September 2006
Sat Sep 30 19:44:26 2006
It's AFL Grand Final day. It was also a beautiful, sunny, though still cold-ish spring day. So, while everybody else was trying to crowd into Melbourne Cricket Ground, we hired some bikes and went down the Yarra River Trail to Dight's Falls. The scenery was lovely, though I do think that a steep flight of steps should not be part of an advertised cycle path.
It being Grand Final day, a plane amused the crowd by writing something in the sky. We only caught the beginning (it was very slow writing indeed) but eventually included the phrase "AFL Rules".
For those interested, the West Coast Eagles beat Sydney Swans by just one point.
Fri Sep 29 22:06:48 2006
It's AFL Final weekend. This means the final of the Aussie Rules football is played out. This year between Sydney and some West Coast Team (I think -- ask the AFL Fan for more info).
Anyway, it's a big deal. At work there was a free lunch laid on, and very excellent it was, too. And they stopped the city for a couple of hours while both teams, with bands, marched through CBD.
Yesterday, while strolling along the Yarra during lunch break, we saw four cormorants all together, fishing. I'd never seen more than two together so I took a picture.
Also, this city has gorgeous sunsets. I couldn't resist taking another picture. Here it is.
Sun Sep 24 13:11:51 2006
There's a major storm raging outside so I had time to produce a movie of the echidna we saw the other day. Here it is.
Sat Sep 23 23:09:06 2006
Went to the market this morning, so see if that's a viable alternative to the supermarket. Supermarkets here are too small, generally have no attached parking and sell everything in enormous quantities.
Anyway, the market was a success, if not a very efficient way of shopping. The Discerning Gourmet bought two excellent meals. The result of one of which can be seen here.
Having done that we drove through the park. After a small fuel crisis, which you can read about here, we managed to find and enjoy the park. We saw some typical Australian landscapes, as well as a wild rabbit, some moorhens, a very pretty bird we couldn't identify, an electricity pylon which provoked the exclamation "Oh, isn't it pretty!" from the Physics Geek, and lots of planes on finals to Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport.
Mon Sep 4 18:37:49 2006
This is what a beautiful winter sunset looks like from our new apartment.
There is still no electricity though. Apparently the electrical safety certificate has been lost/misplaced. Without it they won't connect the power. Sigh.
The Carpenter has been making furniture in between trying to solve the electricity problem. We now have a futon, a desk and two chests of drawers. Impressed.
Sun Sep 3 23:02:47 2006
Totally shopped out. Found biggest-ever shopping centre in the whole world: Chadstone. It's got lots and lots of clothes shopping. Unfortunately we're not quite ready to do shopping for fun, such as clothes. We're still shopping for boring things, like furniture, duvets and towels. Fortunately Chadstone has other distractions, like two enormous water features. I couldn't resist taking some photographs:
However, back to the task at hand. Discovered that Hoyts is a cinema, not a shop. How was I supposed to know that? Note to self: Must watch more television. The advertising teaches brands pretty quickly.
Having had no luck at all at Chadstone (unless you count duvets, pillows and towels) we returned to Ikea. Bad move. The place is more crowded on a Sunday than a Saturday. But we managed to get hold of the futon and desk we wanted. Correction, I wanted. The Beer Hound just wanted furniture. That furniture would do.
Back at the new flat (still without electricity! Still somebody else parked in our parking space!) I promptly proceeded to develop a bond with the futon. It's the only piece of soft, comfortable furniture currently in the flat. Everything else is due to be delivered in the next two days. We built some of the furniture, with varying success. Predictably, Ikea had missed a couple of vital bits of wood from one package. Not too bad, considering how many packages we bought.
Anyway, considering today a success. Despite it being tiresome and boring, at least we ended up with some furniture.
Sat Sep 2 10:59:09 2006
So, we finally got the keys to our new flat yesterday morning, and couldn't resist taking a look around before work. It's gorgeous. Specifically, the views from the 18th floor are gorgeous, to the point that during our initial inspection we entirely missed things like balconies, and even a whole room. You don't think that's possible? Ok, here are examples of the view, all taken from the lounge. Judge for yourselves.
The lounge is a quirky shape. We like it.
And this is the room we missed, together with the balcony.
Now all we have to do is put some stuff in... which we promptly started on yesterday evening. Bought boring but necessary stuff, like a washing machine, a fridge-freezer and a microwave. Not at all helped by our bank who seems to think our money is their money and will only let us have $1000 per day. Not pleased. That's less than £400. What happens if one wanted, for example, to buy an item that costs more than that?!
Then again, customer service can be excellent. The appliances we bought yesterday have already been delivered. Way impressed.
Anyway, off to procure more stuff to fill all that lovely space with.
Picture of the Month
Sat Sep 2 09:59:19 2006
This statue of a flying pig stands at the corner of Swanston St and Bourke St. I noticed it while we were waiting for the tram to take us to the letting agent. It looked like an apt title photograph for this month.
