Strawberry Picking

A few kilometers south of Shepparton is the Belstack Strawberry Farm. It's on the banks of the Goulburn River and ajoins the Red River Gum National Park. Here's a few pics of our Sunday strawberry picking efforts.......

 

Settling in........if you can call it that

 

 

As hard as I try to settle in, there are some things that just don’t make sense – and in my opinion, it’s because some things about Australia are just plain weird. For example, why is kangaroo meat and “Kanga bangas” sold at the supermarket?

Aren’t Kangaroo’s the national symbol of Australia? Aren’t they on the coat of arms? Aren’t they on some of the currency? Aren’t they the symbol of Qantas? Aren’t they a symbol of Australian culture and life? And yet here are Australians, happily chowing down on a roo steak at a barbecue…..they’re making a mockery of their national icon.

I don’t think any New Zealander would ever dream of heading to the supermarket for a Kiwi bird steak sanga or sausage. It’s about respect. Respecting the national icon. I'm told Kangaroo’s are breeding extensively and the meat isn't half bad but I have serious doubts about this  – there’s no need to eat them!

 

 

 

 

And Chocolate Koala biscuits? Not too impressed. Americans have got the Oreo, created in 1912, the ancient Greeks and Egyptians can lay claim to Gingerbread biscuits, which are linked to many European countries, a traditional Italian wedding cake is made from biscuits and New Zealand has things like hokey pokey biscuits, anzac biscuits and afghans. So Koala biscuits don’t really make the cut. Must try harder Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

Or this sign above about the snakes – which greeted me as I left the office for the day. Not something I’d see in Auckland, that’s for sure. Does that mean I have to watch my feet as I walk to my car? Does that mean I shouldn’t linger near the long grass at the edge of the carpark? What if I want to have a conversation with a colleague in the carpark – does that mean we should both sit in a car and talk? What if the snake gets into the car?

I think it's a rare event to even see a snake, let alone get bitten. But it still makes one feel slightly uneasy when you hear stories like this:

 http://www.news24.com/World/News/Man-dies-after-snake-bite-in-Australia-20121108

 

 



 

On the bright side, literally, the weather has been amazing. It's clear and sunny most days. In contrast to life in Titirangi, Auckland, washing will actually dry on the line! The garden actually gets sun! I did love Titirangi but our place was so damp and cold compared to this. So last weekend we embarked on a garden bed building mission. So hopefully, we can become home-grown vegetable-eating folk who don't have to buy Kangaroo meat to survive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One house, two people, no furniture.........

So we got the house! We moved in on Oct 19. It is SO nice to have some space! There's only so long one can live in a motel for and eat takeaways. We'll now have to start buying furniture, bit by bit. The boyfriend insisted that a TV was the first piece of furniture we get! Honestly. Men and their televisions. Surely a bed or a fridge would come before a television??

More photos to come!!!

It's also the little things that really make a difference. We can eat off proper plates and not paper ones! We can sleep in our own bed! The boyfriend can watch his beloved television at high volume up one end of the house while I read a book down the other end! It doesn't take much to make me happy.

I also wanted to share a rather embarassing story. Please factor in that this happened on a Friday afternoon when I was tired, after a big week at work at my new job. This story makes it hard for me to escape the "dumb blonde" cliche. Ok, so the boyfriend and I were in the supermarket. We were at the checkout. I've got one of those new debit visa/mastercard things that has the "pay wave" technology.

This means that for a small purchase, one can just tap the card against the eftpos terminal - that's it. Transaction done. No need to insert the card or swipe it.

So the checkout girl asks me to tap the card (She means tap the card against the terminal, as explained above, to make the payment). So what do I do? I tap the card with my finger.
And then stare at her with an expression that says "Yep, now what?"

HONESTLY. As if that's going to work. Tapping the card with my finger!!!
The checkout girl bursts out laughing, as does the boyfriend, who promptly calls me a loser.
Oh dear.

At least I left the store with a smile on my face - amused by my own stupidity.



 

House hunting in Shepp....

Hopefully this will be our new house!

So this is the house we're hoping to move into. It's in central Shepp so it's not far from town. The rental prices here are so cheap! It's great after the high prices in Auckland. It's 3bdrm with a big backyard. There's only 2 of us and we're yet to get some furniture so we'll be rattling around in this massive place! We should find out on Monday if our tenancy application is sucessful. Fingers crossed!

So if anyone's thinking about coming to Aussie to stay, come to Shepparton! It might be BYO bed for the time being! (Nah we would sort something if someone came to stay).

We also bought a car today so that's exciting. We now have wheels! Will take some pics soon and post them up.

If I had to sum up Shepparton so far, I'd say it seems like a decent place to live, it's warmer, the houses are cheaper, there's a real sense of community and there's definitely opportunities for those who are keen. I'm excited that a Melbourne shopping trip is only a train ride away!

But there's another side to Shepparton too that I'm still discovering. There's the crime, there's the nightlife and there's the less friendlier types. Today I was reading about a flat of girls who woke to discover a man in their house. He didn't harm them and just ran off....
I've also discovered that the "Nek Minnit" phrase is pretty popular here. It just makes me cringe. I'm over it. It's not that funny. I think Australians need their own phrase, not an old imported one from NZ.





 

All I want for Christmas is a real wardrobe. I'm over living out of a suitcase....

I have to say Shepparton is bigger and better than I remember it to be.......
We arrived in town on Friday night and headed straight for the pub....first things first. No, it was actually a chance to meet some of my new colleagues, so that was cool.
The people seem lovely although these thick Australian accents will take some getting used to.
I've discovered the term "ridgy didgy" which (I think) is like a way of saying that something is good/a favourite.
I spotted an ad for a pub in a local visitor guide that says: "We serve ridgy didgy meals....."

Part of Saturday was spent trudging through the rain to get into the middle of town. Men just don't seem to understand how important it is to keep one's hair dry...especially when you've carefully straightened it. We finally took shelter at a local motel and asked them to call us a taxi. The woman charged us 50c for  local phone call to the taxi company (which was free for her!). How rude.

Some pics below of the journey...Auckland to Shepparton....
We caught the train up from Melbourne and sat next to some "interesting" people.
There was a man from Western Australia who could hardly string a sentence together and laughed at everything. And another guy who told us all about how he has lung cancer and he's going to have to get part of his lung removed. He still had a packet of cigarettes in his pocket. Apparently if you've got lung cancer your fingernails are curved over and not flat.

And yes, I think we're both sick of living out of our suitcases already. It's a strange thing to pack up your whole life into a suitcase and wheel it around behind you. I hope to never lug a suitcase up a flight of stairs ever again. Don't people believe in ramps over here? Or staff who might kindly offer to help with luggage?

Catching the train from Melbourne

Traitor

Leaving Auckland....

 

Less than a week to go......

So I'm packing up my life in Auckland and moving to Shepparton. My boyfriend, bless, is coming too despite the fact he's never set foot in Australia before. I seriously toyed with calling this blog "Shepparton - What was I thinking?"

Hopefully I'll prove myself wrong.

Perhaps a good way to start is to post some pics of Shepp (see I'm totally talking like a local already). If I don't post any pics for another year or so you'll know it's because the town still looks exactly like this....

Hope you all enjoy my blog. I'll do my best to fly the Kiwi flag. I'll have to watch Shortland St on demand online and I will continue to mourn the loss of Marmite. (By the way - someone better post me a jar when it's available again!)

The Shepparton Art Museum

The park is a bit Christchurch-esque

No more skytower. Shepp's got a cellphone mast

Mooving art....get it? Yeah it's not funny at all.

Lake in the middle of town - with a gym on the far side

Well looks like there's a place to go running...