It's been a long and difficult challenge - but I officially have a cell phone! Bryan has patiently made about 6 trips to the cell phone store to try and get this all sorted. Who knew it would be so difficult to be a "foreigner" in Australia and to get a cell phone? We had no idea. They need birth certificates, passports, visas, credit cards, bank statements, marriage license. It is crazy! Then 2 of the times Bryan went over for an appointment to get the phone activated, their system was down. It has been a long haul, but now I am finally connected to the outside world! I have to admit, I've been a little lost without my iphone. Of course I am starting at square one with just 2 contacts listed in my phone ~ but hey, I'll get there! Bryan and I have laughed several times that it is so vital to get our cell phones set up, yet we only have each other to call, ha!
We are still waiting (trying to be patient!) to see if the rental home works out.
We've made several trips to the grocery store and feel like we are understanding things around here a little more. Things are still so new to us - the driving, the lingo, not knowing our way around, people, etc. It feels really good once we accomplish something ~ i.e. buying a car, getting a cell phone, having groceries and necessities. It's the little things! ;)
We have done alot of sightseeing around downtown, which has been fun during our days here. We spent Friday at the Melbourne Aquarium. And Saturday we took an hour excursion east of Melbourne to an animal sanctuary, which is part of the Zoos here in Melbourne. That was a fabulous experience! We had such a fun time seeing the animals up-close and having a "magic moment" feeding and petting the kangaroos! You can see pictures on our site: thepicketts.phanfare.com. We all truly enjoyed our day! The kids were exhausted from several hours at the zoo and both fell asleep on the ride home.
Sunday we went to mass at a small church in Brighton. The mass was all the same as what we are used to - minus the music. There was no music. I don't know if that is always the case, or if it is a shorter version because of the summer holidays? The church was very small, and mainly older couples, and just a few young families. Very different than our parish back home. We did enjoy the mass, especially because it was small and quaint. AND it helped that it was only 43 minutes long! ;)
We went on the main street in Brighton for lunch, which we realized is such an easy stroll from the house we are hoping to rent (crossing our fingers and toes this works out!). There are several restaurants, fruit stands, bakeries, flower shops, along the street. It will be so nice to have that in walking distance.
Bryan started working today (Monday) in his new position. He was surrounded by positive, smiling, happy people so that will be a real plus for him! He has a long to-do list at work that has been stacking up over the last few weeks as we've been preparing to move here. He is ready for the challenge and excited to be back at work. He'll go every other Tuesday for shift-change for all of the off-shore employees and it's about a 3 hour drive. Tomorrow is the day he will do that. Lucky for me I have a cell phone now, since he'll be away from us for the day. Just hoping I don't go into labor while he is that far away - only kidding! It is way too early for that (knock on wood!).
Speaking of....I have my first appt. with the Ob-Gyn on Wednesday and I am anxious to meet him and get all of that sorted.
The kids and I survived our first day just the 3 of us, with Bryan at work....with flying colors! We had a lazy morning at "home" in the apartment, then headed out for lunch and a boat ride on the Melbourne Riverboat Cruise. It was an hour long and went up the river. It was very warm today here, about 90, which the past week it has been a high of about 78. There is no humidity here, which is a nice change. Our boat ride was interesting, and we also went by the arena where the Australian Open (tennis) is being played right now. It is a pretty big deal here!
We were all pretty worn out after being in the heat (me especially!) so we came back and watched the Lion King in the late afternoon. We've learned that not all of our DVD's work here. It is pretty strange - but apparently each country is part of a "zone" for DVD's and the US is in one zone and Australia is in another. Our newer DVD's seem to work here, but our older ones do not. so for now we at least have a few movies that work here.
Our air shipment arrived from the US - it is 4 large boxes of our most favorite and loved things (until our sea shipment arrives at the end of February or beginning of March). We are hoping to have a house this week to deliver our air shipment to - we don't have alot of space in our apartment for all of that stuff.
Everyday has been a new day here in Melbourne. Lots of changes, lots of new things to discover, and some ups and downs. We are managing and everytime we accomplish something, we feel better about how things are going. We are looking forward to having a "home" to go to and to start to feel like our life here is coming together. We've made alot of progress in the 9 or 10 days we've been here so far, but of course we would love to snap our fingers and have everything set up like back home!
Hope you all are doing well. We enjoy the emails and the comments. It feels so great to be in touch!
love, Chrissy
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