My job
I am employed by the North Eastern Rehabilitation Centre, a Healthscope private hospital. It is in Ivanhoe (the city of Banyule) about 17 NE of the CBD. St Kilda is the same distance in the opposite direction (where I’m staying).
It is a 48 bedded rehabilitation center with an outdoors ward, and a manor. The staff are super friendly and relaxed. It makes the work environment. I still haven’t got a uniform, staff ID or IT access. We have specialists in pain management, orthopedics, cardiac…..thats all i can think of at the moment. I have no idea about how patients funds their stays, whether they pay themselves, its insurance or a pay out from some where else ie TAC (i think) the traffic accident fund. Theres lots of different medications and products. I can’t ask a patient about their hip cause its their heep and they wont understand me.
My first day at work i was offered a house for rent, even taken to view it. From Ollie in head office. The rent is $280 and the bond is $500. It is an older house, quite small on a small section. There is a double garage, small front lawn and back lawn. The back yard is fenced. It has gas hot water and cooking and central heating. Its newly painted and has a monitered alarm. The house is 1.9 km to my work and is considered Preston in Banyule.
On the way back to my work the unit nurse manager took me to an old shop down the road which was used as storage for my hospital. He said that they are chucking most of it out and did i want any of it. I will get couches, tables, chairs, bookcases, a washing machine and im not sure what else. WHen i got back to work the manager said to me that she had just redecorated her house and had heaps that she can give me. What? i didnt know there was people out there this nice!!
The third day at work i worked with a different team of people, again, great. I got talking to an div 2 (enrolled nurse) who is studing her Div 1 (registered nurse). She was telling me how somehow she ended up with too many tvs from her neigbours and such as she lives in a wealthy area. She offered me a plasma tv (as new) for ….get this…………FREE. What a cool chick. I love melbourne!!!
On the fourth day at work i met another chick, she has a partner and live on a half acre section. She loves camping and watersports, she seems like i could hang with her. She insisted that she take me to a tram stop that was on her way home, she is also a fellow fager. The people that work in rehab are much more fun and relaxed i find.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (3)Useful Melbourne information
Arriving in Melbourne airport, everything is really easy to follow. I have a new passport that is electronic, so i put it in a special machine (sign posted) that prints out a ticket for you to take up further to another machine. While everyone is going through customs you go up to the lines for electronic entry, put your ticket in, like in a subway, move forward when it turns green. You then look into the camera and when it recognises your face and lets you into Australia. Depending on what you put on your arrival form go through either the red or green lines to declare anything. Done…youre now in the main part of Melbourne airport.
From the airport you can catch the skybus which costs $16 and goes to the city. There are several other options but this is what i did. You buy your ticket from the kiosk right next to the bus.
Public transport is awesome. There are trains, trams and buses. The trains and trams have timetables and maps that you can get from any major station, but because there are over 300 bus routes, you need to go online for each individual time tables. Lots of the transport connects but its not that simple some times as you need to go to different platforms or stations. Im still figuring this out. There are two zones, 1 and 2 and the cost differs between the two. Zone 1 is blue and if you have this ticket you can travel anywhere within the zone which stretches about 20km in diameter around the CBD. Everywhere i have needed to go so far is in zone 1. I travel from the boarder of zone 1 in the south east to the boarder of zone 1 in the north.
I brought a Melbourne mini street directory to ensure i dont get lost, i tend to follow where i am going on the map to help me get to know the city better. I would recommend you get one of these or get a smart phone/iphone to be able to access maps. There are free apps for tram tracker and train tracker. These are awesome, but ive a cheap phone at the moment.
I brought my phone from Big W (a department store like Kmart) for $39. If you want prepay you have to buy an unlocked phone to be able to put any sim card in it. This enables you to get cheaper calling. For me at the moment i pay 15c txt all over the world and 25c per min to NZ cells or 5c per min to nz landlines. I will be getting an Iphone when i can as they offer great deals on data, and unlimited calling and txts.
There are information booths and people wearing vests that you can ask for help about almost anything. I have found these people very helpful.
Back to public transport, there is the ‘city loop’ which all trains come in to. This incorporates the main stations, Southern cross(the biggest), Central station (full of shopping), Parliament (underground) and Flinders (the oldest). All trains can be caught or transferred to from any of these stations. It costs about $30 for a weekly unlimited pass, though they are bringing out a new card called mykey, which is like the metro cards in NZ. You put cash on it, buy a weekly pass and then just flash your card past the sensors. I have read that around 400,000 people use public transport everyday.
Bring walking shoes, as you will walk walk walk walk. I have blisters on my feet and hope that my weight will drop off!!!!
People in Melbourne are much more fashionable than back home. There is so much choice and good looking people are everywhere. I hope my hunni still loves me when he sees all the hot chicks over here.
You can get on the trams for free, but you are meant to validate your ticket. There is a fine you can get and there are transport officers patrolling the system all the time. They have the power to arrest you.
Getting on and off a tram is easy, like a bus but the trains you need to press the electric button on the doors to open them or pull on the handle to activate the electric door. Every station or stop has a number and you can call metlink to get timetable information if need be. The larger stations have a speaker, screens and people that you can ask. or you can press a green button which will tell you when the next train is coming.
You can hire bikes for $2.50 per day or get an annual subscription for a year for $50. This is in the CBD.
You can take your bike on public trains and some places have bike lockers, like gym lockers that you can use for free. Not sure how to get key, but the information people will tell you.
Melbourne – My First Impressions
So im here, finally, after months of planning. I flew Pacific Blue. Here are somethings i forgot about flying:
The seats are packed in, its like being in a cattle truck. Perhaps my memory is skewed or perhaps i should just not fly pacific blue again.
The menu sounds fantastic, hot chicken noodles….yum, the polystyrene cup with pull back lid filled with boiling water = not fantastic. On the upside i do enjoy a good brew of filter coffee.
REMEMBER: do not have a large latte at the airport and then coffee on the plane, this will lead to multiple toilet visits, involving me squeezing my big butt past the lovely unaccompanied minors eating lollies for the duration of the flight. Bet their parents were happy!!
The toilets- barely room to turn around, how you’d join the mile high club, i dont know!!
And finally, there is always going to some annoying passangers near by. In my case a group of blond european females – seats back, chatting in some annoying language without a hint of a smile or laughter —–ah —– germans.
8.30am 22nd January
Im cruising above the clouds, the sun is gorgeous, the clouds are thick and puffy, like spun sugar. As we descend into Melbourne, down through the thick layer of overcast cloud…..I can see the ground, its flat and very grid like, similar to the Canterbury plains. The green is different, not quite right. Im excited to be here but it doesn’t beat flying into Queenstown airport, now that feels like home.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)Im leaving on an airplane
So, its 1930 and im leaving in the morning. Pacific blue, no movies or food…travelling budget. Got my bags packed, was measuring the bloody things in pounds…therefore i was well under and went running round squeezing more in!!
Im staying in Balaclava in Melbourne with poocole, get to buy me new linen and cell when i get there, yah i love new stuff!
So just when i thought all the curve balls possible had been thrown, I went to kiwibank and purchased some Aussie dollars, ugly though it may be, still necessary. Thank you said the lady, passing me a recipt…..”the money?” i queried, “yes, that’ll be here monday morning….. I pick my jaw off the floor. An hour later they had managed to cancel the transaction.
So that sorted, bags packed and hair cut i think im ready. I supose apart from the butterflys and the urge to spew occasionally.
My Narny is sad, Lex is oblivious and Lest will miss me loads.
I will miss you my beloved kiwis, it wont be long before i return to continue my love affiar with home land.
Arohanui
Briony Ashton
(Registered nurse in two countries!!)
Hello world!
So im about to embark on a new journey in my life. Its been 10 years since i left the country. This time i am initially travelling alone, leaving my babies in NZ. Follow me and see where we go……
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