Bondi Beach

We woke up to beautiful summer weather on Saturday morning. It was clearly beach weather, and being new to Sydney - there was clearly one beach that we had to visit! Bondi Beach!

It was oh so Bondi. The blue surf, the white sand, the buff lifeguards (it really is like the TV show!), the topless women, the crowded beach, the people playing beach tennis/rubgy/cricket, the surfers (not much of a swell though), the beach joggers, the band on the 'grassy knoll', the packed bars and cafes and of course, the bus loads of tourists!

We had a lovely walk along the beach just soaking up the sun and sand.



We had a nice lunch at a cafe along the main drag. I had a lovely goat's cheese and walnut salad, and Murray had a club sandwich. His only complaint was his usual complaint - it wasn't big enough!

It was everything I imagined, and with about 1 in 3 women topless it was much more than Murray had imagined! It was a great day - silly us though! We didn't pack our toggs! So next perfect summer day guess where we'll be!

Well Stone my Crow!

I had a lovely lunch yesterday down the road in Crows Nest at The Stonned Crow, which apparently used to be a bit of a dive, but they've done it up into a great little bar!

For lunch I had a delicious Chorizo Salad with asparagus, semi-dried tomatoes, mixed leaves and parsnip crisps. It was great! (Just when they say you don't make friends with salad they go and put some spicey sausage in it! Just what every salad needs!).

It was a really great venue, and the company was even better! :)

Hope to go back thier soon to check out thier cocktail list! I'm thinking Stone My Crow to begin with!

Missing my girls

On Saturday night I was heading out to meet up with some new people. Along came along the inevitable question... "What am I going to wear?!?!?!"

Suddenly I realised that I miss my girls. I miss having Laura around the corner so I can quickly zoom over to her house and know that she'll give me an honest opinion. I miss having some girls to go shopping with, or to at least talk about shopping with. I miss swapping clothes. I miss having my girlfriends say "That looks great, but would look even better with....".

I just miss my girls.

Crongrats Molly!

My sistarooni has started her job at Maccas! And she's made it through her first 10 hour day!!! (Betchya she stinks like chips! Hahahaha!)

Hope you had fun Molzo! And I'll be in to order a McFluffy with Oreo and Strawberry topping soon!

Local review: La Zarzuela

After an exhausting trip to Brisbane, we headed out for dinner last night. There are loads of restuarants just near us - it was so hard to choose!

We settled on Spanish - as neither of us had ever gone to a Spanish restuarant before - so La Zarzuela it was!

We decided to go without a main, and just to make a meal out of Tapas - they all looked so good! We had...

Tottilla Espanola - Spanish Potato Omelette. This was okay - but a little bland... it went fantastically though with the Chorizo - Spanish Spicy Sausage. Mmmm - can't get enough of that stuff! Murray loved the Gambas Al Ajillo - Sizzling garlic prawns with a touch of chilli, and even I tried about half a centimeter of one! The garlic sauce was lovely... just the prawn was urky! But by far, the Patatas Bravas - Potatoes with spicey sauce, were the best! They were just great!

I definetly think that we'll be back - but with 78 venues in Crows Nest listed on Eatability.com I think we'll have to try a few others!

Hoooley dooooley - 110 restaurants in Crows Nest listed on Yellow Pages!

(I read the reviews for La Zarzuela on the above website - and its obviously true that people share thier unpleasant experiences - because if I'd read the reviews before hand I certainly wouldn't have gone. But for a casual meal - it was great!)

BrisVagas!

Hi all!

Well I was in lovely and sunny Brisbane during the week for work (I know I know... I get around don't I?). Working my butt off was made much easier by staying in a great hotel! I highly recommend staying in the Marriott anytime you go to Brisbane - it was fantastic! (And believe me... I've stayed in so many hotels this year I'm almost sick of them... almost!)

I had a lovely view of the River - which was just stunning as the sun came up over it.



I was also lucky enough to be taken out for a few drinks by the wonderful Schaz! It was great to finally meet her, and can't wait to catch up again soon! Unfortunately I missed Suzie - but I hope to be back!

The Marriott also has the worlds BIGGEST breakfast! It was HUGE! It was enough for breakfast lunch and dinner! But it was great! Called the "Healthy Start" it had Bircher muesli, fruit salad, banana bread, bakery selection with a muffin, croissant, and a pastry, yogurt, fresh OJ, and a pot of coffee! I should have invited you all over for breaky - there was enough! So I just had a couple of mouthfulls out of everything!

The banana bread was to die for though - it was served with honey and cottage cheese, and what you see below was only HALF of it. Each of the 2 slices are the size of a large slice of cake that you'd get at a cafe. It was hands down the best banana cake I've ever sunk my teeth into!

But after living it up in Brisvagas... it was great to come home. Home to my bed, home to my boys (Murray and Boston) and just home to my house. It still surprises me how quickly Sydney has become home.

Cabana Boys and one too many Vokda Lime & Sodas!

On Friday night Murray and I headed out to the Cabana Bar for a few "good bye drinks" for one of his bosses.

I was a bit nervous, not wanting to make a tool out of myself in front of his work friends. And I couldn't get the first drink into me fast enough! But felt much better after that.

We had a nice long chat with one of the directors of the company and he gave me a really useful piece of advice about talking with clients.

If your client finishes their coffee before you, you're not listening to them. You've been talking to much. Listen to your clients.

I'm going to try and remember that tomorrow as I'm off to see clients for the rest of the week.

I also got to catch up with my boss from when I did that Intel work. It was really good to see him. I even got to have a whinge to him about never getting "Legend of the Month" even though I went to Adelaide for them! Ahhh... I'd been holding onto that for the longest time - felt so good to get it off my chest. But he suggested that if things don't work out for me where I'm working currently, that he'd find something for me there!

A few drinks later I'd loosened up a bit and felt brave enough to talk to some other people. It was really great to get out and meet some people. Much to my surprise these Sydneysiders are alright people! They didn't scare me (too much) at all! I also met another girl who has just moved to Sydney 6 weeks ago to be with her partner. Made me feel like much less of a foreigner! hehehehe

A few more drinks, and a bit of a dance.... I suddenly realised that I needed to go home! Ooops! Murray got us a cab - but really, the fare was $5.20 - we could have walked that! But then again - you've always got to walk twice as far when you're drunk because you zig zag along!

Woke up on Saturday feeling better than I expected to! But still - I lay low for most of the weekend after that!

I really enjoyed it though, and I thought the Cabana bar was a great place to catch up for drinks. Good environment, good drinks, great people. We'll definitely be going there again.

(Oh - and for those that were waiting to hear about the Cabana boys... sorry - they were fresh out this time!)

Weeeeeeeeeee! ADSL2+

Ahhhh... no more dial up! Life has returned to normal!

After signing up on the 20th of Feb, and having only one day of connectivity since then, its nice to be back to normal.

I sent some angry email though and will be demanding that our invoicing does not begin until today, and that our set up fees should be reduced.

Okay - now that life is back to normal I promise to post some photos on the weekend.

We're heading out for a few drinks with people from Murrays work tonight, so that'll be a nice change. Gosh I could do with a drink!

Weather in Sydney

The weather in Sydney has been lovely! And I just love how the nights aren't cold! AND its rained! I nearly forgot what rain looked like!

In Melbourne you need to dress in layers.

7am - getting up - you need a jacket over your clothes because its chilly in the morning.

9am - arriving at work - no need for jacket any more, quite comfortable in long bottoms and tops.

11am - morning tea - take off your long top, just wearing a lighter top with long pants.

1pm - lunch - kick off your shoes, now you're wishing that you'd worn a skirt, too hot.

5pm - on the way home - put your long top back on, its cooled down some now that its raining - you need your umbrella too.

7pm - out to dinner - where's that jacket? its cold again!

In Sydney...

7am - getting up - put on long pants and light top.

Stay that way aaaaallll day long, even through the evening.

Thats all. :)

Congratulations Doug and Stella!

A big big BIIIIG congrats to Doug and Stella who have finally gotten engaged! Whoo!

We had the pleasure of attending their engagement party, AND house warming party in Melbourne on the weekend.

They have built a stunning house that is just perfect, just like them! And a theatre room to die for - Murray must really like Sydney, because I managed to drag him away from it! hehehe.

It was strange being back in Melbourne, mostly because we didn't have a car... So I felt a little stuck...

I popped into the office on Monday though, and judging by the mail piled up, and the uncollected items from the post office... I think I'm being missed just a little bit.

Today I received TWO lovely items in the mail though...

#1. A postcard from Jess! Yup - all the way to Thailand! Jess - you definitely won the title of "first postcard" to our new house. There's nothing like a postcard to brighten your day - only one other thing could match it...

#2. A wedding invitation! And a beautiful one at that! I'll have to have a chat with Murray but I really hope that we can make it - I'd love to see Petal get married! Petal - you win the title of "first invitation" sent to our new house! Ooo - its so close!

Sorry I haven't posted any photos yet - we're still on dial-up. Yes - that's right - STILL. *rolls eyes* Each day I call them and its "tomorrow". Not happy Jan. I did some jumping up and down today, only to find out that they have to wait on something from Telstra, supposedly. Bloody Telstra, I'll never get things done at this rate!

Until next time... xxoo

Coming Soon: Photos!

Sorry about the delay in getting some photos up! But we're still waiting for our Internet to be fixed properly.... I'm not uploading photos on dial up! But *watch this space*!

Did I do the right thing?

I just had a lovely long chat with a girlfriend from high school. I always enjoy catching up with her, and it always makes me kick myself for not having caught up more often while I had the chance. I feel like I nearly lost touch with everyone after high school because I moved away. But I've felt more recently our friendships have been stronger. And now, here I am, moving away again.

It was great to hear from her, but it makes me miss my friends.

Leaving Melbourne

I thought I'd be filled with all sorts of emotion leaving Melbourne - but by the time I got on that plane I was so relieved to be on my way, glass of wine in hand - I happily waved goodbye to Melbourne.

I don't know what we would have done without our Mums... they were enormous helps when it came to packing and cleaning the old house. For people who don't have much stuff... boy do we have a lot of stuff!

Everything was going along well, exhausted from packing in 38 degree heat, but things were going well. Murray left for the long drive to Sydney early Thursday morning, and the removalist truck was due to arrive shortly after he left. *waiting waiting* Got a call saying that the truck wont be there until Thursday arvo. Thursday arvo I get a call saying that the truck has broken down... not happy, but these things happen. They'll send another truck on Friday afternoon.

Friday afternoon I get a call saying that the truck wont be there until late afternoon. That's okay - so long as things are out of the house by Friday because the carpets were getting done on Saturday morning. Friday night I get a call saying that the truck wont be there until after tea. Hrm. Not impressed, but so long as it gets done. Friday night I get a call from the truck drivers directly - they can either come after 9.30pm, or early Saturday morning. The drivers had been on the go for nearly 48 hours... So I told them to come Saturday morning.

By that time I was livid. I'd spent two whole days waiting for them. Surrounded by a house full of boxes. I'd spent half of Friday locked out of my friends house were I was staying. I could have spent the day with my family - but because I had to wait, I couldn't.

Thankfully I went out Friday night with friends for dinner - I didn't realise it was going to be dinner and a show - but we were lucky enough to be treated to a macho show, and the best damned headbutt I've ever seen. Note to self: Don't walk the streets of Boronia alone.

So 6am on Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed to go back to the house for one last time - and thaaaaankkkfully - the truck arrived as promised! (God help them if it didn't)

And so the mad packing of the truck began... now... just to get the treadmill downstairs... It wouldn't even fit through the doorway of the room! I had forgotten that it'd actually been assembled upstairs and there wasn't a hope in hell it was getting down any other way other than in pieces. I had no idea how to take it apart - and the removalists said that they weren't willing to touch it - too expensive.

What am I going to doooo?????!!!!!! I can't just leave it there! Then the carpet guy arrived! He couldn't start until everything was removed from upstairs! Nooooooooo. I was tired. Hot. Cranky. And ready to shoot someone. But as we'd already been visited by the police that week, I decided against a shooting. (Yes, our "house cooling" party was one to remember! heheheh)

After several calls, and $50, I got the guys from the shop we bought the treadmill from to come out and help us take it apart to get it downstairs. He was an angel! He was the first good thing to happen for the entire moving process it felt like!

By this stage though I had to sent the carpet guy home - thank goodness he was understanding. (A little weird, but understanding). He also told me that he'd be able to pick up the keys from the Real Estate and do it during the week.

Finally, by about midday the house was ready to be locked up and said goodbye to. It felt strange without Murray there - I felt like he should be there to say goodbye to our first house together. But I was so stressed I was happy to finally close those doors! And thank goodness for Laura who twisted my rubber arm and bought me Nando's for lunch.

It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that I actually booked my flight to Sydney - for Saturday night... I know I left it a little late! Eventually, though I dropped the keys at the Real Estate, and got in the little red Barina one more time to drive to Mums.

The Barina isn't coming to join me at this stage. I'm just keeping it at Mums until I decide what to do with it.

I finally made it to Mums, and what a great Mum she is - dinner was on the table when I arrived! Mum, my brother and his girlfriend drove me out to Avalon Airport to wave goodbye. Of course there were more dramas there - even my plane was delayed! But we filled our time with a well deserved ice-cream!

Finally I boarded the plane, waved a million goodbyes, and had an entire row to myself to stretch out, enjoy a glass of wine, and get ready to begin my new life in Sydney. Finally, something was going right - I had a good feeling about Sydney.

First post

Hi All!

Welcome to my very first blog! I hope to keep you all up to date with what this very very Melbourne girl is up to in her new city Sydney!

I'll update you on how the move went (but in a word - traumatic), and how our new house is (with lots of photos to come).

We've got lots of new shops, bars, restaurants, and places to explore - so I'll let you know what we think of them all.

Other than that it'll just be a Melbourne girls perspective of Sydney.

xoxo