Dave's journey to the land of Oz

I thought it might be of interest to give a flavour of the type of news over here so here goes:

“Not all good cheer as pub reopens

The Kings Cross Hotel will open tomorrow for the first time in two years after a $9 million redevelopment.

But not everyone is celebrating the return of the “Cross old maid” to serving duties.
Residents and police says the expansion in the size and number of licensed premises on the crowded Kings Cross entertainment strip could increase alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour.

The Kings Cross Hotel is the fourth pub, bar or licensed restaurant to open or expand in the past six months. Taken together, these developments represent an increase in drinking capacity of about 3500 patrons.
Police say they have opposed many of the new hotels and redevelopments decease of the alcohol-related crime in Kings Cross every weekend and almost every week night. But their objectives have been ignored.

“We regularly see serious, violent assaults that are fuelled by alcohol consumption”, said the acting head of King Cross local areas command, Detective Superintendent Luke Freudenstein.

“Binge drinking, a culture of drinking to get drunk, 24-hour licences and the growth of “vertical” drinking venues (venue s with limited seating and few places to rest a drink) all provide a major challenge. Additional drinking capacity makes our job more difficult”.

Kings Cross has the second highest rate of assault in NSW< and it is rising. The number of alcohol-related assaults rose from 472 to 590 in 2007.

Pastor Graham Long of the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross said the increasing size of hotels was the biggest problem. “When you’ve got big numbers of people drinking and then pouring onto William Street in the early hours of the morning you’ve go trouble. Public transport from the Cross down to the city after midnight doesn’t exist, and that’s when the assaults happen.”

Local residents blame City of Sydney Council for approving the developments. But it says its attempt to block them have been overturned in the Land and Environment Court. The development tide continues, and Potts Point Hotel will open on the strip within six months.

But the president of the Kings Cross Liquor Accord, Doug Grand, said Kings Cross was a market driven entertainment zone, and it was unreasonable to restrict development.
“The cross has always been a busy areas – you’ve go to get smarter with the way you operate. If you look at the crowds coming into the area there are more young girls and young men. I think that’s a sign that the area is going in the right direction”.

The Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 10 June 2008

Heck this migrating thing is hard work.

Finally spent my first night in the new apartment – on my inflatable bed!

The move did not take too long – couple of car trips, each taking about an hour including loading and unloading. The stairs were a bit of a challenge, not helped I guess by the fact that the weather had warmed up in the afternoon. Was a bit sweaty Betty by the end of it.

And what a sight to behold, a sea of bags and cases containing my future life.

Had a bit of a rest after the move and spent Thurs evening tidy up the house and then watched a DVD. Very therapeutic.

Friday, up early to do the finally hoover, pack and tidy. Was pretty chuffed, the place looked pretty damn fine. After J had arrived and we had a caught up I headed into town to pick up hoover and food processor and then headed over to flat. Also picked up inflatable bed and some provisions too.

Once had sorted all that took car back to its wonderful owner and then headed into town for another burst of internet activity. Brain was a bit frazzled though so only lasted about an hour. Internet connection was a bit slow too which was a bit niggling. Then in the afternoon, had a bit of a look at TVs in Myers – tooooo much choooiiiiiicccee. Still ponder over 42” being a bit too big (said the tart to the vicar!).

Then back to the apartment and the start of the settling in phase. The sorting out of bags, boxes and cases did not take too long – though was a bit tedious at times. The dishwasher was a bit technical – thought had sorted it out only to find had just run a cycle on the rinse programme – not much use eh. Still eventually found how to change the programmes – these machines are so darn clever.

Inflated the bed – what a bizarre contraption. Did not take long and to be honest having slept on it – it is pretty groovy. Full height and feels a bit like a water bed. Anyhow time to go do some tidying up. The fridge/freezer and the mattress are being delivered – gotta wait till Tues for a chair to sit on!