Our first 6 weeks in Australia

Six weeks have really flown by! It feels like so long ago that we arrived on our bumpy flight from Vancouver. We had turbulence from Vancouver until almost Hawaii, which wasn’t the best. We also ended up on the 777 versus the Dreamliner, so it wasn’t nearly as nice. But we were both so exhausted from lack of sleep before moving that we thankfully slept quite well on the flight, which was good because when we touched down we had a lot of things to do that first day. 

When we had left Winnipeg with all of our 7 checked bags plus carry-on we had planned to hire porters in Sydney. Unfortunately, none seemed to exist in the customs hall, so we were stuck trying to haul three very heavy luggage carts by ourselves. Thankfully, a very sympathetic man helped us out, and so we only had to struggle out of secondary by ourselves. 

We then realised we hadn’t gone through immigration, and were quite worried we were unintentionally illegally in Australia despite carefully following the signage. Drew went to ask where the customs front desk was, and the info booth lady was clearly quite accustomed to this query and informed Drew not to fret that due to the e-visa process we were legally in the country. I fully expected to be in immigration for hours, so it was quite the surprise, and an indication of how customs agencies are changing. 

I waited at the airport with our three luggage carts, and Drew picked up a Go-Get (car share) van. I felt quite badly for Drew, as just an hour after a long haul flight he was driving on the opposite side of the road in a big van. Like a champ, Drew successfully picked me and our stuff up, and we went about doing errands for Drew’s medical license that first day.

We had a whirlwind first four days, as we had to buy a bed, as well as a fridge and combo washing/drying machine, as rentals here don’t come with major appliances, except for the stove. We also bought new bikes, as this is one of our primary forms of transport. On a side note, Drew has done an impressive job hauling purchases home on his bike, including the Dyson stick vacuum and a 12kg bag of dog kibble plus our groceries. 

Our Bikes!

After our first week in Sydney, I headed down to Melbourne to pick up our dogs. I took the train from Sydney, which took 10 hours, and got me right into downtown, where I was able to take a tram to the hotel. The next day I rented a Go-Get SUV, and drove on the left hand side of the road for the first time, and picked up the dogs in a far flung suburb of Melbourne. The quarantine facility looked like a penitentiary from the outside, so the joke about picking them up from dog jail became a little more literal than I preferred. The dogs were happy to see me, although very bewildered because the quarantine employee insisted on bringing them out in their kennels. I think they were worried about going on another flight, so they were very excited when they realised the vehicle was there to drive them home. 

Unfortunately, there is only one quarantine facility in Australia for dogs, so that is why the dogs had to stay in Melbourne. It was quite the journey for the dogs, as they flew from Winnipeg to Toronto to LA and finally to Melbourne. 

The happy reunion 

I stayed in Melbourne for four and a half days, and Drew joined me halfway through for his perfectly timed mandatory work conference. After spending the entire first day with the dogs, I spent half days with them and went about touring the other half of the day. I saw the Victor & Rolf exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria, and it was amazing! I also saw the sites in the CBD (downtown), and on the last day went driving through the Dandenong Ranges, which was very beautiful. 

Alfred Nicholas Gardens in the Dandenong Ranges

Alfred Nicholas Gardens 

We drove home from Melbourne in a large SUV Drew had rented, and we stayed overnight in a motel in Albury. It was quite a long drive, but it was the easiest way to get the dogs home.  

When we got back from Melbourne I started my work search, and quickly learned that the job market here is extremely competitive. For contracts/temp jobs, positions fill in a day or two, and for permanent jobs the positions can fill in under two weeks. I met with a lot of recruiters, and two Fridays ago I had an interview with Transport for NSW, a state government department. I had the interview at 3:00, followed by a 30 minute Excel test, and the recruiter called me at 5:30 and asked if I could start Monday! The team I am on is quite small, but nice. My boss is very nice, and likes the work that I’m doing, so I am hopeful that this contract will set the stage for either another contract or permanent role. The entire project team will be disbanded in six months when the project ends, so I definitely will have to look then. 

Drew has been working since February 6th, and has been enjoying his work so far. It’s quite busy, but the program has matched his expectations, which is good. Drew rides his bike to work, and it takes him about 20 minutes. His coworkers are nice, and his friend Giles took us to our first rugby game here. He is also going to watch our dogs when we go to Adelaide for the weekend. 

Drew's Birthday Gelato Pie

Highlights:

• Getting the dogs back
• Coogee Beach is a 22 minute bus ride from our house.
• Drew’s birthday at the Chophouse was very tasty and nice. 
• Buying a toaster and BBQ from the Sunbeam Outlet this past weekend; we have had toast everyday this week and used our BBQ a lot already. 

Lowlights: 

• Everything is so expensive here!
• Cockroaches love Sydney, Leah loathes cockroaches. If you have a house in Sydney you have to preventatively spray for them, and everyone here acknowledges that they are a fact of life :(
• Being homesick