday night was about 9pm though it was a struggle. I was awake at 6am. Benji was off to the Bunker again this morning. I'm sure he's spent all of his allowance now so he'll have to find some other way to amuse himself tomorrow. I did a bit of laundry in the teeny tiny washer (the dryer vents into the room and that apparently is standard for the area) and went for a walk with Kelsey. We found two used clothing stores though she didn't buy anything today. It's good to know they are there because when we went into Target yesterday, the least expensive pair of shorts we saw were $27 on clearance. OMG, I forgot to say...Payless Shoes has a store here. Don't be fooled though. The least expensive pair of shoes I saw there was about $59 and, damn, were they ugly. Anyway, we wandered down to the library in New Farm today. Small and charming. I can't wait to get a library card. No hurry though because I still can't really concentrate long enough to finish much of anything. A quick stop to get some groceries and we were back on the bus to the hotel. The kids are off on an exploring adventure. They wanted to go check out the Borders and then Benji wants to show Kelsey the park in New Farm. It's starting to look like it might rain this afternoon and I'd really like to take a nap. But, I'm going to try to stay awake. I don't want to miss any of the daylight!
Oh, and we ordered take-out pizza last night. I thought Ben was going to destroy the phone. Apparently it was quite the ordeal and included a recorded message, needing to know our postal code and who knows what else. He did finally manage to order two large pizzas. If we hadn't been so tired we would have quite the giggle when they arrived. You know the frozen pizzas you buy at the grocery store? (DiGiorno or Tony's or whatever?) Well, these weren't even that big. Good thing we ordered two!
I'm hoping to get to the Botanical Gardens soon and working on finding us a home. Benji is making plans to go kayaking as soon as any other member of his family is alert enough to go along. Kelsey is wondering how we are going to meet people and Ben is just working on getting our lives organized. All in all, the last few days have been an adventure. A mostly amusing adventure. We are looking forward to getting settled. Brisbane seems to be a laid back town...full of things to do and with stunningly beautiful weather (at least for the moment...and really, the moment is all we can ask for, right?). We feel certain that we're going to be very happy here.
First Few Days in Australia
Well, I'm in here (sort of). Jet lag is kicking my ass. I was up at 5am this morning just the same as yesterday and the day before...what day is it anyway? The only way I know it's Monday is that Ben went to the office. But, it's not as bad as the first day...
No point in describing the whirlwind of the day before heading out of the country. Let's just say I handled it all beautifully...meaning I didn't actually kill or maim anyone though I felt like it more times that I can count. Perhaps this means I'm a grown-up now?
The drive to the airport was uneventful but tearful. Our driver was nice and he managed to fit our 14 bags into the vehicle so no complaints there. A porter rushed to our assistance as soon as we pulled up to the airport. I wanted to kiss him but that seemed a bit inappropriate so I refrained. He escorted us to the counter we needed where Ben realized he had packed the information that was needed in a suitcase though which suitcase was a mystery to us all. No worries, the counter person helped us out. We were also relieved to find out we wouldn't have to pick up our bags in LA and recheck them. Biggest snafu...we had to rush to our gate, skipping lunch (uh oh) because Diner's Club wouldn't approve our overage charges even though Ben had just reassured them the night before that he was who he was and the card was not stolen even though 4 tix to Australia had been purchased and a car hired. I figured I'd ask for something to snack on as soon as we took off and would be fine. There was a slight delay on the runway but I survived (again without killing or maiming anyone)and Ben was able to purchase a "snack pack" for me shortly after the fasten seat belts sign went off. Tuna with lemon and pepper from a can never tasted so divine. Can't say the same for lunch. Gagged down that turkey wrap as best I could just a preventative measure. Hot tea soothed my nerves and I settled in to read some of "Twilight". Oh boy, that book sure is a giggle. Nearly the entire flight, I could hear Benji talking into my ear even though he was 3 rows away. He was very excited! He was also very nervous. He literally threw up in his mouth a little when there was some turbulence. His dad thought that was rather funny. The flight was long but the seats were comfortable enough.
By the time we landed in LA I was already feeling very confused about where I was timewise. I felt just a bit disoriented but not partiularly tired. Quick Starbucks stop and checking in at VAustralia and then to a fish place for dinner. Passable food, decent service...blessed water with lemon. Ok so maybe it wasn't blessed but it sure tasted like it was sent straight from God. Apparently I was a bit thirsty. We settled in to wait for our flight. By 10pm which felt like 1am to me, they announced that our flight would be delayed....we would take off at midnight. At this point, I was pretty sure I was going to crack. I was so exhausted and the chairs could not honestly be more uncomfortable. Turns out that the ground crew had damaged the nose of the plane. I have no idea of the time that all of this took really...it was like an out of body experience except less restful. I remember I fell asleep in my chair only to be woken my beloved husband (who knows I almost NEVER fall asleep sitting up) just to let me know he was going to wander down the hall. Thank God he gave me that pivotal information otherwise I might have thought he'd left us alone in the LA airport. (but I'm not bitter). By this point, my mood had reached the point that it was better that no one speak to me at all. At some point, I wandered down the hall to the only store that was left open in the place only to be retrieved by Benji. He had rushed to let me know that the flight was now delayed until 3am. God help me. Innocent people were truly in danger now. I was keeping my mouth shut but inside I was a mess. By the time we had walked back to Ben, he said that they were offering to let people take the 11:45 Sydney flight and then get a domestic flight to Brisbane from there. We were iffy. We'd been told that Sydney is a nightmare but honestly, I felt that our flight was going to be completely cancelled and that would be a worse nightmare. Or it wouldn't be cancelled and I'd be terrified to get on a plane that only hours before had been damaged. (I'm sure that happens all the time but I don't need to know about it). So, we get in line to be booked for the Sydney flight which was not as efficient as one might imagine. About the time it was our turn, the bookings closed because the flight was boarding. There was someone frantically talking to Sydney on the phone, someone frantically writing something, someone frantically hitting keys on the computer and two others standing there looking rather bored. I wanted to slap those two but again, refrained. Those around me would never have even known I was upset. I consider that to be progress. Now, listen to this part carefully because this is important. The man told us that although booking were closed, he was going to enter everyone's information into the computer and there would be a connecting flight waiting for us when we got to Sydney. We would just go to the transfer desk to find out which flight it would be. Rumor was that flights left Syndey for Brisbane every 30 minutes. (Seriously?). So, off we went.
As we boarded the plane, the flight attendant welcomed us with his lovely little accent and I wondered to myself if I'd ever grow tired of hearing Australians speak. I hoped not. I wanted to weep with relief when we settled into our seats. VAustralia is a brand new division of Virgin Airlines so the planes are only 6 weeks old and they are lovely. The seat was a bit firm for my liking but very roomy. Plenty of choices for entertainment (video games, movies, tv shows, music, a map that showed our flights progress, and who knows what else. The flight was delayed so they could add more fuel and food for us...I had no idea how long but it must have been over an hour because I watched an episode of True Blood. Our flight attendant, Michelle, was perhaps the most cheerful person I've ever seen. She made every bit of that flight just perfect. We were immediately served juice or water (with lemon)and placed our orders for dinner and breakfast. I don't know what those poor blokes back in economy were eating but this food was really, really good. It even had a shrimp appetizer and a delicious brownie. After dinner, apparently, they dim the lights in such a way that it's like the sun going down....different colored lights dimming gradually. I missed that because by that point, I had discovered that while all the arm rests didn't lift up,the one right in the middle did. Premium Economy has 40 seat...2 window, 4 in the middle and 2 window per row. There were about 17 people total so there were extra seats. Woohoo! Kelsey moved to a window seat on one side of the plane, Benji to one on the other....I put on my eye mask, put in my earplugs and lifed up that armrest, put my head on Ben's lap and was out like a light. At some point, he got up so I could lay flat. I was in heaven. Yes, I was that grateful to have two seats to curl up in. Boy, comfort is all relative, isn't it? I slept for 7 hours. I've never been so grateful in my entire life. The rest of the time was spent napping, going to the toilet (Britney Spears' "Oops, I did it again" was playing nearly every time...for Ben, he kept hearing something by AC/DC...very strange), eating (cheddar and crackers, an orange, hot tea, water), and being interrupted by Ben and Benji so often that I didn't even finish one single movie. (Of course, they were offering vital information such as "I'm going to the bathroom". Again, thank God he told me otherwise, I might have worried that he'd gotten off the plane.) Though funnily enough, Ben did actually disapper once for a very long time and I did start to worry. Turns out he had charmed someone on the crew into a tour of the plane. lol. Turns out that business class would have totally rocked....flat beds and "private pods" or something like that. Ahhh, someday. Breakfast was served shortly after the artificial sunrise. (Nice touch). Yummy frittata, fresh fruit, hot tea, roll, yogurt and I don't even remember what else. It was more food than I could eat. Benji's main dish was hotcakes with apples. Then we took much longer than you'd expect completing our "declaration" forms....they warn you at least four times that it is a legal document and you can be fined or imprisoned if you don't declare something and are caught with it. By the time we landed in Sydney, I felt fine and not so fine. I just felt a bit dioriented...I mean, it was obviously jetlag but it is just the oddest feeling for me.
In Sydney, we each had to get a cart to carry the luggage as there are NO porters. Not even one. Customs was a piece of cake. They could not have been less interested in us. Not that I'm complaining. I noticed that we made it through a good deal faster than some of the other people on our flight but since we were out of the area so quickly I'm not sure what held them up. We met up with a couple of ladies we had spoken to in LA while in line for our domestic check-in. They were travelling with their children and were very friendly and encouraging. It became painfully obvious very, very quickly that we were NOT booked on a connecting flight. It was all extremely disorganized. I repeat, extremely disorganized. Virgin Blue apparently had not been notified that we were all coming and would need a flight. I was shockingly calm. Seriously, you would have been impressed. One family with four children just lost it. Screaming, yelling, cursing, rolling about on the ground (okay, so that part isn't true but you get the picture.)I suspect they must have flown ecomomy because I know if I had not had that seven hours I sleep, I would have lost it at that point. We stood in line for a while (because there was somone frantically talking on the phone, someone frantically writing, and someone frantically typing) and was finally booked onto a flight. We even got complimentary bus passes (in Sydney you have to pay to transfer from one terminal to the next if you can't walk it). Oh I forgot to mention, as soon as you walk off the plane and down the hall in Sydney you are treated to three huge photos of people in swimsuits...one was a man in a speedo.
We had time to grab a snack and sit for a bit while waiting for our flight. I was forced to check my carry-on as it was too heavy for this flight. Ben's was heavier, he just didn't get caught. I didn't even care at this point until the middle of the flight when I remembered that's where I had packed family photos. ACK! Oh well. This flight was icky compared to the last. Nothing complimentary (see how spoiled I was getting?) and even though we were in premium economy, the only perk was a bit more leg room and butt room (not that I'm not grateful for those things). I read some more Twilight and was so happy to land in Brisbane. Overall, we had added over 7 hours to our travel time. We were suppposed to be in Brisbane by 5:30am or so and we didn't get there until after 1 in the afternoon.
Not a single porter in existence and only barely an idea of what to do next, we grabbed our bags and got them down to the taxi station to grab a "maxitaxi". Uneventful ride to the hotel. Yield signs say "Give Way" rather than "Yield". Taxi fare was over $60 AUD. They drive like fucking maniacs here. Motorcycles just go right now between the cars, not caring that there isn't actually a lane there. As far as I can see, pedestrians do not have the right of way.
Three trips into the hotel later and our bags were all in our "apartment". Words cannot even describe the view. We are literally right on the river and it is breathtaking. And it's a good thing the view is great as the rest of it leaves a little bit to be desired. But, I'm in no mood to complain as that would only hasten the culture shock I'm sure to feel at some point. I have absolutely no idea how to use the oven and don't even care yet. The tv channels have absolutely nothing on which doesn't really matter except that I'm nearly brainless by 5pm and incapable of any real thought so something decent to watch would help me stay awake until a reasonable bedtime. But, oh well. I could live here forever except I don't have internet access and that is driving me completely mad. Anyway....
After getting checked in, we went across the street to the closest restaurant (well, we tried one just down the street right on the river but they had just closed and wouldn't be open again until dinner) and I had a $13 hot dog and fries. Admittedly it was a fancy hot dog with kraut on but the kraut wasn't sour. We had intended to just try to stay awake but by the time I ate half my dinner, I looked at Ben and said, I need to go to bed NOW. So, naptime it was! I figured we'd go out after we woke up to find some groceries not realizing that it would be dark by 6pm. That only made me feel more disoriented when I woke up. We walked to the nearest 7/11 and got some tuna and stuff like that. Then, we spent the next two hours unpacking and fell into bed exhausted.
I was up the next morning at 5am. Seriously. Benji went out onto the porch with Ben to watch the sunrise chattering non-stop about the beautiful sunrise, the beautiful river, the beautiful birds, the kayakers, the boats, the, the, the, the you nameit, he talked about it. I couldn't just sit in the apartment for long. I ate some tuna for breakfast and we headed down to the Queen Street Mall. Bus 199 took us there, thank you very much. We bought bus passes though I think we did that wrong. Ben's going to figure that out today. There's only one way to describe the day. Overwhelming. The accent still hasn't failed to charm me. When someone says "No worries", I giggle a little inside. The way they phrase things can be a bit confusing but I think I've been okay so far. Food is crazy expensive but that was something we expected. And the trade-off is that we are IN BRISBANE. The weather was chilly in the morning and simply divine by the afternoon. Benji immediately found a place where he can go to play World of Warcraft (it's called the Bunker but it smells more like a locker room) and we found our bank. I even saw a Borders Bookstore. I am not kidding. I didn't go check it out as I had an agenda for that day and it involved finding a Farmer's Market.
Okay, I have to stop typing now. I've got to get ready to go out and find a damn internet connection and start the process of talking to realtors. (I CAN do this. I have done things that are much more difficult. I CAN do this.)
No point in describing the whirlwind of the day before heading out of the country. Let's just say I handled it all beautifully...meaning I didn't actually kill or maim anyone though I felt like it more times that I can count. Perhaps this means I'm a grown-up now?
The drive to the airport was uneventful but tearful. Our driver was nice and he managed to fit our 14 bags into the vehicle so no complaints there. A porter rushed to our assistance as soon as we pulled up to the airport. I wanted to kiss him but that seemed a bit inappropriate so I refrained. He escorted us to the counter we needed where Ben realized he had packed the information that was needed in a suitcase though which suitcase was a mystery to us all. No worries, the counter person helped us out. We were also relieved to find out we wouldn't have to pick up our bags in LA and recheck them. Biggest snafu...we had to rush to our gate, skipping lunch (uh oh) because Diner's Club wouldn't approve our overage charges even though Ben had just reassured them the night before that he was who he was and the card was not stolen even though 4 tix to Australia had been purchased and a car hired. I figured I'd ask for something to snack on as soon as we took off and would be fine. There was a slight delay on the runway but I survived (again without killing or maiming anyone)and Ben was able to purchase a "snack pack" for me shortly after the fasten seat belts sign went off. Tuna with lemon and pepper from a can never tasted so divine. Can't say the same for lunch. Gagged down that turkey wrap as best I could just a preventative measure. Hot tea soothed my nerves and I settled in to read some of "Twilight". Oh boy, that book sure is a giggle. Nearly the entire flight, I could hear Benji talking into my ear even though he was 3 rows away. He was very excited! He was also very nervous. He literally threw up in his mouth a little when there was some turbulence. His dad thought that was rather funny. The flight was long but the seats were comfortable enough.
By the time we landed in LA I was already feeling very confused about where I was timewise. I felt just a bit disoriented but not partiularly tired. Quick Starbucks stop and checking in at VAustralia and then to a fish place for dinner. Passable food, decent service...blessed water with lemon. Ok so maybe it wasn't blessed but it sure tasted like it was sent straight from God. Apparently I was a bit thirsty. We settled in to wait for our flight. By 10pm which felt like 1am to me, they announced that our flight would be delayed....we would take off at midnight. At this point, I was pretty sure I was going to crack. I was so exhausted and the chairs could not honestly be more uncomfortable. Turns out that the ground crew had damaged the nose of the plane. I have no idea of the time that all of this took really...it was like an out of body experience except less restful. I remember I fell asleep in my chair only to be woken my beloved husband (who knows I almost NEVER fall asleep sitting up) just to let me know he was going to wander down the hall. Thank God he gave me that pivotal information otherwise I might have thought he'd left us alone in the LA airport. (but I'm not bitter). By this point, my mood had reached the point that it was better that no one speak to me at all. At some point, I wandered down the hall to the only store that was left open in the place only to be retrieved by Benji. He had rushed to let me know that the flight was now delayed until 3am. God help me. Innocent people were truly in danger now. I was keeping my mouth shut but inside I was a mess. By the time we had walked back to Ben, he said that they were offering to let people take the 11:45 Sydney flight and then get a domestic flight to Brisbane from there. We were iffy. We'd been told that Sydney is a nightmare but honestly, I felt that our flight was going to be completely cancelled and that would be a worse nightmare. Or it wouldn't be cancelled and I'd be terrified to get on a plane that only hours before had been damaged. (I'm sure that happens all the time but I don't need to know about it). So, we get in line to be booked for the Sydney flight which was not as efficient as one might imagine. About the time it was our turn, the bookings closed because the flight was boarding. There was someone frantically talking to Sydney on the phone, someone frantically writing something, someone frantically hitting keys on the computer and two others standing there looking rather bored. I wanted to slap those two but again, refrained. Those around me would never have even known I was upset. I consider that to be progress. Now, listen to this part carefully because this is important. The man told us that although booking were closed, he was going to enter everyone's information into the computer and there would be a connecting flight waiting for us when we got to Sydney. We would just go to the transfer desk to find out which flight it would be. Rumor was that flights left Syndey for Brisbane every 30 minutes. (Seriously?). So, off we went.
As we boarded the plane, the flight attendant welcomed us with his lovely little accent and I wondered to myself if I'd ever grow tired of hearing Australians speak. I hoped not. I wanted to weep with relief when we settled into our seats. VAustralia is a brand new division of Virgin Airlines so the planes are only 6 weeks old and they are lovely. The seat was a bit firm for my liking but very roomy. Plenty of choices for entertainment (video games, movies, tv shows, music, a map that showed our flights progress, and who knows what else. The flight was delayed so they could add more fuel and food for us...I had no idea how long but it must have been over an hour because I watched an episode of True Blood. Our flight attendant, Michelle, was perhaps the most cheerful person I've ever seen. She made every bit of that flight just perfect. We were immediately served juice or water (with lemon)and placed our orders for dinner and breakfast. I don't know what those poor blokes back in economy were eating but this food was really, really good. It even had a shrimp appetizer and a delicious brownie. After dinner, apparently, they dim the lights in such a way that it's like the sun going down....different colored lights dimming gradually. I missed that because by that point, I had discovered that while all the arm rests didn't lift up,the one right in the middle did. Premium Economy has 40 seat...2 window, 4 in the middle and 2 window per row. There were about 17 people total so there were extra seats. Woohoo! Kelsey moved to a window seat on one side of the plane, Benji to one on the other....I put on my eye mask, put in my earplugs and lifed up that armrest, put my head on Ben's lap and was out like a light. At some point, he got up so I could lay flat. I was in heaven. Yes, I was that grateful to have two seats to curl up in. Boy, comfort is all relative, isn't it? I slept for 7 hours. I've never been so grateful in my entire life. The rest of the time was spent napping, going to the toilet (Britney Spears' "Oops, I did it again" was playing nearly every time...for Ben, he kept hearing something by AC/DC...very strange), eating (cheddar and crackers, an orange, hot tea, water), and being interrupted by Ben and Benji so often that I didn't even finish one single movie. (Of course, they were offering vital information such as "I'm going to the bathroom". Again, thank God he told me otherwise, I might have worried that he'd gotten off the plane.) Though funnily enough, Ben did actually disapper once for a very long time and I did start to worry. Turns out he had charmed someone on the crew into a tour of the plane. lol. Turns out that business class would have totally rocked....flat beds and "private pods" or something like that. Ahhh, someday. Breakfast was served shortly after the artificial sunrise. (Nice touch). Yummy frittata, fresh fruit, hot tea, roll, yogurt and I don't even remember what else. It was more food than I could eat. Benji's main dish was hotcakes with apples. Then we took much longer than you'd expect completing our "declaration" forms....they warn you at least four times that it is a legal document and you can be fined or imprisoned if you don't declare something and are caught with it. By the time we landed in Sydney, I felt fine and not so fine. I just felt a bit dioriented...I mean, it was obviously jetlag but it is just the oddest feeling for me.
In Sydney, we each had to get a cart to carry the luggage as there are NO porters. Not even one. Customs was a piece of cake. They could not have been less interested in us. Not that I'm complaining. I noticed that we made it through a good deal faster than some of the other people on our flight but since we were out of the area so quickly I'm not sure what held them up. We met up with a couple of ladies we had spoken to in LA while in line for our domestic check-in. They were travelling with their children and were very friendly and encouraging. It became painfully obvious very, very quickly that we were NOT booked on a connecting flight. It was all extremely disorganized. I repeat, extremely disorganized. Virgin Blue apparently had not been notified that we were all coming and would need a flight. I was shockingly calm. Seriously, you would have been impressed. One family with four children just lost it. Screaming, yelling, cursing, rolling about on the ground (okay, so that part isn't true but you get the picture.)I suspect they must have flown ecomomy because I know if I had not had that seven hours I sleep, I would have lost it at that point. We stood in line for a while (because there was somone frantically talking on the phone, someone frantically writing, and someone frantically typing) and was finally booked onto a flight. We even got complimentary bus passes (in Sydney you have to pay to transfer from one terminal to the next if you can't walk it). Oh I forgot to mention, as soon as you walk off the plane and down the hall in Sydney you are treated to three huge photos of people in swimsuits...one was a man in a speedo.
We had time to grab a snack and sit for a bit while waiting for our flight. I was forced to check my carry-on as it was too heavy for this flight. Ben's was heavier, he just didn't get caught. I didn't even care at this point until the middle of the flight when I remembered that's where I had packed family photos. ACK! Oh well. This flight was icky compared to the last. Nothing complimentary (see how spoiled I was getting?) and even though we were in premium economy, the only perk was a bit more leg room and butt room (not that I'm not grateful for those things). I read some more Twilight and was so happy to land in Brisbane. Overall, we had added over 7 hours to our travel time. We were suppposed to be in Brisbane by 5:30am or so and we didn't get there until after 1 in the afternoon.
Not a single porter in existence and only barely an idea of what to do next, we grabbed our bags and got them down to the taxi station to grab a "maxitaxi". Uneventful ride to the hotel. Yield signs say "Give Way" rather than "Yield". Taxi fare was over $60 AUD. They drive like fucking maniacs here. Motorcycles just go right now between the cars, not caring that there isn't actually a lane there. As far as I can see, pedestrians do not have the right of way.
Three trips into the hotel later and our bags were all in our "apartment". Words cannot even describe the view. We are literally right on the river and it is breathtaking. And it's a good thing the view is great as the rest of it leaves a little bit to be desired. But, I'm in no mood to complain as that would only hasten the culture shock I'm sure to feel at some point. I have absolutely no idea how to use the oven and don't even care yet. The tv channels have absolutely nothing on which doesn't really matter except that I'm nearly brainless by 5pm and incapable of any real thought so something decent to watch would help me stay awake until a reasonable bedtime. But, oh well. I could live here forever except I don't have internet access and that is driving me completely mad. Anyway....
After getting checked in, we went across the street to the closest restaurant (well, we tried one just down the street right on the river but they had just closed and wouldn't be open again until dinner) and I had a $13 hot dog and fries. Admittedly it was a fancy hot dog with kraut on but the kraut wasn't sour. We had intended to just try to stay awake but by the time I ate half my dinner, I looked at Ben and said, I need to go to bed NOW. So, naptime it was! I figured we'd go out after we woke up to find some groceries not realizing that it would be dark by 6pm. That only made me feel more disoriented when I woke up. We walked to the nearest 7/11 and got some tuna and stuff like that. Then, we spent the next two hours unpacking and fell into bed exhausted.
I was up the next morning at 5am. Seriously. Benji went out onto the porch with Ben to watch the sunrise chattering non-stop about the beautiful sunrise, the beautiful river, the beautiful birds, the kayakers, the boats, the, the, the, the you nameit, he talked about it. I couldn't just sit in the apartment for long. I ate some tuna for breakfast and we headed down to the Queen Street Mall. Bus 199 took us there, thank you very much. We bought bus passes though I think we did that wrong. Ben's going to figure that out today. There's only one way to describe the day. Overwhelming. The accent still hasn't failed to charm me. When someone says "No worries", I giggle a little inside. The way they phrase things can be a bit confusing but I think I've been okay so far. Food is crazy expensive but that was something we expected. And the trade-off is that we are IN BRISBANE. The weather was chilly in the morning and simply divine by the afternoon. Benji immediately found a place where he can go to play World of Warcraft (it's called the Bunker but it smells more like a locker room) and we found our bank. I even saw a Borders Bookstore. I am not kidding. I didn't go check it out as I had an agenda for that day and it involved finding a Farmer's Market.
Okay, I have to stop typing now. I've got to get ready to go out and find a damn internet connection and start the process of talking to realtors. (I CAN do this. I have done things that are much more difficult. I CAN do this.)
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