Photos out and about

I have taken a few photos on my walks around the city.

The first is of the Queen Victoria Market. Here all sorts can be found - but it is well known for its fresh produce and meat markets for their good prices!

Entrance to the Market

Some fruit and veg

Another photo of the fruit and veg.

By the way, in one of my previous posts I mentioned the price of bannanas... The reason why the price is so high is because there was a cyclone that basically wiped out all the bannana crops - causing a shortage of bannanas and now they need to be imported - hence the high price!

Below is an extract of what the daily telegraph had in their newspaper:

AUSTRALIA'S favourite fruit has gone up in price by as much as 400 per cent and vanished from shopping lists.

When Cyclone Yasi hit the north Queensland coast in early February, it damaged 75 per cent of our national banana crop.
Australian Banana Growers' Council chief executive Jonathan Eccles says since then, retail prices of the most popular cavendish bananas have gone from about $3/kg in major supermarkets to as high as $15/kg.

So now we know why they're so expensive now and they will not be bought until the price drops...

 

Apartment View

This is the view from our apartment... Now if this does not make you feel guilty about not excercising - then I don't know what will!

It has motivated me! Been in the gym everyday this week so far!



Our apartment is also situated in front of the Etihad Stadium in Docklands, where there are many football games on. On Sunday there was a game on and it was amazing to see how well the crowds behaved and how organised the event was. After the game at about 10pm at night there was a dirtbin truck emptying out all the rubbish bins and they were cleaning the pavement around the stadium! Yes at 10pm at night! Amazing! No waiting for tomorrow - do it now!

Melbourne - First Days

Sean has been relocated to Melbourne for 13 months on a developmental assignment at GM Holden.
We packed the house (or some of it...) into a container the week prior to leaving for Melbourne. Our house was just a shell after that - and actually felt strange living in it!

We left for Melbourne on the 7 July 2011. We flew business class all the way - which was a first for me so was very excited! The long haul was from Joburg to Sydney. The flight went well, with good service. The plane was a bit noisy due to its age, so Sean didn't get much sleep - despite having earplugs in! I managed to get a few hours in.

We arrived in Sydney and had to clear customs. By this time Sean was complaining about how much hand luggage we have had to cart around! Yes I admit it was alot - but there was no more room to fit it into the hold so we had to carry it...
We got through customs quickly - no questions asked - they must have liked Seans handsome looks!
Then it was straight onto the flight to Melbourne.

Arrived in Melbourne in the evening, received our luggage and was taken to the Serviced Apartment. We basically put our bags down, had a cup of tea and then went grocery shopping! This was quite an experience because we now have to get used to shopping in Australian dollars - and trying to convert it to South African Rands is quite frightening on some items! Eg: Bannanas at $14/kg - thats about R104 per kg!! There are items which are much cheaper than South Arica - even after converting - so I suppose its swings and roundabouts.

We then went straight to bed after eating cheese and crackers for supper. Gaining 8 hours seemed quite strange, we had just had breakfast when we landed in Sydney, then took a 1 and a half hour flight to Melbourne and it was already evening and time to go to bed again!

Woke up all bright and breezy on the Saturday and Sunday and went to discover the city! We walked and walked and walked... We found the Queen Victoria Market - which has everything you need in one market! There is a fresh produce market, meat market, cheese market, clothes market and many other stalls available here - its a very interesting place.

We also went to a few of the department stores and shopping malls - there are shops around every corner and there is just too much to see!

I'm looking forward to the next 13 months here!