Househunting

We’ve been in Australia for two days now and we’re busy ploughing through a list of essential jobs like hooking up to the internet (achieved already!), getting Sim cards for our phone, and checking that the water does go down the plughole in the opposite direction.

As a matter of interest, could someone run a bath and check that out for me? This is our third visit to Australia and the third time I’ve checked it without first finding out which way it goes down in the UK, which is a pointless exercise. For the record, it’s clockwise here.

Yesterday we met Jo and Gordon (Gordon is the Doc vacating the post at the hospital and reluctantly flying back home to the UK). They are living in a great house which has unfortunately been sold, so we can’t take over the tenancy. Had brekkie at their house and then Jo accompanied us on a very jetlagged tour of three rental properties that were “open for inspection”; two flats and a house. All of them were dirty and the house had a dead three-inch cockroach in the middle of the floor which didn’t seem to bother anyone but me (and certainly not Ella, who crunched her foot on it). Apparently that’s NFS (normal for Sydney) and not a worrying sign at all. I asked Jo whether she’s had much trouble with spiders, “No”, she replied, “but we did once wake up with one of those big cockroaches crawling across our faces, which wasn’t great”.

You’re not kidding.

We have applied for the house because you have to show willing, but there’s no way I’m renting a house with floorboards given this new information, and certainly not one with an outside laundry.

Our final job yesterday was to buy Ella some new toys at Toys R Us (in the "Supa Centa" at Moore Park...why must the Aussie do this with the language?). It was a tiny version of the one at home but we managed to get her some new things. She thinks it's Christmas all over again and has been busy bathing her dolly on the balcony (and tipping all the water out).