February - Moving to Melbourne and Rosanna's trip to Bali

In the end of January we moved from lovely WA to the other side of Australia, Melbourne. The reasons for the move were 1) we were starting to run out of money and Oliver desperately needed to find a job. His job hunt in Perth had not been a success and many recruiters told him to come to Melbourne since there were plenty of opportunities there 2) we wanted to see a new city and state 3) we had been told by many people that Melbourne is the one of the most liveable cities not only in Oz but in the world. So you can probably imagine that we had quite high expectations in relations to Oliver finding a job and us enjoying living in Melbourne. Upon writing this we have (or at least Rosanna has as you will learn later on) lived in Melbourne for more than 5 months and Melbourne does seem to be a very nice, active and well-functioning city. 

Upon arrival to Melbourne we had no place to stay so we booked an AirBnB for a week, in which time we thought we would be able to find a flat to stay in. When browsing through the several apartment sites we learned that to be able to live in a nice flat in a good area we would have to commit to staying in Melbourne for at least 6 months. Not a problem we thought, since there seemed to be many job opportunities for Oliver and Rosanna was working remotely to Finland. So yes, we were keen on staying in Melbourne for a longer time. 

During our first week we did some sightseeing in midst of flat hunting and got to know the city better. Melbourne greeted us with beautiful and warm weather and we were definitely enjoying ourselves!

Yarra river

Impressive street art

Two minions

Hosier Lane is known for its street art

Our AirBnb host cooked us some kangaroo kebabs

In the first flat viewing we went to we met a British couple, Katherine and Richard, who to our surprise asked if we would like to try and find a flat together for all four of us! Well why not we thought and by the end of the week we had managed to find a nice and spacious flat in St Kilda. We signed our lease for 6 months and Oliver started serious job hun while Rosanna worked remotely to Finland. This kept us pretty busy especially when Oliver started casual work in a exhibition building company, but we did manage to squeeze in some exploring of our new neighbourhood as well. In mid February we celebrated Katherine's birthday and turned out that Richard can bake!

Watching the final game of tennis in the Australia Open at Federation Square

MSO Sidney Myer free concert

With our new roommates listening to classical music

St Kilda beach is colonized by Little Penquins, the smallest penquin species in the world

The view from our bedroom window

Katherine marveling the view over Melbourne

The view over the CBD from Albert Lake

Katherine's birthday cake by Richard

Now to be able to explain what happened in the end of February and early March, we have to go back to November. When enjoying our fist trip to Yallingup and Barrett's summer house we got a message from Finland saying that our friends Reeta and Tuomas were planning to visit us in Australia and would like to know when and where they should come to meet us! We were over the moon to hear that our friends would travel this far to see us (and perhaps the amazing Oz as well). We agreed that they should fly to Perth in the beginning of March, when it is still nice weather and they were able to take a couple weeks of from their work. Little did we know that we would not be working and living in Perth after all. 

Right after we learned that Reeta and Tuomas were coming for a visit Rosanna's childhood friend Anna asked if Rosanna would like to meet her in Bali to celebrate her birthday. Rosanna's birthday is in the end of February, so we all decided together that after Bali Anna would come with Rosanna to Perth and meet Reeta and Tuomas when they arrived there in the beginning of March. And so one big happy group meet up was arranged in Perth for early March!

Rosanna was so happy to be able to celebrate her birthday in Bali (which she fell in love with in 2014 when travelling in Indonesia) even though it meant that Oliver would have to stay behind in Melbourne and fly to Perth later on his own to meet the Finnish group of friends. And so a couple days before her birthday Rosanna flew to Bali for a week and was reunited with Anna in Canggu, where they spent the first couple of nights before travelling to the lovely Nusa Lembongan island. 

First breakfast in Canggu, Bali

Breakfast happiness

Anna got straight into the surfing business

Anna and the sunny Canggu beach

Canggu's lunch selection is outstanding

Breathtaking sunset in Canggu

Chilling

Anna had booked accommodation for Rosanna and her for the three nights they spent on Lembongan in a small diving center called Planet Nomadas (highly recommended!). Rosanna and Anna ended up doing four dives with them in the clear waters of Nusa Penida and were extremely lucky to see the enormous Manta Rays and Sunfish in addition to the beautiful reef fish and other creatures that reside in the coral reefs surrounding Nusa Lembongan and Penida.

Volcano captured from Nusa Lembongan

On our way to dive

Ready to dive!

Diving in Nusa Penida

Planet Nomadas

Traditional Indonesian dishes Nasi and Mie Goreng on Nusa Lembongan

Dream Beach on Lembongan

Rosanna's birthday dinner in Hai Bar and Grill on Lembongan

The empty beaches of Lembongan

After Lembongan Rosanna and Anna spent their lasts nights in Seminyak where poor Anna got to experience the Bali Belly, which meant she was bound to the hotel bed for one day. Luckily she felt better soon and the girls headed to the famous Potato Head Beach Club before catching their flight to Perth.

At the Potato Head Beach Club

Delicious lunch at the Potato Beach Club

Rosanna and Anna spent a couple days alone in Perth (yet again accommodated by the amazing Barrett's in their apartment) before Reeta, Tuomas and Oliver arrived. To read more about our adventures with our Finnish friends in South Western Australia, head to the next post!

Anna and Rosanna in Perth CBD