My New Littles

On Tuesday I started a new job watching three year old twin boys. They are very cute and very curious about the world. They have great big imaginations and love to play and ask "but why...?" They are absolutely adorable and I'm so happy to have found such a great family to work with.

On Tuesday we went the park, had a picnic, and looked at the endless sea at The Gap park. It was a great first day!

Dessert "Sushi" Bar

Master Chef is super popular in Australia. I see Master Chef stuff everywhere, from billboards to flour at the grocery store. I can't help but imagine that flour saying, "Get your Master Chef flour here! Just like the cheaper flour but with our logo on it so at least a dollar more! But you can bake just like the Master Chefs!" Yeah...right. Do people really fall for that??

Anyway, I only bring this up because we went to a former Master Chef's dessert shop, named after the man himself, Adriano Zumbo.

And it was very fun in so many ways. First off, the place itself is absolutely adorable. The colors are bright and fun, they had macaron wallpaper, and the desserts are served on a rotating track like at a sushi house. Fun! Fun!    

I got the passion fruit and blueberry cheesecake (above), but his real specialty is macarons!...or Zumbarons, as he puts it.

It was such a great treat!

Sydney Fish Market

For Sunday lunch last weekend, we went out to the Fish Market with some friends. Inside the market around lunch time was very crowded with people looking to buy the freshest seafood Sydney has to offer. Spencer and I both not being seafood enthusiasts stuck with the safest choice, fish and chips. I even had tartar sauce! (It's a big deal for me!) It was pretty good.

Also, the birds, specifically the seagulls, are ferocious! They fight over territory on top of the umbrellas in the outside dining area and are quick to grab any little piece of food that goes astray. They are feisty and reminded me a lot of the seagulls from Finding Nemo. It does take place in Sydney after all! :)

umbrellas = seagull territory!

After a while, we went back inside for our friends to get more goodies to take home and I got a chance to take pictures without the crowds.

Settled in Sydney

 

We are currently renting a room in Sydney! Our bags are unpacked, our clothes put away. We have a new duvet and pillows. Things are definitely feeling more concrete. We are really living in Australia!

We are living in a townhouse (they call it a "terrace" here in Oz) and it's over 100 years old. (Photo at top.) There is some incredible crown molding and a fire place in our room. The paint choices are questionable but it's definitely got character, which I love. We share the house with three other people who have been very kind and welcoming, like most people we've met so far in Australia.

One of the best parts about the house is the location. We are just a couple of blocks from the main shopping street in Glebe. There are shops, cafes, restaurants, dry cleaners, and bookstores all within steps of our door. This is something that I was really looking forward to in living in a big city, especially since we don't have a car here.

I'm excited to continue exploring our neighborhood and all of Sydney in the months to come! 

South King Street, Newtown, Sydney

We had the great pleasure to be staying in Erskineville with our friends upon arriving to Sydney. They just happened to live right off a great street called King Street which runs through the edge of Erskinville, into Newtown, and beyond. King Street is very cool and Newtown is a great place to explore, shop, and eat.

It was especially nice on a sunny afternoon, poking into the shops and stopping for coffee with a good friend, which is exactly what I did last Wednesday with Kaylee. One shop we walked into and actually met the designer of all the super cute clothes and jewelry. It was her shop! She made the clothes and ran the place. What a girl! I actually bought a dress and a shirt from her.
 

 

A Trip to Taronga Zoo

Last week we took a trip out to the Taronga Zoo and we just happened to be so lucky as to pick the most beautiful day to do it on. The zoo is across the bay from the main part of Sydney and so we had to got to take a ferry. The views from the ferry were phenomenal!

When we arrived at the other side, we were allowed to take the Sky Train up to the zoo since we already had our tickets. Lucky us! (If you don't have your tickets already, you can take the bus up to the zoo but don't forget to take the Sky Train down after your visit because it's amazing.)

Once we got to the top, off we went exploring in the sunshine. Hope you enjoy the photos!

"Look how big this plant is!!"

a native

We saw a real platypus too, but didn't get a good picture of it. They are smaller than I thought!

tee hee hee

I think it's a boy...

grrrrr

The bird show was really cool!

The giraffes have the best view.

scary!

It was a really good day with good friends!

We Made it to Sydney

Here we are in Sydney, Australia! After traveling SE Asia and India and then being home for over three months, it's nice to try and get into a routine again. I say try because it's a bit hard after our mini-retirement of nearly eight months to get back to work! :)

We started looking for work right away and have managed to make a little money already. I have a small nanny gig two days a week and am looking for more work in the same field. Spencer had some temp work last week and just started this week working full time in a month-long position.  

We are currently staying with our friends, Kaylee and Gary, and they have been such great hosts showing us around, teaching us how to use public transport, how to look for jobs/apartments, and just generally being awesome. We can't thank them enough for all their generosity! Here's a photo of all of us at the zoo.

Even though we are wearing t-shirts in that picture, it does get (relatively) cold here too! That was an abnormally hot day and we got hot when walking out in the sun at the zoo. Today it's cloudy and rainy with a high of 63 degrees. Locals say it's the warmest winter since 1975 and I consider myself lucky to once again escape from a "real" winter. 

Sydney itself has been wonderful to explore. I'm loving all the little neighborhoods around the city. The shops are so cute and I love the old buildings. It's like Europe meets the old west over here. The people are really friendly and the food has been amazing. I can't imagine a better place to spend the next year of my life. I think I'm really going to love it here.

antique store wares out in Newtown

sidewalk seating in Bondi

LOVE in Bondi

under construction in CBD (downtown Sydney)