Settling in

QUT, Brisbane, 24th August 2004

Been a while since I've written anything. I am sitting in a campus coffee bar in Queensland University of Technology (QUT) where Jenny is doing her nursing degree. She had an exam this morning, I went for a wander round the town centre. It's really a pretty tiny city centre for a place with about 1.6 million, but there are lots of satellite town centres around it with shopping centres and things so I suppose no-one can really be arsed to brave the traffic when the same stuff is available closer to home. The city botanic gardens are just beside the campus, I had a quick wander round them this morning as well. Historically they used to be rainforest, and the Aborigines did the hunter/gatherer thing around these parts. Since whitey came by and pillaged the locals, it has been a testing area for growing new crops before unleashing them on the fairly fragile Ozzie ecosystem – I think a lot of the crops here like tea and coffee were grown there first.

The chick has another exam this afternoon so I've just been drinking coffee and taking it easy. We went down to the coast yesterday and are staying the week there other than this trip back for the exams but it's only about an hour away so it's no great hassle. Jenny's keen to do some triathlon as she was a good runner in her schooldays – I'm certainly willing to give it a shot too, but I have a few pounds to lose to get back down to my racing weight. Cycling before my trip across has certainly helped slightly but there's a long way to go.

Have secured a place to stay in Stafford, a suburb on the North of Brisbane. Seems like a great spot, and just realised the other night that the balcony has a view of the city lights at night as we're most of the way up a hill and are higher than the neighbouring balconies. There are three double bedrooms which is ideal for family visits, and the place is fully air-conditioned too which is also very handy for the family, especially as the summer here is so hot. Obviously the first thing my mum said when I told her was to complain about the lack of swimming pool. She's so practical. Most of the lets here are unfurnished, which is a bit different from back home. It's a good idea I suppose from the point of view that you can get furniture before finding a permanent place – I was skint for months after I bought my flat in Edinburgh while I furnished it, and I think a lot of the kids here start in their teens on their 'Glory Box' which, although it sounds a bit porno, I am assured is just a box of stuff for their new home when they finally move in, and they can keep getting stuff when they rent before they get a mortgage.

Move in date is this weekend, so I have a week to settle in before it's back to the grind at Logan and Beaudesert Hospital Accident and Emergency department. It'd be nice at this point to have a working visa too. My medical was only a couple of weeks ago and it wouldn't get sent over until my blood tests were back, so I think the hold-up is purely the mail. Immigration have everything else at least so they can hopefully just post it out once that comes through as OK. I had a wander around the department a week or so ago and it looks fine, but they don't see too much trauma which is a shame. I have a book to read which I think I'll leaf through next week. I should be able to steal Jenny's car for a few weeks until money starts coming back in, then I can find something of my own, but everyone made fun of me when I suggested a scooter. Probably a good idea as the Ozzies are surprisingly bad drivers. Really awful. They all tailgate, overtake on the wrong side, go through red lights, drink and generally drive badly and aggressively. Bizarre considering the reputation of being so laid back. I think my limbs would probably end up shorter or less in number if I took the moped option so it'll just have to be the stuck-in-traffic-but-whole alternative.