Life in Australia. In Photos! 01/12/12

                           Here's a photo of our building.  Our apartment is in the center floor on the right hand side. You can see the balcony on the front, but there is a second one on the other side.  It's a brand new construction and we are the first tenants in our unit.

Amputated Leg Crossing!

I walk to the shops almost every morning (before it gets super hot since it's Summer time here). Australia doesn't have huge super markets like they do in the US. The closest they have is a store named Coles, but they don't have a great selection. So I go to the farmers market for fruits and vegetables, and a butcher for meat. 

Food (along with everything else) is incredibly expensive. Only buying what you can carry home is a great way to save money. Not only do you factor in price, but also the weight of an item. I haven't bought a 12 pack of soda since we've arrived. Who wants to lug that thing for 3 or 4 blocks? Anyway, I have to make a lot of little trips, but the exercise is great and it gets me out and about. 

For longer trips there is the train. Tyler takes it every day to work and back. It's super close and thankfully our apartment has double paned windows so you can't hear it unless they are open are open. It's hard to see from the photos, but it's a double decker train. I've ridden on the top floor once, it was pretty neat.  

Skate Park

Other side of the Skate Park

There is a really nice park on the next block. It has a cute entry way. On the floor has mosaic looking artwork in the shape of doves and flowers. Inside are enormous trees, a children's playground, and even a Tony Hawk looking skate park. It's tricked out with all kinds of graffiti. (For some reason, thinking of an Aussie tagger makes me giggle inside.) It seems to be the "cool" place for all the kids to hang out and it's usually pretty crowded in the afternoons.

There is also a croquet field behind my apartment building, that must be where all their grandparents go during the day, as I've never seen it empty during daylight hours. 

Couple of players in a heated game of croquet.