Our New Home in Oz

While I don't know that our new place in Oz is anything to write home about, nor is it that different from an American home, but I know how curious everyone always is about living conditions in different countries, so I thought I'd share a few photos. Our apartment is on what is considered the "lower north shore" of Sydney. So relatively speaking it is on the north side of the harbour. The south side of the harbour is where you will find the Opera House and downtown Sydney or the CBD as you find Aussies more commonly refer to it.

While our main decision to live here stemmed from various distances Steve would commute to his office and client locations, it turns out it is also arguably one of the nicest areas to live in Sydney, especially with a family. We have some of the nicest views of the harbour and the city, we're close to the zoo and many great beaches for kids, its safe (keeping in mind that all of Sydney is very safe when it comes to comparison of most any other city of its size), and there are many great activities all while just being a short trip (which showcases fabulous views) across the "big bridge" as Emma calls it to get downtown.

Of course all of this comes at a price. The housing market is pretty absurd in Sydney and the lower north shore is close to the top of the list. It seems to be a constant topic of conversation here. While rental prices might seem high, the cost to buy in comparison to other major markets is even worse. Without a doubt it takes $1.5 to 2 million USD to break into the actual housing market in this neighborhood and at least half a million USD to buy a 2 bedroom apartment.  I think our first clue to all this was the fact that rental pricing is done on a weekly rate here. What at first seems like a great rent is actually an outrageous one. And the rental prices don't even seem as outrageous as the purchase prices.

Without further ado here's what our 900 or so square feet, 2 bed/1.5 bath of Aussie living looks like to us...

Our apartment is part of a block of six that is up one flight of indoor stairs that leads to a quiet outdoor entrance.

Entry in the front door leads upstairs to the right, kitchen to the left and combined living/dining room and patio straight ahead.

Straight ahead into the living area.

Through the huge sliding patio doors to the outdoor area. I love this area for how safe and big it is for Emma to play. I strongly dislike this area for how noisy it is from the busy street below. At least we cannot see it and if you have headphones on you might even think you're in your own private sanctuary.

Back inside, more of the living/dining room. Every parent of a young child can now cringe when they see our table on carpet. Hence why we like to eat outside when we can...

More of the dining area with a view back into the kitchen. 

An essential item, sofa bed for any future visitors. Also note the Christmas tree with 95% homemade ornaments is quite impressive.

One more view back to the entryway and stairs.

View into the kitchen. Strangely, nearly all the kitchen finishes are identical to our Zurich apartment.

In between the entryway and the kitchen is our teeny tiny half bathroom. If you thought our sink and bathroom was small at our most recent house in St. Louis, you'll have to check out this one.

About halfway through taking photos someone noticed what I was doing and started wondering why she wasn't the focus of all my photos. Keep your eye out for the girl in the blue Elsa shirt in a few more of the photos, it's kind of like Where's Waldo.

Upstairs you'll find two bedrooms and a full bathroom. One of the other selling features of this apartment was the fact that some might consider these "double" bedrooms because of their size. While they are far from being massive, let's just say that they are a whole lot bigger than some of the other bedroom apartments we viewed during our search. Here is the entrance to the "master" bedroom.

More large sliding doors lead to a narrow sun porch that has become more like a storage area for us. These windows are north facing like our patio downstairs which means they get the hot afternoon sun (remember we're in the southern hemisphere). Luckily the patio has a good overhang and stops too much heat from beating in downstairs. Not so much in our bedroom. So despite my love for natural light these dark blinds stay mostly closed right now during the summer. Unfortunately the lack of view out this window might mean they continue to stay pulled a lot during the winter too.

Our Ikea bed finally fully assembled after many phone calls and exchanged parts with Ikea (just come talk to us before you ever buy a Malm Bed with underneath drawers).

One more view of our room and closet. Built-in closets are not entirely standard here, but we found them in most bedrooms we viewed (unlike Europe where we had to buy wardrobes). Aussies seem to really like the massive sliding glass door style. Not exactly my style but I'm getting used to it. Emma on the other hand loves to looks at herself in the massive mirrors.

View from inside the bathroom. Fortunately we got used to only the one full bathroom in our 75 year old house in St. Louis. At least a bonus is that this one is newly remodeled and has a little more room than the last. It also houses two very important appliances - a washer and dryer (hidden behind the door). Unfortunately it also has one of those modern really flat sinks and the "half shower door."

Half shower door doesn't hinge open like many, and the tub is really long, so at least it doesn't leak out much water while showering. This also means that Emma likes to goof off in the bathtub and "hide" at the end where it is nearly impossible for us to reach her without also getting in.

Entry into Emma and baby's room. Thus far Emma says she is really excited about sharing a room... oh how I bet that will change.

While the crib is in place there is still some adjusting to do before baby arrives. 

Emma loves to crawl into the crib or put her animals to sleep in it.

Emma's big kid Ikea bed. This big kid Ikea bed was something we have talked about with anticipation from the day we started talking about moving to Australia with her.

I think she likes it.

That's the tour folks.