New Year

Here it is, New Year's Eve at Auski, and I have absolutely nothing to wear! Actually, if I am wearing pants and a shirt, I am probably over-dressed.  There is going to be a shindig over at the manager's house, which will probably be a replicate of Christmas- getting drunk and eating.  Not that I have a problem with that, but I think I might go to bed early tonight, as lame as it sounds.  There is good reason though.

With all the rain lately, the weather has been quite bearable and only peaking in the mid-thirties, with the mornings being almost pleasant.  I have been hiking a bit more and I think I have found a route up Mt. George to the south.  Since I don't start work until 3 pm on New Year's Day, I was thinking that it would be an excellent opportunity to give it a shot.  It is only about 400m of elevation gain, but quite steep.  Nothing worse than what I climbed in the Mackenzie mountains this summer, just a lot hotter.  If I set out at 6:30, I should be able to make the summit by 8 and be back to the roadhouse in time for a nap by noon.  Don't worry- I will take extra water and a first aid kit and such.  The great thing is that there are no bear worries out here.  I didn't realize how much that was a part of my psyche while outdoors until I didn't have to think about it.  The deadly things here are all rather small and unlikely to be up in the rocky hills anyway- it is a nice change.  

Happy New Year Everyone!

-A.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner

I have had one of the most interesting Christmas's of my life.  I woke up bright and early at 6:30 and went for a hike into the hills behind the roadhouse- the weather was overcast and only 25 degrees, so I felt a little safer venturing out then the last time I went.  The Hamersley Range starts rising a little over a kilometer out and as I reached the first hills I saw a little kangaroo hop by.  On the other side of the hill was a few caves and some really cool rock formations.  I climbed about half way up the more major hill in behind before heading back.  I had been told there would be a champagne breakfast at 9 and I didn't want to be late.  

Turns out breakfast wasn't until 10:30, but that was okay because I had a chance to clean up.  I then had a solid 3 hour nap and then went out to the staff patio for a beer.  10 minutes later the rain started.  It can only be described as monsoonal.  I have never seen such heavy rain in my life.  The parking lot turned into a lake in about half an hour and the ditch that cuts across the property, ironically titled "Arthur's Creek" actually turned into a creek.  Woz, one of the yard guys, who has been working here for over two years says he has never seen water running in that ditch the whole time he has been here. 

The rain trickled away around 4, just before supper, which consisted of prawns and crayfish (lobster), oysters, salads and cold meats.  I still hate oysters, but I tried one again just to confirm this.  All the staff got $30 vouchers for the store from our manager, Sandy (short for Alexander), and various chocolate awesomeness from Therese.  She works on front counter, like me, and is absolutely Christmas-crazy.  She did all the decorations and table settings and has had carols playing in the shop pretty much since I got here.  

After dinner most of the staff proceeded to get drunk to varying levels, with Woz winning the top prize after falling asleep in his chair and eventually falling out of the chair to get more comfortable on the floor.  Not really in the mood to get totally smashed, I went and watched Dirty Dancing with Therese and Francis, the German girl who works in the kitchen, while the sober guys watched Robot Chicken.  No matter how many times I watch that movie I still get sucked in- it's like dance crack for women.  All in all a very satisfying Christmas, despite the lack of snow.  

-A.

Cyclone Christmas

I had grand plans to get to bed early last night and actually get a full night's sleep before my 5:30 am morning shift, and actually managed to fall asleep by about 9.  At 9:30 I heard this strange staccato rhythm in my head and remember thinking that I must be dreaming.  I opened my eyes in the darkened room and realized that the sound was coming from heavy rain beating on the tin roof.  "Big ol' fat rain" to be exact.  I opened my blinds and saw one of the most spectacular thunder storms I have ever seen.  The air was heavy and hot like I was in a greenhouse and I could barely open my door because the wind direction blew the fat droplets right into my room.  I hurriedly pulled on a t-shirt and pants and ran outside and danced around in it for a bit.  I think there are a couple people here that may now think I am a little nuts, but it was totally worth it.  It's hard to explain how wonderful the rain felt- it is so dry here all the time that you begin to forget what proper rain feels like (and I have only been here two weeks!)

Cyclone Billy, inching up to Category 3, looks like it won't actually make landfall which is good, but there should be some serious wind along the coast- hopefully nothing too damaging.  Being 260 km inland we just get the wonderful benefit of moisture.  Best Christmas present I could have hoped for.  Now if I can just survive the heat in January, I'll be smiling!  I get Christmas day off so I think I will spend Christmas Eve having a nice glass of wine and relaxing in the blessed humidity.  

Maybe two glasses of wine :)

-A.

Wittenoom 'Roos

Wittenoom is an abandoned town about 40 km from the roadhouse that was gradually abandoned during the late sixties and seventies.  There was a huge blue asbestos mine their and eventually the government figured out that it was hazardous to the locals' health.  It was planned to move the town over to where the roadhouse is now, but the residents of Wittenoom either refused to leave or left for far off places.  The town had thousands of people  and was one of the major commercial centers of the Pilbara until the mine closed.  The current population is 3 people.  

Yesterday I went with a bunch of the staff to Wittenoom for a barbecue put on by an Austrian fellow named Mario, who has been living in the abandoned town for 18 years.  His friends from Austria, Herb and Joe were also there so we effectively quadrupled the population just by showing up.  As the chops and sausage were cooking, I went around the corner of the shed, and there, standing in the grassy field where a neighborhood used to be, were 3 medium sized kangaroos.  Tentative at first, they slowly came closer as I stood still, trying not to scare them off.  They came within about 10 ft of me before deciding I smelled funny and took off.  Very very awesome.  

Later on, my friend Adam took me for a drive down into Wittenoom gorge and I saw the coolest banded-iron formations.  Okay, they were probably only cool to me, but still, anything that is 2.8 billion year old deserves a little respect, hey?

I am still working on getting some pictures loaded- I need to convince my boss that I am trustworthy enough to not load the computer with viruses if I get the password to access the hard drive.  I'll keep you posted.

-A.

Death Hike

I have decided to give up on my attempts to run out here because unless I get up before the sun rises or run in the dark at night, there is no way I am going to get a decent amount of exercise without taking the risk of heat exhaustion.  Today I tried an hour-long hike instead.  

At 9am I set out in the same general direction I had ran two days earlier- heading west down the dirt track past the rubbish tip to the airstrip.  For the first half of the hike I mostly followed the track, cutting out into the bush land once in a while and picking out some very cool rocks to take back.  By the time I was about a half-hour away from the roadhouse, I was beginning to feel a little off.  Despite the fact that I had a hydration pack with 2 liters of water and head covering, I was noticing that my body was getting very angry with me for submitting it to the elements.  My fingers began swelling to the point where I had to remove my ring and I had sweated through my tank top at all the points that were in contact with my pack.  The rest remained dry because the hot wind evaporated it before it had a chance to saturate.  My hike was only an hour long but when I got back to my little air-conditioned bubble, I felt like I had been gone for half a day at least.  In 1 hour I had completely emptied my hydration pack and drank more from my fridge.  

I checked the weather forecast for the nearest town when I got back and it was 32 degrees by the time I ended my little trek.  The high today is 43.  I know I talk about the heat a lot, but it is such a major factor in my life right now and the strength of it astounds me.  In Canada, even when it is really hot, relatively speaking, most people wouldn't consider "wasting such a beautiful day".  Here, +40 weather is almost equivalent to -40 weather back home.  It is really inconvenient and entirely uncomfortable and it is best not to venture outside or drive unless you absolutely have to, in case you end up trapped outside.  

Tomorrow I will start on morning shift, which runs from 5:30 am to 1pm.  Perhaps an evening hike will  be more successful?  There are some gorgeous rock formations that don't look like to far of a walk and there will be much more shade available.  I don't know what I am going to do in January when temperatures can spike to 50- stay inside my air-con bubble until it cools off, I suppose!

-A.

Running in the Oven

I went for a run this morning, finally- I have been meaning to for days but if I sleep in past 8am, then it is way to hot.  I made it out by 7:30 and even that was pushing it.  If I can drag myself out of bed tomorrow I will give 6:30 a try.  The sun is just up and shouldn't bake too much.  It will be easier when I go on morning shift.  Though I will have to be at work at 5:30, I can run in the evening, which is usually my preference anyway.  

It certainly is a change from the gravel road at the farm.  While still gravel, the rocks are much more jagged and larger; the road is a deep red cover and the center is overgrown with spinifex grass, and it feels like you've kicked a cactus when you accidentally step on it.  I saw some weird tracks, one of which I am 80% sure was a camel (Australia is the only place in the world where dromedary, one-hump camels are still found in the wild, having escaped various pack trains and expeditions over the years).  The other track could have been a large rabbit or a small kangaroo, but I have no idea what a kangaroo track should look like, so I hesitate to make a proper guess.  I still haven't seen a live kangaroo either, but I am sure that once I can get out on a couple hikes, the wildlife will come out of the woodwork.  

Hope the snow isn't too deep!

-A.

Welcome to Auski (sounds like AUStralia, not AUdi)

I am now a productive member of society again.  My job equates to glorified gas station attendant/waitress/hotel clerk but it is actually pretty fun.  You get some very interesting folk coming through in a place like this.  Between the miners and the tourists and the truckies, one is never bored with the clientele .

I have my own little room with a TV and a bathroom and private entrance.  It kind of reminds me of what I've heard of hotels in Japan.  Exactly enough room to have a bed and walk to the bed and bathroom with no space wasted.  The view makes up for it though- being next to a national park certainly has its perks.  I will have to wait to do some actual hiking, as I work every single day 8 hours a day right now, but I can ask for a day off in a couple weeks, which is better than when I was working up in the arctic and days off were not an option.  At $18/hr I am making more here than I was at 2 of my last 3 geology jobs.  Scary, hey?  After three months I should have enough for a beater car and some gas money and maybe by then the mining industry will have picked up a little.  

Once I figure out this old computer I will try and post some pictures tomorrow.

Cheers

-A.

Into the fire!

I checked the weather forecast for the town nearest the roadhouse I am going to and the high for today was 41 degrees Celsius. Keep in mind that December here is the equivalent of June in Canada. I wonder what early August will be like? Bring it on baby!!!

My train leaves for Perth in about 2 hours or so and this time I am going to leave plenty of time to get there. It is only 31 degrees here today, but I have a feeling that any running with my full pack may cause me to pass out and die.

Everyone here seems rather sad to see me go, which is touching, but may have something to do with me being female. I have been helping out with tidying up around the hostel and today I assisted my Syrian friend Belal with his resume. I am also generally the sober one who gets sent out for beer runs- with appropriate alcohol compensation later, of course. Despite the roughness of the town, I think I really am going to miss it. I am sure I will be praying for the pool once I roll into that 40+ weather. Yikes.

-A.

JobJobJobJobJobJobJobJob!

As you might guess from the title, I really and truly have a job! It is in the outback working as a desk clerk at a "Tourist Village", though the map describes it as nothing more than a roadhouse, so I guess it will be a surprise! It is $18.50/hr plus free accomodations and food. I am halfway between Port Hedland and Newman, for those who feel like looking it up. The best part is that it is literally across the road from this amazing national park chock full of gorges and waterfalls.

The owner said he hired my because of my computer skills and lack of experience in the hospitality industry- all the better to mold me, so he says. I have never gotten a job due to lack of experence before. I leave Kal on Monday and will take the, ahem, SEVENTEEN HOUR bus ride starting on Wednesday night. There is the posibility of applying for a receptionist job at one of the mines about an hour south of here, but as my mom suggested, I am going to go for the sure thing, not to mention the kick-ass adventure of it! I am so relieved right now that I have been walking around all day with a slight little jig to myself. I was a week away from having to move my return flight to December. YEAAAHHHH!!!!!!

-A.

Gold Rush

This has probably been the most interesting few days of my trip so far. I showed up at the train station to catch the 7:15 to Kalgoorlie with about 3 minutes to spare, as I had marginally slept in and had to take a different, much slower bus than I had anticipated. The trip was uneventful and I still haven't seen one live kangaroo. I got to Kalgoorlie and checked into my hostel which looked mildly ramshackle owing to all the corrugated metal paneling. Turns out it used to be a brothel. Hmm. The only other hostel in town was more expensive and looked to be in about the same state so I have stuck it out here.

There are 4 active and working brothels across the street and down, but it is the quiet season at the mine, and thus the quiet season at the brothels. Apparently this is something they tolerate in Kal because it reduces the amount of bar fights. Go figure. My hostel is full of people who look like they came from my home town, which is somewhat comforting, if a little annoying at times, thanks to the occasional un-PC comment. I was told the other day that my figure was better than that of the girls at at least 3 of the 4 brothels. The fourth one is a very high class establishment, apparently. To be fair there is only one guy in the place who I can actually classify as rude and obnoxious. The others have sort of adopted me and pledged that anyone who messes with me will have to talk to them first. It's like having a whole building full of big brothers (I am one of only 2 girls staying here and the only single gal). The other benefit of staying here instead of the m0re backpacker friendly place down the road is that these guys have connections with the mines and other types of work that involve rocks and not serving trays. My little buddy Rory has already brought my resume in to his boss to see if there is anything at the Super Pit for my skill set.

The Super Pit is the largest open pit mine in the world and by the time all the gold is extracted, it will be over 5km deep. Right now it sits at a measly 2.5km depth. I have decided that Kalgoorlie is like Yellowknife, just hotter. Anyway, my coin-operated computer is about to run out of time so I had best sign off. Cheers.

-A.

Burn Baby Burn

Today I am alone again. Jill is gone to Broome in an hour and Melissa has left for camp. My train to Kalgoorlie leaves tomorrow. I have little hope left for the waitressing job, as when I sent off my references on Thursday, I mistyped the email address and only got the notification that it wasn't sent today. This means that not only do I look careless for not sending them promptly, they will also think I am lazy for not double-checking the email. To be honest, I probably wasn't cut out for it anyway. I have a lead on a job at a cattle feedlot, which seems a little more up my alley, and will also satisfy the requirements to renew my visa for a second year, should I so choose.

In other news I have managed to sunburn places I didn't know you could sunburn. Jill and I went down to Cottesloe beach yesterday and I once again THOUGHT that I had managed full sunscreen coverage. This was not the case. To be fair, I was ready to head out at 2:30, but Jill is a beach marathoner and we ended up staying from 10:30 until 4:30 with a BLT break in between. I went swimming once but mostly slept, for which I really should have worn sunglasses. I was trying to avoid the dreaded raccoon eyes one gets from wearing sunglasses all day. I managed that, but also figured out how to sunburn my eyelids, which are rather swollen today. I also burned the back of my knees and one armpit. I think I have a skill for this- perhaps I can start burning shapes and words into my skin to make things more interesting. At least that would make the pain a little more acceptable. See below for some "Before" shots

-A.

This ship flew a pirate flag- I figured I wouldn't start worrying until cannon fire erupted


Miss Jill, the Beach Queen

Me in the process of scorching my body, note that this is one of the brief moments I actually wore my sunglasses

Sunset in Perth

To the Desert

Since I have yet to hear back from the fish market, and am rather unsure of my potential as a waitress (I am not the most graceful of ladies), I have decided to broaden my job search. I have booked a train ticket to Kalgoorlie, where the dresses are skimpy and the goldmines are deep. I am hoping that by moving locations that I might be able to snag some manual field work or at least something a little rustic. I am so tired of the city right now.

My buddy Jill, who only arrived last week, has a job at a resort selling ice cream in Broome for $20/hr, full time. This may be due to the fact that Broome is 2200km north of Perth and remote as hell. I am still a little jealous. Melissa gave me a bit of a pep talk today about jobs as I was getting rather down. She was supposed to head out to the field today but I just found out that she missed the flight, so her, Jill and I are going out for supper. Drinks all around!

-A.

Something Fishy

I have been hanging out at my friend Melissa's place for the past few days, and I have to say that I have been having a lot of fun. It's nice when you are not worried about where you are sleeping. She leaves for the desert on Friday but her roommates have asked that Jill and I stay until Monday to house sit while they go on a trip. We don't want to overstay our welcome, so we will probably find some hostel accommodations after that. I dropped off my resume at the fish market I mentioned in my last post- the place actually looks kind of fun. Melissa keeps talking about how it's really hard to meet new friends in her office because they are all kind of old but I think the fish market will be a neat place to get to know some locals. Not to mention the guy who offered me the job- hot! We'll see how it goes, maybe I won't even be there that long and will get a job with Barrick Gold tomorrow. Gold is at $814/ounce US today so anything is possible.

-A.

Upswing

Things have been looking up in the past couple days. My friend Jill showed up on Thursday and I also found out that my other friend Melissa is living here in Perth so both Jill and I have been crashing at her house. It is VERY nice to not be in a hostel for once. I also didn't realize how much I missed talking to people I know. I made some friends in the hostel, but it's much less work talking to someone you've known for a few years.; you just feel more relaxed.

We went out to a party that Melissa's friend was at last night and met a couple of nice guys. I am 90% sure they offered me an instant job working at the fish market they run. I am not positive due to a very delicious bottle of wine. It sounds like a nasty job, but Jill told me that the minimum wage is $18 here so two hours work would cover food and lodging for a day and the rest would be gravy. I am not above doing shit jobs until I can find a good geology position. At the very least I can stop budgeting quite so tightly and eat more than one meal a day.

It is Melissa's 24th birthday today so we are going to celebrate tonight, which means I need to go for a run and burn of the remnants of last night before things get under way. I am sure that all of you reading this are thinking that I sound like an alcoholic, but red wine is good for the heart, so I am really just trying to be healthy. Cheers all.

-A.

Poker Face

Last night a bunch of us in the hostel decided to go sign up for the free poker tournament at the Brass Monkey bar. There was no monetary element, just beer and chips (the poker kind, not the salty kind). Having only played Texas hold 'em about twice, I had a very vague grasp of what was going on and was out on my 5th hand. This was fine because it freed me up to drink some well deserved libations. Later on in the night, we were all out and the game was down to the one fancy table in the middle. Names were being drawn all night from the registration computer for various prizes, including a bar tab or a hat or a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon. I was really hoping to win the bourbon, but my name was drawn for a spot at the final table and 10000 worth of chips. I would have much preferred the bourbon, but what the hell. The minimum bet was all the chips I had so I didn't last long and got out when an ace high card beat my king high card. All in good fun, and thank god there was no real money involved. After that we went to hang out in another hostel and I once again lost miserably, but this time at pool. We moved on to an Irish pub called Rosie O'Grady's and I ended the night eating ham and cheese sandwiches at 2 am with my German friend Andre.

Today I am slightly hung over and it is ungodly hot (29 degrees without a cloud to be seen). I think I am going to go hide in the movie theater... oops, I mean cinema, and watch the new James Bond flick. Other than the dehydration I am also rather bummed to day about my job prospects. Of the 14 or so applications I sent out, I have only had two somewhat neutral replies and I think one is from a coal mine, which sucks. My new plan is to take a bus to Kalgoorlie on Monday and see what I can see over their. It is a boom town out in the desert, about 6 hours from here but it is pretty much the working center of the mining industry out here in Western Australia. Perth has all the head offices, but maybe if I poke my head around in some of the regional sites, someone might take an interest. Andre has bet me a case of beer that I will find a job if I go out there- if it works out I think I'll buy him two.

-A.

Life Plans and Drinking Buddies

It’s been a few days since I last updated, frankly, because I haven’t been doing much. I am in a bit of a holding pattern until I can find a job. I am scared of spending any more money on sightseeing in case I don’t find some employment right away. The catch-22 there is that once I find a job I won’t be doing very much sightseeing anyway. I have already decided that if I can I would like to hang around this wonderful country for at least a year. And after talking to a few other backpackers in the hostel, I am more and more convinced that there are a few more journeys in me after that. I would love to spend some time in Ireland, and also Greece and perhaps south-east Asia. I figure if I can save up enough money to cover my student loan payments while I am away, I can just work wherever I am to support myself. This is sort of long term goal stuff, as I certainly haven’t even seen a quarter of this country. The weather here is so pleasant that it’s hard to imagine that it’s probably snowing back home. I am not trying to rub it in, but I am getting a bit of a tan, which for me is a significant achievement.

My good friend Jill is popping by on Thursday (though I don't know if "popping by is the right term for travelling thousands of kilometers to the other side of the planet). It will be nice to have some company, I think. I have gotten to know quite a few people in the hostel I am in right now, but everyone is so transient that it is hard to develop anything more than passing aquaintences. I will also maybe have a drinking buddy, which is more socially acceptable than drinking alone (unless you are a hobo or a musician).

Picture Time

As promised, here are some photos of the Australian variety:

This is George, who guided the Bushtucker tour I was on. Some food yummy, some food gross.

The bottom of "The Grandmother", a 400 year old tingle tree

Me on the Tree Top Walk, a pleasant stroll through the upper canopy of a tingle tree forest (did I mention it's 40m in the air?

The BEACH! (note how my skin tone matches the white sand)

A most delicious beer emporium in the Perth suburb of Fremantle (Freo). Little Creatures Brewery has taken a significant portion of my Aussie dollars (though their kangaroo kebabs are absolutely worth every penny!)

*NOTE: I just noticed that the dates and times for my posts are drastically out of whack. Whatever it says on the blog, add a day. I am 16 hours ahead of mountain daylight time. Maybe some day I will be able to change the time zone from this end but I am way too tired right now after having slept in my rental car again (this time because every single room in Perth had been rented and not because I am cheap).

Speed Demon

I am writing from Geraldton, WA, after having gotten a $150 speeding ticket for going 125 in a 110 zone. My excuse is that I very dearly had to go to the bathroom after drinking coffee and a litre of water and was trying to make it to town before I exploded. Of course things took much longer when I got pulled over. I was half-thinking that maybe the officers would just let me go if they saw that I had wet my pants, but then I thought of the deductible on the rental car and changed my mind. I am really annoyed though because I had been being really frugal, sleeping in either my tent or the car for the past couple days so I could splurge and get a cheap hotel room here in Geraldton, but with the $150 ticket, which is equivalent to a whole week of hostel fees, looks like it's the back seat of the Toyota again. Arrrrgggh!!!!

I haven't had a chance to upload photos since I got here so lets give it a go:

Famous Santa Monica Pier

Glorious sunshine!!! (pre-sunburn)

Just after I took this shot, an honest to god Ferrari drove by- very posh.

I can't figure out how to rotate this sucker, but you get the idea.

I will load some actual Australia pictures next time! Got to keep you wanting more, you know.

-A.

King of the Road

Having mastered this driving on the left thing, I have decided that the best way to see Australia is by car. This place is too damn big for anything else (unless you are a super cycling type, but I am waaaay to lazy for that).

I left Perth yesterday and stumbled upon an outdoor shop that was having a sale. $163 later I had a dodgy tent and a not so dodgy sleeping bag, so now I will never be homeless! Also the lack of privacy in the hostels and the 19 year olds stumbling home drunk every night were starting to annoy me. I slept on the bank of the Blackwater River near Bridgetown after a driving through Margeret River and tiny Nannup. I am currently in Albany and am making a big loop of the Southwest. I have to be back in Margeret River tomorrow for a bushtucker tour down river. It's raining right now so I will probably sleep in the car because I am cheap (it's a Corrolla so I think there should be room). Hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow. Bushtucker, for those who don't know is traditional bush food consumed by aboriginees and bush men when on walkabout... I think. My vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds- ask me later what a "budgie smuggler" is (hint: think of tight skimpy clothing and water).

I dread returning the car on Thursday and once again being trapped in the city. I am quickly falling in love with the Australian countryside- and I have only seen one tiny corner so far. I think instead of looking for camper van to purchase when I get a job, I am just going to go for an old Toyota Landcruiser. There's tons of them around and I can go just about anywhere; I do have a tent after all. At my campsite last night I met a young couple named Kelly and Will. Will was a mechanic and gave me some good tips on purchase price and the like. Kelly lent me a mattress to sleep on for my tent (one of the things I overlooked). Aussies rule!

Further South

My friend Alyce has booked a car for me so I am going to take off down to the Margaret River area for a few days. It's wine country so I plan to try a few samples along the way and maybe check out a tour of some sort. How fancy shmansy am I? To balance out all that cultured activity, I also plan to check out some of the world-renown forests- there are gum trees that are hundreds of feet high! I may not be regularly updating for a while but I'll let you know how it turns out.

Yesterday I went to the beach all day. Then I had beer with Alyce and that is about it. I don't think I am ever leaving this country.

-A.

PS. If it makes you coldies feel better about winter, I did get some wicked sunburns in the places where I missed putting on sunscreen. The perils of the beach!

Beer and Blisters

Yesterday was moderately gorgeous, minus the wind, so I thought it would be a nice idea to walk to Fremantle. This, as it turned out wasn't the brightest of ideas. I am currently in Cottesloe, which is a beach suburb of Perth. Fremantle is this charming European style town further along the coast, but apparenlty, much further than I had first calculated.

Decked out in my ungodly expensive sandles that I had bought in an end of summer sale in Grande Prairie, I set off along the beach path with all enthusiasm. Three hours later, after navigating through an industrial area I reached Freo. Instead of checking out the markets like I planned, I instead bought some fish and chips and went straight to the Little Creatures brewery for a very large beer. By this time my feet were very blistered and all I could do was sit. Granted the ocean view was nice, but my strolling capabilities were severely limited.

I caught the bus and train back to Cottesloe and sat on my ass for the evening, walking around the hostel blissfully shoeless.

Today I am going back to Freo to get the full experience, but I think I will take the train...

-A.

The Big Blue

Didn't do a whole lot yesterday owing to my developing cold. I figured if I took it easy, it might not develop into full blown nastiness as it usually does.

It rained again, but I made it to my new hostel without too much dampness. I am staying at the Ocean Beach Backpackers, aptly named because of the conveniently located ocean across the street. After checking in and laying around in the courtyard for a while, the rain finally cleared up and let in some glorious sunshine. I went down to the beach and introduced myself to the Indian Ocean- I think we are going to get along swimmingly (come on, you know you love a good pun!).

I am in a ladies dorm this time, which is a nice change, what with the dramatic decrease in midnight farts and snores. Apparently flatulence is international. A couple dutch girls, a pair of british gals and one I haven't met.

Oh yeah, and I went to the grocery store so I could stop spending gobs of money at restaurants. It was an IGA of all things! There is something very surreal about that, considering that the same store exists in High Prairie. Very surreal to find it on the exact opposite side of the world.

-A.

Damp and Drunk

It has been raining pretty heavily on and off since I got here, with little windows of teasing sunshine in between. I am hoping that things will clear up for the weekend at least. The locals claim that this is the last hurrah of spring and I will be praying for rain when the temperature hits 40 degrees. Somehow, I doubt that.

Unaware of the impeding rain, I went downtown yesterday for some breakfast and internet. I found this cute little cafe called Tiger Tiger down a side street that had an outdoor patio with this huge gumtree growing in the center. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do that day and on a whim, I walked into a hair salon and got a shampoo and a cut. I think my main motivation was the shampoo as there was no hot water in the hostel for my shower the night before and my wash job was a bit rushed; the head massage was a nice touch too. The rest of the morning and the afternoon was spent at a pub since it was raining too hard to venture back to the hostel. Beer before noon is an wonderfully accepted practice around here, though I have to go back and try the emu- I have been told it tastes like duck.

My lovely friend Alyce picked me up for supper and we had pizza and a few beers at the Moon (bar or cafe, I am not sure) and ogled the South American singer as he played guitar and ukulele. His accent was wonderful.

I am currently trying to find a place to sleep tonight because I did not have the forethought to book ahead, so wish me luck!

-A.

Swimming Pools and Movie Stars

Hello All,

I was rather dreading the 12 hour layover I had in LA but it actually worked out wonderfully. I took a 45 minute bus to the Santa Monica Pier and enjoyed a platter from Bubba Gump Shrimp (fried shrimp of course) and then walked around on the beach and down Santa Monica Boulevard until it was nearing time to check in. Caught the bus back and boarded the plane for the 15 hour flight which I mostly slept through.

40 hours is a looooong time to be traveling. After four airports and three airplanes, I am finally in Perth. Things went smoothly overall, but I think I will never be able to take a North American plane again. On my LA to Melbourne flight I was supplied with a full meal, free blanket and pillow, on demand tv, movies and games, AND a goody bag which included snacks, toothpaste and a toothbrush, and, get this, SOCKS! I love it. My domestic flight to Perth included free alcohol and two helpings of ice cream. Air Canada they are not.

My friend Alyce picked me up at the airport and I stayed the night in the Witch's Hat hostel, so named for the Edwardian turret protruding from the roof. I have spontaneously made a hair appointment at the salon next door to this internet cafe, so we shall see how that turns out. I am, after all, on vacation!

Next goal, find a job!... maybe.

-A.