Diary of an Australian in Bristol
February 2, 2006
Well, we have made it safely to Bristol. Things are going well so far. We had a smooth flight, once we made it on to the plane (we were running a little late - they had to hold the plane for us and I was just about to get an escort through security!). Flying direct to Bristol rather than going through London was a good move - there were only about 10 people on the flight, there was no queue for passport control and our bags were ready waiting for us!
We have spent the week mostly walking around Bristol and house-hunting. It has been cold, but not as cold as I expected, so that was a welcome surprise. Dressed sensibly, we can spend most of the day walking around. Bristol is a lovely city - we have mostly been house-hunting around the suburb of Clifton - it is a gorgeous area and we didn't see it much at all when we were here in 2004. It seems to be a great place to live (if rather expensive!) and it is walking distance to the university. The house-hunting was successful - we looked at about 10 places in 3 days before we found a brilliant flat. It is only one-bedroom and quite small, but beautifully decorated and furnished and in very good condition. It is on one of the prettiest streets in Clifton, in a Georgian terrace and opposite another Georgian terrace, with a park in between. And it is just down the road from the spectacular Clifton suspension bridge which crosses a big gorge (there is a good reason for the name "Clifton"!). So we're thrilled with it and looking forward to moving (we will be moving on February 27), although not looking forward to carrying all our boxes to the second floor!
Stuart is starting to settle in at work, although it is of course quite slow to begin with. I am enjoying some lazy time at home (with the heater!) and also working on applying for jobs. I am having a meeting with someone at the University of Bath next week who possibly has an interesting job and also meeting with Stuart's boss, because he has some work available as well. So we'll see what happens.