And Then We Moved To Melbourne

I’m snuggled on the couch, surrounded by all the cushions and art I associate with our home in Sydney and then I look up and, erm, something’s a bit different out the window!

Last Thursday we got the keys to our new digs in Brunswick and (luckily) the trailer we watched get filled with everything we owned in Sydney on Monday turned up soon after. We’ve moved from an apartment with lift to a 3 storey townhouse where the main living/dining/kitchen area is on the top floor. I think the removal men hated us but they gamely got a job that would have taken me weeks done in just over an hour.

So far Melbourne has been very good to us. We’ve had pretty much consistent blue skies and sunshine that streams through our north-facing windows. I learned there are at least 7 cafes within 100 metres of our house and I’ve taken it upon myself to road-test all of them.

Things I’m loving most about our new place:

Heating –  no more wearing a duvet around the house all winter!

Trams – our nearest runs direct to H&M Bourke Street. Somebody stop me.

Having an island bench – I can’t decide if I want to pretend I’m running a cocktail or espresso bar behind it.

An actual oven – we only had a convection oven in Sydney, it was too small to fit my brownie tray in it.

The fact that we now have 3 times more space – and are paying pretty much the same rent. The stairs are also a good workout for the buttocks.

The local cafes – the choice is actually a little overwhelming. I need to work out where to put my loyalty.

Sadly I’ve been mostly exploring on my own as Justin had to leave for a trip to the States at 4am the morning after we moved in. I wish he was here to check out all the local eateries with me but also because, to be honest, I’ve been a big wimp about sleeping on my own in the new house. New houses have so many unfamiliar sounds that can freak out the uninitiated. Last night was the first time I didn’t wake up fearing for my life because a blind creaked! On the plus side I have been left to my own devices to unpack all the boxes and get everything set up just the way I want them. (You’re cool with just 1 drawer right Justin? :p)

I’m lucky to already have a bit of a network here through travel blogging and for my first weekend as a Melbourne resident I caught up with Nicole from Bitten By The Travel Bug to tuck into Jaffa Hotcakes at Tinker Northcote. We also went to check out the latest artworks in some of Melbourne’s famous laneways so you can expect a report on my favourite soonish.

For once in a very long time I have no immediate travel plans and rather than freak out about it I’m going to use the time to embed myself here in Melbourne. There will still be heaps of travel and blogging content coming to the blog and social media but so as not to flood my personal feed with Melbourne content I have set up a separate Instagram account at @basicallymelbourne. I’ve decided to get my daily caffeine hit (and maybe a few hotcakes and avo smashes) from a different cafe for the next two weeks so you’ll find this #acafeaday challenge over on @basicallymelbourne from today onwards!

A post shared by basically melbourne (@basicallymelbourne) on Jul 9, 2017 at 11:54pm PDT

Thanks to everyone who has sent me Melbourne tips so far, please do keep them coming. I’m desperate for fun things to do in-between filing my tax return/ buying all the things in H&M’s Home department.