Tom and Katie Down Under: It's hard to look good on crutches

I have somewhat more time than usual to devote to my blog readers this week, due to an injury of unknown cause to my right ankle. As a result I am under doctor’s orders to “ice and elevate” and consequently am missing out on a lot of the fun things (shopping!) that I had planned for this weekend.

I believe that the mystery injury may have occurred during my office Christmas party on Thursday afternoon, at Albert Park Lawn Bowls Club. Rather ironic really, given that bowls is probably the most sedate activity that could have been selected for the “do”, but it was shortly after my few games on the green that the pain arose. Two days later and I have very limited movement in my foot and can’t put any weight on it. Anyway, to cut a long story short after 4 hours in A&E and 3 x-rays, I find myself with inflammation but no broken bones, and instructions to ice my ankle and keep my weight off it. To help me with that part, the hospital took $285 from my purse. How kind?!

Anyway, on to some better news – our new apartment! After moving in last Sunday we have really enjoyed our first week here. The most exciting time fell on Tuesday when our shipping was delivered! We waved goodbye to several boxes of our clothes and household items on 11th September, and were very happy to receive it safe and sound on the 1st December. When I saw the huge dent in the side of the TV box as it was unloaded from the lorry, my heart sank a bit. I knew it would be rough on the seas but had high hopes for our indestructible Panasonic . I need not have worried, as it was only superficial box damage and all was well inside. This allowed us to discover the fact that UK televisions can’t actually pick up Australian audio transmissions! Who needs sound on their TV shows anyway... (Tom might argue that we actually don’t need sound, given my ability to talk through anything he wants to listen to!)

After a mammoth unpacking session, the only item that was broken was a single wine glass. We were very lucky. Tom was the luckiest though – he left for work one September day and when he came back everything was packed and gone. Similarly, he left for work last Tuesday and when he came home everything had arrived and been unpacked. Lucky man I say!
Seriously though, we both worked very hard to get everything straight and looking nice. We’ve made a few shopping trips to buy essentials and uttered a few expletives trying to build the cheapest chest of drawers Ikea could provide (missing our Malm drawers Di!). We now have a clean and tidy two bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry and kitchen/lounge/diner. We also have a nice big sunny balcony and the piece de resistance – a walk THROUGH wardrobe! The corridor from the master bedroom to the en-suite is lined with hanging rails and it’s like a girls dream come true for me. For all of you Michael Macintyre fans out there, you'll be pleased to knew that Tom already has a well established 'man drawer'. I believe the contents were shipped directly from the UK, so will be of even less use here!

The views from our bedrooms and living space is gorgeous – out across Port Philip Bay and as I type this I’m watching the sailing boats lapping up the breeze and sunshine glistening on the water. There are two downsides to our location however – firstly we are on quite a busy road and so get traffic / pub noise. Secondly we are 5 floors above a pizza restaurant and the smell is INCREDIBLE! Those of you that know me well will recognise that this presents a huge temptation for me! Pizza is the only food that I can eat in unlimited quantities, and I’m using all of my willpower to resist the temptation right now!

After the excitement of last week, this week is going to be even better, because we have family arriving! Peter and Sue (Tom’s parents) are now officially on Australian soil – currently in Perth, but arriving in Melbourne on Tuesday evening. I hope my ankle will be better so that I can drive to the airport as chauffeur! We also have Merryl arriving on the same day, and then Emma Roache the following day. It is sure to be a great week. Oh, and we are getting broadband installed too!

I hope that many of you have received our Christmas cards with our new address details. Thank you to all of you who emailed when you got them! It was also really lovely to speak to Em and Marc this week and I look forward to Skyping again soon!

Until next week, happy December to you all!