Dec 27 - Moving Day and Heaps of Groceries

Got up just after 7 AM this morning and watched the Russia vs. Canada world junior hockey game. Terribly sloppy play by the Canadians for most of the game and I think they were lucky to come away victorious. Brennan had to leave after the first period because he has the unfortunate responsibility of a job. I am free from such obligations still, so I watched the whole game while enjoying some toast. Then I spent about an hour on Amazon.ca adding books to my wishlist that I had been meaning to read over the last couple of years. I had a list, so I went through it and added the books to my Amazon wishlist, so that I can keep track of them and buy them when I get home. But anyone who has used Amazon before knows one book leads to 4 more recommendations and thus an hour can easily be spent browsing. Then I had to check out and store mine and Brennan's luggage in lockers at the hostel. It had been raining hard as B left for work and was still drizzling enough to warrant a raincoat when I left to walk to the apartment. I didn't bring any backpacks because i wasn't sure if we were in fact getting to move in right now, plus it was raining and it would have soaked our stuff. So I walked there and met the landlady and paid her two weeks' rent and the rest of the deposit/bond and got the keys. The place is all ours now. She gave me a tour of the facilities (laundry, garbage, etc) then left. I left shortly after and walked back to the hostel. I got Brennan's two backpacks and walked back to the apartment with them. On the way I saw three police officers escorting a man (after confiscating his backpack) to the police station and he had a green parrot on his shoulder that he kept nuzzling with his nose. Such a bizarre sight. I dropped off Brennan's bags at the apartment then walked back to the hostel and picked up my bags. I stopped at a discount bookstore before returning to the apartment and bought a book (yes, another book!) that I had on my list but couldn't find on Amazon this morning. Just my luck, it was there for the low price of $7.75. I bought it then hiked to the apartment again then sat down once I arrived, exhausted from walking the trip 3 times, two of which I wore very heavy backpacks. After a stretch and a rest, I unpacked my stuff into the nightstand and closet, put our remaining food in the kitchen, etc. Killed a massive huntsman spider in the bathroom, then searched the rest of the place top to bottom for any other spiders. All clear. In celebration of a successful move from the YHA to the apartment, I walked through Hyde Park straight to Yummy's for a kebab. What a succulent reward for a job well done.

Brennan finished work and came to the apartment (which is closer to his work than the YHA was) and unpacked his stuff. I dropped off a resume at a restaurant across the street from the apartment who have a sign up requiring a waitperson. But the manager wasn't there and there were only Asian ladies working, so I don't feel overly confident of my chances at that one. With that out of the way, we headed to Coles to stock up on groceries for the week. And did we ever stock up! Four baskets, all overflowing with groceries. $150 dollars later and we were set. The cashier wasn't very good at bagging though and only put a couple items in each bag, so we had to carry like 25 bags home. The walk is a couple kilometers and our arms and hands were killing us when we came across a ditched shopping cart near an alley. Jackpot. Loaded it up and pushed it home. We unloaded our stuff and an older guy by our building says "I assume you're bringing that trolley back when you're done with it." So after we brought the groceries up, Brennan pushed it back to the alley where it apparently belongs. Dinner tonight consisted of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches (tasty as always). Then we watched some Trailer Park Boys on the laptop since our TV doesn't work. I'm going to go get a digital box and/or rabbit ears for it tomorrow so that we can pick up the 12-ish free channels broadcast in Australia. I read the first couple chapters of Catch 22 and so concluded the night. Brennan works again tomorrow and I'm going to go to all the hostels and hotels to apply in person, as well as any cafes or restaurants I pass along the way.