Week two:  

Nick: I wish I could write about all the new adventures in the outback we had this week, but I’m sure you can do most of them at home.  This week consisted mostly of adventures in overseas banking and job hunting.  There was a lot of tension in the air as both Amanda and I pushed out sleep deprived minds to the brink of insanity.  No need to worry, after the dust settles I’m sure we will be no crazier than when you last saw us.

For this entry I will focus on all the positives.  I will start with the fact that we have found a fully equip campervan to tour the coast with.  It is even in our budget, that is to say it would be if we could access any of our money.  That’s where the majority of our stress has come from.(Amanda writes.... Dealing with TD Canada Trust was not easy. Advice: if you want to be able to transfer money from your Canadian accounts to your new overseas account, before you travel find out if it is something that can be done fairly easily. In my case transferring money took 2-4 business days and cannot be done on internet banking, I had to fax all the information to a branch, after I spoke to someone. And when you are a day ahead it can be a little hard. Also dont get a bank draft from TD mine looked like a photo copy, so they held it for 2 weeks.
  We were lucky in that we have found a nice French couple that is willing to hold it for us until it goes through.  When we met them we sat for hours at a nearby coffee shop discussing their trip for the past year and the one we hope to do.  The second big thing to happen is that Amanda has found work in her field of dental assisting here in the city and has started right away.  It is through a temp agency, and her location of employment will change day to day but there seems to already be plenty of work for her to do.  I myself was getting anxious to do something that will bring money in rather than the follow the trend of passing it out.  I handed out many online resumes and got a hit from a marketing company not far from where we are.  I was hesitant to even take the interview as I have no formal attire and very little experience in that sort of thing.  I decided to take a shot as it was the only bite I got so far.  I went it and gave it my best shot.  Lucky for me the mate doin’ the interview was a fellow Canadian and we hit it off.  I was invited back later in the day for a second interview with three others.  Another Canadian, and Gal from Norway and myself met over coffee with the same fellow from before.  We chatted about what the company does and a lot about what he misses about Canada (his number one was Wendy’s).  This brought us into the mid afternoon and were brought in one by one for the final verdict.  I was second in line but I can tell from the way he spoke that everyone from the second meeting got a position, including myself.  So on the way home today I stopped off for some business attire and a haircut for my new job that starts Monday.  Wish me luck for I have a new suit to pay off.

We did get one afternoon off this week (seems like we haven’t had much time to be tourists yet) for which we spent at the beach.  The sun was hot and the water was clear and refreshing.  I rented a surf board for another try at it.  I got up only half dozen times or so, and only rode one wave full to the end,  but was lucky to see a school of dolphins chasing a boarder down the wave.  It was something out of a video and I am sure will be a highlight of my stay.

Though we have been working hard we did have some fun too.........

Australian Museum-they are clear
and really tiny-great 

$40 gets you unlimited bus/train/ferry
 for one week

As we were walking by.....

Great views from Sydney harbour

Wonderful lunch-Four Olives-Manly

I new there was a statue
somewhere
 in the world doing this

What we learned in Australia this week:
Cheers means thank you
A pension is called your Super account
Stand on the left side of the escalator if you want to ride, people on the right want to walk up
French couple taught us how to show waitresses you arnt pleased with your meal-using your utensils
Australian people think I am American
Gas tanks are not that easy to find on an older model
Really beautiful sea shells can kill you

Also dealing with TD Canada Trust for purchase of the van was not easy. Advice: if you want to be able to transfer money from your Canadian accounts to your new overseas account, before you travel find out if it is something that can be done fairly easily. In my case transferring money took 2-4 business days and cannot be done on internet banking, I had to fax all the information to a branch, after I spoke to someone. And when you are a day ahead it can be a little hard. Also dont get a bank draft from TD apparently mine looked like a photo copy, so they held it for 2 weeks. Everything has now worked out but only because Nick got pooped on by a bird, which here, means good luck!!!