First Impressions

It was a long tiring flight from Bali to Melbourne with not much sleep and we arrived grumpy and dishevelled for our first trip to Oz. Arlene had emailed some directions which thankfully Phil had the foresight to printout before we left the UK. I think we did well to navigate our way from the airport on the shuttle to the city and then find the right train to Berwick. The train ride was a good hour long and it seemed to stop at every station. It was difficult not to go to sleep but we didn’t dare in case we missed our stop. When we got off at Berwick, Phil phoned Arlene’s lodger to come and pick up. Luckily Jeremy was awake and didn’t have to start his shift until 2pm.

I have to say I was a little surprised to see Jeremy’s dreadlocks wrapped up in his woollen hat which he seems to wear all the time. Arlene tells us he is 31 but he looks so young. Never mind, he seems nice enough and was happy enough to show us around the house and point out various bits and pieces. He also went with us to the gas station and showed Phil how to pump in the LPG because he hadn’t done this before. After we dropped J off, we went and found some lunch and went to Aldi’s for some food shopping. Not sure it was such a good idea to drive because we were knackered but we didn’t have any mishaps. The sat nav decided to stop working and we had a bit of a struggle getting back to Arlene’s house but we managed in the end.

I unpacked and Phil sat down to read the massive instruction manual that Arlene had done for us. She’ also left us some wine and chocolates and some mince pies which Phil was particularly pleased with. Whilst Phil settled down with his reading material I had a quick clean of the kitchen and a tidy up. The house was tidy enough but I’m a bit anal with cleaning and couldn’t resist myself. I hope Jeremy didn’t mind, I did say to him this morning to ask me if he couldn’t find anything! He seemed chilled, and besides I don’t mind doing it, its second nature to me. We didn’t bother with supper but had some wine and settled in front of the TV. We decided it best to stay awake for as long as possible and in the end we hit the sack at 8.30pm.

Our home for the next 6 weeks is a 4 bed modern bungalow on Piermont Drive on a rather modern estate on the outskirts of Berwick. It is massive compared to our modest 3 bed in Milton Keynes. Our car (well ours for the next 6 weeks) is a white automatic Ford Falcon which seems to drive easily enough. Glad I’m not driver in Oz though, it’s bad enough in my little Ford KA in Milton Keynes We have the main bedroom with an en-suite. Just outside our bedroom there is a lounge which is the lounge that we will use. The kitchen cum-kitchen diner is massive and the main guest room is down the corridor by Jeremy’s bedroom. It’s comfortable and modern although I would say my own style is perhaps more contemporary. Each to his own though and we are happy enough with the swap. Glad I’m not driver in Oz though, it’s bad enough in my little Ford KA in Milton Keynes. Not sure how it is on the other side of the deal. Emma emailed to say that Arlene arrived earlier than expected; she gave her a tour round of our house and then Arlene and her mum and son left half an hour later and went back to Stoke which is where Arlene’s mum lives. Phil has emailed to ask if everything was okay but we haven’t heard anything back yet. No news is good news or perhaps just plain old jet lag. We tend to forget that normal people aren’t like us and don’t have the need to log on every few hours!

Needless to say, we slept like logs and didn’t get up until nearly 10 o’clock. Phil did his blog and by the time we’d had breakfast and tidied up it was nearly midday. The plan was to drive to Melbourne but we decided it was too late and decided to explore Berwick some more. We picked up from the post office, an eTAG ticket that apparently you need when you drive into Melbourne. I got another lonely planet Australia guide, we had one but I lost it on the plane out. Phil got some new aftershave and we got a few more bits from Woolworth’s. The lady in the bookshop gave me directions to get to the big shopping centre at Fountain Gate. Somehow we managed to find our way without getting lost. The centre was huge, they had a big K-Mart and I managed to get a new Bilabong plain black bikini and beach towel. Phil was grumbling the whole time. The sat nav went AWOL on the way back and whilst we can now easily navigate our way back out of the centre of Berwick to our estate, finding the house is not so easy and it took us at least half an hour to find our street. Also the journey home wasn’t without incident. We were just about to turn right into our estate (not sure what it’s called, something Boulevard) when half a tree dropped on our car roof. It made a real thud and I was surprised by the branch, because it was huge. Sure the winds were up but not of a monsoon type. Jeremy was home when we eventually found no 44 and just about to go out and start his 4pm shift. Phil offered to give him a lift but he’d already called a taxi. I’ve yet to see Jeremy without his brown woollen hat but I guess he has to take it off when he’s cooking at work?

First impressions of Melbourne and Australia I hear you ask? Well it’s too soon to say. When we got to Berwick station and were waiting for old Jeremy to turn up, Phil said he was disappointed and that it all seemed like England, same roads, same greenery, and same birds. I wondered what he expected; Skippy the kangaroo hopping along the rail track, surely not?? In the short time and brief shopping trips that we have done, we are finding Oz expensive. Some things are the same back at home but clothes and groceries generally are more expensive that in the UK. Maybe we are not going to the right places or maybe we are just plain tight? The weather was bright and sunny in Melbourne when we landed, if a little chilly after the highs in Bali but the afternoon sunshine was lovely. Today started out bright, we both were out in shorts and t-shirts but it has gone cloudy as the day has gone on and now the sky has turned grey and it’s windy. Still I’m sure it’s a whole lot warmer here than it is at home. We need to see more and do more before we make any kind of serious judgement about Australia but time is on our side and time is something we have thank god.

Last night Phil marinated some chicken for the BBQ which we had with some new potatoes and salad washed down with a few glasses of Chardonnay. It was cloudy but warm. I managed to get a classical music channel on the TV and Phil couldn’t change it over so we had a very civilised evening, most unusual for me and Phil. Well the evening started civilised but it didn’t end that way. After speaking to Harriet on Skype Kerry, Arlene’s best buddy dropped by to see how we were. She was a scream and several glasses of wine later and then Jeremy came home with pizza and well I don’t remember going to bed! Today we’re meant to be off to see the city of Melbourne which I am slightly worried about. Not only do we have we had to navigate the city centre but also the trams and the parking. Its nearly 10am Melbourne time and Phil is still fast asleep snoring so maybe we should change plans or take the train into the city? The city is fine for one day but if the truth be known I’m a beach bum at heart.

Stay tuned, as they say, (not sure who) the best is yet to come! At least that’s what Phil tells me…….