Half Moon Bay, Victoria

On Saturday, Dave and I took advantage of the sunny weather and ventured down the western coast of Port Phillip Bay to Half Moon Beach and the famous Red Bluff Cliffs for a short hike and picnic lunch. The views were spectacular and well worth the 30 minute metro ride outside the city. Here are some of my favourite photos from the afternoon:

True to our word, Dave and I have started charting travel plans for the next couple months. In mid-October we will spend a weekend glamping on Phillip Island, where we will bare witness to the famous penguin parade. In early-November we're planning a trip to Mornington Peninsula: a land of sweeping coastal views and natural hot springs. And then, a couple weeks later we're hoping to squeeze in a trip down to Hobart, Tasmania for the chance to reconnect with nature, before our families come to visit in December for a holiday celebration of epic proportions. 

Cheers,

Heather

Settling into Melbourne

As promised, another update and more apartment photos!

The past few days have been super busy as we moved into our new place and got everything settled. For a while there is felt like the list of things we needed to buy and arrange was endless: from ordering a utilities and Internet hook up, to tracking down a fridge for the place (apartments in Australia don't come with fridges, who knew), to stocking the cupboard with enough snacks to satisfy Dave's snacking needs. But as of yesterday, after setting up Dave's new TV and installing the fridge, all the major "to-do's" were finally complete!

Here are some more photos to show off the space:

The living room and dining area featuring the photos wall I put together of some of our favourite shots from Europe.

The photo wall from another angle —  I think it really warms up the space!

My favourite part: the kitchen! Featuring our brand new fridge (yes, we are officially fridge owners).

The bathroom includes a newly renovated shower...

...More of the bathroom.

The bedroom... this space still needs a bit more sprucing.

Now that we are settled in, Dave and I are going to make exploring Melbourne and its surrounding area a priority. Some of the must-do's already on the list, include:

• Mornington Peninsula
• Phillip Island 
• Dandenong Ranges National Park
• Great Ocean Road
• Yarra Valley Wineries 

So, as I sink back into my role as trip planner, life in Melbourne stretches out before us in a familiar fashion. Dave and I spend most days working. Sometimes at home, but mostly Dave will head to the library and I'll post up in a coffee shop for a few hours. Later I'll cook dinner, and we'll relax in front of the TV (Brooklyn Nine-Nine is our current binge-watching show of choice). Sometimes, when the eastern time zone awakes, another burst of work that will keep us up until after midnight.

All you Toronto sports fans will be glad to know we're still following the Jays as they enter the final stretch of the regular season. Usually in the mornings over breakfast Dave will give me the inning-by-inning updates and we'll roll our eyes as Dickey lets another win slip away. More locally, the Geelong Cats have become our AFL team of choice, and they are currently prepping for a preliminary final match up against the Sydney Swans this Friday. We'll head to the pub Friday night to catch the game with the rest of the city (the entire vicinity of Melbourne seems to shut down when AFL is on).

It's finally started to warm in in this part of the world—with temperatures poised to reach the low-20's any day now. I can't wait for when it's warm enough for us to trade in our jackets for bathing suits and finally dip our toes in the nearby ocean. I'll have to remember these early-cool days when we're melting in the Aussie heat come Christmas time.

This was a fairly boring update, all to say that we've settled into Melbourne well, and are ready to start adventuring beyond. Dave officially lifted his imposed "travel band" yesterday, which means we can start to ask ourselves, "what's next..."

Until then,
Heather

Week Two: Moving into our Melbourne Apartment

Our second week in Melbourne was a whirlwind of errands, shopping, and paperwork, as we applied for a spacious 1-bedroom apartment in the suburb of Parkville, and got the good news on Wednesday that our application had been accepted! After two weeks of living in a cramped Airbnb space, I was over the moon to begin the process of moving into somewhere more permanent. The apartment was a lease-break, which meant the previous tenant was looking to vacate the space immediately (and all things considered that fit into my timeline quite well) and we were able to officially sign the lease less than 48 hours later.

Because he was caught up with work (and insisted he didn't care what the place looked like, anyway) Dave didn't even glimpse the apartment until it was time to move in. I have to admit I was more than a  little nervous when I finally did show him the space, but my manic dash to close the deal paid off because he loves it (and of course I do too!)

The apartment is located on the first floor, down a quiet side street with a sizable front patio with a built-in gate. I suspect we will get a lot of use out of the outdoor space when (if???) the weather finally turns to summer. After crossing the patio you enter the apartment through a large, glass sliding door that gives way to a generously sized living and dining room space, with a modern kitchenette running along the opposite wall.

The small hallway that follows leads to a bathroom on the left, and a closet with laundry on the right, before leading to the bedroom located at the back of the apartment, with a built-in full sized wardrobe with a mirrored front, and a small window on the right side to let in some natural light.

(Can you tell I've been reading a lot of real estate ads?)

Anyway, enough of me trying to describe it to you. Here are some pictures of the space:

The bedroom, featuring fun lights from IKEA and our souvenir stuffed bear from Switzerland

The kitchen, while small, has ample counter space plus a gas stove and a dishwasher. Note: the backsplash is a mirror, in case you're trying to work out the angles.

The main living and dining space. Not pictured: The TV Dave insists he's going to buy.

Okay so I admit these are not the best photos, but the space isn't fully set up, and I'm trying to stay motivated to organize and decorate to make the apartment feel more homey. For those who had the chance to see our old place in Toronto, I can assure you this apartment is much bigger. Plus the bedroom has a real door! Anyway, more pictures are coming (I promise) but let me do my nesting thing first, before I show it off any more.

As I mentioned, this week was full of shopping trips to get the apartment equipped with all the things we need to live. We did rent the space furnished which alleviated the need to make any major purchases, but bedding, towels, shelving, and some basic appliances were all required. We actually made two separate trips to IKEA, to get everything we needed (and had to cab back the second time because of the sheer volume of stuff that had to be transported).

Happy girl posing with our extremely full cart at IKEA!

Of course, what follows a trip to IKEA? Hours spent assembling furniture...

It turns out, Dave and I are compatible IKEA-furniture-builders and both read the directions as more of a "suggestion"!

As of Monday evening all of our new furniture is built, and most of our things are moved (just one more load to go, which we plan to tackle tomorrow!) It's a bit of a pain, because we won't have Internet hooked up at the new place until Wednesday, but that's to be expected. Dave has promised me that once the Internet is hooked up a TV will be purchased, which will either make the space better, or make me wish I never agreed to it in the first place.

Tonight I christened the kitchen by making some homemade butternut squash soup. Even if it's technically spring in Australia, my Canadian-roots are in flat out fall mode and won't be denied my usual fall favourites.

Cooking the first meal in the new apartment

After dinner, our new neighbour showed up to say hello...

I opened the door to give this fellow a few pats and Dave watched me very carefully, claiming: "I know how Cosentinos usually acquire pets..."

Alas, we remain pet-less in Australia. But at least we're no longer homeless, I'll call that a win.

As an aside, I'm sorry for the long delay between blog updates. It's been a bit manic on this end as we've tried to settle in and get organized. I expect the frequency of the blog posts to speed up in the coming weeks as we fall back into the routine of regular life.

Until then,
Heather

Our first week in Melbourne

Come Away by Sons of the East:

Come away with me, baby;

Join me in my car;

 We can go real far away;

Away, from here.

Before we left Toronto at the end of August, one of my co-workers pulled me into her office and told me about this band she knew, Sons of the East, that she was completely obsessed with. She told me they were from Australia, had never toured in Canada, but if I had the chance to see them in Melbourne, I should. Well, Hilary, our tickets have been purchased. On October 13th Dave and I will see Sons of the East at the Gasometer Hotel in Melbourne, and I'll be sure to send you photos from the gig.

All that aside, from the moment we touched down in Melbourne, Dave and I were determined not to be tourists. This isn't something we talked about openly, or actively worked against: it was more of an unspoken agreement that this is our home now, and we will treat it as such. Maybe because of this, our first week in Melbourne was not the Australian vacation we'd been dreaming about for months. We have not attempted to surf, we have not seen any kangaroos, nor have we been privy to the famous Australian heat. To be honest, if it wasn't for cars driving on the opposite side of the road, and the occasional "How ya going?" posed our way, it would be easy to mistake Melbourne for Vancouver, if not Toronto.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that Dave and I slept the first 20 of 24 hours we were here. The month-long journey through Europe, coupled with the 40-hour journey from Norway to London, Singapore and eventually Melbourne proved to be too much for our bodies. Our flight landed at 10:00 am (local time) on Saturday, September 3rd and we were asleep in out Airbnb a few hours later. We awoke briefly Saturday night for dinner, and then retreated back to bed for most of Sunday. Jetlag: 1, Heather and Dave: 0.

Having said that, we did eventually manage to rouse ourselves enough to explore our new city. Here are some of my initial observations from our first week in Melbourne:

1. They are OBSESSED with a sport they call "footy" aka Australian Rules Football. This seems to be an Australia-only sport, that really only gained traction outside of the province of Victoria in the past few years. It's essentially a mix of soccer and rugby, played on a massive round field by two teams of 18 players each. It turns out Dave and I arrived in Melbourne just in time for the Grand Finals ("playoffs"), which are one of the most attended sporting events in the world. Really, I looked it up. 
2. Melbourne is known for it's coffee culture. Recently, it was even been voted as having the best coffee in the world. This is all great for a coffee lover like myself, but one hiccup in this extra-hipster-ish-approach-to-caffeine is it's impossible to buy a simply drip coffee anywhere in the city. Dave spent a lot of time this week looking up the differences between a flat white, long black, americano, etc. just to perfect his ordering in light of this.
3. Melbourne's transit system is leagues ahead of Toronto's. They recently introduced Myki across all transit platforms (similar to the GTA's Presto payment system) and as someone new to the city, it has made getting around a million times easier. The way Myki works is you buy the card for $6 and then you load money onto your card, enough for single fares or to purchase a weekly, monthly, or annual transit pass. One your pass is loaded you "touch on" and "touch off" each time you ride the metro, tram, or bus. Advantages of this system: There is a $7.80 cap per day, which means if you're paying in cash, after two journeys on the transit system you essentially gain unlimited access. Melbourne also introduced a "free tram zone" in the CBD (downtown core) which allows passengers traveling within the CBD on a tram, to do so for free.
4. McDonald's is branded as Macca's in Australia. Weird, right?
5. Possums are everywhere. Picture this: it's your first night out in Melbourne, you're walking through the quiet suburbs just outside the CBD, when you look up and notice that EVERY SINGLE TREE is filled with ugly, cat-like creatures. This was Dave and I's first introduction to Australian wildlife, which, to be fair we were warned about. I can honestly say that in a week in Melbourne I've now seen more possums than raccoons in my lifetime. They are really that present. So far we've had no threatening encounters with any of these creatures, and my gut tells me they're quiet tame since they're left to roam about the suburbs, but I will keep you posted.

Otherwise, our first week was spent filled with the typical elements of day-today-day life, plus a few extra errands to help us settle in. We activated our cell phones on Australia's network. We opened bank accounts and transferred money from Canada (thanks Sue for helping with that!). We started apartment hunting, and already have a couple good leads.

Probably no surprise to some, it turns out wherever you are in the world life goes on. Wake up, eat breakfast, go downtown, work, go back home, eat dinner, sleep, and then wake up and do it all over again. Of course, we have all of Australian and Oceania at our finger tips to explore. And we will. 

But Dave's requested no more trips, at least for a little while. I'm giving it a month.

Cheers,

Heather

Europe Top Ten

So, we finally made it to the land of Oz.

After more than 40 hours of travel, three flights and 14 hours in layovers in Heathrow and Changi respectively, we arrived at our Airbnb in an inner-east suburb of Melbourne at 11:00 am local time on Saturday and slept for 20 of the 24 hours to follow.

This was much needed, given the enormous amount of travel Dave and I took on, not only in the last few days, but throughout the entire month of August. Since leaving Toronto on August 1st Dave and I did not sleep in the same place for more than two consecutive nights. We lived out of backpacks, wore clothes that were closer to dirty than clean, and barely enjoyed any home cooked meals.

And it was fabulous.

Not every second, mind you. There was a lot of suck in between the spectacular views, foreign dining and touring of world class cities. But for the most part, we made it through in one piece. I also want to add that I'm rather proud of us for not getting off track at any point: we never missed a flight, train, bus or otherwise. All of our accommodation bookings were spot on. No lost passports, or stolen currencies or cell phones. I'll take it as a win.

After awaking from our marathon slumber this morning in Melbourne, we took to the city for the usual "I just moved to this continent with barely any possessions" chores. We activated cell phone on Australia's cell network. Shopped for shampoo, dish soap, and other incidentals. We tackled Melbourne's transit system, bought ourselves a pair of Myki cards, and road the train into the CBD.

During all this, I had some time to reflect on our month spent in Europe, and I was able to narrow down our experiences to the following top ten list. This by know mean captures all of our experience, but these are some moments that stand out. 

10. Stavanger, Norway 

We stopped in Stavanger for one night, as part of our drive to Pulpit Rock in Norway. Although our visit was brief, this little city stole my heart. We sat on the pier as the sun set behind a row of wooded houses lining the docks. The North Sea was still beneath the sky as the stars began to reveal themselves above (just tiny dots, washed out by the city lights). On a pub patio nearby, a guitarist played a cover of Piano Man by Billy Joel and the entire crowd sang along.

9. Frequency Festival

Sofie and I had a blast at Frequency Festival, just outside of Vienna, as part of my birthday celebration. It was so much fun to dance around and soak up the sunshine with my best friend (reunited!) To top it all off, Chris Emray and the Antics serenaded me with a round of "Happy Birthday" from the stage as part of their set.

8. Canyoning in Salzburg, Austria 

Talk about a wet and wild time. Sofie. Dave and I didn't know when we were in for when we slide into our wet suites and followed our guide into the wilderness just west of Saltzburg in Austria (and it was probably better that way!) A day spent repelling down waterfalls and along rock walls is one I don't expect to forget anytime soon.

7. Gondola's to the top of Breuil-Cervina, Italy

Although the ride to the top may have instilled a permanent fear of gondolas in me, the view from the top of Plateau Rosa in Breuil-Cervina, Italy was worth every heart-stopping second.

6. Chinesischer Turm Beergarden, Munich

The beer gardens in Munich, Germany really are everywhere. But the Chinesischer Turm in the English Gardens was my favourite by far, because of the sprawling green picnic tables and relaxed park setting. Bonus points: Munich was the location of my best friend reunion with Christina and Sofie — we could have spent all weekend in a McDonalds and it still would have been a highlight due to the company alone!

5. Hiking Grande Chenalette, Switzerland

The hike up Grande Chenalette to the Swiss-Italian border in the sky is a memory I'll hold onto for a long time: The panoramic view of the Swiss Alps, coupled with the terrified look on Dave's face as he ascended the metal ladders on the way up, made the two hour hike up more than worth it.

4. Neuswenstein Castle, Germany

While standing on a narrow wooded bridge overlooking Neuswenstein Castle in rural Germany, it's not hard to believe that this piece of history inspired the infamous Sleeping Beauty castle, as depicted by Disney.

3. Prague, Czech Republic

Our trip to Prague was not planned, which, all things told, made me love the city even more. As one of the only European cities left untouched during the bombings of the second world war, it felt like everywhere we turned there was a little piece of history. From the Charles Bridge to the Astronomical Clock and the Prague Zoo, I loved every bit of the city we explored.

2. Flåm and the tour of the Fjords, Norway

It turns our, by boat is the only way to really see Norway's fjords. The epic green landscape and narrow rock valleys were home to ancient viking kings, thousands of years ago. As our guide ferried us through narrow passages and under fresh water waterfalls I felt like I'd stepped back in time, or maybe sideways, to a fantasy land populated by trolls and dragons.

1. Hike to Pulpit Rock, Norway

That's right, Norway steals the show with #1 and #2 on my personal top ten list. The hike to Pulpit Rock may have been overcrowded with tourists, but when you reach the summit you understand why. The surrounding view is incomparable, and the natural rock formation is beautiful in a totally unique way. Geologist say one day Pulpit Rock will fall: get there and see it before this happens.