Woo Hoo!

As of today, we are no longer homeless! It took us a few days to figure everything out, but Monday morning we set out meaning business. Work out clothes, running shoes, maps and phone numbers in hand, we were ready to spend the day out and not come back to the hotel without a set of keys. We had exhausted various neighborhoods within the city and decided to look somewhere different. Our first stop was in Bondi Beach. We had ventured there the day before and liked what we saw so decided it was worth going back. We had heard that it was a bit pricey, but were were hoping to find something in our price range. We started at the edge of one main street and made our way up from the beach stopping at every real estate office we saw. To put a damper on our positive attitude, we learned that most of the apartment showings are over the weekend and there we were on a Monday with only two days to find a place. But luckily, one landlord was willing to show us his complex. Right away we knew we'd be living there. It's not amazing, it's not even spacious in the least. But it will work just perfectly for us and considering other places we had been willing to lower our standards for, this was great. It's a fully furnished studio apartment about a 5 minute walk from the beach and most importantly, is affordable. It has a bed that folds out from the wall, a small kitchen and bathroom. The building is currently under construction and will be for the next three weeks. But after that, there will be some nicer and obviously newer apartments upstairs that we will have the option of upgrading to. Our apartment itself won't be ready for us until the 6th of September. So until then, we are staying in one right down the hall. This temporary one is a bit bigger and more expensive, so I really hope we don't get too comfortable in it...but who knows....maybe we need to make good friends with our Russian landlord, Gary. ;)

Bondi Beach is a short 20-30 minute commute from the city. It's actually surprisingly easy to get to and from via bus, train, or taxi, which is nice considering both Chloe and I would like to work in the city. It's a bit more relaxed in Bondi but from what I understand, the summers here are pretty busy. It's a popular beach for travelers and tourists and in the next month or so it should be filling up. We figured by living here and working in the city we'd have a good opportunity to get the best of both worlds Sydney has to offer. Bondi Junction is a few miles away where the largest mall in Sydney is located...so that is a great convenience. A bit farther from there is Paddington which has Oxford Street. There are blocks and blocks of little boutiques and cute shops there. And just a bit farther from there is the city. In all probability we will get a bus pass or a weekly train ticket. Public transportation is literally a life saver as neither Chloe nor I will be able to drive on the left side of the road without causing a wreck every other block. But yea....we have a home and absolutely LOVE it. We checked out of our hotel today and took a taxi over to Bondi and here we are. =)

I do want to take a second to write a little ode to Seana. Seana works for Chloe's dad and came out here to help us get started. Without her, I really doubt Chloe and I would have accomplished much of anything. Not only was she a lifesaver, but a great friend and a lot of fun. She left this morning and we already miss her a ton. =(

Anyway....step one down. Next....find a job. Wish me luck!