What it feels like to quit your job on the 2nd day...

Today, my day started how I imagined it would be in my new role - get up and get ready, jump on the tram and fight for a seat, read the Guardian on my phone and await the moment I can get into the office to make myself a cup of coffee and quit my job on my second day.

Backtrack to the day before and I had a good first day. Like most first days it was all about inductions, introductions and information overload! So nothing really new there. I was taken out for lunch, joked with my fellow English colleagues (there are a few of us here!) and looked forward to getting to grips with my new role and responsibilities.

So when I received a phone call at 5.20pm whilst I was awaiting the tram home offering me another position, I had a dilemma on my hands.

Whilst for most people this might not seem to be too much of an issue, for me it felt bittersweet. Bittersweet because my colleagues were so lovely, they were genuinely happy to have me there, the working conditions were great and the pay was marginally better. So why leave?

Because the new position is a permanent managerial role for start. But mainly because the cause makes my blood boil at the injustice of the system here in Australia. Because it is an excellent opportunity to build and grow the fundraising team and implement my own campaigns and fundraising events.

But I felt so bad when I arrived at 8.30am and saw the look of surprise on my colleagues face at 8.35am when I told him the news and had to wait my our manager and the HR manager to arrive to further spread this news. They were very gracious about the episode, making me feel at ease with my decision and trying to make sure that I stopped apologising!

It is a real shame as I felt that I would have got along well within the team, but this other opportunity is one that I need to challenge myself and to really strive towards greatness to make the maximum impact and to actually change people's lives.

All the services are run on-site which is an excellent motivation to achieve all the goals that need to be met and to really make this position my own.

So now that I am back at home at 10.30am I shall give myself the day off from my 1 day at work.

A cup of tea, slice of chocolate peanut butter birthday cake and a crafty afternoon should ease my mind!

A big thank you to everyone who sent me birthday love via email, facebook, texts, birthday calls and Skypes, cards and pressies - it is great to know that I have the love and support of so many around me :)

I had a lovely day which began with a chocolate caramel slice in the shape of a 27 for birthday breakfast, opened some lovely gifts, had the flat decorated in balloons and streamers, had my favourite birthday Pho in Richmond and went to see the musical King Kong at the Regents Theatre which had its world premiere in Melbourne.

Check it out here:

http://kingkongliveonstage.com/

If it ever does travel the world - go and see it - its very technical and amazing - sexy and scary all in one!

And at the weekend I had a great time as Eloise and David made me a chocolate peanut butter birthday cake and bought me beautiful roses! We watched the AFL Grand Final (a religion down here) and headed out for delicious drinks and cocktails in Fitzroy with Brant and Ali (Ali is featured in my world travel blog as we became friends in Buenos Aires and she lives in Melbourne!).

And we had a great chance to catch up with Debs and Joel - good friends with the lovely Sarah and Macca and I met them at their Thailand wedding in 2011 - also featured in my travel blog.

So thank you to everyone - I have been spoilt yet again this year!

I shall keep you all updated with my other new job on Monday.

Have a great week to all, much loves as ever xxx

It's times like these that you need a bucket...

It's definitely times like these that you need a bucket. A bucket of luck, a bucket of money, a bucket of sunshine and even a little bucket of sanity to help you along the way.

Not that things are bad, on the contrary, things are pretty good and I'd be horribly ungrateful not to recognise how lucky we have been, once again, to fall onto our feet.

And for this I am extremely grateful. Moving to the other side of the world is definitely not easy, but is definitely easier with how lucky we have been. But whilst an element is luck, it is also hard work.

For everyone that knows us well (namely our parents), knows that we take on too much. Wedding plans, 2 engagement parties, 3 house moves in 8 months, 1 major trip to the UK, various trips whilst in the UK and starting a new life in Melbourne (aka job and house hunting yet again!).

So yes, we are lucky that we can get up and go, not be too phased or worried about our situations and start all over again.

This time, I think it's different for the both of us. We have moved around a lot in the last few years- it's been amazing and awesome, but it gets tiring living out of a suitcase and having to sell yourself for jobs and properties again. We are looking forward to putting pictures on the wall, decorating the flat and make it feel like home. It's been a long time.

As I write this, I am sitting in our new flat in an awesomely cool area of Melbourne, awaiting our furniture to arrive, living out of a suitcase and non-refrigerated foods.

Thank god they installed the heating yesterday, it was getting to below 5 degrees at night!

But we already have a great group of friends down here- I think half the Gold Coast has moved down! That does make it much easier, especially the hospitality that everyone has shown us! The beanbags and doona (duvet) make a MASSIVE difference when you have a shell of an apartment! 

So I feel like we need just a tiny top up of luck (not even a bucket, just a cup) to get us the jobs and opportunities that we both deserve to enjoy our new Melbourne life.

Keep it all crossed for us please!

Much loves xxx