The week before last was slightly mad. Having spent over a fortnight looking for jobs, and having got nothing aside from being employed at a casual events company, I was feeling dispirited and loosing faith about the whole working in Australia thing. However the situation changed radically on Monday. I was given the contact details of a recruitment consultant by someone from the hostel, sent them an email with my CV, and was called up at 8am the next morning. I went in to see them at 11am and by 3am had a full time job sorted, working at an inbound call centre for midibank. The same day I was offered a job at an outbound call centre selling to the public and was offered a trial by a restaurant, strange how it all works out.
Our time at the hostel ran out on Friday and we were tired of the place so nailed a house in a day on Thursday, having looked round one sharehouse with 30 people crammed in amongst others.
That night we took a trip to a local burger joint called Danny’s Diner before drinking in the bar with our hostel roommates. The place was labeled Melbourne’s best burger bar by an Australian masterchef and so was defiantly on the hitlist of things that needed to be done in Melbourne. The burgers there were damn good, I went for their imitation of McDonalds Big Mac which they had created perfectly with the taste of the secret sauce being so much fresher, and the burger appearing exactly as it does in the adverts. However the meat was tender, the salad fresh and crisp and bread soft and fresh meaning the burger so much better than the real thing.
The next morning we moved the 30mins into our new house, which is in a suburb called Prahran.
 |
| St Kilda Beach House- Our Hostel for the first 3 weeks |
 |
| Moving On- Waiting for a tram to take us to the new place |
  |
| The internet cafe which was our 2nd home for the first 2 weeks |
We live in a room with two others, in a house of 12 people, all of whom are backpackers who work or are looking for jobs. It is essentially a bungalow with three rooms each containing 4 people. There are 5 English, 4 Irish, a Fin, Canadian and two French in the house. We have an outside area to sit as well as a living room with full sports channels on TV so we can watch the premiership and champions league games live in the night. It’s great to have an oven, the internet(rather than be consigned to a café) and some storage space for clothes(amazing how you miss such simple stuff). Robert the landlord comes round every night to have a moan about something, hence has aquired the name dickhead amongst the house. Annoyingly there is only one bathroom(probably illegal) though there is no long term contract with rent paid in cash on a weekly basis(costs $130pw all bills included which is not far behind my house at uni where I had a room to myself), so we can give a weeks notice and then leave.
 |
| Kitchen with an oven! |
 |
| The house from the front entrance |
 |
| The room we share with 2 frogs |
On Monday just gone, my Auntie visited me in the city as she is over for 2 weeks in part because of her job as a lecturer at Nottingham, but also as a holiday. She took me out for some fancy food on the Southbank(from which the following photos of the centre were taken). The area is pedestrianised with many fine restaurants following the path of the river, offering great views of the city. Its green, airy and laid back with people sitting around sunbathing on the grass riverbanks beneath the shade of the trees along the front. I had a rare steak and cabernet(that’s cooked rare, though interpreting rare as irregular is just as accurate for this description). Recently the weather has been quite bad with rain and overcast conditions all week gone, like the UK in September. The soft Aussies are finding it freezing. However we are expecting 30 degrees and sunshine over the weekend- have to say I do miss the snow back at home. Its also weird that its December, and that watching the TV you get adverts for summer barbeques and clothing alongside Christmas adverts which depict cosy Christmas scenes with snow!-get some culture.
 |
Saw this in town- check out the crazy price!!
|
My job involves working in a call centre. I have spent the first 4 days on training and worked properly yesterday. I work for Midibank and advise customers about health insurance options, rebates and do admin work. The job pays far better than any at home with an annual salary of £24K- as I’ve mentioned before wages at the bottom scale are insane here(though I cant see wages in the top jobs being much better than England) The jobs is located in a plush office on the edge of the city centre, overlooking the CBD, with views from the 16th floor being fantastic. The job will last for 3 months till March as this time of year is really hectic for them and so the 15 of us who are employed are mainly backpackers. Every week pizzas are ordered for the employees and there is a social for us noobs next week which should be great.
I have also done a few shifts as a barman for the events company, and worked at the etihad stadium last night where Jay-Z and U2 performed. The house is planning on buying tickets for the boxing day test at the MCG, though Rob and I need to work out what we are doing for new years- think a trip to Sydney may need to be arranged(though getting accommodation will be nightmare so think we may have to hire a campervan).
Off out with the house to nearby Chapel Street tonight with the house- should be great now there is some money coming in, though need to watch out as Mickey (who incidentally comes from Kingston Upon Thames and is looking to migrate permanently) managed to spend $900 on a night out last week(though it included a solo visit to strip club).
Whilst I’ve been bring home the bacon, Robs been in the house most days though works most evenings waiting in various venues around the city. I have put some pics of the city taken at night below. Some call Melbourne the NYC of the South and these pics show why.
 |
The CBD taken from the southbank of the Yarra River
|
 |
| The entrance to Chinatown |
 |
| Chinatown in the CBD |
