I shall say this only once!: Getting to Australia and my first few day!

Hey everybody,

For anyone that just happens upon this blog, its about my year in Australia and probably some random opinions on things. Please do not judge my spelling or punctuation, I am aware!

So a lot has happened in the last week, so the best thing to do is start at the beginning.
The plane journey. oh what fun! One thing I am very happy about is that I don't have to do THAT again for another year. I'm already dreading it. If anyone feels they want to try to invent teleportation, please don't fight it.

So I had 2 flights with a 3 hour stop over at Dubai. The first flight was with Qantas and it was 7 hours long, it was like a warm up for the 13 hour one. It was pleasant enough, I paid extra to have leg room and I was on an exit row so I had loads of leg room and luckily the seat next to me was empty so I spread out. The only think I would say is try not to sit next to a toilet, the array of smells will stay with you long after you leave that plane!
Dubai airport is nice enough, be aware if you do find yourselves changing planes at Dubai even though it may say terminal 3 for arrival and departure, terminal 3 is made up of different mini terminals A,B,C, so give yourself enough time to get around. I had to go from one to another and through another set of security. Then I wondered around looking at all the different flavours vodka has to offer.
Now on to the longest 13 hours of my life. This flight was by Emirates, I was sitting next to a lovely couple who where on their way to a cruise. Unfortunately I was not able to get a sit with any extra legroom at all! Now what I always find strange is that you get a pillow and a blanket on your seat, so not only do you need to sort out ALL your stuff out but you have to find somewhere to put these extra items, lets make your small area that much smaller! This is the time in the journey where a sane person would try to sleep, I did attempt this, however unsuccessfully as the guy in front felt it necessary to have his window open and there was a large TV on the wall to keep all passengers updated on their journey and would flash from one thing to another. The good people of Emirates also didn't bring along enough eye masks so I ended up with a blanket over my head, this however could not block out the screams of the child (yes child not baby) a few rows back who also didn't want me to sleep. By this point any smell of food made me feel sick so I just ate some breadsticks and water. Enough of the negative, there was one fun thing, I paid a dollar and got 5gb of Wi-Fi. So did get to chat to some people to keep my sanity while I was in the air!

Once we had landed, I was surprised at how quickly I managed to get through customs, considering all you see on TV where they look into all your luggage and all the things. but no problems, they didn't even ask to see my visa (sorry Beth, but thanks for printing it all and putting it in clear folders anyway!)

I promise that I will try not to go into that much detail for everything!!

I got to the hotel and that is where I stayed for 2 nights. Having a brief look around at the surroundings but basically staying there and enjoying the giant soft bed and walk in shower.
They did a great breakfast!! which after 24 hours of plane food, well lets say I ate a lot!

On Saturday 25th, I moved into the hostel. Casa Central. I have a room all to myself on the second floor. There is a kitchen, a lounge and obviously toilets and showers. I have to say all of which is kept very clean and tidy. It is, for the most part quiet, however a school group came on Wednesday and apparently teenagers like to slam doors!!

Most days this week I have been getting a lay of the land. Wondering around shopping centres, seeing what's to do. I am trying not to do all the touristy stuff at once as I have a while!
On Monday I had my "interview" which turned out to not be an interview, the director just wanted to have a quick chat with me before I started. So that was pretty cool. I start work at the Bondi junction Specsavers next Wednesday.
On Tuesday I got to see Beth, Nick, baby Daisy and friends, I went round to where they were staying and we relaxed, chatted and had pizza, it was really nice to see people from home, even though I have only been away for a week it was great for a verbal conversation not to involve "so how long are you staying here?" and "Where do you come from?"
Wednesday I did my first tourist attraction and went to the sea life centre. There I saw a lot of fish! (shocking right!) I also saw a manatee and a lot of penguins! it was really good, interesting. However I can't go through those glass tunnels without thinking of my cousin Ruth and how as a child she point blank refused to go through, makes me chuckle to myself. I also went to the cinema for the first time by myself and saw Hidden Figures, I would highly recommend anyone to see this film, it is extremely good in telling the struggles these 3 women faced at NASA at that time.
The other reason I enjoyed this experience was the cinema. I paid to go into the LUX theatre, it was definitely worth it. The seats had buttons to recline and bring up a foot rest. There was also a button to call for refills on the free popcorn and drink provided AND you get a chocolate on your way out! I honestly don't think I can see a film any other way now!