One Week In
This time last week Cat and I touched down in Sydney after leaving Heathrow late on Saturday night. It was a long trip but, thankfully, we both managed to sleep to varying degrees on the plane. Whilst not unusual for Cat the fact that I got sleep was pretty impressive as up until now I was always unable to get any sleep meaning a rather grouchy and tired me on the other end. This time around this didn’t happen and meant we were both able to stay up till 10pm ish in Sydney reducing the effect of jet lag on us both.
We were meant to be in Sydney for all of Tuesday finding some place nice to eat and enjoy Valentines together. However we decided early in the morning that we both wanted to get on and get to Canberra. We had, on Monday, already seen two of Sydney’s landmarks and figured being only three hours or so away could go back there once we get settled in Canberra. We cancelled our original hire and got a different car for the journey South which, while long, was devoid of any major traffic issues once we got out of Sydney. Amusingly though there were some road works which reminded us both of the constant road works on the M4. We made good time and arrived in Canberra early afternoon which gave us time to settle in.
In the week we’ve been here things have been pretty hectic but in a good way. We’ve sorted our banks, phones, tax file number, medicare, my bicycle, started house hunting, joined the library system and even bought a car! There’s still plenty to do as we’ve yet to seal a place to rent yet and the car needs to be fully transferred in to Cat’s name (which may include getting an Australian license). All-in-all though I’d say we’ve had a pretty productive week and looking back on it am really impressed by how much we’ve managed to get done in such a short space of time. I’ve even managed to get an interview arranged for the coming week so fingers crossed it’ll go well.
One thing that’s struck me though since we moved here is how beautiful Canberra is. We researched it a lot before applying and felt it was would be a great place to live but as neither of us had been here it was a gamble. However after finally getting here I know we’ve made the right decision. Canberra is surrounded by rolling hillside which, from certain points, give you a fantastic view and it’s simply gorgeous. There’s so many wide open places within the city you almost forget you’re living in one. The lakes are wonderful and the cycle routes go almost everywhere and around everything. It’s early days I know but I just have this feeling we’re both going to love living and having a family here. I can’t wait to get some photos up for family to see where we’ve ended up and equally can’t wait for friends & family to visit.
