Friday the 26th: The original plan was to head out to meet one of Christines school friends as it was her birthday, so we started a little pre drinking as soon as Tyler got home from work. At around 9:30 Christine received a phone call from her friend informing us that she had to go home early as she had a wedding to attend to the next day. The pre drinking carries on…

Friday night was also the last night that Christines and Tylers friend Greg was going to be out in Melbourne. So around 10:15 (I say around as I was a little tipsy) we jumped in a cab to try and head down to St Kilda and meet Greg. Unfortunately there was an AFL game on latter that day so the traffic was crazy.

It was going to take around 45 minutes to an hour to get to St Kilda so we decided to ditch the cab and try and find a bar in the city. At this point Tyler came up with the best plan… CASINO!

We are currently living with Christine (my cousin) & Tyler (her boyfriend) while looking for an apartment. The renting market is so competitive here, for example if you find a nice and affordable place on the internet you get given an inspection time which is usually around 5:00 to 5:15. In the 15 minutes you are given around 20 other people turn up to look at the apartment. If you like the place you have to rush back get on the internet to apply.

The Agency will then take a look at all the applications they have received and find the most suitable person. Hard work compared to the UK, however in the UK nothing is affordable!

There is a great graffiti scene in Melbourne so I had to take a couple of snaps…

Its now time to move on and crack down on finding a more permanent place to live. Today is our last day in temporary accommodation and Christine and Tyler have offered to put us up for a couple of days in there swanky apartment.

We are hoping to find an apartment ASAP as it feels like we are just floating around at the moment and we need a base.

It was around 24 degrease yesterday, so we went on our first road trip of the year to Brighton Beach (not quite the same as Brighton Beach in the UK)

The weather plans to get better on next week and I cant wait…

I saw rolf harris…

After a grueling 24 and a half hours total from Thame to Melbourne we are finally here!
Both me and Jo did not get a lot of sleep on the plane as “The window woman” decided to snoor all the way here. We are currently waiting to check into our temporary accommodation so that we can fit in a quick power nap and shower before we meet up with Tyler and Christine. (For a few drinks)
We have been aimlessly been wondering around in the sun and drizzle trying to waste some time as the jet lag is kicking in!
My first impressions of Melbourne: “I LOVE IT” and im sure it will only get better as we get to know the city better.

Pictures will be posted soon.

Today is the day!
I am still packing and it is tough to work out what to take for a year when really you can only take as much as you would when you go on holiday.

My flight is at 10pm so I have plenty of time to say goodbyes to the family before I go but i’m sure most of the day will be spent sorting ‘bits and bobs’ out.I cannot wait to get there… Just a 22 hour flight to bare!

NEXT STOP, Singapore!

238 Hours to go!

With only eleven days to go the “good-bye” events have started…

Last weekend it was a good-bye meal at the Indian in Swindon with my Fathers side of the family. It was great to see everyone together again as it has been a while since I have been to one of these family events. Reason being is that we currently do not have anywhere to all congregate. These meetings used to be held at my uncles large house in Swindon but since he has moved to Spain with his family no one else has a venue large enough.

With only twenty five days to go I have started to clear my room. My sister has a bedroom the size of a wardrobe therefore one of the conditions if I went to Australia for a year was that I have to give up my room… Killer!

Its now looking very bare and boring but it is surprising how little I actually have in my room.