Toronto to Melbourne: Toronto to Melbourne 2.0: Ending and Beginning Again

I wanted to begin this blog with a bit of an update. It’s been nearly three months now (!!) since Dave and I touched down in Melbourne after a month-long journey across Europe. We begin this journey together, nearly a year ago, booking plane tickets and sourcing Airbnbs from half a world away.

Unfortunately, most grand adventures don’t usually go as planned, as was the case for us. Dave and I make the difficult decision to split last month, and to continue our Australian journey as just friends. We are on good terms still, and I wish him nothing but the best. It was a hard decision, but ultimately the right one, and I’m excited to continue my Australian adventure solo: Toronto to Melbourne 2.0 we can call it.

I’ve since moved into a sharehouse in Toorak with some fantastic people (+ 1 cat). I love everything about Toorak: it’s a beautiful eastern suburb just south of the Yarra River, steps away from Chapel Street, nearby St. Kilda (a traveler’s paradise) and upscale South Yarra (with its endless shopping streets and cafes).

I spent this past Sunday walking through South Yarra with my friend, Amy: together, we enjoyed the mild Melbourne spring as we pushed our bikes amongst the lazy weekend crowds. On impulse, Amy and I decided to stop into a cozy pub that advertised live music all afternoon. For an hour we lounged on couches and sang along to acoustic covers over ciders and snacks.

More and more that’s what Melbourne is beginning to represent to me: weekend brunch on sprawling outdoor patios; poached eggs and avo on sourdough toast; sipping a flat white on Chapel Street before an afternoon spent lounging on St. Kilda beach; kicking around a soccer ball when the hot Australian sun finally dips below the horizon and the air begins to cool.

I’m lucky to have met a good group of people here: already we’ve spent lots of time dancing together to Wagon Wheel, trading rounds of pints after work, and playing card games as the night carries on around us: a muted and dim backdrop to our wild, ever-laughing crowd. It’s becoming increasingly rare for me to find myself without anything to do each night of the week. Between regular Tuesday night pints, Wednesday evening pub trivia and Thursday night futsal games, I’m living moment to moment, bouncing between all Melbourne has to offer, and loving every second of it.

I’ve also been lucky enough to land a full time job in Melbourne. As of last week, I joined a small digital marketing agency, located in South Wharf that focuses on serving the digital content creation and management needs of a wide variety of clients. I’ve joined in a digital content creator role, and I am enjoying the chance to refresh and improve my skills, since leaving my last full time gig in Toronto.

As we transition into December and fully-fledged Summer, down in the southern hemisphere, I’m feeling more and more settled in Melbourne. Job? Check. Apartment? Check. Great friends? Check. My family is coming for a visit soon, two weeks from today, and I’m so excited to show them my new home, and all the wonders of Melbourne and beyond.

Here are some photos that capture the past couple of week. Going forward I’m going to try to take more (for real this time!), and hopefully update the blog more regularly, as I continue to explore and immerse myself in each opportunity as it comes.

Until then,

Heather