First and foremost we’ve set up a blog instead of the emails so we’ll just send you a link when we’ve updated it and you can read all about what we’ve been up to and we can post pictures on this blog also. I had always meant to do a blog at some stage and then I was talking to a guy who was selling a van and he was saying about a guy called Earls Eyes who has one of all his travels around the world and he’s even got sponsorship!
This next section is brought to you by Chutney Marys Indian Restaurant, Subiaco – mmmm Indian food.
Easter was nice, we went to the beach on Good Friday, not much surf this last while. On Easter Monday after staying up late to watch Liverpool humiliated by United we got the 9.30am Rottnest Express to Rottnest Island www.rottnestisland.com <http://www.rottnestisland.com/> and spent the day there cycling around the island (well some of it ) and checking out the many beaches. By the time we had breakfast on the island and queued for the bikes it was midday and they had to be back for 5pm. We cycled around to Parrakeet Bay and I had a go at some snorkelling but there wasn’t much to see, although the water was crystal clear I was afraid to go out too far in case I drowned and so didn’t see any reef. Emma got badly bitten again my mozzies just sitting in the house but she got on the bike anyway. We headed back round to Pinky bay and sunbathed there for a while before we got back to the bike place for 5. It’s a beautiful island but the flies are incessant and really docile they will just land on your face and stay there until you swat them off. Where can you get a cork hat when you need one? After we got something to eat we went searching for the Rottnest Monsters or Quokkas. They are marsupials but they just look like big rats and they are only found on Rotto. We didn’t have to go too far to find one as they just hang around the populated areas in the evenings looking for scraps. Apparently when whoever discovered this island first landed there he found thousands of these things and he though they were rats hence Rats nest or Rottnest. The express back was beautiful, we sat at the back and watched the island disappear in the sunset.
On the Thursday we went to see a band called Air who some of you will know. It was in the Botanic Gardens in Kings Park in Perth and it was a brilliant night. The stage was set up over a pond and there was a natural sort of amphitheatre with the banks sloping down to the pond and everyone had their picnics and blankets on the ground, having something to eat and watching the show. It was really idyllic and if you know Airs music, electronic ambient sort of stuff, it all fitted together perfectly. Our flat mates were there and Dilly and his brother Ronan also were there, thankfully as we didn’t think to bring any blankets or anything to sit on. We were straight out of work anyway. We walked back to the train station from the gig and found the most amazing views of Perth at night along the way.
Work is great. I’m still at ECU (Edith Cowan University) working in the FMO (Facilities Management Office). It’s kind of a glorified care takers role. I work with another guy called Lance who moved here from England 35 years ago, we have an email system and we receive jobs from all over the campus to move furniture in offices, set up rooms for functions, take stuff to storage and that sort of thing. It’s good because I get to be out in the sun a lot and when I was working in the last job I wished I was working outside more. The FMO is also responsible for booking a fleet of cars out to members of staff to go wherever they have to go. We have a wee van as well to scoot about the campus which is a square km approx. There’s a lot of photocopying that I don’t really get involved with I’m happy just to deliver it so I can get to be outside. There are 4,000 students here and roughly 70.6% of them are female, many of them look like they’re straight off the set of Home and Away and for all I know they could end up there. ECU is famous for WAAPA (Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts). They run courses in everything from dance to set design, sound and lighting, acting and music. There are free concerts every Tuesday and Wednesday at lunch time and I went to one the other week and it was really good. A band with a drummer, 2 guitarists, a bassist, a singer and 3 backing singers doing a song by the police, a version of papa was a rolling stone, some instrumental jazz number and two others I can’t remember. They try and do something from different genres. The ones in the office prefer the classical concerts they put on here, so they let me go to this one. Hugh Jackman studied at the screen academy here and he was back some time ago top open a new building. The office manager Karen has a picture of him and her behind her desk. I was asking her did Heath Ledger go here as well but he didn’t. He was from Perth though and his funeral was in Karrakatta which is on my route home. I introduced myself to an Irish girl I discovered works in the screen academy and left her round my films to pass onto her bosses to see what they think of them. I was talking to one of them today, he said he’d watch them in the next week. He better we’re leaving here in less than a month.
We bought a van at the weekend. She’s a 1983 L300 Mitsubishi Starwagon the previous owner called Betty. We’ve had trouble starting her yesterday and had to jump start her last night but I got her to the garage this morning and she got a tune up. She needs the radio installed and may need some other electrical work if the starting problems persist but we’ll see how she goes over the weekend. The plan is still to drive to Darwin over a couple of weeks stopping in different places along the west coast on the way. We’ll see how the van goes in the mean time but whatever happens we’ll be leaving Perth/Fremantle at the end of the month.
We’ve had a great time here but we’re looking forward to seeing the rest of it. We’ve eaten in almost every restaurant in Freo and we’ve been to almost every bar. The fashion here ranges from the hippy types to kids who can only be described as looking like Timmy Mallett with ridiculously fluorescent clothing, sideways hats and big silly sunglasses. There was a guy on the telly the other night who tried to save his mate from a fatal shark attack and he was dressed like this, I tried to explain it to Emma and she said “maybe he was in shock”. I’ve both loved and hated getting up at all hours to watch Liverpool in the champions league. I’ve loved watching the games with Chris trying to make as little noise as possible, it’s like a silent disco when Liverpool score. It’s been great getting the train back from work and going past the ocean from Victoria St to North Freo and past the sheds at the docks, over the bridge at the harbour where the dolphins sometimes frolic in the sun. We’d highly recommend Western Australia to everyone. Perth is the most remote city on the planet and the locals want to keep it a secret, they try to tell you it’s boring and when you protest they look at you like you know and say “don’t tell anyone”
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Paddys Day in WA
20/03/08
We went to mass, we've turned into our parents going to mass in different countries "to see what it's like". well, it's pretty much the same except the line for communion was a disaster and they had two collections just in case you thought you hadn't done enough for lent. it was also palm sunday so we could have picked a different sunday to go but i suppose it's some kind of penance since i never go to mass. an hour and 15 minutes with two gospels. Emma says she's going every week, i'd be more interested in going to the italian mass at half nine in the same chapel to see how they all get on. There was a lot of Irish at mass, distinctive in their green or in gaelic football shirts from all over ireland. I was disappointed not to see anyone with a big clump of shamrock wrapped in tinfoil stuck to their breast. there were some rosettes though. across the road from mass is clancys fish pub and it has a big park out the back that had a stage set up and a gazebo for shade. it was a real family occasion and we could hear a few irish accents about but the majority were aussies children or grandchildren of irish who naturalized in australia. it was a really nice day and the first st.paddys day where it wasn't about getting wrecked but about being irish. we saw a band called the zydecats in clancys that night after we went home for our dinner and went back out again. they have been residents in clancys for 12 years and have a great following of people in their 40's, 50's and even 60's all up on the dance floor going buck mad. quite a sight. they have a thing called the sunday session here were people go out all day but the pubs close at 10pm. There was also a guy guesting with them called Eugene Hardaway Bridges, he looked a bit like cee-lo from gnarls barkley but he is some guitarist and has a great voice. he finished his set with danny boy. last week was cheltenham at home and I would usually have a few quid on the races (literally a few quid it'd break my heart to lose a fiver) and while they have bookies over here i can't work out the odds so I entered a competition on the sprting life where you picked a horse in every race and they put on a fantasy £1 bet on each race and the winner was the one with the most fanstasy money at the end. the prize was a £2000 HD tv, free sky for a month and some other sky related thing. I had one winner the first day at 4/1 and was in about 600th place, the second day was abandoned because of the weather so the races from that day were spread out and added to thursday and friday. on the thursday I backed 4 in a row our vic, inglis drever, ballyfitz and mister mc goldrick at 66/1 to go into the lead with 93.35. this is all going on in the middle of the night here, so i done my selections for the final day fully believing i had no chance and checked the results on saturday moring. I didn't have one winner and then i checked the leader board and i'd come second and been beaten by £2. I investigated further to find out that I had still been in the lead right up until the last race only for this guy to come from nowhere having backed Silver jaro at 50/1 to win the HD tv!! Chris from the house here said "what goods a plasma tv when you're back packing around australia"
weather is still roasting 30+ not bad for what would be september at home. still working in ECU and really enjoying it. Heading to rottnest Island (Rotto) on easter sunday on the ferry and we're gonna hire bikes as there are no cars on the island and maybe do some snorkelling around the reef. off work now till tuesday. I swear to god i better get a lie in tomorrow. we get good friday and easter monday off here as It's a good christian country unlike you heathens. hope paddys day was good. happy easter
We went to mass, we've turned into our parents going to mass in different countries "to see what it's like". well, it's pretty much the same except the line for communion was a disaster and they had two collections just in case you thought you hadn't done enough for lent. it was also palm sunday so we could have picked a different sunday to go but i suppose it's some kind of penance since i never go to mass. an hour and 15 minutes with two gospels. Emma says she's going every week, i'd be more interested in going to the italian mass at half nine in the same chapel to see how they all get on. There was a lot of Irish at mass, distinctive in their green or in gaelic football shirts from all over ireland. I was disappointed not to see anyone with a big clump of shamrock wrapped in tinfoil stuck to their breast. there were some rosettes though. across the road from mass is clancys fish pub and it has a big park out the back that had a stage set up and a gazebo for shade. it was a real family occasion and we could hear a few irish accents about but the majority were aussies children or grandchildren of irish who naturalized in australia. it was a really nice day and the first st.paddys day where it wasn't about getting wrecked but about being irish. we saw a band called the zydecats in clancys that night after we went home for our dinner and went back out again. they have been residents in clancys for 12 years and have a great following of people in their 40's, 50's and even 60's all up on the dance floor going buck mad. quite a sight. they have a thing called the sunday session here were people go out all day but the pubs close at 10pm. There was also a guy guesting with them called Eugene Hardaway Bridges, he looked a bit like cee-lo from gnarls barkley but he is some guitarist and has a great voice. he finished his set with danny boy. last week was cheltenham at home and I would usually have a few quid on the races (literally a few quid it'd break my heart to lose a fiver) and while they have bookies over here i can't work out the odds so I entered a competition on the sprting life where you picked a horse in every race and they put on a fantasy £1 bet on each race and the winner was the one with the most fanstasy money at the end. the prize was a £2000 HD tv, free sky for a month and some other sky related thing. I had one winner the first day at 4/1 and was in about 600th place, the second day was abandoned because of the weather so the races from that day were spread out and added to thursday and friday. on the thursday I backed 4 in a row our vic, inglis drever, ballyfitz and mister mc goldrick at 66/1 to go into the lead with 93.35. this is all going on in the middle of the night here, so i done my selections for the final day fully believing i had no chance and checked the results on saturday moring. I didn't have one winner and then i checked the leader board and i'd come second and been beaten by £2. I investigated further to find out that I had still been in the lead right up until the last race only for this guy to come from nowhere having backed Silver jaro at 50/1 to win the HD tv!! Chris from the house here said "what goods a plasma tv when you're back packing around australia"
weather is still roasting 30+ not bad for what would be september at home. still working in ECU and really enjoying it. Heading to rottnest Island (Rotto) on easter sunday on the ferry and we're gonna hire bikes as there are no cars on the island and maybe do some snorkelling around the reef. off work now till tuesday. I swear to god i better get a lie in tomorrow. we get good friday and easter monday off here as It's a good christian country unlike you heathens. hope paddys day was good. happy easter
Roo bars and Surf boards
06/03/08
Hello to you, We've been on the batter now for over two months and time is flying. It feels like we've been in Freo and Perth for ages but in a good way. Last weekend was a bank holiday and we decided to head south to Margaret River - wine country. We hired a car and drove down after work on friday. Actually i finished working for the mining co. on friday as the contract ended. It took about 3.5 hours to get there, we set out on the path plotted by google map but soon took a wrong turn and abandoned that but we still found the place easily. Driving over here is similar to home except instead of rabbits and foxes running out across the road, its kangaroos - or so we were told. The further south we drove the more signs we saw warning to be cautious of marsupials and the more cars and jeeps we saw with roo bars on the front of them. So as i drove, face to the windscreen in a cat like state of readiness as davy Smith would say, I had emma ready with the mini dv camera to capture the certain encounter but of course it never happened. We stayed at peppermint brook cottages which were dead on (aussies say "too easy" if something is dead on, green and red peppers are called capsicums. burger king is hungry jacks. can't think of any other differences) and the next afternoon we headed for the 80 odd wineries in the region. Emma in her element being driven around from winery to winery. we ended up going to 6 i think as well as a cheese factory and a chocolate factory that was absolutely packed, proof indeed that people love chocolate more than wine. So it was an inexpensive day driving about getting freebies. Also learnt a bit about wine. Basically when people get a glass of wine, swirl it and stick their nose in it and say "smells like artichokes, alka seltzer and a hint of old holborn tobacco" - they are lying (It's similar to Dylan Morans routine about wine I know) - it smells like wine and funny enough it tastes like wine. nah,it's something to do with the climate and the soil, how the grapes are grown and how much sun they get or if its a bit wet how much water they absorb. I did taste a couple and spat them out like a real connoisseur and some did smell of oak or smoke but that was as much as my palette could pick up. We went to one called mad fish and by chance I discovered that sony tropfest short film festival was on there that night and the next night. I went on the sunday night and there was about 800 people there of all ages with their picnics all watching these films under the stars. Aussie love films and they talk about them really passionately. I went to this talk with peter Greenaway who directed a film called the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover in the 80's. it was part of the perth arts festival that has just ended. He challenges the way cinema is made these days basically saying that cinema died in september 1983 when the remote control came into use yet films haven't really evolved. so his contribution has been to make a 7 hour film that allows the audience to interact with the footage and make whatever film they want out of it all. Its called the Tulse Luper suitcases. Here is a man with with too much money available to him. After a day of driving and wining we headed for prevelly beach in the evening which is famous for surfing and we weren't let down. We sat at surfers point and watched the dots in the ocean gradually emerge on these massive waves for 10 or 20 seconds and then disappear into the foam again. On the way back from the beach Emma shouted "Oh my God I think I just saw a load of kangaroos in that field". I turned the car around and sure enough if it wasn't a field full of roos. They weren't doing much but i had to get them on camera and well it was the first kangaroos we've seen so it was great. The next day we headed south again to the most south westerly point of Australia, a little place called Augusta that is absolutely beautiful. Margaret River is grand and all but it's just a one street town hyped up by the tourist board and it's 9km from the beach. i think the city dwellers like it cos it's rural whereas we see rural all the time we want beaches and oceans. So Augusta was a highlight for us. we spent the afternoon on a beach in this class little cove, the indian ocean meets the southern ocean creating all shades of blue. That night I headed to the film festival and then drove back to margaret river to watch liverpool and bolton in a bar full of nutcases down for the weekend, some kind of brawl broke out and the cops were called and all i want is the tv to be turned over to foxsports 1 but they are showing stoke v QPR and the only guy who has the authority to turn the tv over is out dealing with the cops. Finally I get the game turned over with 15 mins of the first half to go and then the bars all close at midnight so i only get to see 20 mins of the second half. It's not easy trying to watch football in this country. We took our time driving back up to Freo on the monday. We stopped off at Yallingup (there are all these places that end with up karrinyup, miamup, cowamrup, shutup, wiseup I madeup the last 2, oh I done it again) but the beach at yallingup was the best yet. Powdery white sand and massive waves. I had to get out on the body board and was soon getting pounded by 10 ft waves. I managed to catch a couple of them and ended up way up on the beach among peoples feet who were walking along minding their own business and next thing i'm flying towards them "yippee". Class beaches but a bit scary for someone who swims as well as he plays the guitar. we also stopped off in Busselton and Mandurah. We got back late on monday and I left the car back on Tuesday morning in Perth and went back to the agencies to look for another job. Thankfully I only had to go to one this time (although I did spend 3 and a half hours in it registering) and they got me a job working in Edith Cowan University (ECU). It's working in an enquiries office and it's pretty handy plus it will hopefully be the last job I have to get here as the contract goes on for a couple of months but we are still planning to be on the road by mid-april. On that point, we've looked at a few campervans and it looks like the least we will have to pay is $3000 but then we'd hope to be able to sell it when we're done with it and get some money back. There are a good few about, nowhere near as many as on the east coast but still we should be able to get something reliable and comfortable from the various backpacker hostels or this website we use called gumtree. thats all for now. Gonna watch Lost and hit the hay. Still no further on with that show, series 6 or 8 and haven't a clue what it's all about. The QE2 was in Freo yesterday, last voyage or something. There was some crowd out to see it and there looked like one hell of a party going on onboard. Looked amazing sailing out of the harbour into the sunset and it made me think of home for a second then I turned and walked up Pakenham st. past the palm trees and thought I'm glad i'm here though.
Hello to you, We've been on the batter now for over two months and time is flying. It feels like we've been in Freo and Perth for ages but in a good way. Last weekend was a bank holiday and we decided to head south to Margaret River - wine country. We hired a car and drove down after work on friday. Actually i finished working for the mining co. on friday as the contract ended. It took about 3.5 hours to get there, we set out on the path plotted by google map but soon took a wrong turn and abandoned that but we still found the place easily. Driving over here is similar to home except instead of rabbits and foxes running out across the road, its kangaroos - or so we were told. The further south we drove the more signs we saw warning to be cautious of marsupials and the more cars and jeeps we saw with roo bars on the front of them. So as i drove, face to the windscreen in a cat like state of readiness as davy Smith would say, I had emma ready with the mini dv camera to capture the certain encounter but of course it never happened. We stayed at peppermint brook cottages which were dead on (aussies say "too easy" if something is dead on, green and red peppers are called capsicums. burger king is hungry jacks. can't think of any other differences) and the next afternoon we headed for the 80 odd wineries in the region. Emma in her element being driven around from winery to winery. we ended up going to 6 i think as well as a cheese factory and a chocolate factory that was absolutely packed, proof indeed that people love chocolate more than wine. So it was an inexpensive day driving about getting freebies. Also learnt a bit about wine. Basically when people get a glass of wine, swirl it and stick their nose in it and say "smells like artichokes, alka seltzer and a hint of old holborn tobacco" - they are lying (It's similar to Dylan Morans routine about wine I know) - it smells like wine and funny enough it tastes like wine. nah,it's something to do with the climate and the soil, how the grapes are grown and how much sun they get or if its a bit wet how much water they absorb. I did taste a couple and spat them out like a real connoisseur and some did smell of oak or smoke but that was as much as my palette could pick up. We went to one called mad fish and by chance I discovered that sony tropfest short film festival was on there that night and the next night. I went on the sunday night and there was about 800 people there of all ages with their picnics all watching these films under the stars. Aussie love films and they talk about them really passionately. I went to this talk with peter Greenaway who directed a film called the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover in the 80's. it was part of the perth arts festival that has just ended. He challenges the way cinema is made these days basically saying that cinema died in september 1983 when the remote control came into use yet films haven't really evolved. so his contribution has been to make a 7 hour film that allows the audience to interact with the footage and make whatever film they want out of it all. Its called the Tulse Luper suitcases. Here is a man with with too much money available to him. After a day of driving and wining we headed for prevelly beach in the evening which is famous for surfing and we weren't let down. We sat at surfers point and watched the dots in the ocean gradually emerge on these massive waves for 10 or 20 seconds and then disappear into the foam again. On the way back from the beach Emma shouted "Oh my God I think I just saw a load of kangaroos in that field". I turned the car around and sure enough if it wasn't a field full of roos. They weren't doing much but i had to get them on camera and well it was the first kangaroos we've seen so it was great. The next day we headed south again to the most south westerly point of Australia, a little place called Augusta that is absolutely beautiful. Margaret River is grand and all but it's just a one street town hyped up by the tourist board and it's 9km from the beach. i think the city dwellers like it cos it's rural whereas we see rural all the time we want beaches and oceans. So Augusta was a highlight for us. we spent the afternoon on a beach in this class little cove, the indian ocean meets the southern ocean creating all shades of blue. That night I headed to the film festival and then drove back to margaret river to watch liverpool and bolton in a bar full of nutcases down for the weekend, some kind of brawl broke out and the cops were called and all i want is the tv to be turned over to foxsports 1 but they are showing stoke v QPR and the only guy who has the authority to turn the tv over is out dealing with the cops. Finally I get the game turned over with 15 mins of the first half to go and then the bars all close at midnight so i only get to see 20 mins of the second half. It's not easy trying to watch football in this country. We took our time driving back up to Freo on the monday. We stopped off at Yallingup (there are all these places that end with up karrinyup, miamup, cowamrup, shutup, wiseup I madeup the last 2, oh I done it again) but the beach at yallingup was the best yet. Powdery white sand and massive waves. I had to get out on the body board and was soon getting pounded by 10 ft waves. I managed to catch a couple of them and ended up way up on the beach among peoples feet who were walking along minding their own business and next thing i'm flying towards them "yippee". Class beaches but a bit scary for someone who swims as well as he plays the guitar. we also stopped off in Busselton and Mandurah. We got back late on monday and I left the car back on Tuesday morning in Perth and went back to the agencies to look for another job. Thankfully I only had to go to one this time (although I did spend 3 and a half hours in it registering) and they got me a job working in Edith Cowan University (ECU). It's working in an enquiries office and it's pretty handy plus it will hopefully be the last job I have to get here as the contract goes on for a couple of months but we are still planning to be on the road by mid-april. On that point, we've looked at a few campervans and it looks like the least we will have to pay is $3000 but then we'd hope to be able to sell it when we're done with it and get some money back. There are a good few about, nowhere near as many as on the east coast but still we should be able to get something reliable and comfortable from the various backpacker hostels or this website we use called gumtree. thats all for now. Gonna watch Lost and hit the hay. Still no further on with that show, series 6 or 8 and haven't a clue what it's all about. The QE2 was in Freo yesterday, last voyage or something. There was some crowd out to see it and there looked like one hell of a party going on onboard. Looked amazing sailing out of the harbour into the sunset and it made me think of home for a second then I turned and walked up Pakenham st. past the palm trees and thought I'm glad i'm here though.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
ants and mosquitos and spiders and rats
01/02/08
hello, I won't mention the weather unless it changes from clear blue sky and hot hot sun. We moved down to Freo last monday. The flat was pretty bare because the owner was laid up in hospital in the phillipines and couldn't decorate it from there so we just got the basics, bed sheets, plates, cutlery, pots and pans. It's a nice place, first floor apartment. our bedroom doesn't have window so the fan is on all night. Freo is much the same size as lurgan or portadown. there is a cool bar in a brewery called Little Creatures. It's a big open space with vats above and behind you and they do great food outside in an area that over looks the harbour. We went to our local Bar Orient which is 45 seconds from the flat and we encountered our first taste of east coast west coast rivalry. we'd been laughing at this couple in their 40's dancing in front of where we were sitting then they sat down beside us. they were from Queensland and they told us to get out of Perth as quickly as we could as it was too expenisve and go east. we said we planned to but not just yet. we wanted to see what the west had to offer and go to margaret river, Broome and travel across to Alice springs and Ayers rock. The husband was drunk as a lord and said to us "don't go to Alice Springs, fly over the facker on your way to the east coast" We've both started work this week I'm doing data entry for a mining company called Golder Associates and Emma is working in recruitment. The plan is to work for 2-3 months and then move on possibly north to darwin and follow the sun for a year. So most of last week was spent emailing recruitment agencies and doing tests with them as part of registering. On friday we went to this lovely fish n chip place called Kailis in the harbour and then watched the sunset from Bathers bay which is a little beach area near us. we went back to the flat and discovered a colony of ants in our cupboard going through a loaf of bread which we'd only opened that morning. You can't leave anything lying about or they're in it so everything is in the fridge. next morning, australia day, emma woke up with mosquito bites on her legs and by the end of the day some of them had turned into big blisters. she was pretty annoyed as you can imagine. we walked around the town. it was like paddys day on the 15th august. there was an aboriginal guy who wasn't celebrating instead he was letting everyone know that on the day captain cook discovered australia it spelt the beginning of the end for his people. That night we ended up seeing the fireworks from A&E in Fremantle Hospital because Emma's bites got so bad.
After a week in freo we were both thoroughly bored as there was nowhere apart from the bedroom and the outside decking to sit and at times we just longed for a couch to sit on or somewhere else to go. The girl who owned the house arrive belatedly on monday and has bought loads of stuff for the place. Her name is Christine and she is here with her boyfriend from London Chris. lovely couple. we all sat out and had dinner on the decking the other night and the guy from next door, peter, brought out a bottle of champagne. he'd only poured it when emma started shouting "oh my god whats that coming down the drain pipe?" I turned round and saw something shimmying down the pipe I thought it was a squirrel. Peter went over with chris to have a look and said "it's only a rat". I ran for the back door to make sure it was shut in case it ran in. The only time I will feel relieved when someone tells me it's only a rat is when i've just been face to face with a venomous snake. Chris added "it's only a night rat" och will sure then if it's only a night rat.... so we're not altogether comfortable in our flat but it's getting better. we've seen so many creatures this week and we haven't even left the suburbs yet. we're sort of looking for somewhere else to live but we really like christine and chris and freo for that matter. environmental health are due round on monday to sort out the rat and the place is a lot more comfy. they've also got a really old convertible car that they say we can use. so we'll see how it goes. thats it for now. hope you're all well.
hello, I won't mention the weather unless it changes from clear blue sky and hot hot sun. We moved down to Freo last monday. The flat was pretty bare because the owner was laid up in hospital in the phillipines and couldn't decorate it from there so we just got the basics, bed sheets, plates, cutlery, pots and pans. It's a nice place, first floor apartment. our bedroom doesn't have window so the fan is on all night. Freo is much the same size as lurgan or portadown. there is a cool bar in a brewery called Little Creatures. It's a big open space with vats above and behind you and they do great food outside in an area that over looks the harbour. We went to our local Bar Orient which is 45 seconds from the flat and we encountered our first taste of east coast west coast rivalry. we'd been laughing at this couple in their 40's dancing in front of where we were sitting then they sat down beside us. they were from Queensland and they told us to get out of Perth as quickly as we could as it was too expenisve and go east. we said we planned to but not just yet. we wanted to see what the west had to offer and go to margaret river, Broome and travel across to Alice springs and Ayers rock. The husband was drunk as a lord and said to us "don't go to Alice Springs, fly over the facker on your way to the east coast" We've both started work this week I'm doing data entry for a mining company called Golder Associates and Emma is working in recruitment. The plan is to work for 2-3 months and then move on possibly north to darwin and follow the sun for a year. So most of last week was spent emailing recruitment agencies and doing tests with them as part of registering. On friday we went to this lovely fish n chip place called Kailis in the harbour and then watched the sunset from Bathers bay which is a little beach area near us. we went back to the flat and discovered a colony of ants in our cupboard going through a loaf of bread which we'd only opened that morning. You can't leave anything lying about or they're in it so everything is in the fridge. next morning, australia day, emma woke up with mosquito bites on her legs and by the end of the day some of them had turned into big blisters. she was pretty annoyed as you can imagine. we walked around the town. it was like paddys day on the 15th august. there was an aboriginal guy who wasn't celebrating instead he was letting everyone know that on the day captain cook discovered australia it spelt the beginning of the end for his people. That night we ended up seeing the fireworks from A&E in Fremantle Hospital because Emma's bites got so bad.
After a week in freo we were both thoroughly bored as there was nowhere apart from the bedroom and the outside decking to sit and at times we just longed for a couch to sit on or somewhere else to go. The girl who owned the house arrive belatedly on monday and has bought loads of stuff for the place. Her name is Christine and she is here with her boyfriend from London Chris. lovely couple. we all sat out and had dinner on the decking the other night and the guy from next door, peter, brought out a bottle of champagne. he'd only poured it when emma started shouting "oh my god whats that coming down the drain pipe?" I turned round and saw something shimmying down the pipe I thought it was a squirrel. Peter went over with chris to have a look and said "it's only a rat". I ran for the back door to make sure it was shut in case it ran in. The only time I will feel relieved when someone tells me it's only a rat is when i've just been face to face with a venomous snake. Chris added "it's only a night rat" och will sure then if it's only a night rat.... so we're not altogether comfortable in our flat but it's getting better. we've seen so many creatures this week and we haven't even left the suburbs yet. we're sort of looking for somewhere else to live but we really like christine and chris and freo for that matter. environmental health are due round on monday to sort out the rat and the place is a lot more comfy. they've also got a really old convertible car that they say we can use. so we'll see how it goes. thats it for now. hope you're all well.
Perth - roast beef and gravy sandwiches and ginger beer
Hello, There'll be stuff in brackets in this and some of you will know the people and places and some won't. We left our resort in Ko Samui at 6am on Thursday morning after spending 10 days doing nothing but lie on the beach. we had planned this to be a holiday and thats what it was. we could've took a boat to some other islands but we were booked into the resort for 10 days so we thought we'd just make the most of it, reading books (Eric Clapton and Peter Kay biographies emma read kerry katonas first novel) and getting some colour. we flew to bangkok and then perth via kuala lumpur. we didn't know that we went through another time zone so when we landed in kuala lumpur at 5pm it was actually 6pm and our flight was leaving in 25 mins. so we had to hot foot it from one end of the airport to the other. fortunately it was the same airline and there were a lot of other people going onto perth with their luggage being shifted from one plane to another so this ended up keeping the other plane late. I was really looking forward to this flight. The longer flights have tv's and you can watch films etc. you can imagine my disappointment when first of all emma and i weren't sitting together and then I didn't have a tv in front of me either. there was only one screen at the front of the cabin and they put on a disney film about american football starring the rock.> > > > when we arrived in Perth Emma's suitcase had the lock busted open and someone had been through all her stuff. we've made a complaint and we're awaiting a new suitcase and a first class flight home!!> > > > My mate Dilly (Dylan Galloghly from camlough) picked us up and we're currently staying in his place in Trigg one of suburbs of Perth. Scarborough beach is 5 minutes walk and it is incredible. it's roasting here. 42 the day we arrived. really hot and the sun stays out til 8.30pm. we also went to see the place we've arranged to stay here. it's in Fremantle (Freo) which is about 20 mins south of Perth. My brother Liam who was in oz 4 years ago said "it's like the point (warrenpoint)".> > I'll say this it's what the point could be like if we had the weather. it's a port and people go down there at the weekends for fish n chips in ciccarellos like they go down to the point to the genoa.> > > > The flat is spot on . the girl who is renting us the flat is also travelling here from London but she has been struck down with appendisitis in the phillipines and won't be here til next weekend. so we had her mothers friends doing all the arranging for her. These people are originally from hungary and germany but have lived here for 33 years and have changed their names and all to ann and alan foster. they said "what will we chnage our names to?" and alan saw a tin of fosters on the table and said "well that will do". what a couple of characters. when we got to the house the ole boy alan was taking pictures of us "in case we were the mafia". Lovely people.> > > > The flat is slap bang in the middle of Freo and we're moving in tomorrrow and will start to look for jobs on tuesday. it's pretty expensive here. exchange rate is roughly 2 dollars to the pound but my new favourite food, a roast beef and gravy sub (these are available everywhere) is about 7.50 - 8 dollars, crate of beer 40 dollars, 8 dollars a pint and a main course was 20 dollars. went to a party the other night and they had alcoholic slush puppies cocktails. these two girls were celebrating being friends for 30 years!! the party was over at 1am and we were all home sober. very grown up party, very friendly people. I got talking to a woman who says she has some contacts in the film industry here (she may be a nut case though as she was trying to hook us all up with jobs she was trying to get dilly to go and work for her uncle who is a shrink, dilly is studying in australia to be a clinical psychologist) I'll give her a bell anyway, can't hurt. emma was talking to a guy who works in recruitment (which is her profession) so we made a couple of contacts at this party also. a few years ago i would have said this was a shite party but we had a good time. nobody understands my Newry accent so really have to speak to everyone like they have hearing problems. everytime i say something they reply "say again"Australia day next saturday. aw yeah!!anyhoo thats all for now.
bangkok and ko samui
08/01/2008
Emma and I just arrived on the island of Ko Samui last night. we're staying in a resort 3 or 4 miles from the main town, chaweng. we drove through there last night on the way from the airport it looks like 2 mile of madness, crammed with bars and shops and of course mcdonalds in the middle of it. it's far busier than i thought it would be but we were warned it would be so. our resort is in the next town over called lamai http://www.kosamui.com/beaches/lamai-beach.html it's a bit more family orientated and a lot quieter which is what we want really. we're staying in a bungalow which is dead on. no tv though!! me and emma are gonna have to talk to each other. It's really relaxed which is exactly what we needed after the hustle of Bangkok. we spent 3 nights in bangkok which was enough. we booked this holiday to samui on the saturday and then went to this beautiful seafood restaurant where they had all the fish in tanks and then packed in ice like a market. I had to have a lobster and you got to choose theone you wanted from a tank. wasn't cheap but it was delicious. Khao san road (i'm sure a lot of you have been here) is like hill st in Newry on paddys day full of bars, tourists and stalls selling clothes, knock off sunglasses, football shirts etc. I got a 1989 Liverpool candy shirt for 3 quid.On the sunday we just went to a blues bar in the banglamphu district and then sat in a restaurant and watched Liverpool and Luton in the FA cup. I had sea bass, again taken live from a tank at the front of the restaurant. the food is fantastic. we flew to samui last night and will be on the beach here for the next ten days before flying to perth on the 17th.
Emma and I just arrived on the island of Ko Samui last night. we're staying in a resort 3 or 4 miles from the main town, chaweng. we drove through there last night on the way from the airport it looks like 2 mile of madness, crammed with bars and shops and of course mcdonalds in the middle of it. it's far busier than i thought it would be but we were warned it would be so. our resort is in the next town over called lamai http://www.kosamui.com/beaches/lamai-beach.html it's a bit more family orientated and a lot quieter which is what we want really. we're staying in a bungalow which is dead on. no tv though!! me and emma are gonna have to talk to each other. It's really relaxed which is exactly what we needed after the hustle of Bangkok. we spent 3 nights in bangkok which was enough. we booked this holiday to samui on the saturday and then went to this beautiful seafood restaurant where they had all the fish in tanks and then packed in ice like a market. I had to have a lobster and you got to choose theone you wanted from a tank. wasn't cheap but it was delicious. Khao san road (i'm sure a lot of you have been here) is like hill st in Newry on paddys day full of bars, tourists and stalls selling clothes, knock off sunglasses, football shirts etc. I got a 1989 Liverpool candy shirt for 3 quid.On the sunday we just went to a blues bar in the banglamphu district and then sat in a restaurant and watched Liverpool and Luton in the FA cup. I had sea bass, again taken live from a tank at the front of the restaurant. the food is fantastic. we flew to samui last night and will be on the beach here for the next ten days before flying to perth on the 17th.
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