One month gone already

Yep, 5 weeks have now gone by, I'm now pretty settled and orientated and the good news is Maxine and Ethan are only 3 weeks away from flying out too !! Hurrah !! The other happy coincidence with them getting out here is the culmination of 6 years sweat, toil and graft in finishing my honours degree (why I decided to take the extra year and do a Java course is anyones guess....sheer stupidity!). Anyway, the pain is almost over .... and trust me, I don't think I'll be very sober that weekend.

Anyway - for those of you dying to know (anyone?).......yes, the Sydney Swans beat the West Coast Eagles last weekend. It was a very slim margin .... worryingly, I actually enjoyed the game. Given that I wasn't cheering on either side it was quite a pleasant experience ... far less nerve racking than watching NUFC. Luckily the boys in B&W did manage to make it worth my while staying up 'till 2:00am by beating Man City 1-0. We're on a roll. Good news is that the third game in a row is being beamed across here live on Saturday night. Excellent. More Carlton Draft tinnies are stacked in the fridge, ready and waiting......

Footie Fever

Well its not really 'footie' is it ... but they keep calling it that over here. I keep reminding them we had the word 'footie' first and that we play football not them, but so far I've not convinced the 20 million population of that fact.

Tomorrow is the 'Grand Final' .... the end of the season of the AFL - basically its like the last day of the Premiership and the F.A. Cup final all rolled into one. 80,000 fans of the West Coast Eagles and the Sydney Swans will gather at Melbournes MCG to get drunk and watch the event, along with everyone else it seems on TV. To me it looks like loads of blokes running around in tight shorts kicking and punching the hell out of each other for 80 minutes. Its the most violent team sport on the planet....I'm 100% convinced of that.

I've been invited to experience the big event that everyone's talking about, around at someones house with a barbie thrown in for good measure (more on them later). I'm sure I'll go and watch ... but really I'm more excited about the fact that I'm getting cable TV tomorrow and Newcastle vs Man City are shown live at midnight. Now thats REAL footie.

http://afl.com.au/

The differences....

I thought I'd start keeping a log of the things I found strange when I spend my first few weeks in Australia......it will be interesting to see if I still think they are strange when we get back to the UK.

Here goes for starters....

1) Heinz Baked beans are sold in two types, one with 'English Recipe'.
2) They don't know what Castlemaine XXXX is (!)
3) The banks all shut at 4:00pm all week...handy that.
4) There are loads of 'drive through' off licences - great !!
5) People think 10 degrees C must be freezing point.
6) People think $1.25 per litre of petrol is disgusting... (56 pence !!)
7) A 'Milk Bar' is a newsagent.
8) Obsession with Aussie Rules (footie).
9) Slot machines are called 'Pokies'...took me 3 weeks to work that one out.

Work ?!?

G'Day Mates,

Reality has kicked in and I've actually had to go and do some work this week. That was a bit of a shock to the system. It feels like going into work when you are on holiday.....very odd.

Its now Friday and I've completed my first week in Cadbury Schweppes Asia Pacific. Its been a good experience all in all but its going to be fairly big job over here. My role is leading a large technical team to change the manufacturing, distribution & purchasing systems in New Zealand & Australia.

Good news for Maxine though....they make Marshmallows & Chupa Chips lollies out here.... expect her to come back to the UK with no teeth.

Being a tourist

Headed into the centre of Melbourne on Saturday to do a bit of the tourist stuff and wander around the streets taking in all the new sights. (I took the train to avoid further mis-hap!).

The city centre is choc full of places to do damage to your credit card, particularly the amount of clothes shops I'm now going to have to keep Maxine away from. The resturants and generally the food here is amazing. It has a bit of both America & England in the overall feel of the place. The skyscrapers & cars remind you of America but some of the buildings and peoples attitudes are very English like.

Anyway, after much browsing the shopping area I headed to Federation Square which was hosting a New Zealand cultural day. I stood out like a sore thumb in the square with thousands of Mauri people and other Kiwi's milling around. There was a world record attempt on the largest Haka ever to take place (so if you see me in the 2006 edition of the Guiness Book Of Records you know why!).... that was all happening before the big screens were about to show New Zealand vs Australia in the Tri-Nations. Decided not to hang around for that !

So for next time you watch New Zealand rugby players doing a strange dance before a game, you can all join in and impress your friends with the following 'lyrics' sung in a fearsome way (with your tounge hanging out at frequent points) ....

KA MATE
Ka Mate
Ka Mate
Ka Ora
Ka Ora
Ka Mate
Ka Mate
Ka Ora
Ka Ora
Tenei te tangata
Puhuruhuru
Nana nei i tiki mai
Whakawhiti te ra !
Upane! Kaupane!
Upane Kaupane!
Whiti te ra!

Shouldn't joke.....

I knew I shouldn't joke about crashing......

Picture the scene, me, careful new driver in a foreign country parked up at a set of traffic lights on a very busy junction in suburban Melbourne. There I was, minding my own business when ..... *bang*. Spotty, brace wearing 'sheila', aged about 20 tried to take the bumper off via the right rear corner of my newly supplied company car. I've had the car a total of 3 days.

No injuries to either party but the embarassment of having to fill in the company accident form before I've even started the new job was not something I was hoping to have to do really. Still, at least it wasn't a tram....now that would be embarassing (!)

Some good news later in the day though, I have now secured our home for the next 18 months. I'll move in on Monday 12th September.

I'll send our new address & phone number out on e-mail.

House Hunted

Well, hopefully I've now found THE ONE. After seeing about 20 houses in and around Melbourne today I'll be putting an application in on a brand new 4 bedroom house in a place called Bentleigh. Its a suburb of the city, 5-10 mins from beach, 2 minute walk to some shops and a 15 minute tram ride to the heart of Melbourne. Sorted. Well it will be if they accept the offer anyway (*gulp*). I want everyone to keep their fingers crossed.

Now my next task is to find a car for Maxine (* no Geoff I don't want you to put me incontact with Toyota cars of Australia thanks ! *)...... and a babyseat, fridge, washing machine, tumble dryer...... 50" Plasma (oops how did that slip onto the list ?).

Off to the very centre of Melbourne today to sample its (and I quote the Lonely Planet guide here) ... "wit, style and energy, cobbled alleys and modest doorways concealing an astonishing array of world class arts, cuisines, design, music, bars & shops". See, I'm full of culture me.