A Christmas in Oz

You give pressies (presents) for Chrissy (Christmas) in Oz. I'm finally coming off my blogging hiatus to bring you this blog on my second Christmas in Oz. Alas, I have been inspired by the Christmas spirit to write . In 2004, I spent Christmas with my former Baby Banz boss and his wife and kids eating prawns and crayfish by the beach in the searing afternoon heat. This Christmas in Oz was another version of a traditional Australian Christmas and much more my style. SM's grandparents, sister and brother-in-law and their three kids all came to Chidlow to celebrate family style in the Perth hills. Twelve people in all gathered around the dinner table last night for the Christmas Eve feast. After stuffing ourselves with quiche, roast chicken, cold salads, and rolls the neighbors came around for drinks and a chat. The kids had their dessert of ice cream in waffle cones and the house came alive with the excitement and anticipation that one remembers so fondly from the Christmas Eves of ones youth. The children prepared for Father Christmas by placing cookies and milk and carrots for the reindeer outside the front door. Mysteriously, some of the cookies had disappeared from the plate when SM's mom went to check on the goodies later.

This morning I woke to sunshine and 60 degree temperatures, by the afternoon it reached close to 90. SM was awoken by his brother asking for his help with some huge, cumbersome gift that needing shifting into the living room. The gift was his mother's new brown leather lounge suite. I got up and plodded drowsily into the lounge looking for signs of eagerly awaiting children ready to pounce on their gifts. Oddly, the kids were quietly seated at the breakfast table busying themselves with their new craft projects that their parents had wisely set aside for them to work on first thing in the morning while they waited for the rest of us to wake up and have their breakfast. By the time I had finished my brekkie and waited another hour or so for everyone to gather around the tree I was beginning to feel a bit anxious to get on with unwrapping the gifts. I wasn't sure how many gifts I would end up with other than the one from SM, but I was really happy to simply see what everyone else got and gave each other. I was glad, however, to receive some very thoughtful and much appreciated gifts from SM's parents, grandparents and sister's family. My presents were a pair of pink pajamas, a bottle of rose-scented body lotion, a movie gift card (for me and SM) and a new lavender colored Motorola Razor cell phone and book shop gift card from SM. As much as I loved all my gifts, my gift to SM took the cake. I bought him a helicopter flying lesson which he had talked of getting himself some time ago, but he had decided against it when he found out how much it cost. I was so excited to give it to him not only because it cost me the better part of one weeks pay, but because I knew the look on his face alone would be more than worth the cost. See, it is more about the giving than the receiving and I certainly got the reaction I had been waiting for when he realized what it was. Everyone else was amazed as well. I susupected SM was the envy of the other men who all kept talking about it and wanted to look at the details on the gift packet that described the lesson.

SM's nephew acted out the part of Father Christmas by wearing the red Santa cap and passing the gifts around. Once all the gifts had been unwrapped, I cranked up the iTunes with some holiday music and the women started their cooking escapades. Meanwhile, the kids played with their new toys and the men drank a few cold ones and chatted on the patio. Since the arrival of Josh's family there has been a table tennis marathon and the kids got a trampoline from Santa that was set up in Josh's parent's lawn. I had a go at doing some cheerleader jumps on it for a bit of morning excercise.

The dinner was another feast even bigger than the one on Christmas Eve. The table was set and adorned with sparkling glitter, silver garland, confetti poppers, and Christmas crackers with prizes and colored tissue paper crowns inside - a throwback to old English tradition that many Australians still practice at Christmastime. Everyone waited to eat until everyone was seated and the Christmas crackers were popped. To pop the crackers we crossed our arms and held on to each others crackers making a chain around the table. Everyone pulled them open at the same time causing an explosion of popping noises and spilling toys and colorful tissue paper crowns onto the table. Next everyone popped their confetti poppers at the same time sending ribbons of tiny tissue streamers flying around the table. It was all really quite festive.

After this ceremonious opening of crackers and poppers we finally dug into our meals. Most of us wore our tissue paper crowns throughout the meal except a couple of the guys, including SM, whose heads are too big to wear them. The Christmas dinner consisted of roast pork, leftover roast chicken, ham, prawns with cocktail and tartar sauces, pasta salad, roast pumpkin, spinach and feta salad, roast veggies, and a Southwestern Pull Apart Bread that I made - a holiday tradition from my home. Despite there not being any turkey on the menu to make us drowsy, most of us still had "a bit of a lie down" after dinner. I still haven't taken my nap, but motivation is key to blogging so I must do it while the moment is ripe.

Tomorrow is Boxing Day - a big piss-up while watching the cricket on TV. My friend Grethe is back from Norway for a few weeks over the holidays to visit her boyfriend who is still living here. Therefore, I will be spending my Boxing Day in the poshy part of town at a party at Grethe's boyfriend's chic East Perth digs from which I also watched the fireworks display over the river on Australia Day earlier this year. I'll try to remember to take my camera and lots of photos. The day after that is my birthday - 29, eeks!!! Over the next three days I will attempt to make up for my blogging slackishness over the last two months by keeping you abreast of all the holiday activities and celebrations by blogging three consecutive days in a row!

Merry Christmas to all and to all... a goodnight ;)

(Christmas sunset over Childow)

Kalgoorlie Day 2

Have a look at the last Kalgoorlie blog post to see some new photos!

The second day in Kalgoorlie consisted of visits to the Mining Hall of Fame, WA Museum and the Super Pit. Although I was keen to take a tour of one of Kalgoorlie's seven active brothels, we were really there to see the mining and it took priority. We first went to the WA mining museum and I spent loads on souvenirs before we even had a look around! Basically, it was a tall steel mining structure built as a town lookout and to commemorate the mining pioneers.

We walked around the town a little while longer and found the statue of Paddy Hannan, the Irishman who first found the gold in Kalgoorlie in 1893 which sparked a gold rush and mining industry that is still going strong.

Here Debbie is getting a drink from the water fountain coming out of his watering can.

At the Mining Hall of Fame which looks like a mining ghost town and was Kalgoorlie's first gold mine we panned for gold as we waited to go on an underground tour of a real mine shaft. The shorts I was wearing were sliding down and my butt-crack was exposed, but I didn't care, I was going to strike it rich! This bit of butt-crack exposure may actually have helped get me some gold. Two older men that were working on the site were standing nearby as I was panning and saw me (with my plumber's crack) struggling with my panning technique. One of them came over and took over my efforts to show me how it was done. He then found me two tiny pieces of gold and explained to us the different forms of gold there are.

Actually, flecks of gold are brought down from the Super Pit each day and emptied into the three water holes where we were panning so tourists can have a try panning for gold, so there really wasn't a chance I would score a big nugget. Instead I bought my unrefined gold nuggets in earring form at the souvenir shop.

We also took a tour of the underground mine shafts that were used to mine the area for gold. The tour guide was a rough looking older man, years younger than my dad, but who looked years older. He had worked in these very mines for several years and had obviously been doing the tour guide job several times a day for quite some time. Although he was a wealth of knowledge, he seemed weary of retelling the story so many times. He spoke really fast and in a monotone so it was unfortunately hard to glean any information from the diatribe that spilled from his thickly-accented words.

We rode 20 feet down into the mine shaft packed into this little metal box elevator like a can of sardines. Only about five adults could fit snugly into the elevator. The tour lasted about 45 minutes and showed the hardships of working in such conditions.

Walls were propped up with wooden support posts that would buckle under the weight of the shifting rock and the slightest slip of the mining tools could bring one of these "hanging" walls crashing in on the men mining between them.

The machines used to mine the walls were also extremely loud. They were basically jack hammers on supports so they can sit sideways drilling into the wall. When the tour guide turned one on to show us what it sounded like the noise was almost excruciating to listen to in such an enclosed space. It's a wonder anyone who worked there for a long period of time would still have their hearing left!

So far Kalgoorlie had proved far more interesting and lively a place to visit than both Debbie and I had anticipated and I could have stayed to do another day of site-seeing and visit a brothel, but we had more places to go. Our last stop in on our way out of Kalgoorlie was the Super Pit gold mine.

Wonders of WA's Southwest (Sow-west)

Aussie word of the day: dunny = toilet; therefore dunny paper = toilet paper.

Monday, November 3rd, 2008: I submitted my thesis. I was happy to have it submitted, but now am anxiously awaiting my mark. It felt so good to have it done after a whole year of study and research on blogging.

Friday, November 7th, 2008: Debbie submitted her thesis and we rolled out of ECU's car park at about 10:30am. In the style of Thelma & Louise (except without the convertible), we hightailed it outta there and headed straight for the hills - the Perth Hills! Beyond the Perth Hills is the beginning of the great abyss of the Wheatbelt and beyond that - where we were headed - the scrub-filled Goldfields, home of the world's largest gold mining pit or Super Pit, the most alcohol consumed in WA, and seven brothels - two of which offer tours.

Kalgoorlie (Kal by the locals): After a quick 600 km (360 mile) stretch of a drive we rolled into Kalgoorlie at about 5:30 Friday night on our black steeds - I mean in our rented black Hyundai i30 - looking for a few cold ones and a place to rest our heads for the night. Debbie was determined to get there in less time than the 7 hours and 50 minutes Google Maps had estimated it would take and we managed to make it in about 7. Debbie likened Kalgoorlie to the old mining town at Paris's Disneyland... in other words it was surreal. You could just imagine the whistle of the old west as a tumble weed rolled across the road and two cowboy's got ready to shoot it out in the main street. The streets were orginally made extra wide for the long-ago used camel trains to be able to turn around in and they were once also paved in fool's gold before locals found out real gold could be extracted from fool's gold and feverishly tore the streets up to get in on the riches. Kalgoorlie is one of two prolific telluride (fool's gold) sites in the world, the other being Boulder, Colorado.

We checked out a few of the local hostels for acommodation. They were filled with fly-in, fly-out mine workers. Shoe racks near the lobby entrance lined with mud-caked work boots gave this away. At another hostel we walked into the lounge/ dining area in search of the receptionist and found ourselves the objects of much wonderment. The young men in their early to mid-twenties slowly averted their gazes from the television show they were glued to and gaped at us with forks poised over their dinner plates with looks of bewilderment as we asked where the receptionist was. Either they didn't understand English or they hadn't seen such clean, wholesome-looking young women in a long time... my guess was the latter. After that entertaining search, we landed at the York Hotel, a lovely old-timey hotel in the heart of the town... and with no trace of mine workers or their work boots.

The York Hotel ran a lively pub scene in the evenings, but had a charming alley courtyard and served free continental breakfast in the stately dining room in the morning. Debbie and I shared a tidy little twin room - a room with two twin beds - with a shared bathroom down the hall. There was also a slightly slanting balcony above the hotels covered entrance which overlooked the main street. Here we relaxed with a few Coronas after our long drive and watched the sun go down over the Spinifex and salt bushes of the scrub-filled horizon. For an old historic hotel, it had everything we were looking for in budget acommodation.

After getting settled in and toasting over a few beers on the hotel's balcony, our night began with dinner and drinks at a nice restaurant down the main street from our hotel called The Blue Monkey. It was on the pricier side, but had a nice atmosphere and good food. Then we stopped into Judd's on the way back to our hotel. There was live music, a young crowd and a massive men to women ratio! There was probably 5 guys to every girl and didn't the ladies know it. We sipped our beers and people watched for a while as the band played one enjoyable cover song after another. Debbie observed that the club style of dress that the people wore in Kal was much more casual than the type of dress you see at the clubs in Perth, noting that the girls looked like they were trying too hard and not quite getting it. What can you say? They're bogans (white trash Aussies)! At least they tried to look nice.

After Judd's we went in search of a "skimpy" bar where the barmaids wear next to nothing, but to no avail. A recent magazine article about the women who work in the mines said that Kalgoorlie is trying to clean up it's "skimpy" act and regulating the skimpies to have the women wear less revealing clothing such as sexy nighties instead of just bra and panties. This was what we found - nothing like the skimpy I went to with SM in Dampier. We settled on returning to the nightlife in the York Hotel, where it would be easiest to crawl off to bed should we become inebriated. Back at the York a glorified kareoke duo - guy on guitar and girl singer with pre-recorded music playing in the background - attempted to entertain the drunken crowd. We met a local miner who "lived" at the hotel on his time off from the mine. I thought it was really sad, a perfectly attractive guy making a good living but litereally living in a hotel in his downtime. What kind of lifestyle is that? The life of a mine worker.

The next day we set off to explore the Mining Hall of Fame and Museum's.

Three cheers for Obama!!!

Hip-hip-horray, hip-hip-horray, hip-hip-horray!!!!!!

Thought you would all like to share in my excitement of the winner of the election. I was watching the tallies updating every two minutes on MSN for a while this morning, not to mention the election was being followed by the Australian news channels as well, so it was safe to step away to get some books at the library for a few hours. It was on the TV in the library lobby when I arrived there too! When I came back the majority of votes were in. I might actually celebrate with some bubbly tonight.

How do you guys feel about the new president?

Pix of the hair

Here it is - the blog you have all been waiting for. The one with my hair pictures! Now that I've had my hair cut a week and have seen these photos, I think I liked the way my long hair looked better. *Sniff* Oh well, it grows back, but I'm not going to color it for a while and let the natural color grow out, so hopefully it will get a lot healthier. It's actually stacked in shorter layers in the back and longer at the sides and front, but it's hard to tell in these photos. I also think the color has started to fade a bit as I spent the day at the beach on Sunday.

P.S. I also felt better as a blonde.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

I should've taken my camera with me to the salon when I got my hair cut yesterday, but, as with most photo worthy moments, I didn't have it with me. A before and after would have been great! But it was a 'hairy' sort of day to begin with and my afternoon was a bit chaotic. As usual, I overcommited myself and undermanaged my time, therefore, chaos ensued.

I started out working a two-hour tea and coffee shift in the city at 7 a.m. It's always nice to get a good early start to the day, so I felt pretty good about the morning. From work I walked a few blocks had breakfast at a cafe (bacon and egg toastie, orange juice, latte) then to TAFE (jr. college) to be an extra in a video production for Gail who studies video production at WAAPA, the arts college on ECU's campus. I was a waitress. Very apropo as I had just come from my job and was already adorned in my waiting attire. From there I walked home around noon. On my walk home I noticed my fingernails were breaking and tearing and looking rather ragged, so I decided it was time for a mani. I haven't had one since I was home in June and I was getting my hair cut in the afternoon, so I decided it would be a day of beauty and I should go all out as a reward for my hard work on my thesis this week.

This is where the day starts to go wrong. I got to the manicurist a little later than I should have because I had been immersed with email when I got back from the city. I thought the mani wouldn't take more than 45 minutes or so, but I must have gotten the most talkative lady in the shop, so the mani lasted an hour! It was good though and she did a nice, thourough job. This little bit of time mismanagement made me half an hour late for my much anticipated hair appointment. Then the hair appointment ended up lasting two hours, which then made me over an hour late for an evening work commitment (I was doing a favor by filling in for someone at the last minute so they were understanding). What a day, I tell ya!

So here's the goods on my hair, which you won't get to see photos of until the weekend because I am utterly swamped with work and finishing my thesis. But I just have to tell you all about it because it was the most delightful salon treatment I have ever had!

What started out costing me $180 for hair color, cut, wash and style ended up costing me only $125. This is an exceptional price for a haircut and color in Perth. Trust me! This is why I only get my hair cut when I come home - then again that costs me the price of an airline ticket from Australia and travel time. I got a flyer in the mail last week for a promo at this place called Spoilt, so I called and cancelled my other appointment and probably got 10x the treatment I would've at the other place. I really did get spoiled! When you get there, they let you choose from a selection of coffee, tea, water or soft drink on a beverage menu. You can enjoy your drink while getting your hair done. I got a cup of peppermint tea that came with it's own little teapot and a little biscuit and some water with lemon and they serve champagne on nights when they are open late! As a part of the promo package I also got a deep conditioning treatment and scalp and back massage that included some aromatic lavender. While I was waiting for my hair color to set I was put under a "heater" not a dryer chair. The heater was rolled over to my chair and had a circle shaped metal ring with a built in heating element through it that slowly rotated in a halo fashion around the back and top of my head. High class! So the "spare" $50 I saved from that experience bought me a bottle of salon color care shampoo and paid for the manicure I got prior to that! I was very pleased with the experience, price for the experience (compared to what I would've paid for nothing like it), and the haircut and color!

I hope you are all enjoying the cooler weather there, while I bask in the warm Australian sun here!

I sprung into Spring in the Valley but crawled home

Aussie word of the day: plaits = braids. I guess this isn't really slang, it's actually formal British English and the Australian language is full of that.

OMG! I think this is the first time I have posted two days in a row! Well, I had a great day yesterday and I couldn't wait to share it with you guys.

Spring has sprung in the Valley - This weekend Perth celebrated "Spring in the Valley", an annual spring winery event tailored around the wineries and breweries in the Swan Valley, just outside of Perth to the north of the city. As you may have guessed, there are several wine regions around Australia and the Swan Valley and Margaret River are the two main ones in Western Australia. If you remember, I also attended a wine fest in MR earlier this year with SM. However, SITV is a big piss-up as they say here in Oz. This means you pay $15 to get a sexy, fluorescent green, paper wristband to ride a hop-on hop-off bus to all of the wineries/ breweries you want in the Swan Valley. Basically, it's a GIANT, miles-long, pub crawl... which also means it's polluted with Perth's 20-somethings.

There were large groups of people who hired personal buses and vans to take them around. Some people pulled out all the stops in their fancy frocks, others wore scanty club wear, while some groups came in themed costumes. We saw everything from neon-colored 80s Flashdance attire and Christmas elves to bumble bees and 1920s flappers. Don't ask me what it is about Australians and their love of theme parties that they can't even go to an event without showing up dressed as an action figure or cartoon character. I guess when you live in a country that doesn't offer much more than kangaroos and red dust you have to come up with some way to entertain yourself. I'll admit it made things more interesting and one girl was having her hens "do" at the event - that's what the bachelorette party's t-shirts read, "Sara's Hens 'Do'". The weird thing about Hens (implying that women cackle like chickens) parties is that the male equivalent or bachelor party is called a Studs night/ party. Since when did chickens and horses mate? Why isn't it called the Rooster night or a Mare's party? Things that make you go hmmm... I think I'll just stick to the classic American names - bachelor/ bachelorette - that way at least there aren't any unfair animal comparisons.

But I digress, our party of six dressed smartly in semi-casual spring apparel: jeans, sleeveless shirts, cardigans, sultry sundresses, and sandals. Or for the one guy in the group - khaki cargo shorts and a striped, cotton, button-down shirt. Don't we look like a stylish bunch. Here we are getting our "taste" on at Little River winery. L-R my four Dutch friends: Debbie, Elina, (in back) Brent and Fleur and the lone Norwegian, Ida front and center in floral print.

We only made it to two wineries in the course of a few hours. As the afternoon wore on each of the venues became more and more packed and the breweries had huge queues. We waited half an hour to get into Ambrook Winery, where it was one in one out entry. One guy kept coming over to the fence and "feeding" us sips of his wine because he felt sorry for us having to wait to get in.

We enjoyed our day of slow inebriation as we polished off a few bottles of vino and ate bratwurst while sitting in the grass listening to live music in the late afternoon sun at Ambrook Winery.

We thought we would beat the rush and leave a little early to get a bus back into Midland and catch a train into the city from there. We stood at the bus stop, watching as one bus after another passed us by, too full of people already to pick up any others. This winery was unfortunately one of the last stops along the route, so, of course it was a lost cause to get a ride back. So we walked...

and we walked...

and we walked some more... on the road to Guilford.

It was probably only 5 miles into Guilford, but God, it seemed to take forever and there wasn't a sidewalk half the way. Halfway along our trek me and my girlfriends got that unfortunate urge to use the restroom and without a toilet in site. Finally, we made it to a servo/ convenience store only to find out that they didn't have public restrooms! After much cajoling we convinced the kids (seriously, they looked about 12 and 14) to let us use their private restroom if we bought something and by telling them that no one would find out.

This is a view of the Swan River in Guildford. It was the first time for any of us to walk across it - most of the time you are driving across it. We got to Guilford train station just in time to catch the train back into the city and, thankfully, get to sit down. When we got back to the city, we were all hungry from walking and grabbed a bite at the 50s diner-style Moon Cafe (more walking), where I indulged in a caramel latte and strawberrry pizza. We then continued our intoxication at a post-party at Brent and Elina's house in West Perth (walking again) where I relived my earlier college days playing drinking games and cards. I learned to play Texas Hold-Em, but only won one hand. Guess I'll just have to practice with my brother sometime. At midnight, Debbie and I called it quits. We had been drinking for nearly twelve hours... eek! Walking again, we dragged our sorry asses, with me hiccuping all the way, a few more blocks to our house. These boots are made for walking, but my flat sandals aren't and my feet were in blisters by the time we made it home at half past midnight :( I think I will give them a good foot scrub and some cream in a bit.

New housemates - The house is filled with the smell of cooked meat, some delicious-smelling concoction the new Iranian couple made. Muhammed and Marian moved in on Friday when one of the Korean guys moved out. They are nice, but hard to talk to and they don't appear to be Muslim, not that it matters, but I'm sure you would all be wondering. He studies accounting at TAFE and she seems to be a housewife, which would now make her a roomwife. She told me an Iranian recipe today - spinach, yogurt, garlic, salt, and pepper makes a nice sauce for meat dishes. She also said that in Iran only Friday is considered the weekend. People and children go to work and school six days a week from 7a.m. until 4p.m. Saturday through Thursday. It's the most interesting thing I've ever learned from anyone I've lived with in Oz.

The Malvern Star - SOLD I sold my bike today. The old Aussie icon Malvern Star went to the caring hands of my friend Anne who will probably get a lot more use out of it than I have in the last year. The money from that sale will pay for my groceries this week or maybe go towards a much-needed and long-awaited haircut. Stay posted for pics of that - I think it's time for something drastic. I haven't had much work in the last few weeks, but feel that it's not something to stress about because I need all the time I can get to work on my thesis and another essay over these last THREE weeks of the semester. I will be working again this week, but have been lucky to have a little income from things like the sale of this bike and a medical refund from an exam I had done a month ago. Also I am getting fit for the summer. I just joined a pilates class for 10 sessions and have been swimming and walking/ jogging as well. I just need to stop drinking like I did this weekend and I will be sweet! The day Debbie and I turn our completed theses in we are getting in the car straight after and literally heading off into the sunset. We are taking a celebratory road trip to Esperence (beautiful beaches and surfing) and Kalgoorlie (gold mining), two towns south and southeast of Perth. Then it's back to Europe, family, Christmas and Ruairi for Debbie and my life turns into a great big ?

My memoir - One thing I am planning on is writing my memoir: My first 30 years and some unexpected secrets from a smalltown girl! What do you think of the title? My brother (and his big ideas again) planted the seed a few years ago at Thanksgiving. I can remember the very moment he suggested it. He was reclining in my mother's armchair in the living room while watching football and preparing for his pre-Thanksgiving dinner nap. Little did I know the reason behind his suggestion at the time and perhaps I still haven't quite figured out how or why he came up with it, but I suppose he perceived that I have had my share of the seedy and scandalous for a smalltown girl. The second suggestion came today over a late night (for her) instant messenger chat with a good college friend of mine. She simply told me I could write a book and that was all it took to convince me that it's meant to be. I could write a whole chapter on the misadventures I had with her.

There's also my whole experience in Australia. How and why exactly did I end up here, not only in Australia, but at this point in my life? Maybe I will finally truthfully fill in the blank and answer these questions. Curious? Maybe you are someone who thinks you know, but do you really? What would I say? How would I say it? How far am I willing to go? How much am I willing to spill and who will I take through the journey with me? Wouldn't a lot of people (I won't say everyone because I can see Teagan objecting to this, although she knows most of my secrets), especially my family, be interested in the secrets I'm harboring about my life? Isn't that why people read memoirs anyway? There are plenty of memoirs out there about little known people who simply have interesting stories to tell about their lives. For instance, one of my favorite bloggers and an inspiration for my own memoir, Christine Coppa, is publishing her memoir Rattled! about getting knocked up which is due out in April 09, but is already available on Amazon.com. I would love to release some of my issues out on paper and having people read it would cleanse my soul, removing the dirt and filth from the early chapters in my life while validating and establishing my career as a writer! It makes perfect sense. Maybe that was my brother's point all along!? How am I just seeing it now?

Pop Rocks and home-owning clocks

Aussie word of the day: frieze = wallpaper border. That was just something random that popped into my head on this morning's walk.

Something else that popped up today that I found entertaining was a link on one of my favorite blogs to an interesting recipe for Pop Rocks Chocolate Cake! But good luck getting ahold of some of the once popular candy - it has been out of commission since the mid-80's, which I honestly can't believe. You can, however, still buy Pop Rocks on eBay - go figure! Did you all hear about that house that some girl bought in... was it Michigan.. on eBay!?! I think she paid less than $2 for it and is planning on reselling it. Have you seen a pic of it? It's a shambles and looks like it's located in the ghetto. Good luck to her and her $2 house!

Speaking of houses, my home-owning clock (rather than my biological clock) is tick-tick-ticking away. I practically drool over furniture ads, I always have a peek at the property pages in the newspaper and I longingly admire the houses that are on the market in my neighborhood. Most of the houses in my neighborhood are selling for upwards of AU$800,000 (more than half a mil U.S. dollars) for modest 3-bedroom, 1-car unenclosed garage homes with tiny yards. I would ask my devoted readers if anyone else has the burgeoning desire to have a... HOUSE (not a baby), but most of you, I believe by now, are or are soon to be happy home owners. In fact, some of you are even on home #2... and three and four for some of the older folks. I guess that sort of comes along with marriage, because not only are most of you home-owners, but most of you are also married. Not that I believe, by any means, that I have to have a husband to buy a house unlike my brother who once told me when I told him I wanted to buy a house, "wait til you get married for that." If that wasn't one of the most pseudo-sexist comments I think that ever intentionally came out of his mouth. What it really showed me was his naive sense of financial investment - thank goodness his wife holds the purse strings. Most people know that property investment is one of the best things a person can do with their money. A house is almost always going to increase it's value.

On the (Australian) news the other night it was reported that a young girl had won millions of dollars and when the reporter went around asking similarly aged (early 20s) Australian uni students what they would do with that kind of money most of them said buy a house. Of course, who wouldn't do that if you had millions to spend, but I think buying a house was actually one of the furthest things from my mind at that age. Props to my bro for his insightfulness because I think in my early 20s I was more concerned with finding a boyfriend and getting married before buying a house. After being around some financially savvy minds for a few years at Baby Banz, I think I got my mind on the right financial track (I also realized I was living beyond my means, got control of my credit card debt, and created a budget for myself). Well, as I'm staring down turning 29, I have the boyfriend, but marriage is still a long way off, I'm just hoping the home-owning isn't.

The Pilbara buzz: Installment 2

Now that you've all read the first segment of my Pilbara journey and ogled over all the wonderful photos, here is the second part....


We drove into Dampier via Karratha on Monday afternoon. SM couldn't wait... for what I'm not sure, but here we were in the industrial capital of the Pilbara, perhaps even the industrial capital of Western Australia. Dampier boasts of being the highest export port in all of Australia. I'm not sure how many tons of iron ore are shipped from Dampier every day, but there were three large steamers waiting in port the last day we were there, half sunken down into the water from the weight of their loads.



The first day, we stopped into the visitors center in Karratha to check if we would be able to go out sailing during the week. At first it was uncertain because we had to have six people to go out. A few others joined and we were set to go sailing on Wednesday. In the meantime, we thought we might hire a dinghy, unfortunately we had to have a boat license to drive it, so that didn't work out. We checked into the Dampier Mermaid Hotel/ Motel - it really was both a hotel and motel, I think because hotels are generally pubs and motels are where you stay. It was certainly not flash 5-star accommodation. No, it would be more like 2, maaaybe 3 stars at best, but it was clean and had pleasant staff and a nice little pool. It also had a lovely view overlooking the harbour and some palm trees along the shore, but the majority of the guests were "fly in" workers for the surrounding industrial facilities. Sometimes I felt like we got stared at because we were the only tourists staying there even though we were driving a work ute like the rest of them. One lady that went on the sailboat with us even said they had tried getting a room somewhere that didn't take tourists, the hotel only accommodated workers.


The first few days we bummed around Dampier exploring nearby Hearson Cove, Burrup Peninsula, and Point Samson for good snorkeling and fishing spots. I thought I might even try my hand at crabbing, so we went back to Hearson Cove at dusk, fishing net in hand in hopes of finding some crabs along the shoreline - no luck :( The snorkelling didn't fare well either as the water was too rough and murky, so we tried a little fishing, but SM ended up fly bitten from the sand flies. So we settled on a little swimming and saw a sea turtle pop his head up briefly on the beach in Point Samson. That was the height of my excitement the first few days.


Burrup Penninsula didn't offer much more than a large liquid ammonia plant that produces 760,000 tons of liquid ammonia a year all of which is exported. The plant is the biggest Indian investment in Australia and the young Indian tycoon who owns it is building a mansion mini version of the Taj Mahal in one of the wealthiest suburbs in Perth.


There is also the salt industry which produces 4.2 million tons of salt annually and is primarily used by chemical industries, only 20% is used for food processing and human consumption. It is for this reason that the neighboring town of Karratha seems to be experiencing significant growth with housing subdivisions popping up all around the town. The photo at the left are some of the salt resevoirs along the highway going into Dampier with a 2.5 kilometer long train in the background. The sea water has evaporated leaving a sparkling layer of salt to be harvested.


We also drove through the town of Wickham because SM's nephew had played their t-ball team in the tournament on the weekend, so we thought we'd have a look. Pretty standard Leeton-Chilhowee-Holden (for you Warrensburgians to compare to) sized town.


Finally, Wednesday rolled around and we were ready to do some sailing and serious snorkeling! Our skipper, Brad, was a white haired ex-army man who looked at little like Kenny Rogers and sounded like him too. He took us and three other couples out around Dampier Archipelago. Along the way he told lots of stories and shared his extensive knowledge on the history of the area. Dampier was named for William Dampier, a real pirate from the Caribbean who explored the area... a long time ago. William recorded in his journal that the area was only good for minerals and set on his way. It wasn't until about 40 years ago that Dampier began as a port, so it took all this time for someone to exploit the mineral resources William Dampier had found available in the Pilbara.




As we sailed out to Mallus Island we came across two huge manta rays swimming near one of the islands and feeding on the floating flotsam that had gotten churned up from the ocean floor. It's mouth is the large white oval shape you see near the waters surface. The tips of their big wing-like bodies looked like shark fins as they broke the surface of the water. They were really beautiful to watch.


We arrived at Mallus Island where there were several beach shacks nestled on top of the dunes. Skipper Brad said the saddest thing about the industry was that people were rich in wealth, but socially poor. They work long days and hardly get much time off to spend at the beach shacks they bought to enjoy. When we stopped at Mallus Island for lunch we got to enjoy a bit of snorkeling around the coral reefs which were wonderful and full of brightly colored fish, sea cucumbers, spikey black ball things, and huge clams that I played with by waving my hand across the top of them so they would quickly snap shut.

We also had a look at some of the whaling pots that were left on the beach from the American whalers hundreds of years ago. There is still whale bone all around the area from when the whalers would melt down the whale blubber into oil in the big pots.



On the way back from the islands we had sailed past Sam's Island named for Sam, a Serbian guy that had come to Dampier and built a small castle home on the island. He also planted the palm trees on the island and moved hundreds of rocks in order to make a beach. When Sam died the Dampier community had a big funeral on the local sporting grounds for him then buried him atop his island. It was an amazing day all around and the best one we had while in Dampier. The next day we headed out to Port Hedland, our last stop on the trip.

We took our time getting to Port Hedland as it was only a few hours from Dampier, so we stopped at the heritage town of Cossack which used to be the main port used for the pearling industry back in the late 1800's. Cossack had a life span of less than 50 years as the pearling industry moved north, cyclone devastation to the area wiped out many of the remaining buildings that had been there, and the harbour clogged with silt which restricted access for larger shipping vessels. A few buildings are left standing there today like the old gaol, police barracks, post office, courthouse and mercantile store. We also stopped at a roadhouse in Whim Creek, also the site of mining operations, to look at a tree where SM had received one of his many childhood scars and we met a friendly cockatoo in the aviary there who let us pet him through the fence.



Port Hedland is where SM grew up, so when we got into town he drove me around South Hedland a little community outside of PH where he lived and showed me the house he grew up in and told me stories about his childhood there. That was the day of his dad's birthday so we stayed at the yard and celebrated with him. The yard is where his dad's company keeps their exploration equipment, bull dozers, loaders, and donger's - mobile units with bedrooms, bathrooms and office space. At one point I went to the toilet and heard some chirping coming from inside. I thought it was only some crickets, but when I got inside this is what I saw.


These beautifully colored tree frogs live in the toilet's tank. When I first came in there were two sitting on top, but one had gotten scared and crawled back into the toilet tank for safety. I was really tickled by them being there. SM's dad said that frogs are a sign of a healthy environment. Good to know.


I don't know what it is about toilets lately, but when I got home, I found this sign posted above the toilet in our bathroom. (photo coming later)


The next day SM drove me into PH for a look around and to have some lunch. I rather liked PH for a small town and that's as far as my trip took me. I hopped on a plane in PH around one o'clock last Friday afternoon and headed back to the grit and grime of city life and the hardships of thesis writing.

The Pilbara

Aussie word of the day: chuffed = British slang used by Aussies meaning delighted; pleased; satisfied. My boyfriend said to me the other day, "my dad is going to be chuffed about his birthday cake."

Yes, we celebrated SM's dad's birthday with him in Port Hedland last Thursday, which was also Gina's birthday. Unfortunately, my cell phone reception wasn't the best in the Pilbara so I gave up after a few times calling to wish her a happy one and left her birthday wishes on the answering machine instead. SM's dad said it was the biggest birthday he'd had in a long time and it was only the three of us. We celebrated with a store bought chocoloate mud cake topped with two candles in the shape of a six and a four, a lotto ticket, Chinese take-away (carry-out), two bottles of red wine and some chocoloate covered peanuts. It was really sweet that we could spend it with him and it kind of gave us something to do on our last night in Western Australia's northwest.

So here's my story about the Pilbara... There once was a vast place called the Pilbara with scrub covered hillsides some might call small mountains. Although rich in mineral resources like salt and iron ore and full of overworked yet well paid miners, drillers, geo's (geologists) and dozer drivers (my man), the Pilbara isn't the most beautiful place in the world save for a few hidden treasures that I got to enjoy on my week of holiday. I arrived on Friday night in Parburdoo just as the sun was beginning to settle into the hilly horizon. The plane was a regular sized aircraft, but it only had one landing strip to land on. As we taxied down the runway I noticed a small steel shed-like building by the side of the runway. It was surrounded by several white work ute's (utility trucks) with tall orange flags attached to their front bumpers that wiggled and waved with the slightest breeze almost as if welcoming the airplane's travellers. I thought the shed with its many ute's must be the maintenance building for the airport. But as the plane made it to the end of the runway and began to turn around I realized that the shed was the airport! Unfortunately, I didn't want to look like too much of a tourist getting off the plane as most of the people there had come for work so I didn't get a picture of the airport and I regretted it later.

We dismebarked down stairs straight onto the tarmac and proceeded through a gate in the chain link fence that separated the runway from the airport and parking lot. On the other side of the fence we waited for our luggage to be unloaded and brought around on the luggage carts. The first thing I noticed as I stepped from the plane was the smell of the air - it was fresh like springtime, which it is now, but some of the freshest air I've ever smelled. The second thing I noticed was that my boyfriend was not there! I stood around waiting with the rest of the arrivals occasionally looking around for SM and feeling a bit silly because it was obvious I was meeting someone who wasn't there. I was just hoping I wouldn't be stranded in the outback! After about 10 minutes or so I saw his truck pull into the parking lot - LV69 in neon yellow across the door. His dad's thinks the 69 is a joke... nobody else really finds it funny, but I think SM is a little embarressed by it and he's going to hate me for blogging about it. Sorry babe! :p

Tom Price was the first stop on our journey. Tom Price is known as a modern mining town, unfortunately, no one seems to know why it was named after Tom Price or who he was and the tourism sites offer little insight either. However, TP is where SM's sister and her family live. Her husband is a blaster (?), they're the ones that get to blow up the ground with big sticks of dynamite which I guess allows for easier drilling of the hard iron ore rock. The town is nestled at the base of Mount Nameless and is situated only a few k's (km's) from Karrijini National Park where we enjoyed a morning of site-seeing and skinny dipping - just joking, but I did go swimming in my knickers and tank top.

We climbed down the steep stone steps into Dale's Gorge where lots of tourists had already begun gathering for their morning dip in the tepid waters of Fern Pool and Fortescue Falls. For some reason I had thought it would be a quiet, serene and unsuspecting sanctuary where few people would go, so I didn't bring my bathers, but I was soon proven wrong. Oh well, into the water I went in my underwear and white camisole top. It was more than worth it. I felt like a hippie, I was communing with nature. I didn't know the tourists there, would probably never see them again and didn't care if they saw me for two minutes in my wet undies. Fern Pool was my favorite and the first place we went when we got to the bottom of the gorge. It had two beautiful waterfalls streaming down over a rock ledge into the blue-green water. The water temp was just right and perfectly refreshing. Although slippery, the rocks below the ledge where the waterfalls were was the perfect place to sit and bask in nature's serenity. Our quiet spot under the waterfalls didn't last long as we were soon overtaken by a group of young German backpackers who were eager to test out a broken rope swing that was hanging from a nearby tree. We languished in the cool milky waters for a while longer before moving on, soaking up a few rays of sun that were breaking through the tree branches and dappling the water with their light. We then went back down stream to Fortescue Falls, the site of a most amazing happening!

When I first arrived in WA I received an email from someone that showed a photo of a 14 meter python hanging down a rock ledge and pulling a kangaroo out of the water with it's mouth (at right). Look closely at where the snakes body is all along the rock ledge to the right of where it's hanging. The photo was reportedly taken in WA, so I promptly forwarded it around to many of my family and friends to see. This same photo is on display at the Karrijini Nat'l Park visitors center because it was taken in Karrijini at what I'm sure was Fortescure Falls, the very place where SM and I went swimming. Again, I missed out on a valuable photo op to show everyone the ledge in which the python would have been hanging.

At left is a photo looking down on Fortescue Falls from the top of the gorge. The dot in the middle of the water is a raft with tourists laying on it. It was a looong rocky walk down. The snake would have been on the rock wall near the pool at the left of the photo.

Besides getting to visit these beautiful places in Karrijini, we also spent a morning four-wheeling it to the top of Mount Nameless (at left) where the only way to the top is on foot or by 4WD - lucky us we had the 4WD.

From the top you could see for miles. Me and my man and a view of Tom Price from the top of Mt Nameless.

You could see across the mining operations of the Hamersley ranges to Karrijini and look down over the whole town of Tom Price. I think the funnest part about that was the rugged track getting up and down the mountain. It was so bumpy my head would get tossed from side to side. I felt like a rag doll and it made me laugh. We also watched SM's nephew's t-ball tournament - they didn't win, but better luck next time. It was still enjoyable to watch something resembling American baseball and to do something family oriented. We relaxed in SM's sister's swimming pool and enjoyed a delicious barbeque prepared by SM's brother-in-law's brother and his wife. After meeting and hanging out with SM's fam, we headed out to Dampier. SM couldn't wait. On our way to Dampier, SM told me we wouldn't see much on the road other than a few dead kangaroo's or some stray cattle. Well, I was not to be disappointed. We didn't see any kangaroo's or stray cattle, but we did see...

a huge goanna lizard or 'bunga', as the Aboriginals call it, crossing the road. Unfortunately, by the time we stopped so I could get out and take this photo he had already crossed into the camoflauging scrub on the side of the road. He was about two feet long. SM told me not to get too close because they pack a nasty bite.

We also saw a hawk with a long snake in it's grip flying just above the road and these GIANT termite mounds were everywhere.

and best of all... this guy!

From a distance this modern-day camel drawn buggy looked like a stalled car on the road because it was going so slow. Then as we approached it I thought they were horses, but better yet, it was this guy and his camel drawn carriage. What a trip! Along the way we also saw several trains transporting iron ore to the coast. The trains are typically around two and a half kilometres long (about a mile) or 200+ coaches. You didn't want to get stuck at a railroad crossing with one of those.

SM had visited Dampier once before when he was in grade school and I think he might have remembered it a bit differently. Of course, when you're a kid everything's an adventure and you can make fun even when there isn't any... and that's just about what you would have to do in Dampier. Dampier, like anywhere else in the Pilbara is full of industry. It serves as an industrial port where Rio Tinto exports its iron ore to China. There's also a salt mining industry surrounding the area and an ammonia plant on the nearby Burrup Penninsula. Paradise? No. But we had a good time anyway. Stay tuned for the next installment of my week away in the Pilbara... coming soon and photos too!

It's a good day

Despite the howling winds and miserable rain outside, it is a good day. So far today I have found out that I don't have my thesis meeting with my advisor tomorrow which means I can change my flights and go on holiday a day early *squeals!* (I guess I just threw my priorities out the window), I also got a message back from a friend in KC who works at Hallmark and says there is a communications coordinator position available, plus she's got friends in the PR industry that she can get in touch with on my behalf. I'm also working tonight for the first time in over a week so I will have a little cash in the bank when I get back from my vacation. I'm a happy girl!

Study break

Aussie word of the day: bird = nickname for a girl/ chick. "My boyfriend watched a movie with a bloke and some bird the other night."

I've just spent the last two and a half days with my ass glued to my desk chair, staring intently at my computer screen as I typed away on an essay about a communication theorist (who isn't really one if you ask me). The essay was actually due last week - oops! Last Friday was my friend Debbie's birthday party and one of the girls at the party is in the same class with me. When the girl asked me if I turned the essay in the response went something like this: "What essay?" Then "Shit! Was that due today!?!?" Yeah! Big uh-oh, so typical of me. I wish I was better organized. Only 5 more weeks.. that's right, 5.. then I don't have to worry about this crap anymore. So after I hit the send button on my student email account today that officially submitted this quasi-masterpiece to my lecturer, I hit up the video store for some oldie but goodie movies and a bag of 'mixed' M&M's (my fave) to get me through this rainy weekend. On my ecclectic list of movies to watch are The Flamingo Kid, Thelma & Louise, Capote, Blow, and Shattered Glass - a recommendation by a fellow journalism student, it is a movie about... wait for it... journalism. I know you're just thrilled, but it can't be all fun and games. I still have to act like I'm studying, even if it's only watching a movie about the subject I am studying.

The Flamingo Kid is an 80's flick staring a very young and very hot Matt Dillon. The movie takes place at a swanky beach club on Long Island in the summer of '63 where Dillon works as a cabana boy - can't get any hotter than that! But wait, all those songs from the 60's that they played in the movie made me a little nostalgic of my younger years when my parents and I would listen to the same oldies tunes on the car radio. It took me back to a time when I was in pigtails, wearing Strawberry Shortcake t-shirts and thick gum-soled shoes - mom claims they were the height of fashion. I wasn't a child of the 60's, but they were probably some of the most volatile years in American history and of which probably carry a few important memories for my parents inlcuding their marriage in 1967. Whatever sentimental importance the 60's held for my parents they certainly imposed on us kids by exposing us to the music of 'their day'. I know most of you are not as far from home as I am, but does it ever make you want to go running home to mom and dads place when you hear an old familiar song on a movie, TV or radio?

Other things that are making me a little homesick right now are more of my friends are getting married. Besides the wedding I was in this past July, my cousin and three other friends have or are tying the matrimonial knot. In about six weeks one of my best friends from college is marrying a guy I introduced her to (on my birthday) and Gina and her husband, whose wedding I was in in July just bought their first house together *squeal*! Soon they might be giving a housewarming party and then at Christmas a sweater party - so fun! and I will miss all of these things. If I was there, I wouldn't miss them for the world.

Life moves quickly, but seems to stand still at the same time. These are big developments and changes in our lives, but once they happen things slow down and when you visit with your friends or talk on the phone, it seems like nothing has changed at all. Maybe there's a few extra little people crawling around at their feet or your friend is suddenly starting to sport a baby bump. Maybe it's a marriage, a new house, job, or a move across the ocean that changes us, changes our lives. Despite the changes and the distance that comes between you and your friends and family both physically and emotionally, the ties are probably the strongest that they'll ever be. The ability to stay in touch and maintain your relationships throughout life's major changes is the truest test of the strength in those bonds.

Things I will miss about Perth

Hi again. Yes, it's me and I'm still alive and thriving in the great land of Oz. I dropped off the radar there for a few weeks and didn't even realize that I had completely stopped blogging! I thought about it on many occasions - in fact, I always think about writing when I'm taking my walks in the park. I have a favorite place I go for excercise called Hyde Park just a few blocks south of my house. It's a big beautiful park with lush mixed gardens where you can find English flora and deciduous trees (yay!) budding and blooming in their seasonal splendor amongst the leafy palm trees and tropical plants that never seem to shed their leaves or lose their color. The deciduous trees - I don't know what kind they are - surround two great big ponds in the center of the park and shade the walking path that encircles the ponds. One of my favorite parts of the park are the giant Morton Bay Fig trees with their far reaching branches that stretch for what seems like miles and their massive roots that grow out of the ground and make climbing around on them fun. My other favorite part of the park are the baby ducks and swans that have recently hatched and look like big water bugs scuttling around the top of the water behind their parents.

Today I actually had to stop and let a duck family scurry across the path in front of me. I watched them approach in haste, one adult duck and three babies, in a hurry to reach their watery destination and perhaps their lunch. As they ran towards me and the footpath, their little webbed feet eagerly slapping the grass, I realized these little ducklings and their duck parent were quite determined to get to the water and nothing was going to stop them. If I hadn't stopped in my tracks when their feet hit the pavement, they may very well have run straight into me. Every time I go for a walk there I find things that I should take pictures of, but I never take my camera.

On weekends when the weather is fine the park is filled with families and groups of friends barbequeing and young couples picnicing, taking leisurely strolls, or just laying about in the grass. Aside from this little oasis I have started noting the other things I will miss about Perth, among them are the beach, the ocean, and being able to see the Milky Way and all the other trillions of stars visable in the southern hemisphere.

I moved into a new room this weekend; same house, different room. My French housemates moved out - Yay! and I took one of their rooms. This room is twice as big as the shoebox sized one I was in before. It lacks a few minor amenities of the other room, but has plenty of storage space for all my things. I made a few IKEA purchases to cozy it up a bit more, it's just too bad I will only get to enjoy it for a few more months.

I also participated in City to Surf this weekend with my friend Gail and the Curvetts - a group of 30 or so Curves gym members. City to Surf is one of Perth's largest fundraising events each year and it topped out with 37,000 participants this year. We walked 12k (7 miles) which literally stretched from the start line in the city to the finish line in a park near the beach. Gail and I achieved our goal of arriving at the finish line under two hours by just 30 seconds and that's because we decided to jog in the last minute. Although we felt quite accomplished in the end, we were sore, tired and hungry and our feet ached with blisters. I only wish I was fit enough to have run it - NOTTT!!!

After my walk this morning, I spent the afternoon leisurely. I shopped and met up with my friend Pierre for coffee and more shopping in the city - he helped me pick out a sexy cologne and fun printed tee for the BF. Hope all of you spent your Labor Day weekend soaking up the last bits of summer... mine is only beginning!

Here and there and back again

Hello beautiful people! I was away from the blogosphere for a few weeks as most of you know and probably even saw me over these last few weeks because I went home during the school break to be in Gina's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, with the most beautiful summer weather and it all took place on a picturesque island near Camden, Maine.

Here's some little photo snippets. Feel free to oooh and awww, the photographers did a fantastic job! The theme was nautical, navy and yellow were the colors, and of course, we had steak and lobster dinner after the wedding.

I thought Gina made the most stunning bride, with the perfect hair and gorgeous dress, she looked like she walked off the pages of a bridal magazine.

I left the 'burg just days before my 10 year high school class reunion *sigh*. But Gina's Warrensburg wedding reception was last weekend and that sounded more like the place to reunite with some old faces... but I missed that one as well.

With mom and dad along for the big plane ride back to Australia, we arrived in Melbourne on 17 July. The jet lag didn't seem too bad. We slept most of it off with a few hours of sleep when we got to Melbourne. The first day we took two bus tours - a city sites morning tour and an afternoon tour to Phillip Island to see the "Penguin Parade". Every evening around dusk off the coast of Phillip Island come the penguins waddling out of the Southern Ocean in packs of eight or more. It was quite a site to see the penguins waddling their way up the beach to their nests. Sometimes it takes them three or four hours to find their nests in the dark and when they do what a ruckus they make! They get all excited and start squawking like crazy. The penguins were probably the highlight of the Melbourne trip for me.

The next day we took a bus tour of the Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles, but our bus broke down when we stopped for lunch at Apollo Bay, about a third of the way through the tour. About three hours later we were picked up by another tour bus and taken the rest of the way to the Twelve Apostles, which we could barely see because the sun had already mostly gone down by then. We saw lots of koalas in the wild on this tour and stopped along the way to snap shots of their sleeping gray blobs of fur in the high branches of the eucalyptus trees. Three bus tours in two days was exhausting and an extra day was needed to enjoy the city sites, museums and shopping... but that was an extra day we didn't have.

Onto Perth we went where I showed my parents the local sites. We visited the Perth Mint, art museum, the Old Goal, and King's Park. They met SM and his mom - she made a lovely dinner for us at her home in The Hills one night. I drove them down the ocean road to see all the gorgeous beaches, to Guildford and the Margaret River Chocolate Factory and one particularly wet and rainy afternoon we visited the Aquarium of Western Australia at Hilary's Boat Harbour. Later we enjoyed a hot lunch at Dome cafe where they met my friend Gail, who is also from the States, and we did a little souvenir shopping.

After a few days in Perth - because that's all you really need to see it all - we drove down to Margaret River to see a different part of WA. We stopped along the way. In Pinjarra we had coffee at the biggest bakery in the west, then at the Harvey Dam we stopped to have a picnic lunch, but it had started raining so we ate at a cafe in the town of Harvey instead. At Busselton we stopped to see the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere and also got a taste of the sun setting over the Indian Ocean.

We stayed two nights at a cozy guest house in Marg. River and spent most of our time driving around the Western Australian countryside exploring the shops, wineries, and galleries, and we had a traditional Aussie "barbie" for lunch in a park just before the rain started again. On the second day we headed back to Perth via Mandurah where we stopped for lunch and Fremantle where we stopped to do some site-seeing of the Freo Prison, Maritime Museum, markets and to have a dinner of fish 'n chips. Man, were those fish 'n chips good! The next day mom and dad flew to Sydney to continue their Aussie travels and I started back to uni and was in desperate need of a week of sleep! All is well now though, I'm rested up and feeling good again.

I'm nearing the end of week two of my final semester at ECU. My class load is light, as in, I only go to class every other week and I have started back to work with the catering company. My days usually consist of me getting up and helping myself to two cups of instant coffee and brekkie while checking and responding to emails then reading my favorite blogs before I go for some excercise (a walk to and around the park). When I get back from my walk, I officially start my academic day, which lasts for about two to four hours of online research and/ or textbook reading. Sound fun? Not really. Tonight I'm starting swimming with Aussi Masters swim club - a suggestion by a girl I met in a swim class last semester.

I have already started contemplating my next steps for when I finish uni. For instance, more travel is on the menu, but where and when and how will I afford it are questions that come to mind. Hopefully, I will have those answers in the next week or so when I get my Aussie tax refund and student loan check... a lot depends on the money. Then I can start making plans. Next up after travelling is getting back to reality. Getting a job! Getting a car (probably my moms) and to start saving for my first house - eek!

Goodbye Perth... for now

Aussie word of the day: Singlet = tank top, "The girl was wearing a singlet to workout in."

I haven't really said much about my return home... again. As you know from one of my first posts of the year, I witnessed the engagement of one of my best friends on New Year's Eve in Sydney. That friend is getting married over 4th of July weekend and I am flying home to be one of her bridesmaids. I leave tonight, in about 6 hours and 15 minutes to be exact - my dad got me counting down the final hours and minutes. By the time you read this, I will probably be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean or I might already be back in Missouri.

It's always bittersweet leaving Perth, I'm not really sure why because I've never felt that way about leaving Kansas City. Maybe it's because I don't have any roots here and it's feels a little like I'm leaving for good each time I go back to the States. Or maybe it's because I feel like I'm leaving a little part of myself behind when I go. I get anxious and feel like I'm walking around in a daze. I'm unmotivated to pack. It's as though I want to be in Perth and at home in the States at the same time. I don't want to go, but I know I can't stay.

In six months I'm finished with my master's degree. My good friend Debbie has already arranged her flight home for December 2 and says it feels strange to nearly be finished and already know when she's leaving for good. The last year has really flown, and although I'm ready to be finished with my studies and eager to move on to the next chapter in my life, I want to hang on to this time and place. In an attempt to hang on to my life in Oz for a little while longer, I plan to extend my stay until my student visa expires in March 2009. My boyfriend has played a large part in that decision by suggesting that I move to the mine site he is working at to be closer to him. This will also give me the opportunity to really live in and experience the Outback as the mines are located in the northern part of Western Australia which is made up primarily of desert and bushland. It will also allow me to save up some much needed money to travel and pay back some of the hefty student loan debt I have acquired. Mining is a huge industry in WA at the moment and it's good money, even if you are just doing cleaning at the campsite. I will probably go for an admin position, save some money, then travel around the Pacific - New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii - on my way home next March.

For the trip home I have stuffed my bags with a few goodies for the wedding: gourmet chocolate truffles from the Swan Valley, bottles of red and white Australian wines, and the real treat - soft, ivory-colored pashmina scarves for the bridesmaids! A little Australian decadence for the celebration! As I check my bags one last time and zip my trusty, well-travelled, red suitcase, I bid you all adieu and g'day. See you soon!

Cold June rain

Aussie word of the day: Yarn = story or conversation, "We had a good yarn," or "The magazine had some good yarns."

Firstly, I am sorry about my extended departure from the blogosphere. I took a little more time away than probably necessary. I was REALLY enjoying having so much free time again. Well, that free time is turning quickly into boredom as it does when you are stuck inside almost all day every day. My fellow midwesterners know what a cold November rain is like, well that is what an Aussie winter in WA is like - constant cold November rain. I can't get out of the house again today because of the rain, although it is actually warmer outside the house than in it.

My semester ended two weeks ago, then the BF was in town, so I was doing the dedicated girlfriend thing. My friend Gail turned 25 so we celebrated her birthday and my end of the semester with a sushi dinner and drinks a few Friday's ago. Last weekend was a Hawaiian themed birthday party at her house. The Aussie's love their theme parties. While all the Aussies turned up in tropical apparel, short shorts, Hawaiian shirts, tropical print sundresses, one couple even came in their wet suits - very clever - Gail I did the smart winter thing and wore jeans, sweatshirts and leis. All the Aussies were grumbing about why someone would throw a Hawaiian theme party in June - haha! We had to tell them the temperature in the northern hemisphere in June is quite appropriate for a tropical theme.

I've also been working a lot and trying to cram some extra cash in my pockets before coming home. I've been reading and watching movies, which I didn't get to do a lot of during my busy semester. I've also started catching up on some much needed exercise and have started dieting as well. Now I am off to IKEA - my fave! with Debbie to buy a frying pan and maybe a wedding gift for Gina!

Another day, another article

Aussie word of the day: Fringe = bangs, "I got a fringe when I had my hair cut."
Aussie phrase of the day: Have a sticky beak = to have a look or a peek at something, "Have a sticky beak of the menu." - this is one of my work supervisor's favorite phrases to use, usually when she wants us to review the menu for the function we are working.

It's the end of the second to the last week of the semester for me - Hallelujah! I can finally start to the see the light, but it's not over just yet. In the last two weeks my ass has been glued to my desk chair almost nonstop and it has probably grown increasingly flat from doing so. I have interviewed a circus ringmaster, Burmese refugee, and an Australian bobsledder. All made for interesting stories, two of which I would love to get published... but let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, they have to be marked for a grade, then I can see where to take it from there.

Next week, I turn in an article on the cancer survivor whom I mentioned in a previous post and my thesis proposal. With bated breath and bitten fingernails, I will wait to see how it all goes. This semester has been hell - or at least the last few weeks of it - and I can't wait for it to be over. I can't wait to be boarding a plane to freedom (aka the USA) and the sanctity of my parents home which awaits me. Their house is beginning to seem like an oasis of rest and relaxation... and home cooked meals to die for.

I'm also looking forward to summertime at home as the climate in Perth turns sour with rainy winter weather. In the summer, I couldn't get cool enough in my house and now I can't get warm! Don't forget there's not central heating and cooling system - not even in newer homes. Most people rely on space heaters and electric blankets to keep them warm in the winter; some houses might even have a wood-fired stove or fireplace, but it is not that common. My landlady does not approve of space heaters in our bedrooms and she believes electric blankets are dangerous as well. That means I have to pile on the clothing and huddle around the one space heater we DO have which is in the lounge room (living room). It actually warms the room up really well, but when I bundle into bed at night, my tootsies and my nose are cold and my teeth are chattering as I dream of central heating in the houses back home. Yes, we Americans are quite lucky and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm going out for a beer with Debbie tonight to reward ourselves for all the hard work and effort we have put into our studies over the last few weeks. To all of you out there, goodnight and God Bless!