Things have been moving on since my last entery. Alison has started work and dosn't like it (supprise supprise).

Maisie started school yesterday and is kind of okay about it (though she did cry in class today saying she misses home, but I think that was more for effect). It was funny takening her to school and getting a guided tour from the principle. He was realy nice and helpful. As was her Year Head and Form Tutor. I felt like a proper (Step) Dad for a change! She's palled up with a few friends, so a good start. She hates the uniform though, and I can't blame her, it is bad.

Signed the lease and got the keys to our new home.Phone should be on this Friday. Need to look at cabel TV as 'normal' TV is terrible. Okay if you like Neighbours and Home and Away (which are on at 7:30pm like Coronation St & Eastenders), Aus Big Brother (which Maisie likes) and worst of all The Bill!!!

It's a nice 2 bed Victorian bungerlow - 2 living rooms all quite big. Nice new fitted kitchen, small bathroom - with a tiny bath, and nice back garden. It wasn't our first choice of home, but we we're panicing about finding somewhere and thought it's best to play safe and accept it.

Ironically, a house we viewed on the same day (a much nicer house) phoned earlier to offer it to us! such is life. Alison is gutted as she much prefered this one, as did Maisie. Oh well, I like it's old rambling nature (just like me really) and it will do us fine for a year. Now we just need to get some cheap furniture to tide us over until our stuff get's here - still a month to go!

Although I like it here and am ebjoying my stubbies of VB (Victoria Beer) I can see us home in a year. I just can't see Alison (and to a lesser extent Maisie) settling here. Which is ironic as it was Alison's idea to come. I was feeling a tad down about this earlier this evening, but all it really means is condensing everying into a year instead of two or three years - ah ever the optomist!

Anyway, we move in on Saturday. Then time to start to look for week. Spending the next few days take Maisie to school and picking her up and doing a few jobs at the new house.

G'Day from a sunny and mild Melbourne. It absolutly tipped down yesterday (almost making me home sick) but another nice Autumn's day today. I'm writing this enjoying a coffee sat outside Starbucks in the CBD - Alison has allowed me to escape for a couple of hours. Maisie and Alison are well and enjoying our new life. Maisie's fed up of us boring oldee's and wants to start school to meet some people her own age.

Just about over all the jet lag - this is definatley the worst I've ever experienced, but guess it's the longest I've travelled.

This week we need to concentrate on finding somewhere more perminant to live and hense enroll Maisie in school. They have a werid system of open houses, were for half a hour anyone can turn up and have a look at a rental property and if they are intetested put in an application.

We've looked at 2 places so far. The first on Friday was terrible, it was like the Munster's house. Fine to buy, gut, and spend 30 grand on doing up. But not to rent. The second place was really nice, 2 minutes from where we are staying in Richmond. It was a nice two up two down modern town house for urban professional types! We will stick an app in, but think we'll be unlucky this time. I'm sure they will be inandated.
 
Think everyone will love it here, Melbourne's a lovely place and I look forward to showing everyone around in next year. It's my kind of place realy - bit arty, loads of coffee shops, interesting cosmopoliton people. However, everyingthing seems better when you haven't got to endure the daily comute to work and eight hours starting at a computer screen!

Uploaded some pic's from our first week in Mebourne to flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exorcising-ghosts/sets/72157600157340718/

need to sort tags and discriptions, etc.

We've arrive safely in Australia via Singapore with only really bad jet lag to show for our troubles.

To start at the beginning, after a tearful departure from Newport bus station at 4:55am Saturday (21st), and just managing to avoid a large excess lugrage fee, we boarded the 12 hour flight to Singapore. Would recommend Singapore Airways - nice food and over 60 films on demand (for the record I watched The Departed (good but overated) and the lastest Rocky (crap but was feeling the effects of nicotine withdrawal by now and needed something unchallenging!) and a couple of episodes of Fraiser and the American version of The Office).

Singapore was lovelly - really impressed - like a much more clean, tidy, english speaking/westernised, less chaotic Thailand. Everyone was really helpful and nice in the way they always are in SE Asia (I'm convinced it's the weather). Would love to spend more than our 2 days/1 night and sure we will someday. Weather was unsprisingly HOT HOT HOT. As we were a little hung over from the flight we just had some great meals, shopped and totally forgot to have a Singapore Sling! Maisie was feeling patriotic and decided to shop for Britain - like a Newport version of Paris Hilton, with Alison & I carrying the bags and picking up the tab. I had a really bad cold and was worried they might quarantine me in case I started another break out of bird flu. Then before you could say "God these bags are heavy", it was back to Singapore Airport for the 7 hour flight to Melbourne.

Apart from a slight problem with Maisie's Australian visa and really bad turbalence caused by a massive thunder storm over Central Australia the flight was fine.

Well what can I say  about Melbourne? We've only been here 3 days, but so far so good. 

Mainly we've been busy meeting Alison's agency people, opening back accounts, applying for tax codes and visiting immigration to get the right visa in our passports. All this was done with an amazing lack of hassle, infact I've spent longer queing in Newport Central Post Office than in Melbourne's immigration department. Everyone, including "Officialdom" very helpful, with the famed Aussie "No Worries" attitude.

Melbourne is a beautiful City. Big but not unpleasently so. It reminds me slightly of a less hilly San Fransisco (though that's probably just the trams) We're staying in Richmond, which is a 10-15 minute tram ride from the City Centre (or CBD as us Melbounians know it).

We went dowm to St. Kilda beach yesterday afternoon, and while not the best beach arround by a long shot, it's a lot nicer that Barry Island!
It's a fantastic place to have a beer and watch the sun set, which is what we did.

Alison and Maisie are well and enjoying our first steps down under. Supprisingly Maisie really likes it here and double supprisingly she's looking forward to starting school so she can make some friends.

I've set us up with Web cam's, Yahoo Instant messanger and Skipe accounts to keep in touch with the family. However, seeing myself on web cam does dispell the hansom love god self image I have of myself!

I haven't taken many pic's of Melbourne yet, but I'll be posting those I have taken on my Flickr account page, which can be found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/exorcising-ghosts/sets/72157600138630740/

Those that are on there need a little sorting and editing, which I'll be doing over the weekend.

We haven't experence and scary Australian spiders or snakes, though a sparrow did try and have a peck at my chocolate brownie whilst I was sitting outside a coffee shop!

Okay, time to go. Our big task over the next few days is to find somewhere to rent more perminantly and then a school for Maze. Keep tuned for more thrilling installments from Terry Does Melbourne.