The next couple of days we just lazed and waited for responses from the applications. On Tuesday early morning 7 am the neighbours on the left had a big van pull up and off loaded some planks of wood. Then there was some hammering and sawing for a while. Wednesday was Australia day and a bank holiday. The neighbours again started their home improvement at 8 am…do not think that was nice for most people who were having a lie-in on a mid week holiday. It was an overcast day but still fairly warm. Paul decided to wander into Templestowe, to see if anything was open. It is a mile or so down the road and up the hill. He went to IGA (superstore) and bought some milk, tea, cheese and onions. Also got some nice soda bread from the Bakers Delight shop which we eventually found put soya flour in all its breads!!!!!!!!!!!! As did the very tasty apple and walnut log. Now I finally know what’s been bothering my stomach so much and all this while I blamed the salted peanuts and cashew nuts. On the way back Paul felt the beginnings of a blister on his left foot (the same one with broken toes… maybe we can get a book going..the other My Left Foot!). Instead of going into the IGA and getting some band aid to put on he walked home with sandals in his hand! Now he got some looks from the locals…going native apparently is not the ‘done thing’.
Oh this nice hot weather…. I had been dreaming of it. It’s been a long time since we have faced 40C, but before I rave about the heat let me tell about the second week in Australia. Well job hunting is on the fore front now for Paul. I am taking the back seat for a bit. He has been applying to all jobs he can find on the various job seeking websites. One application got an immediate response and he was invited out to meet with the agency on Thursday. The office was on St. Kilda Road so we had to go on 905 up to Melbourne Central . This time we were smart enough to get down right in the middle of the city centre. Also we were not going to walk miles like last week! We were early in so decided to have a wander around Myers the local big store. The main purpose was to buy some sandals for me. Stupid me had put the Teva sandals in the following luggage and not in the bag. Now I only had heavy shoes and some light flats plus another flat sandal. Both, the flat footwear, were hard on the feet and generally difficult to wear for long. Sadly the shop was being renovated and so there was a sale with a few items around.
However we did remember the shopping centre when we had visited in 2009 so wandered about trying to find a sports shop or outdoor clothing one as what I wanted can be found in these shops. As I waited for Paul by one of the loos I got accosted by a young man.. selling some beauty products from a stall. Refused to take no for an answer. Told him I was allergic to all the products he said I need something for my puffy eyes…nothing like making a woman feel lovely! LOL Not only that he wanted me to trust him that he would try out some eye product on my wrist as if he knows more about allergies than me. I just had to walk away. Since I was waiting for Paul I went just a little way and stopped. The egoistical pup thought I had changed my mind! I said no I was waiting for my husband. This made me think was the bloke hitting on me? Surely not!
After a round of the 3 floors of the shopping centre and not finding any sandals we stopped to have a drink. One think we were very careful was ensuring we were kept hydrated. It is so easy to lose fluids and electrolytes. So a stop for a drink often is a must. But today we decided to forget about being healthy and so I had a coke while Paul had a chocolate milkshake. We went to Swanston Street to catch one of the many trams that went down the road. The tram passes Flinders Street Station, crosses River Yarra, the National Gallery of Victoria (where in 2009 we had seen the Picasso exhibition) and a couple of stops further. The office was supposed to be on Level 1 but going down the corridor on the first floor there no such office. In fact there was hardly anyone about. In the end we noticed a lady sitting in one of the offices to one side and asked her about the agency. They had apparently just moved to 3rd floor last month. Seems everyone thinks that finding the office is part of aptitude test as this happened last week as well. The offices were nice and air conditioned so I sat comfortably in the chair and meditated.
Now back to Flinders Station to find something to eat. We thought that there was another Indian place on Flinders Street and so walked the length right up to Williams Street. But no such luck. Hopped on the tram to get right back to Elizabeth Street for another visit to Om Vegetarian. Today the dal was of channa and the sabji was allu palak. This place does serve real tasty food. After this we walked to next street Queen’s Street to catch the bus back home.
Now the heat was upped a notch and a long lazy weekend was in order. However a visit to Doncaster Shopping Town was planned to check out the shops and buy my sandals. The shopping mall is of similar size to Brent Cross or Cribbs Causeway shopping places in UK. Went to the Myres shop here and found some nice hush puppy sole shoes and sandals but even in sale the cheapest was $69. This is that kind of a store! There are a few sports shops and outdoor clothing shops here. Found what I wanted in Kathmandu and paid $89 which actually was half price. The salesman was a little taken aback when I told him to pack my shoes as I was going to walk out in the sandals…. My feet felt free and cool. Another shop that reminds one of Harrods is David Jones. While there was some good Georg Jenson ware, there was also Spode, Wedgewood, and other such well known names mostly known to me from Antiques Roadshow or Flog It! While the objects whether crockery cutlery, linen, electrical good or clothes it was fairly pricey. Am not sure I would pay such high prices for general household things. Lunch was going to be Mexican and my mouth was water for a good hot burrito. Well I should have known that if it’s not run my Mexicans it would not be great. They did do a veggie burrito but it had more rice than beans and I forgot to say no lettuce so spent time picking it out. Paul had the taco which also had lettuce as its main ingredient. The only thing good was their chips which had lime and chilli dusting on it. Then we had a walk around the fruit and veg market checking out the products and the prices. By now my feet were protesting that new sandals or not.. this was too much. Stopped and had a refreshing ice cream from Gelatavita Gelati. Then took a bus back to Templestowe shopping centre back to home.
The temperature rose to 40C and the air was pretty still most of the morning. We decided not to go for AC or even fan but just soak in the heat. Sat in bed and played on the laptop for a while caught up with family. The sweat eventually began to pour down the face and back. Did a lot of drinking of tea and water. Also discovered some coke in the fridge. Had some good food like dal and rice, potato and peas sabji, salad, fresh fruit like plums, banana and apples. The air seems to cool down come 7 pm on most days and so it was good. Paul enjoyed the washing as it was good to use the washing line in the garden. Simple pleasures………..
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