AdventureSA

Long Time No ... Read?

2008-07-27T16:31:00.002+09:30

Hello everyone (all three of you)

Apologies for not updating... I'd love to say its because we've been so busy, but really, its just that not much has happened!

Zelda continues to be our biggest source of amusement, whether its coming into bed with wet and cold paws, or escaping over the roof to the front of the house, or even lying right on the bit of shadecloth thats about to fall...

We have the house back to ourselves, Ryan moved out a few weeks ago (after six months!) but I can understand it... I hear all the time how hard the rental market is.

Anyway, as soon as anything new happens, I will let you all know!

Penfolds

2008-04-14T15:21:00.002+09:30

24 x 375ml bottles of Penfolds Cab Sav for $65!
10 went to Kim, while the rest stayed with us.
This equates to 12 bottles of wine for $65... not a bad deal.

what the hell?

2008-04-02T19:33:00.001+10:30

what the hell?
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

I have this little app in my firefox browser which tells me the weather in my closest point... well today its predicting snow.
In April.
In Adelaide.
Ok yes, its cold and raining, but snow?
I'm going to sue them if it doesn't happen!

Record Heatwave

2008-03-20T16:55:00.001+10:30

Adelaide had 15 consecutive days above 35 °C and 13 consecutive days above 37.8 °C (100°F)
link to BOM press release

that's insane!

Have a great Easter everyone, love you all :)

Its not even 12 o'clock yet!

2008-03-08T17:52:00.001+10:30

Its not even 12 o'clock yet!
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

This was before 12; it hit 39.7 degrees around 2.30pm.
Its about 38.2 now (5.50pm)

Bill Hicks: A Slight Return

2008-03-08T17:50:00.001+10:30

Bill Hicks: A Slight Return
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Adelaide Fring Festival - the best in Australia?

Future Music Festival

2008-03-08T17:48:00.002+10:30

Future
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Even though its going to be 37 degrees...

UPDATE: it got to 39° degrees... but we had a blast. The Chemical Brothers were amazing, we could not stop dancing. Woooh!

Eeek!

2008-02-22T19:35:00.002+10:30

Hello everyone!
Sorry for not updating this recently, we've been really busy!

First things first, here is the link to the photos from Nicole and Justin's wedding on Flickr. I have a few vids but am still thinking about how to share them. We had such a great time and again, big congratulations to Nicole and Justin :)

So whats new with us and Adelaide? Well...

We had a visit from David and Sophie on their way over to WA. We did all the Adelaidean things together including trip to the Barossa (I got drunk and threw up), lunch in Hahndorf and dinner in Glenelg. It was great to catch up with them :)
My dad has a house here now, and we've been doing lots of shopping kitting it all out. I like buying stuff for houses.
The Adelaide Fringe Festival is on now, and there are heaps off awesome events including this about Bill Hicks, and heaps of other coolness. AND tickets are only $20-$30!
The best thing about Adelaide is that they have now increased the rebate for bottles and can's to 10c! We now get $2.40 back per carton, and woah, we have a lot of empty cartons in our shed!
We have a guy called Ryan staying with us at the moment. Marshall met him via CounterStrike, and now he is working for us. He was living in the Riverland, so we told him he could stay with us for a month til he finds a house.

And thats about it... we're starting to make a few friends finally, some pretty cool people, and soon it'll be a year since we moved here, wow!

Lots of love to all of you,
Lena, Marshall and Zelda

Invasion!

2008-01-30T13:12:00.000+10:30

Anna and Joel and Belly Yaubz and Puddles sent us some adorable figurines for our birthdays - thanks guys! I absolutely LOVE them!

As cute as they are, the Vikings are killers!

you can see his cold dark eyes...

I can see myself becoming addicted to these and buying waaaaay to many! Check out the website!

Kangaroo Island

2008-01-25T11:28:00.000+10:30

Well its already a few weeks ago, but when we returned from WA, Kim (my dad), Marshall and I went to Kangaroo Island for three nights. (all the photos are here )

Kangaroo Island is Australia's third largest island - after Tasmania and Melville Island. It is 112 kilometres (about two hour drive for us) southwest of Adelaide at the entrance of Gulf Saint Vincent. At its closest point to the mainland, it is 13 kilometres offshore from Cape Jervis, on the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in the state of South Australia. The island is 150km long and between 900m and 57km wide, its area covering 4,405 km² . (wikipedia)

We stayed at American River.

As KI is so big, we took our car over on the 45 minute ferry ride.

Marshall and Kim toasting to the holiday while waiting for the ferry

Thursday was really hot and so we spent it in the pool - drinking heavily hehe.

On the Friday we went to Seal Bay - and went on a guided tour along the beach... sea lions are pretty intense! They go out and hunt and swim for three days, then rest for three.

Then we went to Vivonne Bay which is apparently one of the best beaches in the world

And this was the sunrise over American River on the day we left (about 7am)

And back to reality - thats the South Australian mainland.

We had a great time on KI and are really looking forward to coming back sometime soon.

Trip to WA

2008-01-15T12:40:00.000+10:30

Hello everyone!

Well I finally have some time to post about our trip to WA over xmas and new year.

We arrived on the 23rd of December, with the cat.
On the 24th was already my family Christmas (German celebrate on Christmas Eve)
Some photos:

Marshall drinking John's "cocktail", which was basically midori.

John, his girlfriend Nicole and Gabi

Gabi's present - a fussball/kicker table! (which John and I assembled)

And John made his fantastic tiramisu, which was eaten very quickly

On the 25th we went to Greg & Sally's for a champagne breakfast. I blew 0.15 at 10:30am, hehe.

After a nap, we went to Karen's since she did not know I was coming, so I wrapped myself up as a Christmas present and surprised her

Then we went down to Bunbury and spent two night down there. We finally visited the beach!

New Years Even was spent at Ian's with John and Nicole (but without Ian as he was in the USA)
New Years Day we went to the house were Adele was house sitting to have a BBQ and a swim...til she decided that being 28 weeks pregnant was more than enough, and after a dramatic few hours at King Edward, Phoenix was born!

This photo was taken about two hours after he was born. He was 41cm and 1215g.
Now he is breathing on his own, drinks milk, is in a different nursery and weight 1425g! He's a fighter, and couldn't have a better mother than Adele!

The rest of the week was spent hanging around, catching up with people, relaxing, etc.
On the Friday, we had our going away party, for which all our friends showed up! (I was very happy to see all of you :) )

And that's it! A two week trip summed up by some text and photos (click to see all of them)

See you all in a few weeks for Nicole and Justin's wedding!

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T14:38:00.000+10:30

We want to wish everyone all the best for 2008, and we hope to get a few of you visiting us this year!

Our time here in WA has been a lot of fun so far, eating, drinking, talking, swimming, more eating and drinking :)

I will post photos when we are back in SA.

Much love to everyone!
Lena

our xmas wishes to you!

2007-12-23T09:59:00.000+10:30

Third time!

2007-12-07T12:30:00.000+10:30

I cannot be prouder!
This is the third time I've gotten Zelda onto StuffOnMyCat!

Ian's visit

2007-11-25T20:00:00.000+10:30

Well Ian has come and gone.
He landed last Wednesday, and on Thursday, Marshall and him did the Coopers Brewery Tour. They loved it, as I had told them they would.
On Friday they bummed around, or "bonded".
On Saturday, we went to the Barossa Valley. I got to drive, yay.
We went to Jacobs Creek, Kabminye, lunch at Peter Lehman Wines, Langmeil and Penfolds.
A lovely time was had by all, but most of all by Ian and Marshall. All the photos can be found here

Some highlights:

Having lunch at Peter Lehman Wines.

The boys tried to out-do each by making mini sandwichs...

And tastings at Langmeil; favourite winery.

Come back soon Ian!

The Sunshine Coast and other things...

2007-11-14T13:02:00.000+10:30

Well on Monday I came back from a few days in Queensland, on the Sunshine Coast with Venessa.
I had such a good time! Its so beautiful up there, and all we did was talk, drink, talk, go shopping, eat, talk, explore, oh and we talked a bit too.
Photos from the trip are here, but I didn't take that many :(

Ian is coming in a week, wooh! Marshall and Ian are going to do the Coopers Brewery Tour this time, and we might head up to the Barossa Valley.
Kim is coming the week after.

We don't know yet what we are going to do for Christmas, we might be coming back to WA, or maybe not.

So what are you all up to?

Go Purple Moon!

2007-11-06T12:44:00.001+10:30

UPDATE: Purple Moon came second! Argh it nearly won too!

For all my overseas readers, today was Melbourne Cup, the race that stops the nation!

November already!

2007-11-04T10:28:00.000+10:30

Wow its November already! That means we have been in Adelaide now for five full months.
Crazy.

So we saw Death Proof on Monday, pretty violent! Quite long in places, but good action scenes.

On Tuesday, Kim comes again til Friday... and then from Friday through Monday I am off the the Sunshine Coast to see Venessa, wooh! Girls weekend :)

Its been raining and freezing here, today its only 14 degrees celcius! Whats going on?
I'm going to go wake up Marshall now, and we're going to watch movies and eat pancakes for breakfast, ah Sundays are great.

I will take some photos of the house today, some people want updates.

Lots of love to you all,
Lena

Death Proof

2007-10-26T14:23:00.000+09:30

Wooh I love JJJ!
We won tickets to see "Death Proof" on Monday, at a drive in!
Should be good fun :)

How The Cat Wakes You Up In The Morning!

2007-10-22T13:01:00.001+09:30

I love this, so well done, and pretty much the truth!

Thanks to Cute Overload

A week already!

2007-10-22T12:50:00.000+09:30

Wow its over a week since we came back from WA, eek how time flies!

A big massive shout out to everyone we saw, and who made time to see us. We really had a great time.

You can see the photos from Spring in the Valley here. My my my was that a messy day! But fun of course!

I have to say that I had an incredibly challenging Sunday before the flight back...
We went to Cloverdale to see Johns band rehearse (they kicked ass!)
Time before our flight was getting a little tight, so imagine me freaking out when we got pulled over by the cops! We were driving Barbara's car, and apparently her rego had expired.
Then after packing the car, we drove off and about 30 metres down the road, my awesome JVC noise canceling headphones (can't fly without them) flew off the roof of the car. More time wasted going back and picking them up.
THEN at the airport, the check-in chick was a bitch, and I was worried we were going to miss the flight as it was five minutes before check-in closed. With that crisis averted, we went through security, where I had to empty the contents of my bag because of my metal hair pins. And then the final straw was being sniffed for explosives. Very challenging morning (this was all before midday) for the day after Spring in the Valley.

Anyway, I hope everyone is well! We are looking forward to coming back, maybe at xmas, or if not, for Nicole and Justin's wedding on February 2nd.

Long Weekend

2007-10-01T14:37:00.000+09:30

Well the long weekend is nearly over :( why don't we get more of them?

My mum flew in on Friday night, and on Saturday we went shopping, while Kim, Barbara and Marshall watched Geelong thrash Port Adelaide. My mum bought me the best shoes!

Saturday night, I made Fish with a Chorizo Crust for everyone, and it was delicious! (Don't let Marshall's sad face put you off)

On Sunday, Barbara and I dropped Kim and Gabi off at the airport, where they flew onto Melbourne. We headed into town, and explored the Rundle Street Markets, which were a lot of fun, and we couldn't help but spend money! As it was only around 11am, we were a bit peckish, and stopped at Cocolat (only click on that link if you have had something to eat!) and shared a chocolate waffle with chocolate ganache... oh my! I had a hot chocolate with chili, oh my again! Its my new favourite place in Adelaide, and I can't wait to take all of you guys there!

Sunday morning carnage on Rundle Street!

Coming!

2007-09-25T10:18:00.000+09:30

Hello everyone!

Well our trip is confirmed; we fly in on the 3rd of October and leave again on the 14th.

Looking forward to catching up with all of you!

Love Lena and Marshall

Wine Tour to the Barossa Valley

2007-09-23T21:00:00.000+09:30

Well today Marshall, Barbara and I undertook a wine tour to the Barossa Valley.
They picked us up at the bus stop across the road, and dropped us off at the bus stop outside our house! It really couldn't get better.
The wineries we visited were:

Wolf Blass - so so; totally massive and over organised. We got to try four wines, and were told to pay for the rest!
Maggies Beers Farm Shop - very packed, but the pate's and wines were great!
Barossa Valley Estate - very nice; we had lunch and polished off a bottle
Langmeil - the oldest shiraz vines in the region (and also some of the oldest in the world), and some great wines. Great people as well; highly recommended!
Château Tanunda - also great people and wines. Very impressive estate and knowledgable people

We had a great day with great weather, great food and of course, great wines. Some of my favourite photos are below, but the whole set can be viewed on Flickr

Wolf Blass - German iconography all round!

Marshall and Barbara

Marshall and me aww :)

Our collection (not pictured: the bottle we polished off at lunch + Maggie Beer Spiced Pear Paste)

John's visit

2007-09-23T18:05:00.000+09:30

So my brother John came to Adelaide for a week for work.
While here, he attempted a Mega Schnitzel at the Mawson Lakes Hotel, as Ian had finished. However, as hard as John tried, he could not beat Ian's earlier effort.
It was great to have John here, and I miss him already!

Below are John's adventures with the Mega Schnitzel

The beginning...

Eating...

I cannot go on...

The end... this is as much as he could manage, and in all fairness, its a good deal more than I could manage!

Updates

2007-09-13T15:48:00.000+09:30

Well the next few weeks are crazy...

Tonight we're catching up with Laura (yay! drinking and talking!)
Next week John arrives for a week
Kim will be arriving with John and staying for two weeks
On the 22nd Barbara is coming
MAYBE Ian on the 26th
And on the 28th, Gabi is coming

Marshall and I were getting really lonely, but this many people in one hit?
Just kidding, we are amped.

Also, Marshall and I may be coming to Perth early October for work, but are going to try to hang around for two weekends to see everyone...

Gardening

2007-09-07T21:09:00.000+09:30

Ok so this isn't very exciting to most people, except our mums! Hey its been a slow week.
Last weekend Marshall and I did some major garden work as we haven't touched the garden in the three months that we have been here. Here are some before and after photos... oooh!

And yes I realise that everything looks greener in the before photos. Thats because
a) I took the before photos on a nice sunny day and the afters today around 6pm; and
b) we had frost this week which killed the grass :(

Before

After

Before

After

Our plans for the garden are to get rid of that horrible hills hoist, paint most of the brown black (over the next few weekends), plant some trees (lemons, lime, and i really really want a cherry blossom tree) and get more herbs (we currently only have parlsey, coriander, thyme and mint) and plant some vegies...

Marshall is too good at winning these things!

2007-09-07T12:51:00.000+09:30

Yesterday Marshall won me the toy below on one of those claw machine things.
He has easily won 20 toys at these things!

The name of it was interesting though...

She's done it again!

2007-09-07T12:37:00.000+09:30

Zelda has made it on StuffOnMyCat.com for the second time this year!

I didn't even realise it was her because I submitted that photo soooooooo long ago, and just appreciated the Tooheys Pils box before I noticed her name at the bottom.

Broken Rafters

2007-08-31T11:59:00.001+09:30

Broken Rafters 01
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

90km/hr winds and a 30.4C day (in August! Hottest August day ever!) tore off some of our rafters outside on the patio.
Not happy!

My trip to Perth

2007-08-23T15:45:00.000+09:30

Well the long awaited trip to Perth is over.
What a shame :(

I had such a good time though, thank you to everyone who came to the Queens on Friday (Charles and Amber, I got no photos of you two!!)
and thank you to John for letting me stay at his party, it was a great night/morning (got home at 6:30am) and I hope you had a great birthday.

And to everyone else I saw and dined with (Adele, your gorgeous!), see you all soon I hope!

Love Lena

Upcoming Peoples!
Kim in a few weeks
Barbara late September
Ian October
Karen & Jeremy January? (now that its in writing, you have to do it!)

Harmsway

2007-08-23T15:44:00.001+09:30

This is the up and coming band Harmsway, for which John is the drummer.

They have been playing together for about two months but sounded amazing!

Karen and Lena

2007-08-23T15:43:00.001+09:30

Karen is going to hate this photo, but stiff bikkies!

David and John

2007-08-23T15:41:00.001+09:30

David and John shortly after the bands performance.

David helped John setup everything :)

John's birthday

2007-08-23T15:29:00.001+09:30

The whole reason I went over to WA... my baby brother turned 21.
Here he is unwrapping his birthday present; a grey Metallica jumper. He also got ride the lightning lounge pants and master of puppets boxers.

Can you tell he loves Metallica?

Ian

2007-08-23T15:16:00.001+09:30

Ian pretending to smoke a pipe while wearing my glasses.

"good times" eh Ian?

Lena & Simon

2007-08-23T15:15:00.001+09:30

Dave tried to take around six photos of Simon & me, and this is the best one.
Simon was a little intoxicated :P

Ian & Lena

2007-08-23T15:13:00.003+09:30

Look at that jacket! Wow :)

Dave & Lena

2007-08-23T15:13:00.001+09:30

The lovely Dave and me at the Queens on Friday :)

10% Goal Reached!

2007-08-23T14:12:00.001+09:30

I've reached my 10% goal weight at Weight Watchers.
Actually I've gone past it already!
(When you reach your 10% goal, they give you this little gold star. Anyone who knows me know how much I love stars!)

Update from SA

2007-08-05T20:10:00.000+09:30

Wow its only 8 days 20 hours and 36 minutes til I leave for Perth!
(I love Firefox plugins)

So how is everyone?

I hope you are all well :)

Love Lena, Marshall and Zelda

New Couches

2007-08-05T20:04:00.001+09:30

New Couches
Originally uploaded by Lenaak
They finally arrived!

Our new 2+3 seater in "raisin" haha. Its awesome to finally have so much space; before we just had a small two seater sofa bed.

My Favourite Wine

2007-08-05T20:03:00.003+09:30

My Favourite Wine
Originally uploaded by Lenaak
Annies Lane 2005 Shiraz and 2005 Cabernet Merlot

Only $15/bottle or $14 when you buy six...

The Perfect Sunday

2007-08-05T20:03:00.001+09:30

The Perfect Sunday
Originally uploaded by Lenaak
A few weeks ago...

Pancakes; banana's, ice cream, maple syrup AND frangelico + DVD's!

My life has meaning...

2007-07-24T15:34:00.000+09:30

Since finding stuffonmycat.com I have made it my mission in life to get Zelda on there.

Well, its finally happened!!!

I need a new mission now :(

One last thing...

2007-07-15T18:34:00.000+09:30

I am coming to Perth on the 14th of August to the 20th... yay :)
Its my brothers 21st on the 18th, so I'm coming over to help him celebrate!

Let me know if you want to catch up on the Friday night and we'll do it!

Sound System

2007-07-15T18:32:00.001+09:30

Sound System
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

And last of the new purchases (we (I) have bought a lot recently, I know, but we (I) wanted to get everything we needed now so we can focus on putting more money into the mortgage in the next few years)...
Anyway! We got this new sound system/ DVD player because we saw it on special ($425!) from one of our suppliers, and couldn't pass it up.

Its absolutely the best thing ever. Its great finally having proper surround sound, but hands down the best thing is that we can stick in our USB stick with any file (.avi, .mp3, .jpg) and it just plays it! So all the shows, movies, etc we have on our computers, this thing plays, right off the USB stick! I have never been so impressed in my life.

Anna Barbara Dr_Joel

2007-07-15T18:26:00.001+09:30

Anna Barbara Dr_Joel
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Aww!

Marshall came back from Canberra yesterday, and from the many photos he took (pfft he took six) I wanted to post this one as Barbara is so cute wedged in the middle!

By the way, thanks for the presents Anna and Joel!
(Where are Belly and Puddles??)

Dining Table

2007-07-15T18:23:00.001+09:30

Dining Table
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Ok so dining tables aren't exciting, I realise that. But this was the last thing we needed to fill all the empty spaces. The one we had in the old house was round, so it didn't fit.
I love it, and my mum wanted to see it :)

Computer Room

2007-07-15T18:21:00.001+09:30

Computer Room
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Wooh new desk (the light coloured one)

And look at Marshall's sexy uggies - I love how he wears them tucked into his trackies (hahaha!)

Our House

2007-07-08T17:37:00.001+09:30

Our House
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Here is a photo of our house from the outside.

I want to replace all of the brown paint with a nice dark red, and we are going to put new edging around the garden.

Its been a while...

2007-07-08T17:19:00.000+09:30

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone, I know you are all hanging on our every word :P

On Tuesday, Marshall is off to Canberra to see Anna and Joel, as well as Dave and Sophie, Barbara and the whole Quirk clan. Joel is graduating on Tuesday.
Its going to be lonely here without him, as I have no friends :(

Kim will be visiting in the next few weeks, and Barbara is coming in August. It'll be great seeing some familiar faces :)

We ordered our new couch today, and it should be ready in a few weeks...

I know its not a terribley exciting blog entry, but hopefully in the next few weeks when we make some changes to the house, I'll post some more photos.

Wednesday July 27th

2007-06-27T21:29:00.000+09:30

So we’ve now been here a little bit over one month.

Ian was here last weekend, and a lot of beer and one very large schnitzel was consumed!

Work is going well. Quite busy!

We had our first power failure today, well we got home and the power was off. Lots of candles were lit, and of course, just as we were about to wear out the laptop battery and huddle under blankets for warmth (no gas heater without power!), the power came back on!

Well, not much else is happening. Life is normal!

I’ve had a few requests to put up some photos of the house, and I will try to do that this weekend. I originally wanted to only show the rooms when they are ready, but then there would nothing to compare it to later on… so please remember that it’s a work in progress.

Miss you all!

Lena and Marshall and Zelda

Mega Schnitzel

2007-06-24T13:07:00.001+09:30

Mega Schnitzel
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Ian's MEGA schnitzel at the Mawson Lakes Hotel. $20 for a schnitzel bigger than the plate, with your choice of sauce!

The beginning

2007-06-24T13:06:00.001+09:30

The beginning
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

He looks so full of hope and faith

Too much schnitzel!

2007-06-24T13:05:00.003+09:30

Too much schnitzel!
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Struggling through

I can't believe I ate the whooooole thing

2007-06-24T13:05:00.001+09:30

I can't believe I ate the whooooole thing
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

It took at least 20 minutes to get through it

Driving

2007-06-24T13:02:00.001+09:30

Driving
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Marshall driving in his car

Bloody Cold!

2007-06-15T14:39:00.001+09:30

Outside_Cold
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

This was taken around 8am this morning (from the warmth and safety of INSIDE the house). Its been very cold here... when we went to work at 9am today, it was only 5°C

Ummm

2007-06-15T14:37:00.001+09:30

Zelda_Mice
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Why can't you let me sleep in peace?

IKEA Kitty

2007-06-15T14:35:00.001+09:30

Zelda_Ikea_01
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Poor Zelda. She only managed to get halfway through the IKEA catalogue before she passed out from exhaustion.

Saturday!

2007-06-09T19:20:00.001+09:30

Hello everyone!

I wrote the below on Thursday, and want to post in the interest of blogging properly!

We have our gas connection now (yay!) and the futon (double yay!)

I will put new photos and update tomorrow when Marshall doesn't need to play cs.

Thursday June 7th

One week on…

We have been in Adelaide now for a little over a week.

It’s been bloody freezing here! No more than 15° during the day.
Tomorrow (Friday) we are finally getting a gas bayonet installed in the living room, so we can use our fabulous heater and clothes will dry in less than three days.
Also tomorrow (I hope) we are getting our new futon mattress, and the bedroom is all ready for it. We have been sleeping in the spare room so far and while it’s not bad, I’m ready to move into our master bedroom!
We still haven’t received our bond for the old place, so no new couch yet. This means that the I can’t finish organizing the living room, so this is the last room to do!

This weekend is a long weekend. We are planning to get into the roof as we have a phone connection in the computer room, which doesn’t seem to be connected to anything, so we have been running a cable through the house to the kitchen, which is horrible!

Work wise, things are going really well. Marshall and I are enjoying working in the Adelaide office, it’s a great environment with great people and there are some really interesting projects on the horizon (don’t worry Perth office, I miss you too!)

I’ll post some pictures on the weekend of the house, and what it looks like so far.

Miss you all!Lena, Marshall and Zelda (of course!)

Container

2007-06-09T19:19:00.000+09:30

Container
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Just to show people on what an angle the container was loaded and unloaded

Zelda trying to get in on gift basket action

2007-06-09T19:16:00.001+09:30

Gift Basket Zelda
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Gift Basket

2007-06-09T19:15:00.001+09:30

Gift Basket
Originally uploaded by Lenaak

Thanks Barbara!

28th May to 1st June

2007-06-01T18:58:00.000+09:30

As some/most of you will know, Marshall and I have bought our first house (a 3x1 (three bedroom, one bathroom)) at the age of 23.

We have been living in SA, oh, since Monday May 28th.

We previously lived in Western Australia where we pretty much grew up.

Many people have asked us why we chose SA considering the fact that we have never lived here. The main reasons are the house prices (a good $100,000 - $200,000 less than in WA) and also the fact that we have work here. Apart from that, things are pretty lonely at this stage. We have no friends or social networks.I don’t think it has really hit us yet that we are in a different state away from everyone and everything we know.

Our house is livable at the moment, but we are awaiting our new futon bed and our new couch, which means that the master bedroom and living room cannot be finalized. Another thing we discovered is that there is no gas heater in the living room. So far two people have come out to assess the place and provide us with quotations for putting a bayonet in, but this won’t happen until next week at the earliest, which means we have been freezing our asses off! Since we arrived on Monday, the weather has been nothing short of shitty. Rain, cold, more rain, more cold.

For those who are interested, below is an account of what has been happening up til now, Friday at 9:20pm. I am doing this mainly for my own purposes so anyone actually interested in reading this is an added bonus!

Monday
Wave goodbye to all our friends in Perth who came to see us off (thanks guys! *sniffle*)Arrive in Adelaide, pickup a very stoned cat (I didn’t want to sedate Zelda, but the vet thought it would be best considering she is crazy), and make our way to our office where my parents are (having stopped in Adelaide on their way back to Perth from Melbourne). Marshall picked up his car, and together with my mum, we pick up the keys and make our way to our own house. That’s right, the house that belongs to us (well the bank at this stage!)As none of our furniture has arrived, we buy an air mattress and sleeping bag and camp out in our master bedroom.

Tuesday
The container with all our furniture arrives.

We (Marshall, mum and I) spend the next three hours unloading it in the rain. We move everything to the garage and then onto the house. Once that is done, we start unpacking. The only things that are broken are the TV cover, a plate, and a bottle of Williams Birne Pear Schnapps. Not too bad considering how the container gets loaded on and off the truck!

Wednesday
This is the day my parents fly back to Perth. I drive them to the airport, and on the way home, I stop by IKEA (I only spent $100!). The rest of the day is spent unpacking and making our first meal.

Thursday
Marshall went to work today while I unpacked. I got the computer room finished today which is a great achievement as the shelf we have in there is a fucking pain in the ass to assemble by yourself using a 5kg dumbell as a hammer.

Friday
Mainly unpacking and shopping. We go to Salisbury shopping centre, and find that first impressions are deceiving. Ok so it’s a pretty impressive shit hole, but in among the crap we discover a cheap game store and continental deli (German and other foods) that make the trip worthwhile.

Around 3pm, there is a knock on the door, and a gift basket from Marshall’s mum arrives (thanks Barbara!) it’s a truly surprise to receive and unpack, and even Zelda gets in on the gift basket vibe.

Over the course of the day we have many fights but its to be expected when everything else has been going so well.

We have a Bunnings store just down the road from us, and at 9:31pm on Friday June 1st, our visit tally stands at
Marshall: five visits (two in one day)
Lena: three

Things to look forward too:
Finishing unpacking
Ian’s visit on June 21st
the new futon (next week) and couch (once bond money from rental property comes into account)