Hells Bells, I've Moved to Melbs

Sorry for the lack of blog activity- after coming back from New Zealand (which feels like years ago now..!) I was on the job hunt. And it made me grumpy. As they say, finding a job is a full time job. Every morning I would get up early, make a cup of tea and sit on Lauren and Joshes couch emailing and calling constantly. 

 It has confirmed a few things:

1) I have issues with recruitment agencies. They lie. To your face, on the phone, on the internet. 

2) Having a working holiday visa is like a force field almost preventing you from getting a really good job. 

3) Due to the global economic crisis having an effect on everywhere in the world, but not as much in Australia, everyone has moved to Australia to get a job, therefore they are hard to come by because everyone else is looking for them. 

4) I have issues with recruitment agencies.

My first interview was a dud – I rocked up, all dressed to the nines and prepared to tell them why I would be amazing at a generic admin job only to discover it was an interview for a casting agency. The phone line was a bit crackly when they had called and I clearly missed the ‘casting agency’ description.

For $200 of my (scarce!) Australian dollars, they will put my photo on their website and I might get some work as an extra. For a day. Sometime in the next 6 months. 

If you didn’t laugh you’d cry. And at first I actually did when I left the building. Stood in a side street of Central Sydney with some builders sheepishly looking away.

[A similar occurrence happened a few years ago when I was looking for part time work - I got an interview for what I thought was stewarding at a museum in Manchester called Urbis. It was only halfway through the interview when they started asking me about restraining drunk and high people that I realised the position was for head of security. In my defence, nowhere in the job description was the word 'security' mentioned. Call a spade a spade guys, geez!

Still got a job as a steward anyway.. good times..] 

Anyway, so there I was, back on the couch, drinking gallons of tea (Earl Grey tastes like unemployment to me these days) and typing furiously, with the occasional trip to the local supermarket to reward myself with a mango. 

[If I haven't mentioned it yet, you need to know - mangos in this country are divine. I have eaten loads since I got here].

But of course, I took the occasional break from job hunting..

Mardi Gras

 For one thing, the weekend I returned from New Zealand was Mardi Gras weekend. Now my gay fiancé from Manchester was supposed to fly over for this occasion and we were going to dance the weekend away to Kylie, but unfortunately he is ridiculously talented and spent the weekend making a film in the UK instead. So I spent it with the lovely Katie and co.

 Now, Mardi Gras is pretty big in Sydney. One of the largest parades in the world.

And due to a month of torrential rain and very strong vodka punch, we missed the whole thing. Instead ended up chatting to the stragglers at the end and having a great night. I met sailors, queens and the usual Irish hanging around Sydney. Messy, but fun.

Mardi Gras Vodka Party..!

Parramatta Eels vs New Zealand Warriors

Monday Night Football (really rugby league Ozzys..): Parramatta Eels vs New Zealand Warriors. It was great to watch live sport, and the stadium is just down the road so we had a BBQ and wandered up. It was mullets galore as we approached the stadium..

Now, I lived in Parramatta, but I was just back from an amazing trip in New Zealand. So I had to play neutral. Much to the bafflement of the Eels fans, I cheered at everything. Sadly for the Eels, the Warriors won (GO NEW ZEALAND!).

Monday Night Football with Sim, Loz and me!

Crab Racing

Later that week I ventured out again (well, savings were there to be spent..!). Myself and fellow traveller, James wanted to check out Sydney on a Wednesday night. The options were: late night museum with foreign films and experimental music, or an album launch, hip hop night, pub quiz, open mic night… and we went for.. Crab Racing.

Yes, it exists. But not as you would think...

 We thought it would be an old man pub, some traditional old game that had been played for years. So when we rocked up and David Guetta was blasting out of the stereo with disco lights, we were a little surprised.

The compere wore a big foam crab claw and the warming up games included eating chocolate salty doughnuts (while they played ‘Chocolate Salty Balls’ in the background).

 The actual racing consists of placing a bet on a crab and being given a number. The crabs have their shells painted and numbered stickers stuck to them. They are released onto a round table and the first 4 to reach the edge go into the finals. The people who have bet on those 4 crabs have to complete a task, such as eating dry crackers and competing to be the first person to whistle.

We won a trip on a ‘party boat’ (reads: meat market booze cruise) around Darling Harbour. Suffice to say, we have not claimed our prize. Was a great laugh though..

Crab Racing in Glebe

 St Paddys Day

St Paddys Day was a few weekends later- my first one in the sun! I went to the races in Randwick in Sydney with the girls - we got dressed up to the nines!

Now, I loved spendin time with the girls, but there was something about the races that I didn’t really click with. Amidst the Irish punters (it was like the whole country was there) were there old dishevelled looking men, wearing shirts with Simpson prints on them and holding onto their gambling tickets for dear life – it felt like a theatre of lost dreams. And it was too cold to go outside to watch the horses run past.

 I got the opportunity to go into the members bar and while I enjoyed seeing my mate, it was full of pissed parents and confused looking children.

That said it was a fun, but I am not a gambler (I always bet on the horse/dog/crab who seems to be half dead) so won nothing.  

As the day wore on, we found ourselves back at a house party – Tor and Nip, you’d be proud, I had a huge group singing, ‘Always’ by Bon Jovi, along with other power ballads..!

Later in the night I ended up with half the county of Longford, singing ‘Dirty Old Town’ in Maloneys in Sydney with my friends Sean and Daphne. Great craic!

The Irish Parade and festival was the next day. There were some funny floats, but not enough representations of the Tayto crisp, and the Longford float consisted of 3 people, one of whom was in a wheelchair. We are looking into making our own float next year..

Myself and Katie at The Randwick Races

Hyde Park, St Paddys Festival

Daphne, St Paddys Festival - so cute!

Blue Mountains

Over the Easter weekend myself, (while I was going out of my mind waiting to hear if I’d got a job or not) Cat and Priya kindly invited me on a hike in The Blue Mountains. Priya, our tour guide had planned a 5 hour hike through the canyon and we went through the canyons, back up the hills, had a dip in a stream. Thanks to her perseverance we didn’t get lost in the forest in the dark. The weather was gorgeous, and we laughed like idiots all day. And sang.. (we even got a thank you from a fellow hiker for the entertainment value). Later in the evening, while waiting for our food, we discovered that hangman is great drinking game!

The Blue Mountains

Priya and Cat by the stream

 Other awesome nights: Tuesday night netball with Loz, Vietnamese Pho in Surrey Hills with Becs, a visit from Sara Mellor, nights out with the lovely Trudy in Sydney, tacos at El Loco, Pizza from Hotbox..

Myself and Smellor in Sydney!

Melbourne

In the midst of this activity and job hunting, as I was perusing Facebook, I got a message from Glen, who was one of my first house mates in Manchester (along with the wonderful Anita). He was coming to Melbourne on Sunday- was I about?  

Well, not sure if any of you ever look at a map of Australia, but Melbourne is 876km from Sydney. So I weighed up my options and availability (what with all that employment it was tricky to fit it in..) and booked myself a flight to Melbourne. At this point, I did work have work booked in so could afford it. Sadly that was cancelled while I was in Melbs..

However, I really enjoyed Melbourne. In the space of my 5 day break I explored so much and just really got a feel for the place. So I added it to my job search.

Two weeks later I finally got a job interview for a company called Business Icon. So I flew back for the interview. And then 2 weeks later, I flew back again to start the job…

Yarra River, Melbourne

Some would say Melbourne is Manchester by the Sea. Apparently it has a different culture scene to Sydney. It also has the very beautiful Great Ocean Road just south of the city. 

I could write another 50 pages explaining in detail my weekend in Melbourne, but instead I shall summarise it in the following point:

The Great Ocean Road with Glen and Sharon (another friend from Manchester):

Beautiful coastline, with jagged cliff edges, that lighthouse from 'Around The Twist', koala spotting in Koala Cove (where I was attacked by a colourful parrot), tasty burgers and Iced Coffee, laughing at the real meaning of 'Chunky Needham' (Glens nickname), big surf, graphic discussions and a really great day of catching up with my friend from home. 

Great Ocean Road

Lighthouse from 'Around The Twist'

Sharon and the friendly parrots..

Myself and Glen by a waterfall with an iced coffee..

Glen at Koala Cove

Koala!

Fantastic venues & Events:

Bar Berlin where you have to knock on the door and wait on the stairs - you are seated in the East or West. The West is all glamorous, the East has bunk beds to sit on, bathtubs for tables, and a rough wall with Charlie Chaplin playing Hitler projected onto it.

Section 8: A bar in a container where you sit on crates and is more or less outside. It was originally created temporarily in an old car park, but people liked it so it stayed. Great beers!

Cookies: A restaurant bar with small booths and a rooftop garden in the centre of the city, so at night it has beautiful views of all the city lights while you listen to Radiohead in the background and sip your beer.. They also do outdoor cinema when it's warm.

Madame Brussels: This bar is up a set of stairs that look like something from a council high rise building in Salford. However, you arrive and they have patches of grass in the bar and all the staff are dressed in tennis gear. Another great rooftop garden. Brilliant!

Laundrette – awesome live hip hop bar. Was proper down the front with my hands in the air watching AJ Mayhew, a lyricist from Swindon (yes, he rapped about all kinds of things, up to and including Carol Vorderman).

The Old Bar: Live music on the weekend

Cabinet: Wine bar in the CBD, great for a Saturday afternoon natter while watching the world go by.

Outdoor cinema in Abbortsford based in an old convent where I watched ‘Awake In Fright’, an old Australian psychological thriller. Didn’t find it all that thrilling to be honest, but it was pretty amazing sitting under the stars.. J

Dumplings Bitch:  There is a very busy little dumplings place down an alley in Chinatown which serve amazing food with woeful service. There is yelling, there is running, they try and grab your beer when you’ve not finished it yet.. they are never too sure of who has ordered what which led to us eating someone else’s dinner.. but it is brilliant, and although it’s not actually called ‘Dumplings Bitch’ (someone called it that on Facebook and it’s stuck) it is the only name I will ever call it.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival: My first week in Melbourne started with a medley of standup in St Kilda on Monday night, Glenn Woole on Friday night, David O’ Doherty on Saturday and finished with Simon Amstell on Sunday. Having never been to a comedy gig that wasn’t random stand up at the Frog & Bucket, it was a proper jump in the deep end. Loved it. Wanted to take David ‘O Doherty home and make him a cup of tea.

The Victoria State Library: My office while I was researching and preparing for my new job and then when I was looking for somewhere to live. The La Trobe Readng room has high ceilings, leather bound desks with green lamps and it’s just stunning. Definitely one of my top 5 places in Melbs so far!

Victoria State Library

The Quiet Man Pub: They make a Guinness and beef stew, which is served to you in a loaf of bread on a bed of mash. This isn’t folklore, it exists!

Beef and Guinness stew brew bowl on a bed of mash. Oh yes!

Bar Delux: Friendly bar with a whole world of beer in Federation Square. Like a non-chavtastic Printworks.

Markets in Melbourne: Victoria markets, South Melbourne Markets, craft, vintage, garage sale.. you name it, they’ve got it!

Funky street art - there is a lot of that in Melbourne

Other great things:

-        My new job – I am program coordinator. The job is great, my colleagues are great and I am excited about working with them!

-       The generosity of friends giving me a place to stay while I sorted myself out with somewhere to live. From St Kilda, to North Fitzroy and Northcote - If I can ever return the favour I will – Thank you! And ofcourse, I wouldn't still be in Oz if it weren't for Loz and Josh putting me up in their home - THANK YOU!

The Garage Sale Trail, Vietnamese Rice Paper roles, Greek food, coffee in Melbourne, new friends, Anzac Day with Sally (and my new local pub!), comedy nights with Clodagh and Kash, laughing with a flamboyant Irish man called David over white wine, pizza with Sharon.. so much in a short space of time!

Not so great: Staying at ‘Hotel Oslo’ in St Kilda when I had the job interview – stale smoke, bad service and bed bugs *shudder*.

Having to go to Ikea with an epic hangover (while screaming children ran past me) because my new room had no bed and I went to a house party the night before. Or ore to the point, trying to move heavy items of flat pack furniture on my own with headache from here to Tokyo.

Taking the tram in the wrong direction because you don’t know where you are going (…still working on that one).

The Ozzys don't mince their words..

But here I am and here I am staying. Well, actually I returned to Sydney last weekend for Cats 30^th. She had a champagne breakfast, a treasure hunt in the afternoon and a huge Brazilian meal in the evening – as per usual, we laughed all day and became very Northern when communicating with each other. I think at one point, we even said , ‘By ek!’, something no one in the North of England has said in about 20 years.  

30th Birthday Treasure hunt task - stranger with a hat in a phone booth

But Melbourne is cool. I've done loads already but there is so much more to do and I can't wait. I already have a number of gigs lined up to go to and have met some great people.

There have been a few ups and downs (thank you to those who have listened to me rant over the phone) – but you’ve just got to plough on. Everything happens for a reason and for whatever reason, I am in Melbourne!

Cool record store