King Street

I remember when I was in high school I wrote a column on the fact that there were over 30 dry cleaners on Waukegan Road in Glenview. Well, I could write a similar article about King Street in Newtown, only I would replace the dry cleaners with Thai restaurants. Additionally, King Street is also chock full of bars, second hand shops, and alternative lifestyles (I can’t tell you how many people I see walking around with their bodies COVERED in tattoos). I really never tire of walking down the street: there are often people singing, playing instruments, or even break dancing for money, a very talented artist sells his paintings right near my bus stop, and on Saturdays there is a small market outside of the community center. My only complaint is there is always heavy traffic that makes it more difficult to take pictures of the beautiful old buildings that line the street. Below are a few of the better ones I was able to get.

This is my favorite shop to browse around in. Lots of Buddha statues, colorful lamps, decorative rugs, and antique furniture to look at.

The local movie theater. Did you know that they assign seats for the movies in Australia? So your whole group of friends will go up to the ticket booth at the same time.

The public library... where I am right now uploading these pictures. Oh how I love free wireless internet.

A little bit random, but I love the brick next to the run down yellow and pink buildings. Everything in Newtown is so old, but I think it gives it character.

Newtown

So much has happened this past week: I moved into my apartment, got my first job, and started to pursue my life long dream of being a beach bum. Let’s start with the apartment. It’s small, but cozy and I think Rachel and I made the most of the space we had. The nicest part about our studio is that is came with a recently renovated, fully furnished kitchen. I like to pretend that I’m Rachel’s sous chef; I’m learning a lot and hopefully I will be able to cook for myself when she isn’t here to walk me through cutting potatoes. As a neighborhood, Newtown has a young and alternative atmosphere with plenty of cool vintage shops and funky cafes. We are about a five minute walk from the train station, but find ourselves walking or taking the bus most of the time. They have plenty of public transportation options so I have to say I don’t miss my run- down Jeep one single bit!

My bed!

Our lovely TV that gets three whole channels.

That little christmas tree came with the place. How festive!

Rachel's bed.

So about this job… I worked in a paper factory for a day (I can’t tell you how thrilled my parents were by the thought of their college graduate doing manual labor). Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. I could wear gym shoes to work and listen to music all day as a sat and counted big white paper in stacks of twenty and then small blue paper in stacks of a hundred. I walked away with a bit of money and only about four or five paper cuts. I’m still trying to decide whether I can make it as a factory girl or if I should just go back to the retail world. It’s hard to have work ethic at all when the weather is as beautiful as it is here. As the weather gets warmer, Rachel and I are determined to visit every beach in the Sydney area at least once. We started with Coogee, which is about a forty- five minute bus ride from Newtown… try not to be too jealous of the life I lead =)

Pretty crowded, right? It was a Wednesday. Aussie's are known to skip work and head to the beach on nice days.

This is Gordon's Bay, which is just a short walk from Coogee.