Our apartment!

May and I spent our Friday afternoon moving into the apartment we rented right at the border of the business central district. It was very close to CBD (5 minutes walk) and 20 minutes walk to the hospital. It was not too small, very clean and tidy. The 2 bedroom, 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom apartment was on the 9th floor so it had splended view from the balcony.



This is the view in the late afternoon. And this is the night view.

Saturday

We welcomed Jeff to Melbourne by a tour around the city. This is us waiting at the elevators.

First we went around the city on a free tourist city shuttle with commentary. And then we walked zig zagged through the city. We took a look inside the immigration museum. I learnt that Melbourne was an escape nation of many European countries (Italians, British, Germans, Polish, etc) and Asians countries during the 19th century and during war time. That was why the city is very much so multi-racial.

There were several gothic and Victorian styled buildings, well perserved in the city. One of which is the ANZ gothic bank which is still operating. I should try to go inside when it's open during officehours.
In the city main streets, there were horses with carriages waiting for eager tourists (we weren't that eager). And we spotted "Three Business Men" brass statues. May and I tried to imitate his face and had lots of fun looking stupid posing for the photos.

There were also buskers, one of which is a lovely white lady moving slowly but very elegantly. She even battered her eyelids slowly! She was much more skillful than those I see in NZ. In front of AFL, there was a giant man with squeeshy sponge-filled legs.. haha.. I squeezed them and he wasnt too please.. haha. I cooked the first dinner for my new flatmates. It was rather nice - Spaghetti Bolognese with sprials.

On Sunday night, I cooked a Chinese meal. The rice was soft like congee - still eatable right?

Last Thursday

It was a beautiful day on Thursday, so May and I ended our afternoons early in the hospital and visited one of the nearby garden: Fitzroy Garden.
All the water fountains were not running due to the water restrictions in place, but they were a few interesting things to look at. Such as a beautiful bridge over a small pond, a model Tudor Village which is a gift from England to Melbourne after WWII for food supply during shortage, and a few cottages.



May had great anticipation to visit Captain Cook's cottage in this garden. When we found one sitting nicely by a row of tall trees, we assumed that was it and took quite a few photographs. However, we laughed at ourselves after finding the real Cook's cottage 100metres away, and realised we had mistaken the gardener's house/office for a historical significant structure.