Apartment Hunting

Woke up to another chilly morning, immediately reaching for my fleece pullover and a scarf. What did Mark Twain say? The coldest winter he ever spent was the summer he spent in San Francisco? Anyway, a few hours later I was getting fried by the crazy UV rays and wishing I had my flip flops. I'll figure it all out. Definitely need to get some giant Jackie O glasses to protect my face and eyes. Oh, also a "rashi"-- long sleeve sun protective shirt you wear swimming.

One of the girls with whom I'll be working, Kobi, drove me through the city of Melbourne today so that I could get familiar with it. People actually do live downtown here, so that is another option to the suburbs where I have been looking. Melbourne is very clean with nice trees and a good vibe, although I was hoping that every man would look like Jamie Durie and that is just NOT the case. Sigh... Anyway, it has been a zillion years since I lived in an active, walking, international downtown, so that may be a good option for me to try again. One of the parts of Melbourne is a re-developed area called the Docklands which seemed too touristy to me--like Baltimore Harbor or South Street Seaport in NYC.

Rents here are quoted by the week and everything that I seem to like is around $450 per week. You can't just call the realtor and make an appointment to view an apartment. Instead, there are "inspections" (open houses) that are scheduled for literally 15 minutes and after that the place generally gets rented. Supply and demand--more renters than there are apartments to let. another area I saw today and liked is South Yarra which is just south of downtown, abutting a giant, beautiful botanic garden. Will give more of a description when I've spent a bit more time in the area and know more. Anyway, one has to make oneself available during the allotted inspection time or you pretty much wont' get to see or rent the apartment. to make it more fun, the inspection times often overlap and realtors don't work on Sunday's here.

Fun Fact: In Australia, the world map doesn't feature North America at its center; imagine that! The USA is relegated to the far right-hand side of the map. Never the less, one can't go too far in Melbourne without finding a Target store, Subway sandwich shop or a McDonald's. Oy!