First and foremost – we LOVE the apartments we are staying in!!!! And they are made even better by the fact that it’s Axa’s treat – so thank you Axa!!!! We’ve got everything we could need, and even some luxuries we don’t – like heated lights in the bathroom for when you get out of the bath/shower! We are being spoilt and I think it will be a shock when we leave at the end of the month with just our suitcases again!
Our first morning on Chapel Street (Sunday) we went for a wander to find somewhere for breakfast. We found Café Sienna, which was recommended by Kris and Cara and had a lovely late breakfast. It was really busy and had a really nice atmosphere, so fully fed we headed further up Chapel Street. It was about 11am and Darren commented that there were bouncers on the doors of a nightclub already – starting early we thought! Until we saw some people staggering out of the door and struggling to find their shades to shield their eyes from the sun! Party people indeed! We then walked further and discovered Prahran Market (lovely fresh, local produce), and mooched around the shops for a bit. We also got me a great bike – you are able to barter the price of things here so we got a really good deal for the bike, helmet, lights, bottle cage and bottle, lock – everything I need to get me on the road!!! Yay- I’m mobile!!!
Monday was Darren’s first day at his new office! All dressed up in his new city gear I went with him into the city and waved him into the office like a proud mum at the school gates!!! He wouldn’t let me take his picture outside the office, but he did let me take some before we left the apartment.
While Darren was at work, I went to a group interview at the Flagstaff City Inn hotel for a store job at Lorna Jane, my favourite sports shop. I found it half an hour earlier than I needed to be there and was surprised to see girls waiting when I took a look inside! There were about 30 girls in the first group – they were all young and the majority tennis coaches, personal trainers and dance teachers. As you can imagine I felt a bit out of place! The two hour interview involved lots of team work and presentations. Me and two other girls did a presentation on community and I got two of us on our hands and knees with the third girl balancing on our backs – human pyramid stylie. It was to represent the wider community supporting the individual – genius!!!!! Anyway, I left the interview wondering what on earth had just happened – it was just for a store job for goodness sake!!! To my surprise they rang me in the evening to ask if I would be interested in a store manager or assistant manager job in their new store due to open next week!!! I’ve turned it down because it’s not on a train route, but I was still chuffed that I did ok in the interview!!!!
So now I’m looking for a proper job :o(
Anyhow, Darren enjoyed his first day and came home armed with a bottle of wine from his new team and an invite for me to join the team for a lunch in a couple of weeks and an invite to a Barbie to meet some more people in a couple of weekends time – marvelous!
One day while Darren was at school I went off on my new bike to Dight Falls. It’s just over 11km away along the River Yarra so it was a nice route and a good run out for my bike! It was a beautiful day, but as soon as I got there the heavens opened and I found some shelter! The rain didn’t last long and when it stopped I headed back to the apartment in beautiful sunshine again!
Wednesday morning Emma and Kieran caught the train to South Yarra where I met them and we went for tea at the Oriental Tea House. Kieran seemed very excited to see me, but I think he might have been more excited about the trip on the train!!! Tea was all very civilized and afterwards we had a look around the shop and tasted some more of the teas. Emma and I suddenly realized that we hadn’t heard Kieran for a while and we saw him just in time to stop him removing a very expensive china tea set from a cabinet! We left shortly after! It was a really nice morning and we’re hoping to make meeting a regular occurrence!
The rest of my week has mainly been spent walking…..and walking! I’ve had a really good time just getting to know my whereabouts! Thursday afternoon I caught a train and a tram to Port Melbourne where Darren and his boss met me just as I’d settled at a café for a flat white (Australian version of a white coffee!). Darren and I then caught the train back to South Yarra where we went out for dinner on Chapel Street. We are spoilt for choice as to where to go, but we opted for $5 pizzas in a trendy bar – nice to have it all on our doorstep!
Friday afternoon I went to the MCG to pick up race showbags for the Melbourne Marathon because Darren and I are running 5km of it on Sunday! Then Friday night we went into the city again and met up with Mark and Kris for the football at the Ethiad Stadium. We were on level 3 so we were quite high up and the stadium is amazing! It was Melbourne Victory against Sydney FC and the standard of fooball was appalling so I’m told. I was more interested in the fact that the supporters have really organized chanting and are all in time and seem to coordinate themselves with different areas around the stadium! That and the fact that I could have a glass of wine while watching it!!! The score was a disappointment – 3-0 in Sydney’s favour – but we had a really good night anyway. I think Kris summed it up when he said that maybe we should try a different sport next time!
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