I can't help myself

This past week we finally bought a new car. When we first got to Australia, knowing we were only going to be here 3-4 years, we had a decision to make...buy a cheap old car and run it to the ground, or buy something more expensive that we could sell right before we return to Canada. Well, Vic heard several stories from backpackers and expats who went the cheap old car route, drove the hell out of it all over Australia's outback, and who strongly recommended that option to him. So we bought the lemoniest of cars for very little money. And what happened: well, it broke down about a week after we bought it, and continued breaking down on a regular basis since then.

In fact, the car's been steadily running worse and worse, to the point where we've been sticking close to home in the past month for fear of it breaking down and being stranded far from home. But last week, we finally got rid of it, and bought a much improved, dependable car. And what did we do the first weekend we had it....go to the Blue Mountains, or the Royal National Park or to the Northern Beaches??? No, no and no. Instead, I insisted we go to Ikea, which is way in the West of Sydney, about a 45 min drive from us. We hadn't been to Ikea since shortly after we got here, and I've been suffering from withdrawal from being able to buy cute stuff for our apartment, cheap.

In trying to avoid the insanity of Sydney traffic, we ended up spending absurd amounts on tolls, but for me, it was totally worth it. I love Ikea! Once there, we bought hot dogs. We had to, because Ikea is one of the few places in Sydney where you can buy hot dogs that actually taste and look like the hot dogs that we're used to. In other places, the hot dogs are an odd orange or bright pink colour and the inside of them is a yucky mushy texture. eww. The calzone (tomato and cheese) in the pic below is mine (have I mentioned I've been seriously off meat lately?).



We went with the intention of buying a shower curtain, and came back with an armful (and let me tell you, I had to restrain myself from buying many, many other cute things). Ikea's swedish ingenuity never fails to impress me. Check this out. A solar powered lamp (perfect for our small apartment that has limited electrical outlets), AND for every one that you buy, they donate one to UNICEF. We had to buy it, not just for us, but for the children. Also included in our purchases was a pepper grinder (I cannot believe I've been without for almost a year) and matching spice jars....and the grinder part of the pepper grinder comes off and can be screwed on to any of the matching spice jars. Genius! And of course, a fleece blanket to replace the sleeping bag we've been using as a third blanket to keep warm on the colder nights.


On our way out, we HAD to test out the ice cream machine.

Eyes rolling back into head. mmmmm, ice cream.