Melbourne: Week 1

It was a week ago today that we landed at Melbourne airport, and we have certainly been making progress, although there is still lots to be done.

Our house hunting got off to a rocky start, demand is high for rental properties and so competition is fierce. Viewings are at fixed times and last 15 minutes in which you and anyone else interested in the property has to race around getting in each others way. If you like the property you then have to fill in an application on a form more complicated than the one for the visa application. Once your form is submitted you have to wait until the estate agent and landlord have decided which tennant is worthy.

Some estate agents are worse than others, and I think we struck lucky when we turned up at Biggin and Scott on Tuesday, and met a very helpful agent called Angela who found a couple of properties we could view by ourselves. Now the first was a modern appartment in Richmond, which was nice.....for a hotel. The other property was a 3 floor unit/townhouse in Northcotem another modern property, but a lot bigger and for the same price. It wasn't perfect, it is near the main road, so quite noisy, and it doesn't have a garden, but we liked it and put in an application. We moved in the same day. It was such a relief getting out of the hostel that we didn't mind sleeping on the floor. Now we just have to wait for the electricity to be connected, something that has been delayed due to the incompetance of Origin getting our address wrong.

B had a job interview yesterday, and is having a trial shift on Tuesday and I'm catching a train to Epping today to discuss a potential job with the pharmacist there. So everything is moving along nicely, but we are notthere yet.

Happy Australia Day everyone.

Adam