House hunters

As we're told, when we arrive in Australia, a furnished house will be provided for us.  Sadly we will not get to be on house hunters international, although we've become quite big fans.
It's a show on HGTV that we have been watching faithfully, and it has been a great source of inspiration and learning for the Reed family about finding a home in Australia.  Sure, they show homes in Italy, Iceland, Germany, Bahamas, Mexico, and so on.  But it's the Australian show's we've really studied.  So I thought I'd share some pearls of wisdom we've learned from the program:

1.  It's nice to have a house that "ticks all our boxes".  For us, that means 3-4 bedrooms, clean, and safe.  Anything else is a bonus (like walking distance to the beach).  We laugh when that phrase is used on the show... and it's always used.
2.  We must have a home that's good for "entertaining".  Admittedly, that's not us.  But everyone on the show seems to value space for entertaining.  Maybe we should learn from them.
3.  Australian cities have a "CBD".  I'm not sure a small town like Yeppoon has a Central Business District, but the term is good to know. 
4.  Many rooms in Aussie homes don't have closets.  But they often have "cupboards".  Call it what you will, as long as I don't have to pile my clothes on the floor.
5.  Not all spaces have "Aircon".  We have seen a few homes with central air conditioning, but many seem to have small units in a few rooms.  Interesting.  Maybe we could catch an ocean breeze to cool us off!
6.   I'd love to have a decent sized "garden".  Now that doesn't mean corn, tomatoes, and huge watermelon like my dad has, but what we'd call our yard.  Grass.  Green space.  Something Will definitely needs.
7.  There's always some form of compromise on the show.  Either a couple can't agree, or the homes are too small for the price, or locations aren't ideal.  It's really a good little life lesson.  For us, I think it will be "here's your space", and we'll just run with it. 
8.  Finally, we've learned that there are other nuts out there just like us.  I mean, people leaving the comforts of what they know to travel across the globe in search of something new.  Some have supportive families, some are following a job, some are going for adventure, some are looking for the "laid back Aussie lifestyle".  For the Reed family, it's all of that.  And we'll learn some new Aussie terms to boot.  So let's go, we're ready.

? days 'til departure
-Peter