Melbourne!!

Sorry I've been out of it for a while, but here's a little update about life down under...

Chris and I got to Melbourne about 2 weeks ago now, and we've really just been settling in. I was nervous at first about moving in directly with his little brother and mom, but they're both really nice and it's been an easy transition. Tim (Chris's brother) has a girlfriend, Ellie, who is also really sweet and practically lives here too. She and I have bonded over the fact that we'd both rather go to the beach while the boys entertain themselves playing cricket (which we both just don't quite get)... But I must say, I'm making great efforts to learn the game and have even been participating in a few rounds of backyard cricket with the brothers Rose. I still don't think it's the most exciting sport, but at least I understand enough of it now so that I'm not bored our of my mind when they insist on watching on tv.

Since we got back Chris and I have really spent most of our time relaxing, catching up with family and friends, and applying for jobs online.

We are starting to get some calls back from all the applications that we've put in. We were interviewed by a recruitment company today who places people in remote places. I'm not so sure what they are going to offer us, and I'm not sure if we'll take it, but at least there will be some job offers coming in. Chris is actually at work right now on the second day of his trial at the Italian restaurant down the street, but he doesn't particularly want to take the job. I think he's pretty happy that there may be some other options at the moment.

The second call was from a head hunting agency that is representing one specific property, a historic beach club on Bondi beach in Sydney. If you've heard of a beach in Sydney, i'm sure that it's Bondi, so I'm excited about that interview. The description doesn't say exactly which club it is, but we did a bit of internet research and I think we've figured out which one it is. If we're right, I HIGHLY doubt we'll be offered the job, but it would be amazing if we got it. The pay is great, it's management, accommodation is included, as well as utilities (all very expensive in Sydney) and it's a job at the beach! The fact that they're giving us a phone interview is amazing to begin with, we didn't think we'd even get a call back at all.

So a few things going on job-wise, but other than that life is pretty mellow. We went into the city proper to walk around and get a bit more of a feel for Melbourne. It's a nice city, good for walking and plenty of local cafes and bars for the hungry or thirsty.

Hopefully on Sunday we're going to take a drive down the Great Ocean Road and see the 12 Apostles, which are natural geographic features that Melbourne is famous for. I'll let you know if we make it!

Chillin...

So we made it off the ship in time for our 9:30pm flight out of Ushuaia and into Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, that put us in BA at about 1 in the morning where we waited in the airport for 7.5 hours for our connecting flight at 8:30 to Santiago. Ugh. Believe it or not we stayed up the whole time playing an epic game of gin (which of course I won in the end ;) ).

We finally got to Santiago after our very long trip and crashed for a few hours at the hotel before venturing out into the city to see what it was all about. We stopped in the Barrio Bellavista for a few drinks followed by a nice dinner, complete with live music. It´s a very touristy area, but it was perfect for our purposes.

This morning we got up and had breakfast by the pool before basking in the sun for a few hours. It´s the height of summer here, and the warmth and sunshine is a welcome change from the weather I was experiencing both at home and in Antarctica. I´d say that a leisurely breakfast and a book by the pool was the ideal way to kick off the first real day of vacation here in Chile.

Well I´m off now to see the concierge about some dinner reservations and a tour of a few of the local vineyards... I love mini-break holidays!