It's only been a week that I've been in Australia and I feel like I'm soooooo behind on catching you up on everything. Where to begin?
The town I'm living in is Kelvin Grove. It's a suburb of Brisbane, about a 10 min bus ride away (at most). From what I've seen, the town is pretty small but really nice. There are lots of restaurants within a 5 min walk and a couple of shops right nearby too. It's very tropical here with all kinds of palm plants, trees and bushes. It's summer here so it’s been quite hot and sticky. Unfortunately my apartment doesn't have air conditioning so the shift from a New England winter to an Australia summer has been a bit rough. I'm surviving though. I take a lot of cold/cool showers.
My apartment is pretty decent. My room is bigger than any single dorm room I’ve seen in the states. And the bonus is that the bed is a king twin. It’s not only longer but also wider. So it really doesn’t feel like you’re sleeping on a twin. Makes a nice transition for me from my queen size bed to a twin. I don’t feel like I’m sleeping in a toddler bed every night. The desk is quite large and has some shelves above it for my assorted stuff. There are no bureaus in the room as they aren’t that common in Australia. Instead I have an open closet with cubbies for my clothes. They call it a built in wardrobe. I need to get some baskets or containers of some kind to put in the cubbies so my clothes don’t fall out and so everyone can’t see my underwear.
Yes, my room is still a work in progress. Soon i will have better bedding, decorations and my room more set up. This gives you the general idea though.
The common area is nice and open. The kitchen is along one wall and has some funky appliances. There isn’t a normal type oven. Instead they have a microwave/convection oven. Will be interesting to do baking in that. So far I’ve only nuked stuff. The fridge is also odd in that it’s tall and skinny. It’s about as wide as my shoulders and maybe as tall. There are only 2 cooktop burners and for some reason they put the larger one in the back. Odd set up. The kitchens don’t come equipped with anything so I have to go out and buy it all. What I wouldn’t kill for a Dollar Tree around here. Would make this soooo much cheaper. Unfortunately things are more expensive in Australia and I’m definitely feeling the pinch.
My snazzy kitchen. Snazzy and bare.
The fridge is really tall and skinny.
The living room is a bit small but not cramped. I was bummed to find out that I didn’t have a full size couch but instead just a love seat with an additional arm chair. I’ll be getting an air mattress for when people visit. I’m stuck taking awkward naps and lie ins on the love seat with my legs hanging off one end. I did luck out though in that someone left a tv behind in my living room. Granted I can only get about 4-5 channels on it and don’t have a remote but at least it’s something. Normally you have to supply your own TV. I only had to go out and buy a cable to hook it up to the wall.
The view from my balcony
There’s a nice patio off the back that’s quite spacious. No real patio furniture but a couple of the dining room chairs are out there so I can sit on them. The one downside is that I have to share a bathroom but its only with one other person so it shouldn’t be so bad. Oh yeah, so I’ll have a roommate in my apartment. She hasn’t shown up yet though. Was supposed to be here Wednesday but hasn’t arrived yet. I wish she’d hurry up cause I’ve been putting off decking out the kitchen until I find out what she’s brought with her. The only thing I know about her is that she’s female, 45 and from Cairns (town in northern Queensland, I’ve been there). Hopefully she’ll show up soon.
The toilets have 2 flush buttons. Half or full cistern. Think #1 and #2.
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