Flat Hunting

Chuck Norris doesn't go flat hunting, because the term 'hunting' implies the possibility of failure. Chuck Norris goes flat killing.

Man is flat hunting a chore. Especially in central Sydney where it costs a bajillion dollars to live in a cardboard box on the side of the road. I thought I'd been quite clever by deciding to look at apartments in Kings Cross; it's a lot cheaper than elsewhere and it's a nice quick walk to work (plus close to lots of bars and clubs), but after spending a Saturday morning wandering around and looking at places there I decided that maybe there were just a few many junkies, hobos and general vagabonds in that area even for me.

However I also looked at a few places in neighbouring Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point. This is one of those situations where you're walking through one suburb (Kings Cross) where there are strip clubs and seedy bars everywhere and meth heads swearing at you from the gutter, and suddenly you cross some imaginary ley line and you're surrounded by trendy cafés, swanky apartment blocks and dolled up eastern suburbs princesses with big Paris Hilton sunglasses and little dogs. I hadn't visited those suburbs before and I was really impressed, on a sunny Saturday morning it's like being back in the Mediterranean, with all the little cafés overlooking beautiful harbour views and a pleasant, relaxed, social atmosphere. The only difference is that the fat obnoxious Australians ruining it all aren't tourists, they're the locals.

I did find one apartment I would consider renting there, it was a bit small but very nice, and boasted the most incredible view of the harbour, the CBD skyline, the harbour bridge and the opera house. I wish I'd thought to take a photo, it was just stunning. The only reason I said no to the place was because even though it was only eleven a.m. it was like a sauna in there, and the apartment was west facing! I still haven't acclimatised enough to the heat here to handle that sort of thing.

I've put a deposit down for a really nice place in Surry Hills, which seems to be in the sweet spot as far as central Sydney suburbs go in balancing niceness, affordability and junkie/hobo population density, but it remains to be seen whether I'll get it or not as the property market here is pretty harsh towards renters right now.