Believe it or not, It's exactly six months since we touched down here in Perth. To commemorate this momentous milestone I thought I'd give you a rundown of what's hot and what's not about this particular part of Western Australia.
Before I even began
The thing is that when we arrived, we did so without any preconceptions....... we knew it was going to be different and hopefully quite sunny but apart from that we were happy to just go with the flow.
What we have found is that Australia really isn't all that different from the UK. That may be due to the fact that wherever you go in the World it's still you and your personal view that is seeing and interpreting the surroundings so we are still seeing everything through 'Brit goggles'. It is true to say that some things aren't the same here but on the whole there is nothing that is overtly foreign.... apart from the blue skies.
Luckily we have got all of the famous UK brands over here, such as: McDonalds, KFC, Ikea and Dominoes Pizza.
I've even managed to infiltrate the local music scene. I've found several bands that are proficient in the art of producing jingly, jangly indie guitar music overlayed with an untuneful singer telling tales of having problems with his girlfriend. Home from home.
All I saw on Channel 4
The TV over here is an odd mixture of UK and US shows with a generous sprinkling of Australian 'car crash TV' programs. We get all the same sort of reality TV bobbins that you do, some of them with celebrities who I don't know (just like the UK). It is actually a feat of endurance to watch a film on the commercial channels here due to the fact that the shear quantity of adverts pushes the duration of most movies to well over three hours. And the closer to the end of the film you are the more adverts they subject you to (because by that point they know they've got you).
Shoplifters of the World
The worst thing about Australia (and I'm sure I will never get used to it) is that they search your bags when you go out of a shop. They've got all the usual security measures: cctv, security guards and the detector things by the door but you are also required to show your receipts to the girl on the checkout and let her rifle through your shopping. The temptation to say 'look you don't have to be a convict to come here any more' is very strong... luckily (for the sake of my boyish good looks), so far I have resisted. The thing is, my pockets are always bulging (it's more of a curse than a blessing) and they never ever ask to have a look at what I've got in my trousers.
The other thing is that the Postal Service appears to lose a lot of mail. Don't get me wrong, all our Australian post gets here and the odd letter from family and friends in the UK gets through. But I never get anything from all the people that had said they would write to me....so it's got to be AusPost losing the letters because all my acquaintances in the UK must be trying to send me stuff, mustn't they? Yeah, of course they are.
now, today tomorrow and always
I think it's fair to say that Wendy and I are loving it here... the work, the outdoor lifestyle, the weather, the house, the fact that we are about a mile from golden beaches and the Indian Ocean. The kids are taking a bit longer to be convinced that it was a good move. They are a lot happier now they have all their belongings around them again but they both miss the friends (school and otherwise) they left behind in the UK. Mind you, at least they are getting letters from their friends, they aren't all being misplaced by the post office.
In conclusion, It's great.. you'd love to live here. Wait a minute though, it is getting a bit crowded, especially out here in the west..........actually you'd hate to live here, stay where you are.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Everywhere you go always take the weather with you
I thought I'd use lyrics by a good old Aussie band this week. Okay, so Crowded House are actually from New Zealand but we (well I have been here nearly six months) claim them as our own. I've noticed that the Aussies seem to do that quite a bit to our antipodean cousins.
Australia's greatest ever racehorse, Phar Lap, was actually born in New Zealand. It was eventually poisoned by the Americans but I digress.
Let me tell you about the weather just to prove I am still a pom. We have had the same weather pattern repeating itself for the past four weeks. We have rainy days from Tuesday through to Saturday and then sunny days on Sunday and Monday. But the rainy days aren't grey miserable and overcast, instead it buckets it down for anything from five minutes to an hour and then its sunny and pleasantly warm for about an hour. Then it all starts again.
Of course it could be worse, after all this is our winter.
The main topic for discussion this week is haircuts. Following on from my lead, everyone has been to have their hair chopped off. I've not had mine cut for a few weeks because it's decided not to grow back. Wendy has had hers cropped quite short, she was intending it to be a half-way house on the way to having a bob, but she is now going to stick with what shes got. It does look good and really suits her having it straight, although occasionally it does go a bit curly, due to either a) atmospheric conditions, b) eating her crusts, c) some Shirley Temple genes somewhere in her lineage.
Hattie was next in the chair, not sure what happened but she came out looking about 14. I've had to start practicing telling her 'you can't go out dressed like that' and 'I want to have a chat to any prospective boyfriends'.
George settled for a trim.
I think he was getting fed up of me taking photos of him looking like Albert Einstein on a bad hair day.
There will be pics of all the new hairstyles in the July photo album. There may also be snapshots from Wendy's work trips to Rottnest and Melbourne which are coming up shortly. Rottnest, is an island about a mile or two off the coast across a notoriously choppy stretch of water - so that may lead to some very interesting action shots.
After Wendy sent out the photo album for June I had several complimentary messages from people admiring my shiny red helmet that was prominent in several of the pics. The wearing of cycle helmets is in fact compulsory over here, fortunately the wearing of tight lycra shorts isn't... not yet anyway.
The kids are currently on a two week break from school, they are attending holiday club at a place called 'Go bananas'. The good part is that they get to go (indoor) rock climbing, bowling, laser shooting and roller skating, the downside is that they have to get up at 6.30am so we can drop them off before we go to work. If you've seen Shaun of the Dead, that's what breakfast time looks like in our house this week. Again, I suppose its just a taste of the teenage years to come.
I'm going now, I need to empty some water out of the pool after all this rain... I thought it would have an over sized bath plug in the deep end but I can't see it.
Australia's greatest ever racehorse, Phar Lap, was actually born in New Zealand. It was eventually poisoned by the Americans but I digress.
Let me tell you about the weather just to prove I am still a pom. We have had the same weather pattern repeating itself for the past four weeks. We have rainy days from Tuesday through to Saturday and then sunny days on Sunday and Monday. But the rainy days aren't grey miserable and overcast, instead it buckets it down for anything from five minutes to an hour and then its sunny and pleasantly warm for about an hour. Then it all starts again.
Of course it could be worse, after all this is our winter.
The main topic for discussion this week is haircuts. Following on from my lead, everyone has been to have their hair chopped off. I've not had mine cut for a few weeks because it's decided not to grow back. Wendy has had hers cropped quite short, she was intending it to be a half-way house on the way to having a bob, but she is now going to stick with what shes got. It does look good and really suits her having it straight, although occasionally it does go a bit curly, due to either a) atmospheric conditions, b) eating her crusts, c) some Shirley Temple genes somewhere in her lineage.
Hattie was next in the chair, not sure what happened but she came out looking about 14. I've had to start practicing telling her 'you can't go out dressed like that' and 'I want to have a chat to any prospective boyfriends'.
George settled for a trim.
I think he was getting fed up of me taking photos of him looking like Albert Einstein on a bad hair day.
There will be pics of all the new hairstyles in the July photo album. There may also be snapshots from Wendy's work trips to Rottnest and Melbourne which are coming up shortly. Rottnest, is an island about a mile or two off the coast across a notoriously choppy stretch of water - so that may lead to some very interesting action shots.
After Wendy sent out the photo album for June I had several complimentary messages from people admiring my shiny red helmet that was prominent in several of the pics. The wearing of cycle helmets is in fact compulsory over here, fortunately the wearing of tight lycra shorts isn't... not yet anyway.
The kids are currently on a two week break from school, they are attending holiday club at a place called 'Go bananas'. The good part is that they get to go (indoor) rock climbing, bowling, laser shooting and roller skating, the downside is that they have to get up at 6.30am so we can drop them off before we go to work. If you've seen Shaun of the Dead, that's what breakfast time looks like in our house this week. Again, I suppose its just a taste of the teenage years to come.
I'm going now, I need to empty some water out of the pool after all this rain... I thought it would have an over sized bath plug in the deep end but I can't see it.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
two pints of lager and a packet of crisps please
Now that's what you call a party. I'm told the housewarming/Wendy's birthday party was very good - but, as you would expect, I was unconscious after the second pint so I'm relying on other people's accounts. For the record, the twelve adults attending drank a total of 47 bottles of lager, 3 bottles of fizz, 4 bottles of white wine, 1 bottle of red wine, a bottle of babycham and a small glass of sweet sherry. Just to confirm, if it's needed after such a detailed inventory, the majority of the attendees were accountants.
Anyone who knows Wendy would have guessed, of course, that we were fully unpacked within two days of moving into the new house. It helped that one of the removal men was a man mountain who was able to pick washing machines up with one hand.
In the course of unpacking, I discovered something worse than dismantling flat-pack furniture: Re-assembling flat-pack furniture without the aid of instructions. All I had to help me put Hattie's bedroom furniture back together was a slightly out of focus photo of her old bedroom with the furniture situated somewhere in the far distance. I think I did a good job, considering, I think I might try selling Ikea the design for my three legged wardrobe (called 'Jake').
And no, we haven't been brave enough to venture into the swimming pool yet, the kids managed to dip their toes in but that was as far as they got. It's a bit chilly at the moment, I think we will have to wait until spring (September) before using it. In the meantime I have to vacuum it - I got through three Dysons and got an even spikier new haircut before it was explained to me that you create the vacuum using the pool's filter pump. So much to learn (tenuous link alert).
Talking of learning, George is now doing a PEAC course for gifted and talented children (If it wasn't for the fact that he has got my genetically mutated knees, I'd be asking for a DNA test). Basically, it means that one morning a week he goes to a different school and does lessons on a chosen subject with other show-offs (sorry, gifted kids). George's course is called 'Save the Earth - it's the only planet with chocolate' and over the last four weeks he has gradually turned into an eco-warrior. We have all been forced to cut down on our energy consumption - Hattie only gets out of bed if it's absolutely necessary, George has cut down on his use of soap and shampoo and I am now re-cycling at least 75% of my jokes.
The kids got their school reports this week, Hattie's was very good. She did well across all subjects but particularly excelled in art, getting an A (If it wasn't for the fact that she has my devastating good looks, I'd be asking for a DNA test).
I'm expecting that by the time I get round to writing the next blog we will have been here for six months so it may well take the form of a half-yearly report.
I'm off to fill a hot water bottle now - it's going to be 3 degrees tonight. It just leaves me to say ... when will I see you again? (three degrees, gettit?................bloody sod you then)
Anyone who knows Wendy would have guessed, of course, that we were fully unpacked within two days of moving into the new house. It helped that one of the removal men was a man mountain who was able to pick washing machines up with one hand.
In the course of unpacking, I discovered something worse than dismantling flat-pack furniture: Re-assembling flat-pack furniture without the aid of instructions. All I had to help me put Hattie's bedroom furniture back together was a slightly out of focus photo of her old bedroom with the furniture situated somewhere in the far distance. I think I did a good job, considering, I think I might try selling Ikea the design for my three legged wardrobe (called 'Jake').
And no, we haven't been brave enough to venture into the swimming pool yet, the kids managed to dip their toes in but that was as far as they got. It's a bit chilly at the moment, I think we will have to wait until spring (September) before using it. In the meantime I have to vacuum it - I got through three Dysons and got an even spikier new haircut before it was explained to me that you create the vacuum using the pool's filter pump. So much to learn (tenuous link alert).
Talking of learning, George is now doing a PEAC course for gifted and talented children (If it wasn't for the fact that he has got my genetically mutated knees, I'd be asking for a DNA test). Basically, it means that one morning a week he goes to a different school and does lessons on a chosen subject with other show-offs (sorry, gifted kids). George's course is called 'Save the Earth - it's the only planet with chocolate' and over the last four weeks he has gradually turned into an eco-warrior. We have all been forced to cut down on our energy consumption - Hattie only gets out of bed if it's absolutely necessary, George has cut down on his use of soap and shampoo and I am now re-cycling at least 75% of my jokes.
The kids got their school reports this week, Hattie's was very good. She did well across all subjects but particularly excelled in art, getting an A (If it wasn't for the fact that she has my devastating good looks, I'd be asking for a DNA test).
I'm expecting that by the time I get round to writing the next blog we will have been here for six months so it may well take the form of a half-yearly report.
I'm off to fill a hot water bottle now - it's going to be 3 degrees tonight. It just leaves me to say ... when will I see you again? (three degrees, gettit?................bloody sod you then)
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