Our New Digs

(by Hunter)

As mentioned briefly before, our living circumstances have changed considerably for the better. It was a struggle to find a place to live in Manly, but our new place has exceeded our expectations. Here is a more descriptive post about our new home.

Most importantly, it has a heater – something that is pretty rare around these parts. I say “a heater” rather than just “heat”, because it is literally just a single unit in the living room only. I can’t understand why heaters are rare in Sydney – it is cold enough that we spend most evenings jockeying for position in front of the little burner.

The apartment is incredibly quiet. Though we live in a four-unit building, we never hear a sound from our neighbors. The other night I took Oskar out for his night walk and realized that the unit next door was having a lively party…couldn’t tell from our apartment. All the walls in this place are plaster on masonry – not many sounds get through them.

Our street is also incredibly quiet. It is quite a change from the Darlinghurst days of late-night revelers, traffic, and constant all-hours trash dumpster emptying. I am still haunted by the “beep-beep-beep ker-ash!!” of those trucks in my dreams. It is quiet enough here to be almost eerie sometimes, and I have to go outside to look around and make sure that we didn’t miss the Rapture or something.

We are located at the top of a sandstone hill overlooking Manly beach. Outside of our building we can see both the ocean and the harbour. From the apartment, however, we can only see the front yard. It’s called a “garden outlook” in real estate parlance. The people in the two units on the other side of our building have what is known as an “ocean outlook”, and we hate them for it and plot ways to arrange a vacancy.

At the bottom of our hill is the Manly Oval. For no apparent reason all the play fields around here are ovals. I think it has to do with that zany game “the cricket”, but all they seem to play on the Oval is rugby – which requires a rectangular field. Regardless, one can be regularly entertained by large men in bright colors ripping the heads off one another on the Oval. When this is not taking place, a border collie has been seen chasing frisbees on the elliptical lawn.

Next to the Oval is our very own neighborhood lawn bowling club. Candace is, predictably, quite excited. Also next to the Oval is a grass-court tennis club (THAT should get my parents to come visit). There is also a nice terraced park with tropical plants and biodegradable doggie-bag dispensers. Some nights, men play bagpipes on the porch of the fieldhouse. Other nights there is “Rock and Bowl” at the lawn bowling club; I have actually witnessed people lawn bowling to Billy Idol.

At the bottom of our steep little hill (about 3 block-equivalents away) is Manly central. Here the shops, cafes, variety stores, and you-name-it are clustered in the three blocks remaining between the Oval and the Ocean. This shopping/entertainment zone spreads roughly from the Oval to the Ferry Wharf on Sydney Harbour, about 5 blocks away - though it dribbles out both ends along the beach. We are located so very conveniently to the beach and the shopping and the ferry, but nicely removed from any commotion by our little hill.

Back to the apartment. It is spacious, with high ceilings and ornate crown molding. We have deliberations about what to call the off-white/tan-ish/yellow-with-the-slightest-tinge-of-green color, but the term “sand” is perhaps the tidiest and is not associated with bodily fluids in any way. The floors are hardwood throughout, medium brown (light walnut?), with a glossy and seriously durable gymnasium-style clear finish on top. This floor is not afraid of Oskar’s nails.

We have two good size bedrooms, one of which came with a nice wood armoire. The bathroom is small but nicely appointed. The kitchen is also on the small side, but with lots of cabinetry, and stainless steel Miele appliances. We actually have a dishwasher now, but ironically we don’t own enough dishes to justify running it.

For now the walls are all bare, and the rooms are echoey. A few pieces of Ikea lurk in the expanses of flooring. In a surprise reversion back to college decorative techniques, we are featuring a milk-crate television stand.

A newcomer has arrived to challenge the collegiate design scheme: a brown micro-suede loveseat with matching square cube ottoman. Yes, we have a “cube” - it was inevitable, as they seem to be multiplying like tribbles across the home furnishings world. The couch gives the living room the sense of legitimacy it needed to feel lived-in, and we are now less likely to be run out by neighbors who mistake us for squatters.

For pictures of the new abode, check out the following link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeoNm7lwzasZM


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