To Melbourne, Australia

 Melbourne from the highway from the airport.

 My new home, the third and fourth windows along.

 I can walk here in 10 minutes from my home.

The sunset right before I rescued a rolling runaway wheelchair. 

Tuesday, January 20^th. Up at 5:30 to get ready for the shuttle to the airport at 6:00. The flight to Melbourne was at 9:00 and arrived in Australia at 11:00. I gained two hours in the process. I watched a great documentary about the British band The Jam. The flight was easy, but the line up at customs in the airport horrific. Apparently sixteen flights came in at the same time. Anyway, got through customs no problem and met Anne (the teacher from the school that Maurene had arranged to pick me up) at the cafe outside the arrivals doors.

She drove me from the airport north of the city to my new home southeast of Melbourne in the community of Chelsea. The drive took about an hour and a half with traffic and we had time to talk about school, the neighbourhood and what to do in the area. En route we drove by Caulfield Junior College where I will be working next week.

After Anne dropped me off I went for a walk to check out the area. Beautiful, clean, calm and shallow beach. Then I walked up and down the main street here to check out the shops. There are a number of restaurants, a big grocery store, a little green grocer and some specialty shops. I found an ATM and got some Australian money and then I sat in a cafe, had a chai and used their internet to find out where I had to go to tomorrow for the orientation meeting. I think I can find everything I need for food stuffs here, which is an easy walk from 'home'.

I went back to the house to meet Maurene's daughter, Cassie, who was coming to meet me after her work. This is her house and she has moved into her mother's home to take care of her younger brother, the cat and four chickens. We had a nice talk about the house and the area. She had bought me some fruit, milk, a bottle of wine, a case of beer and a Collingwood Football Club ball cap (an Aussie Rules Football team). She also got me a train pass, some maps and guides. Nice welcome.

Then she drove me around the neighbourhood before we went for dinner at a local Thai restaurant. We had a good talk and she made me feel very welcome. After diner we walked down to the beach to see the sunset. We saw dolphins in the bay in the distance. While we were standing there a man came rolling down the ramp to the beach in an out of control wheelchair. I stopped him and managed to get his chair under control so he could take a photo of the sunset too. Then I helped him get back up the boardwalk after which he invited me to the bar sometime.

 

She drove me back to my home away from home and I spent a couple of hours watching the tennis before going to bed.