I can't stand the rain!

G'day

It's Saturday and the plan was to have a look round a few neighbourhoods and get an idea of where I might want to live (I'm only in the flat for four more weeks). Unfortunately it's raining and not just the odd shower every now and then but apparently a month's rain in one day according to the forecasters. Hum. And I don't have an umbrella. And the nearest place to buy an umbrella is a good ten-minute walk away according to the concierge (did I mention we have a concierge? Oh yes) meaning I'd get soaked en route to buy it which makes it all a bit pointless.

But at least it means I can do another post and update you on what's been going on.

Sooo, last night we had end of month drinks on the roof of the Lonely Planet office. Loads of free food and drink and I should have taken my camera as the view is amazing - the whole of Melbourne laid out in front of you. And then an author had invited me and a couple of Aussie mates round for dinner which was lovely. Great food, great conversation - and I saw my first possum! Now look (as the locals would say), I always assumed that these teddybears-come-to-life type creatures were so cute that nobody could have a bad word to say about them (see below for just how cute they are). But no. They're detested by Australians to the point where one anti-possum story at the dinner table included details of trapping them in a bin and then using a hose-pipe to fill up the bin and drown them. Noice.

Miscellany
Things I have learnt

1. Though shops may price items at $3.99, $9.99, $19.99 etc there is no such thing as a one cent coin in Australia meaning that when you hand over, say, $20 in the expectation of 1 cent change you're sadly disappointed.
2. Nobody has a good word to say about that book The Slap (set in Melbourne and full of unsympathetic characters apparently - I've yet to read it).
3. People don't like the expression Down Under  as an alternative for Australia (oops!)
4. An off-licence is called a bottle shop. Makes sense, though really it's the contents of the bottles that you're interested in rather than the bottles themselves.
5. Taxi drivers don't have a clue and you have to give them directions - tricky when you don't know the city at all.
6. All the bogans I saw dressed up in their finest (men: suits; women: dresses and fascinators) to go to the races today (it's Derby Day here - one of the big horse races during the season) will have got very VERY wet.

And that'll do for now. Hopefully next time I'll have some non-marsupial pics to include.

Cliff