Dear Rose,

I found us a cute little cottage in Balmain. Its right around the corner from a little doggie park where you can do your business quick & dirty before and after I go to work.


There are kids that play there too and they will think you're cute.

Their little playground is pretty cute.

Our place is on Mackenzie Street. Lucky #7. The locals tell me that my zip code is Rozelle but I really live in Balmain b/c its on the Balmain side of Victoria Road. Apparently there's a community dispute about it. Whatever. Its all the same to us.

Let me show you our new home in Australia!


It is from the 1890's and is called a semi (rhymes with "Emmy") because its semi-detached (aka attached) to another place. See here.

It looks like one house that was split into two houses.

The pictures on the outside are deceiving because its actually pretty big on the inside (which is good b/c we have lots of beautiful furniture to fill it up!).

My favorite things about 7 Mackenzie:
The picket fence

The curved doorways & hardwood floors throughout

The bougainvillea

The beautiful marble fireplace with antique mirror (pristine condition)

The sandstone walls

The stained glass doors

The little kitchen overlooking the courtyard with gorgeous stained glass windows


The courtyard

The light-filled inner courtyard

The timber ceilings

The "French" doors

The doggie door to the courtyard (uh, yeah!)

The built-in BBQ grill (aka "barbie")

The "loft-style" bedroom upstairs with cranked windows

The skylight in the bathroom

The working fireplace

Other things I love: how cool it is (stone walls keep it cool), the natural light, the safety of the area, proximity to the office, the landlord who is a nice older gay man with a penchant for 1.) renovating an old cottage without ruining its charm 2.) repairing stuff when its broken. He is painting the entire place for me, refinishing the walls in the 2nd bedroom, varnishing the floor, steam cleaning the carpet and weeding the garden before I move in.

About Balmain
People refer to it as the "insular peninsula" because once you get home on the weekends, you never leave! Why would you? Balmain has it all.

The community:
It has a great sense of community, which I love. They support local businesses and try to keep out big corporations and malls. There was once a Starbucks in Balmain but the people in the area boycotted it and it went bankrupt (the only one in Australia to ever go bankrupt).

Dog-friendliness:
I met a gal named Avril at Hatch, the little cafe around the corner from our place, and she said that Balmain is the most dog-friendly suburb! She had her little doggie, Benny with her and she said that he goes with her everywhere - he sits by her chair when she gets her nails done, he lays under the massage table when she gets a massage, he hangs at the cafe while she has coffee and he even goes to pubs!

I predict Hatch will be our new favorite place

Avril & Benny

Hatch has water for you!

There are doggies everywhere:

Cute ones

Funny ones

Neighborhoodiness:
Our street is quiet & neighborhoody. :)

Across the street

House - cute; choice of car - questionable

Proximity to shops:
But just a block or two away from Darling Street, which is bustling with people, puppies & things to do. There are hundreds of shops, restaurants, pubs, vegetable stands, clothing stores, gift shops, banks, doctors' offices - you name it!


Weekend markets:
The weekend markets in both Balmain & Rozelle are so much fun! There were even doggies there with their companion people scavenging like little furry vacuum cleaners by the hot dog stand (just like you).

Parks, beaches & tennis balls:
Avril, the gal I met at Hatch, says there's a whole "other world" that takes place in Balmain from 6-7:30 with dogs and their companion people everywhere, enjoying the good grass & company. She says everyone will start to identify me as "Rose's mom" and that's OK b/c you are the star.

Bridgewater park a couple blocks away

Doggie bags everywhere

Water bowls for doggies

She also told me about Balmain Shores which is a hop, skip and a jump from our little place - and its a doggie mecca! Looks what I found!

A tennis ball! It was just layin' in the grass ready for the taking.

There were doggies in the water fetching sticks in the water

(your favorite)

and doggies playing frisbee

(your least favorite)

There is even a doggie beach (its a harbour beach)! Its so close we can go every day if you want.

Another great thing about Balmain is its close to work. When you come to work with me, we can walk! I walked over from Google today and it was a quick 30 minute walk over the Anzac Bridge.

Right around the corner from Google in Pyrmont

ANZAC (Memorial bridge to the Australia New Zealand Army Corps)

Wide walkway separated from the cars for bikes & pedestrians!

Not quite as cool as the Golden Gate, but cool enough

Looking back on Pyrmont from Balmain

Bus = 10 minutes; car = 5 minutes. So many options. The best part is the place was pretty darn affordable, so that means more treats and tennis balls for you!

Can't wait for you to be here in Australia, little bunny!

Love,
"Rose's Mom"