Our mailbox is in a pillar
near the gate to our townhouse. The
mailman--also called a “postie” here--puts letters through a slot in the front
and we open a flap in the back to get the mail out. We haven’t been here long enough to get any
mail yet but we get a lot of ad circulars, plus the Manly Daily.
This place has a patio, a
front porch, and two balconies. There
are two skylights and two flights of stairs.
The kitchen has two giant windows that open onto the patio.
None of the windows or doors
has a screen. Bugs are just allowed in
and out at will. All of the windows and doors
lock with bolts as well as key locks, even the front gate can be locked. Most of them can only be opened with a key so
you basically need your keys on you at all times. It is very easy to lock yourself out as the
front door has a piston to pull it shut.
The front gate can be locked
but even if it is not, there is no doorbell near the front door or near the
gate. There is, however, an intercom and
doorbell at the entrance to the lock-up garage, which has only one spot per
unit and is several doors down from our place.
Here in Manly people use
light colors like white and pink and green to decorate their homes. In
Our house has no central
heating. There are gas jets and you buy
these portable room heaters and hook them up to the jets. I’m told they can heat the whole house with
just one. I strongly doubt that they
will adequately heat one room. I’m
thinking of
We also don’t have air
conditioning. There are windows in the
Lounge Area (Australian for living room) and master bedroom and we can put in a
window unit. That is, if they sell
window air conditioners here. Given how
cold the house is right now I have a hard time believing it will get really hot
but I know it will. At least most of the
windows are shaded from the sun. The
windows that face east and west are protected from too much sun and some rooms
are tiled with the coldest stone tile.
This page is copyright 2003, Laura Giletti
Last revised: October 2003