Things to sort out

I was in the city Thursday as I had a couple of interviews with recruitment consultants.  Rather than take the bus, I got a lift with Graham at 6am… the time you need to leave the Northern Beaches if you want to get into the city without hitting massive traffic jams.  It took us about 45 mins, but had we left half an hour later, it would have taken nearly 2 hrs!  One thing to bear in mind about living up here – it’s really beautiful, but there’s little in the way of public transport (no trains, just one bus) so getting around without a car is a nightmare.

With time free during the day at the moment, it makes sense to try and sort out all the new arrival kind of chores, like registering with Medicare and converting to an Aussie driving license.  Town Hall Mall is the most central place to go for Medicare and I popped in to pick up a registration form… easy to find, right by the door!  You can locate your nearest Medicare Service Centre by going to http://humanservices.findnearest.com.au/ and searching by area or postcode.

I also went to buy my SIM card, opting for the Optus network because it provided a good deal on international as well as local calls, texts and data.  Most mobile plans here (either pre-paid – pay as you go, or post-paid – pay monthly) work on the idea that you buy a $ value amount of credit, eg. $30 buys you $150 credit.  I find that really annoying because you still need to know the cost of each type of call to work out how much of your credit you’re using.  However, the deal from Optus on pre-pay is that you buy minutes… just like back in the UK!  So a $30 recharge buys you:

• Unlimited Optus to Optus calls (with a different ring tone so you know when you’re calling another Optus number!)
• Unlimited texts (SMS) to other Oz mobiles
• Unlimited access to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & 3 other social networking sites
• 250 minutes which can be used for local, national and non-geographic calls as well as international calls to 23 different countries, including the UK!
• 500Mb data

The recharge lasts for up to 28 days and you’ll get a warning text when your credit is running out.  That is a pretty awesome deal, even by UK standards!

With the phone sorted, I nipped on the bus to Annandale to try and find out if there were any apartments available at Johnston Lodge where I stayed last time I worked out here, only to find the office was closed!  I’ll have to give them a call tomorrow instead.  Then it was back to the city to meet Graham and drive home… a beautiful evening driving across the Harbour Bridge and up to the Northern Beaches.  It’s easy to understand how Sydneysiders are continually over-awed and inspired by their city… it really is truly magnificent and there is no other place like it in the world!

We managed a quick walk out down the beach before it got dark (daylight saving has just finished, so darkness falls about 6.30pm), then had a lovely evening at home accompanied by delicious food and wine!