Marshs Down Under

Just had to come inside, the weather is definately looking up – I know you will all be so pleased for us!!! We went to the Melbourne show on Sunday and had to go on the log flume to cool down, we put Steve at the front and he got rather wet! It was sooo busy though, couldn’t get around without bumping into people, then it was reported in the newspaper that Sunday was the busiest day for 10 years – 80,000  people attending. What is it about us that attracts records – wettest & coldest winter, busiest show etc…. We had a good time never the less.

Went to Docklands on Wed with Maria, but the Harbour town side this time , it was really nice and another lovely day, had lunch ( and a bottle of wine) sat out in the sun overlooking the harbour. Went to Costco also, still feel like I will  be in Haydock when I walk outside – they are all set out the same!  Had to stay home yesterday waiting for my new leather corner sofa to arrive, it is very nice.

Went to doctors again today to get Ellie’s blood routine blood results, he also did vitamin D levels (or should I say Viy-tamin!) They were rock bottom, as I’m sure mine & Steve’s are also as you need sunshine to activate it, and we worked out that the last time we were exposed to any sunshine was last Sept – 12 months ago!!  So it is vit D and sunshine prescribed for us!!!  Just as well that it’s been 27.0c and clear blue skies today then, just got back from walking on the beach- the housework can wait! The forecast is for much of the same up until Wednesday 🙂

I am starting with the district nurses next week, Mon & Tue are policies/procedures in the office, Wed I get to see patients – I may even get to see a leg ulcer – woohoo!

Steve has just sent a text saying he may have to go to Sydney all week on Mon, getting back Fri tea time, which just happens to be my birthday! Not to worry – we will just go out Saturday instead!!

Well I have completed my induction for the Brighton hospital, 2 full days and 4 hours on Wed for “overseas nurses”.  There was a lot of welcome to Australia type fun, got to try vegemite (as bad as marmite)  and learn some Aussie slang. I was of course the only white person there, others were Indians and Phillipinos – most of whom had been to Ireland first,  then come over to Aus, I think Ireland did a big recruitment campaign, but they all couldn’t stand the weather! So strange to hear Indians speak with an Irish lilt. They were sponsored by the hospital to come over but a very poor package and only get 2 weeks accommodation.  They were all really nice people, some have left their children behind too (and their husbands), only theirs are very young. I have put starting work at the hospital on hold for a few weeks as it doesn’t make sense to do 2 supernumerary shifts, then not be able to work there again for 2-3 weeks as I start with the district nurses next Mon and they want me for 3 weeks to get used to the job.

I am very impressed with the pay they offer, basic pay plus a 25% increase in lieu of leave entitlements as on casual bank, and I can apply for another 6% increase as I have a post graduate diploma, so should be on $45 per hour(25 pounds)!!! Another perk that the government have initiated to encourage nursing as a job is salary packaging. Basically you can nominate up to $16.000 of your salary to pay school fees, loan repayments, health insurance etc and you don’t pay any tax on this amount, so its a really good deal.

We have just been out to buy a barbecue, so we are real Aussies now! A big gas one with a side burner as we keep getting told you’ll not want to cook indoors in the summer with the oven on, it gets too hot. The aussies even bbq in the winter and just take the food inside to eat!

We have also ordered a leather corner sofa for the family room as it is very big and empty, and all Aussie houses seem to have 2 living areas -family and formal so even if we leave this disaster of a house we will still use it. No further news on house yet, will speak to agent Mon and if no progress will start formal hearing process.

It’s been like a ghost town today, the grand final of Aussie rules football is on and there is no-one around! All the shops in the village have closed early so they can watch it, huge disappointment a sit ended in a draw – which has never happened in the history of AFL. There is no extra time or anything, they just replay it all over again next weekend, there is outcry now as the tickets were $170 each. Ste was on waiting list for a ticket so he may get chance to go next week now!

We are off to the Royal Melbourne show tomorrow, its a huge outdoor show which has been running for over 40 years with animals, foods, wines and rides etc so hope the weather stays good. We went to Melbourne zoo last weekend which was really god, got to see kangaroos,koalas and the 9 day old baby elephant which was very cute. We have also booked a 4 day break to Sydney in December when the boys come over, reserved a 3 bed/2 bath apartment right in the city with fantastic views so cant wait for that.

My ankle still isn’t right, I can walk on it ok but if I do even a little run it lets me know about it- Just keep plodding on. Well, better go and get ready, girls night out tonight!

Well I finally started work at the local hospital. I was supposed to be supernumerary, but as usual ended up doing allsorts and muddling through! Worked on a medical ward on first day, quite a lot of elderly but wasn’t too bad, day after was a surgical/orthopeadic ward,  busier with people going to and coming from theatre with tubes everywhere, had a headache when I got home and fell asleep at 10.00. The porter and ward receptionist are both from Liverpool!  I’m thinking that I’m too old and passed it for that kind of work, when you have not done ward work for 12 years also makes it much harder. The staff were all lovely and welcoming, one of the wards is closed for renovations the staff are working on the other wards, so not needing much casual bank staff, which is just as well because the other hospital has contacted me to start on Mon & Tue for induction and Wed am for drug awareness, as many of the drugs used have a different name. This set up seems very professional, they have even given me shifts for the next month! Finally, the district nurses phoned today for me to start in 2 weeks, I’m going to have to time things to perfection, multi tasking!! A few nurses have said I may be better doing hospital at home, bit more acute than district nursing, but I’ll see how the district nursing goes first.

Still having house problems, we gave the landlord 14 days notice to correct all the problems, he hasn’t so we requested an inspector to call to do an assessment. He called today and has given us some advice, we don’t have to find new tenants or pay the rent until new tenants move in like the landlord said, we can go on a month by month contract, ready to move when a nice house becomes available, and we can go to arbitration to request compensation for the past 3 months living in this expensive disaster of a house! Not sure we would win any compensation but it’s worth a try. The landlord came around last night to see when he can do some jobs, to little too late… So looks like we may be moving again.

The weather is still not great, apparently it has been 120 days since the temperature was over 20.0c, which is unheard of. (Isn’t it 120 days since we arrived??) It is still raining but not as much, parts of Victoria have been very badly flooded, with the emergency services rescuing people throughout the night. One lady was saying her brother is a farmer in the North and the creek that runs through his land has been dry for 14 years, now flowing again. There are signs of the temperatures to come, I sat in the back garden on a sunny afternoon and it measured 29.0c – Pheww, had to go and get a hat on.

There are some occasions in Aus that remind you how far behind they are in some aspects of life downunder. Internet shopping is absolutely rubbish, just showing a picture of a catalogue and click on a corner to turn the page, only about 10 pages. They just want you to go into store so you can do a deal, bought a new LED computer monitor and negotiated $70 off the price. Can’t imagine doing that in Currys! Had to take back a digibox as it just kept turning the volume up high randomly, they said they would have to send it off for repair as we had purchased it over 14 days ago. We told them this was not acceptable and they grudgingly exchanged it! How many times have you just taken stuff back months later for an easy exchange or refund in the UK! They even do layby’s still. Ellie has never heard of this, putting things aside for up to 3 months until you can afford to pay for it, but widely practiced here. It is also very strange to see so many shops still selling knitting & sewing stuff, lots of fabric and embroidery also, and they have just started putting Xmas trees and gifts in the big stores! Didn’t think they would be as early here, but it’s probably started in the UK also.

Ellie is now on school holidays for 2 weeks, hope the weather picks up, we keep getting told it will anyday now. Footy finals are on now, then cricket season begins in a few weeks (Oh joy!)

Well it was 4 months ago on the 4th May that we arrived in Melbourne! The time has passed quickly and it is finally starting to feel like spring is here. The temperature is slowly climbing, getting to 18.0 deg now, I actually sat in the back garden on the lounger, had to put a hat on as my face was burning and thought ‘it’s hot!’  The Aussies keep laughing at us and cant wait for us to experience the real summer,  it is the equivalent of early March here now. True to form though, the rain is still falling, out in the countryside they are on flood watch, houses are being evacuated as rivers burst their banks and we had a real storm here on Saturday night, very heavy rain and winds, quite a few trees down. The next biblical disaster is now pending, you will never guess….. A plague of locust is expected! I thought they were winding us up but no- it has been on the news, it has the potential to devastate the crops out in the country and we have to report any sightings, unbelievable!!! I don’t know what will be next….

We had a house party on Saturday night to celebrate our wedding anniversary, both Aussies and Brits, I did wonder whether they would mix but they all got on really well and didn’t go home until 2am. Everyone is really generous and brought food and wine, we got lots of lovely presents also, a very enjoyable evening but not the same without our families. Don’t know whether you ever get used to that feeling, probably not,one of the disadvantages of moving to the other side of the world. The other problem is not knowing the sounds of the area. Sent the dog to her bed in the utility the other night to find her standing outside the room, tried to get her to go inside and she wouldn’t budge. When I went into the room there was a very scary noise, every 15 seconds there was a ghostly grunting noise coming from outside, so I to reversed out of the room and called Steve, who went ‘what the **** is that!” I asked the girls on the park the next morning who laughed and said it was the mating call of the possum, frightened me to death!! I’m sure we’ll get used to it eventually!

Well, we had a lovely weekend away, everything went without a hitch and the accommodation was absolutely lovely, it was a little cottage set in 8 acres of countryside, but only 2 min drive to the town. We left on Saturday morning and drove through the city and then headed North, not a traffic jam or roadworks anywhere, just 2 or 3 lane highways all the way,only seeing an occasional car when getting into the countryside. We drove straight to the spa and spent 2 hours in the ‘sanctuary’, with its different pools, steam rooms etc, then went in for our treatments. It was a lovely, relaxing experience.

On Saturday we drove into town and had brunch, then got geared up in our lake district walking gear and went for a walk in the ‘bush’. We had to drive through a fjord to get to the starting point, it was quite fast flowing and I nearly had a heart attack, convinced we were going to get washed down stream! All the locals were very excited as the waterfalls and a tourist attraction called the ‘blow hole’, where the gold prospectors blew a hole in the rock to divert a river, have been dry for the past 5 years, but were in full flow when we got there. The woman in the tourist information said excitedly  ‘the drought finally broke in May’, I know we said, we brought the weather with us, we are responsible!! It has officially been recognised as the coldest winter for 11 years and the wettest for 12 years, how great is that – Ggrrr!!!!

Sunday morning we went to a farmers market near the little old train station, there was a stall selling eggs in various sizes, including a size I haven’t seen in the UK – bum buster size!! (poor chicken eh!) We had a lovely meal  on Sunday night, all using produce within a 10 kilometer range, even the wine. Australia is fiercely protective of its local industries and proudly advertise anything that is Aussie produced, which is quite nice to see. Monday we went to see a monument to the ‘lost children’, a sad story about three little boys age 7,6 and 4 ( two of them brothers), they went exploring on a winters day in 1867 whilst their parents worked the farm, but got lost. The whole town came together to search for them every day for 2 weeks, but could not find them. Eventually their bodies were found 3 months later, huddled inside a tree for shelter. They had walked 17 kilometers in total, and were only 500m from a farm where they were found.We were going to walk this route, but it has not been re-opened yet following the fires last summer, strangely the fire went through the monument but did not damage the cairn or plaque. (See pics on Flickr). Daylesford was a lovely place and we will go back, still lots to see, and we saw kangaroos. Two want hopping past our front window, didn’t see any koalas though, we will probably go to a wildlife park when Sam & Tom come over. So it’s back to normality now.

I believe all three of my potential places of work have requested references now, including the district nurses, so you just know they are all going to want me to start at the same time, going to need to use my time management skills! We are going to need the money though because we have decided to send Ellie to the Grammar school, think it will be good for her and she is looking forward to going. Just waiting for her to get in from school then off to the mall as it is fathers day on Sunday here.

You will be please to know that it is the first day of spring here – and it’s raining! The reservoirs are 50% full now and they have lifted the water restrictions today, you can wash your car or water your garden whenever you want! They hope never to reinstate them, as the huge desalination plant is due to open soon also, I think it has taken a few years to build so that is good news. I wonder if they will sack the ‘water police’ now?

Well, had my interviews. Mon was at our local hospital 5 min drive away, quite informal – more of a chat really. They seemed really happy and offered me a position, saying they would ensure I had a consistent ward placement with a preceptorship, and I believe they have actually requested references already ( unlike the district nurses who are still dragging their feet!). Tue I went to a hospital just off the beach road in Brighton, lovely hospital with a great atmosphere. The nursing officer was lovely and found time to give me a guided tour. It is quite new with the older part recently renovated, mostly single rooms, with a few double rooms only. The rooms were large, LCD  TV’s and all ensuite, each had a fully electronic bed with memory foam mattress, really lovely. Here comes the best bit – for every 4-5 patients there is one nurse!!!  Bit better than the one nurse to 10+ patients in the UK. Seems like a nice place to work, the charge nurse was Irish and really impressed with my portfolio etc and they offered me a position to! Once references come back, I should be able to start working. The charge nurse told me that there is also a specialist leg ulcer service in Mentone, 5 min away, so may investigate that also.

Ellie has just found out that she has been offered a place at Mentone Girls Grammar School, one of the top performing schools in the area. She sat a test 2 weeks ago, got called back for interview on Tue, then got offered a place! It is a part scholarship which covers 50% of the fees, which makes it too good an offer to turn down really. The maximum class size is 13 children, but she will have to wear a bright red blazer though! We have to give them an answer by next Tue so have to have a good look at the finances.

Been to the estate agents this morning to discuss our options about the house. The weather has been cold lately and the heating just isn’t warming the house, despite the $400 dollar electricity bill we have just received for the past 6 weeks!! They have suggested that we complete a form giving the landlord 14 days to correct the problems, then it goes further if not rectified, so we went for a coffee, completed the form and gave it to the agent. Like all the Aussies have said (who know how hot the summers get) if it is not heating, then it isn’t going to cool either in summer, and we will be roasting. The agent let slip that the unit isn’t powerful enough to heat a house this size. The lighting still does it’s own thing, still no broadband/phone/TV,  just 7 channels to choose from, freeview TV is rubbish here, so that’s to name just a few of the problems. The agent said she felt the best way forward was to ask the landlord to release us from the contract so we can find somewhere new, but cant see him doing that, he is a financial adviser and wont be happy seeing his income reduced. Funny though, I have taken 3 phone calls in the last hour from repair men wanting to arrange visits including the heating people, so he is obviously rattled now.

Thank you all for your best wishes for our silver wedding anniversary, it was really nice receiving all the cards from the UK, makes you a little sad also though. Looking forward to our weekend away, the weather is forecast to be sunny and 19.0c, first day of spring on Sept 1st – yippee!!

Been a bit of a miserable week weather wise here, quite a lot of rain. Apparently its been the wettest Winter for 10 years! Today has been a beautiful day though, 17.0c and clear blue skies.

Went to Brighton yesterday, it is about a 10 min drive from here, toward the city. It is a great place to live because its only 15 min to the city and has a lovely beach, but the house prices reflect this, $3-4 million for a house, $1,500 -2,000 per week for rent in a nice house! It is the beach that has the bright painted beach huts, these are sold for as much as you can buy a house in the UK. I have put some pics on Flickr. Visited a place called the Carribean market today, near the Dandenong ranges. A bit tacky but a good market, you know the kind- selling copied DVD’s and Windows operating systems and security etc, good makeup stall selling MAC and Bobby Brown.

Haven’t heard anything back from the district nurses following my interview last week, went well though and they asked when I could start, just waiting for references. Got a phone call from Sandringham hospital, a small hospital (like Leigh was), inviting me for interview, and also a phone call from a hospital in Brighton, which has a cancer unit. So from going to having no feedback from anyone, I have an interview Mon& Tue, then a phone call from the GP practice that Carolines friend manages, saying they have a girl going on maternity leave, so would I be interested!  My god, what will I do???

Ankle not really much different, can walk on it a little easier, I do think it is a stress fracture, but am just leaving it now to give it time. The physio strapped it up and has helped with the swelling, walking on it as much as it allows me to and ice when needed! Should be better in a few weeks hopefully.

It’s Xenas 7th birthday tomorrow, she will become a senior! Our 25th Anniversary Tue – I have an interview! Steve is working anyway, our celebration is at the weekend when we go away, looking forward to that. Steve was going to have to fly to Perth on our anniversary, but doesn’t have to now.

Lots of TV coverage about the election, hung parliament here now, bit like de ja vu! It is mandatory to vote here, they use schools but always on a Saturday. The Aussies haven’t been very positive about this election, both parties have similar policies, but they know a subject Aussies are passionate about is immigration, especially from Asia, and the illegals of course, so Tony Abbot has promised to stop the boats. For every boat that is stopped, he personally will make the decision whether to send them back. Julia Gillard wants to built a new detention centre to house them.  Human rights are starting to creep in, but are not well tolerated by the people here! Quite happy to turn them round and send them on their way!

Just thought I’d share my experience’s today that prove it is a small world. Went to the local butcher and got chatting to him, he asked where I was from, usual reply – Manchester, because everyone seems to know it (Man U), where specifically he asks, so I tell him. Oh, I was born in the first house after the Hare & hound pub near Billinge, I lived in Spring View for years! Then the DHL man turns up, you have a parcel from Warrington he announces, I moved over here from Farnworth! Talking to Steve and he says I’ve just been chatting to one of the guys from Sydney, he married a girl from near Manchester, where about’s he asks, can you believe Leigh!! They went back for a holiday last year, so he has seen Leigh (no comment!). How weird…

Xena is back to her normal self now, no more coughing, still lazy though, she is getting on now though, will be 7 on 23rd Aug.

Weather still rain showers, wind and a little sun every now and again. Steve went to watch Melbourne storm on Sunday, we went into the city to a museum of moving image, got to play on an original space invader machine and the first Mario game on nintendo 64, like going back 25 years, at last a computer game I could play! Pity they didn’t have the Binatone tennis game that you plugged into the TV, can you imagine the kids being shown that! Also went to the new David Jones store, marketed as being a  mix of Selfridges on Bloomingdales in new York, was very nice but expensive of course.

Our parcel of stuff that we couldn’t get in the case when we came over has just arrived, I’m leaving it for Ellie to open as its got her books etc that she has been waiting for. Sam and Tom will be bringing other bits over for us, will have to compile a list for them, but he refuses to bring M&S underwear in case he gets stopped and they think he is a knicker mule!!!

The foot is not much better, went to see the physio yesterday. He thinks it is a stress injury but not sure if fractured so has strapped it up for support and did some deep tissue massage to calf area as muscles going into spasm around ankle, pretty painful! I’m trying to walk ‘normally’ on it for short periods, but not to hobble as instructed- I’m trying. Going back Tue.

Xena was a little better, but then was sick again this morning, seems ok in herself though, went for a walk and she had a run around, has not had a good appetite though today, so we’ll see how she goes.

Had quite a storm on Wed night. Lots of power lines and tree branches down, flash flooding in some parts but not here luckily, had quite a bit of rain though. There are signs of spring now, the camellias have been in flower for a few weeks now, the cherry blossom is just emerging and daffodils are in the shops, seems strange seeing that in August!

Still hadn’t heard anything off the district nurses so decided to go straight to the top. I phoned the manager that I went to see all those weeks ago, told her that I hadn’t heard anything off HR yet, she wasn’t impressed and asked me to call them whilst she phoned their manager to complain. I spoke to the lady that was supposed to be dealing with it, she apologised profusely and I have a meeting with them both on Tuesday at 11 o’clock, so hopefully will get some work! Have to take my passport and visa etc to prove I can work.

Ellie went into the city yesterday with 4 other girls as part of an extended project. They had to make their own way there on the train, then had visits planned to numerous places including the “Age’ newspaper (like the Times) and radio stations as part of exploring media in Melbourne.They had a teacher they could contact for support if needed, but did well and enjoyed it.

We have decided to have a house party on the 4th Sept, a kind of house warming/anniversary party, so you are all invited to come! Have been looking at the cost of flights to UK for next July if we come back for a hol, pretty pricey at the moment, 1200+ each, so hope they will get cheaper!

Well, had a fun day today – spent at hospital and vets! My ankle got much worse and very painful and swollen,decided to go to the nurse led centre at the local hospital. They had a look and along with the history decided it is probably a stress fracture of the ankle, as the ligaments aren’t painful, just the bone, they did x-rays but said it would be unlikely to show up as the fractures  are very fine. It didn’t show up, so said the only way to detect it is by nuclear medicine, so I am going to rest it for a week and see if it settles, if not then have to have further tests. Did well though, only one hour from start to finish, would still be in Wigan now!

Xena is also poorly, she has kennel cough. Started with a weird barking cough, I suspected kennel cough though because Michele’s dog got it one week out of quarantine even though it had been vaccinated. The vet explained that the vaccine in the UK is different to the strains of kennel cough in Aus. Xena hasn’t been near her dog, but must have caught it off a dog on the footy field whilst out walking. He said it should pass within a week or two, but just to monitor her.

The weather has been nice and sunny today you’ll be glad to hear, better go and elevate my foot, boring week ahead!