Greetings!
Last night I returned to Adelaide from 37 hours in Melbourne! I’ve definitely made the right choice to relocate for 2010. Let me give you the run down…
The main point of the trip was to meet up with some people looking for flatmates (remind me to thank the guy who invented the Internet, I’m pretty sure it was Al Gore) and check out their places of residence. I checked out 3 places fairly close to the city (nothing locked-in yet, still pending decisions). Special thanks must go to former friend of a friend, and now legitimate friend (I would insert her name here but she wishes not to be identified for privacy reasons) for being my fabulous Melbourne hostess.
It all started Sunday morning, 5am. I’m really not a morning person. Usually when I wake up before 9am I just feel sick. This was no exception. I drove myself in the dark to Adelaide Airport and parked in the long term parking lot. Luckily for me there was a shuttle bus waiting right there to take me to the main terminal. I don’t think I would have made the flight had it not been for that bus. In an incredible coincidence, “Ms Nameless,” who recently moved to Melbourne, but was back in Adelaide visiting friends, was returning to Melbourne and was on the exact same flight. However, as she was able to check in online (and my computer wouldn’t let me, for some reason… remind me to send a stern letter to Al Gore) she had a great seat up the front, which of course is the quietest and smoothest part of the plane, and I had to make do with a seat in the 2nd to last row at neither the aisle or window. We arrived at Tullamarine and caught the Skybus into the city. We then caught a train to her house in Altona (check Google Maps to see how far away that is. Although having been there now it’s not that bad). She shares the place with another guy (also nameless), also a former Adelaidean and enjoyer of fine Simpsons quotations. Here’s their house, which is pretty awesome I must say (on the inside of course. Can’t say I like the bricks. Orange is my least favourite colour for building materials. Give me those bricks that are so dark they’re black anyday… hoho mmm…):
And get a load of the house directly across the street:
It’s like someone beached a tugboat and converted it into some kind of “land shanty.” I imagine it’s the kind of house that “Adam” from On The Yacht would live in, if indeed he did live on land… But enough of these in-jokes.
So anyway, “Altona Girl” freshened up and “Altona Guy” drove us to the famed Brunswick Street in Fitzroy for a quick lunch. I must say, from the 15 minutes I spent there, I could tell I was going to be back again and again. There are just so many places in Melbourne that look like an ’80s surburban lounge room with wood-panelled table-top arcade games. I couldn’t stay long as I had houses to check out, so I hopped a tram back to the city and checked out West Melbourne and Kensington. By this stage I was starting to realise how tired I was. It doesn’t matter if I have to wake up early. I still go to bed at the same time (1:30am-ish). This, combined with all the walking around was taking its toll. I went back to Altona and foolishly had fish & chips for dinner. I regretted it as soon as I finished eating. Should have gone for something healthier, but the smell was so tempting. I probably should have gone to sleep at that point but when the opportunity to watch Fletch on DVD comes along, I just can’t say no. Chevy Chases’s finest work, in my opinion.
I was expecting to sleep on the couch but “Lady Unaknowledged” very kindly offerred her bed to me (not in a sexual way. Obviously then SHE would take the couch). I politely declined but then she pointed out how tall I was, and how short the couch was, so I agreed. However, she was a lot more tired than I was, and by the time Fletch was alluding LAPD in the stolen white Porche, she said she’d just go lie down and when I was ready to turn in, we’d “do swapsies.” I made it to the end of the film but by that stage “Madam” was fast asleep. I stood at her door pondering… but eventually concluded that I just couldn’t kick HER out of HER OWN bed. Call me sexist if you will, and many do, but I kinda had to “be a man” at that point and sleep on the couch. Indeed, I was about 30 centimetres too tall to sleep on it comfortably, so after 20 minutes or so I arranged the couch cushions on the floor and slept there. Pretty good actually. Hotels are for people who don’t have friends.
Then it was Monday. I caught the train back into town. I must say the trains in Melbourne are so much smoother and faster than Adelaide, and a much more extensive network. Adelaide certainly needs to get its public transport act together. Checked out another house in Kensington, returned to the CBD to visit RMIT University, where I was recently accepted to study post-graduate journalism. Having never been there before, I was relieved to find it was a pretty excellent looking campus, right near pretty much everything. I got my student card and explored around. I found the RMITV office but it was closed. I shall return.
I had a few hours to kill before my return flight, and I brought some resumes with me just in case of such a situation. Obviously I’ll be needing some sort of casual job in Melbourne. For the last year I’ve been working at the Palace Nova Cinema on Rundle Street. It’s been fantastic and I’ve really been dreading leaving and having to pay money for movies again. So I caught a short tram up to Lygon Street in Carlton to check out Melbourne’s premier art house cinema, the Cinema Nova. I introduced myself to the manager and handed him my resume. To my surprise, he literally hired me on the spot! Jesus, the first place I apply to! That really takes a lot of the stress of moving cities away now, knowing that I’ll have a job waiting for me. Now all I need is a place to live… But more on that later I suppose… And if all goes badly, “The Dame of Altona” says I can stay in Altona until I find something closer. They have a spare room!
Ahh good fortune. It’s very… fortunate.
Kind regards,
David M. Green
Like the number plates, “On The Move.” Or “The Garden State,” which ever is more relevant to my situation.
