Australia - the early days

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G'day mates,
we have loads to tell you after our first few days in Oz! The flights went very smoothly and a lot quicker than what we had thought they would being firstly a 7hr flight then transfer at LA onto a 16hr flight! So a long day, but we managed to get plenty of sleep during both flights. We arrived in Melbourne at midday and were surprised by the glorious weather that Oz is reknowned for....NOT!!! It was raining and cloudy for most of the day, as well as pretty cold. We arrived at the Hostel in St Kilda and checked in for 5 nights rather than 7 nights. After this we went for a walk on st kilda beach and around the town but the rain, wind and tiredness dampened our spirits and made us both miss home a lot. to make matters worse when we returned to the hostel to try and catch up on kip we were welcomed by a butt naked irish lepricorn and his fellow australian mrs....in the bed next to us....making it a rather miserable day. Second day in Oz however was really productive and we managed to sort our loads of things we had to do- i.e mobiles, banks, jobs and looked at some new apartments as well as exploring the city centre! Melbourne City Centre looks fantastic! federation square, the yarra river and shops and cafes and the main city are all incredible and only a stones throw from beautiful sandy beaches! the weather was gorgeous and the city is so much more spaced out than london with so much greenery and so much to do! plus you cant walk down a street without dozens of 'hiring staff' advertisments in thw windows so we've managed to apply for loads of jobs and although Hannah's been offered a couple they are primarily evenings so she is holding out for a day time job seen as Melbourne has so many cafes and restaurants every where you look! another thing we really like about melbourne is that even in the suburbs there is always a huge centre with long rows of cafes shops and bars no more than a 2 minute walk away! The best news so far however is that tomorrow we're moving into our new house in the suburb of windsor which is a 4 minite train ride to the city centre! We are sharing with two other couples ( 2 canadians, an american and another brit). Windsor is a really young and vibrant area with one of the best streets of shopping in melbourne running for 4km's through the centre and a 30 second walk from the house with everything we could need from supermarkets, pharmacys, cinemas, cafes, bars, clubs, restaurants, bowling, shops and boutiques plus much more :D Plus we both have further interviews in the City tomorrow both with day time hours! Although Australia seemed very expensive to us at first ( and it is if you are simply coming over with british money and not looking to work) it becomes alot more reasonable when minimum wage is $15 an hour and most places are offering us atleast $18.., but heres some figures of why its so much....
Loaf of Bread- $4
Bottle of corona - $9
Twix bar - $3
... however when compared with minimum wage in the uk and prices of such items it works out at a cheaper rate! Plus if we both work 35 hours a week at normal pay we will be making in excess of $1200 a week together and our rent is $350 including all water and electric!
That's all for now and we are off to the docklands for dinner and drinks where U2 are playing tonight to 60,000 people and we are going to listen in for free!!! :D loving living it up in Melbourne! Pictures up soon!

Love Hannah and Jamie xxxx

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