| Arial of Western Austrailia(We Loved the trees?) |
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February 18 - March 9, 2002
We arrived in Perth to gorgeous blue skies and 28 degree C weather. It smells like summer and everything is so clean and green. People are happy - the definitely are more into leisure and fun than work - considering that EVERYTHING closes at 5 or 6 pm - supermarkets, cafes etc. We stayed for the first few nights at at "Quality Hotel" or a "high buget backpackers hostel". It was everything we needed - near downtown, kitchen, laundry etc. Plus we really needed to talk to people who have/are travelling to determine the best ways to approach touring and finding jobs in Perth. We met some very funny blokes from New Zealand that promise us fun and games if we want to travel there.
Thanks U.Dan and A. Lynda for the Australian dollars - sure made our first few days alot easier and bought us some pizza on the first night when nothing was open. And Thanks to A. Bonnie, U.Lynn, Gramma S, and Grandpa S for the gift - they are very much appreciated!
| BBQ with the Kiwi's |
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| Witch's Hat - Johnie and Shannon thanx for the pints |
Today is Friday February 22, and we are contacting employers and getting registered to work in Perth/Western Australia. We have some back-up jobs - but they are more rural and we were hoping to exhaust all of our options in Perth first. Plus we would like to tour around a bit first. We have some job prospects - but it takes time I guess. We had to buy a mobile (cell) phone because Sean was losing his mind on how much money we were spending on payphones (approximately $40 for the first 3 days!!) Our phone number is 405 331 003 - but you need to find out the Australia code for calling from Canada first. And REMEMBER we are 13 hours ahead of you so plese watch the calls in the middle of the night. We also found a cute place to stay (Thanks Lisa and Helmar). It is a house across the street from the landlord and their whole family. They treat us like lifetime friends - letting us use their car (which I will get to later.....), feeding us, letting us use their computer, and inviting us on weekend escapades.
| Tight fit in the1980 Ford |
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Speaking of the car - today was the very first day that we drove - on the WRONG side of the road and on the WRONG side of the car. Let me tell you it was quite the experience - Sean was sweating a river and Sherry was just reading the map, reading the map, reading the map - and trying to keep her yap shut. We found that you really have to talk out loud - Okay I need to turn into this lane closest to me and then etc etc. Tons of fun. If we can make it through that experience we can handle anything.
Today is February 25 and we are venturing out again - we went to Cottlesoe beach on the weekend. It was so amazing - swimming in the Indian Ocean, saw dolphins jumping etc etc - We also saw flocks and flocks of wild and LOUD parrots. BUT we also got really burnt by the intense sun - "dumb eskimos" our friends are calling us!! Just let them come to Canada and try to go out in the cold and snow - most of them told me that they don't even own a "jumper" which is a jacket or sweater!!!! Oh well - our skin has recovered - we have sunscreen (15, 30 and 45 SPF) we just missed some spots after swimming. I guess this week we have to really get into the groove - Sherry has some interviews and Sean has prospects as well - oh no the real world!!!
| Our sunset or your sun rise or is it.... Hmmm??? |
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| Watch out for the Pirates in the Indian Ocean!!! |
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We are down to 3 currencies in our wallets and we really need to open a bank account here! Sean is eating well - no problems with the food so far - except some of our friends were telling a story of eating "Python roadkill steaks" and "Kangaroo roadkill" the other day and we both became immediately green. Who knows what kind of adventures the year will hold !!! Stay with us.
So far as planned, it is March 06,Sherry is working and Sean is dogging it!! Yah right, Sherry's slave and only one week to have a job or I'm on the street. We finally bought our car, the best option we had was an 89 Ford Lasor "WAGON" yikes!! I know "this is only one small step above an explorer with firestone tires"!! Truth be told it only has 86k on it and is in great shape
March 09, we have been here for almost a month now and you would think we would have the time to udate this page more frequently! Actually we were quite busy looking for jobs, a car, and then another place closer to Sherry's job and the beach and we went away last weekend. "No, worry's Mate" you have not been forgotten.
We know everyone has been dying for us to report which way the toilet water spins on the way out. You will be happy to know that we have taken a very scientific approach in finding out this information for you. We would only report our findings once we had observed a wide array of toilets and we were certain that our findings represented the majority (or all) of the toilets in Australia. So our efforts have required us to send Sherry into many public facilities, sometimes four or five restaurants in a row.
You may think that we are shitting you but, the truth is that our findings are inconclusive at this time. Every single toilet we have observed goes straight down??? If you can picture the toilet on a plane well that is it, intense noise, huge vacuum created (Sean lost two hats so far) and the entire room is cleared of debris!!!
Last weekend was a long weekend and our landlords invited us to their beachhouse in Warmbro/Rockingham Beach. They took us fishing the first day to the Indian Ocean, Sherry and Sean were the first to catch fish, small as they were, it was pretty fun. Sherry caught a "Butter Fish" and Sean caught a fake shark "Flat head". Together the boat caught enough Whiting and Butter fish to go with the spagetti and baked beans we had for breakfast the next day.
The next day was spent on the large boat. We saw lots of dolphins and other aquatic critters swimming around it was a hoot. We stopped to fish and swim but noticed jelly fish and squid and decided against the swim. At lunch we anchored in the shallows for sandwiches and then Joanne, Ian and Sean went "Crabbing" to catch supper.
Crabbing was crazy, you walk around the shallow sand bars and weeds and when a crab takes off you scoop em up with the net. Hmmm, simple enough on principle, but what is failed to be mentioned to a rookie is that the crab stays hid under the sand or weeds until you step on it and then it scoots up your leg or grabs your toes!! Worst of all the water gets really murky when you walk in the weeds so you can't see where the f!@#$&* crab goes after it has run up your leg. Sherry said she could hardly see the crabbers searching and running after the crabs but she could clearly hear Sean screaming like a baby each time he was victimized by another crab!!!
We caught about 60-80 in total but could only keep 15. They have to be the length of a beer can across the body to keep. Ian and Joanne mainly caught the keepers, Sean scooped up any thing that moved in the water to make sure he did not lose his fishing lures in the process.
That night we had a crab boil, as our appetizer to a 6 course meal. Joanne gave a tutorial on cooking cleaning and eating the shell fish. Here the most meat is found in the body rather than the legs. In both the legs and the body the meat is fantastically sweet, no butter required.
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