Moving Day

Once again the civil war that is raging inside of Australia's labour party has come to a head as Kevin Rudd makes another challenge for the leadership from Julia Gillard.  Although the leadership challenge is all they can talk about on the news, I have far more important news in my life to consider.  After 3 months of waiting, the settlement on our house has finally arrived and we are now home owners, living in Bundoora. 

Our House

I was unable to get any time off from work and so the move was a gradual process, Barnadi doing several runs during the day with me taking over at night.  With a little help from our friends we had almost everything moved by the end of Saturday so that on Sunday we hired a van (with two men) to shift all the larger pieces of furniture that we couldn't manage on our own.  It didn't take Barnadi long to make the house more homely with the living room quickly being decorated in his usual style.  It has been strange opening up boxes that had been in our garage since we first got to Australia, and seeing possessions we hadn't seen since we left Bath over a year and a half ago, a lot of pictures we couldn't hang while renting amongst many other things.  Still it seems we are nearly at an end to our unpacking with just a few boxes left to go currently stored out of sight in the spare bed rooms. 

There are so many differences with living in Bundoora over Northcote, but perhaps the most obvious change is how much colder it is in Bundoora, one of our first purchases being a portable heater for our bedroom.  As we no longer have a garage we have even had to de-ice our car in the mornings, a job I haven't had to do since leaving England.  Other differences include the length of time it takes me to get to work (much longer) and for Barnadi to get to work (much shorter), the noise (we are no longer on a busy main road), having a garden (not just a small balcony), no stairs (single storey house Vs 3 storey townhouse) and a truly suburban lifestyle (there are no trendy bars or cafes in Bundoora).

So the ballot is back and Kevin Rudd has won the leadership of the labour party and with it he has returned as Prime Minister of Australia.  Julia Gillard, if true to her word, will now resign from politics.  So with an election just around the corner, will this be enough to save the Labour party and prevent Tony Abbot getting into power, or will this continuing farce that has burdened the government have caused irreparable damage, that even Kevin Rudd can not fix.

The Light in Winter

In celebration of the winter solstice Federation square holds an annual series of events during the month of June.  The centrepiece this year is the Helix tree, a twister pillar of lights that respond directly to sound.  Every evening at around 5:30pm a local choir turn up and sing to the tree which starts to glow blue to the gentle sounds of their voices.  As the choir reaches a crescendo the lights change colour from blue to green through a pale pink to a vibrant yellow and red combination.  Once the choir has finished, the floor is opened up to the public to make as much noise as possible as to illicit a response from the tree.  Back in the northern hemisphere, midwinter is celebrated with Christmas and the streets come alive with lights and decorations, but here in the southern hemisphere we have nothing to break the monotony of the long dark nights.  The Light in Winter at least provides us with something to enjoy.

The Helix Tree

My Mother has started phoning me, regular as clockwork every Sunday night.  It started just after we got back from the UK in March and she hasn't missed a week.  I think it may be linked to the little dig we had at her about getting a computer so that we could skype.  Now my Mother is such a technophobe, there is no chance she will ever invest in a computer, so her regular phone calls act as an attempt to meet us halfway.  To be fair to her this is a big deal, as my Mother's technophobia is not limited to computers, she rarely calls anyone for fear of disturbing them and never answers the phone since she acquired an answering machine to screen all her calls.  I can understand the need for call screening, (we got a land line when we signed up to our Internet deal with Telstra and despite receiving a minimum of 3 calls a day on it, every single one of them is a salesman), but it makes it frustrating when trying to contact her.

It is really not long until we move now, and a letter from our lawyers confirming the settlement is booked and giving us our final invoice. In an attempt to explore the area more as well as work out the most practical commuter route, I did a timed walk from the house to Watsonia train station. It turns out google maps is correct and it took approximately 20 minutes. This means that the tram is still the better option, even though it is slower, it is much closer and cheaper (only need a zone 1 ticket, not a zone 1,2 ticket).  Watsonia itself is not a large suburb, but it has a certain charm, it's main shopping street, Watsonia road, runs opposite the train station with a library on the corner and views of the Yarra ranges in the distance. 

Tomorrow is the Queens official birthday and so once again we are getting a public holiday to celebrate that fact, no wonder no-one wanted to become a republic at the last referendum.  But rather than enjoying a nice relaxed three day weekend I have ended up working 2 extra weekend shifts (one in Epping and one at the Alfred) leaving me with a single day weekend instead.  Luckily work was not to busy, but still I had one frightening moment when answering the phone to another expat pharmacist whose response was...."wow, your really starting to sound Australian now..."

In the bleak mid-winter

I have been trying to remember the feelings of excitement and trepidation I had while preparing for our move to Australia over a year and a half ago.  Those days seem so far away now, and it is incredible how quickly the spirit of adventure is quashed by the day to day drudgery of everyday life.  Yet our adventures are far from over, with less than a month to go now until our next big shake up as we move to our new house in Bundoora.  The long 3 month wait until settlement, although useful in allowing us to save up enough money to cover our stamp duty and conveyancing fees, has caused fatigue to set in.  What should be filling me with even more joy is that once we have our own house we can seriously start looking for a pet (or two).  Barnadi has now decided exactly what type of dog he wants, specifically a brown and white collie, I however will be happy with just a cat, any cat.
Yet despite all this I have been having trouble shaking the melancholy that has been overshadowing my life since our last trip back to the UK.

Winter has officially begun in Australia, heralded in by a massive storm that brought a months worth of rain to the state of Victoria within the course of a single night.  Sitting at home with the lights off, listening to the power of the rain crashing down on the tin roof and the thunder rattling the windows, feeling invigorated by the awesome power of nature I realised it was a time for change.  A change of attitude to go with the change in seasons.  Unfortunately such changes are easier said than done.