Back in Australia!

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So here we are, three weeks in and I've finally got around to starting my blog. Actually, maybe not, Ben's just finished dinner so I'll have to come back to start writing!

Back from dinner, so here we go. I left Cowling on the 17th March for the long journey down to Gatwick Airport. Mum and Dad dropped me off at Burnley and I continued on to Gatwick via Manchester and London. I thought it'd be nice to have one night in the Premier Inn to relax before the mammoth journey out to Oz. Had just enough time to hand in the remainder of my VA uniform and ID at work and still had time for a nice meal and catch up with my old school friend Ed who came down from London for the night. He always seems to be around for my departures, be it leaving the UK or like last time leaving Auckland in New Zealand!

The following morning was an early start to get up to LHR for the VS007 out to Los Angeles. I was seated in Premium, which was fine by me. Still got to use the Upper Class lounge as was travelling on Business so enjoyed a nice few glasses of Champage with some of the other exchangees. The flight was extremely long, headwinds all the way, and I had a horrible cold so my sinuses were absolutely killing and on landing I looked like I'd been dug up. LAX wasn't the best experience, feeling like crap and knowing that we still had a 15 hour flight to go, but with a Maccy D's in my belly we set off for the V Australia check in desks.

**Disclaimer - don't read the next paragraph if you don't like detailed descriptions of bodily functions ** No sooner than I'd checked in, I regretted the Maccy D's and had to rush off and find a toilet. For some reason the toilets in LAX didn't seem to lock properly and I searched in vain to find one with a bit of security, but with my stomach growling and churning louder and louder, I had no choice but to duck into the nearest one for an unpleasant movement, fearful of an intrusion at any minute.

Finally we boarded the lovely, modern V Australia B777 and I'd been given an exit row seat which was a bonus. I nervously took my seat, for once thankful that it was by the toilet. I hesitantly took a Zopiclone, courtesy of my friend Blair, to try and get some rest, hesitant because I didn't want to accidentally soil myself in my induced sleep state. The pill didn't seem to be kicking in so I decided to eat dinner and no sooner than I'd finished my main, my head had dropped and my twitching arms were knocking my tray off the tray table. Thankfully my travel companion Louisa managed to get it out of the way before I made a mess.

We landed into a very wet Sydney, it felt like a typhoon with rains like I've never seen. Wasn't the “Hello Australia” I'd imagined but a few hours later the rain cleared. We were put up in apartments for the week, so to stave off jetlag, Ben, my roommate to be, and I coffeed up and went out looking at areas for houses. We started off in the southern suburbs and quickly decided it wasn't for us having seen what looked like a crack den in the first five minutes. On arrival back at the hotel there was a little Thai place across the road doing bargain take-away, so with a Pad Thai to finish off the day, it was time for bed. Needless to say, I slept well. I ate Thai food for 5 of the 7 days in that hotel.

Our first day at work was a admin day followed by a barbeque with our 'Aussie Mate' (a current VB crewmember who helps us out with info and advice) and managers. Very relaxed compared to the UK with alcohol and food. I think it was on the way home that myself, Ben and Colin (the other one of my new housemates) realised how much we had to do in getting ourselves setup with somewhere to live. The rest of the week is a blur. We were the lucky ones of the group, viewing just four properties and being successful in the one that we decided to apply for. I think that was partly down to Colin's amazing skills in mapping out the areas and finding new properties on the go courtesy of his iphone. The process of getting a place is definitely not like the UK – as one estate agent put it, it's like applying for a job. If you like the place you apply immediately and supply references and then you wait patiently whilst the estate agent contacts the landlord to see if they like the sound of you. We had found our place on the Wednesday, were accepted on Thursday and signed on Friday, with Saturday to get it furnished ready for check out of the apart-hotel on Sunday morning. Each day we were up at 6am and not getting back to the apartment until 7 or 8pm.

Furnishing was a busy day too, but felt a lot easier as at least we had found somewhere. As with any new place, we had our mandatory trip to Ikea, spending $2500 altogether (including Swedish Meatballs and a hotdog) Thank God for credit cards, hey?! We still, however, needed a tv, sofas and kitchen white goods, so we logged onto Gumtree and started ringing around the locals. For $500 we managed to hire a van and buy 2x three seater sofas, a two seater and a 1 seater, a big Samsung Tv and stand, fridge, microwave, printer and washing machine. It was great having the lift to our new 5th floor apartment, but sadly the three seater sofas didn't fit in, so carrying was the only option. We had a bit of a cheeky experience with the tv – we went to a second hand shop and were about to buy a small old thing and these backpackers told grabbed us and told us to come outside – they said that they were selling their tv on the way to the airport – we got a massive tv and stand for just $100!! It was definitely one of those days where you feel a real sense of achievement at the end of it!

When we finally moved in on the Sunday, the flat-pack assembly began. The mountain of packaging in the hallway was unbelievable, but the blisters on my thumb and hands were testament to the number of screws we'd had to use those bloody little allen keys on!

We didn't really have much time to relax having unpacked because on Monday morning we began training. It's been a very busy first two weeks in the training centre and right now I should be revising, but as usual I'm procrastinating by writing this blog. Last week I procrastinated with trips out shopping, but this week I have no money (see below for reasons why) so you have my drivel to put up with as a result. I really don't cope well with going into work every day and I've gradually been getting more and more dopey. The first week I left my weekly ticket at home one morning, costing me $12 to get tickets on the day. The following week I lost my pass altogether, costing me $41 to replace. Then to crown off last week I got my first pay from VB, but had been docked a fortune in tax. Apparently my Tax File Number has been set to non-resident so I'm now paying a higher level tax. Still haven't been able to sort it as the tax office is closed over the weekend, but it's on my to-do list for tomorrow! You will be pleased to know that I passed my first exam last week with 100%, so hopefully I can replicate that result again in the test in the morning.

Our apartment is really lovely and am looking forward to lots of visitors over the year. We've already had our spare room christened by some of the guys from work who haven't yet been able to move into their apartments. I'm sat here with Mike who's moving into the city next week and in the first week we had the lovely Louisa and Jess here. They have now moved to the most amazing apartment with a roof terrace with a 360 degree view of Sydney. It was Louisa's birthday last Friday so they hosted a lovely barbeque on the roof which was just amazing. Our apartment is in the suburb of Woollahra, near to Edgecliff station. I have to say the area is just beautiful, lots of leafy tree lined streets with views down to Double Bay on one side and the city on the other. We're a 15 minute walk from Bondi Junction which has a mall and lots of shops and obviously a little further and you're at Bondi Beach. Still haven't been this time around, but will be perfect next summer.

Well I think I should probably close as this is getting a bit long-winded, but that brings us up to speed. I have another four weeks of training and then I'll be taking back to the air, which I'm excited about. This 8-6 lifestyle doesn't really suit me!!

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