sf 2 oz

We finally got to unpack our eight huge suitcases and are starting to settle into our new place on the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo! We actually hauled A LOT of stuff over here…our closet and dressers are basically full. In retrospect, I think we both packed a few items that we could have left behind. For example, I somehow ended up with 20 pairs of shoes, yikes! Not quite sure how that happened. Well, at least we got all of our things over with just one $35 heavy bag fee from Qantas.

So, about the apartment. It’s a loft that has a living space, nice kitchen and bedroom as well as a ‘media room’ which serves great as a home office for Mike (plus it has a pull out couch and bathroom for guests J ) The Wharf is a pretty cool building - it was originally constructed in 1910 as the hub of commercial shipping activity for the region. It sat empty for a number of years until it was extensively renovated and revived in the late 1990s. It now houses a hotel, restaurants and residences (one of which is owned by Russell Crowe).

And, one of the three people we know in Sydney lives next door! What are the chances. Mike and I met him through Carla De Luca (who I know from H&K) and hung out with him while here in March. Anyway, it’s been nice to see a familiar face a few times.

After unpacking yesterday, we made our first trip to the grocery store in Potts Point called Woolworths. Things are pretty expensive here, especially packaged goods and some fruits and vegetables. For example, a tiny carton of strawberries was advertised a “great value” at $8 AUD each. I guess berries are out of season here, but still.. Let’s hope the exchange rate stays in our favor and that sale items abound!

On a side note, we learned a fun trick that has helped us remember how to spell Woolloomooloo: sheep’s toilet (wool + loo) and cow’s toilet (moo + loo).

I would classify our first four days Down Under as getting “back to the basics.” Figuring out things that we used to just have in the US like a place to live, a bank, a mobile provider, internet plan etc. It’s a bit humbling to start from scratch on all of these at once (while jet lagged), but we’re getting it sorted out day by day!

At the end of the week we’ll no longer be holed up in a hotel room (woohoo!). We’re moving into a furnished loft on the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo, which we’re pretty excited about. We only had to sign a 3 month lease, which gives us some flexibility if we decide to move to a different suburb (aka neighborhood) or want a place with a deck/outdoor space. The wharf is in the heart of the city, right by the Domain and Botanical Gardens -- great running turf for me -- and it’s a short walk to Potts Point which is filled with buzzing cafes and conveniences like the grocery store, dry cleaning, newsstands etc.

Signing up for a bank account was surprisingly easy -- we basically just needed our passports. We’re both looking forward to making EFTPOS purchases with our very own handy cards. Yes, that’s Australian for making debit purchases with ATM cards!

Given we don’t have a kitchen yet, we’ve had to do some eating out. Oh darn! We’ve been hitting up some BYO restaurants and have had some great Thai, Chinese and pizza. This morning we enjoyed breakfast at the renowned Sydney eatery called Bills, which was founded by celebrity chef Bill Granger. I’d heard a lot about this place and it did not disappoint - I had sweet corn fritters and Mike had the ricotta hot cakes. It’s probably a good thing that Bills is not close to Woolloomooloo…

Welcome to our blog, we just arrived in Sydney, so our posts may be limited until we get settled a bit.  The flight over wasn't bad at all, through dumb luck we ended up with an upgrade to premium economy with a bulkhead on Qantas.  The extra legroom plus an ambien made us forget all about the 13 month old next to us.

So far the biggest shock has been the weather.  It's fall here, so it's strange to see long shadows and leaves falling all around.  It's still warm though so it doesn't exactly feel like fall, mainly it's just confusing to us coming from Spring in SF.

We spent yesterday taking care of phones/internet and banking.  Turns out we should have done a bit more on the banking side before we arrived.  Looks like it could be a week or two before we're all setup.  In the meantime we're hoping for the exchange rate to move in our favor, it's been moving way too quickly against us in the last week. 

Today was apartment hunting day.  We saw a few promising ones that were furnished, so hopefully we can get an application approved by early next week.  Wish us luck.