When we arrived back from our wee jaunt into the States we had booked accommodation in a share house just out side of the city. The place was huge, a mansion almost and we had booked to stay for one week! It was a steal at $39 a night and a very nice place. Finally a place to make our own meals, have cups of tea and sit in silence. Well that is when the juveniles next door weren't bumping uglies!
Our main objective in that first week was to find a place to live! This proved harder than we thought, the rental market here is very competitive and things get snapped up very quickly. So we got into the habit of heading into the city each day to look for places to work, places to eat lunch and to find rental properties to inspect. This provided a daily game of trying to catch public transport for free as much as possible. God knows what would have happened if we actually got approached by the taser trigger happy 'Mounties'. Anyhoo... we found this game to be challenging and somewhat enjoyable. After all we were saving $10 on a round trip. The game could be played two ways, get on the bus via the rear double doors or play the dumb tourist who had no spare change. If the bus driver was kind enough, they'd let us get on! Challenge complete!
One rainy afternoon... it rains a lot here... we were sitting in a Sushi Bar (no suprises there) plugging away on craigslist when we came across a one bedroom unit up for grabs in Downtown, Vancouver. It turns out we were the first people to get in touch with the Landlord and subsequently were the first people to have a viewing at 6pm that day. We were going to be catching up with our friend Kasia that night on Commercial Drive and were also going to be dropping into an open house for a unit on Commercial Drive at 7pm... so it was going to be tight if we made both. We arrived at the Downtown unit at the said time and met the land lord who was a really nice guy called Raymond, he showed us around the apartment and we even got to meet the last tenant who was also Australian... there are tons of us here! She was great though, she told it to us straight, what the neighbours were like, how expensive the bills were et cetera! We also really enjoy reading her mail which still gets delivered to the apartment... Joking, back to the task at hand... So we really liked the place but wanted to check out the other one on Commercial Drive, we told Raymond we were keen and could he hold the place for us... Not for long he said in between taking four hundred phone calls about the unit being on craigslist. At the same time people were ringing the buzzer from the street as they were booked in next to see the place, it was a little frantic to be honest. Raymond needed to talk to the last tenant to sort things out briefly so we left the apartment and stood in the outer hallway before the front door repeatedly saying... should we, shouldn't we, should we, shouldn't we???? We made an on the spot decision to take the apartment as Raymond stepped out of the unit to head to the front door to let the next potential renters in... He had to ask... are you sure... So there was one more look between us before finalising the deal! Done! We have a place to live in Downtown Vancouver!!!
When we walked outside, there were five people waiting! It was incredible! They were so gutted that the place was taken too! For good reason as well! We pay $875 a month plus the electricity bill. That is crazy talk for Downtown Vancouver. You are seriously lucky if you get a place for under $1100. So we couldn't believe our luck!
Over the moon we made our way to Commercial Drive to visit Kasia and popped out heads in to the other apartment we were going to see. It was a hole, half the size and more expensive! Good decision Zoe and Mitch!!!
Our next goal was to furnish the place, which turned out to be a lot easier than we thought! We were still staying at the share house for a few more nights. On one of those nights we spoke to the owner, Mary a Chinese lady with a not very Chinese name, about some of the things she had lying around the house. What things you ask??? We're talking pots, pans, plates, bowls, cutlery, tv, hand weights, kettle and double mattress! She got so excited and gave the lot to us for $80! Hilarious!
Later that same week we found a couch and dining table setting for sale on craigslist for $100. Sold! When we went around to pick up the couch some one else was giving away theirs... we now have two couches and a dining table for $100... well played!
So we have a fully furnished place in Downtown Vancouver for $875 a month! Top shelf! We live right near English Bay which sits just next to Stanley Park. Stunning place and lots to do as well. Our besties Anna and John also just live around the corner... one block south and three west to be exact! They have also bought some new besties from Banff with them, Ra, Matt, Kristy and Kyle. Happy days!
Our address is 2-1546 Comox Street, Vancouver B.C. Canada, V6M 3L8. Feel free to send any of the following: Vegemite, Vegemite, Twisties, Burger Rings, Cherry Ripes, Vegemite, Crunchies and Toobs... oh yeah Freddo's and Caramello Koala's too! Lol ;) Luckily Kinder Suprises are universal so Zoe gets her fix of those and then some!
You can see some photo's here http://picasaweb.google.com/sjm.mitchell
More updates coming soon!
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