New BBQ

We got a new BBQ finally, no propane tank yet, not sure where we pick one of those up yet, but we'll be BBQing soon.

Can't wait to have a nice steak. Heading out for a drink with someone Amy met at her orientation

Jesse

Directions

Coming back from shopping in some shops around our house I was asked for directions. Luckily they were not hard directions. So I guess I must look as though I am starting to fit in.

Blogophile

I'm blogging today for no other reason than I haven't blogged in a while. There is not much new on this front, the apartment is starting to look really good, we have almost everything that we need. Amy insists on not taking pictures until it looks perfect. (you might not get to see pictures by the time we get back.

There have been a few problems withthe apartment, nothing major, just a leak under the sink and a couple power problems. They are supposed to be coming tomorrow to fix them.

We had our first attempt at makig salsa down under (australian salsa sucks). I did not bring the recipe so I was going by memory. I added too much vinegar and it doesn't fast quite right. I'm going to make another half batch and mix them together to fix the problem.

That's about it for now, Amy has orientation tomorrow so I guess that means time to start the job hunt. I already have a few leads and I haven't even been looking so it looks pretty promising.

Jesse

Testing

We've been having trouble sending posts this is a test.

Amy all tuckered out

Hockey 'day' In Melbourne

So we went in to melbourne. The action got under way at 3pm. We figured that they would draw out the games over a few hours each or something to keep people in the bar drinking and stuff, but they powered through the games and by a quarter after 7 they were over and people states piling out of the bar. Either way, the games were entertaining and we met a bunch of canadians. The pens red wings game was crazy, but for whoever posted that it would be, please post your name if you plan to post anonymously, not sure who it was. We'll be going back for the next hockey night in Melbourne, not sure when it will be, but I hear they do it every couple of weeks.

Jesse

On the train to Melbourne

We are currently on the train heading to Melbourne. It should take us about an hour to get there and then it's off to Charles Dickin's Pub. It will be really awesome to see some hockey, I must admit that I am even missing it. I'm trying to see a kangaroo off in the fields somewhere.

amy

Baking in the new place...yummy yummy in my tummy

Cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies!
Did a little baking tonight, thought it might be a good way for us to get to know our neighbours. I tried out a new chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe, so let's just wait and see how they taste. ( I can't eat any right now , I ate a little too much batter ) our house smells wonderful!!!

Well off to bed, then off to Melbourne tomorrow.

Xo

Hockey night in Melbourne

Tomorrow we head into melbourne for the first time since the airport. There is a bar in melbourne that plays hockey games in Saturday nights (they are a couple of days old, but it's still something). Tomorrw they are playing two games, oilers devils and red wings penguins. Do not tell me the results if you know them. Anyway we will probably run into a bunch of either ex-pat canadians or travelling ones so I'm looking forward to it


Jesse

First night in the new place

We spent our first night at the new place last night, the bed was really comfy, it was great. We cooked a delicious spaghetti dinner as well. Testing out the new oven and stove, we are getting he fridge and washing machine this afternoon, so we will have to actually get some groceries. I am pretty wxcited to be able to cook again. We are off to get some more things for the living room today. Fingers crossed we find a decent couch. Pictures to come later on when things get all settled.

Automated calling

So it would seem that there is some kind of a language barrier when it comes to the automated calling. Jesse is here trying to get us Internet and the automated system just isn't understanding. This is the 4th attempt at calling, and I'm really enjoying how hilarious his fake Australian accent us. Just picture him pacing from room to room talking in a fake accent. HILARIOUS!!!

Insomnia or excitement??

Well the day has come, we are officially moving everything over to our new place! As you can see from that wonderful picture of me, we have a pretty awesome kitchen.

If you are wondering about the title, well it's currently 4:30 in the morning here and I'm wide awake. I can't really decide if it's insomnia or excitement, although it may easily have something to do with the construction that was going on outside. Either way, I'm really excited to have a place of our own!!

Well I think I'm going to attempt a couple more hours of sleep, cheers

Xo

I decided to post it

Haha, inside joke to anyone who has read the below posts

Continued from below, read below first

we would not break the bank. Unfortunately it seems that it may take a couple of weeks until we are able to have high speed internet installed at our new location. Until then we still have our iphones, but we can't over use them or we may end up paying through the nose.

Amy is asleep now, she was exhausted, we did a lot of walking, carrying and hauling (the bigger items really aren't carried). I think I might be off to bed, might post a picture of Amy in our new place, but I'm not sure, she didn't want me too. But if you are reading this you likely have either seen it, directly above or I decided not to post it and go to sleep instead.

Thanks everyone for all of the comments, we like checking them and hearing from everyone back home

Jesse

Last night at the hostel

It has finally come, the last night at the hostel. It was a very nice hostel, with very nice people, but it was a transitional place where our main goal was to find a place ofnour own, so we are glad that the transition is over. Today was quite a long day as we found out that we had gotten the place early in the morning and had to buy a bunchbof stuff to furnish it. These were the items we could buy at the mall close to the hostel, but would have a hard time transporting to the new place. We were driven over there today so it was our best opportunity to do it. We bought our kitchen stuff mostly and stuff for the bathroom. The bed we will get tomorrow and will be delivered. We also arranged to rent a fridge and a washer that should arrive tomorrow as well. We have been looking a second hand couches and will likely find a cheap one tomorrow. It will take a few days to get everything we need and we've had a lot of time to plan stuff while looking for a place so that.... Continued above

We just found out that we got the apartment that we were looking at that we really wanted. We get the keys today at 4:30. Very exciting. We'll post pictures when we get there

Jesse

Yummy kangaroo steaks!!

We still aren't brave enough to try it though, but it does exist.

Beautiful day on the water

Jesse enjoying the view

Picture # 2

Beautiful day in Geelong

Sitting down by re water on a beautiful Sunday. Tons of people out and about, you can see some sailboats in these pictures and a marina. It says it's 23 out but it feels hotter than that, it should be interesting when the temperature reaches the 40s

Jesse

Anticipation

The anticipation is killing us, we are just waiting to ear back from the real estate agent to see if we got the place or not. We're getting a little tired of the hostel and just want to settle in to a place that's ours. Anyway we'll send pictures when we finally get a place.

Jesse

Shopping for stuff

Went around today and looked at different stores to price kitchen and bed stuff as well as second hand furniture for when we get a place. It doesn't look like we will be able to get a furnished place, so we'll have to buy stuff and try to sell then later. Also went to see the owner at a restaurant we ate at who said he might be able to get me a
Job. He said he was going to call some friends and he'd get back to me. Haven't even started looking for a job yet and I've already got some leads so it looks pretty promising for a random job

Jesse

Jesse and I went to this really great Italian restaurant called Rimini last night. Everything about this place was awesome, the food, the people, it was really a fun place. We started off with some garlic bread ands bottle of wine. For dinner I had papalini ( cream sauce with bacon and onions ) over feticinni noodles, and Jesse had chicken parmesian, however the chicken was the size of the entire plate it was huge. So we attempted to finish our meals but decided to take the rest of them to go for later. This was when jesse met Leo, the owner of the place. He asked where we were from and when we told him Canada he said well bring your wifey over here and have a drink with me, and by wifey well he was talking about me. So Leo gave us both a drink in the house and we then spent the next hour talking. This was the first time since we got here that I really felt welcome. We left the restaurant feeling really happy about coming to Geelong. So everyone should visit Rimini.

Xo

Out to dinner

Out for a dinner at Remini's Italian restaurant.

Obama wins!!!!

It seems that the world as we know it is going to change for the better! Just thought I'd say that the US presidential election even carries some meaning down here, lisa came to gather us today for the house viewing and she was just exstatic about Obama winning, she was basically as happy as a kid on christmas, calling people she knew to tell them the news. It was incredible really...congrats president Obama!

House viewing continued

Just incase things don't work out with this place. We were also given some other options on places we could go as we wait, which might be nice.
Jesse and I are just lying around right now relaxing, things are pretty slow.
Anyway we will keep you posted on the house situation.

Xoxo

House viewing today

So we looked at another place today, which was amazing! It was just newly renovated so everything is fresh and new. It's still located in the cbd which is great. It's a 2 bedroom unit, in an apartment complex (it's only 2 floors). It has air conditioning which is a huge plus since it gets incredibly hot here in the summer. The kitchen is huge, as well as the bathroom. However we are trying not to get our hopes up because the process takes awhile here, we had to go through a realistate agent, so they had to have our banking info as well as copies of our passports and then the landlord has to approve us, so basically we are anxiously awaiting a phone call from the agent. We aren't too sure in how long this process is supposed to take so we are a little bit edgy about it right now. But lisa ( our student support officer) seems to think we will definitely get the place, however we aren't getting our hopes up just yet because we are still going to look at some more places continue to next

Trivia night

This is evidence that Jesse did the limbo, and actually did very well. We have determined that he is more flexible backwards that forwards. I however am not blessed with that sort of flexibility, I was out in the first round. Darn haha

Edit

That was "the race that stops the nation". Not "the race that sips the nation"

Trivia night at the hostel

Last night was trivia night at the hostel, we decided we would go down and play for fun. It turned out to be a very rowdy excuse to drink, but was fun. Unfortunately for us yesterday was the Melbourne cup, which is as the barber who cut my hair put it "the race that sips the nation". Because of this, there were quite a few questions about horses and passed winners, of which a knew nothing. So we came last as the ignorant canadians, but it was still fun. Oh and we looked at a house yesterday aswell, it was really nice, but a little big and completely unfurnished. Today two more places to look at, hopefully we find something soon.

Jesse

Jesse in our hostel room at The Nash

Amy in our hostel room

The pier in Geelong

Getting our iPhones

We had gone into the store previously to get the phones, but they did not have any in stock. The guy said he would email us when they came in. Eventually he did, and he helped us get the phones, because we were international the credit check was going to be hard to pass, so he sort of coached us on the lies that we should tell him. Right before we were about to leave with the phones, he says "you guys make the best show". We had no idea what he was talking about, but then he said "Trailer Park Boys, me and me mates love it" or something to that effect. I found that quite entertaining.

Testing new method of posting

Seeingif this works better

House Viewing

So we got some exciting news today, we were sent a property listing for tomorrow. It's a 2 bedroom place right in the cbd( central business district) where we want to be living. We are getting pretty eager to move in somewhere we can call ours, but we will keep you posted.

Xo

Posted with LifeCast

New iPhones

We just got our new phones, in the interest of not having our phone numbers plastered on the Internet feel free to email either of us of you want Our numbers.



Geolocate this post

Posted with LifeCast

weather...

This is just a quick little note, Jesse and I think that we have brought the rainy weater to Australia, seeing as when we arrived they had their first thunderstorm with lightning in 2 years, and it's been raining ever since. What we were told was that Australia is a rather dry country and they are on water restrictions, but the weather so far has been very contradicting.

xo

Exploring Geelong

Well, we've been here for a few days, we've been down to the university and walked around most of the downtown area. We went to the pier at the waterfront and ate at what can only be described as a fake Irish pub. We're getting a bit sick of staying in this hostel and want to find an apartment so that we can start to get settled.

house hunting

So we went to meet a DUSA (Deakin University Student Association) rep today to figure something out for housing and things are starting to all fall into place. She is basically going to be looking for a place for us that suits our needs and then is going to take us around to them. So no place yet, but I think we are going to be going around next week. Also some exciting news...we have been told that when we get a cell or mobile we can receive international calls for free, which is awesome! We are back at the hostel today just relaxing and trying to get things all organized. We are going to head out soon to get some sandles for Jesse sinse the ones he was wearing looked like a dog tried to eat them. We are still trying to get used to the money here, $10 are blue and $5 red or pink so it's a little confusing looking into your wallet and thinking you are pulling out a $5 when it's $10. Also the $2 coins are about the size of a penny which makes you overlook them altogether.

That's all the news I can think of for right now, so until next time.

xo

First night in Geelong

Our first night is at a nice hostel in the middle of Geelong, no direct internet access, but there is a shared computer that we can use from time to time. We start apartment hunting tomorrow, we've decided to live in the city closer to all of the amenities rather than to be closer to Amy's campus that is a bit out in the country.

Long flight, it's thursday night here in Australia and I haven't slept (in a bed) since monday night. Yes, there is a 15 hour time change, but still I'm a bit tired. Off to bed shortly then I think

Jesse

one last flight

Boarding is about to start....talk to you when we get to Melbourne

xo

we are off to see the wizard...the wonderful wizard of OZ

WOW

Traveling is exhausting...but exciting as ever. We are currently in LA so 6:57pm here and 9:57pm your time. Our bags were all under weight contrary to what Jesse thought about mine, even if I did have to bring 2, or 3 depending on how you look at it. The flight from Toronto to Chicago went by very very fast, being that it was only an hour and a half. We saw some very cool overhead shots of the US and a lot of water, the farmland looks like a very large quilt. OHARE was huge and filled with enough people to populate Prescott. However we did find a nice little place to eat called Chili's where we met a nice couple going to Paris. Power stations were few and far between but we are still running on lots of power and charging. I feel a little like I am from a small town and have been living a semi sheltered life because I had no idea how to use the automatic seat covers however I did figure it out so don't worry Mom. The flight to LA was longish and very cramped, and it was only 3 and a half hours, I don't even want to think about how long the flight to Melbourne is going to be. Again we saw some very cool landscapes across the US lots of mountains. And that brings you up to speed with what we have been up to so far, we are waiting for the flight to Melbourne which leaves at 10 tonight LA time and so 1 your time.

Here are a couple of pictures incase anyone is feeling like you might forget what we look like :)

xoxo

waiting for the next flight to Melbourne (me right now)

on the flight from Chicago to LA
flight from Toronto to Chicago

Departure day is HERE

We are off...Chicago then LA and then AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!

xo love you all and I will miss you 

this time tomorrow

This time tomorrow we will be in the air and on our way to LA.  

I don't think I am going to get any sleep tonight..oh well 

ONE WEEK TODAY!!!

This time next week we will be on our way to the land down under!! YAY