I'm currently staying with the Aunt and Uncle (ES & JB) of a girl who joined my lab in Oxford last year. They're really nice people and have certainly helped me settle in. They have three kids and I'm currently displacing the eldest by living in her room. I suppose I should move out as quickly as possible! But the housing market is something I'm attempting to get to grips with this weekend.
So on Thursday I got myself a bank account. Which was suprisingly easy, just the passport needed. Though the idea that I can't use any ATM anywhere for free is a bit alien to a Brit! Getting hold of a mobile phone proved trickier. I'm aiming to get a contract phone, but right at the start I'm going to stick to PAYG, which I thought would be easier, SIM card for $10, but it takes 24 hours to activate, which is really annoying when you have no means of your own transport and have to call to get a lift! Plus there's no credit included in the $10. That's one of the biggest differences I've noticed so far in Australia, commercial markets are a lot less competitive and so its company driven rather than consumer driven, if there isn't enough choice for consumers then its the company that holds the power. In the UK you would get a free SIM when paying for phone credit, which would work instantly, and not have to pay to withdraw cash from another banks ATMs simply because if anyone did charge, people would go elsewhere. Maybe the consumer choice is less in Australia and until one company uses these kind of tactics, none of the others will. Anywho....
On Friday I ventured in to ANU for the first time. Canberra has a really good network of bike paths, and the one from Hackett, the suburb where I'm staying to ANU pretty much follows a storm drain for its duration, so its pretty green. About twenty to twenty-five minutes cycle through the suburbs of Canberra, though then again, this city is nothing but suburbs. The one thing thats really different about Canberra is the birds, parrots and cockateels and cockatoos and the like. Its really quite cool to have "tropical" birds in a suburban environment. Though I have been warned about the magpies!! They're bigger than UK magpies and look decidedly meaner, plus its "swooping season". Its the beginning of Spring so the magpies are getting a little frisky and the males often dive-bomb passers by, some people even have cable-ties attached to the top of their cycle helmets (supposedly compulsory but not everyone wears one) as the magpies swoop the highest part of the person.
Registered successfully, though I forgot my passport *slaps forehead* so had to cycle all the way back to Hackett and in again, which was fine as I didn't have much to do. Then I attempted to try and find my new department, RSES, I ended up cycling around the entire campus thoroughly lost. The campus is a big place, and quite disorientating, but I found it eventually, walked in through the front door, no security, no reception, Canberra is a very safe place, and quite quickly located my new supervisor (MG). MG seemed nice, as did the rest of his group that I met, much smaller than OceanBug thats for sure, but then how many scientifc groups are bigger than OceanBug?! Spent the rest of the day with MG, getting a tour, introductions etc. The department is a real warren, and is going to take a long time to get used to, and quite quiet it seems. Met a couple of Postgrads, before joining the departmental friday night football game, (which apparently wasn't that departmental) before a few "pints" and then back home.
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