Home Sweet Home

Here we are in the final destination, Melbourne! Strange to live the dreams true, although reality bite us hotter than thought. +40 heat wave welcomed us to our new home town with a wind that felt literally like a hairdryer.

Behold, Marvelous Melbourne - The City of Secret Laneways and all that Mighty Mischief!

Two weeks countdown to the beginning of J's master's thesis work started, but the first week in Melbourne was mostly apartment hunting and dealing with the "bear necessities" (finding the nicest cafe among apartment inspections and visits to the bank). We booked one week via Airbnb, in the northern outskirts, Thornbury. Our host had just moved in and didn't have internet yet, so we had to seek public wifi for the apartment hunt. With local travel cards (Myki), we rode trams around the city and Victoria State Library proved to be a suitable base camp. Free wifi, air con and a good location.

How many inspections today, Honey? Well, cheerio!

Gumtree and Domain.com.au proved to be the best websites for searching apartments in Melbourne. From this city, you can find anything from expensive lux homes in skyscrapers to cheap flat shares in the outskirts. Our wish list of the apartment wasn't too long. We wanted an affordable unit, cycling distance from J's campus and preferably without a fixed carpet. We went to inspect an awfully small unit in Lygon Street, a curry-smelling apartment near Victoria Market, a disaster flat in Parkville and two more in a storey buildings, mainly inhabited by Asian students. Hope was almost lost when we went to see an apartment on Park Street on Tuesday. We had accommodation in Thornbury until Wednesday and a week's search hadn't been very promising. Park Street's three storey building was in an urgent need of renovation and the unfurnished flats weren't that especially attractive. But this place was possible - we didn't seem to have many choices.

In the end of the tour around the house the janitor mentioned, that there is also another similar building in the other end of the Park Street, with a fully furnished unit for lease. Oh, and that the rents are a bit higher because the house is recently renovated. Renovated! Fully furnished! And we were on our way..

The aforementioned building was located next to a local football / cricket field. We were shortly greeted on the staircase by the caretaker / manager Jim, who took us to the third floor to check the place out. And there it was, as if destined to be : our new home. Ikea furnished, clean, reasonable sized and priced and less than ten five minute bike ride from the Monash Parkville campus. When we were told that we could move in as soon as we wanted, even on the very next day, it was quickly a sealed deal.

Wow, such castle

This unit isn't really a dream apartment, but at least this is the best that we found in a short time. We can easily tough it out half a year without an oven and with just two hotplates (been there, done that). And, there is no need for an alarm clock, thanks to Park Street early, consistent and noisy rush hours and well, living with a fixed carpet is an experience..

In the end this still is our home sweet home.

Had to make Pad Thai

And Pan fried oatmeal - such nutrition

See You Later Gap

Gap had been a perfect place to recharge batteries and enjoy non-stressful, easy living. The Gap is a nice and calm neighbourhood not too far from the city centre, but far enough to listen the sound of kookaburras, go for a stroll in the woods and get known to possums, huntsman spiders and geckos living under, in and on your home, respectively. We stayed at M's sister and thanks to J&A, we had a great time! We will miss grilling, dinners in veranda and the warmth of Brisbane.

For the last week of our stay we moved to the neighbours to take care of May the cat and house while the neighbors enjoyed their summer holiday. These guys just love to watch tv and they had a huuuge selection of movies and series on their hard drive library. We took the full advantage of this feature and after a couple of Game of Thrones seasons completed, it was time to get the backpacks packed again and head to the airport.

Here's some pics from our adventures in the Gap neighbourhood and the Queensland summer:

Views at Mt. Glorious

 Tropic / Subtropic forest adventure, Tarzan & Jane

Huge parasites, strangling the trees

Xanthorrhoea plants, several hundreads of years old

Pool, pool, pool!

Mount Cootha + views to Brisbane

Madonna

Our friends on the veranda - a tame Tawny Frogmouth-couple

Pretty hot.

Burning sunsets

Fixation for the royal family

Adventure to the Cedar Creek Swimming holes

--> Next destination - Melbourne!

Byron Bay

As we've already told, aussies can travel loooooong distances just for a day's retreat to the greatest beaches. On the last weekend in Brisbane, we drove some 200km to south all the way to New South Wales and the popular beachside town, Byron Bay. Along the way, we drove through Tamborine mountain for another set of breathtaking views.

And what a place Byron Bay was. White sand beach on a long, winding bay as far as eye can see. Long waves caressing the shoreline prove a good ride for the surfers. We tried bodyboarding to feel the power of the currents. J, who had her hand in the cast (more of this coming soon) had to be the one left whining (and to get tanned as a bean) on the shore.

Looong loooooong waves

The most eastern point of the Australian continent is located in Byron Bay. We took the couple kilometer walk along the ocean in early the afternoon. It was a sunny day and the tiling of the walk path turned out to be hot - like burning hot. And we didn't wear shoes.. The resulting walk on the fiery coals was an experience to remember. Luckily Jo knew a detour along the beach, where we could cool our feet. Finally, we made it to the edge of this country - and back to the base camp as well.

Rocky gorges, spectacular big blue & ssSNAKES!

And the very Eastern edge of Australia

After a sunny day in the beach we headed to the town to have some dinner. The local must have was a super good chocolate-pecan brownie on the beach side with a lazy sunday atmosphere, acommpanied by some live music from a nearby party pub. After a quick stop to the Cape Byron Lighthouse to see the sunset, we were ready to head back home.

And to leave the Rocky Zen of Byron Bay

Brisbane

During our one and a half month stay, we had plenty of time to roam around the city of Brisbane. 

Here's some tidbits from along the way:

The City is built around the Brisbane river. This wide and murky stream braided by the mangroves is a home of biting bull sharks and isn't exactly a Piscine Molitor in any other respects either. To fix the no- beaches-to-get-grilled-in issue (i.e. leisurely cancer risk-inducement), the city decided to build a white sand beach of it's own on the South Bank, next to the river. This public artificial beach is the place to go for a chlorine-flavoured water experience among the halflings; shallow water is a playground for the kids, and the deeper end is more suited for people who can swim. Absurd, but pretty cool.

South Bank, if any, may be called as the cultural hotspot of the city. Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, movie theathers, state library, strolls in the riverside, New Year fireworks.. There's few things we experienced in South Bank.

Yep, the "snow" is actually an exhibition built from white fur and fluff in the South Bank

Another thing to do in Brisbane is to take a ferry ride along the river and see the city from another angle. Free version is a slow and symphatic CityHopper that goes down the stream from North Quay all the way to Sydney Street. From the upper deck you'll have the best views!

We went to see Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm one sunny day. For people who like old buildings refurbished in a cool way for a new purpose, Powerhouse is a relly nice place to visit. Old and rustic is combined smoothly to new and modern and the industrial soul of the building is strongly present.

One nice feature of the place is that the ones derelict place still has graffities of nameless artists on it's walls. And they are all over.