The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. ~Arnold Toynbee

Ahhhh Melbourne, oh how I miss you.  Well, at least miss the Melbourne that I was in from 1995 to 1998...

Melbourne, unlike most cities in Australia seemed to have more of a history, I don't know why this is - maybe because of the architecture, the town planning or the fact that they still had trams as a basic and very important part of the transportation system.

The company that I was working for had it's head office in a suburb on the outskirts of the city centre, so my first accommodation whilst finding permanent housing was in a neighboring suburb... all of ten minutes walk from work.  This made it natural that I would also look for permanent accommodation in the area.  I found a nice little flat on Caroline st, just up from the Yarra river, which meant that my ten minute walk to work was along the banks of the river, across a bridge and all of two blocks before reaching the office.  Magic!

A short walk from my flat were the Botanical gardens - one of the most beautiful pieces of green to be found in any city anywhere in the world.  The city centre was a half hour walk along the banks of the Yarra.  This was heaven.  I love not having a car - I love being in walking distance to all those things that you need to live - shops, restaurants, pubs, green fields, water and wild life.  Amazing.  I recommend to anyone who has not been there - go to Melbourne - get a self contained apartment in Sth Yarra and just enjoy....

Work was also very good, I had the best of bosses....  I worked hard and I think well - and mostly long hours - but most days were so much fun - I loved the challenge - I loved the quickness of his mind, the fact that times were tough and not all things were going our way made it that much more important to put in more of an effort.  I learnt so much doing this job.  As I said before this boss and his wife are my closest friends today, I am their sons Godmother, one of many - but hey - still a major honour... and I love him dearly too!   Life in Melbourne as I say was good, very good.  I had lots of visits from friends and relations - including mum and my niece Anna, I started having dinner parties then too - and boy did I enjoy them - I already knew that I enjoyed having people around me and feeding them... this was my chance to take it to another level.  Narelle and I became even firmer friends as well, without her, the boss and his wife these years in Melbourne would not have been half as good.... Again, I am so thankful.

Ofcourse the boss being the bright spark that he was would not stay in Australia forever, bigger and brighter things were awaiting him in Germany.  He and Amanda got married (best wedding EVER... well, until Ross and Olga's) and left.... so what was there for me to do... the company was moving offices to the outskirts of Melbourne - I would need to buy a car....  So, I went for a job interview with Siemens in ..... Canada..... what a week that was - I flew off and had an interview - checked out the situation and the fact that I would no longer have 4 weeks holiday per year.... came back and voila - got offered another job with Siemens - but this time in Sydney..... I spent six months commuting between Sydney and Melbourne, had my flat in Sth Yarra and another one near central Sydney - the bonus was that when I was in Melbourne the company got me a hire car.... so I could get to work.   My new bosses in Melbourne were also excellent, they gave me the opportunity to try out being a boss...... more on that in the next post.

Ah Melbourne - I do miss you - but it will never be the same.......