Monday 13 July
I started CRT work (casual relief teaching). It's unusual to start teaching on the first day back, but I wasn't complaining. The school was 8 minutes down the road and you only have to be there 30 minutes before school starts, so I had to leave home at 8.15am. I used to have to be at a school by then in England, I could definitely get used to this.

 I had a great first day of teaching and was surprised to find that marking was not as intense as intense as I am used to. It would seem a 'tick' on a page constitutes the page marked. Some of the books hadn't been marked in weeks / months - there were no dates on the pages, so I wasn't sure.

Thursday 16 July
I worked again covering an art teacher - it was a fantastic day at a fantastic school. I was used to having to take my iPad with me for something to do during lunch, as teachers didn't usually talk to you if you were a substitute. The school on Monday and today had the friendliest teachers - I spent both lunch times chatting to everyone and felt like I was part of the school staff, not just a filler for the day.

We had some friends over for dinner, with Edd having cooked a delicious stew. It was great to catch up with everyone and thank the Melbourne girls for all their help with our move; it also turned out that Edd was a pretty good cook, something that was openly noted by all. Especially me. Note to self: Edd can cook, I can clean, this is a good combination.

Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 July
We went to a pub for a drink with one of the Melbourne girls, who was there with her friends celebrating a birthday, on Saturday night. We felt too old for the crowd, but there was rugby on SA vs Aus, so we sat and watched that as well as the people. (No, that was not a try. Yes, it was a totally biased decision). There was also the Aussie rules version on one of the other TV's; I'd never seen it before and decided South African men would never play it. There's no way they'd be caught dead running around in a tank top and hot pants.There were 2 girls in super tight, short dresses, that made for particularly good entertainment - the make up was going to be taken off with a chisel and a mallet at the end of the night, followed shortly after by the ridiculous dresses being peeled off / cut off with a box cutter.

We had a delicious Sunday lunch, which we made after we got home from Sandringham Yacht Club. We checked it out, while having a glass of wine and for the first time since we'd arrived in Melbourne, I felt content. Edd got a new member pack that we took home and went through with a fine toothed comb. We were going to have to wait for his licenses to arrive the next week, but he was going to join a yacht's crew and get back into his first love. (Yes, I am aware that it isn't me, no I do not mind that he was in love with an expansive body of water long before I came long and still is). 

Monday 20 July
I worked again, I was getting work a week in advance now.

Tuesday 21 July
I took the day off as our stuff was delivered. We woke up to blood on the bed covers - Edd's nose had bled, so our bedding had to go in the washing machine so that it didn't stain. They came at 10.30am, but we'd been up since 8am getting the room ready - we'd removed all the furniture, vacuumed, scrubbed, reorganised the bit of stuff that was in the walk in cupboard and even washed the windows.

They started bringing things in and packed our clothes and shoes boxes in our bathroom, with the rest of the stuff going in the lounge. We couldn't find the lounge in the end, as the boxes made a wall across the room - great for a fortress tent, we just needed a sheet. The shipping company unpacked our chests of drawers, the tall boy, bedside tables, the TV stand and assembled the bed; the amount of packaging that was removed was mind boggling and my first question to them was: 'is this stuff recycled?' It is, thank goodness. Hug a bunny, save a tree - 4 months in South East Asia shows you exactly what happens to rubbish that isn't recycled. It truly is devastating.

 It was the most amazing feeling going to sleep in our own bed again, after nearly 5 months of random other beds. We also finally had more than 3 things to wear, which was a relief - my biggest fear was being sent to the same school more than twice the week before, as I only had 2 outfits. 

Friday 24 July
I ended up working every day, except the one I took off. I worked out that CRT's are on any and all yard duties and mostly only get 30 minutes break in the day as that is all they are legally entitled to. On the bright side, marking is a breeze and I'd rather work during lunch and go home earlier; I used to mark in lunch to do exactly that, so the activity changed, the end result is the same.

It has started to become increasingly hard for Edd to sit at home with nothing to do. The agencies he signed up with were not delivering, so he ended the week with a renewed energy to be his own advocate and get his own job. Going over their heads and avoiding agency fees would be his revenge.

We also went to a Florence and the Machine concert on the Wednesday night - we'd gone into the ticket lottery a few months prior and managed to win some. I yawned the whole way through, being decidedly exhausted even before we left. The concert was amazing though and we had a fabulous time.

 Sunday 26 July
We ended up having quite a quiet weekend, that included a visit to the Melbourne market again for meat, we were on our way back from picking up my car - a faulty transmission issue, but not one that was recognised on their system; Edd was going to sort it out the next week by driving it until it played up, then go to the mechanic and prove them wrong. It was still under new car warranty until December, so we had some time.

We also went to the storage unit to find my art box - the shipping company had marked the boxes ambiguously, with me finding the cutlery organiser in a box marked 'ornaments.' We eventually found it in literally the last box, which was marked 'pictures.' Go figure. I then bought 3 canvases for $6 - having put off the painting urge for a few weeks, I now needed to feed the dragon and get my art on.
  
 We spent the afternoon watching series on Netflix; me sitting on the floor soaking up the sun when it managed to break through the rain clouds. I already had the first 3 days of the next week booked up with work, so was looking forward to the steady income and routine. We just need to get Edd into something; construction or sailing, whichever comes first.

Observations thus far:
Australian radio channels are decidedly inappropriate. I enjoy one channel in particular that's the most religious one (apparently) they play regular music, but they don't talk about sex, promote viagra (sound effects included) and make crude and rude jokes. I have found the other channels jaw-droopingly disgusting at times and I don't consider myself a prude.

I never know what the speed limit is, there aren't enough signs and the roads aren't well marked either. You know what road you're on, as there are even signs for the road on the lamppost opposite, but then there are no u-turn signs at an intersection, but then there is a gap before the intersection where you can do the u-turn; the no u-turn sign is not valid for the first gap, but is for the second, but you're confused as to the radius of said sign's instructions.

Schools don't necessarily have bells, they play music instead. So Happy will play over the intercom and the children will know they have the duration of the song to go to the toilet and get to class. It's hilarious.