Monday 23 July 2012

Well, Hello there!

It feels like only yesterday that I wrote a brief entry about being 3 weeks away from departure. And now we’ve been here for over 3 weeks. How time flies!

We’ve been getting involved in some different activities. I started a boot camp today with some new friends I made through the Brisbane Social Network, and it’s run by Carrie Bradshaw! Her company is called Sweat and the City, and I’m not joking, her name (once she gets married in a few weeks) is Carrie Bradshaw. It’s going to be good to get into shape and it’s great that I can spend time with new friends while doing it.

We also went out to the curling rink last week. I’m kicking myself now for not taking any pictures while we were there, but we’ll be back so I promise to take a few and post them for you. It was held in a figure skating arena, that they run the Zamboni over and then pebble using a garden hose.  They keep the curling rocks in a deep freezer, and when they bring them onto the ice, they put them on their sides so that they don’t stick to the ice. The rocks develop quite a layer of frost on them, and if you leave them on the running surface for too long, they will stick to the ice.  At home, we complain about the slightest imperfection in the ice, but here, you have the damage inflicted by toe picks and skate blades to contend with, and you can see when the rock runs over one of these. The ice is unbelievably heavy to begin but it does keen up after a little while. And it doesn’t curl all that much… At the end of the night, the rocks go back in the deep freeze until next week. We’re going to give it a shot, and see how we like it…

Lastly, I started taking tap dance lessons last week. At this point, my tap dancing abilities are basically limited to tap walking, but I am looking forward to learning more, and it’s definitely going to be a good workout for the legs!

I feel like my brain is playing tricks on me a little. We have been in our apartment for over a week now, and it’s been great to actually unpack our suitcases, and get settled in. However, I’m struggling a little with this notion of “getting settled”. The more settled we get, the more real everything becomes, and it starts to set in that this isn’t a trip or vacation, this is our new home. It’s really strange. As much as I want to settle in, I find myself resisting it a little because in my head, it confirms the fact that we’re staying. (Plus, I saw an ad on TV last night for a couch called the Baby Jasper, and it made me think of the pupperton.)

That being said, this is a pretty awesome place to be. It has been a little rainy over the past few weeks, which we’ve been told is unusual in the winter. But this is winter, and we’ve been wearing shorts, t-shirts and sandals! It feels similar to a Calgary autumn, with cooler nights, and a cool breeze offsetting the heat of the sun. I walked to boot camp this morning, and once you’re in the sun and moving, you warm up pretty fast.

We are loving our new apartment. It is right on the Brisbane River, with a green area and the river pathway right in our backyard. Jasper has been approved as a tenant, and this location is perfect for him.  It has lots of windows to capture the city breeze, plus a tile floor that will help it stay cool in the hot summers. We have three bedrooms each with their own balcony, plus a large living area, and a big patio overlooking the river. At this point we have rental furniture until our sea container arrives, but we’ve purchased some new patio furniture, a BBQ and some patio plants to make it feel more like home. You really can’t beat enjoying a beer on the patio, looking at the river, and watching the CityCat (public transit catamaran) go by. Sigh. You’ll have to come and see for yourself!

Our internet gets hooked up tomorrow, so be prepared for a lot of pictures on the blog! Plus, we’re hoping to take some road trips on the upcoming weekends and our first stop will be the ocean so watch this space!

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