So! Not only do I have a room, I have also got a bed! Rooms come pretty much universally unfurnished here so for the last week I’ve been buying furniture and putting it up (somehow I seem to have had at least one screw left over for every single item of furniture I’ve put up…). Their bed sizes are different over here (something I didn’t know), so I’ve bought a “King Single” which is longer than a double bed and much wider than a single in the uk. It’s the perfect blend between giving me loads of room, and not making my bedroom seem too small 😉

I haven’t quite finished decorating yet (you know how much I love plants!) and I have a trip planned to the garden centre this weekend to hopefully pick up a cheap indoor tree 😀 Unfortunately, as I lost my drivers license when I lost my wallet I can’t hire a car so I’ll be bringing it back by bus. For those of you that doubt me though, never forget that time in Belgium when I cycled a good forty minutes home uphill with a 4ft palm tree in my bicycle basket! When it comes to buying plants that I don’t really need I can become surprisingly determined and perform athletic feats I would never dream of doing normally!

In the spirit of exploring the local area I went to one of the beaches not far from my new home (30 mins by bus – 5 if I had a darn car!). I hadn’t realised that the beaches would have so much volcanic rock! All the cliffs are bubbled and pitted with holes like a sponge and beneath them the sand shimmers like black glitter. It’s a shame that it really doesn’t show up well on camera just how glittery it is! There were also weird things on the rocks and I can’t decide whether they are fossils or living sea creatures … what do you think?

I’ve had 2 days at work now. The other PhD students in my group seem awesome. We went for drinks after work on Friday and one of them brought the cutest dog ever – half poodle and half springer spaniel! A dumpling shop has also opened on campus selling some of the nicest dumplings ever so my lunches have been great for the last two days! Dumplings and sushi and other Asian food is really cheap over here which is awesome for me! Car insurance is also pretty cheap, but dry shampoo is mega expensive!

I think next week I’m going to start joining societies in earnest! Tomorrow I am going to go to a tree-climbing society meet up! I used to love climbing trees as a kid but then I was always great at going up and terrible at going back down. It’s going to be kind of epic to join a society where they teach you to climb trees properly, and you never know – it might come in handy if I’m ever chased by wolves! Then Wednesday I’m starting fencing (it’s $10 a night which seems pretty awesome) and Thursday there’s one for painting and having beers which seems pretty much right up my street.

I’ll let you guys know how it all went next week!