Gone on a Lucky Country

While Joe waited at home for the dryer delivery I took the ferry and train (in that order) up to the Target in Chatswood to stock up on small appliances.  The expense was a little overwhelming; but I wasn't about to try to exist in a place with absolutely nothing!  I've heard lots of people here say that the Target here is different from the Target in the States; but I never actually shopped at the Target in the States enough to be able to tell you if it's true or not!

I still have to get a vacuum and some other big stuff; but that can wait a bit.  Honestly, out of all the things I got, the heater was the best investment!  It is really really cold in our apartment!  We have the heater set up in our bedroom with the door shut.  I would say that it's about 55 degrees in the apartment; but a toasty 68 in our bedroom!  I actually don't mind the cold - the trick is to always wear shoes (or slippers in the morning).  I made the mistake of standing in the kitchen for a while in just my socks and it took a while to warm up from that one!  Oh - and I also found another funny sign (see below) for a pick-up and drop-off area called a "Kiss and Ride"!

Sunday:

We took the first ferry to the Quay where one of Joe's coworkers picked us up and took us to the Hillsong City Campus for church.  We definitely liked that one the best so I think we found our new church home!  When we got back to the Quay we mistakenly decided that it would be fun to take the ferry up the Parramatta River as a sightseeing tour....  apparently, we weren't the only ones with that idea.  The ferry was stuffed to the gills with tired cranky families.  It was a long hour!  When we got to Parramatta we weren't allowed to remain on the ferry for the return trip - we had to all exit and then re board from the back of the queue.  It was very long and it didn't look like we would make it on so we decided to just walk into Parramatta and catch a train back to the city.  Well, we purchased our tickets and were waiting on the platform when the announcement was made that there was a broken track up ahead and there would be a lengthy delay.  They announced that we should take the bus to a station further up the line and get on a train there.  We ran down, grabbed the bus and then spent a miserable half hour crammed in with angry transit passengers.  We finally made it to the right station only to find that the train we were supposed to be on wasn't there!  Luckily there was a similar one at a different platform so we took that to Central and switched there.  We were really under the gun because there is a short ferry service on Sundays and we were racing to catch the last one back.  We literally ran across the Quay and made it to our wharf as they were opening the gates for the last ferry!  To add insult to injury, it had started storming when we got off the ferry and as we walked up the stairs small branches kept blowing down hitting us in the head.  It was a very unfortunate day - full of mishaps and such.

Monday:

Still windy and cold in the morning... I walked up to Neutral Bay Junction to meet Kimberly (another ex-pat that I met on Yanks Down Under)  for coffee.  We went to a coffee shop that Joe and I had found the week before with comfy couches and chairs.  It was so incredibly wonderful to be out with someone and to be doing something social!  I was afraid I was going to talk her ears completely off!  We sat for a couple hours just chatting about what led us both here and all of the differences (both good and bad) in the places we've lived.  Then we went to Woollies as we both had some shopping to do. 

I think we are going out again next week and I am thrilled.  After we said goodbye, I went down to the post office for stamps and to get some airmail sheets/envelopes.  I've always loved those since my sister Theresa did a semester abroad in France and would send letters home on those blue lined airmail sheets.  These are not blue, lined or pretty as they have some strange and hideous ducks on them; but it's the thought that counts.  I stopped for lunch at Cafe Zo-Zo and had a fabulous sandwich (for only $6 I might add) made up of turkey, Camembert, cranberry relish and sprouts.  Add to that a mineral water, some sun on my back and the tail end of Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country" and you have a very happy girl...

Monday night was the craziest wind storm ever!  Really insane...  and cold - the wind was blowing right in the apartment so Joe and I decided we need to do some weatherproofing this weekend.  I am so ready for Spring!

Tuesday:

It was still very very windy Tuesday morning and cold!  I decided that I wanted to avoid frostbite so I stayed in the bedroom most of the day.  My groceries were delivered in the morning (the stores here allow you to shop online and then they will deliver for a small fee - by small I mean $9.00!) so I came out for a bit to arrange cupboards and such; but retreated quickly to the warmth.  It was actually really good to take a day to catch up on some stuff.  I called and set up our utilities, spent an hour on hold with Telstra/Big Pond to get our phone and Inet set-ups scheduled and generally caught up on paperwork and such.  Made lamb and couscous for dinner - super yum!