zerosleeps

The Blue Mountains, plus some snaps of the ferry trip from Darling Harbour to Olympic Park.

Such a tourist trap.

Yes yes, I know. There’s LOADS more to Sydney than the sodding Opera House and Harbour Bridge, but here’s where I trekked to on Saturday, amongst other places.

Word on the street is that home broadband is connected, and my router is with an Australian Post driver as I type, so brace yourselves for an onslaught of ramblings and photos.

I had my first Tim Tam slam last night, and man alive it was good! I selected white Tim Tams from the supermarket, for no other reason than I like white chocolate. I have since been told that the double chocolate Tim Tams are better for Tim Tam slams though, as the double layer of chocolate helps maintain the structural integrity.

For those who don’t know what a Tim Tam slam is, it’s a test of endurance, stamina, wit and determination. You effectively use a Tim Tam as a straw. As a Tim Tam is constructed from biscuit and chocolate, sipping a hot mug of tea through one can be a jolly exciting experience, sometimes resulting in a chocolate explosion, and always in a large dollop of soggy biscuit at the bottom of your tea vessel.

Anyway, here we have the white chocolate Tim Tams:

Step 1

Carefully nibble the opposing corners of the selected Tim Tam:

Step 2

Insert one of the nibbled corners into your drink, and prepare to suck through the opposing corner:

Step 3

Keep a steely determination, and maintain structural integrity of the Tim Tam until it will hold no longer:

Here’s where we’re at then:

Permanent accommodation is sorted. We secured an apartment in the middle of last week, and moved in on Saturday 10th April. The apartment - or “unit” as they are called here - is in a managed building, which has things like a lobby, security guard, and swimming pool. This is all reflected in the cost of renting the unit, naturally, but now we have somewhere to call home.

Our unit is in an area of Sydney called Ultimo, which is a 10 minute walk to Darling Harbour and then the glitz and bustle of George Street in the Central Business District, and a 15 minute walk from where I work on Ross Street.

Electricity and gas was sorted out with ease: both Energy Australia and AGL were delighted to receive my calls and set up an account with me. Phone and broadband however… You know what? I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s too painful. We think we had a little breakthrough last night, but I’ll believe it when I pick up my phone and there’s a dial-tone.

What I’m saying is don’t hold your breath waiting for more photos, videos, and Skype calls, that’s all.

Off to see the Blue Mountains this weekend.