Today marks my seventh day in Australia. It’s hard to believe it’s already been a week. This adventure has made me remember just how bad I am with change (saying goodbyes, moving around places, leaving familiar things behind, etc.) – I am slowly settling in, but it probably made it a little more difficult to accept the change after coming from New Zealand where I had the time of my life.
Upon arrival at the airport in Brisbane, I was greeted by Crystal and her two cute twins, Cori and Lexi. They brought me to their beautiful house in Ferny Grove, which is a suburb about half an hour from downtown Brisbane. They wasted no time and had me busy with sight-seeing right away, which was a great way to get my mind off of missing home and leaving New Zealand behind. We did a tour of Ferny Grove and The Gap, which is another suburb not far from them where Dave’s side of the family lives, and where I will be moving to shortly. I got to meet the whole family in a day, including the pig I posted before – they are all wonderful and have made me feel so welcome already (Dave’s Dad, Pete, decided to show me some picture of the snakes that live outside their house in the summer – I could have done without those!)!
On Friday, we went into the city to eat at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant (yummy!) and then wandered around for a bit. After boarding one of the ferry’s that was going the wrong way, we had a nice little tour from the water and then eventually got to where we wanted to be after about 40 minutes of going the wrong way. It is a cool city with what seems like lots of stuff to do and see – I’m sure I will stay busy while I’m here.
Upon arrival at the airport in Brisbane, I was greeted by Crystal and her two cute twins, Cori and Lexi. They brought me to their beautiful house in Ferny Grove, which is a suburb about half an hour from downtown Brisbane. They wasted no time and had me busy with sight-seeing right away, which was a great way to get my mind off of missing home and leaving New Zealand behind. We did a tour of Ferny Grove and The Gap, which is another suburb not far from them where Dave’s side of the family lives, and where I will be moving to shortly. I got to meet the whole family in a day, including the pig I posted before – they are all wonderful and have made me feel so welcome already (Dave’s Dad, Pete, decided to show me some picture of the snakes that live outside their house in the summer – I could have done without those!)!
On Friday, we went into the city to eat at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant (yummy!) and then wandered around for a bit. After boarding one of the ferry’s that was going the wrong way, we had a nice little tour from the water and then eventually got to where we wanted to be after about 40 minutes of going the wrong way. It is a cool city with what seems like lots of stuff to do and see – I’m sure I will stay busy while I’m here.
Saturday, we packed up early in the morning to head to Mount Barney National Park for a 7.4 km hike down the Lower Portals track. Although it’s technically ‘Spring’ here, it was about 30C, which has me a little worried for when summer hits! The walk felt longer than 7 km, perhaps because of all the uphill walking, uneven ground, and maneuvering through awkward spots, including climbing through a small hole in some rocks and leaping across boulders to get across the streams; but, it took us to a beautiful little swimming place to make it worth it, and the company was great, too (all of Dave’s family, including 6 month old Cooper and 4 month old Oliver came along! Luckily I didn’t have to carry them – my weight and sweat was enough!). I won’t lie – my eyes were peeled the whole time for snakes and spiders, but luckily all I saw was a cute little gecko that was far enough away from me that it was still considered cute. We were also lucky enough to spot some wallabies (they look the same as kangaroos, so if I don’t see any actual kangaroos while I’m here, I can basically say I did) on the way home, just hanging out on the side of the road. Seeing their claws made me realize they aren’t something you’d want to mess with…plus, their tails make them look like humongous rats!
Sunday, we spent the morning being fairly lazy and then went to the mall to wander around a bit. That evening, we made some pizzas and enjoyed the AFL World Grand Final game, which for someone who didn’t know what was going on, ended up being pretty exciting! It was supposedly the ‘best Grand Final game ever,’ which as of now, I would have to agree with. I still don’t know that if I ever have sons I will want them playing any game close to Rugby, and if they do, I will either watch them and cry the whole time, or just not be able to watch them – they think hockey is rough…at least they wear equipment!
Monday was a lazy day at Dave and Crystal’s, as Crystal was at work and the girls were on their last day of school holidays (they have the best school schedule ever here – 4 terms, with 2 weeks of holidays in between terms, and then 6 weeks off at Christmas for their summer break…sign me up!). I struggled to make a resume, which is surprisingly difficult to do for jobs other than what you have dedicated your last 10 years towards trying to get. I could talk forever about my teaching philosophies, but ask me why I want to work at, or what makes me the best candidate for what’s considered to be an entry-level job and I couldn’t tell you. (I’m in the process of getting my teaching certification, but they’ve made it more difficult than it needs to be. I spent the last two months trying to tell them that the one thing outstanding for my application – a fingerprint vulnerable sector check from the RCMP – can’t be done because they won’t do them for companies outside of Canada. When I was finally told I was right, I had to sign a form stating I wasn’t a criminal and have it signed by a Justice of Peace person, so I’ve spent the last few days trying to find one of them to help me out. I’ve finally sent that in, so hopefully I can supply teach sooner than later!).
I dedicated my past few days to figuring out public transport and learning the lay of the land. I was going to look in to buying a car, but the thought of searching and then having to deal with selling it when I want to leave caused a migraine or two that I didn’t need, so I decided to stick with public transport. On top of that, jumpin’ old Elaine pulled through and had a bike delivered to the doorstep, complete with helmet, lights, and a lock. Now I’m set to get around. The only thing is, it gets dark here at around 5:30 (they don’t do daylight savings time in Brisbane, so the sun is shining in your room around 4:45 and is gone by 5:30. It makes your mornings early and your evenings seem long!). That being said, I did the 20 minute walk home from the train last night in the dark and on HIGH ALERT. Usually I would have been afraid of being ‘kidnapped’ (yes, I still freak out about these things!) – this time, I was terrified of snakes, dingoes, bats (seriously – their bats here are on steroids!), and any other creepy thing that might decide it wanted to attack me! It’s amazing how when you know those things are around, you feel every tag on your clothes, hair on arm, and itch you have way more than you ever do any other day. I have never known all the marks on my body so well – any thing that looks different, I freak out that it may be a bite from some deadly snake or spider! I’m sure my paranoia about all these things will eventually subside, but for now, I will remain hyper-alert and make sure not to end up in a snake’s belly.
I dedicated my past few days to figuring out public transport and learning the lay of the land. I was going to look in to buying a car, but the thought of searching and then having to deal with selling it when I want to leave caused a migraine or two that I didn’t need, so I decided to stick with public transport. On top of that, jumpin’ old Elaine pulled through and had a bike delivered to the doorstep, complete with helmet, lights, and a lock. Now I’m set to get around. The only thing is, it gets dark here at around 5:30 (they don’t do daylight savings time in Brisbane, so the sun is shining in your room around 4:45 and is gone by 5:30. It makes your mornings early and your evenings seem long!). That being said, I did the 20 minute walk home from the train last night in the dark and on HIGH ALERT. Usually I would have been afraid of being ‘kidnapped’ (yes, I still freak out about these things!) – this time, I was terrified of snakes, dingoes, bats (seriously – their bats here are on steroids!), and any other creepy thing that might decide it wanted to attack me! It’s amazing how when you know those things are around, you feel every tag on your clothes, hair on arm, and itch you have way more than you ever do any other day. I have never known all the marks on my body so well – any thing that looks different, I freak out that it may be a bite from some deadly snake or spider! I’m sure my paranoia about all these things will eventually subside, but for now, I will remain hyper-alert and make sure not to end up in a snake’s belly.
Falling asleep last night and listening to the millions of noises outside, I realized why I likely have been waking up at night more than normal. Our noises in Canada at night include crickets and the odd coyote howling (easy to ignore!). Here, there are animals that sound like babies screaming, chainsaws cutting, the loudest clocks ticking, bats on steroids squeaking, and so many other things that your brain gets confused not only because there are so many strange noises, but because you can’t even picture what creature is making them. On top of that, the stars at night are different, which doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you’re used to looking up and being able to recognize the big dipper and all of a sudden that’s not there (you recognize none of the stars in the sky!), you feel like you’re in a very different world. Adapting to life in Australia will take some time, but I think it’s a life I’ll be able to take a liking to ;)
And to everyone sending me pictures like this...
And to everyone sending me pictures like this...
...I'm already well aware of all the things you're sending me. I'd still prefer it over what you're about to get...
:)