The big move!

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So Friday came and, at about 11am, we signed the 2nd copy of our lease (as the landlord had decided to add some further clauses into it which caused a bit of an argument (I'm sure that is considered post contractual, but anyway, we signed it!)) and got the keys to our flat!

Claire had a job interview back in the city at 12.30 and I had to go back as we were having a welcome lunch at work (I still hadn't met a couple of my colleagues who were working at client sites, so I was looking forward to that). The long and short of it was, we got our keys and had to rush back into the city - so I still hadn't seen the flat!!

I had hired a car for the weekend so we could go to Ikea, move our five massive cases from the serviced apartment and just generally get about a bit - so I went to pick that up at 5pm. I got totally lost on the way to the apartment and it was about 6.30 before I got there - I didn't get an hour and a half worth of lost by the way, the traffic was just really bad and I still hadn't worked out how to do a "hooked right hand turn" (which is something peculiar to driving in Melbourne to do with the tram tracks that run up the middle of the road) , so could only actually turn left! There is also a toll road which costs a fortune if you venture onto it without an "etag" which I had no idea how to get - so had to avoid it too! Also, as you will see from the picture, the car was just a bit bigger than my Fiesta back home!

Anyway - I found my way "home" (!!) - by which time it was a bit dark and, as there was no electricity connected in the flat, I still couldn't really see it!! What I could see, however, I really really liked. The flat is massive, is very open plan and has fantastic views over the city, the parks and the ocean. It has the best equipped gym I have seen in any of the flats we looked at, and also has an outdoor heated pool with a spa bath thing joined onto it! The pool was a big attraction - most of the pools we had seen in flats were what the call "lap pools" (basically, they are for swimming serious lengths and not just chilling out in!) - this pool was a serious chill out pool, with sun loungers etc around it - totally fab!!

It was also obvious that most of the residents were a bit older and very very pleasant (other places we were looking at were quite studenty which wouldn't have been ideal when I am working till all hours on a report to come back to a fully blown pool party going on!).When I came back from lunch I phoned round a few places and actually managed to find someone that could deliver a bed there and then to us - so Claire arranged to get it at 4pm. So we had a bed and could have technically stayed there - if only there was electricity.

The electricity wasn't an issue though as it was getting switched on that afternoon, or so we thought.

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Photos

My car...
...or was it a bus

The thought of Ikea
... did we really have to go back there?

The view from our balcony...
This is looking south east from our apartment over the ocean and Albert Park.

view 2
A good view over Albert Park lake (which I am yet to go to but Claire has since jogged round!)

view 3
Work is never far away!

View 4
Fawkner Park - the entrance to it is right downstairs!

The apartment on moving in day
Claire on the phone to her Uncle Eddie (asking where Ikea was!) - the bed was delivered on time!