I give in

I guess it's about time that I wrote a post instead of relying on Chris to do it! I don't even know where to begin. We've been gone less than three weeks, but it feels like we've been gone so much longer. So many things have happened in the past little while and I don't think we've given ourselves much of a chance to sit back and really take everything in.

I know Chris already wrote about it, but Hong Kong was amazing. It far surpassed my expectations (even though I tried not to have any when travelling) and when I saw signs posted around the city saying that this train station or this public site was sanitized 'x' number of times a day, I felt like this was a place that I could live. A beautiful, vibrant city that sanitizes all the time...that's my dream! All jokes aside, all I can say is that you should take any chance you get and go to Hong Kong. It was well worth the 14 hour plane ride!

Brisbane has been great as well. And our (few) friends and family here have been overwhelmingly helpful and supportive. We basically spent the first week and a half running (at times literally) around the city from apartment to apartment trying to find a place we'd be happy to call home for the next year. Let me tell you, some places are less than desirable! But after long, sweaty days of searching, we found our place! We moved in yesterday (thanks to the help of some wonderful friends) and spent most of yesterday and today putting together our Ikea furniture. I love Ikea...really!

We had booked ourselves into a hostel in Fortitude Valley (the Whyte Ave of Brisbane) for a week and really loved it there. It was definitely a well run hostel! It was called BUNK in case anyone needs a place to stay in Brisbane. And, they had this great pub attached called Birdee Num Num...I think I took every chance I got just to say the name...haha! But it was great after a long day of apartment hunting to go down there and have some FREE supper and a taste of Aussie beer!

As our week came to a close, we got in touch with some wonderful people that mum and I had met on our Greek tour back in 2008. My mum has stayed in touch with them since then, and when they found out Chris and I were coming to Brisbane, they were really excited to see us (though they'd never met Chris). They so kindly put us up for 3 days and really made some wonderful memories for us in that short time. We would sit out on their verandah (you don't say deck here) for dinner and be out there for hours talking, laughing, and drinking too many bottles of wine! It was wonderful!!!! During the days, Chris and I would be out finalizing details for our apartment. Once we had confirmation that we had our little place, Bob and Rhonda so kindly offered us their car so we could drive down to Ikea (~30 min from Brisbane) so we could shop for furniture and everything else you need for an apartment. It didn't seem to faze them at all that Chris had spent about a total of 5 minutes driving in Brisbane. They'd gladly handed over the keys and supplied ample information on how to get down there. I have to admit that I did grab onto the door handle a few times, but no disaster! And, no one even honked their horn! I take that to mean we could pass as Aussie drivers...well, at least Chris could!

After too many hours in Ikea, we bought a couch, table/chairs, bed, pots, pans, glasses...the list goes on. It really is like starting over again. We had nothing...we still don't have anything! But, we aren't complaining!

But, the journey hasn't been without some bumps. Right now we have no lights. We were cooking dinner tonight when all of a sudden all of our lights went out. We checked the breaker, but none of the switches are off...maybe a fuse busted? Oh well, our fridge, stove, tv, plug ins still work. Just no lights. We'll figure it out tomorrow! I told Chris we could have our dinner by candlelight (thanks to cheap Ikea candles), but we have no matches! So we sat by the glow of the TV.

Tomorrow we have a few more errands to run...I want to get cleaning supplies. Big surprise there! Plus we have to figure out insurance and hand in our apartment checklist to our agent. But hopefully we'll be able to make some time to book a few nights at a hostel down in Surfer's Paradise. We told ourselves that would be our reward for landing an apartment and getting ourselves somewhat settled. I think we could both use a few days of beach time. Our feet are tired!

Don't know if there is much more to add. Our apartment is lovely and we have an extra bedroom!!! Pack your bags and give us a call to let us know when you're coming to visit! Oh, and we have cell phones...which is funny because only my uncle calls us. Oh well...in case you want to know: (07)0466814551 to reach me and Chris is (07)0466814550. Hopefully we'll get a call soon with someone wanting to come visit! We haven't been here long, but we'd love to show you around...or at least explore the city with you!

Andrea