Hi hi, havn't wrote for a while so this will be a long one, not very good at being concise! Last week was spent mostly house hunting except for tuesday we went for a walk round Paddington and Woollahra. Woolhara is a very leafy posh place and very villagy. We had lunch in a pub called the Lord Nelson which we had read is very english with english beers. Paul wasnt impressed on the bears as the only one on tap was stella but they did have newcastle brown ale. It was quite english and smoky at the bar but was nice. We then walked around Paddington and down the main street which is Oxford street, even had karen millen and diesal on it. Theres also a big section of it which is very gay and there were a few shops called 'the tool shed' which wernt the traditional tools! Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat were all spent flat hunting. It was very hard as 90% of the places were inhabitable. The bathrooms, kitchens and floors were all from the 70's and i dont think they had been cleaned since then either. On thursday we walked miles for appointments and my feet were covered in blisters. There were loads of people looking at each flat at the same time and lots taking applications. We had lunch in the hospital canteen as were stuck there between appts for 90 mins. The hospital looks big outside but doesnt look that big inside, more Maidstone than Kings but looked ok. We saw one flat that we liked right next to the hospital but found out on Friday that we didnt get it. So we were really fed up on Friday and it was also unbelievably hot which didnt help. We went to see one more on Friday but we took Johns ute, how OZ is that!? Saturday we took the Ute again and had loads of appts, we also managed to get a 70 pound parking fine as were just about in the no parking zone, not good! We did see two flats in the same building that we liked and a studio that we put applications in for. That night got woken at 0300 by what we thought were cats fighting but when got up and looked realised it was possums in the trees and falling from the trees, they were so noisy, wanted to go on the balcony and investigate further but didnt know how big they were and didnt want to be eaten! They even woke downstairs and Stu couldnt get back to sleep! Sunday we went to 'The Rocks' market with Vanessa and Stuart, could have spent loads of money there but just bought a cool pic of the fireworks. We saw a bottle opener with kangaroo furry balls attatched, a kangaroo claw back scratcher and a kangaroo scrotum leather purse -nice ay!? Had fish and chips under the bright blue sky and the harbour bridge facing the opera house, not a bad way to spend a sunday. That afternoon went to Karen and Owens for a barbie and i even made and took a lovely fruit salad, very domesticated i thought. Monday Paul played golf at Mount Colah, its right oppisite the house. I walked round too but didnt mind cause it was a good browning opportunity. Paul moaned alot about the sandard of the clubs he borrowed, not quite what hes used to! He only played 9 holes as there were four annoying idiots in front that were very slow. He reckons he managed to play well though and liked the course. Hes gonna get Stuart and Owen playing too. While we were there the estate agent phoned and said we had got the flat. We can move in from Monday but will probably move in on Tuesday. Its a 1 bed 1st of 3 floors flat. Its about a 20 min walk from the hospital but only a ten min bus ride either way to the city or the beaces of Bondi, Coogee etc. Its just been painted and had new carpets layed but is completley unfurnished. Pauls family have got most of the stuff for us though like a bed and sofas, telly etc so thats lucky. Its 300 dollers (120 pound) a week which is the most we wanted to spend but the others were terrible for just 20 pound cheeper. Tuesday Paul worked, hes now spoken to Stu and he will hopefully have regular work after the next couple of weeks. Wednesday we had the ute again, when we got in Paaul got a bit of a shock, a huge huntsman spider climbed up on to his inside window, he opened the door and he climbed accross the outside window. He was a bit scared to open the window after that as they cling to the truck. When he was at the toll he opened the window to pay the bloke , i said spider and he screamed right at the bloke was very funny but you probably had to be there. We went to sign the lease and then drove up to the northern beaches. Stopped for lunch in this really nice huge pub called the Newport arms. The massive beer garden overlooks the Kuring- gai national park and the beach and sea, well actually the Pittswater inlet but is very nice. We then went to Whale beach which has orangy/pinky sand. The beach was only small but nice with huge waves and quite quiet as its a drive from the main road. On the way we stopped at the Bilgola head lookout point which has amazing views, was very cool. Yesterday we got the train to Milsons point which is just before the city on the north side of the harbour. They have an olympic outdoor pool with sun terraces. Its right on the harbour and in between the harbour bridge and a fairground called luna park. The views were amazing and put mote park to shame! It was so hot though, almost unberable. We also saw a big lizard on the way to the train station, thought it was a snake! Today dont have any plans just to organise our stuff for moving, need to clean for mag and john coming back on monday. Got a good weekend planned though, going out for a meal tonight with Vanessa, Stuart, Karen and Owen then tomorrow night me and Paul are going to see a version of Stomp at the opera house. Also going to see killers on 26th, cant wait. We have other birthday treats planned for me too but wont bore you anymore! Will update you next week when we are in our new abode. Hope you are all cool. Gonna update our photos now. LOVE AND MISS YOU LOADS LAURA AND PAULXXXXXXX