Flat Hunting
We've had a busy weekend!
To start with we went out every night of the weekend. On Friday we went for a diner a deux at Aria restaurant overlooking the Opera House - very plushy.
On Saturday we went to a Mediterranean restaurant in Surrey Hills (south Sydney) with Sean's colleague Robin and his wife. The most noticeable feature of this restaurant was that we were provided with coloured pencils, which we worked out at the end of the meal were to draw on the paper tablecloth. This reminded me of Feynman working out physics on a napkin and I wished I had something intellectual to write. I didn't, so I left the table as it was. I would go back to the restaurant just to draw on the tablecloth though!
Finally on Sunday evening we were invited to join Sean's boss Kim's family for Sunday dinner. We took a ferry over to Manly at about 4pm - the sun was shining and the vista was great. We had a great home-cooked meal and took the ferry back at 10pm - a completely new experience in the dark but equally spectacular. I tried to take a photo coming into Circular Quay but it was too dark. Maybe when I've saved up to buy a new camera...
In between all this we have almost managed to find a flat to live in when we get kicked out of here next week.
On Saturday we were picked up at 9am by Gloria, our homesearch consultant, and her husband John (the designated driver). She'd done her homework and we were booked in to view 14 flats before 2:30pm.
First we went out to Balmain (west Sydney) to see a property. It was nice, and the area was nice but I felt it was a bit far out and didn't meet my expectations of living right in the centre.
Most of the flats we saw were in Pyrmont, just past Darling Harbour. Now all the flats we saw were absolutely wonderful. When you're used to looking at cramped one-bed flats in Willesden Green 20 mins from the centre, all shiny new 2 bed apartments in the city look great! So to start with it was more a case of elimination than selection.
The first elimination was in a fantastically trendy block called the M building. Apparently apartments there are in such demand they go almost instantly. Owing to our tightly packed appointments we were short on time and asked to be shown straight to the available flats rather than the show room. This was the first point of elimination: the chap who was showing us round was so cool he just ignored us and showed us the show room anyway. He appeared to be so busy affecting indifference that he didn't have time to cater to what we wanted to see. This was not the sort of attitude we expected and we worried that the occupants might be similarly afflicted. The second problem was that the main room was so trendy that there were holes cut in the kitchen wall through to the bedroom. Plus points for style, but a greater number of negative points for practicality - if we have a second bedroom, we want people to be able to sleep in it undisturbed!
The second elimination was a flat with a Formica kitchen. All the flats had had gorgeous modern kitchens and this one was so ugly it had to go. Yet another flat was offered on too short a lease.
We hit gold where Sean was concerned when looking at a flat on Point St, overlooking the bay. "Overlooking the bay" does not quite do the view justice. Two walls are floor to ceiling glass, with a view encompassing the Harbour bridge. Everything else was a disappointment after that for Sean.
My favourites came as we looked at some further into the city proper as opposed to Pyrmont - the extra 5 minutes walk meant I still felt Pyrmont was a bit "far out". In particular there was a two-bed flat in our current block with a great view of the Anzac bridge. I love where we're living and don't feel it can be much improved upon - it's the equivalent of living in Leicester Square! The other flat was further north even than our current place - right in the city - and you could see a tiny bit of the Harbour bridge from the window (not really up to the standard we've come to expect though). We were getting into prime location by now though so we only got a 1 bed flat with no balcony for our money (plus a cubby hole they claimed was a second bedroom but I don't think would even have fit a bed). The flat was nice inside though with the top floor overhanging the bottom (I forget the architectural term for this).
We have been assured that the rental market in Sydney is vicious and judging by the number of people we saw looking at flats this seems to be true. We kept bumping into one couple who were looking at the same sort of properties as us! So we've had to make up our minds quickly...
We've decided on the Harbour bridge view flat as our number one choice and taken the forms in today. Contrary to expectations it looks like we might get it! We've just got to wait until tomorrow now to see whether the landlord approves of us (he can reject us for no reason if he thinks we might not be good tenants).
Fingers crossed!
On another note: I've decided to compromise on the backgammon / non-backgammon post issue. Backgammon posts will continue, but I will prefix them Backgammon: so the non-initiated can skip them!
We've had a busy weekend!
To start with we went out every night of the weekend. On Friday we went for a diner a deux at Aria restaurant overlooking the Opera House - very plushy.
On Saturday we went to a Mediterranean restaurant in Surrey Hills (south Sydney) with Sean's colleague Robin and his wife. The most noticeable feature of this restaurant was that we were provided with coloured pencils, which we worked out at the end of the meal were to draw on the paper tablecloth. This reminded me of Feynman working out physics on a napkin and I wished I had something intellectual to write. I didn't, so I left the table as it was. I would go back to the restaurant just to draw on the tablecloth though!
Finally on Sunday evening we were invited to join Sean's boss Kim's family for Sunday dinner. We took a ferry over to Manly at about 4pm - the sun was shining and the vista was great. We had a great home-cooked meal and took the ferry back at 10pm - a completely new experience in the dark but equally spectacular. I tried to take a photo coming into Circular Quay but it was too dark. Maybe when I've saved up to buy a new camera...
In between all this we have almost managed to find a flat to live in when we get kicked out of here next week.
On Saturday we were picked up at 9am by Gloria, our homesearch consultant, and her husband John (the designated driver). She'd done her homework and we were booked in to view 14 flats before 2:30pm.
First we went out to Balmain (west Sydney) to see a property. It was nice, and the area was nice but I felt it was a bit far out and didn't meet my expectations of living right in the centre.
Most of the flats we saw were in Pyrmont, just past Darling Harbour. Now all the flats we saw were absolutely wonderful. When you're used to looking at cramped one-bed flats in Willesden Green 20 mins from the centre, all shiny new 2 bed apartments in the city look great! So to start with it was more a case of elimination than selection.
The first elimination was in a fantastically trendy block called the M building. Apparently apartments there are in such demand they go almost instantly. Owing to our tightly packed appointments we were short on time and asked to be shown straight to the available flats rather than the show room. This was the first point of elimination: the chap who was showing us round was so cool he just ignored us and showed us the show room anyway. He appeared to be so busy affecting indifference that he didn't have time to cater to what we wanted to see. This was not the sort of attitude we expected and we worried that the occupants might be similarly afflicted. The second problem was that the main room was so trendy that there were holes cut in the kitchen wall through to the bedroom. Plus points for style, but a greater number of negative points for practicality - if we have a second bedroom, we want people to be able to sleep in it undisturbed!
The second elimination was a flat with a Formica kitchen. All the flats had had gorgeous modern kitchens and this one was so ugly it had to go. Yet another flat was offered on too short a lease.
We hit gold where Sean was concerned when looking at a flat on Point St, overlooking the bay. "Overlooking the bay" does not quite do the view justice. Two walls are floor to ceiling glass, with a view encompassing the Harbour bridge. Everything else was a disappointment after that for Sean.
My favourites came as we looked at some further into the city proper as opposed to Pyrmont - the extra 5 minutes walk meant I still felt Pyrmont was a bit "far out". In particular there was a two-bed flat in our current block with a great view of the Anzac bridge. I love where we're living and don't feel it can be much improved upon - it's the equivalent of living in Leicester Square! The other flat was further north even than our current place - right in the city - and you could see a tiny bit of the Harbour bridge from the window (not really up to the standard we've come to expect though). We were getting into prime location by now though so we only got a 1 bed flat with no balcony for our money (plus a cubby hole they claimed was a second bedroom but I don't think would even have fit a bed). The flat was nice inside though with the top floor overhanging the bottom (I forget the architectural term for this).
We have been assured that the rental market in Sydney is vicious and judging by the number of people we saw looking at flats this seems to be true. We kept bumping into one couple who were looking at the same sort of properties as us! So we've had to make up our minds quickly...
We've decided on the Harbour bridge view flat as our number one choice and taken the forms in today. Contrary to expectations it looks like we might get it! We've just got to wait until tomorrow now to see whether the landlord approves of us (he can reject us for no reason if he thinks we might not be good tenants).
Fingers crossed!
On another note: I've decided to compromise on the backgammon / non-backgammon post issue. Backgammon posts will continue, but I will prefix them Backgammon: so the non-initiated can skip them!
posted by Zoe at 5:13 PM
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