Day 7 (13th), Almost been here a week! How time has flown. After another very much appreciated sleep in this morning, me and Chloe thought we should really start to do something about our fitness (well more on my part; the gym hasn't seen my face for a while). So we went for a brisk jog around the park behind the house. It wasn't too painful, stress on the 'too' because it was far from enjoyable, felt like someone had punched the middle of my chest from the inside out. During the run I was very aware of the magpies which kept appearing occasionally, especially since Dianne told us about her feeding them cheese this time of year to prevent them from trying to swoop for your eyeballs!! Oh yeh and I had to undertake the duty of feeding some cheese to two magpies this morning (due to Dianne's absence), when one landed on the window ledge squarking at me as I was unloading the dishwasher. It was a case of now or never, I thought if I didn't feed it, then I would be its number one eyeball target baaahhh! I pitifully tossed some cheese cubes in their direction when the cheeky b*****s wouldn't wait for me to line it up on the fence like I saw Dianne casually do. My trauma for the day.
Also visited mine and Chloe's Nanna and Grandad who live around a 45 minute walk from Terry and Dianne's. It was lovely to see them and felt like Chritmas having left with bags full of treats including: scones, wooly jumpers, slippers, a bunch of bananas and some other bits and bobs.
I got to cook tonight woooo, although it took me twice as long as it should, being hindered by locating utensils etc in draws and cupboards and not knowing how to work the oven at first.

Day 8, Today we took a new route on our journey into the city. Instead of getting dropped at the station by Dianne, we got the bus to the station, something I feel quite proud of; gaining a smidgen bit more independance. We really wanted to see some art, so headed for the National Gallery only to find the floors with free admission (most) were closed on Tuesdays. We won't make the same mistake. Without feeling too hampered by this minor set back, we went to the Arts Centre instead about a 10 min walk away. Here we saw some contemporary art, some good, some absolute crap, such as, the green canvas with singular black stripe running down the middle.. sigh. Then moved onto a famous Australian sculptor, John Davies, inspired by the ever-changing environment throughout his lifetime, conveying the finite availability of the earth's resources. His subjects were mainly fish, featuring themes of shorelines and rivers. Different to other sculpture I've seen in the past, nonetheless, very interesting and intellectually stimulating! We also did some serious but necessary stuff today, like set up an Australian bank account and get a medicard, suprisingly not that difficult, phew.

Day 9, Slept through my alarm this morning, could be tiredness as a result of all the walking we've been doing, or because i've been sleeping with a woolly hat on.. either way snatching those extra 20 mins were guilt free! Second time lucky today for the National Gallery yay, the floors were open. We started on the second floor looking at European painting, sculpture and "decorative arts" (ceramic plates and goblets etc) from 14th-16th Centuries. Some of the ceramic ware didn't really float my boat but there were ones depicting Greek mythology, which I like - stories! We went for some lunch in the gallery's cafe and although it was a teensy bit spensive my sandwich was definately worth it; pumpkin, feta and rocket in ciabatta and wait for it.. toasted! Perfection. After lunch we went back to the first floor for a peek in the portrait gallery. One painting which struck a cord, was the Madonna in prayer, by Sassoferrato http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/ngv-collection/artist-a-z?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZ3d3cubmd2LnZpYy5nb3YuYXUlMkZjb2xhcHAlMkZwdWIlMkZhcnRpc3RzJTJGMTI0MTglMkZkZXRhaWxzJmFsbD0x ok this DOES NOT do it justice whatsoever but it was absolutely transfixing in the flesh. On the second floor we saw some 17th-18th Dutch and Flemish painting, then onto 'The Rembrandt Cabinet' that strangely enough didn't feature any Rembrandts; so me and Chloe thought maybe these paintings were actually his personal collection. Come 4 ish our little legs were jiggered and we decided to come back another time to see other rooms we havn't covered, also to see the 'European Masters' exhibition. Before catching the train back to base, we browsed a booze place and got some wine for tea. Settled for some red, Banrock shiraz, nice. Watched some films then tottered off to bed, yawn.

Day 10, Not a very eventful day, although, one that brought us one step closer to getting to know the area. We heard and got a leaflet from our Nanna about the shopping mall Eastlands. It was quite easy to find to our relief, and only about half an hour walk away. Because we're only taking away from our funds at the moment, we're trying to save, and thus, our purchases today were almost too boring to mention. Basically we stalked out the cheapo shops like Big W, Woolworths and K-Mart, andshopped around to find the cheapest prices for the toiletries we needed.. I did say this wasn't going to be interesting. To top it off lunch was slightly disappointing too; Chloe's sandwich and my salad weren't as tasty as they looked (deceiving!). We've vowed not to go back to this particular cafe. Our not so exciting day was saved by a dinner invite from Nat's Mum for later that evening! Graham and Nat very kindly picked us up and took us to Nat's Mum's place, where we met Nat's Mum, Tess, and their very friendly and excitable dog Tia. The meal was superb, we had one lamb dish, one pork and another vegetable, all of which created that evening, not from any specific recipe! Yum. We hope to see Tess again very soon hehe.

Day 11, Nanna's Birthday. That reminds me, we did get one fun purchase shopping yesterday; some flowers for Nanna - hurrah. She was thrilled with her flowers and I think she had a nice day because we had a lovely lunch in a cafe/restaraunt/bar called Yarra Blue. Today lunch was not disappointing, yay, I had a toasted foccacia sandwich with feta, cashew nut pesto, sundried tomatoes and spinach - I am totally loving the food so far. We had a cuppa at Nanna and Grandad's and looked through some photo albums' Grandad had put together, before heading back to the house. Once back we went for a wee run and although the pain is still very much there, I like to think its getting slightly easier..?

Day 12, Due to our lack of local knowledge, like closing times of the bank and post office, a couple of errands we set out to do today didn't get done. But every cloud has a silver lining and in this instance, its more acquired information! We made some cookies from a recipe I got from tinternet, that were actually shortbread labouring under the wrong name. Anyway, I think they were appreciated by Millie and her boyfriend Eugene, whose leaving party we went to and made the cookies/shortbread for. The party was fun, we met some of Millie's and Eugene's friends' who were all really nice. I also drank too much and mixed my drinks so enough said about that the better, although, it doesn't take away from the lovely evening enjoyed by all.. I think.

Day 13, Euh to the extreme. Graham and Nat kindly put me and Chloe up for the night after the party and much to my horror I had thrown up in their house after the taxi ride back. We went for a mega tasty BLAT at the same place as last weekend, again incredibly yummy, and then got dropped back at the house where I slept off my disgusting hangover. The best thing about my day (aside from the beautiful BLAT) was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the beginning.

Day 14, This week has been dedicated to searching for employment, so we thought where better to start than at a recruitment agency aka job centre. We headed for Serena Russo, filled in some forms and booked an appointment for the next day. We didn't really know what the process of becoming registered with a recruitment agency entailed, and because they only take your details on the first visit, we had the rest of the day to kill. We did need some food shopping, although didn't need several hours to get it. So we wandered Eastland shopping mall aimlessly, bought some lunch and decided to go to the cinema. We saw Salt with Angelina Jolie which I've been meaning to see. Anyway, I really enjoyed Jolie's misleading and elusive role and questioned which side she was on more than once.