24 Hours in Melbourne

Thankfully things are a lot better today.  This morning Sharon's friend Tim picked me up and took me to the local swimming pool.  It's about 15 min away by foot and I think it has a masters swim group and a triathlon group which I'll be looking into possibly joining.  It's a year round 50 m outdoor pool and it was very nice.  My swimming on the other hand isn't so nice as I'm totally out of shape.  No worry though that will come.

I walked home from the pool and on the way I got lost.  I wasn't lost long enough to cause panic and eventually I arrived home safely.  Once home a good family friend (who happens to be in Perth right now) called and we chatted for a bit.  She's like a mom to me so it was really nice to hear from her.  Unfortunately she heads back to Canada tomorrow so I won't have a chance to see her while she's here this time.  She'll be back though.

An hour or so later Tim came by and we headed via tram 112 to the city (we'd call it downtown but I'm in Melbourne now so I'm going to call it what it's called here).  I found my HSBC and withdrew some money with no trouble. We then went over to my new Australian bank to open an account.  Things were going smoothly until I remembered I forgot my passport at home.  So while the paper work was some what filled out no bank account could be opened until tomorrow when I return with my passport.  

From the bank I headed to look at mobile phone companies. I decided on one and went to buy my new phone.  I couldn't get the phone today though because they were having trouble with their system.  Tomorrow I'll be heading back to the city to finish up these two items of business.

We then took the tram back up to my new home and jumped into Tim's car to check out some bike shops.  There are two relatively close to where I live and after test riding three bikes I purchased one.  It should be ready tomorrow for pick up.  I bought a lower level road bike.  I figure I want a bike I commute on, but I still want to be able to possibly do a triathlon or two.  I think this bike will meet both needs.  I  see it as a throw away bike when I'm done so I didn't want to put too much money into it.  I managed to keep it under my budget (so far, I still need a helmet and a good lock) so I'm happy with that.  This bike will be my car for the year.

When I returned home I had some phone messages on my machine.  Sharon called me from Canada and we talked for a while.  Red Wine Nancy called me too.  It was so nice to talk with her and to hear her voice.  She has no idea how wonderful it was.

This evening I'm trying out the washing machine (so far so good) as my clothing has been in a suitcase and a backpack for over three weeks.  I'm also waiting to hear from my friends Kay and Rory as I they will be my first house guests.  They are coming to Melbourne to catch some of the Australian Open.

I know things will only continue to get better.

Oh yah, last night I put pictures of my friends and family all over my fridge so every time I open it you're all smiling at me.  I also added my Canucks calendar  so I know when they are playing (which of course is the previous day for me here in Melbourne as at the moment I'm five hours behind you PLUS one day forward - you're five hours ahead of me but BACK one day).