Week 1 - Adjusting to the Ozzy way. - Dakabin, Australia
Dakabin, Australia
First week has been rather manic, in some ways I think it's flown by, and it also feels like what I did on Monday was ages ago and I've been here for ages. Thankfully I haven't experienced the dreadful feeling of Jetlag, and I'm putting it down to getting a flight that wasn't too long, (3x 7h) and also arranging that when I land, it was time for bed so when I was tired, I was allowed to go sleep instead of try and spend another whole day awake. First morning I woke up at 5am, which to be honest, I didn't think was too early compared to what it could have been... unfortunately scared the hell out of Claire’s dog so much she panicked and pee'd all over the floors, (luckily it was tiled). haha bless her. We got up and dressed and ready to head over to see the rest of the family up state in the Sunshine Coast, not too far, about 45minute drive. Was surreal to see the house, as last time I was here, the house was merely a architects drawing on a few pieces of paper, to see it, WOW! It’s rather grand, but really gorgeous! So nice to see all the family and catch up, also so glad that they haven't all lost their good old English accent, only seems to be Claire and Laura (her younger sister) who has. We spent most of the day catching up with the family, then I headed into Maroochydore to start sorting my life out... thought best get the ball rolling, so opened up bank accounts, attempted to sort out a phone however good'ol Orange/EE have messed me about with 'unblocking' my phone which didn't get done. Luckily the family had a spare iPhone I could use whilst out here so got that sorted. Stocked up on all the basics such as toiletries as didn't want to waste weight on the flight...however everything just seems so expensive!!!! Even when you convert it to UK, it still seems a lot... however out here they are on a wage of approx. $20 per hour, so to them its nothing. It' s just making me value my money a little more as I had to work 3x longer to earn it. Sorted out a medicare card which helps towards medical costs, however found out that its $60approx for a doctors appointment, and $20 for 100 of my thyroid pills....WHAAAT!!!! May need to see if James can just post mine across to me as they are sat in boots waiting for me... hehe. However now in the vicious circle of waiting on paperwork to turn up, as without one you can't apply for the other...so will need to sort out driving licence and tax file number (national insurance number)...however you can’t do these until you have other Aus ID's as well as passport to go along with... grrr. We got home and chilled for the rest of the evening, was feeling rather tired so went to bed after some lovely dinner cooked up by the one and only Sue. However, after crashing out I was wide awake at 3am this day...kept tossing and turning and as I didn't want to wake anybody I went into the study and spoke to a few of you 'poms' before watching the gorgeous sun rise over the back gardens forest area. Me and Claire were off to see some Whales. This was an amazing surprise as a belated birthday gift from Claire, and something that I had mentioned several times I wanted to do, didn't realise it was so close to where I had read about. We got dressed and headed over to Maloolaba to catch the boat. Rough sea...not cool... this did mean I was sick, on several occasions...multiple several occasions... haha but it didn't ruin the day at all. Hump back whales, 8 in total (4 mothers and babies) were seen, and towards the end they started showing off and putting on a show, really close to the boat and flipping around...simply amazing. Didn't manage to take photos of all of it as I was so in awe of it. After we met the family, then Claire, Laura and I headed off to a lush fish and chip shop (see photo) you literally go up and choose which fish you want and they cook it fresh for you...not the standard cod and haddock here, there's so many choices that I got stuck...so typical Brit just panicked and said Cod... will have to research next time what they have before queuing up. After we headed back to the house and on the productive streak started researching how much it would cost me to get a cheeky little motor... I was rather clueless so thought I'd wait for Keith (Claire's dad) to help me with a little advise, he loves his cars. We started searching on the equivilant of Autotrader, however cars that were 10 years old were still in the price region of $3,000 -3,800 ...most with broken air-con which is a must in this heat... and its supposedly not even hot yet! After browsing we went out for a nice meal in a Tavern (I kind of bar thats like JD Wetherspoons meets William Hill betting shop - you can drink whilst gambling, probably a good idea that we dont have these in the UK). I shared a lovely sea-food platter with Sue, too full from lunch to get a meal for myself. So full, I was falling asleep in the car en route home...however when getting out, was amazed by how clear and beautiful the nights sky was! Clear, could even see 'pluto' (supposedly - I had no idea). Wednesday I didn't wake up until 6, still early but far better than the previous day. Woke up to Keith already on the computer hunting out more car deals. What a star! He had found quite a few, all slightly out of my budget, however, he had found a 2 year old little car, with 16months guarantee on it, low millage, for $5,800, and managed to talk the lady down to $4,700 in the space of 10 minutes, so we arranged to go and view it. I didn't want to get my hopes up, as I hadn't transferred my UK money over into my bank account yet and didn't want to be hasty... however when we got there, and Keith spoke to me about it, it did make sense... 2 years old for this cheap, easily be able to sell it back for a similar price in a years’ time with guarantee still on it and its in good nick, just a little scrape on the back wheel arch. They have something out here like road tax, but it also ensures that the car is covered as 3rd party insurance too, which is the same price for the majority of standard cars so it would be the same price if it was a new or old car. And fully comp on it will only be $300 for me, which Claire wasn’t happy about, as her insurance is double that... whoops. I didn’t want to go and rush and buy the first car I saw, however Keith said it was such a bargain and he had managed to get it down $1000, Keith took it for a test drive with all of us in it. The deal was done, day 3 and I have a car, how frigging crazy! We went to the local transport office to sign the documents and hand it over, however that took about 2 hours filling in countless forms as I didn’t have 4 different acceptable ID’s with me, which landed me back into the circle of waiting for Aussie IDs, it all eventually got sorted after Sue came to the rescue and I drove back home in my new little black Chery J1… funny little car but all I need, basic, nippy, air-con, new and cheap… still has warranty so nothing to worry about. Popped back to home #2 (the baker residence) and off to home #1 as Claire was back to work in the morning, 2am in the morning to be exact, so she had to try and be asleep by 5pm… impossible! However that’s what time it gets dark so its possible. And it was, I was asleep by 6pm after watching about 20 seconds of a friends episode and good old dog curling up beside me. Both Claire and Aaron (her other half) were at work when I woke up at 5:30am, however it was bright outside, so I got up dressed and I think I’d shock myself, went for a run at 6am with the dog. Was good, the sun hadn’t burnt off the morning mist so was lush to run in! Got back and turned into Monica Bing. Thought it was only fair that I do the housework whilst they are at work whilst I am doing nothing. Got so much done that by the time Claire was home at 1pm, I was zonked out on the veranda sofa. Today we headed out in my new little beep beep on the crazy ozzy roads to find my feet, first place to learn how to get to… THE MALL! Westfields North Lakes, only 10 minutes away, about the size of Lakeside (ground floor only). Did a big food shop, however the cost of some foods are WOW! However, I did the majority in Aldi, something I wouldn’t really do in England as the price difference isn’t that obvious, however in Aus, it is a big difference. Eg Spaghetti Dried pasta Aldi = 75cent, Woolworths (it’s a supermarket here) = $2.50 ….BARGAIN! Got back, and chilled, then cooked up a mushroom risotto for them. Love cooking, especially in a lush new kitchen. Friday comes around and I wonder where the week has gone. Woke up to an empty house again and grabbed a cheeky PBJ sarn and took poppy for another walk. Wondered around the estate and the local park finding my feet. Went for a drive and withdrew some more money from bank (still waiting on bank card so have to go with passport at the mo), had a nose around the mall but restrained from buying any clothes (doing well so far). Got back then Claire and I headed off to the beach… About time, only been here a week nearly! Haha. Bribie Island is where we headed, in Moreton Bay, opposite Moreton Island, another place I read about and wanted to go however had no idea how close it all was. Lush hot day with a breeze which was needed, however the breeze just buried us in the sand after a while so ended up going for a nice long walk along the luscious beach. Got a cheeky ice pop ($1 bargain) and headed home. Cooking up a cheeky paella for us all. Saturday I tried to be productive. Sat down and sorted out my CV and covering letters, however as we had no ink had to go to the local library to print it off… $9 for it all to be printed! Ouch! However its worth it if it gets me a job. Yes change of plan, as I didn’t plan on getting a car so soon, as well as knowing that I’d only be sitting around waiting to meet people to go travelling with, which won’t happen until I meet other people, I may as well go out and get a job rather than waiting for Aaron and Claire to come home…also in a few months’ time, Claire would of build-up annual leave so she can come along and do some travelling too. CV’s in hand I went to hand them out, however in Aus you need a special certificate to be able to work in bars,… Responsible Sales of Alcohol, and the same for gaming machines (which as I said are in all taverns, which is pretty much every 'bar’ in the area) the Responsible Sales of Gaming or something…. This was obviously the next thing on the list to do. Still went around and handed a few out, and then we drove a bit further to an area called Redcliff, which also looks over Moreton Island. Walked into a cheeky coffee shop, which I didn’t realise was a chain all over Aus "The Coffee Club" and instantly got offered a trail shift. Happy with the opportunity, we headed back and chilled out. I cracked on with my RSA certificate, which goes on foreverrrrr but I got it done in the end. Us three got dressed and headed out for a nice evening at Eatons Hill, a local tavern, but much nicer. Was rather busy, had an hour wait for a table, however we bumped into Aarons parents in-between dining, and had a nice evening having a drink and chatting. Very good first week so far… Sunday, woke up, dressed and nervous for my trail shift. Don’t know why, was standard thing of newbie giving the basic jobs…however in the 2h period they got me clearing and wiping tables to fully taking orders and serving, which I hope showed I was more than capable…which I think did, as come 12o’clock she said ‘Keep the shirt we’ll call you to let you know your shifts’…Result. Cheeky little job for now. So…that’s my first week…rather in detail but yeah… rather productive… Car and Job #1 in 7 days. No big sightseeing adventures just yet, just a long update for all of those who I can’t just pick up the phone to anymore. Photo’s to follow, however waiting on some broadband to be installed, currently on a dongle on Aarons laptop (not made for mac – damn it). Gonna go do a Monica and hoover the house and prep some dinner or something for my buddies, as I can’t just sit around all day.xx